The day had gone just as John had prayed it would. He spent the day going from barn to barn and along aisle upon aisle of displayed cars joking and laughing with his sons. He watched as his oldest let his guard down enough so he could relax and really enjoy himself. He noticed that a spark had returned to his oldest son's eyes and for a brief moment lamented the fact that their lives wouldn't allow for it to remain. Shaking his head John pushed that thought out of his mind. Today was their day off and come Hell or high water they were going to enjoy it.
Dean at first had been overwhelmed by the sheer amount of vehicles that sat waiting to be admired that he didn't know where to begin and was more than happy to follow his dads lead. That was until, while standing in line at the pretzel cart he heard about the muscle car exhibit located in a barn on the other side of the grounds. The gentleman who was telling his friend about it mentioned that the best part for him was taking the double-decker bus ride to the barn.
Dean headed back to his dad, Sam and Max pretzels in hand and a big smile on his face. He handed Sam and Max their pretzel then turned and handed John his. He told his dad about what he had overheard and asked if they could go. John thought it sounded like fun and started over to the line for the bus. Sam and Max decided that they weren't too interested in the bus ride or the cars and headed off to the barn that held some of the original props for the movie Darby O'Gill and the Little People. They had agreed to meet back at the Imapla in about forty-five minutes.
Dean decided he wanted to ride on the upper-deck of the bus, even if it wasn't an open air ride like some he had seen on tv, he just wanted the experience. He quietly watched the people and rows of cars as they passed by and wished that this day could go on forever. He liked seeing his dad having a good time and not worrying about what the night would bring. He liked being a normal family.
They reached their stop, piled out of the bus with the other passengers and headed for the muscle car exhibit. The barn was smaller then the others up on the main grounds and held only a few cars, but it quickly became Dean's favorite spot for the day. He was disappointed that there wasn't any Impala's on display but he had to admit that the Mustang's, Camaro's and Corvette's made up for it, well at least a little They had finished looking through the barn in time to catch the next bus ride back.
Dean and John made it back to the Impala around the same time Max and Sam did. Hal looked at his watch and noted that it was getting close to five and that they should probably get the car loaded back on to its trailer so that John and Steven could take her back to his house. Dean didn't care too much for that idea; he had wanted to drive her home.
John reminded him that they needed to keep the appearance up that the car belonged to Hal and that he would have plenty of time to drive her later, Dean reluctantly gave in. John let out a sigh of relief as the need to keep the appearance up wasn't the only reason he didn't want Dean to drive. John could tell that his son was hurting, even if he did his best to hide it. He knew that Dean was tired from the walking they had been doing and he could tell that his arm was beginning to bother him. He felt it best that he not drive while feeling like this.
Hal clapped Dean on his back and told him to take a seat on the golf cart and he would drive them back to his car. Sam and Max had wondered off a little ways to talk to a guy Max knew when they noticed Hal pulling away. John found himself laughing yet again as he watched his youngest son and their family friend chase down the cart trying to get a ride back as well.
While Sam and Max helped Hal load the golf cart back onto its trailer, Dean went off to use the restroom. He had finished washing his hands and was tossing the paper towel in the wastebasket when without warning he found himself locked in a choke hold. The person had snuck up from behind and wrapped their arm around his neck and was slowly cutting off his oxygen supply.
Damn, Dean thought to himself. He had taken one of his pain meds about a half hour before and it had chosen this time to start working, dulling his senses and allowing for him to be jumped by surprise. He had thought that it would be alright to take one since he wasn't driving or anything and his arm had really been bothering him. He wasn't that hungry and figured that he would just go up to bed as soon as they had gotten back to Hal's. It hadn't sounded like that bad of an idea, but now, well now he wasn't so sure.
Doing his best to focus Dean shoved his elbow back, as hard as he could, into the stomach of the person who was holding him. He heard the person grunt as his elbow made contact, but the blow lacked the necessary force to do anything more than irritate his attacker. His unknown assailant rammed him face first into the wall, held him there with one hand and punched him in his kidney with the other.
Stunned, Dean felt his knees give way and he dropped to them gasping for air, his arms wrapped around his middle. Reaching out with his good arm, he grabbed a hold of the closest sink and tried to pull himself up. His assailant laughed as he stood watching him struggle. Bending down so his lips were pressed next to Dean's ear the man sneered, "I don't suppose you're feeling to up for a rematch right now, are you? I don't know how you did it, but somehow you rigged that race, I was the best, there was no way you should have won. Especially in that pile of crap you were passing off as a car."
Having managed to get to his feet Dean turned around. "Jonah," he hissed holding onto his injured side, "I didn't have to rig the race; me and my baby were just way better then you and yours." Dean staggered as he fought to stay awake, the effects of the medication he had taken were going into full swing and he felt himself being pulled into unconsciousness.
Jonah snarled, drew his fist back and thrust it forward delivering a crushing blow to the center of Dean's face. The blow sent Dean stumbling backwards causing him to trip and fall; hitting his head on the sink he had used to pull himself up with. Dean lost his fight to remain too conscious and he fell into a limp heap on the bathroom floor.
Sam who had began to wonder what was taking his brother so long had walked into the bathroom right as Jonah's punch sent Dean stumbling back. Angered by what he had just witnessed Sam jumped his brothers attacker from behind knocking the stunned man, face first to the floor. Jonah hit his head against the hard tiled surface and blacked out.
Satisfied that the man was no longer a threat to his brother, Sam went to check on Dean. He felt for his brother's pulse after making sure it was steady and strong he began to check his brother over for signs of broken bones or other serious injury. He found a bruise forming at the spot where Jonah had first hit his brother, and took in the sight of the blood still flowing from his brother's broken nose. Clenching his hands he stood and walked to the bathroom entrance, keeping an eye on his brother and Jonah, he pulled the door open and called for Max and Hal to come help.
Hal couldn't believe what he saw right in front of his own eyes. It had been three years since Jonah had lost to Dean; to keep a grudge that long was unconceivable to him. Hal had heard through the grapevine that the loss had been hard on Jonah. Rumor had it that Jonah's father had beaten him whenever he lost. That was why Jonah strived so hard to be the best. The night that Jonah had lost to Dean his father had beaten him so severely that the injuries caused by that beating prevented him from ever being able to race again. Jonah had promised that he would get even with the one person he had blamed for his misfortune, no matter how long it took. It looked as if he had made good on that promise.
