Chapter 28

Dean knew something was wrong the minute he was awake but he didn't open his eyes. Addy had fallen asleep beside him and Sam on the other bed. He searched for his gun under his pillow.

"Looking for this," a sort of familiar voice said.

Dean slowly sat up to see a man in a ski mask holding a shotgun to him with his gun in his hand and the other one at Addy who was no longer asleep. The other man had a gun pointed at Sammy

"Mornin'," Dean said casually.

"Shut up. Hands where I can see 'im," he said and Dean did as he was told.

"Wait a minute. Is that you, Roy? It is, isn't it. Which makes you Walt. Hiya Walt," Dean said smugly.

"Don't matter," Walt said and removed his mask.

"Well, is it just me, or do you two seem a tad upset?" Dean taunted.

"Shut up," he said and looked to Addy, "Don't you think about using those witchy powers of yours or I'll blow their heads off so fast you won't even have blinked."

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said with a smirk and he pressed the gun to her forehead.

"I should blow your brains out right here you freak of nature," he growled at her.

"Get the hell away from her or I swear to God Walt I'll torture you for days before I put you out of your misery," Dean threatened in the darkest tone she'd ever heard.

"What did you do to him?" he asked her, ignoring Dean, "Why is he defending a monster like you?"

"Because I'm not a monster," she whispered and he took the gun from her head, "Now what the hell do you two want?"

"Him," he said, gesturing to Sam, "You think you can flip the switch on the Apocalypse and just walk away, Sam?"

"Who told you that?" Sam asked.

"We ain't the only hunters after you," he answered and cocked the gun, "See you in the next life."

"No," Addy yelled and a shot rang out but it wasn't for Sam. Addy fell back on the bed as blood seeped from her heart. Her eyes were open but unmoving.

Dean stared at her body in shock and so did Sam as another shot rang out and this time it actually was his brother. He looked between their bodies, a pure fury flowing through him.

"Shoot 'im," Walt ordered.

"Killin' Sam and the witch was right but Dean…" he began skeptically.

"He made us and we just snuffed his brother and his girl, you idiot. You want to spend the rest of your life knowing Dean Winchester's on your ass, 'cause I don't. Shoot 'im," he ordered again.

Dean turned to face the weak willed hunter with a dead look, "Go ahead, Roy, do it. But I'm going warn you, when I come back I'm going to be pissed. C'mon! Let's get this show on the road."

He stepped forward and the final shot filled the room.

SUPERNATURAL

Addy looked outside the motel room window to see rain pouring down from the night sky. She sighed and turned back to Dean who was finished packing his bags. She turned half expecting for Sam to be there too but she remembered how he'd left them only two weeks ago. The pain from what had happened to them was still fresh but it was lessened by Dean's company and the hunt they'd just finished.

"It's coming down really hard, "she said.

"Afraid of a little rain princess," he teased and she rolled her eyes.

"In case you hadn't noticed I rarely have a good hair day," she replied, rolling her eyes, "Rain don't help."

"Oh come on girly," Dean said, slinging his bag over his shoulder and opening the door, "I'll race you."

"What are you five?" she asked but he was already running out the door and she grabbed her stuff and shut the door behind her running after him into the parking lot to the Impala.

The rain soaked her through her before she even got to the car and Dean hopped into the driver's seat. She slid in the passenger seat a moment later and threw her stuff in the back.

He looked to her and then started laughing. She wanted to be pissed at him but she started laughing too.

He wiped water from his face and flung it at her. She whipped her hair at him and it hit him in the face as he laughed.

He pulled her close in an effort to stop her attack and suddenly they stopped laughing and stared into each other's eyes. She was aware of how close they were and the fact that both their clothes clung to their bodies with water. Goosebumps rose on her skin as his hand traveled down her arm and she looked down at his lips.

"We, uh, we should go," she whispered.

"Yeah, we should," he agreed, making no effort to remove his hand from her thigh.

"Dean! Addy!" Cas's voice said over the radio and they pull apart.

"What the hell?" Addy asked, looking around.

"You gotta stop poking around in my dreams. I need some me time," Dean complained and Addy frowned.

"Wait I thought this was my dream?" she asked in confusion.

"Listen to me very closely. This isn't a dream," Cas said, difficult to hear from the static.

