Dark Side of the Moon
Dean was sleeping in the motel room, on his stomach, face buried in his pillow. There were various beer cans and bottles scattered around the headboard before him. He shifted in his sleep and reached under his pillow for a moment before opening his eyes to see the blurry form of a man standing before him in a ski mask, aiming a gun at him.
"Looking for this?" the man asked, holding up the gun Dean tended to keep under his pillow. He watched as the man emptied the bullets and tossed it away.
Dean rolled over to see Sam sitting on the second bed, a gun aimed at him, but instead of looking stoic or even angry…Dean was startled to see Sam looking almost broken. He frowned, noticing something,
"Michelle?" he asked, pushing himself up to sit, and turning back to the main man, "You couldn't have gotten the jump on her."
"Not even she can dodge bullets," the second man replied, nodding his head over his shoulder.
Dean looked over, his eyes widening at the sight of Michelle's body, lying dead, slumped over against the wall across the room, bleeding from a gun wound in her chest.
"Shut up," the first man hissed at his partner before looking back at a now-stunned Dean, "Hands where I can see 'em."
Dean looked at the man, lifting his hands, still in a daze at seeing Michelle actually down for the count. But he blinked, realizing something, "Wait a minute…" he frowned at the man before him, "Is that you Roy?" Sam looked over, startled that Dean recognized them. The man himself looked stunned, "It is, isn't it?" Dean turned to the other man, "Which makes you Walt," Sam turned to stare at the man before him, "Hiya Walt."
Walt and Roy exchanged a glance before pulling their masks up, "Don't matter…" Walt muttered.
"Well, is it just me or do you two seem a tad upset?" Dean asked, a slight edge in his voice now. He was not happy about the situation, the fact that Michelle might very well be dead was starting to seep in and, unlike his brother, he wasn't broken…he was angry.
"You think you can flip the switch on the Apocalypse and just walk away Sam?" Walt asked, glaring at Sam.
"Who told you that?" Sam frowned.
"We ain't the only Hunters after you," Walt said, both he and Roy cocking their guns, Sam flinched, his attention back on Michelle, "See you in the next life."
Sam didn't even try to explain himself or ask for them to listen. Dean watched in horror as Sam just focused on Michelle, before closing his eyes as Walt fired at him.
Dean jumped up, but Roy readied his gun, "Stay the hell down!"
Dean just looked over at Sam's dead body, lying on the bed.
"Shoot him," Walt ordered.
Roy hesitated, "Killing Sam was right, and the girl just got in the way, but Dean…"
"They made us," Walt argued, "And we just snuffed his brother you idiot. You wanna spend the rest of your life knowing Dean Winchester's on your ass 'cause I don't. Shoot him."
Dean slowly turned back to face them, "Go ahead Roy, do it," he taunted, sitting back on the bed, "But I'm gonna warn you…when I come back, I'm gonna be pissed…" he glanced at Michelle, "And I'm betting Michelle will be more than that since you killed not just her, but Sam and me…" Roy swallowed hard, glancing back at the Davidson girl, "Come on!" Dean shouted, causing Roy to jump and face him again, "Let's get this show on the road."
Roy didn't move.
"Come on already!" Walt stepped up, cocking his gun and firing.
~8~
Dean stood in the middle of a field, the Impala a few feet away, smiling up at the fireworks he and Sam, a younger version of Sam, had just set off for the Fourth of July. He laughed watching as Sam ran forward and stood in the middle of the lights falling around him, laughing and smiling back at him.
"Dean," a voice called behind him.
He spun around to see Michelle standing there. He looked back and younger Sam was gone, so were the fireworks. He was just standing in a darkened field again.
"Michelle," he blinked, seeing her alive. He shook his head, "What…"
"No time," she said, walking quickly to the car, "We gotta go."
Dean hesitated a moment, looking back at the field before following after her.
"Dean?!" he could hear as he neared the car, it sounded like Castiel, "Michelle?"
"We're here Cas," Michelle replied.
"Cas?" Dean frowned, leaning down to look into the car, only to see the radio flickering, Castiel's voice echoing from it.
"Yeah, it's me," Castiel answered.
Dean looked at Michelle, who nodded, both of them getting in the car, Dean in the driver's seat and Michelle riding shotgun.
"You gotta stop poking around in my dreams," Dean commented, jokingly. This wasn't exactly the first time he'd dreamed of either Castiel or Michelle, "I need some me time."
"This isn't a dream," Michelle told him.
"Then what is it?"
"Deep down you already know," Castiel called.
Dean looked down the road they were sitting on, a distant look in his eyes as he recalled what he'd been 'dreaming' about before this dream, "I'm dead."
"We both are," Michelle rubbed her chest.
"Condolences," Castiel mumbled.
Dean shook his head, turning to Michelle, "Where are we?"
"Heaven," she smiled.
Dean's eyes widened, "Heaven? How did I get to Heaven?"
"Listen," Castiel cut in, "This spell, this connection, it's difficult to maintain."
"Wait, if I'm in Heaven, and you're here, then where's Sam?"
"What do you see?"
"What do you mean 'what do I see?'"
"Some people see a tunnel or a river," Michelle explained to him before turning to the radio, "It's a road Cas, we're in the Impala."
"A road, good," Castiel sighed, "Follow it. You'll find Sam. Follow…" there was static and the radio shut off.
"Follow the road?" Dean turned to Michelle, an eyebrow raised.
"It's how I found you," she shrugged, "And it could be worse, could be a yellow brick road," she nudged him.
"How did you know you were in Heaven? I just thought I was dreaming."
"Well…I saw my parents. They're dead and I haven't dreamed about them in years, so…" she trailed off, shrugging.
He sighed, shaking his head, before turning on the car and driving off through the night. Almost in no time they came to a yellow house on the road. Dean looked over at Michelle, who nodded, it was as good a chance as any to find Sam within. He turned off the car and they got out, walking up to the house and sneaking inside. Dean nearly burst out laughing at seeing a grown Sam wearing a small tie and sitting in a family Thanksgiving dinner, a young girl trying to flirt with him…making his brother all sorts of uncomfortable.
