Hi again, this is actually a two year late response to the Metallicar saves the day challenge for P.L. Wynter's Fanfiction challenges forum. Um, better late than never? I've had the songs and the ideas and bits and pieces on my hard drive for awhile, but just never found the time to put it together. Then Supernatural dot tv had a fanfic challenge that was similar so-I finally wrote it :) It takes place sometime during the relatively carefree days of Season one, so no season two or three spoilers. And hopefully you can suspend your disbelief-I'm rather stretching a few odds and ends and timelines-well okay, this whole thing is a stretch, lol. But I hope you like it :) Goes without saying, but I don't own the boys or the car or any of the songs used herein. Doesn't mean I didn't have fun playing with them though. And it might be more fun if you bring up Youtube or Google the songs and play them along with the Impala-someone said it was their first "interactive" fic and they enjoyed it that way :) I'm slowly catching up with reading on this site, and hopefully should be all caught up and can post on one of my ongoing fics the end of the weekend. Well enough of my blathering-go enjoy!
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The sun shone on polished ebony as the long sleek car devoured the miles, Foghat's "Slow Ride" playing from the speakers. The passenger put away a map and turned to the driver, raising his voice to be heard over the music.
"Another two miles and take the turnoff to the right, go down the road a mile and a half and we're there."
The driver grunted and checked the odometer.
The passenger sighed. "I still don't get it. Why would kids go play in an abandoned farmhouse anyway?"
"It's out of the way, they can drink and party and no parents to bother them. Come on Sammy, what's not to like?" The song ended and Dean reluctantly turned off the radio.
"No electricity, no plumbing, out in the middle of nowhere, mosquitoes…"
Dean blinked. "Mosquitoes?"
He turned to his brother, to see Sam's lips quirked in a grin.
"And frogs, and rats," Sam continued in a teasing tone.
"You suck," Dean said without heat.
"That's mature," Sam chuckled.
Seeing the turnoff, Dean slowed the Impala and eased her onto the dirt track that masqueraded as a road. He winced in sympathy as his baby endured potholes and pebbles. Finally arriving at the rundown looking house he brought the car to a gentle stop in what passed for a driveway. The brothers got out and surveyed the area. Seeing nothing, Dean had a quick look at his car.
"Stupid country road," he muttered under his breath, surreptitiously giving the chrome a pat as he saw the dirt now crusting some of the metal.
"You two want to get a room?" Sam grinned.
"Shut up. That freakin' ghost is toast." Going to the trunk, Dean opened it and the brothers took out guns and an EMF meter.
Trailing behind his brother as Dean marched determinedly towards the neglected property, Sam turned and quickly whispered "Sorry about the road." Then he lengthened his stride to catch up with his sibling.
Half an hour later, after completely searching the house, the brothers returned to the Impala.
"I don't get it. That blond chick at the gas station said she and her friends were all petrified," Dean's voice mimicked the high frightened soprano as he said the word, "by noises and that something pushed one of her friends almost out of the second floor bedroom window. But there's nothing there now. No cold spots, no readings, nada, zip. Not even residuals."
"Think she made it up?" Sam asked, stretching.
"Dunno. If there was something there it covered its tracks. Which means we're either dealing with nothing, or something bad."
Sam looked down the overgrown path of the driveway and jerked his head. Following the movement, Dean spotted an ubiquitous red barn hidden behind unchecked ivy.
"My money's on door number two," Sam said, checking his weapon. Dean did the same, and the brothers headed toward the barn, the car keeping watch behind them.
First they circled the barn, peeking into grimy windows. Seeing nothing, they returned to the front and Dean unlatched the large double doors. Each taking a door, they heaved, muscles straining, and managed to swing the heavy old wooden doors wide open.
Plumes of dust spilled out into the fresh air, and Sam coughed. The interior was dim and Dean shook his head, already getting a bad feeling. "Gonna need a light," he said.
Sam's skin was prickling and he readily acquiesced when Dean said he'd be right back, promising not to move. He was surprised however when he heard the Impala's engine rumble to life.
In moments the car was right by the barn, headlights on, certainly making enough noise to warn any supernatural creatures that someone was there. Not that opening the doors hadn't been a big hint.
"Uh, Dean?" Sam ventured, as the Impala slowly nosed past him to enter the barn. Sam followed, and his brother got out, leaving the engine idling and the lights on.
