Note: I have continued the chapter numbers from book 1. Considering this a long book broken up into three sections.

Missed Prologue for Book 2?

Free Supernatural Fanfiction – Chapter Summary:

After stopping the apocalypse, Analina returns home to face grief, family, and the fragile hope of peace.

Rating: PG-13
Contains:  Emotional intensity, grief themes, mild language, and supernatural references

CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR:  
Going Home

AFTER STOPPING THE APOCALYPSE, we decided to head back home to my parents’ to recuperate. Leaving the motel, we took Bobby—who wanted to return home—to his car. No one had seen Crowley since Chicago, and that didn’t sit well with any of us. Although Bobby hadn’t said a word, I felt he was going to look into his “borrowed” soul situation with greater intensity now. Crowley wanted Lucifer stopped—and we did that. The question remained: why did he want it that way, and would he return Bobby’s soul?

As a demon—Crossroads King or not—I had little faith he’d give it back so easily.

With Lucifer and Michael locked in the Cage, we could only imagine what Heaven and Hell were like now. Were there any rules left in either place?

Speaking of Heaven, we hadn’t seen Cas since his brief stop while I was asleep in Kansas. He’d mentioned returning to help put things in order, since God had yet to make an appearance. I felt that locating Crowley would be easier than finding God—if Cas was still looking.

I stuck to what I’d told Cas earlier: I didn’t believe God was gone or in hiding. He was there. Somewhere. What He was doing or planning escaped me. But despite everything, my faith in Him remained. Even Cas believed God had brought him back fully healed when we were in the cemetery. I continued to hope everything was going well with him and the other angels.

HITTING THE PENNSYLVANIA STATE LINE, we stopped for a quick bite to eat. I didn’t feel hungry. Actually, I’d felt numb ever since the cemetery. I knew I should feel something—about losing the baby, or even stopping Lucifer and Michael—but it hadn’t hit me yet.

Sam and Dean were equally quiet. Well, quiet for them. Dean would periodically glance in the rearview mirror at me like I was a bomb set to go off at any moment.

I supposed that after witnessing my reaction to my grandfather’s death two years ago, he expected losing my daughter would render me in a higher state of mourning than what I was exhibiting.

To be honest, I thought I should be, too.

The food came, and I more or less ate the chicken strips and fries for Dean’s sanity rather than nourishment. Whatever this grieving process was, it was new—and I didn’t like it. I had no idea how long it would last.

With my usual grieving process, I knew the different stages of intensity. It helped to know that within a certain time frame, I’d feel normal again.

Maybe this delayed grief was a reaction to exorcising Satan.

I had no idea.

I texted my dad while we were finishing up to let him know we’d be there soon. They were eager to see us and to hear what had happened.

“So, how much are we going to tell them?” Dean asked, eating three fries at once.

With him, whatever you felt—you ate.

Two prominent points to be discussed were me almost dying and us losing Victory.

My parents didn’t like it when we neglected to tell them about my mishap with the hellhound, which landed me in the hospital. I didn’t want to upset them, but withholding the truth didn’t seem like the best option either.

Dean swore he wouldn’t let anything like that happen to me again—something I was sure my parents hadn’t forgotten.

After some debate, I decided my parents should know that we almost died exorcising Lucifer from Sam to get him into the Cage. Helping Sam and Dean with the apocalypse wasn’t a secret. They knew about the Prophecy and the dangers that kept me from returning home often. And in the end, we did it. The apocalypse had been stopped. The world was saved… for now, anyway.

They didn’t need to know the specifics of how each of us almost died. Mortal danger was probably implied when facing Satan and the apocalypse. But they could probably stand to hear how we did it.

I believed my parents were stronger than we gave them credit for—especially after everything I’d put them through these past two years.

“And Victory?” Sam asked gently.

It remained an unwritten agreement not to mention her since our dedication at the cemetery.

Neither Dean nor I had really talked about it yet. We both knew we should—but neither of us initiated that conversation.

The wound was still too fresh.

We also hadn’t had much alone time to do it. And even if we had, I doubted we’d have discussed it yet.

“Maybe not her,” I replied slowly and quietly. I didn’t look up right away. “We technically shouldn’t have known she existed. And if Cas is right… they’ll eventually meet her anyway.”

They didn’t argue.

So that was what we decided to tell them.

I knew they were treading carefully with the topic—because I wasn’t my usual self. I felt bad about that, but I wasn’t sure how to make myself mourn like I usually did. Eventually, it would happen.

Right?

THE EVENING REMAINED COOL AND CLOUDY as we ended our trip.

My parents were just as thrilled to see Sam and Dean as they were to see me. Thankfully, they’d told the other family members that we’d see them the following day. They figured we’d have a lot to discuss without anyone else hovering.

The cozy, warm house and quietness calmed me. I hadn’t realized how tense I was until that evening.

We all gathered in the living room and told them what had happened. As Sam spoke about his experience, Dean and I sat on the sofa across from him. With Sam’s soft and soothing voice, and finally feeling safe and warm, my body relaxed and melted into the cushions.

I must have fallen asleep for a little while. No one seemed inclined to wake me.

I was partially awake when I realized that Dean, at some point, had put his arm around me, letting my head rest on his chest.

Too comfortable to move—ready to drift back into unconsciousness—I caught a piece of the conversation and perked up.

“You know, I always blamed myself,” my dad confided. “All those years ago… maybe I shouldn’t have tried those spells in the book. I didn’t think they’d work until that pig showed up. Almost killing… I know she doesn’t blame me, but I keep wondering if what I did caused her all this… trouble.”

There was a pause.

“I’m pretty sure you had nothing to do with it,” Dean said. “This is something beyond any of us.”

“Maybe you’re right.” My dad sighed. I heard a drink clink on the table. “Now that the apocalypse is over, what are your plans? Do you plan on settling down around here?”

I felt Dean shift and clear his throat softly.

“Well, we have a few loose ends to tie up before we can make any permanent arrangements.”

I hadn’t realized that this was a rational conclusion for my parents. As far as they were concerned, I’d done my part. It was completely over. No more hunting.

But I’d come to learn that this life wasn’t that easy. Even if you stopped hunting, it didn’t mean something wouldn’t find you. Could we just ignore a monster if we came across one later? I hadn’t truly believed what Sam said when we first met—that having a normal life was an unrealistic goal. Somehow, a hunter always got pulled back in. I didn’t want to believe it. I still didn’t fully, but it was harder to imagine now after living through it.

More than anything, I wanted to give Dean the normal life he craved. A home. His daughter back. But we’d have to help Bobby get his soul back. We’d have to help Cas if we could. And who was to say there wasn’t another crisis waiting to take up our time after that?

I could feel the tension start to build in the room as Dean’s words slowly sank in. I decided to “wake up” as a distraction. I lifted my head and glanced around the room.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how tired I was,” I apologized as everyone turned their attention to me.

“It’s okay,” my mom said. “You’ve had some busy days.”

“Yeah,” Dean agreed, sitting up. “We should probably turn in.”

With only a little awkwardness, Dean and I made our way to my old apartment. Sam was staying in my parents’ guest room, like he had when we came in for the wedding.

We stepped inside the dark apartment and switched on the lights. Everything was so quiet and still—so distant.

I shivered and stepped further into the room. Dean placed our bags on the floor along the wall. As he straightened, I turned to look at him. For a moment, we stared at each other in silence.

That was all it took. My resolve came tumbling down. The days of numbness melted into a torrent of pain and sadness. My eyes blurred with tears as I stumbled the one step it took to reach Dean.

Image by Copilot

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