"Then where the hell are we?" Addy asked.

"Deep down, you already know," Cas replied and gun shots, blood, and screams flashed in front of her.

"We're dead," Dean whispered.

"Condolences," Cas replied flatly.

"Where are we?" Dean asked.

"Heaven."

"How the hell did we get here?" she asked, "Where's Sam? Why isn't he with us?"

"Please, listen. This spell, this connection, it's difficult to maintain," Cas explained.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked again.

"What do you see?" Cas asked.

"What do you mean what do we see?" Addy asked in confusion.

"Some people see a tunnel or a river. What do you two see?" he asked again, trying to get them to answer.

"My dash. We're in my car. We're on a road, "Dean clarified.

"Alright. A road. For you it's a road. Follow it, Dean. You'll find Sam," he said and the radio began breaking up, "Follow the road."

It died and they exchanged a look. Dean started the Impala and began driving. Addy looked up at the sky to see it was odd with a moon that was bigger than usual.

"Why didn't Sam end up with us?" Dean asked after moments of silence.

"I don't know," she replied worriedly.

"What if he's-"

"No. He is not in hell, Dean," she said sternly, "Cas said we'd find Sam here and we're finding Sam. Don't even think like that."

"You're right," he said, his eyes on the road, "You're completely right."

She nodded, "Just keep driving. We'll find him."

SUPERNATURAL

It took them to a relatively normal looking house and inside was Sam having Thanksgiving dinner with a wide smiled, brace faced girl who couldn't keep her hands off him.

"Wow. Just wow," Dean said, getting his attention.

"Why are you guys in my dream?" Sam asked and Addy gave him a sad look as he got up from the table and walked to them.

"Sam this isn't a dream," Addy said sadly, "We're dead. This is heaven."

"Heaven," he repeated.

"Yup," Dean answered.

"Okay, how are we in heaven?" Sam asked.

"All that clean living I guess," Dean answered sarcastically.

" No, no. Okay. You two… I get, sure. But me? Maybe you haven't noticed, but I've done a few things?" he asked sadly.

"Sam look I get where you're going with that but you thought you were doing the right thing and if I were you I wouldn't question it," she reassured him.

"Last I checked, it wasn't the road to heaven that was paved with good intentions," he countered.

"Yeah, well, if this is the Skymall it sucks. I mean, where's the pretty girl and the latex, you know? C'mon, a guy has needs," Dean said and winked at Addy, "Well got the girl."

She punched him in the arm as hard as she could.

"You know, when you bite the dust they say your life flashes before your eyes," Sam said, ignoring his brother.

"Your point?" Dean asked.

"This house, it's one of my memories," Sam explained.

"We woke up in one of our memories," Addy agreed.

"Wait you two woke up in the same memory?" he asked.

"Yeah I guess it was a coincidence," she said, not thinking much of it, "but maybe that's what heaven is, reliving the best moments of your life."

"Wait, so… playing footsie with brace-face in there? Then that's a trophy moment for you?" Dean asked, obviously offended.

"Dean, I was eleven years old. This was my first real Thanksgiving," Sam said, defending himself.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, "We had Thanksgiving every year."

"We had a bucket of extra-crispy and Dad passed out on the couch," he countered.

"Guys maybe this isn't the best time to do family therapy," Addy said just as the house began to shake. The family at the table seemed not to notice.

"I don't remember this," Sam said.

"We need to hide," Addy said and Dean pulled her behind the couch. Sam stood to the side of the window as a bright light filled the house. It disappeared and the shaking stopped moments later.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Sam asked as they stood up and Dean went for a radio.

"I don't know, but we are taking the escalator back downstairs," Dean said and delivered a hit to the radio, "Cas!"

"What are you doing?" Sam asked.

"Cas talked to us through the radio in the car," she explained to him.

" I can hear you."

They turn to see a very distorted image of Cas on the TV and they crowd in front of it.

"Cas. Hey! So I, uh, I found Sam but, but something just happened. There was this weird beam of light," Dean explained.

"Don't go into the light."

"Ignoring the cliché," Addy said, "What the hell was it?"

"No it. Who. Zachariah. He's searching for you."

"And if he finds us?" Sam asked.

"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 said happily.

"No. You don't understand. You, hm. You're behind the Wall. This is a rare opportunity."