Michelle however, couldn't help herself, she snorted when the girl made a move on Sam, causing him to jump. He looked up to see them standing in the archway to the living room, watching him.
"Wow," Dean commented, "Just…wow."
"Dean?" Sam's eyes widened as Dean smirked, "Michelle? What are you doing in my dream?"
~8~
Dean and Michelle had just finished explaining to Sam what was going on as they stood in the living room. They glanced back at the family within, seeing the memory continue without Sam in it, the family talking to his empty spot at the table as though he were still there.
"Heaven?" Sam repeated, disbelievingly, his arm wrapped firmly around Michelle. He'd recalled what had happened before he woke up there as well and was now clinging to her as though to reassure himself she was really there with him now.
"Yup," Michelle popped the p.
"Ok," Sam nodded slowly before shaking his head, "How are we in Heaven? I mean, I get Michelle…" Michelle just rolled her eyes, she'd done plenty of un-Heaven worthy things in her time as a Hunter, "But US?"
"All that clean living I guess," Dean replied sarcastically.
"No, um…" Sam glanced at the family but spun to face Dean, "You, I get. But me?" Dean gave him a confused look, "Maybe you haven't noticed but uh, I've…done…a few things…"
"You thought you were doing the right thing," Dean shrugged.
"Last I checked, it wasn't the road to Heaven that was paved with good intentions," Sam rolled his eyes.
"And you're truly sorry for what you did," Michelle cut in, "Hell is reserved for those who don't want forgiveness nor ask for it, those who had a chance to repent and chose not to."
"Yeah well, if this is the sky mall it sucks," Dean cut in, "I mean, where's the triplets and the latex you know? Come on, a guy has needs."
Sam glanced back at the family, "You know they say when you bite the dust your life flashes before your eyes…"
"Your point?"
"This house, it's one of my memories."
"When I woke up, I woke up in one of my memories," Dean agreed slowly, "The 4th of July, where we burned down that field."
They looked at Michelle, "Oh, uh, my parents got me my first gun and set up a bull's-eye for me to practice."
"How'd you do?" Dean smirked, nodding.
"Bull's-eye every time," she smirked as well.
"And you were how old?" Sam frowned.
She shrugged, "Three and a half, four?"
Dean let out a whistle as Sam just shook his head.
"But that's what Heaven is," she told them, "A place where you relive your greatest hits."
"Wait," Dean cut in, turning to Sam, "So, playing footsie with brace face in there that…that's a trophy moment for you?"
"Dean, I was 11 years old, this was my first real Thanksgiving," Sam sighed.
"What are you talking about? We had Thanksgiving every year."
"We had a bucket of extra crispy and dad passed out on the couch," Sam argued, Dean nodding.
Michelle frowned, something just didn't sit right with her…but before she could voice her concerns, there was a rumbling.
"I don't remember this…" Sam remarked, looking around as the lights went out.
"Shit!" Michelle shouted as a light shown through the window like a searchlight, "Hide!" she ran over to a desk and ducked down beside it.
Dean and Sam paused only a moment before running off as well. Sam pressed himself into a corner as Dean dove behind the couch, each waiting as the light entered the living room and left.
They sat up and looked over at Michelle, "Ok what the hell was that?" Sam asked her.
"An angel," Michelle replied, it was the only thing that the light could be in Heaven.
Dean knelt down before a radio and began to fiddle with it, "That's it, we are taking the escalator back downstairs," he smacked the top of the radio, "Cas?!"
"What are you doing?" Sam cautiously asked his brother, eyeing him as though he'd gone crazy.
"What's it look like?"
"Like you've lost your mind."
"Cas talked to us before using the radio in the Impala, "Michelle explained to Sam, seeing what Dean was doing.
"Cas!" Dean shouted.
"I can hear you," a voice called behind them. They turned to see Castiel's face on the TV, flickering with static.
"Hey!" Dean called, running over to the TV, kneeling before it, as Sam and Michelle stepped up behind him, "Hey! So we uh, found Sam but something just happened. It was this weird beam of light…"
"Don't go into the light!" Castiel warned quickly.
"Ok, thanks, Kara Lane," Dean rolled his eyes.
"Do you know who it is Cas?" Michelle asked, tensing, praying it wasn't Michael.
"Zachariah," he answered, "He's searching for you."
"And if he finds us?" Sam, Dean, and Michelle exchanged looks.
"You can't say yes to Michael and Lucifer if you're dead so Zachariah needs to return you to your bodies."
"Great problem solved," Sam started to smile.
"No, you don't understand! You're behind the wall."
"Really?" Michelle's eyes widened at that.
"Yes. This is a rare opportunity."
"For what?" Dean frowned.
"You need to find an angel. His name is Joshua."
"Hey man, no offense, but we are kinda ass full of angels ok. You find him."
"He can't," Michelle said quickly, "He can't return to Heaven. He's been cut off remember?"
"So…what's important about Joshua?" Sam shook his head, confused.
"The rumor is he talks to God," Michelle answered, recalling a few stories Castiel had told her when she had been a little girl and asked him what Heaven was like, about the Garden.
"And?" Dean stared blankly at her, not seeing the point, "So?"
"Do you think maybe, just maybe, we should find out what the hell God has been saying?" Castiel argued snippily.
"Jeez, touchy."
"Please," Castiel said after a moment, "I just need you to follow the road."
"What road?" Sam asked.
"It's…"
"It's called the Axis Mundi," Michelle explained, "It's a path that runs through Heaven. Different people see it as different things. To us, it's two-lane asphalt. The road is said to lead to the Garden of Eden…"
"You will find Joshua there."
"And Joshua can take us to God."
"The Garden…please, hurry!"
And then the TV shut off.
Sam took a breath and turned to Dean, "So, what do you think?"
"I think we hit the yellow bricks, find this Joshua cat," Dean sighed.
