The Glass Vial | Epilogue
Epilogue
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Masterpost
There’s a garden. It’s rectangular, with an apple tree at the back and patches of vegetables along the fence. There’s a wooden shed that Dean made, with three glass windows, that’s stocked full of weapons, bird feed, and a lawnmower. A lawnmower.
Sam gets up everyday and walks into the garden, and he feels the fresh air around him and smiles with the rising sun. He sits on the wooden bench with his binoculars around his neck and watches the birds as they chirp and make their nests. Dean has nailed a bat box to the tree, and it’s wonky and crooked and painted black.
It’s a Sunday morning and Sam is feeding Esau in his cage. Cas is out in the garden, tending to the vegetable patch, and Dean is still fast asleep, snoring.
Annie is coming around at ten, to help Cas cook a roast, and they’ll sit down in the kitchen, listen to some music, and eat it while Dean tells them again about Walt and the group of giggling girls, and Cas tells them about the kids at the school.
Cas works part-time at the local high school, tutoring the exceptional kids and teaching adults French, Latin and Spanish afterschool.
Life is peaceful and nothing like all those years in the cage, and Sam is so thankful, every day.
Bobby still visits often, and so does Annie. Sam’s no longer dating her, but that’s okay. It was a mutual break up, when both of them decided they were happier without the extra stress and commitment.
Dean still works with Annie part-time in the music shop, and Cas works three times a week at the school. They schedule their shifts to alternate, so Sam is never alone, and on the times when there’s been an overlap Sam has Bobby or he has Annie or Mr and Mrs Richards, the couple down the road. But the days are passing and Sam is feeling better, and the world is more real and safe and comforting.
Cas never told Dean about the vials, but there’s something that changed at Christmas, something about the way Dean looks at Cas that it’s obvious he’s been forgiven. Sam’s not sure if he knows, somehow, only that everything is okay now, and there are no resentments or grudges between them.
Sam’s still not the same as he was before, but he’s getting there. He might not ever be the same, and the wound will never completely heal, but as each day passes, it bothers him less and less.
He’s out, and he’s free from Lucifer and Michael. He’s free from the cage, and he’s starting the journey towards something new and exciting every morning he wakes. Sam looks at Dean and Cas each day, and he knows he owes them more than he could ever repay. But that’s okay. It’s okay because it’s not a favour, and it never has been. It’s because they’re family, and that’s all that’s ever mattered, and it’s all that ever will.
Masterpost | Notes & Acknowledgements