"Heya, Sammy." Dean smiled to himself and turned around from where he had his arms braced on the railing of the bridge.
Sam looked just as young as he remembered, hands tucked into his pockets in a half unsure, half hopeful manner. "So this is heaven, huh?" He said quietly.
"You kept me waiting," Dean told him with a smile that was equal parts bitter and relieved.
Sam snorted and his shoulders relaxed. "I missed you," he told Dean, with as much sincerity he could pack into his voice.
"Bitch," Dean told him, making his way to Baby's drivers-side. Sam reached for the handle of the passenger door, as much out of habit as anything, and said, "Jerk."
They both swung themselves into the car and shut their respective doors behind them.
Dean turned the keys in the ignition and Baby rumbled to life, her engine a low throaty growl.
Sam rested his hands on the dashboard almost reverently. "And I've missed this," he said lowly.
Sam pulled his seatbelt across his chest, clicking the buckle as Dean shifted into drive and pushed his foot down on the accelerator.
"You've never done that before," he remarked, glancing across at Sam.
His brother glanced down at the belt ruefully. "Old habits die hard I suppose. Do you really think that Eileen let me drive the car with Junior in it if I wasn't wearing a seatbelt?"
Dean snorted and the speedometer inched up ever so slightly. "You've gone soft, Sammy. Civilian life hasn't treated you well at all."
Sam rolled his eyes and pushed a few buttons on the radio. He screwed his face up at the song. "Really?"
Dean laughed and tapped his fingers on the wheel in time with the music. "This song plays a lot. I don't know why exactly, but I like it." He broke into a grin suddenly, "Besides, Kansas rules!"
Sam stopped trying to change the station and slumped back in his seat with a sigh.
"Christ," Dean laughed. "Over forty years apart and within the first five minutes, you're already bitching."
Sam chose not to dignify that with an answer.
They sat in silence for a while and the only sound was that of the engine and the song continuing to play,
'Carry on my wayward son,'
Sam was now gazing out the window at the countryside rolling by and the sunlight streaming through the windows. It was almost always sunny here.
"He did it then," Sam marveled. "Jack. He actually broke all the walls down. Created a paradise for everyone."
Dean nodded wordlessly.
'There'll be peace when you are done.'
"So-" Sam hesitated for a moment. "So, they're all here then. Mom… Dad… Bobby."
"Yeah." Dean cleared his throat ever so slightly. "I have a job here. I work at Harvelle's with Ellen and Jo and Ash.
"Every Sunday, I go over to have dinner with Mom and Dad. Bobby and I play poker together and drink on Monday nights. Rufus is there sometimes, the both of them are still crotchety sons of bitches. Miracle absolutely adores Bobby and practically lives there now.
"It's a good place here, Sammy," he told his brother.
'Lay your weary head to rest,'
"I have monthly meet-ups with Charlie. Sometimes we watch movies. She taught me how to play D&D, so we do that occasionally." He paused and shuddered. "Charlie and Ash are friends. That will never not be terrifying.
I drop in to visit Kevin, Pam and Missouri sometimes. Jody and Donna.
We're all here together. I even see Mick and Ketch occasionally, even if we do try to limit exposure. We don't invite them to gatherings."
'Don't you cry no more.'
The song finished, the ending chords fading out and then immediately started again. Sam groaned, tipping his head back to the wind rushing through the cracked open window.
Dean shook his head. "Crowley, that slimy son of a bitch, managed to escape the Empty. God- Who knows how. He's back to making crossroad deals now that his mommy's on the throne. Gabe and Balthazar both got brought back from the Empty as well, thanks to Jack, quite a few angels were, since Heaven was short on them.
They like to drop in from time to time, just to torment me. Adam comes around from time to time. Kelly, she's here."
"What-" Sam cleared his throat. "What about Cas? And Jack? Do you… ever hear anything from them?"
There was the telltale flutter and snap of wings and Cas leant forward to rest his arms on the front seat. "Hello, Dean. Sam." A small smile played about his lips. His hair was dark and wind-tousled and he looked just as alive as ever.
"Hey Cas." Dean said, leaning back and placing his arm along the seats so that their faces were about level.
Sam smiled so wide that his cheeks hurt. "Hey Cas."
"Hi," said another voice from the backseat. Jack leaned forward as well.
Sam practically broke his back trying to twist around to hug the younger boy. Jack reciprocated with no lack of enthusiasm.
"Jack!" Sam said when he had pulled away. "How have you been?"
"Good!" Jack said brightly, then a tiny frown formed on his face. "Really good I think. Heaven has been… difficult. But Castiel has been helping me." He brightened. "I like PB&J."
"That's good Jack," Sam said, laughing a little. "That's really good."
"I don't like it as much as I thought I would." Jack nodded sagely. "But I can come down here whenever I want. And Cas can too." He sighed slightly. "I miss earth sometimes."
Cas had a faraway look on his face. Like he was remembering something painful.
Jack continued, "But I don't think I could ever go back. I'm a different person than I was before. A lot has changed."
Cas said quietly, so low they almost didn't hear him, "This is who we are. A product of war."
There was silence for a minute and then Dean said, "Wow, Cas. Way to be a buzzkill."
Cas ducked his head slightly, his cheeks lighting up a little bit, and Sam wondered what was going on there.
"We've all been through a lot." He said. "We did a lot of good. Saved a lot of people."
"We worked so hard for this world." His brother affirmed. "We worked so hard for change, for things to be better."
"And now they are." Sam grinned.
"Now they are," Dean agreed. "All thanks to Jack." He shot a smile in the rearview mirror at him.
"No." Cas countered, "Thanks to all of us."
"All of us," Dean echoed. "Two former hunters, a dead angel and a half-breed god."
They all lapsed into an easy silence. Easy because they had done this a hundred times before.
All there was, was the song playing on the radio and the mountains looming in the windshield. They didn't speak again. Didn't need to.
Because this? This here?
Just the open road in front of them, the miles put behind them.
The possibilities in the windscreen and the nightmares left in the rearview mirror.
Just the four of them, Team Free Will together in the beat up Impala.
This was home.
'Carry on, we will always remember,
Carry on, nothing equals the splendor.
Now your life's no longer empty,
Surely heaven waits for you.'