If This Was A Movie, You'd Be Here By Now

Chapter 2

The Roadhouse is just how Dean remembers it, both inside and out. The counters, the stools, the alcohol... Man, it's good to be home.

"Welcome back, boys."

Dean beams at the sound of that old, familiar voice. "Ellen!"

"Took you long enough," she says teasingly.

And she's not the only one here. She's sitting at the bar with Bobby on one side and Jo on the other, each with a drink in front of them. God, it's good to see their faces again. It's been a decade since he last saw them, and so much has changed since then. There's so much he wants to fill them in on -- and hopefully they come with stories of their own; he'd hate for him and Sam to do all the talking.

Their meeting starts, unsurprisingly, with some well-deserved hugs. It's been a long time since he's been given a hug that wasn't overshadowed by an impending apocalypse. It's been a long time since he's been able to do anything without the constant threat of the end of the world looming over him, now that he thinks about it. If this is what Heaven's going to be like, he already loves it.

"Hey, Ash, wake up!" Ellen yells.

Dean follows her gaze to see Ash lying on the pool table, fast asleep. Wow, now it really is like old times.

When yelling at him doesn't wake him up, Jo takes matters into her own hands. She grabs a rag from behind the bar, scrunches it into a ball, and throws it at him, hitting him right in the head. Ash jerks awake, sitting upright so quickly that he rolls off the pool table and falls to the floor with a loud thud. He tries to sit up again, but he hits his head on the bottom of the pool table. He slides out a foot or so, then tries to sit up for the third time, this time more successfully. He looks around, confused. "Hey, what's going -- oh, hey, guys!"

Dean shakes his head fondly. God, what a fucking dork. That's what he loves about the guy, though. He's somehow both the smartest and the dumbest person Dean has ever met.

"Hey, Ash," Sam says. He walks over and offers him a hand, which Ash takes to pull himself to his feet.

"So, you here for good this time or just passing through?" Ash asks.

Dean chuckles. "Here for good, it looks like."

"Right on." Ash pumps his fist once for emphasis.

"So, what happened?" Jo asks. "How'd you bite it?"

"Vampire mimes," Dean says, because it's a hell of a lot less embarrassing than saying that a rusty nail did him in.

"I got old," Sam says with a shrug.

The corners of Bobby's mouth turn up just a little. "Who would've thought a Winchester would get old?"

Sam chuckles. "Not me, that's for sure."

"You meet a girl?" Jo asks with a smirk.

Sam nods. "Yeah, I did — a hunter, actually, but we both gave it up when we found out she was pregnant."

"You have a kid?" Jo asks, gaping at him.

"I do — err, did. I'm sure you'll get to meet him soon — him and Eileen."

Dean does a double-take at the sound of that name. "You and Eileen, huh?" He'd always known they were perfect for each other, but in all honesty, he hadn't expected it to work out. The world is too unpredictable, especially for a hunter. Dean had been sure something would get in the way, and he's never been so glad to be wrong.

He nods. "Yeah, she came back not long after you died. She really helped keep me together when I had nothing else left."

Dean's mind flashes back to when he was in the same boat and turned to Lisa for help. He'd been prepared for the death of his brother. He'd even had the chance to say goodbye. But when Sam was gone — when he thought Sam was going to be gone forever — he fell apart, and it took a lot for the Braedens to put him back together. He's always had a lot of respect for Eileen, but if she did the same for Sam, Dean's respect has only grown.