"For what?" Dean asked.

"You need to find an angel. His name is Joshua."

"I thought we were steering clear of angels?" Addy asked, growing annoyed, "What's so important about Joshua?"

"The rumor is, he talks to God and maybe—just maybe—we should find out what the hell God has been saying," Cas said in a tone they'd never heard him use.

"Jeez. Touchy," Dean joked.

"Please. I just need you to follow the road," he explained, "It's called the Axis Mundi. It's a path that runs through heaven. Different people see it as different things. For you, it's two-lane asphalt. The road will lead you to the Garden. You'll find Joshua there. And Joshua… can take us to God."

The picture and his voice began to distort badly, " The Garden. Quick. Hurry."

The TV went dead and they exchanged an alarmed look.

"So... What do you think?" Sam asked Dean carefully.

"I think we hit the yellow bricks, find this Joshua cat," Dean said, surprising the both of them.

"Really?" Addy asked with a raised brow.

"What? You don't?" Dean asked.

Addy and Sam exchanged a look," No, uh. I'm just surprised you do. Last time I checked you wanted to break God's nose, now you think he can help?"

"He's the only one who can. I mean, come on, Sam. We are royally boned. So prayer? The last hope of a desperate man."

"We're not desperate, Dean. We're just…dead," she said and kicked herself.

"Nice," Dean replied and she sighed in defeat, "Let's just get back to the road."

They went for the front door and there was nothing but woods where the road used to be.

"Wasn't there a street out here?" Sam asked.

"There was," Dean answered and they went back inside as he began searching. He went for a closet.

"You think the road is in a closet?" Sam asked.

Dean flicked on the light," We're in heaven, Sam, okay? I mean, our memories are coming true. Cas is on TV. Finding a road in a closet would be pretty much the most normal thing to happen to us today."

He notices something on the floor and they look to see a small toy car on a play track.

"What?" Sam asked as Dean picked the car up.

"I used to have one of these… when I was a kid," Dean said, winding it up and then set it back on the track so it could go in motion.

Suddenly, they're not in the house anymore but in a bedroom for a kid.

"That was the road?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"I guess," Dean replied, looking around, "Kind of trippy, right?"

"Yeah," Sam agreed and then looked at the shirt Dean was wearing with a smirk, "More trippy. Um. Apparently, you wuv hugs."

"Shut up," Dean said, still looking around and realization crosses his features, "Wait a minute. I know where we are."

"Where?" Sam asked.

"We're home," Dean said just as Mary Winchester appeared in the doorway for her son.

"Hey, Dean. You hungry?" she asked sweetly and neither of the brothers knew what to do. She turned and left and they followed her down to the kitchen. Dean sat down at the tale as Mary prepared food for him.

Looking between the two she realized this wasn't something she needed to see, "I'm gonna go see if I can find the road."

She searched everywhere in the house until she found a post card that said route 66 in a drawer in the living room.

"Guys I found it," she said as she came as Dean said to his mother, "It's okay, Mom. Dad still loves you. I love you, too. I'll never leave you."

Addy's gaze softened and she watched as Mary looked adoringly at her son, "You are my little angel. How 'bout some pie? Okay."

Reluctantly, Dean got up and came over to them, "What?"

"I just never realized how long you've been cleaning up Dad's messes," Sam said thoughtfully.

"I found it," she said quickly before Dean could respond, "And I've seen it somewhere before."

"Where?" Dean asked just as they ended up in a high school hallway. She looked down to see herself in shorts and a rolling stones t shirt.

"Your Dad sent that?"

She turned to see Sam and Dean staring at her and then Peter with a sympathetic expression.

"You wanna read it?" he asked.

She turned it over and read out loud, "Dear Kitty. Happy sixteenth birthday. Love, Dad."

"I'm sorry, Kit," Peter said with a small smile

"Uh, it's fine," she said glancing at Sam and Dean, "Three weeks late and the wrong age. What else can I expect?"

"Is this supposed to be a happy memory?" Dean asked, glaring at Peter.

"He wasn't always the person he is now," she answered as Peter pulled two tickets to the concert he'd taken her to only days before he'd gone dark.

"I know it's a bit late but they weren't on sale until yesterday. I was waiting for the right moment and I thought it'd cheer you up," he said with a grin and she looked to Sam and Dean, "Let's get out of here. There's a road out front."