"Really?"
"What you don't?"
"No I…I'm just surprised you do. I mean, last I checked you wanted to break out the 'no's and now he's gonna help?"
"He's the only one who can," Michelle cut in.
"Come on Sam, we are royally boned," Dean rolled his eyes, "So prayer? The last hope of a desperate man?"
They headed to the front door, stepping outside, only to see no road in sight, only a forest.
"Wasn't there a street out here?" Sam frowned, looking around.
"There was," Michelle confirmed, now highly annoyed with the angels.
They turned and walked back inside, when Dean turned to a room and opened the door. looking in.
"Dean?" Michelle asked, now looking at him as though he were crazy, "What are you doing?"
"Looking for a road," he replied.
"You're…" she shook her head, confused, "You think the road is in a closet?"
Dean just opened another door and turned on the closet light, "We're in Heaven. Our memories are coming true. Cas is on TV. Finding a road in a closet would be pretty much the most normal..." he looked down, "…thing to happen to us today," he knelt down beside a small toy racetrack.
"What?" Sam called, leaning over to see what his brother was looking at.
Dean picked up a blue car, "I used to have one of these. When I was a kid…" he put it back on the track and sent it around. When he looked up, it was now daylight and they were in a little boy's room.
"That was the road?" Sam asked, staring at the small track in thought.
"I guess," Dean replied, standing up to look around the room. It was blue with a large bed and toy cars scattered around, "Pretty trippy right?"
"Yeah, more trippy," Sam agreed, glancing at Dean's clothes, "Uh, apparently you 'wuv' hugs."
Michelle snorted as Dean looked down at a shirt he was now wearing with a teddy bear on it, 'I WUV HUGS' written on its belly.
"Shut up," Dean glared at his brother as Sam laughed. Dean looked back around the room, his eyes widening as he seemed to realize something, "Wait a minute, I know where we are."
Michelle looked around, "Where?"
"We're home," Dean said, looking at Sam.
As though to confirm his statement a woman shouted from the hall, "Dean!" they turned just as Mary Winchester opened the door and peeked in, wearing a white sun dress, "Hey Dean. You hungry?"
The boys could only stare.
~8~
Dean was sitting at the kitchen table, staring up at his mother as she poured him a glass of milk, "You want the crust cut off?" she asked as Dean smiled at her.
"Yeah…" he looked down, watching as Mary pulled a sharp butcher's knife out and began to cut the crust off his sandwich, "I'd love that."
"Mom?" Sam called, standing, leaning in the archway to the dining room, Michelle beside him, her arm around his waist, knowing this was just as hard for him to see as Dean.
Mary didn't react.
Dean looked up at Mary, who just continued cutting the sandwich.
"This isn't your memory Sam," Michelle said gently, squeezing him, "Sorry."
He gave her a weak smile, returning the one-armed hug as he turned back to his brother, "Dean, uh, we should go. Keep looking for the road..."
"I know just…" Dean swallowed, "Just give me a minute, ok?"
Mary smiled down at Dean, putting her hand on his shoulder as he looked up at her.
"Dean…" Michelle tried.
"Please," Dean nearly begged, looking at them, "One minute."
Michelle sighed, glancing at Sam, before nodding.
Mary patted Dean on the head and walked off into the kitchen just as the phone began to ring. They all looked up, watching as she answered. "Hello?" she glanced over at Dean, frowning, before turning away, trying to speak quietly though they could all hear her, "No John. We're not having this conversation again. God, think about what? You have two boys at home."
Dean frowned, "I remember this. Mom and dad were fighting and then he moved out for a couple of days."
"Dad always said they had the perfect marriage," Sam replied, shaking his head, confused.
Dean glanced back at him, "It wasn't perfect until after she died."
"Fine, then don't," Mary's voice drifted back to them, "There's nothing more to talk about," she hung up angrily.
"What happens next?" Michelle asked softly.
Dean didn't answer, he just stood and walked over to her, "It's ok mom," he said, giving his mother a hug, "Dad still loves you. I love you too. I'll never leave you."
Sam watched his brother, stunned to see him speaking like that, even though it was to their mother and he'd been about four at thr time. He didn't have many recollections of Dean ever being that concerned or empathetic.
Mary pulled away, smiling, as she put a hand on Dean's cheek, "You…are my little angel. How 'bout some pie? Ok?" she turned to go and get him a slice as Dean walked back to them.
He looked between Sam and Michelle, the first who was shaking his head, looking down, the other shaking her head with a smirk, "What?" he demanded.
Sam looked up, "I just...never realized how long you've been cleaning up dad's messes."
"And you?" he turned to Michelle.
"Pie," she said, nodding her head as though something now made sense, "That explains so much."
Dean rolled his eyes, "Whatever, let's keep moving."
They started looking around for another 'road,' Michelle checking the cabinets while Sam took the desk drawers, and Dean just looked out the window.
"I've seen this somewhere before," Sam commented, they looked over to see him holding up a postcard for Route 66.
Dean walked over, "Where?"
And suddenly they were now in a motel room in a desert, a wall full of postcards and brochures tacked before them.
Michelle looked around, frowning, "Where are we?"
Sam just smiled widely, obviously very pleased with this memory, "No way!" he turned around just as a golden retriever ran in, "Bones!" he knelt down to pet him, "Hey! Come here, come here!" the dog licked him, "Hey!"
"Bones?" Dean frowned.
"Yeah!" Sam laughed, glancing at Dean as he pet the dog, "Bones was my dog!" he stood up as the dog followed him, "Hey."
"You had a dog?" Michelle looked at Dean.
Sam shook his head and moved to sit on the couch, pulling up a pizza box onto his lap, "I did."
"Is this Flagstaff?" Dean asked suddenly, his face hardening.
Michelle could just feel this wasn't going to end well.
Sam looked up, still smiling, oblivious to his brother's mounting anger, "Yeah!" he pet Bones once more, "Hey boy."
"This is a good memory for you?" Dean asked, tense.
