Chapter 10
"Dean!" Metatron called again and Dean rounded the corner of the garden.
"I'm here, I'm here," he said gruffly and Metatron smiled.
"Good, good. Can you tell me something?"
"I'll try," offered Dean.
"Who won the contest? I can't seem to recall." Dean looked over to Metatron to see if the angel scribe was making a joke but his eyes were wide and genuine.
"Uh...I did," Dean said and Metatron groaned. He started to walk and Dean fell in beside him.
"I was really hoping to cut off your head," he stated.
"Well, better luck next time," Dean offered with a half grin.
"Time is running short anyway" Metatron mused. "Hunter, here we must run as fast as we can, just to stay in place. And if you wish to go anywhere you must run twice as fast as that."
"I would hate to be a bother to your schedule with my unplanned execution," Dean mused in return.
"In any case, I must make busy to prepare the trial. In your case I think it best if you visit the Roadhouse. Bobby can show you the way. Go and let them occupy you until the trials time. I will send for you then." Dean stopped walking and watched Metatron prance ahead; seemingly oblivious that he was there and then gone.
Bobby. Could he really be there? It would make sense but Dean didn't imagine he would ever see the guy again. Bobby was more his father than John ever was. But to see him here, distorted by the madness of this place... Dean didn't know if he could take it.
"Hello, ya idjit," came a voice from behind him, and Dean slowly turned to see Bobby standing in the shade of the garden bushes.
"Bobby," Dean breathed and the bearded man smiled.
"Come on, let's blow this popsicle stand. I have some friends who are dying to see you... no pun intended of course." Dean smiled warmly and followed Bobby out of the garden.
"Bobby, can you tell me where I am?" Dean asked and Bobby shrugged. "Doesn't much matter where you are. What matters is how you get back."
"Ok, then how do I get back?" Dean ventured but already they were approaching the Roadhouse in the clearing.
"Come on," Bobby said, "we'll talk more inside." Dean followed Bobby closely and they entered the Roadhouse together. It looked just as it had so many years ago. Nostalgia gripped at Dean's heart and he ran his hands over the smooth wood of the dingy bartop.
"Hello stranger," a girls voice sounded and Dean turned with a smile.
"Jo!" He exclaimed and closed the distance to pull her into a hug.
"Aren't you a sight for sore eyes," Ellen said and Dean reached out to hug her as well. This was his family back when he still believed that he was doing the right thing. That he was saving people. He lost them all, one by one, and so many after them too. Seeing them all together again made him wish he could turn back the clock and just fix so many of the mistakes he's made.
"I keep getting bounced around," Dean said with a smile, "I'm never sure where I'm going to be from one minute to another."
"That's the thing about dreams," Bobby said beside him, "No real time line to go off of."
"This is a dream?" Dean asked.
"Of course it's a dream!" Ellen said with a laugh.
"That's impossible," Dean said, shaking his head.
"So what if it is!" Exclaimed Jo, "Why, sometimes I've believed as many as six impossible things before breakfast."
"So what do I do?" Dean asked all the of them, "how do I wake up?"
"That's simple," said Bobby.
"You just need to be the hunter," said Jo.
"You just have to save the Knave," said Helen.
Dean wanted to just throw his head back and scream. "What the hell is a Knave!" He shouted.
"A Knave is a servant," Castiel said from behind him, and Dean turned to watch his friend appear at the Roadhouse entrance.
"Good to see you're back," Dean remarked.
"I never left you, Dean," Cas said softly.
"A Knave is a servant," Bobby repeated.
"Usually a boy," added Jo.
"As opposed to an older man," Castiel clarified.
"Yeah, I get that," said Dean.
"A Knave can be dishonest," offers Ellen.
"A rogue," said Bobby.
"A rascal," said Jo.
"But not to everyone," Castiel offers.
"Only to the hand he's dealt in," says Ellen.
"Only to the house that controls him," says Bobby.
"Metatron," Dean whispers and all four nod in unison.
"So here is a riddle," a new voice interjects, and Dean turns to see Gabriel, top hat and all, saunter into the room. It was jarring and odd to see the two angels in a place they never knew existed in reality.
"What boy, what Knave, is a servant to the house of Metatron but betrays the house to his friends?" Dean didn't need to remember Benny's story to supply the answer.
"Kevin," he said softly.
"Save the Knave," Jo whispers.
"Come," said Gabriel, "I'm here to bring you back by word of Metatron. The trial is about to begin."