Checkpoint
By No1butjoe
Summary – We all know John checked on Sam while he was away at college, but did Dean? The answer is yes.
Disclaimer – I don't own SPN or any of its characters.
The down-pouring rain splatters hard against the windshield of the classic muscle car. So much so that the lone occupant begins to wonder if he'll have a few cracks in the glass come morning. But those thoughts quickly flee his mind as his green eyes stray to the building across the street, fixating on one window in particular with a faint glow. It doesn't matter that he's been sitting outside for hours in the cold. It doesn't matter that his dad has tried to call him five times in the last hour alone, probably wanting a progress report and to give him new orders. No, all that matters is seeing the one person he hasn't seen in a year. The one person who matters more to him than his life ever will. The one person who he's willing to risk his father's wrath to see at least one more time. A movement beyond the window's curtain snaps him out of his thoughts and to the present. Someone moves in front of the window, their form casting an eerie shadow to those outside. He'd know that form anywhere and it's all he can do not to get out of his car, go up there, and demand his brother return.
But return to what, exactly? A life consisting of moving from motel to motel? Greasy fast food and hustling pool to earn a living? The life of a hunter is one paved with blood, something he never wants for Sammy. Sammy got out and paved his own way. He chose to leave the life and, in all honestly, deserted his family. But the alternative seeps into Dean Winchester's skin and causes him to shiver as he continues watching the window, wishing he could see inside to his little brother. He wishes he could see how happy he is; tell him he's proud of him. But the curtains remain in place. The false hope Dean gave himself fades as it always does when he thinks about Sam. His hand reaches up of its own accord and turns the key in the ignition of his baby. She purrs to life with a rumble and, vaguely, Dean wonders if Sam can hear her engine within the confines of his new, perfect world.
One last, solemn glance to the building where his little brother has made a new life for himself and his hand again moves of its own free will to set the car in motion. Sam is safe and secure, not distracted by an over protective brother or drill sergeant father. He has his own life to live, one that doesn't include Dean. The sooner he accepts that as fact, the better off he'll be.
Liar.
The Impala slowly moves away from the curb, its lone occupant focused on whatever task lies ahead of him. Too focused to notice the same curtain that he had been watching for the past three or four hours move aside as a figure stares down at the street below, searching.