"Yeah," he laughed, "I mean, I was on my own for two weeks, lived off of funions and Mr. Pip."
"Wow," Dean scoffed, looking at Sam, stone-faced.
"What?" Michelle asked, looking between them, "What happened in Flagstaff?"
"Sam ran away, on my watch," Dean told her, just barely keeping himself from yelling at his brother, "I looked EVERYWHERE for him. I thought he was dead. And when dad came home…" he shook his head.
Sam looked away, not knowing what to say as Dean just shook his head and turned around.
"Dean, look I'm sorry, I never thought about it like that…" Sam began.
"Ok, let's roll," Dean cut in, storming outside.
Sam sighed, slowly getting up, petting Bones once more, "Stay. Bonesy stay…" he walked over to Michelle, who reached out a hand for him to take, as they stepped out onto a street. It was night.
"What memory is this?" Dean frowned, looking around, before glancing at Michelle, "One of yours?"
She shook her head, "Sam?"
"No idea," he said in a tone Michelle immediately recognized as one saying he clearly knew what it was, "Alright, come on. Dean…" Dean turned around slowly, "Road. God. Remember?"
"No, no, wait a minute…" his eyes widened as he recognized the desolate street, "This?" he spun to face his brother, incredulous, "This is the night you ditched us for Stanford, isn't it? This is your idea of Heaven? Wow," he shook his head, nearly disgusted, "This is like one of the worst nights of my life."
"I can't control this stuff…" Sam began.
Dean opened his mouth to angrily retort, when Michelle beat him to it, "Because someone else is."
"What?" they both turned to face her.
She looked at them, shaking her head as she realized something, "Don't you see?" they stared, "Someone is controlling the way the memories are going. Do you seriously think that every single good memory of Sam's is bailing on you?" she asked Dean, before turning to face Sam, "You had to have had some great memories with your family and we're not seeing them. All that's happening is Dean's getting more riled up…someone is trying to put a wedge between the two of you by showing you these specific memories, making Dean think they are your best…"
There was a clapping noise.
They spun around to see Zachariah standing behind them, clapping and smirking at them, "Outstanding, really," he rolled his eyes, "You deserve a ribbon."
"Go!" Dean shouted, grabbing Sam and half-shoving him towards the forest, Michelle being pulled with him, "Go! Go!
They ran through the forest, dashing past trees, jumping over roots, glancing back, trying to avoid Zachariah. They jumped over a log, landing on their butts and pressing themselves to it, hoping desperately they'd managed to lose him.
"Wow," they could hear the angel in the distance, getting closer as he walked, "Running from angels. On foot. In Heaven. With out-of-the-box thinking like that I'm surprised you boys haven't stopped the Apocalypse already. What? Is Michelle running out of ideas?" he snapped his fingers and it was suddenly daylight and they were in a much smaller clearing, "Guys. What's the problem? I just want to send you back to Earth that's all," they glanced over the log at him, "I mean…" he turned in their direction and they ducked back down, "That is, after I tear you a cosmos of new ones. You're on my turf now boys. And by the time I'm through with you, you're gonna be begging to say yes…" Sam and Dean quickly grabbed Michelle to keep her from lunging at the man. They all exchanged a look before jumping up and making a break for it just as Zachariah turned back to them again. They ran into another clearing, stopping short when Zachariah appeared before them, "Guys come on. You can run but you can't run," they turned and ran back the way they came, Michelle pulling them back at the sight of a man wearing a blue wrestling mask and gold cape.
"Shh…" he put a finger to his lips, "Hurry, this way!" he turned and ran off, Michelle pulling the boys on without question, following him to a shack. He drew a sigil on it in chalk and walked in. They followed, their eyes widening at the sight of the interior of the Road House.
"Who are you?" Sam frowned, eyeing the man cautiously.
Before the man could even reply, Michelle ran forward, half-throwing herself into his arms. The wrestler caught her, hugging her as he spun her around.
She laughed at Sam and Dean's stunned expressions as she was set back on her feet and just rolled her eyes as them, reaching over and pulling the wrestling mask off to reveal Ash!
"Buenos Dias bitches," he smirked.
"Ash?" Sam's eyes widened.
"Ash Tree!" Michelle high-fived him.
"Michelle Belle," Ash laughed, continuing the motion of the high-five to a low-five.
"What?" Dean shook his head, confused.
"It's Ash!" Michelle laughed.
"Yeah, I can see that. How did you know it was him?"
"Well, firstly, I bought him this mask," she replied, tossing the man's favorite mask over to Dean, "And second, the sigils."
"Thanks for teaching me those by the way," Ash remarked, nodding his thanks to her.
"Well we couldn't have the resident genius not know something," she rolled her eyes.
Ash just shook his head and turned to the boys, clapping his hands, the lights turning on, "Welcome to my blue heaven!"
That seemed to shock the boys out of their stupor as they started laughing, happy to see their friend again.
"My God, the Road House," Dean looked around as though just noticing where they were. The boy stepped down a few steps and over to Michelle, "It even smells the same."
"Bud, blood, and beer nuts," Ash nodded, "It's the best smell in the world!" he walked around the bar, snapping his fingers and pointing at them as Michelle took a seat on a bar stool, Sam and Dean sitting next to her, "How 'bout a cold one? Up here, no hangover," he pulled out two beers and put them before the boys, placing an iced tea before Michelle.
"So…no offense…" Sam began as they reached for the beers.
"How's a dirt bag like me end up in a place like this?" Ash finished for him, "I've been saved man. I was my congregation's number one snake handler."
"And you said this was your Heaven?"
"Yep!" he nodded, "My own…" he stabbed the can in his hand with a screwdriver, "…personal…" and picked it up from the side, drinking the whole thing in one go, belching as he crushed the can. Dean just looked down at his own in wonder.
"And when the angels jumped us…we were…"
"Your Heaven."
"So there are two Heavens?"
Ash rolled his eyes and turned to Michelle, "You didn't explain this to them?"
