A/N: Just remember that although this story happens after season 8 finale, it has nothing to do with the actual season 9. No spoilers or anything related to the new season.

This is the last chapter. Enjoy it.

While Charlie and Dean tried to find a way to locate Cas, she kept quiet about Dean's problem with his brother and never addressed it again. At the police station they filled out a report and answered some questions about Castiel, telling them that they were looking for a Jimmy Novak who had lost his memory a while back.

But after two days there was still nothing.

Dean just hoped that his friend was alive; he wasn't even sure if Cas could remember being an angel now that he wasn't one anymore, but judging by what he had seen in that alternate future back when they were fighting the Apocalypse, he guessed that Cas could remember and he knew if that was the case, the fallen angel wouldn't be in a good place; mentally and emotionally.

Cas had a habit of blaming himself for the mishaps in the world and to tell the truth, he was to blame to some extent, but he sure didn't deserve a punishment as severe as falling from heaven, his home.

And Dean knew for a fact that if they didn't find him fast, he'd start doing some pretty stupid things to fix the mess that was now their world and knowing Cas he might cause even more damage in the process.

Besides, they all needed some answers. They didn't know what had happened up there to cause this chaos and didn't know who they could trust or who was the enemy.

Of course, personally, Dean resented every single angel except Castiel; so trusting them was out of question, anyway. But that didn't mean that he didn't want to know who was responsible for all those angels' fall.

"Hey, Dean?" Charlie came out of the bathroom to find Dean staring blankly at the laptop's screen; looking miles away.

"Hmm." he answered absently.

"I was thinking that... Umm, well, the cops have your number, right?"

Charlie's tone of voice caught Dean's attention and he looked up. "Yeah?"

"Well, I thought... You know, right now, we don't have much to work on, and I know that you wanna look for your friend and all, but well-"

Dean looked amused. "Charlie? Just say it."

"OK, OK. Well, I thought we could go out and have a decent meal for a change."

Dean arched an eyebrow. "And what do you call a decent food?"

"Well, something other than Chinese, Pizza and hamburger, I guess. Come on," she whined. "We could even take something and go eat it somewhere nice, you know?"

Dean wanted to protest, but he actually found the idea pretty intriguing, so he closed the laptop's lid and stood up. "Alright."

"Alright? Just like that?"

"What? It's just a dinner; besides, you are pretty convincing." Dean grinned as he grabbed his car keys and walked out of the room. Finding his way to the passenger seat, he once again let Charlie behind the wheel as they drove off to a diner or a restaurant.

...

"Alright, say it." Charlie rolled her eyes.

Dean grinned. "I thought you were tired of Pizza." he said as he grabbed a slice from the box.

They had stopped to buy a large pizza instead of going to a diner and then Charlie drove them to a wooded area to sit on the impala's hood and eat the Pizza. Dean had given Charlie a look of amusement and kept grinning the entire way until finally Charlie gave in and asked him to say what he wanted; Dean was clearly dying to mock her.

Charlie rolled her eyes. "This is different. We're not in that suffocating motel room anymore."

"So that makes Pizza a decent food?" Dean raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up." Charlie chuckled and they ate in a comfortable silence.

When they were done eating, Charlie wiped her fingers with a tissue and studied Dean who had his unbandaged eye upward, looking at the night sky.

"We used to do this a lot. Sam and I." Dean sighed.

Charlie could see that Dean was missing those days with his brother. "He's been calling me to ask about you."

"I've noticed." Dean said curtly.

Charlie's eyes widened, but she stopped herself from asking 'how'. "He's sorry." she said instead.

Silence.

"That's not enough, though. Is it?" She asked worriedly. What if there was no way to amend the situation?

A deep sigh left Dean's lips and he smiled bitterly. "Don't worry; it's hardly our first fight. Admittedly, we've never gone this far... Not since..." he trailed off.

"Since when?"

"Since he was drinking demon blood."

She'd read the Supernatural books; he didn't need to keep that a secret to protect Sam.

Charlie frowned and stared at him for a few seconds and suddenly realization and concern dawned on her. She could now clearly remember that part of the books; Sam calling Dean weak, knocking him down and trying to strangle him. "Oh." was all she could mutter.

At least Sam had an excuse back then. It was worse this time and even then, he hadn't said to Dean's face that he should've never come back.

