Disclaimer: I do not own anything Supernatural, it is all property of the CW11 Network, and whatnot, so don't sue me, please.
Chapter 18
Dean Winchester let out a shaky breath through clenched teeth as he reached out towards the door-handle that would open the side passenger door of the 1967 Chevy Impala.
His hand shook as he gripped the cold metal and used every ounce of his will to pry the door open with a jerked yank.
Dean felt his head begin to spin when the acrid odor of long dried blood assailed his nostrils.
He swallowed down the urge to hurl up what meager contents his stomach held right then and there and with a small, barely audible moan, he reached out with shaky hands towards the tattered green blanket that was draped over the back seat.
With his eyes burning with the salt of tears barely kept at bay, Dean gripped the edge of the tattered blanket and slowly pulled it off of the leather seats.
The sight that greeted him nearly made Dean pass out in horror.
The once shiny, leather interior of his beloved Impala was now graced with dry, caked on, brownish red stains that seemed to have been etched into the shiny black surface of the leather.
" Oh God." Whispered Dean as he sank to his knees, all but collapsing onto the cement floor of Missouri's garage, the open cardoor was the only thing holding him up as Dean buried his face into his hands.
Fresh tears spilled from his hazel-green eyes as he lost his composure.
The memories of that night, the night when he'd been frantically driving down the deserted highway with his baby brother bleeding to death in the back seat, in their father's arm.
The echoes of his Sammy's choked and dying voice filled Dean's mind.
So lost was Dean in his misery, he didn't notice someone else enter the garage.
The next thing he knew, a familiar pair of warm, fatherly arms gently had pulled him into a tight hug.
" Dean?" Asked John as he sat beside his child and held him close, not daring to look behind him into the interior of the Impala.
" D-Dad I... I have to clean it off... I have to clean off all that... I have to clean it of..." Said Dean with a small sob and an equally small voice.
" Dean, you can't do it my yourself. We'll do it, we'll clean it off. But it can wait, it can wait." Said John with tears clogging his own voice as he tightened his hold around Dean.
" I want him back Dad." Whispered Dean into his father's neck.
" I know Dean, I know. I want him back too. I want him back too." Whispered John.
" Dad, what's gonna happen?" Asked Dean, he sounded like a scared little boy and it instantly broke John Winchester's heart.
His strong, stoic son had been reduced to this.
All because of the Yellow Eyed Demon.
John felt a surge of pure hatred and raw rage flare up when his mind drifted to the Demon and what it had done to his family.
To his Mary.
To his Sam.
To his Dean.
It was in that one moment that John swore with all of his heart, even more so than when his Mary had been taken from him.
The Demon would die, no matter when, no matter how, no matter what.
It. Would. Die.
They still had the Colt, locked safely in a metal box with Devil's Traps drawn over every side.
But for now, he had a heartbroken son to give comfort to and long dried blood to clean out of the backseat of said son's car.
" I really don't know Dean. But for now, do you want to clean the car?" He asked softly.
All Dean did was beging to cry in ernest.
After about fifteen minutes of giving in to despair for the countless time. Dean and John pulled themselves together.
" I'll go get the cleaner." Said Dean quietly, his face pale and tight-lipped and his eyes puffy and bloodshot.
" I'll get the rest." Said John equally as quietly, giving a small nod to Dean as the two of them quickly went off to get the reffered to cleaning items.
A few minutes later, both father and oldest son were back in the garage, Dean holding a large bottle of soap cleaner, John holding two large buckets, a few rags and sponges, and two pairs of rubber gloves.
Mutely, John handed Dean a pair of gloves and a few of the rags and sponges he'd been carrying as he walked over to the small worksink over on the garages side wall.
John turned on the tap with his eyes burning, the sound of the water cascading from the faucet was amplified by the dead silence that was already filling the garage.
The buckets were mechanically filled and one was handed over to Dean, who'd already donned his set of rubber gloves.
With slightly trembling hands, John Winchester rolled up his sleeves and slid on his own pair of gloves.
Together, they walked around to either side of the Impala to it's backseat.
With shaking hands, Dean unscrewed the cap off the bottle of lemon scented cleaner and dumped a little bit of the syrup-like yellow liquid into his bucket of water.
He then held it out to John, his arm going into the interior of the Impala and hovering over the center of the seat, where the most blood had been stained.
He held out the bottle to John. A silent plea to be met halfway. A silent plea for strength.
John felt his heart shatter further as he stared across the dark tunnel the inside of the Impala had created at his oldest son.
With a small sniffle, John reached out and met Dean's hand at the center of the tunnel.
Under the guise of gripping the bottle of cleaner, John's fingers mingled with Dean's for a few long second before they inevitably let eachother go, the bottle now in John's hand.
John mechanically mirrored his son's previous actions before setting the bottle down and reaching for a sponge, Dean doing the same.
