Crazy Mind -Destiel-

16- Burnin' for you

"Who are these people again?" 

Bobby frowns, turning into the parking lot. "I'm not surprised you don't remember, you only met them a couple of times when you were younger." As they pull up Dean glances at the large sign hanging over the entrance reading 'Harvelle's Roadhouse'. In the broad daylight, the sign looks dated and cheap with its Vegas-style design. The bar originally belonged to Bill Harvelle, a man Bobby met years before on a hunt. He met Ellen, Bill's wife after Bill had died and passed the bar on to her. How Bill died wasn't brought up. Jo, Ellen's daughter, and Dean had met at a young age when Bobby had brought him and Sam to the bar one day. He doesn't remember either of them no matter how many times Bobby describes them. 

The Impala pulls into a space and Bobby switches off the engine. "Look Bill was a great hunter. I've never seen anyone else with a collection like him. He had books on every creature that's so much as grazed this earth." Dean sighs. The more Bobby talks about hunting the less Dean's able to pretend he's talking about animals. He easily made the connection that hunting is Bobby's mysterious job and that's why he's so averse to these creatures and how to defeat them. "If anyone has something that will help us it's them." The thought makes him shift trying not to think about how many different supernatural creatures he's probably been around without knowing. 

He glances up and he catches Castiel's eyes in the rear-view mirror. His fingers clench at his side and he quickly looks away, forcing the car door open. "Let's go then." 

Outside of the bar is nothing but desert land and the sun is unforgiving as it heats the air around him. The wooden exterior is faded brown and patchy from too much sun exposure. A couple of motorcycles frame the front of the bar acting as some kind of warning to any strangers thinking of entering. One of the owners of the bikes snarl at Dean as he walks past, Castiel and Bobby following after him. 

"See something you like?" Dean snarks. Bobby pointedly nudges Dean past the biker before he can respond. 

Inside conversations swirl in a dirty cloud of smoke, the stench of cigarettes barely hidden behind the noxious fog of alcohol. The tinkle of glass on glass is lost under the slow guitar riff as the bartender, a man with a mullet, pours drinks. The bar stands in a square in the centre, dark in the scarcely lit room. The sun shines strips of sallow light across the floor through the two small windows at the front.

"Ash there better be money going in that till. I'm not giving you any more freebies." An older woman points at the guy with the mullet - Ash - as she walks in behind the bar. The woman has warm beige skin and brown hair that rests just below her shoulders. Dean watches as her eyes scan around the bar but he still can't place her face. 

It's only when her eyes land on him that he has some sort of recognition, a memory of someone who could be one of the most affectionate people in the world or one of the scariest. She could handle herself, he remembers that. Dean registers shock flash across her face but it's gone within a matter of seconds.

"Bobby Singer."

Ash stops pouring drinks and looks up. Bobby's hand slaps Dean's back, encouraging him to move forward. They walk up to the bar and Dean tries not to watch too closely as Ellen's face gets even warier with each step they take. "Didn't think I'd see you in my bar anytime soon." Bobby smiles at her in the warm kind of way Dean hasn't seen in a long time. "Yeah, something came up." He gestures to Dean and Castiel. Her eyes instantly snap to Dean's face and he realises she had purposely avoided looking at him. Ellen's hand carefully covers her mouth to hide a shaky exhale. 

"Dean?" 

When Dean nods Ellen seems to instantly pull herself together. Grinning, she opens her arms wide and leans over the bar pulling him into a hug. The warmth is familiar and Dean wishes he could remember more about her and what is making her look at him like that.