"Just had a feeling we should have a quick exit ready," Dean replied, retrieving a flashlight from the trunk.
Sam grinned, and turned on the EMF meter while Dean played the flashlight beam around the barn's interior to cover what the headlights didn't show. The younger Winchester's eyes widened as the device emitted a shrill stressed sound. He looked up when his brother grunted and heard the unmistakable sound of a gun cocking. His own was out in response without even thinking about it, but before he could even pinpoint the danger the gun was ripped from his hand and he felt himself flying. Sam grunted as his back hit the wall, coughing as previously undisturbed dust floated around him.
"Dean!" he shouted, and winced as he heard an answering thud next to him.
"Son of a-" Dean cursed as he found himself pinned to the barn wall next to his brother. A short distance to his right was the opening to the barn, and before him, close but too many feet away was the Impala. He'd lost his gun and the flashlight as well, but the rays of light filtering into the barn were enough to see the dark form stalking towards the helpless Winchesters. That it was a demon was clear from the solid black eyes and the sheer aura of evil it was shrouded with, but its shape was wavering and seemed insubstantial on the edges.
"Demon in its natural state?" Sam questioned quietly and Dean could only nod, wrinkling his nose in disgust as the thing's awful smell hit him almost physically.
"Dude, you need a bath," the elder Winchester told it, and gasped as he was pushed harder against the wall, pain radiating from his gut outwards.
"Hey, fugly! How do you like Latin?" Sam shouted, and began to randomly recite the first exorcism he could remember. Before he'd gotten far his words cut off with a wheeze as he felt invisible pressure tightening around his neck.
Apparently the demon could laugh, as a hyena-like sound emitted from it. "Don't like Latin, but like hurting mortals. You are such puny creatures, I can do whatever I want with you," it hissed.
The brothers glanced at each other, Dean trying to ignore the agony in his stomach as Sam tried unsuccessfully to breathe, his hands scrabbling at the wall but unable to lift them to his throat.
"Let him go!" Dean meant to yell, but it came out a pained whisper.
"Or what? You'll glare me to death?" the demon sounded amused, as it slammed the older brother's head against the wall. Sam's face was slowly turning blue and then suddenly there was a loud honking, tearing the demon's attention away from them.
Sam heaved in gulps of air as the pressure around his throat eased, and Dean's face smoothed out as the pain lessened. They were still held against the wall, but it wasn't as tightly as before.
"You okay?" the elder brother asked his sibling, and Sam nodded, looking with wonder at the Impala. Dean followed his gaze, to see the dark form hovering by his baby, which had somehow inexplicably honked its horn and distracted the demon. The engine was almost growling, and Dean felt a momentary jolt of pride that his car hated the evil creatures as much as he did. Then he shook his head. What was he thinking?
"It seems that your vehicle does not approve of me. Maybe I'll destroy it first and torture you slowly while you watch," the demon gloated.
The radio burst into life at that threat, and as though she was responding to it, Pat Benatar's "Hit Me With Your Best Shot" blasted out of the speakers.
The demon withdrew from the car quickly, as Dean's jaw dropped. "What the..." he managed to gasp, eyes wide.
"Tell it to stop!" the demon hissed at him, and Sam's lips began to move in the exorcism again, reciting it almost soundlessly.
What passed for the demon's head whipped to him as the song ended, and Sam was silenced as his entire body was plastered solidly against the unyielding wall, barely managing to draw in a breath. Then the thing turned its attention to his brother, doing the same. It turned back to the car, seeming to study the Impala as a worthy adversary, as it couldn't seem to move the heavy vehicle. Over a ton of steel and sweat and memories and rides and songs and weapons were finally a match for the evil creature. It got a little distracted when the shorter green eyed hunter began to hum something quietly, and then the car picked up the tune, Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" playing.
The demon backed off, and the brothers were able to move a little. Sam cocked his head to the side, studying the car and then the demon, and when the song finished he began to softly hum the first song that came to his mind. Inexplicably, it was "Magic Carpet Ride" by Steppenwolf, and the Impala's radio readily picked up on his cue and played that song. The demon shrank back further, and the invisible bonds holding the brothers to the wall loosened a bit more.
