Missing Her

Part 5

You bolted upright and panicked for a moment, unsure of where you were. It was familiar, but not from your recent memory. Focusing on some things around the room, it took a minute or two, and the recognition of the ZZ Top poster on the wall, but you realized that you were in Ash's room at the Roadhouse.

Muffled voices from beyond the closed door carried in. When you went to investigate out in the bar, you saw Dean and Ollie playing pool. Not wanting to disturb them, you tip-toed out of Ash's room and watched from the shadows.

"Alright," Dean said moving the crate over to the long side of the table. "What do you do first?"

Ollie climbed up on the plastic milk crate and took the cue stick from his hand. It was one of the shorter ones, but still too big for her small size. She still managed to get her grip on it properly and bend over the table.

"First, you line up your shot," she said, closing one eye and positioning her hand slightly off proper stance. Dean leaned over and moved her hands where they needed to be but then backed off to watch her.

"Right. Then what?" he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, watching her carefully.

"Then, look for your next shot," Ollie replied confidently.

"Atta girl!" he said and moved around to the other side of the table. "Which are you looking at?"

Ollie stood back up and examined the layout of the billiard balls in front of her. You couldn't see the whole table, but you watched her face as she tried to decide what to do. The way her young features were set in determination as she chewed her bottom lip, only highlighted the Winchester genes even more.

Finally, she pointed at an obscured part of the table. "There."

"Yes!" Dean exclaimed and walked back around to her. "Now, when you draw back to hit the cue ball, if you hit it here," he pointed to the center bottom part of the ball, "that will make the ball recoil after hitting this one and roll back to line up the other shot. Got it?"

"Got it!" Ollie nodded and bent back over the table. Dean helped adjust her arm slightly, but he stepped back when she began to find her stroke and hit the ball. The cue did exactly what she hoped it would, bouncing the seven ball into the pocket, and rolling it back to line up her next shot.

When it rolled to a stop, Ollie jumped off the crate, then up and downing, cheering, and Dean shot both arms up in the air in a celebration of victory. "That's my girl!!"

Ollie's face was just full of elation, her smile going ear to ear. She jumped up at Dean, slapping him a vicious high five, to which he pretended it hurt. Dean shook off his hand and mumbled something to Ollie you couldn't hear. You watched as your daughter flung herself at Dean and wrapped her arms around his waist to embrace him tightly. He hugged her back, letting her be the one to pull away first. She bounded back towards the table, hopped back on the crate and repeated the process.

This time, Dean took a step back and watched her. Even from the distance, you noticed the emotion around his eyes. He wasn't crying, but the lines in his face were betraying the build-up of feeling that was growing inside him. He sucked them back down, his pouty bottom lip clenching at the process, all while watching his daughter play pool like a natural.

Dean felt your gaze on him and finally noticed you standing in the shadows. He didn't call out your name or wave you over, but the corner of his mouth tugged into a thoughtful smile before he turned back to Ollie to help her with her grip.

No matter what was about to go down with demons and angels, at that moment watching your daughter play pool with her father made it feel like all was right and perfect in your world.