Michelle sighed and turned to the boys, "It's more like a hundred billion Heavens all bunched together with everyone reliving their favorite memories.
Ash nodded, "So no worries, it'll take them angel boys a minute to catch up."
"What…" Dean and Sam exchanged a look, still not following.
"See you gotta stop thinking of Heaven as one place. It's more like a butt load of places all crammed together. Like Disneyland. Except without all the anti-Semitism."
"Disneyland?" Sam laughed.
"Mhmm," he nodded, "Yeah, see you got, Winchesterland," he pointed at them before gesturing around, "Ashland," he leaned forward and smirked, "I'm sure Davidsonland is around here somewhere," he sat back, laughing, "A whole mess of everybody else's…" he gestured around wildly, "Lands. Put them all together, Heaven. Right? At the center of it all, is the Magic Kingdom. The Garden."
"So everybody gets a little slice of paradise," Dean followed.
"Pretty much, a few people share. In special cases and what not."
"What do you mean special?"
"Aw, you know, like, soul mates," Ash gestured at Sam and Michelle.
"But Michelle and I weren't sharing," Sam frowned, concerned.
Michelle cleared her throat, a very faint blush on her face, "Um…soul mates can only share after they've…uh…joined together…spiritually…physically…"
Sam's eyes widened as he looked at Ash, who was wagging his eyebrows suggestively.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean cut in, smirking, "You two haven't…"
"No," Michelle said quickly, looking away, embarrassed that her sex life was now the topic of conversation.
"Anyways…" Ash broke in, taking pity on the girl, "Most people can't leave their own private Idahos."
Dean sighed, seeing his opportunity to poke fun at his brother and Michelle was gone, instead he pointed at Ash, "But you ain't most people."
"Nope," Ash nodded, smug, "They ain't got my skills. Hell, I've been all over. Johnny Cash…" Dean looked stunned, "Andre the Giant…" he turned to Sam, "Einstein. Sam, that man can mix a White Russian. Hell. The other day, found Vatsyayana."
"Who?" Sam frowned.
"He wrote the 'Karma Sutra,'" Ash smiled in thought, "That boy's Heaven, oh, sweaty, confusing…"
"All this from a guy who used to sleep on a pool table," Michelle laughed.
"Yep, now that I'm dead, I'm living man," Ash grinned, "Whole lot more."
"So how'd you find us?" Sam shook his head in wonder.
"Ah, I have rigged up my very own…" he leaned behind the bar and pulled out a handmade laptop, "Holy road place scanner!" he pushed a button and blobs of white light appeared on the screen with a number of high-pitched squeals resonating from it, "That's angels," he called above the noise, "Blabbing and mokie. Ok? I'm fluent," Michelle reached out and hit a button, cutting the squeal off, seeing Sam and Dean starting to get a headache. Ash pouted, "Kill my fun," he put the laptop away, "I heard that you were up, course I had to come find you…again."
"Again?" Dean looked surprised.
"This ain't the first time you've been here. I mean you boys die more than anyone I have ever met," he scoffed, "Hell, only one I haven't seen here yet's Michelle. And last time you were here Dean," he glanced at his friend, "Whoo, four months of physical therapy, not fun. You were a wreck."
"Really?" Dean frowned, having no recollection of it. But in the pit of his stomach he felt guilt set in, if he'd been that bad after only three days of torture in Hell, he couldn't imagine how bad Michelle still was.
"Yeah, yeah," Ash nodded, realizing something, "You don't remember. God, angels, must have Windexed your brains."
"So uh, I mean, have you found anybody else?" Sam changed the topic, trying to steer the conversation away from their dying and Michelle having been in Hell, "Ellen and Jo?"
Ash's eyes widened, "Ellen and Jo are dead?" he breathed, stunned.
Sam looked down, "Uh, yeah, yeah a few months now…" he looked back up, "Sorry."
"Aw," Ash cleared his throat, "Hmmm, they go down fighting?"
"Would either of them go any other way?" Michelle countered, answering his question with one of her own.
"A lot of good it did them," Dean muttered darkly, "What about our folks?"
Ash leaned back, "Been looking all over for John Winchester, Mary too, though so far, nada, I'm sorry."
"It makes sense," Michelle shrugged at that. They all looked at her and she realized they had no idea what she was talking about. She sighed, "Soul mates are meant to share memories, very private, very close connections. It's almost impossible to break into them. It's why you can't find John or Mary…also explains why you can't find Ellen or even Jo. If the child of soul mates hasn't found a love of their own they get sucked in with their parents, being the result of that love."
Ash started nodding, from what he'd gleamed during his time there, it made sense. He knew that Sam and Michelle were soul mates, he'd heard it on the grapevine, and he'd also heard whispers that Dean had found love, some Lisa woman, which was why neither brother had been truly reunited with their parents.
"Mom and dad were soul mates?" Sam blinked. He knew he and Michelle were, Cupid had said so, but he hadn't said anything about their parents.
She nodded, "A top priority arrangement to Cupids means marking soul mates, John and Mary were a top priority arrangement, ergo…soul mates."
Dean shook his head, getting queasy from all this talk of soul mates, "Look Ash, we're on this sort of mission thing…we need to find the Garden."
Ash nodded, "You've come to the right place," he pulled out his laptop once more and stepped out from behind the bar to sit at a table, the trio looking on over his shoulder. He hit a button and the squeal was back.
After a moment or two the squeals dimmed, "Well, at least they haven't found us yet," Michelle muttered.
"What?" Dean looked at her.
"It's all they're talking about," she gestured to the laptop, "How we're missing and Zachariah's put out the red alert for us."
"Great," Dean grumbled. He'd almost forgotten that Michelle was one of the special people who could, by nature, see and hear the angels without going deaf or having her eyes melted out of her skull.
"So this is how you get around up here?" Sam asked, watching Ash type a few things into the laptop.
"Mhmm," he nodded, "More or less, this is awesome, we finally have an application, a practical application for string theory."