Dean was staring at his baby in mixed horror and wonder as Sam's brain decided to unscramble itself and start working again. "Must not like positive music, some kind of dark song demon maybe..." He absently blew his shaggy hair out of his eyes as he figured out what was happening. "The Impala is helping us somehow..." He didn't realize he'd been thinking aloud until he heard his brother's response.
"So wait, you're saying that my car is playing songs that we've heard in it to try and defeat the demon?" Dean's incredulous gaze made Sam squirm a little, but he stuck by his guns
"Yes. I mean, everyone in our family is a hunter, Dean. Why not the car too?"
"Why not the car too?" Dean parroted, and then winced in pain as the song ended and the demon hissed and pushed them against the wall again harder than before.
"Quick, think of something else happy!" Sam whispered urgently.
Dean's mind flashed to a redhead with big...eyes and soft hands that had a thing for backseats and double scoop cherry sundaes.
"What was her name?" Sam said, resigned, when he noticed the fond faraway look his brother had.
"Krissy, and she could keep going like that Energizer bunny," Dean smiled.
The brothers (and the demon) started when 'You Shook Me All Night Long' by AC/DC suddenly poured out from the speakers. Dean's fingers managed to tap in time to the beat against the wall, and he sighed in relief as the pressure was released a bit.
"You cannot defeat me!" the demon growled as the last notes finished, but somehow the words weren't as threatening as it probably meant them.
The Impala seemed to take matters into her own hands (or tires) as the title words from "King of Wishful Thinking" by Go West played.
The song ended and Dean turned to his brother. "Your turn," he grinned.
The demon turned to Sam and the younger Winchester groaned as his head was slammed against the wall. As if in response, the Impala's engine revved and "Stacy's Mom" by Fountains of Wayne burst forth.
The demon recoiled and Sam slowly shook his head, then decided that was a bad idea. Wait a minute-Fountains of Wayne?
Dean blinked, then his worry for his brother morphed into amusement.
"Dude! I knew it! You were totally into that girl's mom. What was her name? Lana...Lois..."
"Lorelai, her name was Lorelai," Sam said, head sinking down into his shirt like a turtle. The car hadn't even heard that song! It was Jess that had liked it and made him listen. It had promptly reminded him of a certain hot single mother while he was in high school. Sam had done odd chores for her to make some money in between research, school and training. And she had walked out in that towel...
He was broken from his reverie by Dean smirking at him. "You did so play that song in my car; I thought I heard it that day I was getting food for that stakeout of the old Miller place. Remember?"
Sam did, the radio had been on and he'd been bored and just left it when the song came on the radio, making him think of happy times. Then he grinned wickedly himself. "Like this was any better?" He began to sing, and the Impala obligingly played "Sugar Sugar" by The Archies. He'd caught Dean singing along with that one day while he'd been washing the car, half wet himself, and squeezing out the water and rubbing the sponge lovingly over the smooth exterior.
Dean's mouth opened and closed like a fish, no words coming out until he finally managed to squeak, "It was classics day!" Dean banged his head back against the wall.
The Impala's engine gave a throaty rumble, almost as is of enjoyment, as the song ended and the demon's form seemed to be shrinking.
"Aw c'mon man, take it easy. You like your car, I get it." Sam snickered.
"Take It Easy" by the Eagles was then next song the Impala played, keeping the music momentum going. The brothers looked at each other, knowing neither of them had-
"Dad," they said in unison.
'Must've been from awhile ago," Sam mused.
"You...will...not...stop...me..." the demon's gravelly voice hitched.
Then the older brother got a look in his eye, and as the twangs finished he said, "Oh yeah? Well Sam here is into all this touchy feely yoga crap from California, bet he sang along with this-" and Dean hummed a few bars, his car picking up on the melody.
"Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys poured from the speakers, and Sam's face flushed as he gritted his teeth and tried to sink into the floor. Dean had been joking, and looked incredulously at his brother.
"Dude! You didn't!"
Sam remembered walking the beach, watching Jess's hair lifted by a breeze, radios playing classic songs while airplanes drew advertisements behind them on streaming banners. It had been a happy day, and while waiting for Dean to get back from the library (and the cute librarian) on a case he'd been sitting in the Impala outside an ice cream shop two doors down from the library, told not so gently to get lost by his brother, and the song had been on in there. He'd gone in to get a cone then gone back to the car. "California Girls" had played after that song. Dean had found him with a goofy grin, and just shaken his head and told him not to drip on his car. Sam had just patted the Impala, feeling that she had shared a nice memory with him.