"I don't think he meant it." she spoke quietly. "In fact, he's been telling me over and over how sorry he is and how he didn't mean those words."

Dean remained silent but hopped off the hood of his car and went to driver's side.

Charlie obediently followed his move, only she went to the passenger seat, not saying a word about Dean being behind the wheel with an arm still in sling.

"You're not gonna stay away from him forever, are you?" she asked quietly.

Dean wanted to say 'no'; he really wanted to say that things would be alright and that they'd eventually get over it, but for the first time in years, he wasn't sure they would. He wasn't sure it was wise to go back to Sam. So he just stayed quiet and started the car; believing that only time could tell, as it always had.

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Two more days and Dean finally had to go back to Kansas for the next session of his physical therapy. He checked into a hotel near the hospital and Charlie didn't say a word about it.

Dean had insisted that he was fine and that she didn't have to stay with him all the time, but she made it clear that she wouldn't go anywhere and it wasn't like she had anything special to do.

If you asked Dean, he'd say that the first day back to the hospital was almost a great day, because they finally took the bandages off of his left eye and told him that the only protection he needed for his eye was a pair of sunglasses which he had to wear for at least the next couple of weeks, but everything else looked good. His peripheral vision was a bit off and greyish, but it always beat being blind; besides, he'd been told that as long as he didn't push himself too hard and didn't get hit in the face again, he'd regain his sight completely.

His doctor had also warned him about his cheekbone, telling him that because of the severe injury he'd suffered, he was susceptible to more breaks and injuries and that had to be extra careful because of the sensitive optical nerve.

The only downside of his new situation was that with the bandage over his left eye, he'd lost his depth perception and had gotten used to it, so his balance was a bit off now that he could see with both eyes; but of course it wouldn't last long, so all was good.

He wasn't so lucky with his right arm. The therapy had hurt way more than he expected and he'd been forced to take a pain pill afterwards which had sent him to a fitful sleep as soon as he got back to the hotel.

Once he woke up due to nature's call, he was still feeling groggy and that was what he hated the most about pain killers. The grogginess would haunt him for at least a couple of days even though the other effects of the pain pill would be completely gone after a few hours. How was that fair?

"I was sure you'd sleep for the rest of the week." Charlie said as she walked in with a pocket in her hand and a big smile on her face.

"Next time I said yes to painkiller, you just knock me out before I can take one." Dean growled.

Charlie had closed the blinds so Dean wouldn't have to wear his shades inside their room, but the light still hurt his left eye.

"What's that?" he gestured to the pocket in her hand.

"Breakfast. Oh, and your physical therapist called, no session for today."

"What? Why?" he needed to get fit sooner and he wouldn't if he didn't go to his PT sessions regularly.

"I don't know, he talks too fast." She frowned, "but he said something about your doctor calling him. Apparently you have to take another couple of days off before your next session."

"Great, just what I need; stall this as long as possible." he growled indignantly.

Charlie handed him his coffee and wisely kept her comment to herself.

They were half through their breakfast when a knock on the door startled them.

Dean frowned. "Who's that?" he asked Charlie skeptically.

"How would I know?" She shrugged and went to open the door.

The light coming from the door hit Dean's eyes so suddenly that he had to close them and reach for his shades.

He kept his eyes close for a few more seconds to get rid of the dizziness and when he opened them, he was shocked to see Sam standing there in front of him, with the now ever existent frown lines between his eyebrows. Looking around, Dean realized that Charlie was quietly getting her tablet to leave the room.

When she noticed that Dean was looking at her, she bit her lower lip and quietly said, "I had no idea; I swear."

And Dean knew she was telling the truth so he just gave her a tight smile and waited for her to leave; all along carrying on eating his breakfast like he wasn't feeling both upset and distraught.

Once the door clicked shut, Sam lowered himself to a chair and put his hands on the table.

"Good to see you're finally free from that bandage." he said to get rid of the awkward silence.

"Uh-huh."

"I talked to your doctor. He said there won't be any lasting damage."

"Hmm."

'Not even monosyllabic answers. Just grunts.' Sam thought and knew that it meant his older brother was beyond angry.

"Look, um, I know you don't want to see me-"

"I don't want to see you?" Dean growled. "Don't you dare put that on me. You are the one who made it clear that I wasn't welcome back."

