PRIDE OF LIFE

CHAPTER ONE

THEN

Bobby stepped onto the porch to see a familiar ebony Impala pulling into the yard. "Well, it's about time-" he began, then the rest of the sentence died in his throat.

Sam's long body was unfolding from the driver's seat. Dean climbed out of the passenger seat.

That was unusual. The visible exhaustion on both of them wasn't, but since when did Dean let Sam drive?

The strangeness of it propelled him off the porch and straight over to Dean. "You okay, son?"

"Exhausted," Dean admitted in a strangely soft voice. "Could use a hot meal and a good night's sleep."

"Yeah," Sam laughed, leaning on the Impala's roof. "In reverse order. And if you're talkin' to Dean, Bobby?" He waved. "I'm over here."

Bobby gasped. His head whipped around to look at the smaller man, who smiled a 'what-can-you-do' smile and shrugged.

"...Sam?" Bobby breathed.

The smaller man nodded. "In the truncated flesh."

"Hey!" the other one roared, standing up. "Watch it, Samantha!"

That reaction alone convinced Bobby. "C'mon in...boys."

SPN MILEAGE SPN

Ruby opened the door a fraction at Cas's knock, then opened it enough for the tree to walk in. "Boy," she said, her blonde head shaking in amusement, "when you said 'we', you meant it!"

Cas chuckled, but then she walked up to Dean, her head tilting. "Well, well. Sam Winchester. Azazel bragged often about his Boy-King Elect. Gotta say, I'm a little surprised you're Castiel's 'help'." She turned to look at Sam. "And that would make Short-Stack over here Dean, wouldn't it?"

Sam, despite everything, laughed softly. "You must be the enigmatic Ruby Cas was talking about."

"'Cas'?" She turned a warm grin onto the angel. "I can't wait to hear this one."

"One more thing before we get started?" Dean grinned at her, genuinely amused. "You got us backward. I'm Dean." He gestured at the smaller of the brothers. "That's Sam."

Startled, she looked from one to the other. "Wait -what? But, I-I-" She turned huge, confused eyes to Cas.

"It's a very long story," Cas laughed. "But it can be summed up in two words. Soul. Swap."

Ruby sank, stunned, onto the bed. "Oh, now you're shittin' me."

SPN MILEAGE SPN

Wrath shrieked. "No! No, this can't happen! I'm locked-" He shoved up his sleeve, revealing an unmarked forearm. "No!"

Dean's voice rose with Sam's.

"No!" Wrath screamed, falling to his knees.

Jimmy's rose to join theirs.

"There are seven of us!" Wrath roared. "You can't defeat us all!"

"We don't have to," Loki growled. "Not today. Today?" He crouched beside the panting demon. "Today, we just have to defeat you."

SPN MILEAGE SPN

Ruby opened her eyes and rolled over, sitting up. "It's over?"

"It's over," Castiel smiled at her from the foot of her bed. He handed her the knife, hilt first.

She took it, sighing. "Well, I sure wasn't any use."

"You alerted us. You allowed me the use of your knife. Without you, this could have gone on for much, much longer. You were of great use, Ruby. And the soul is one step closer to being freed from Hell because of your actions."

Ruby nodded slowly. "And - my own?"

Castiel's smile grew. "Less dark."

Castiel leaned forward and embraced the demon as a piece of humanity clicked back into her tainted soul. When he felt the lone, silently shed tear splash onto his shoulder, his embrace only tightened.

Ruby Campbell was healing from Hell at long last.

NOW

Tyler Ridge, Kentucky

He bombed into his house and straight down the stairs, flinging his backpack with enough force that it created a crack as it hit the wall and sagged down into the corner.

A flick of his wrists, and the tarp over the table went flying. He opened his fingers and let it fall, forgotten, to the side.

His hands flew over the table, assembling ingredients. He would show them – all of them!

Soon, nobody would make fun of him anymore. He'd thought college students would have been more mature than that.

He wouldn't make that mistake again.

Berathing deeply, he dragged a knife across his palm and allowed his blood to drip into the bowl as he read the incantation aloud from the book his friend had let him borrow. A lit match, flung into the bowl, completed the spell. He waited, a smile on his face.

The smile faded as seconds ticked by – and absolutely nothing happened. His shoulders slumped and he let out a deep sigh as he turned around.

The sigh became a bitten-off gasp as he found himself face to face with a young woman. "...what..." he gasped. "How did you get in here?"

"You called for me, David," she said. Her voice was a rich, musical purr. "And I came."

"You..." He cleared his throat. It suddenly seemed very hot in the basement, and he couldn't seem to tear his eyes from her brilliant, deep purple ones.

She smiled and pulled him close, her lips sealing firmly over his.

He moaned softly, his eyes sliding closed as he lost himself in the kiss.

And so, he missed seeing those strange eyes click black from corner to corner.

SPN MILEAGE SPN

TWO MONTHS LATER

For once, it was not the report of unusual death patterns that brought the Winchester brothers – plus two – to the growing college town of Tyler Ridge, Kentucky.

Dean broke into his broadest smile, dimples on full display as he drove, slanted eyes sparkling with joy. "We're here!" he laughed.

The blonde woman in the back seat leaned over to whisper to her seatmate, "They really have switched bodies, haven't they?"

"Yes," he deadpanned back. "Trust me, Sam Winchester would never get that excited over the state's largest pie festival."

"So tell me," she said aloud as the Impala pulled into a motel parking lot. "Why am I here with you guys?"

Dean caught her eyes in the rear view mirror as he turned off the car. "You told us that you remembered broad strokes of being human, but a lot of the details had faded. So, we got to talking, and we decided to re-introduce you to one of the best things about being human! Pie! ...and festivals, of course."

She got out of the car. "Next thing you'll be telling me is you think pie's better than fries." At his expression, she rolled her eyes. "Seriously?"

"Sorry, Ruby," Sam laughed. "That particular affection is all yours!"

Ruby grumped as their missing fourth came out of the office with two keys. "One room for you two," he said, tossing one to Dean. "One for Ruby and me."

She smirked. "Won't that burn the hotel down? Angel and demon-"

"Who better to keep an eye on you?" he countered. "We are what we are, after all."

SPN MILEAGE SPN

"We are what we are."

Cas's words rang in Dean's head as he sat at the bar, nursing a longneck.

"Hey, honey," a voice said. "You're thinkin' mighty hard."

He glanced up and chuckled at the bartender. "Yeah, it's a bad habit."

She smiled at him, brilliant violet eyes shining in the dim light. "Pretty boy like you shouldn't think so hard. Wouldn't want wrinkles on top of those lovely dimples, after all!"

He found himself laughing. "Isn't that supposed to be my line?"

She laughed in return. "Yeah, well. I'm Sue."

"Dean. Nice to meet you."

Sue leaned over the bar and said, "Now, is that any way to greet a friend?" Before Dean could react, her mouth sealed over his.

Dean's eyes closed and he felt himself moan softly as a warmth seemed to spread over his whole body.

He didn't see those unique eyes flare black from corner to corner.