She started walking the halls and they followed behind her. She looked back to see Peter talking to the space she'd occupied as if she were still there.

"So this is where you went to high school?" Sam asked as they made their way out the front door.

"And I hated it here," she replied just as she threw open the doors and sure enough the school parking lot was right there. They stepped onto the road and they were transported into an old, messy looking motel room.

"Where are we?" Dean asked.

"No way," Sam said with a smile as a dog came barreling in the room, " Bones! Hey, c'mere! C'mere!"

He bends down and the dog begins licking his face excitedly.

"Bones?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah. Bones was my dog," he said going over to a cheap coffee table and pulling out a slice of pizza.

"Your dog?" Dean repeated," Is this Flagstaff?"

"Yeah," Sam said happily, feeding Bones a slice of pizza and petting him.

"This is a good memory for you?" Dean asked and she didn't like where it was going.

"Yeah. I mean, I was on my own for two weeks. I lived on Funyuns and Mr. Pibb. "

"Wow," Dean said in an almost offended tone.

"What?" Sam asked cluelessly.

"Well, you don't remember, do you? You ran away on my watch. I looked everywhere for you. I thought you were dead. And when Dad came home…" he trailed off and Addy hated to think of what he must be feeling.

Sam looked guilty as Dean turned away in an attempt to hide what he was feeling.

"Dean, look, I'm sorry. I never thought about it like that," Sam apologized.

"Forget it," he said.

"Guys I think we should go," Addy said, attempting to diffuse the tension.

They walked outside after Sam ordered the dog to stay. They ended up on a dirt road in the dead of night.

"What memory is this?" Dean asked.

Addy looked between them and she knew Sam knew where they were.

"No idea," he lied, "Alright, come on. Dean… Road. God. Remember?"

"Wait a minute. Wait a minute. This?" Dean asked and he knew exactly where they were, "This is the night you ditched us for Stanford, isn't it? This is your idea of heaven? Wow. This was one of the worst nights of my life."

Addy heard the pain in his voice, "Dean, I'm sure it doesn't mean anything. We just need to keep moving."

"I can't control this stuff," Sam agreed.

"Seriously? I mean this is a happy memory for you?" Dean asked in hurt.

"I don't know. I mean, I was on my own. I finally got away from Dad," he tried to defend.

"Yeah, he wasn't the only one you got away from," Dean said, turning his back and trying to regain his cool.

"Dean, I'm sorry. I just, uh…" Sam tried to come up with something.

"I know. You didn't, you didn't think of it like that," he replied bitterly and began walking away.

"Dean stop it!" Addy yelled after him, "It isn't Sam's fault!"

"C'mon, Addy! His heaven is somebody else's Thanksgiving. Okay. It's bailing on his family. What do you want me to say?" he challenged her, "And yours is your ex boyfriend who's tried to kill us more than once!"

"Dean my heaven is you!" she yelled at him, "We had the same memory remember? And apparently that's not normal so whatever you're thinking right now stop it! We're in this together."

She looked back at Sam, "All of us!"

"It's supposed to be you and me against the world, right?" Dean asked his brother.

"It is!" he tried to convince him.

Dean was silent before asking," Is it?"

They three of them looked absolutely devastated with each other before a light from above shines down on them.

"Go! Go!" Dean screams as they start running for the trees on the side of the road.

They ran until they found a large log and hid behind it, trying to keep quiet but their heavy breathing made it difficult.

"Wow. 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," Zachariah called to them and suddenly it was daylight, "Guys. What's the problem? I just want to send you back to Earth, that's all. I mean, that is, after I tear you a cosmos of new ones. You're on my turf now, boys. And by the time I through with you, you're going to be begging to say yes."

They peek over the log to see him standing a few yard away. They take of running and then stop when he appears in front of them with a smile.

"Guys, c'mon. You can run but you can't run."

They turn and sprint back the way they came until they come across a man in a comical mask and cape. He puts a finger to his mouth, signaling them to be quiet.

"Hurry! This way," a familiar voice said and then ran off, expecting them to follow.

After one look they did and they ended up outside a small wooden shack. The man scribbled a symbol on the door and ran inside as they followed after him. The inside was a bar. A very familiar bar.