Sam had the courtesy to look ashamed and regretful. Casting his eyes down, he said. "I really didn't mean those words. You know that I could've never meant that."

"Actually, no. I don't." Dean's voice was icy.

"Dean-" Sam protested loudly.

"Don't Dean me." Dean said sharply. "How many times have you said the same thing just with different words? Huh, Sam? You may not have gone so far as to say 'get the hell back to hell', but you've made it clear, on more than one occasion, that you didn't want me around."

"For God's sake, Dean. Just because I want different things in life and my definition of family is different from yours, doesn't mean I want you gone."

"You could've fooled me." Dean said coldly; the thing was that he was hurting and tired and didn't feel like moving on so fast.

"I'm sorry, alright? I don't want to see you hurt and I don't want you gone. I'm just in a really bad place and... And... Dammit, I don't even know where it'd come from." he looked down again. "I really am sorry and would do anything to prove it to you. If I could turn the clock back to that day to change things, I would. I swear. The thing is I was already really scared for you, and I was feeling guilty and when Charlie told me about you wanting to go hunting, I just lost it."

That was not an excuse and for the first time in years, Dean wasn't willing to take shit from Sam. He was damn tired of being treated like dirt. Why everyone in his life had to either die early or turn their back on him?

It really sucked to be him. He figured for the umpteenth time.

"Look, can you just come back to the bunker? I'll leave if that's what you-"

"Shut the hell up, Sam." Dean roared angrily. He really had had enough. "Don't put your own words in my mouth. I've always wanted you around and that's what you and everyone else have always found me guilty of. So don't you say that I want you gone."

"Alright. Alright." Sam put his hands up to show he'd surrendered. Man, was Dean angry. When he'd asked Charlie how Dean was doing, she'd told him that he was dangerously close to the edge and that he'd either get so mad to see just red or he'd have a complete breakdown if he was approached wrongly. And Sam didn't want either of those things. He'd had time to think and despite what he'd said, he didn't want to lose his brother. Dean was his rock and although he didn't like to admit it, not even to himself, it was times like these when he felt too close to losing Dean that he realized he needed Dean and never wanted him away.

"Bad choice of words." he tried to amend and winced slightly. "Will you come back? We don't have to immediately have a talk or pretend like everything is OK."

Dean was silent. His left hand was clenching at his right arm as his outburst had aggravated his injured arm.

"You wanna find Cas and get some answers. Don't you?" Sam asked after a few seconds. "We can work together and we have both Kevin and Charlie on our side. Let's just focus on finding Cas for now and whenever you feel like it, we'll talk."

Dean couldn't remember the last time he'd heard his brother talking so softly; he sighed and got up from his chair. For a second Sam was afraid that Dean would send him his way, but to his immense relief, Dean grabbed his duffel bag, and told him to call Charlie.

"Thank you." he felt the urge to say it.

"Nothing is fixed, Sam. And I'm done pretending." Dean's voice was resigned.

"I understand. We'll take baby steps."

Dean wasn't sure he even wanted that. But then again, he was tired and in pain and let's not forget that he was still feeling groggy. So maybe once he felt physically better, he'd find it in himself to talk about other issues with Sam.

He'd go with the flow and see what would happen next. For now, he had to work to regain his arm function and of course he needed to find Cas. They needed answers.

There was a knock on the door and assuming that it was Charlie, Dean just yanked the door open; ready to ask her if she'd forgotten to take the key.

What he saw, though, shocked him to the core.

It wasn't Charlie at the door.

There, standing at the threshold, with a goofy and huge smile on his face, was the last person they expected to see ever again. "Dean... Sam."

"Gabriel?"

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... The End...

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A/N: Yeah, this is it!

The part about Gabriel is something for another time... Maybe! I'm not sure! At first I thought about adding a short epilogue or something so Gabriel could talk, too, but I probably won't do that now; what with all the spoilers and promos out there which are totally different from what I had on mind.
Anyway, I just always wanted Gabriel back and in a situation like this, with fallen angels and everything, Gabriel could be of great help.

SO... Tell me what you think.

Thanks to anyone who reviewed, faved or followed this story. Your support and nice words always mean a lot to me.

All mistakes are mine.

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