Michelle rolled her eyes, nudging Ash out of the way as he started to ramble about that theory, "Scoot," she shoved him, taking his seat and quickly typing away.
"Ah damn girl," he moaned, "Don't show me up in front of my boys!"
She laughed, hitting one final button before getting up and letting him back to his seat. He smiled at her, thankful, and cracked his fingers, hunching over and typing quickly, making a show of working hard before leaning back and laughing, "Bingo!"
"What?" Sam asked, eyeing the confusing symbols and lights on the screen.
"Found a short cut to the Garden," Ash smirked triumphantly. He stood up and walked, with Dean following, over to the door, taking his chalk and making a sigil on it with the coordinates he'd gotten off the laptop, "All access pass to the Magic Kingdom."
"Good," Dean nodded…till Ash looked up at him, "Not good?"
"That Zach fella's gonna be watching every road to the Garden," Ash warned, "Everything," he glanced back to see Sam and Michelle sitting by the bar, waiting till he was done, talking quietly. He looked to Dean, "Hey man, look…"
"What?" Dean frowned, worried it was something bad.
"Michelle's like a sister to you, isn't she?" he asked, now more serious than Dean had ever seen him, he nodded, "Well, she was my sis first," he smirked, in tease. Michelle really had been like a sister to him, ever since she'd first come to the Road House and ended up tossing a drunken Hunter through the window as he'd, not only harassed her, but made fun of his mullet. They'd kept in contact during her hunts, exchanging bits of new information they'd learned. He looked at her just like he did Jo, family, "She ever ends up here without you or Sam and so help me, I will come back and haunt your asses till the end of time."
Dean just laughed, "Given our record, don't you think we'd end up here without her first?"
Ash looked thoughtful a moment before nodding, smiling. He turned to the couple and waved them over, eyeing Sam and Dean as they stepped to the door, Michelle with them, "Huh, I don't mean to be a downer or anything…but uh, I'm sure I'll see you again soon."
"Well, keep a sixer on ice for us," Dean remarked.
Ash nodded, "Yeah."
Dean opened the door and they stepped through…into the living room of Dean and Sam's childhood home at night.
"What the f…" Dean looked around, "Why are we back home?"
"I don't know," Sam sighed, "So what are we going to do?"
"Look for the road again I guess," Michelle shrugged, that was really the only thing they could do.
"Honey?" someone said. They spun around to see Mary standing there in her white nightgown, tired, "Why are you up?"
"Look, I'm…I'm sorry," Dean cut in, his patience running low, "I love you, but you're not real. Ok, we don't have time…"
"Did you have a nightmare?" she continued as Dean held up a hand, "Tell me."
"I gotta go," Dean turned and started to leave, Sam and Michelle with him, when Mary spoke again.
"Then how 'bout I tell you my nightmare Dean?" Mary called, he stopped short, "The night I burned?"
They turned and stared at her as blood soaked through the front of her gown, Michelle's eyes widened, "Guys get out of here!" she shouted, turning to try and push the boys out of the house.
"Don't you walk away from me," Mary spat.
Dean froze.
"Cover your ears," Michelle said quickly to Dean.
"What?" he looked confused.
Michelle didn't answer, just reached out and grabbed his hands, pressing them hard against his ears, holding them there.
"I never loved you," Mary continued, not able to see Dean past Michelle and Sam, who were standing before him. Sam looked at his mother, startled she would say such a thing, "You were my burden. I was shackled to you. And look what it got me…" she blinked, revealing yellow eyes.
"It's not her," Michelle whispered to him, still holding Dean's hands on his ears, Sam looked at her before glancing back at his mother…now it made sense. Someone was trying to use their mother's image to break them, to break Dean.
Unfortunately, the angels should have known by now that Michelle would not have that.
"We need to go," she repeated, taking a step, about to nudge Dean into moving, when there was a thud and the lights turned green. They looked around to see the windows and doors were now boarded up.
"The worst was the smell," Mary spoke again, Michelle looked over her shoulder to see the woman walking towards them.
"You may not want to listen either Sam," she said softly.
Sam just shook his head and swallowed hard, he wanted to know exactly what the angels were going to make their mother say, so he could kill them for it later.
"The pain, well, what can you say about your skin bubbling off?" Mary laughed, "But the smell, the smell was so…you know, for a second, I thought I left a pot roast burning in the oven. But, it was my meat. And then, finally, I was dead."
"What's going on?" Dean breathed, now holding his hands to his ears on his own, as Michelle turned to face the woman, standing like a shield between him and his mother, "Sam?" he looked at his brother, who was watching Mary, stone-faced.
Sam just shook his head, telling Dean to keep his ears covered.
"The one silver lining was that at least I was away from you," Mary finished off, "Everybody leaves you Dean, you noticed? Mommy, daddy, even Sam. Ever ask yourself why? Maybe it's not them. Maybe it's you!" she started laughing.
"Easy now kitten," Zachariah said, walking into the room to stand beside Mary.
"You did this," Michelle glared at the angel. She knew he had to be behind it, "Nice try," she stepped to the side to reveal Dean standing there, with his hands on his ears, clearly not having heard a word his mother had said. Dean glanced between Michelle and Zachariah before slowly lowering his hands.
Zachariah glared for a moment, seeing his plans to shake Dean up had been hindered once again, but then it morphed into a smirk, "Ah, well, I'm just getting started. I mean, guys, did you really think you could sneak past me into mission control?"
"You son of a bitch…" Sam started towards him, only to find himself now being held back by an angel. He looked over to see Dean was being held back as well as Michelle, though Michelle had a gag on her mouth.
"Your ability to order us around shouldn't work now that you're dead," Zachariah told her as she glared at him, "But, better safe than sorry," he laughed, turning to Sam, "And you know, I could say the same thing about you Sam but I have actually grown quite fond of your mother. Or at least the blessed memory of her…" he reached out and brushed a few stands of Mary's hair away from her neck before kissing it as she smiled, "I think we're gonna be logging a lot of quality time together. I've discovered she's quite the MILF."
