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Dean cursed as he watched the slow person in the right lane just keep poking along. The car was just slow enough to block what was otherwise the perfect gap to turn left out of the gas station. Sam shot him a sympathetic look, which was nice, but what Dean really needed was a goddamn break in the traffic.
After what felt like forever, he finally got to go. Dean relaxed as they got out on the open road, feeling even better when he got onto the highway and they were ready to really go. At that point, he could let his Baby take over and just enjoy spending time with his two favorite people.
He’d expected this trip to be more awkward than it was. The whole reason… okay, part of the reason, the other part was just his wanderlust and love of the road… Dean needed to get out of the Bunker was that Sam and Cas had that shiny New Couple Smell all over them. Every time he ran into one of them, they had some kind of schmoopy look to them, or they were together and cuddling and generally unfit to be around. When he’d first proposed the trip, he’d intended for it to be just him, to let Sam and Cas get that new couple phase out of the way without him.
Then they’d convinced him to take them along, somehow. Dean didn’t understand how, although he had a suspicion Sam’s puppy eyes were responsible. Jack had wanted to come, too, and he was there for some of it since he could fly, but Sam had convinced him that he needed to stay in Sioux Falls enough to be in class and take care of assignments.
They’d been on the road three days, and despite Dean’s concerns, it had been amazing. A part of him missed the days when it was just him and Sam, but the joy on Sam’s face every time Cas spoke or their eyes met in the rearview mirror was so worth it. Even the New Couple Syndrome was somehow more tolerable in the car. It made him happy, instead of nauseated.
Unfortunately, it also made him kind of jealous, and not in the way that rumors would try to paint. Either way. Those were his brothers, and the idea of either of them being a lover was somewhat disturbing to him. He’d known Cas loved him, and had always thought it best to ignore it and let Cas work it out on his own. That it had worked out by Cas realizing that everything he loved about Dean was true of Sam too, and Sam was capable of returning it, was the best possible outcome Dean could have dreamed up.
He wanted that. He’d always blown off the idea, after things with Lisa went the way they did… marriage and family wasn’t in the cards for him. Even Sam’s suggestion of finding someone in the life didn’t seem like a good idea. After all, he wanted kids, and did he really want to raise them into this kind of thing? Better if he just walled off the idea of having family beyond his brothers completely. Wasn’t a problem for Sam and Cas, they had Jack who was already in the life and weren’t likely to have more, but it would be for Dean. He’d listened to enough of the debate they were starting over some book Sam had just finished to know that he didn’t care enough about what they were saying to pay attention, but listening to the tone of their voice as they argued whatever it was they were arguing… even though they were disagreeing, the love and pride and respect was so strong. That, Dean wanted.
In the meantime, though, while he figured out whether he could let himself have part of what he wanted – not to mention found someone in the life who could be that person and who loved him back – he had this. Flying down the highway, Sam beside him, Cas along for the ride, this was always what he’d pictured life being.
Jack popping in with a big smile didn’t ruin the moment at all. Didn’t even startle Dean enough to jerk the wheel like he used to when it was Cas dropping in. “Hi everyone! Dean, guess what?”
“If I say what, are you going to say that’s what?” Old joke, usually about a four-year-old’s level of humor – but then again, Jack was a four-year-old, technically, and this is one of the ways that showed sometimes.
Jack tilted his head in thought and then burst into laughter. “That’s funny! But no, Jody asked me to tell you something she thought you’d be interested in.”
“Okay, I’m listening.” So were Sam and Cas, whatever they’d been discussing forgotten. One of the downsides to four-person car trips like this. Jack was probably going to stick around until Sam and Dean went to bed, so their argument wouldn’t get resolved. Neither of them seemed bothered, though, which had Dean rolling his eyes internally.
“Donna’s police department has a new person working there, and she was telling her a story about you and Sam visiting Jody and recognized your names. There was a really awkward conversation, and now Donna and Jody and the girls have a new hunting partner possibility. Her name’s Anna Milton.”
“Wait, what?” Sam turned around. “Anna Milton? You’re sure?”
“Yes. She said the two of you might not believe she was alive, but Lucifer thought he could use her in the fight against Amara and brought her back as a human to try to get strategy ideas from her. She couldn’t help him and told Donna she wouldn’t even if she could. He said that she had one more chance and then he was going to kill her again, and that she had until he came back from a meeting to do it, but he never came back from that meeting. At least not before she managed to escape.”
Both Winchesters stared at Cas, Sam still turned around and Dean through the mirror. Cas shook his head. “I was only marginally aware of the outside world most of the time, and without her grace, her human form wouldn’t have called to me. Not like being around you two did.”
“Huh. She still wanna kill Sammy, did Donna say?” Dean spat out.
“Dean, her plan would have worked, you and Cas just couldn’t live with the idea of me being gone,” Sam protested. “Apocalypse is over, she has no reason to kill me, and it was never personal.”
“Cas? You buy that?”
“Yes.” Castiel looked at his hands. “Sam, despite Heaven’s lies, she respected you. She even liked you. Dean, if you will forgive her for thinking tactically instead of emotionally, as she was always taught to do…”
“And remember that even if she had thought emotionally, you and Ruby are the ones she bonded with, not me – and learning about Ruby’s betrayal can’t have helped her have faith in me, even without Heaven’s torture.” Sam looked over to him, an odd sort of smile on his lips. “You should give her a chance, huh? Until that went south, she was one of our strongest allies. Maybe she could be again.”
“Yeah, maybe. I’ve got until the next time we go visit the girls to decide, so I’ll think about it.” For now, Dean thought he was lying – but what the hell, he might change his mind later, right? He had liked Anna until she started boiling bunnies.