On the Road Again by asesina
Title was inspired by the Willie Nelson song with the same name.
disclaimer: no copyright infringement was intended. SPN belongs to Mr. Kripke.
a/n: set 6 months after Swan Song. Dean is still living with Lisa, but Sam is back after being in hell for six months (our time). Dean and Sam have already reunited, so there's no surprises there, but Dean is torn between two worlds: hunting and his normal life with Lisa.
Sam hears about an odd paranormal occurrence in New Jersey, but is it enough to get Dean back on the road?
Enjoy!
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Cicero, Indiana, 9 am
Just a small town girl, livin' in her lonely world...
Dean Winchester groaned and smacked the bedside radio with somnambulant impatience.
He so wasn't in the mood to hear Journey right now.
Dean yawned and felt blindly under the sheets until his hand reached its desired target.
He smiled to himself as he brushed a wayward finger across Lisa's shoulder, tracing it down her collarbone and finally resting it over her heart.
"Mornin'," he whispered lazily, and Lisa responded with a contented sigh as she leaned her head on his shoulder.
Dean could feel her long ,wavy hair brush against his bare chest as curled against his body. He let his eyes slowly flutter open as he looked over at Lisa, beautiful and calm in the early morning light.
His reverie was interrupted by the sharp buzzing of his cell phone on the nightstand.
"They call that silent mode?" Dean grumbled as he reached over to check the caller ID.
"Sammy?" Dean whispered aloud. His face softened with familiarity as he flipped open the phone and climbed out of bed.
"Hey, Sammy," Dean said. He still wasn't used to saying that name, and it fell from his lips like a muted hymn.
"Hey, Dean," Sam replied. He paused for a moment, and Dean could hear papers rustling in the background.
"Where are you, Sam?" Dean asked. He stretched and left the room to give Lisa some silence.
"I'm at the library, Dean," Sam stated matter-of-factly as if going to the library at 9 am was somehow normal.
"Well, look at you. You sure went back to your nerdy ways," Dean said with a knowing smile.
"Dean, the fact that we prevented the apocalypse doesn't mean that there aren't any demons or monsters out there any more," Sam sighed impatiently.
"All right, Sammy, but this better be good. I can't drive halfway across the country just because some kids summoned Blood Mary in a mirror," Dean replied.
"Dean, this is serious. I know that you haven't hunted in a while, but I could use your help with this. If you don't want to, though, I- I understand," Sam said quietly.
"Damn it, Sammy! I can see your puppy dog face through the phone," Dean grumbled. He walked into the bathroom and splashed water on his face while Sam flipped through newspapers on the other end of the line.
"Talk to me, Sammy. What kind of fugly are we talking about here?" Dean asked. He pulled a bottle of Scope from the cabinet and took a swig.
"Well, local residents have reported seeing a demon driving a pick up truck. He usually just scares people away from a supposed portal to hell, but there have been several disappearances lately," Sam began, deliberately slowing down as he leafed through the newspaper articles.
Dean spit out the mouthwash and dried his mouth with the back of his hand.
"And?" he prodded.
"And it's in New Jersey," Sam admitted, sighing when he pictured the grimace on Dean's face.
"No way, Sammy. It's too far. I can't keep doing this. Lisa will begin to suspect something if I take a second camping trip in two months," Dean said with a frown.
"Dean, I... Look. I know that things are different, but I'd still like you to help me. If you can't, I do understand, but it's just not the same," Sam said quietly.
Dean detected a hint of nostalgia in his voice, and he couldn't help but grin.
"Sammy, let me get back to you. I'm gonna get some action first, and then I'll call ya later," Dean replied.
"Too much information, dude," Sam said with a shudder.
Dean emerged from the bathroom and grinned at Lisa with a seductive gaze.
"So, you wanna do this before Ben wakes up?" he asked with a wink.
He made his way over to the bed and climbed in next to Lisa.