"Oh my God it's Ellen's Roadhouse," Addy said as the man pulled off his cape and mask and clapped on the lights to reveal it was Ash with a wide smile.

"Buenos dias, bitches," he said and winked at Addy, "Miss me Senorita."

She grinned and ran to him as he opened his arms. He lifted her off the ground and spun her around, kissing her cheek obnoxiously. She laughed as he set her down.

"I knew you'd come for me one day beautiful," he said and turned to Sam and Dean, his arm around her, "You see this woman. Loved her twenty times over and I never gave a damn if she loved me back as long as I got to see that smile."

"You two know each other?" Dean asked, going over to the bar as the jukebox started playing music and Ash hopped the counter and got beers.

"You kidding me?" he asked, "Addy's my true love."

Sam shot her a raised brow.

"Love you too, Ash," she said with a smile as he gave them the cans and they sat on the bar stools.

"You see that," he said, pointing to her, "Asked this one out so many times I lost count but she always came back to Daddy."

She rolled her eyes, "Don't start."

"Oh yeah I forgot," he said and pointed between her and Dean, "You two got a thing going-"

"So no offense Ash but…?" she asked, changing the subject.

He smiled, "How did a dirt bag like me end up in a place like this? I've been saved, man. I was my congregation's number one snake handler."

"And you said this was your heaven?" Sam asked with a smile.

"Yup!" he said, poked a hole from his beer can, drank it from the side, crushed it on his head, and then let out a belch.

"And when the angels jumped us? We were…"

"In your heaven," he explained.

"So there're two heavens?"

"No. More like a hundred billion. So, no worries, it'll take those angels boys a minute to catch up."

"What?" Dean asked in utter confusion.

"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," he explained and they continued looking at him like he was crazy, "See you got Winchesterland. Ashland. Addyland. A whole mess of everybody-else-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 said, starting to get it.

"Pretty much. A few people share , special cases. What not," he droned on and Addy and Dean shared a look, "Like, uh, soul-mates."

Ash saw the quiet exchange between the two and said, "Dean Winchester you lucky son of a bitch, you got Addy Turner as your soul mate. I'd kill you but for her but that'd be redundant."

She shot him a warning look and he continued, "Anyway. Most people can't leave their own private Idaho's."

"But you ain't most people," Dean said with a smirk.

"Nope. They ain't got my skills. Hell, I've been all over. Johnny Cash. André the Giant," he said and then looked to Sam, "Einstein. Sam, that man can mix a White Russian. Hell, the other day? I found Mallanāga Vātsyāyana."

"Who's that?" Addy asked.

"He wrote the Kama Sutra darlin'," he said with a wink, "Huh, that boy's heaven? Ah, sweaty. Confusing."

"All this from a guy who used to sleep on a pool table," Dean said in an amused tone.

"Yeah. Now that I'm dead, I'm living, man, a whole lot more," he said happily, "I rigged up my very own holy-rolling police scanner. That's angels. Blabbing Enochian, okay? I'm fluent. I heard that you were up. Of course I had to come find you. Again."

"Again?" Dean repeated in surprise.

"This ain't the first time here. I mean, you three die more than anyone I've ever met."

"Really?" Addy asked in shock.

"You've only been up here twice, Addy, " he explained, "but you don't' remember. God! Angels. Must've Windexed your brain."

"So, uh. I mean, have you found anybody else? Ellen and Jo?" Sam asked and Ash's face fell.

"Ellen and Jo are dead?" he asked and Addy looked at him sadly and nodded, "They went down fighting?"

"To the end," she answered with a small smile in attempt to comfort him.

"Yeah, a lot of good it did," Dean said bitterly, "How 'bout our folks?"

"I've been looking all over for John Winchester, Mary too, but so far nada. I'm sorry. But hey! There is somebody that wants to jaw with you. Hold up," he said and walked off to a back door. He disappears inside and then reappears with Pamela following behind him.

"Addy!" Pam explains and goes running up to her with ease. It only takes a second for Addy to realize she had her eyes back as she encompassed her in a hug.

"Pam, you look good," she said with a smile.

"I missed you," she said, hugging her tighter, "Last time you were here…"

Addy missed her shooting Sam a cold look.

"Doesn't matter," Addy said as they pulled apart, "It's all good now."