"Gloat all you want, you dick," Dean glared, "You're still bald."
"In Heaven I have six wings and four faces, one of which is a lion," Zachariah shrugged. Sam glanced over to Michelle on instinct to see if Zachariah was telling the truth, only to frown, seeing her standing there with her eyes closed, seeming to be concentrating on something, "You see this because you're…" Zachariah continued, stroking Mary's arm, "Limited," he looked up as they glared, but simply snapped his fingers and Mary disappeared, "Let's brass tack this, shall we?"
"You're gonna ball gag us until we say 'yes?'" Dean scoffed, "Huh? Yeah, I've heard that…"
Zachariah stormed over to him and punched him hard in the stomach, "I'm gonna do a lot more than that, I've cleared my schedule. Get him up," he ordered the angel, who pulled Dean to his feet so Zachariah could punch him again, "Let me tell you something. I was on the fast track once, employee of the month, every month, forever. I walked these halls and people would…" he started to shout, "Avert their eyes!" he turned to glare at Sam, "I had respect!" and then back to Dean, looking back and forth between the brothers, "And then they assign me you," he stepped back, "Now look at me. I can't close a deal on a couple of pathetic, flannel-wearing maggots just because you've got the protection of a stupid little girl? Everybody's laughing at me. And they're right to do it. So. Say yes, don't say yes, I'm still gonna take it out of your asses. It's personal now boys. And the last person in the history of creation you want as your enemy is me. And I'll tell you why. Lucifer may be strong but I'm petty. I'm gonna be the angel on your shoulder for the rest of eternity."
Sam looked over anxiously at his brother and then Michelle whose eyes snapped open a moment later, just as a timid voice called out, "Excuse me, sir?"
Zachariah turned around as they looked over to see an older, black man in a blue jean jacket standing there, his hands folded before him, "I'm in a meeting," Zachariah told him.
"I'm sorry, I need to speak to those three," the man pointed at the brothers and Michelle.
Zachariah glanced back at them and then over to the man, "Excuse me?"
"It's a bad time, I know. But I'm afraid I have to insist."
"You don't get to insist jack squat."
"No, you're right. But the boss does. His orders."
Sam and Dean exchanged a look as Michelle smiled.
"You're lying," Zachariah frowned.
"Wouldn't lie about this. Look, fire me if you want, sooner or later He's gonna come back home and you know how He is with that whole wrath thing."
Zachariah looked back at them once more, then back at the man, before disappearing with his angel posse. Sam and Dean looked around as Michelle just pulled her gag off, they were now in a huge garden.
"This is Heaven's Garden?" Sam asked as they stepped forward and over to the man who had saved them.
"It's…it's nice," Dean remarked slowly, "I guess…"
Michelle rolled her eyes, "The path through Heaven was a road to us, don't you think the Garden is what we want to see as well?"
The man nodded, "You see what you want to here. For some it's God's throne room, for other's it's Eden, for you I believe it's the Cleveland Botanical Gardens. You two came here on a field trip."
"Joshua," Michelle greeted.
"Michelle," he smiled, "I got your message."
"What message?" Dean frowned, looking over at the girl.
"When I stole Ash's laptop," she shrugged, "I didn't know how to contact the angels without a body and a ritual, but I was able to search out his frequency on Ash's computer and send him a SOS."
"How'd you know he'd even help us?" Sam asked.
She shrugged, "Castiel told me once that Joshua was one of the kinder angels. It couldn't hurt."
Joshua nodded, "Seems I got there just in time."
Sam smiled lightly, shaking his head at his girlfriend, she never ceased to amaze him. He took a breath and turned to Joshua, getting back on track, "You talk to God."
"Mostly He talks to me."
"Well…" Sam glanced at Dean and Michelle, "Um, we need to speak to him. It's important."
"Where is he?" Dean demanded lightly.
"On Earth," Joshua smirked just a bit, "I'm sure Michelle and Castiel have told you this."
"You know Cas?" Sam asked.
"Doing what?" Dean continued.
"I don't know," he shook his head.
"Do you know where on Earth?" Sam frowned.
Joshua smiled, glancing at Michelle a moment, before turning back to them, "No, sorry. We don't exactly speak face-to-face."
"I'm sorry, I don't get it," Dean shook his head, "God's not talking to nobody so…"
"Why's He talking to me? I sometimes think it's because I can sympathize, gardener-to-gardener. And between us, I think He gets lonely."
"Well, my hearts breaking for him," Dean rolled his eyes.
Sam shook his head at his brother before turning to Joshua, "Well, can you at least get him a message for us?"
"Actually, He has a message for you," Joshua told them, growing serious, "Back off."
"What?" Dean frowned.
"He knows already. Everything you want to tell Him. He knows what the angels are doing. He knows that the Apocalypse has begun. He just doesn't think it's His problem. I believe the metaphor Michelle here used was to think of 'Bruce Almighty,' He didn't make this mess, you did. You clean it, it isn't His problem."
"'Not his problem?'" Dean demanded, growing very aggravated.
"God's saved you already. He sent you to Michelle's house. He brought back Castiel. He granted you salvation in Heaven. And after everything you've done too," he looked more at Sam when he said this, "In fact, He granted it against His better judgment."
"Then why are we here?" Sam frowned, feeling even guiltier about what he'd done.
"You had someone very special vouching for you," Joshua shrugged. They stared at him a moment, till his gaze flickered to Michelle. They turned to look at her.
"What?" she demanded, shaking her head, "So I pray for you two. I didn't make him listen."
Joshua nodded, "It's more than He's intervened in a long time. He's finished. Magic amulet or not. You won't be able to find Him."
"Told you so," Michelle muttered under her breath. If the boys heard her, they ignored it.
"But he can stop it," Dean argued, "He can stop all of it."
"I suppose He could," Joshua agreed, "But He won't."
"Why not?"
"Why's He allow evil in the first place?" Joshua shrugged, "You could drive yourself nuts asking questions like that."