"Who was that, Dean?" Lisa asked sleepily.
"Sam. He might come by later on," Dean said quickly.
"Now, where were we?" he drawled with a wicked grin.
11 am
Dean awoke several hours later. He noticed that a few of his muscles were decidedly tired, but he couldn't quite remember why.
As he blinked the sleep from his eyes, Dean noticed that his cell phone was flashing. He flipped open the cover and saw that he had 7 missed calls.
"What the hell?" he mumbled as he flipped through the call log.
All of the missed calls were from Sam.
Dean quickly dialed his brother's number and pinched the bridge of his nose as he waited for his brother to answer.
"Dean, what happened? Did you fall asleep or something?" Sam demanded.
"Huh? Yeah, Sam. Sorry," Dean admitted sheepishly.
"I've been trying to call you for hours! I'm at a motel in Arcadia right now," Sam said impatiently.
"So, are you in or not?" he continued, hoping that he could rouse Dean from his sleep-like state.
"Hmm? Sammy, gimme a moment here," Dean groaned.
"I can go alone, but...," Sam broke off, biting his lip as he tried to think of the right thing to say.
"Sammy, listen. I'll talk to Lisa and I'll think about it. You just rest those gargantuan feet and hold your horses for a bit," Dean answered lazily.
He hung up the phone and quickly got dressed.
Dean stopped for a moment when he looked at his duffel bag.
A wave of memories washed over him like a tsunami, and he could almost smell the musty air of the million and one motel rooms where that very same duffel had accompanied him and Sam. It had probably logged more miles than an international business man, and it symbolized everything that Dean used to be.
He remembered hearing Sam's voice for the first time several months ago, when he stared at his phone and almost dropped his beer bottle in disbelief.
He felt the desperation in Sam's hug and the tremor in his own shoulders as he clung to him like a dying man in front of that motel in Indianapolis.
Dean also felt that numb feeling that he experienced when Sam fell into the pit, that sense of loss that threatened to consume his sanity if he didn't drive far, far away from that fateful graveyard in Lawrence...
"Dean?"
Lisa's voice interrupted Dean's train of thought. She sat up in bed and stared at him worriedly.
"Is everything all right?"
"Lisa, Sam called before because he's going on a trip," Dean began as he rubbed the back of his head.
"And you're going with him, right?" Lisa finished his sentence.
Dean nodded.
"Lisa, I know that I just saw my brother recently, but he was- gone- for so long, and I just need to see him again," Dean said earnestly, wincing when he heard his voice crack with emotion.
"It's okay, honey," Lisa soothed. She got up and threw her arms around Dean.
"You can go with him. Just get back safe and sound," she said as she kissed his cheek gently.
"Thank you," he said simply.
Dean began packing the duffel bag with the few items of clothing that he owned. He took one last look at Lisa and smiled sadly at her as he headed out the door and walked over to the Impala.
He started up the car and sighed as he heard the engine hum to life.
Dean quickly dialed Sam's number and waited until he heard his brother pick up on the other end.
"Hey, Sammy. How long will it take you to get ready, man?" Dean asked.
"Dean? What made you change your mind?" Sam asked with mild surprise.
"I dunno, Sammy, but I can tell you one thing- New Jersey is 12 hours away and we've got work to do," Dean answered.
He flipped on the radio and settled on the oldies station.
They say that the road ain't no place to start a family. Right down the line, it's been you and me
"Journey again?" Dean muttered as he pressed down on the gas and headed towards the motel in Arcadia.
TBC...
I hope you like it so far! Sorry for the slow start! I wanted to kind of base the story on the fact that season 6 will be like season 1, but with some obvious differences. I also didn't want to transcribe the reunion between Dean and Sam, but reveal it through a flashback instead.
More questions will be answered in upcoming chapters. Will things be different between Sam and Dean? Sam is dead set on going after monsters again, but is he trying too hard to make things like they used to be?