"So, how long have you known Sam and Dean?" Gwen asked Rufus.
"I met Dean a few years ago, briefly. He was looking for somebody. Then, I met up with both the boys on what we thought was a demon thing and it turned out to be War."
"War?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, the horsemen, War."
"That's above my skill level," Gwen admitted.
"That's above everybody's skill level," Rufus assured her.
"So, this is only your second time working with them?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, pretty much. Why?"
"I don't know. I've only worked with Dean a couple of times myself. He's like a mystery to me."
"Dean's not as complicated as everybody makes him out to be. We had a real heart-to-heart before I sent him on his way that first time. Dean is all about family and self-sacrifice. You know he sold his soul to save Sam, right?"
"No, I didn't know that," Gwen said. She couldn't think of anybody she would sell her soul for. That was just crazy to do, not selfish not to do as far as she was concerned. "So, that's how he ended up in Hell the first time?"
"You knew he was in Hell, but you didn't know about the demon deal?" Rufus asked, thinking that odd.
"Sam told us about Dean's stint in Hell because we were torturing creatures to get info and Sam was relating a little trick that Dean had learned down under. He didn't say why he was there, though, and none of us thought to ask. Sam was a little scary back then and if he didn't volunteer information, you didn't go looking for it."
"So, you didn't like him, I take it?" Rufus asked.
"Not really. But he was Samuel's grandson, so I pretended to."
"I know all about pretending," Rufus said, cryptically.
Gwen was going to ask him what he meant, but something in his manner told her not to.
SSS
"I ought to kill you here and now," Dean said to Samuel.
"Whatever, Dean. Look, I'm sorry I turned you over to Crowley. But, I really miss your mother."
"I miss her, too, but you can't sacrifice other people for other people," Dean said, wondering if that made sense.
"I know. I was just desperate. Dean, you don't know what it's like to lose a child and I hope you never do. You're not supposed to outlive your children."
"Well, technically you didn't. You came back to life after she was gone."
"Yeah, well for some odd reason, there's not a saying about that. You know, I liked you when I first met you. Before I died."
"I liked you back then, too," Dean admitted.
"Sam, on the other hand. I tried to like him because he's Mary's son and he was helping me, but it was hard. Are you telling me that he's really nothing like he was in the time I was with him?"
"Well, Sam's just as smart as RoboSam, but that's pretty much the only similarity. He has changed a lot in the last few years, though," Dean admitted. He was thinking that the Sam of today barely resembled the Sam that he had gone to Stanford to get just six years ago. And it wasn't because of how out of control his hair had become. But speaking of that, he resolved to get on Sam's case about a haircut.
"How so?" Samuel asked, interrupting Dean's follicle thoughts.
"I don't know. It's hard to put my finger on any one thing. He's a lot more confident than he used to be, but that probably just comes from age. He used to hate hunting, but now I think he kind of likes it."
"Hard to imagine Sam hating hunting," Samuel said.
Dean smiled. "Believe me, it's true. As soon as he was 18, he left. Didn't hear from him for four years until I went to get him to help me find Dad."
"Find your father? Where was he?" Samuel asked.
"Hunting the yellow-eyed demon. Guess he ditched me to keep me safe."
"So, Sam just left to go find him. Guess he has some family loyalty after all." Even if it's the wrong branch of the family, Samuel thought to himself.
"No. Not exactly. He went off with me for the weekend to look for him. We didn't find him, though, and Sam said he couldn't help any more because he had a law school interview on Monday." Dean had never wanted to think about it before, but Sam would have been a great lawyer. Nobody could argue like him and juries would eat up his puppy dog eyes.
"That was selfish."
"I used to think so, too. But it wasn't. Not really. Nobody in their right mind wants this life. Sam would have helped people a different way."
"So, what happened? He didn't get into law school and decided hunting was a good back up?"
"No. When I took him back home that night, his girlfriend was burning alive on the ceiling. Just like Mom did. And like Dad, Sam became all about revenge."
"I didn't know about that," Samuel said.
"I'm not surprised. Probably wasn't all that important to RoboSam. But believe me, Jessica was the love of his life. He was messed up for a while after that. Nightmares, guilt, grief, everything. There were times I wasn't sure he would make it."
Hearing that, Samuel thought maybe he had misjudged his grandson after all. Once more, the doors swung open.
They all met in the same place again.
"Sun's coming up," Rufus said. "We should leave."
"Weird that nothing happened here last night," Gwen remarked.
But that wasn't entirely true. A lot had happened. Bobby and Sam had patched up their relationship. Bobby and Rufus had permanently severed theirs. And Samuel came to see his grandsons as his grandsons. Not as people put in his path to hinder the return of his daughter.
The End
