Title: We Came Along This Road
Author:
yourpalkaraPairing/characters: Sam, Dean (gen)
Rating: PG
Word count: 462
Spoilers: some for 7x05
Summary: The Winchesters' lives look better in reverse.
Notes: This was inspired by Jonathan Safran Foer’s “Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close” which everyone should read!!!!
A thing Sam does sometimes is think about his brother. He looks at Dean, the hard lines of his face and his eyes with barely any light left in them and that’s when Sam thinks how did you get like this how can I make it better. For you, Dean, anything.
Tonight they’re heading down an empty road, putting miles between them and two - probably insane, definitely in need of marriage counseling - witches and Dean is driving and Sam looks at him and thinks you look tired, man. Dean’d said it, but Sam can see it now. He can see it in every breath Dean takes, in the way he grips the wheel with one hand and slumps back against the seat and Sam wonders how much of his brother is really even there.
If Sam thinks hard, he can see their whole lives in reverse. He imagines them living that way, imagines them driving backwards down the highway while Metallica plays some jumbled up nonsense and to Sam, it sounds just the same.
The Starks would’ve worked backwards through their marriage. It would’ve gotten worse. And then better.
Dean would’ve spit mouthful after mouthful of whiskey beer scotch into flask bottle cup, he would’ve slowly become less weighed down by the world, more open with his brother.
Their friend Cas would’ve walked backwards out of the lake and locked the leviathan safely in purgatory. The wall in Sam’s head would’ve built itself up.
Sam would’ve gained his soul and lost it again. And then he’d get it back.
He’d have pulled himself out of a hole in the ground and the apocalypse would’ve diminished into nothing. He’d have shoved Lucifer into his cage would’ve trusted Ruby less and less, as Dean trusted him more and more.
He would’ve watched a hellhound put his brother back together.
Sam would’ve felt the darkness inside of him fading till it was nothing but the words on Dean’s lips, “Sammy, you kill to have might I said he.”
Dad would’ve bought his soul from a demon and he would be there but Sam would be gone. Jessica would’ve fallen from the ceiling and into Sam’s arms.
Sam would’ve run away from Standford to be with his family and he would have become less irritated by the abnormality of their broken lives. He’d have grown younger with his brother and the age and exhaustion on his Dad’s face would’ve quickly disappeared.
Dean would have carried Sam into the house and put him gently in his crib. There’d be fire and then there’d be nothing. Dean then Dad then finally Mom would’ve walked backwards out of his room. They’d have crawled into their beds they’d have closed their eyes.
They would have been safe.