He came back to the present when the song finished and shot his brother a look that Dean had learned not to trust. "Just like you didn't sing along to this?"
His head bobbed as he started to sing and "I'm Too Sexy" by Right Said Fred sang out from the car's speakers.
Dean's face flamed and he looked like he was in pain, even more than that inflicted by the demon.
"You...you..." Dean rasped, the memory coming of him dancing by the car as the song came on. He'd been training, and waiting for his brother to come out so he could show Sam some moves, and had just unconsciously started to dance with his shadow. Sam hadn't let him live it down for weeks. He'd retorted uselessly that it had been a momentary possession, whereupon Sam had said "Christo!" and Dean had just rolled his eyes. Then mercifully Sam had finally stopped teasing him.
He shook his head now, trying to think of something, anything to get that song replaced by another. Aha!
"Oh yeah? What about this? I got you the soundtrack." He began to sing, and his baby followed suit.
Jackie Wilson's "Higher and Higher" played, Dean's mind flashing to a dancing toaster.
"Uh, what soundtrack?" Sam was honestly puzzled, and Dean realized that Sam hadn't actually heard the tape of music from "Ghostbusters II". He'd come from the store, had to play it (to make sure it worked, of course) and then Sam had run to the car from where he'd gone to do research, hurriedly popping out the tape and putting another in that he'd claimed had EVP's while urging his brother to get a move on. In the excitement, the tape had flown out the window and Dean had then forgotten about it until now.
"Never mind," Dean mumbled, looking for the demon. The once menacing creature had shrunk to half its original size and he found he could move a bit easier.
The bouncy tune came to a close and the brothers glanced at each other.
"Quick, think of another one!" Sam said.
"I'm trying! I got nothing. You?" Dean replied frantically, knowing they just had to finish the demon off.
"No, contrary to your opinion I'm not a girl and I don't normally listen to happy happy joy joy songs," Sam muttered back just as frantically.
The Impala growled and her headlights flashed as the demon began to once again grow, and then an unexpected tune played from her speakers.
Twin stunned expressions gazed upon the car, as Cyndi Lauper's "Girls Just Want To Have Fun" streamed from the Impala's speakers.
The demon shrieked as it got smaller and smaller, and as Ms. Lauper belted out just what girls wanted, it gave a final despairing wail and imploded. A brisk wind blew through the barn, scattering the remains and filling the air with a fresh clean scent. The song ended, and the brothers found themselves falling to the ground, Dean grousing and Sam panting. Then they picked themselves up and looked around. The demon was gone, but apparently the Impala wasn't quite done, as the headlights flashed one last time and "Another One Bites The Dust" by Queen blasted from the speakers. When the brothers stared in awe and a little fear at the front of the Impala, they could have sworn she looked a little smug.
Then the song finished and the car was once again its usual self, engine idling. Dean wasn't fooled.
"Now I've got to exorcise my car!" he groaned.
Sam looked at the Impala and ran a large hand gently over her black hood. He could almost swear that she purred like a cat. "Or, you know," he said diffidently. "You could...not and just let her keep helping us. I mean after all, this is the first time she's ever done anything weird."
Dean gazed at his baby and thought about it a minute. Huh. "If I don't, and that's maybe, no more chick songs." The headlights blinked once in agreement.
The brothers looked at each other, and then shrugging, they got into the car after collecting their guns and the flashlight, Sam taking extra care not to slam her door and Dean tentatively stroking the steering wheel. He put his car in reverse, and she obediently backed out of the barn.
He made a U-turn, and the Impala headed back down the country road at a slow and easy pace, gliding over the potholes and somehow avoiding the worst of them. Dean glanced at his brother as he turned the radio on.
"Well, maybe she can have one, she deserves it. That demon didn't know what it was messing with," Dean smiled with pride in his car.
"Nope, she's every bit a Winchester too," Sam agreed, and the sleek black Impala headed into the sunset, "She's A Lady" by Tom Jones soothing her passengers as she took her precious cargo to their next adventure.
The End.
Thanks for reading! And yes, I did listen to all those songs while I was writing this nutty fic, lol. Take it easy and have a good day :)