Bless the Broken Road

20. Everybody Loves a Clown

The brothers stood in front of a funeral pyre -- John's. The only light came from the wrapped, burned body. Standing behind, hands in pockets, were Sam, Zach and Dean. Sam was near tears and fidgeting and Dean and Zach were staring into the flames silently.

"Before he... before, did he say anything to you? About anything?" Sam asked.

Dean and Zach didn't look at Sam as they answered, "No. Nothing."

JUNKYARD - ONE WEEK LATER

Dean and Zach were underneath the Impala working on it, only his legs sticking out. It was still a rusted frame, but looked less crunched.

Sam approached. "How's the car coming along?"

"Slow," Dean answered.

"Yeah? Need any help?"

Dean dropped a tool heavily. "What, you under a hood? I'll pass."

"Need anything else, then?"

Dean pushed himself out from under the table and stood. "Stop it, Sam."

"Stop what?"

"Stop asking if I need anything, stop asking if I'm okay. I'm okay. Really. I promise."

Sam pursed his lips. "All right, Dean, Zach, it's just... We've been at Bobby's for over a week now and you two haven't brought up Dad once."

"You know what? You're right. Come here. I'm gonna lay my head gently on your shoulder. Maybe we can cry, hug, and maybe even slow dance."

"Don't patronize me, Dean, Dad is dead," Sam said. "The Colt is gone, and it seems pretty damn likely that the demon is behind all of this, and you're acting like nothing happened."

"What do you want me to say?"

"Say something, all right? Hell, say anything. Aren't you two angry? Don't you two want revenge? But all you two do is sit out here all day long buried underneath this damn car."

"Revenge, huh?" Zach said.

"Yeah."

"Sounds good. You got any leads on where the demon is? Making heads or tails of any of Dad's research? Because Dean and I sure ain't. But you know, if we finally do find it -- oh. No, wait, like you said. The Colt's gone. But I'm sure you've figured out another way to kill it. We've got nothing, Sam. Nothing, okay? So you know the only thing Dean and I can do? Is we can work on the car."

Dean and Zach crouched by the car again, getting back to work.

"Well, I've got something, all right?" He pulled out a cell phone. "It's what I came by here to tell you. This is one of dad's old phones. Took me awhile, but I cracked his voicemail code. Listen to this."

He handed the phone to Dean, who stood and took it reluctantly.

"John, it's Ellen. Again. Look, don't be stubborn, you know I can help you. Call me."

"That message is four months old," Sam told his brothers.

"Dad saved that chick's message for four months?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Well, who's Ellen?" Zach wondered. "Any mention of them in Dad's journal?"

"No. But I ran a trace on her phone number and I got an address."

"Ask Bobby and Lil if we can use one of their cars."

"How about you?"

"Ass." He went to find Lily.