A/N Last night's episode left me literally sick to my stomach, feeling as though my heart had been broken. As far as I am concerned right now, there is nothing the writers can do that would make what happened okay at all. I wanted to do something to clear it from my head, but I think Dean has had enough pain for the night (yeah, I surprised myself with that too) and if I start hurting Sam I might not stop right now. So, that left me with this - short, but my moment of detox so maybe I can sleep. Maybe. I own nothing and, if I did, I would not be quite so upset right now.
Several hundred miles of road grime do not come off easy. The guys get to shower, if not daily then pretty close. The Impala, though, requires a bit more care and planning. Dean is more than happy to put the time and energy into it when he is not nursing broken bones, blood loss, concussions or his brother's injuries, researching whatever supernatural creature they are trying to kill next or just saving people in general. Translation: the Impala does not get her bath nearly often enough.
And in the craziness that is their lives, Dean remembers talking his father into buying the Impala before he was even conceived. Angels, daemons and time travel, his life is a barrel of laughs.
When he is hosing down his baby, though, everything else can just melt away. When he is up to his elbows in soapy water, scrubbing every bit of dirt and insect carcass off every inch of her gorgeous chrome trim and glossy black skin, he is just an average guy. Not that he really knows what that is, or what he would do with himself if that were the case.
No, his life is pain and exhaustion, danger and lies, but it is the only life he has known since she died. It is the life he has lived with what is left of his family. It is the life he and his brother have lived since their father died. It is the common bond with his brother, and he would not change it.
Sometimes, though, he wishes he could spend more time washing and waxing his baby. She does a lot for them and she deserves it.
