20. The End Of All Things

Two weeks later...

John and Sam were in the very same waiting room they'd been sitting in two weeks earlier, waiting for Dean. But this time they didn't worry like last time. Don't get me wrong, they were worried, but it wasn't as bad as last time. This time, they were waiting as a plastic surgeon was doing his best to make Dean's scars disappear. Bobby was sitting beside John, talking about a hunt he had in San Diego. Both Winchesters were listening intently, thankful for the distraction.

John shifted a little in his seat, trying to get comfortable, but his sling and cast kept annoying him. He'd been bitchy since he had them on, his arm itching every five minutes. Sam therefore had to take care of Dean who kept 'forgetting' to take his meds ("I'm fine Sammy, don't need them anymore.") and of his Dan who complained about his broke arm all the time ("Yeah, laugh it up Dean, the guy's just lucky you pitied him."). Mercifully, Bobby had been there to help the whole time. Sam would probably have gone crazy without him.

After about two hours, a man in scrubs came out of the O.R. and took off his mask, revealing everybody his smile. "Hi, I'm Doctor Sullivan. I operated on Dean's face." He said cheerfully.

"How'd it go?" John asked, although he could guess what the answer was. Sullivan's smile grew even wider. 'Good news.' John thought hopefully.

"It went very well. You're son's in his room now. He's still asleep but you can go see him."

"How about his scars?" Sam asked.

"Well," Sullivan started, "They put up quite a fight, but I won. You can still see a very thin line on each side of his mouth, but it should vanish soon."

"And when can he leave?" Bobby asked. "No offense, but kid hates hospitals."

Sullivan chuckled. "Who does?" he said. "Well, we'll keep an eye on him, but I don't see why he couldn't leave tonight."

Sam and Bobby looked at each other, smiling. "Thank you Doctor." John said, barely able to contain his joy himself.

Sam couldn't hold back his gasp as he stepped in Dean's room. They all were somewhat used to seeing Dean's forced grin, and now, it felt strange to see him without it. Sam smiled as he came closer, taking a good look at the thin, white lines that crossed Dean's cheeks.

"They did a hell of a good job." Bobby stated as he and John came to stand next to Sam.

"Yeah, they did." John said softly, in awe.

Dean awoke to the sound of the television. He cracked one eye open, then the other, smiling as he saw Sam was watching Oprah. "Dude, I really gotta brainwash you." He said, startling Sam as he spoke.

Sam blushed and turned the television off. "Just channel surfing." He said quickly and Dean had to suppress the laugh that built up in his throat.

"Hey, where's everybody?" Dean asked, looking around.

"You know, them, they went out to get coffee." Sam chuckled. Dean nodded jerkily, and Sam could tell his brother was dying to see the result of the surgery. He smiled and took the mirror that a nurse had left purposely on the bedside table. "Here, let me put you out of your misery." He said, smiling as Dean's eyes shone when he saw the mirror in his brother's hands. Dean took the mirror like it was some kind of precious ornament but down for a moment, afraid of what he could see. But Sam looked encouragingly at him and slowly, carefully, he lifted the mirror and held it in front of his face.

Apparently, Sam wasn't the only one who had gotten used to the scars. Dean could barely recognize himself now. He'd been looking at a torn face for weeks now, and the contrast was startling. Sam could see the tears in his brother's eyes as he carefully touched the thin lines on his cheeks, slowly turning his head from side to side to get a better look at them. After a while, Dean put down the mirror and grinned at his brother.

"Well, look at that. Looks like Handsome is back." He said and Sam rolled his eyes. But the younger man couldn't hide his smile though.

Before anything else could be said, John and Bobby walked in, carrying their coffees. "Finally awake." John commented, a smile playing on his lips.

"When do I get out of here?" Dean asked eagerly and Sam chuckled. Man, Dean really hated hospitals.

"Hopefully tonight." Bobby said cheerfully. He sat in one of the chairs beside Dean's bed. "How does that sound to you?"

"Sounds very good." Dean smiled contently. He sank back in his pillows, anesthesia still having a grip on him. "Good thing they didn't have to rebuild my nose too."

"Yeah, you probably would have stayed longer." Sam agreed. "How's it doing, by the way?"

Dean lightly poked his nose. "Slowly coming to." He answered. "It will soon be good as new."

They all sat in a comfortable silence for a moment, then Sam spoke. "So, about Heverson…" he started, and he could feel John tense beside him. Dean looked at him expectantly, silently willing to go on. So he did. "I've googled his name on my computer. Looks like he and his friends won't see the sun anytime soon."

Dean smirked, and this time it didn't look like some kind of sick, contorted grimace. It just looked like Dean. "Good news." He said, voicing everybody's thoughts.

"Yeah" John said, "Good news."

Dean was released in the evening. The hunters hit the road the next day. But despite his protests, Dean still was allowed to drive.

"Why not?" he'd asked his Dad. "My ribs are better, my wrist is healed, I don't have headaches anymore and I can focus as well as before. Why can't I drive?"

"Because you just got out of the hospital, I'm not taking any chances with you." John said, tossing the Impala keys to Sam. Then he turned to face his frustrated eldest. "You'll thank me later." John smirked.

"Yeah, I bet." Dean muttered sarcastically. John just shrugged and got out to put his duffle in his trunk.

Sam looked at Dean, who looked a little unsteady for a moment. "You all right?" he asked. Dean rubbed at his eyes and smiled at his brother.

"Yeah, just a little lightheaded, that's all."

"You see, Dad was right not to let you drive." Sam smirked. Dean glared at him for a second, but quickly grabbed his jacket and duffle as John's voice startled them both.

"Boys! You coming or what?"

"Coming!" Dean called back as he hurried out of the room. Sam took his own stuff and smiled, following his brother in the hallway. 'Well,' he thought, 'Looks like things are back to normal.' He considered for a moment before chuckling to himself. 'At least as close to normal as Winchesters can get!'

The end.

Well, that's it, folks. My work is done here.

Thank you all for reading, and special thanks to DeanBeanWinchester and Rholou who reviewed each and every one of the chapters. That was so kind of you guys, thank you so much for that!

Hope you people enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it.

nerwende