Sam waited on a little stool in the bathroom as Baby gripped the edges of the toilet with shaking hands and got rid of all the poison in his newly human system.
"You know, I thought 'inside' would be way more impressive." Baby huffed out a sad excuse for a laugh and spat the oil from his mouth into the water below. "I've never been in a house before. I thought this 'inside' that you guys always spent all your time would be…I don't know, cooler." Baby tried to smile, but his voice was strained and his complexion still a little sickly.
"Yeah, well, sorry to disappoint." Sam huffed out a laugh. "And trust me, this isn't the best room you'll ever be in. It's a pretty shitty motel, actually."
Baby retched, burying his face into the toilet, and more dark oil pulled like glue from his lips, plopping into the water in the bowl.
He groaned and rested his cheek on the porcelain, looking up at Sam with surprisingly innocent blue eyes despite the wolfishness of his eyebrows. Sam was overwhelmed with pity.
"I know, man. I'm sorry." Sam spoke up quietly. "We're getting you to the doctor's as soon as you stop blowing chunks. And as soon as Dean figures out how to get a ride there."
Baby spat the disgusting taste from his mouth and looked up at Sam again. "I'm sorry, Sammy. I wish I could still have you and Dean ride me still." He said it like there was nothing abnormal with the phrase at all.
"Uh..." Sam started. "Maybe…um…phrase that a little differently next time? Just because, well, people in public might get the wrong idea."
Baby looked embarrassed. "Oh. Sorry." He looked away. "You know what I meant, though. I wish I was still your car. I didn't mean for this to happen. I still don't know what happened."
Sam's eyebrows tipped upward a little in sympathy. "I believe you. Any idea as to what did it?"
Baby shrugged, straightening his back a little and resting his elbows on the sides of the toilet, curling his fingers behind the nape of his neck. "I dunno. Gabriel, maybe."
Sam almost felt a little weirded out that this guy who looked like a total stranger must have known so much about him. Baby cradled his face in one palm, still looking at Sam.
"I was there, Sam." He started, his voice gentle. "For when Gabriel messed with you all those Tuesdays." His voice was low and rumbly, but strangely comforting.
Sam's face went a little pale at the memory. He didn't quite know what to say. He swallowed. "You…were?"
"You know, I really hope it isn't Gabriel who made me into this." Baby pressed his lips together in a line, blinking and flicking his eyes up to meet Sam's again. "I don't want to see you go through that kind of thing again. You or Dean."
Sam flashed him a tiny smile. "Thanks." He still felt a little strange looking at this guy. It had always been him and Dean. Even with John there, he never felt as close with him as he did with Dean. And this guy...Sam still was having a little trouble wrapping his head around how much this guy must have known about him. He was like another brother, one who's been there the whole time, just not actually there there.
"I don't think I'm gonna be sick anymore." Baby spoke up, clambering to his feet, straightening up and stretching, his fingers interlaced and above his head as he wiggled his back a little, just like Dean did every morning. Sam smiled a little at the similarity and also stood up, stepping out of the bathroom and waiting as Baby washed his mouth out in the sink like Sam had told him to.
Dean shot him a green-eyed glare as Sam closed the door softly behind him. "How is he? Did he braid your hair as you guys talked about feelings and how you guys are going to be bros for life?" He snorted cynically. "You realize he could be playing us, Sam? Pulling the long con? We might have to kill him in the end. He could be anything, dammit."
"I know that, Dean." Sam spoke up, the thought had been in the back of his mind, but he didn't want to think about it. "Did you call a cab to take us out to the hospital? Get him checked out?"
Dean was frowning. "Yeah, I got it. Maybe we'll start getting some answers there." He shoved his hands into his denim pockets and shifted his weight from foot to foot, what he did whenever he felt unsure. "Hey, Bay- uh, Impala! Hurry up in there!"
"Well," The nurse said, a baffled look on her face as she pointed out the X-rays to Sam and Dean. "I must say I've never seen anything like this."
"Yeah, never heard that before." Dean muttered under his breath. Sam stomped on his foot. He cleared his throat and spoke up. "So?"
She pointed to his ribcage and spine. "See how thick these bones are, and the small lumps around most of his ribs? I'd guess he's broken most if not all of those ribs, and several vertebrae. It's amazing he's not paralyzed. His legs and arms seem to have been broken in several places many times as well. See how this alignment is slightly off?" She pointed to more bones against the black backdrop using the tip of her pen.
"Now, that's not the strangest thing by a long shot. See this here?" She indicated to his collarbone, and both Sam and Dean squinted at the same time. Very faintly carved into his collarbone, which must have translated into the dashboard in his car form, was a craggy "D.W. S.W."
Sam pretended to be shocked. "Wow! That's weird!" Dean shot him a look- a look that clearly said 'that was totally not convincing, Sam.'
"That's not even the weirdest thing. See these?" She pointed to a rectangular object wedged in his lung. "This is a lego. And this-" She dragged her pen down to what Dean guessed was one of his kidneys. "One of those little green army men. Can you believe that? I have no idea how those even got there."
Sam and Dean's eyes met. Sam shot Dean a very little-brother shit-eating grin, a mocking "I told you so", and Dean mouthed at him 'shut up!'
"Thanks so much, ma'am." Sam flashed her a small lift of his lips and led Dean away by the arm.
Dean looked pretty angry that Sam had proven him wrong.
"Dean, face the facts! The guy in that checkup room, it's Baby! There's no denying that now, and you know it." Sam said, and Dean was doing that thing where he set his jaw and his expression was tight and pissed off.
Sam jabbed a finger to his chest. "What's the matter with you?!" Sam berated him. "You love that old car! Why aren't you happy to meet him, Dean?"
Dean set his mouth in a line. "You know I have to keep my guard up, Sam. I can't afford to trust people like you do."
Sam lifted an eyebrow. "This has nothing to do with him being a guy?"
Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. "I thought she'd have a nice ass." He admitted in defeat.
Sam let out a groan. "I can't believe you, Dean! This is our car, and he's here and he's human! It's not like he chose to look like this! You need to get that stick out of your ass."
"I don't like him." Dean lied, frowning. Dammit, when he's taken a crowbar to the hood or smashed it through that SucroCorp sign or the countless other stuff he put the old machine through he never imagined that the thing would feel it.
"You don't even know him!" Sam let out a frustrated groan. "Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to go get him from the waiting room."
Sam stormed away from Dean, not knowing how Dean could be such an ass sometimes. He thought Dean of all people would love a human version of that old car. He thought it wouldn't matter that he was a guy. But he had read Dean wrong, apparently.
He peeked his head into the waiting room. "Hey, Baby?" The man whipped his head up, and Sam saw a guilty and somewhat scared expression on his face.
"Sam," He sighed in relief, quickly standing up and rushing over to him. "Sam...I think I'm running on empty." He said nervously, wringing his hands and looking at Sam with guilty pale blue eyes. "I estimate I only have around five miles left."
Sam brought his eyebrows together in confusion. "You...?"
Baby's stomach rumbled loudly, and his eyelids flew wide and he pressed his hands tight over his stomach. "Sam I'm running on fumes I have to get to a gas station now or I'm going to break down!" He fired out and grabbed Sam's shirt desperately. "Sam I don't want to break down!"
Sam couldn't help but smile. "Baby." He clapped a hand on his shoulder. "Baby, calm down. You're just hungry."
Baby looked confused instead of relieved. "Hungry?"
Sam laughed and clapped him on the back, leading him out the doors. "Let's go fill up that tank, then?"