"So he's just gonna sit back and watch the world burn?"
"I know how important this was to you Dean," Joshua replied softly, "I'm sorry."
"Well, forget it," Dean glared, "Just another deadbeat dad with a bunch of excuses right? No, I'm used to that. I'll muddle through."
"Except, you don't know if you can this time," Joshua frowned, eyeing the boy with sympathy, "You can't kill the devil. And you're losing faith. In yourself, your brother…" Sam looked at Dean slowly at that news, "And now this? God was your last hope. I just…I wish I could tell you something different."
"How do we know if you're telling the truth?" Sam asked as Dean looked down.
"You think that I would lie?"
"He's not," Michelle confirmed.
"I know," Sam nodded, he'd sensed that much, "It's just…you're not exactly the first angel we've met."
"I'm rooting for you," he told them, "I wish I could do more to help you, I do. But…I just trim the hedges."
"So what now?" Dean sighed.
Joshua turned to look at the trees, "You go home again," he replied, turning to face them, "I'm afraid this time won't be like the last. This time, God wants you to remember."
He held up his hand, palm at them, and there was a bright light…Michelle was gone. The boys looked around, startled to see they were still there.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"Where's Michelle?" Dean demanded, his face hardening.
The last time an angel had separated them and Michelle she'd ended up in Hell!
"Calm down," Joshua held up both hands in surrender, "I had to send her back first because there's something I want to tell just you boys," they were silent, waiting for him to continue, "You both need to listen to that girl, now more than ever. Because she's right. She was right about the amulet, about God being on Earth, about Him being able but unwilling to help, and she was right in what she told Raphael, this is a test," he paused, allowing it to sink in, before continuing again, "It wasn't even her prayers that changed His mind about allowing you both into Heaven, it was her belief in you. She believes in you and she trusts you, you both need to do the same with her. Listen to her, it has never been more important."
And with that, he held up his hands and they disappeared in a bright light.
~8~
Sam awoke in the motel room, sitting up on the bed with a giant gasp, followed quickly by Dean. They looked over to see that Michelle pulling herself to her feet, examining her bloody clothes and now healed wounds.
"You alright?" she asked, looking up at them.
"Define alright?" Dean countered.
Sam just got up and went to pull her into a hard hug while Dean picked up his phone to call Castiel.
~8~
They were packing up their things, the blood stained sheets still on the beds, Castiel leaning against a wall, thinking about everything the trio had just told him. Sam packed up his toiletries while Dean packed his bag on the bed, Michelle sitting on the edge of the second bed, waiting.
"Maybe…maybe Joshua was lying," Castiel tried to reason.
"I don't think he was," Michelle shook her head gently, "Cas, I'm sorry."
Castiel looked down a moment before pushing off the wall and moving to head out the door, stopping before it, and looking up, "You son of a bitch. I believed in you," Dean eyes widened at that as Castiel turned and walked over to him, taking the amulet out of his pocket, "I don't need this anymore," he tossed it over to Dean, who caught it and let it dangle, "It's worthless."
"Cas," Michelle frowned, shaking her head as he turned to the door.
"Cas wait!" Sam tried, but Castiel was gone.
Dean looked down at the amulet as Sam walked past him into the room.
"We'll find another way," Sam tossed his towel on the bed.
"We can still stop all this Dean," Michelle agreed, getting up.
"How?" he asked.
Sam turned to face him, "I don't know, but we'll find it. You, me, and Michelle. We'll find it."
Dean just looked down at the amulet before turning and picking up his bag. He walked past Sam and Michelle to the door, pausing in the doorway before dropping his necklace into the trashcan and walking out. Sam sighed, looking down.
Michelle just walked over and scooped it out. She glanced back at Sam, "He'll come around," she told him, "But until then…" she put the necklace over her head, smiling lightly at him before walking out as well.
Sam took a breath and went out to join them, tossing his bag into the trunk before Dean closed it, "So what now?" Sam asked.
"Now we find those assholes," Dean muttered darkly, heading for the driver's seat, "And we kill them."
"Dean…"
"What?" Dean demanded, turning to his brother, "They killed us."
"And we went to Heaven. We can't just commit murder, I doubt we'd be let back in."
Dean sighed, "Then what would you propose we do?"
Sam was silent, shrugging.
"If I can?" Michelle called in, "I have an idea."
"What?" Dean asked her.
"Toss me your phone," she held out her hand as Dean tossed his phone to her a moment later. She quickly scrolled through his contacts till she found Roy and dialed it on her own phone. She put it on speaker, listening as it rang.
"Hello?" Roy answered, confused at the unknown number.
"Hey Roy, guess who's back," she smirked, looking at the boys, "And believe me, if you think I'm pissed about getting shot in the chest, wait till you talk to Sam and Dean," she motioned for them to say something.
"Hi," Sam called.
"Howdy," Dean added.
"You and Walt might want to sleep with one eye open from now on," she continued, "Because we are coming for you and we won't stop till we find you."
"Oh shi…" Roy began but Michelle ended the call.
"So, where to next?" she asked, "I read about some obit that seemed like a ghost…"
"Aren't we going after them?" Sam frowned, confused.
She smirked, "Where would be the fun in that?"
"Not following," Dean shook his head.
She rolled her eyes at them, "They are going to spend the rest of their lives thinking we're hot on their tail and coming to kill them, all paranoid and jittery, while we are really just…"
"Hunting and leaving them alone," Dean nodded, following along, "I like it."
Sam looked between the two before rolling his eyes and getting in the car, Dean actually laughing as he got in as well.
A/N: Oh Roy, oh Walt, tsk tsk, shame on you. They really should have known better than to go after the Winchesters and Michelle :)
Have to say, now that the story's starting to draw to a close, things are going to start getting pretty serious now. Things will start to come to light, relationships will be strained, questions will be answered, oh so much drama and suspense. Hopefully I will have done my job right in building it up and quite a few questions will be answered in only about three chapters...I can't wait...