The Family Business

After the Mission

From Maggie's POV:

I woke up to bright lights and the smell of disinfectant. A hospital. But why? I wondered. I looked around but all of the chairs were empty. As my vision came more into focus, I noticed that the door was slightly open. I could hear Sam and Dean having a discussion out in the hallway.

"Dean, she was acting out of some motherly instinct! That THING was feeding on your son's life force and she was determined to stop it!" Sam argued.

"And that THING came after her to finish the job! Sam, we....I don't know if I can do what I need to do anymore if I have to worry about Maggie getting hurt or....worse," Dean choked out.

"So, what are you saying, Dean?" Sam asked.

Dean paused before answering. "Remember when Maggie first came to live with us, and that guy Carl was after her? She said then that she was a liability, a soft target, and that maybe she'd be better off hunting on her own," Dean said.

"Yeah, I remember, we both talked her out of leaving. Wait. What are you getting at, Dean?" Sam asked.

"What if we had let her go that night? It would've been just the two of us, hunting things, saving people. No attachments, no worrying about if the woman you love is in danger, or hurt, or worse," Dean concluded.

"You can't be serious, Dean! You and Maggie are meant to be together. If you had let her go that night, are you really telling me that you would be happy with the bars and the one night stands? What about the kids? Are you seriously saying that your life would be better off without them??" Sam argued.

Andrea cleared her throat and motioned in my direction. Sam and Dean could see that I was sitting up and awake. Everyone wondered how much I had heard. One by one, they entered the room and took a seat. By the tears in my eyes, they could guess that I had heard most, if not all, of it.

Dean reached for my hand, but I pulled it away before he could take it. "I'd like to hear an answer to Sam's question, please, Dean," I said softly.

"Maggie, I--" Dean started.

"Let me summarize the question: do you think your life would be better if I had walked away that night, as I had intended to do? No wife, no kids, just you and Sam against the world?" I asked.

"Sam? Andrea? Would you please excuse us?" Dean asked. Sam nodded and reached for Andrea's hand as they walked out and closed the door behind them.

"Is that really how you feel, Dean? After all that we've been through? You'd give up on everything? Me? John and Hannah?" I asked.

"Maggie, you're sitting here in a hospital bed, for crying out loud! You nearly died tonight because you charged into a situation without thinking!" Dean exclaimed.

"What was I supposed to do? Wait until that-that-thing drained all of the life force out of our son, and then our daughter?? Please tell me what I should've done so that I don't make the same mistake twice." I finished.

"Is everything all right? It's getting kind of loud in here," a nurse scolded, as she poked her head in.

"I'm fine. Wait, may I please get a cup of water?" I asked.

"Sure, honey, be right back in a sec," she said. She came back with a small cup and a pitcher with ice water in it. "I'll be out here if you need anything, just push the button," glaring at Dean as she closed the door.

"You still haven't answered my question, Dean," I said in a small voice. "Or....maybe your silence is my answer that you regret everything that's happened from the moment I first set foot in the bunker." Tears rolling down my face, I whispered, "I think you should go for now, Dean."