Supernatural Fan Fiction ❯ Paint Around the Empty Space ❯ Epilogue ( Epilogue )

Epilogue

 

“Bobby, I know you wanna see him. I get it. But I just don't think he's ready.”

 

Bobby huffed impatiently. “Yeah, that's what Missouri said.”

 

“Wait, Missouri? Has she been eavesdropping?” Dean asked, his voice rising before he could stop it. Next to him, Sam twitched a little, frowning in his sleep and turning his head toward his brother's irritated voice. Dean glanced over and immediately lowered his voice, reaching out to rub Sam's shoulder with strong fingers, coaxing him back to sleep.

 

He'd been doing that a lot lately, he noticed—doing the best he could to keep Sam asleep. On the one hand, he figured he was just being a good big brother—after all he'd been through, the kid needed all the rest he could get. But on the other hand, Dean also felt guilty, because he couldn't help thinking in the back of his mind that the more Sam slept, the less Dean had to deal with their sudden new issues.

 

He realized then that Bobby had been talking, and dragged his mind back to their conversation to ask, “Sorry, what?”

 

Bobby sighed, but Dean could tell there wasn't much real annoyance in the sound.

 

“I said, no, she hasn't been eavesdropping. Too much. She's just got that whole intuition thing going on. Kinda creepy.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, Bobby, I'm sorry. But…look, he can barely handle me right now. I don't know how he'd react to anyone else. I don't want to risk it, ya know?”

 

Bobby grunted. “Yeah, I know.” He was silent for a moment, then asked, “So he's not doing so great, huh?”

 

Dean chuckled bitterly. “Oh, yeah, he's great. He lost me, went psycho, got his mind back again, and then learned that he'd been killing people. He hates himself and he still half-believes I'm dead or a demon or gonna take off or whatever, but he's doing just fine.”

 

Dean fell abruptly silent at the end of his outburst, surprised at himself. Absently, he reached out and rubbed Sam's shoulder again, trying to make up for the rise in volume.

 

On the other end of the line, Bobby sighed again. “Okay, I get it. You guys need some time. Me and Mo'll leave today. But boy, you call me. Keep me posted. I wanna see that boy as soon as he's up to it, got it?”

 

“Yeah, yeah, I got it. Thanks, Bobby.”

 

“Sure thing, kid.”

 

XXX

 

Sam crouched in a corner of the room, staring at the flames as they once again crept closer. He couldn't understand what they wanted. Hadn't they taken enough from him yet?

 

Go away…

 

The flames ignored him, licking across the ground toward him, implacable, and he had no choice but to let them. He had no choice but to wait for them to hurt him again. He buried his head in his arms, and waited.

 

But then there was a presence—warm, but with a rough edge to it. Sam put a name to it instantly.

 

Dean.

 

The presence strengthened, and Sam instantly felt less alone.

 

The flames leapt closer, and Sam closed his eyes.

 

Dean…

 

Slowly, agonizingly, Sam began to pull himself to his feet. The flames danced, mocking him, but for the first time he didn't listen. He just continued to stand, until finally he was fully upright.

 

The flames froze where they were, undecided.

 

Then they retreated to the corner of the room, where they stayed, sullenly.

 

Waiting.

 

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Author's Note: Huh. Ambiguous ending.

 

Well, that's it for this story! I'll get to work on the sequel. Stay tuned!

 

Thanks so much to all who reviewed. I never expected such a response to this story! You guys made me so, so happy. I hope this lived up to expectations! And I promise I will reply to any reviews of the last chapter as soon as possible—hopefully tonight. And I'm also sorry about the people who asked me to beta and haven't gotten their stuff back yet—I've just been using every second of Internet access I have to update this. But I think I've solved the problem of lack of a signal, so maybe I'll be able to get on more here!

 

Anyways, see you all next time!