Ben doesn't sleep so well; he claims that there is a man standing outside his window, just beneath the street light that always seems to be broken these days...
Dean hasn't hunted in years; two to be precise. He promised Sam that he would embrace normal and he has tried, he has fucking tried.
He works in a garage now – mechanic then promotion to boss. He brought the business a few months ago and it is pretty much a success. He hired a girl to keep the books but she left recently – moans that the office was always too cold.
Dean – if he were on the ball – might notice the signs of spirit activity. The flickering lights, the cold spots, the fact that the cat never stays in the sitting room for too long.
But Dean is not the man he was; he doesn't hunt anymore, he has his normal life. He has Lisa and Ben and another baby on the way, he has his business, his car and his friends.
So he's happy right?
Perhaps…
The Impala is old, older than ever, she needs new tyres, her engine keeps cutting out and the brakes are unsafe. Dean sits in the front seat and stares out of the window, his hands playing over the steering wheel. Lisa has been nagging him to scrap the car – says it is an eyesore, that they could trade it in. He thinks about her saying it and he hates her for it, hates her for not understanding and then hates himself for his thoughts. His whole life is in this car and if that goes – he has nothing left.
Bobby finally flies out to visit in the fall; it is two years or more since they saw each other and Bobby looks old – older – his beard almost grey now, his hair thinning under the familiar cap. Ben likes Bobby; he shows him his computer, takes him out back to throw a baseball with him and then tells him about the tall man who stares up at his house.
Bobby doesn't tell Dean – he is no ones fool and he doesn't want to upset the boy or – worse – give him some sort of hope. He eats dinner with Dean and Lisa and then he waits until they have gone up to bed before he goes outside and sits on the porch – waiting.
It is Sam – but then he had suspected that from the very first time Ben opened his mouth. Sam – floppy hair and slanting eyes – crooked dimpled smile, shirt blue and baggy, those battered boots on his feet. He looks just the same as he did before Lucifer possessed him – he looks lost and frightened and alone and Bobby feels his throat close as he wonders what to do now.
Unfinished business – Bobby doesn't think so - but he can't be sure. Spirit? Demon? Lucifer? Bobby doesn't know but he needs to find out and he gets up off the porch and walks over, half expecting Sam to vanish or for Sam to snap his fingers and break Bobby's neck again.
Instead Sam smiles – sadly – and lifts a hand to keep Bobby at bay.
"I just need to see him," Sam says and Bobby wants to weep, "To make sure he kept his promise."
"You have to go," Bobby is gentle, "you have to go son – you – you are frightening the boy and – and Dean – if you don't let him go he will never be able to move on."
Sam rubs a hand through his hair, too shaggy, too long; he stares at Bobby with wet blue eyes and nods.
"Where do I go?" He asks finally and Bobby shakes his head; there is no body, no bones to salt and burn, just this lost and confused boy who has come back to the only home he knows.
"Why don't you go for a drive," Bobby gestures to the battered black car with its broken engine and worn out brakes. Unsafe for the living maybe – but – but safe enough for Sam.
Sam smiles then; he inclines his head and opens the door. When he slides inside the car bursts into life and Sam looks happier than Bobby ever saw him in life, his big hands on the wheel.
"Just your regular road trip," he says and the street lamp goes on again, illuminating the car and its driver one last time.
"See you on the other side son," Bobby is weary with crying so he just nods and waves, knowing that it will be sooner rather than later.
When he finishes rubbing his eyes – Sam and the car have gone.
Dean's son is born on 4th July and he calls him Sam.
Two days later he goes to the showroom and puts a deposit on a new Impala – black as midnight and full of promise.
He never knows who took his old Chevy – all he does know is that when he found her gone he felt a strange sense of happiness and release and – for the first time since Sam died – he felt happy.
When Sam turns 18, Dean teaches his son to drive.
And the Impala becomes home…
End