Sam was blindfolded. He stumbled along the ground carefully, held by gentle hands on either side. When they stopped, he stopped.

Suddenly, his blindfold was whipped away, and Dean was saying, "Here you are, Sammy."

Sam blinked. He was looking at his own car.

"It's … it's my car?" He said slowly.

"Ah, but look inside."

Sam knelt down to get a closer look at the interior and was suddenly stunned.

All three men laughed at his reaction as Dean asked him, "Whaddaya think?"

Sam opened the passenger door reverently and ran his hand gently across the new vintage car seats that had suddenly gotten themselves installed overnight. Miles of black leather felt soft beneath his hand. They looked mint. "Where …" He swallowed hard. "Where did you find these?"

Danny answered. "It was all Dean's idea."

Dean piped up, "Well, it was kind of my idea." He bragged. "I thought we'd get them from Bobby, but apparently these seats are pretty rare. It was Ron who called all over Illinois to find them. And then Bobby helped me pay for them. And then Danny went with me last week in the truck to bring them back and helped me get them installed last night. So this is a present from all of us." He grinned and they all piped up in unison.

"Happy birthday, Sam!"

Sam was silent for so long, taking it all in, that Dean got nervous. "Look, I know you just planned on patching up the ones you had in there, but they were too far gone. We all just didn't have the heart to tell you." He joked. "But you did a really great job on the body and on the engine, Sammy. You really did." He was suddenly serious, "Dad couldn't have done any better."

"Steve McQueen, eat your heart out." Ron agreed.

"His Fastback was green," Sam answered softly.

"Yeah, but if it had been black, imagine how much better." Danny piped up.

"Soooo … you like 'em?" Dean prodded.

"Oh!" Sam pulled himself out of his revery. "Of course I like them! Are you kidding? I love them! They're gorgeous!" He swallowed hard, "Thank you. Thank you all so much."

Later, as Ron toiled away in the kitchen baking pies and after Danny had left on a run to town for beer and more brown sugar, Sam and Dean leaned against the '68 Mustang in comfortable silence, watching the sun go down on what had turned out to be an exceptionally beautiful May day in Illinois. A soft breeze ruffled Sam's hair, and Dean's jacket lay discarded on the front seat.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Dean suddenly interrupted.

Sam looked over, "What?"

"One last birthday present for my little brother. " He smiled, reaching down into the cooler at his feet and handing Sam a beer. "Now I know you had plenty of beers with Danny and Ron before I ever arrived on the scene," He explained. "But this one is special." He winked. "Your first official beer ever with your big bro."

Sam took the beer, raising an eye. He hadn't indulged in an alcoholic beverage since his brother's return, partly because he'd been on medication for most of that time, but also out of respect for his big brother's wishes, too. "You know I'm still underage, right?"

Dean turned to look his brother in the eye. "Sammy, you've been a man since you were 16. I guess you can have a beer or two when you want one." He twisted the top and held his bottle up for a toast. Sam reciprocated.

"To my baby brother on the occasion of his 18th birthday." He offered.

"Sam nodded, smiling, "To me." He agreed, and snorted softly.

Dean took a swig. "Actually, I'm lying."

"What? Why?"

"This is actually more of a present for me, you know." He turned to face his brother.

"I finally listened to those messages, Sam." he confessed. "Of course it was all way too late. But if I had known you were right there at that lodge." His voice cracked. "God, I still think about that every day. And I did notice your baby, you know? She looked like total shit, but it was obvious someone cared about her."

Sam smiled, "It's fine, Dean." He said. "After that … incident … with the collar, I totally get it. Trust me. I do. You would have been there if you could have."

"I would have. And we would have done it up right too - you, new license, new wheels, new weapons." Dean reminisced, "I hate that we missed out on that because of some nameless, faceless witch bent on revenge."

Sam nodded. "It's crazy that she was really after Dad all along, and we just got in the way."

Dean stared off into the distance. "It felt real good telling the bitch that, though." Dean smiled. "That everything she did to us, that she put us through - Dad never knew about any of it." He took a drink. "That was an epic moment." He savored. "Of course, it was short-lived - for her anyway."

"Yeah, well, she earned what was coming to her."

"That she did. I just can't believe she was ever a hunter - that she'd hunted with Dad even - and then turned into one of the things she'd vowed to kill."

"Yeah, that part's crazy."

"And Bobby never knew! Not sure how she pulled that one off. Bobby knows when I get a speeding ticket on the other side of the country."

"She was just that good, I guess." Sam agreed, then paused. "Hey … Dean?"

"Mm?"

"You don't think she had anything to do with … you know … with Dad disappearing?"

Dean shook his head, 'No way." He assured his brother, "She was way too pissed when she got the memo. She was expecting me to run into Dad back at that motel that night, not you. I think she'd had images in her head all this time of all the torment she was causing him. She had no idea that none of her plotting and conniving had impacted him in any way." He lifted his beer to his lips. "That was so sweet - filling her in." He grinned. "That's the one good thing to come out of Dad being missing."

Dean shoulder-butted his brother. "He's coming back, you know." He said steadily. "Wherever he is, he's just caught up in the hunt. You know Dad. He's too stubborn to die easy."

Sam nodded. "I know."

"Good."

"Sammy?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm pretty sure that's pie I smell coming from the kitchen. Ron does know that pie's my thing and not yours, right? I was expecting a table full of salad and … other … green stuff." He shuddered.

Sam smiled, "Well, he did ask me what I wanted."

"Right," Dean narrowed his eyes "So again, why pie?"

"Cause maybe I said I wanted to treat my big brother to pie on my birthday? I mean, you did rescue me from a djinn and all."

Dean snorted, trying to sound tough. But inside, he melted like marshmallows in the sun. God, he'd missed this kid so much. "Sammy, you little bitch. You know I'm not sharing."

Sam smiled, understanding what his brother couldn't say. "You'll share."

"No, I won't will."

"Yes, you will … jerk."

"You're so not getting any of my pie, bitch."

Then Danny pulled up in the truck with the beer, and Ron called "Soup's on!" from the window, and all was right in the Winchester world.

At least until it wasn't again.

-END-

Author's Note: Again, a huge thanks to everyone who hung in there until the end. I appreciate all the feedback, and suggestions and the fact that nobody, anywhere, felt the need to point out my many typos :) This has been such a fun adventure, and I can't wait to embark on the next one.