Chapter 34
DEAN
The courtyard still smoked, and the place resembled some of the worst war-torn areas Dean had ever been to.
Through the shattered doorway, Dean limped down the last step, every muscle in his body screaming.
But he was upright and alive, and that was enough.
Sunlight hit his face, too bright after so long in the dark.
He squinted, half-smiling through the ache.
Ash floated in lazy spirals, catching the first light of morning, and every breath Dean took tasted like burned fuel and dirt. The hacienda was half-collapsed behind him, its roof torn open, its windows nothing but gaping mouths.
He glanced up at the wreckage. There was a deep satisfaction that accompanied the devastation.
Like his mother had finally been avenged.
Like the girl he was forced to assault and then kill was avenged.
Like all the ghosts of those his father had brutally murdered could finally rest in peace.
The little boy who had been beaten almost daily smiled.
Dean looked at the small group that had come to save him. Trev stood in the front, gun strapped over his shoulder, his finger still resting on the trigger, just in case. He took a step forward, the serious smile he wore breaking ever so slightly.
Morry was grinning from ear to ear as she ran at him. Just like old times, she leaped on him, wrapping her arms around his neck.
“You son of a bitch, I should kill you for making us all worry,” she said, making him laugh as he held her back.
“I missed you too.” He closed his eyes, relief finally washing over him. Morry hopped down and wiped away the tears running down her cheeks, then punched him hard in the arm.
“That’s for making me cry, asshole,” she said, and everyone chuckled.
Trev approached, shouldering his firearms. Their handshake was firm, brief, and said everything that mattered. Mutual respect, relief, and the unspoken promise that they’d always walk through hell together.
“It is good to see you alive, my friend,” Trev said.
“Took you fuckers long enough to figure it out,” Dean joked.
Morry huffed a laugh. “We had to stop for snacks.”
“Next time don’t send riddles, I hate riddles,” Arek grumbled around the toothpick hanging out of his mouth.
“Hopefully, there is not going to be a next time.”
“Amen to that, I’m getting too old for this shit,” Kes complained.
For just a moment, it felt like old times, then he looked down and remembered what they’d all lost.
Keene knelt in the dirt, his hands bound, jaw tight, face streaked with blood and dust. The swagger was gone, but the arrogance clung like a stain he couldn’t wash off.
“You think this changes anything?” he rasped. “You think killing me or even Carlos stops what is in motion? Cut off one head, another grows.”
The group went quiet. The only sound was the crackle of a fire eating the last of the roof.
Trev looked down at him, eyes cold as steel. “What do you think we should do with him, Dean?”
Dean’s jaw flexed as he held out his hand to Trev. Dean didn’t need to ask for Trev to pass him his sidearm.
Keene laughed. “Go ahead. Be like me. End it here. You’ll see how easy it is to become what you hate.”
Dean crouched, eyes level with him. “You really think we’re the same?”
Keene’s grin wavered.
“You sell fear,” Dean said, voice low. “I bury it. You burn everything for power and money. I burn it so no one like you crawls out again. Whatever part you played in getting our friends killed is blood on your conscious, and I’m sure that the Devil will be happy to have you home.
Me…well, I may end up there sooner or later, but before I do, I’m going to take out as many of you as possible. ”
Keene’s mouth opened, but Dean didn’t give him the satisfaction of finishing. “This is for every soldier you used. For every name on your list. For everyone you thought you owned.”
Dean slowly stood. The morning light caught the gun in his hand, the metal flaring gold for a moment before the final verdict cracked through the air. The echo rolled across the courtyard and vanished into the surrounding dirt.
No one spoke. No one cheered. It wasn’t a celebration. It was the sound of a weight finally leaving the world. Dean lowered the gun and handed it back to Trev.
“It was my father and this man,” Dean announced, and looked around at his teammates, each had lost someone special to them.
“They were the ones that leaked we were there, our position. They are the reason those we loved died. I’m sorry.
I can never say sorry enough to make up for what they took from all of us. ”
Arek exhaled, glancing toward the smoking compound. “I don’t need your sorry, you were as much of a victim as the rest of us. You’re our brother and nothing will change that.”
“I second that,” Morry said, with a faint smile.
“Count me as three,” Kes added.
“Agreed. Yes, we all lost someone, but so did you. You had no idea.” Wolf patted Dean’s back.
Nodding, Dean held his breath as Trev spoke. “No man should be judged on the sin of their father. You included.”
Dean exhaled, thankful to still have all of their support. “I take it that all those following Keene are dead?”
“The six that we found, are over there, but I only recognize one.” Arek pointed to the small pile of bodies they’d put together.
“What about the rest of The Righteous?” Dean asked.
Wolf’s gaze followed his. “Someone’s gotta lead what’s left, or Keene will be right. Even if a message goes out that the group is disbanded, another will step in and use everyone for personal gain.”
“Or even worse, the lost will have nothing to live for. We can’t do that to them.” Morry folded her arms. “Someone better make damn sure it doesn’t happen again, and I know who I’d vote for.”
Dean’s eyes moved to Trev. The man looked away, shoulders set, knowing what was coming before Dean even spoke.
“You’ve got the head for it,” Dean said. “And the heart. The rest of us don’t have what it takes, but you do. And you’ve always done what is best for those that you command. You’re the one who can rebuild this right, Trev.”
Trev shook his head slowly. He walked away from the group, staring off to the horizon. No one moved as they waited for his decision. Trev turned to face them, hands on his hips. “You’re all sure about this?”
Dean smiled faintly. “Never been surer of anything.”
For a heartbeat, nobody moved. Then Morry nodded, wiping her face with the back of her hand. “He’s right.”
Arek followed. “You’ve got my vote.”
Kes gave a small shrug. “Yeah. You’re the only one of us who actually reads the fine print.”
Wolf’s nod was quiet, final. “You’ve earned it.”
Trev looked at Dean, jaw set. “Fine, but I’m not doing this alone. You each have to agree to do the job that I need you to do, to keep the Righteous running properly. If you all can’t help, then I’m not doing this.”
They all saluted Trev, their hand neat and precise.
“Okay, then we start over. Our way this time.”
“Our way. Brothers, we stand together.” Dean’s smile deepened.
“Apart we fall,” all of them answered.
The group broke apart slowly. Kes and Arek went to check the trucks, Wolf triaged the wounded with Maeve, but Morry remained with Dean, leaning against a crate.
“Didn’t think I’d live to see this day,” she said.
Dean glanced over at her. “You saying I’m good luck or bad?”
She smirked. “Still undecided.”
He chuckled, soft and tired. “I’ll take it.”
Across the yard, Maeve knelt beside an injured guard and helped tend to his wounds.
She looked up when Dean caught her eye, and for a second, the chaos fell away.
He gave her a small nod—acknowledgment, respect, and gratitude for coming into his life.
She returned it, a faint smile ghosting across her face.
The sun climbed higher, bleeding warmth into the edges of the wreckage. The air was still thick with smoke, but it no longer felt suffocating.
Dean turned back toward the horizon. The compound was still burning behind them, but the future was something else entirely. It was raw, unshaped, but alive. He drew a deep breath and exhaled slowly.
Dean looked around at the people who had survived with him, his family by choice, not circumstance, and he let the quiet settle. For the first time in a long time, Dean didn’t feel like he was surviving. He felt like he was beginning.