The water and soap were gently swirled around by grieving hands until a spft, froth of milky white soap suds was floating over the surface of the water.
Dean was the first to take his very saturated sponge and hold it over the backseat, and the dark stains that graced the leather.
With his hands shaking and his eyes weeping in silent anguish, Dean wrung the sponge, expelling the soapy water it held within its porous confines.
The water spalshed dully onto the leather and diluted the dried blood... Sammy's blood, as it made contact.
Swallowing back a wave of naseau, Dean began to scrub at the stains, the sponge in his hand and the fingers of his rubber gloves turning a sickly brownish red.
With a small shudder, John followed after his son.
Together, they cleaned the car.
Barely holding themselves together as they did so.
To think, in one more week, it would officially be a whole month since Sam had been taken from them.
One more week before the both of them would have their world turned toppsy turvey, upside down and sideways...
Again.
Meanwhile, in a place where time flowed a little differently...
Sam Winchester found himself gawking at the woman sitting at the table next to him.
Alkaya however, had her sole focus on what was waiting to be eaten before her.
A very large bowl of chocolate and vanilla icecream, with cubs of diced pickles mixed in.
" Your not really gonna eat that... are you?" Asked Sam, his answer was Alkaya giving him a pretty little smirk before she shouveled a big spoonfull of the icecream-pickle combo into her mouth.
" Oh good Lord." Groaned Sam before he buried his face into his hands.
This was the latest in a series of weird foodcravings.
Alkaya was now five and a half months along, well into her second trimester and Sam could barely keep up with the mother of his unborn child.
Before the current icecream-pickle blend Alkaya was wolfing down with a serious vengeance, there had first been the corndogs dipped in whipped cream. Shortly after that, it had been Tuna fish sanwiched with grape jelly instead of mayo. A whole bunch of normally stomach churning combinations of food had been devoured without restraint.
" To think, this is all supposed to be normal." Muttered Sam under his breath as he watched Alkaya scrap at the now empty bowl with her spoon, wanting any remaining morsel of her snack.
" Well it is normal Bean Stalk, if it grosses you out so much, cover your eyes and hold your nose. I hear that helps." Retorted Alkaya with a small chuckle.
Sam was about to return the snarky comment with one of his own when Alkaya let out a startled yelp.
" Alkaya?!" Asked Sam in alarm as he shot out of his chair and was beside her in an instant.
" What is it? What's wrong?" Asked the frantic father to be as he kneeled beside Alkaya who was staring back at him with a shocked expression on her face.
Then, Sam watched as the shocked expression slowly turned into a big, mega-watt grin that seemed to make Alkaya glow with a radiant light.
She reached out and took a stunned Sam's hand by the wrist and gently pressed his palm against her five and a half month bump.
" Alkaya what..." Sam began, but a small movement under his hand made his voice dry up in his throat instantly.
Sam's face grew slack as realization dawned on him.
" Looks like I got a future soccer player in me." Smiled Alkaya, her hand coming to cover Sam's.
Sam's face grew from shock to joyous disbelief, a goofy grin plastering itself onto his face.
" Our Bun just kicked." He whispered in awe.
" Did you just refer to our baby as 'Our Bun'?" Asked Alkaya with a perfectly shaped eyebrow quirking.
" Yeah, I mean... I didn't want to keep calling the baby an 'It' " Said Sam sheepishly.
" Aww, you're such a girl Sam." Chuckled Alkaya.
Sam's happy grin faltered as these words they sounded a lot like the words someone else had spoken to him from what seemed a lifetime ago.
" Well yeah, of course I'm awesome, you on the other hand, are just a total girl."
Dean's voice echoed through Sam's mind as he remembered a few of his older brother's final words to him before he'd...
Sam found his chest and throat contricting painfully as tears began to burn behind his eyes.
" Sam?" Asked Alkaya, concern etched across her face.
Sam let out a small, shaky sigh before he cleared his throat and shook his head.
" I'm okay. I'm okay, really. It's just... Dean said I was a total girl to before..." Sam trailed off.
" I'm sorry Sam." Said Alkaya quietly.
Sam shook his head and smile before he reached out with his free hand and gently ran his fingers over a few of Alkaya's braids.
" Don't be. Like you said, it's not goodbye forever, We'll see them soon. Just two more months and we're out of here."
Alkaya smiled and gave the hand that was resting over her belly a small squeeze.
" Yeah, two more months and then it'll be back to the real world, and you'll be ready. You'll be who you were meant to be." Sighed Alkaya.
" And you'll be by my side?" Asked Sam with a loving smile.
" Of course, there's nowhere I'd rather be." Smiled Alkaya.
Then, both Sam and Alkaya let out startled chuckles as they both felt a speacial someone move from within Alkaya's womb.
" Looks like Peanut approves too." Sighed Alkaya.
Sam chuckled deeply before he leaned in and planted a soft kiss to Alkaya's protruding bump before he whispered.
" Glad we're all in agreement."