Sam made a face as he entered the motel room. The décor had a little left to be desired. The floor was covered with a pea-green shag rug, with more than a few stains in places. The beds were covered with deep burgundy comforters, embroidered with horrible purple flowers, each bigger than his head. The wallpaper matched the comforters perfectly. At least it had a TV.
"Hey, this place has a big screen TV!" Dean said enthusiastically, entering the room a few moments later.
Sam rolled his eyes. Of course all Dean would care about was the TV. "It has a fridge too."
Dean grinned at him. "Even better."
"I call first shower."
Dean's grin disappeared. "What!? Man, you've been calling first shower for the first three motels! C'mon, you don't stink that bad."
"You owe me," Sam smirked. "You've been farting in the car the entire way."
"Yeah…well…" Dean shifted. "Shouldn'ta had those tacos." Relenting, he sighed, "Fine. But don't use up all the hot water!"
"Wouldn't dream of it," Sam scoffed, disappearing into the bathroom.
When Sam stepped out of the shower, he felt much better. Droplets of water still clung to his skin, sliding down to drip on the shag rug. Sam blinked. Seriously, who would carpet a bathroom?
He picked up his clothes from the floor, beginning to get dressed. As he did, he glanced in the mirror and grimaced, quickly looking away. He'd had a problem with mirrors ever since that Bloody Mary hunt a while ago. He was always convinced something was lurking behind his reflection.
"Okay, Dean, your…" Sam trailed off as he saw his brother was engrossed with a movie on TV, absently gnawing on a beer bottle, "turn…what are you watching?"
Before Dean could answer, a little girl's voice blared from the TV.
"All women are princesses. It is our right."
Sam looked incredulously from the TV back to his brother. "You're watching A Little Princess?"
Dean looked up. "The fact that you even know what this movie is by one line frightens me, Sam."
"You're the one watching it!"
Dean was about to say something, and was again cut off by the TV.
"My mama is in heaven…she's an angel. She's probably watching over us right now."
"How do you know?"
"Because that's what angels do."
Sam was thrown by the look on his brother's face. He seemed to be completely absorbing what the little girls on the TV were saying.
"I thought you didn't believe in angels?" Sam said, once the movie had been interrupted by a commercial.
"I don't." Dean leaned back, opening another beer. "No such thing."
Sinking down on the bed opposite, Sam studied Dean closely for a while. He still wasn't convinced angels didn't exist – but there was something that had been bugging him for a long time.
"Hey – Dean?"
"Mm?"
"Demons exist."
Dean stared at his brother. "No shit."
"Hell exists."
"Okay, who are you, and what have you done with my brother?"
"Dean." Sam was using what Dean liked to call his 'serious voice.' "It doesn't make sense."
"What doesn't?"
"We know for a fact demons and Hell exist. We've seen it, felt it…there's hard proof. If they exist, how can Heaven not? And angels? It's like dark without light."
"There's no proof, Sammy."
"It just…" Sam stood up, scratching at the back of his head. "Seems backwards somehow."
"I told you before, and I'll tell you again. There is no Heaven. No angels. Just evil."
"But evil can't exist without good, Dean. It's not possible. Besides – maybe there is proof there's Heaven."
"Oh yeah?" Dean raised a brow, skeptical.
"When we burn the bones of vengeful spirits – they never come back. They have to go somewhere – maybe Heaven is where they go."
Dean got up, heading for the bathroom. He clapped Sam on the shoulder. "Listen – as far as I know, there's no Heaven. It's pretty grim, but hey – this is a grim world. Life will be easier when you get used to that." He gave his brother another shoulder pat and disappeared into the bathroom.
"Maybe that's where Dad is," Sam said softly as the Dean shut the bathroom door firmly behind him. Dean hadn't heard him – and that's exactly how Sam wanted it.
