The Impala's Baby.

XXXX

The Impala glistened in the sun-light as Sam dried off the excess water with a clean rag, ready to apply the wax from the tin that Dean kept in the trunk.

His brother was asleep; the ghost they had put to rest the day before had messed up his shoulder and although it was just a bad sprain, Dean wouldn't have been able to devote himself to the Impala as he had been planning to do.

"I gotta get my Baby up to scratch, Sammy; I've been neglecting her lately," had been Dean's litany for the past few days and now with his shoulder out of sorts, his bonding moment with her would have to be postponed, but that didn't mean that Sam couldn't polish her up for him!

X

He felt guilty, 'cause Dean still had this crazy idea that Sam needed protecting like when he was a kid. His brother seemed to forget that he was a big boy now and eminently able to look out for himself but no; the urge to throw himself in front of Sam when danger threatened was just too strong, too ingrained, and so Dean had been flung through the air instead of him.

It was only fair to pretty up the Impala to make amends; besides the physical exercise would do him good too, as all he seemed to do lately was plank his ass down in front of his lap-top, researching.

He applied the wax in slow easy circles, it was strangely soothing in a hypnotic kind of way; that was probably why Dean enjoyed it so much.

X

Although his big brother had an unparalleled attachment to the car, Sam loved her too.

She was his home as much as Dean's, perhaps even more, for Dean still retained some childish memories of the "normal" life he had lived until he was four but Sam could remember nothing else but the Impala.

His first memories were of the purr of her engine and of Dean's wiry arms holding him close; how safe he had felt cradled solidly against his chest, Dean's steady heartbeat lulling him to sleep. His treacherous eyes started to mist up as he dwelt on all that Dean had done for him. He had been mother, father and brother, defending and encouraging, spoiling and scolding, like a lion with her cub.

He shivered as he imagined what kind of life he would have had without his big brother. Would his father have fostered him out, or maybe with a six-month baby to look after he would have put sdown roots somewhere? Somehow Sam didn't think so.

X

As he worked, he settled into a steady rhythm. The few times he had waxed the car previously, Dean had called him out on the result bitching that it was blotchy, but this time the Impala seemed to sing under his hand for she glossed up beautifully.

In their world of magic, witches and spells, it wouldn't be that far-fetched to imagine the Impala as a living breathing person; after all, Gabriel had once melded him with her!

It had been one of the strangest things he had ever experienced and if someone asked him to explain how he had felt, he wouldn't be able to describe it.

The car had been his body, only rigid and stiff but when Dean had opened the trunk to take out the holy oil, he had felt himself being touched, something that should have been impossible, for the car had no nerve endings, yet he had felt everything even the pressure of Dean's ass as it rested on the driver's seat and the grip of his hands on the wheel.

An incredulous smile came to his lips as he thought on just how screwed up their lives were! Being turned into a car! What the Hell!

X

He was hunched over the hood polishing up the last awkward corner when he the long dark shadow of his brother blocked out the sun.

"Not bad, Sammy. Better than your usual efforts," the familiar voice commented.

Sam's head came up in surprise, he hadn't heard Dean arrive. "You should be in bed, man. You gotta rest that shoulder."

Dean pursed his lips."I kept rolling over on top of it and the pain was worse. I'm just as well staying on my feet. Didn't expect to see you beautifying my Baby though. I thought the computer was your one true love?"

"Yeah, well I know you were gonna give her the whole treatment today and it's my fault that you sprained your shoulder, so I thought I'd stand in for you this once," Sam shrugged. "I don't suppose she'll mind."

"Why should she? She 's probably happy to get a bit of attention from you," Dean declared.

Sam glanced up at him perplexed."You serious? With all care you lavish on her, I don't think she needs me to pamper her too!"

"That's where you're wrong, Sammy. She's my Baby but you're hers."

"Just what's that supposed to mean, Dean?"Sam asked, still as confused as before.

X

"When I was a kid and Dad used to leave us locked in the Impala while he went off ganking monsters or whatever, I was scared, no terrified each time that he wouldn't come back and there would be no-one to look out for you; that we would be left on our own or that you would be taken away to some foster home and we would be separated and maybe never see each other again, so I used to pretend that the Impala was a magic carriage and that if anything happened to Dad she would keep us safe inside her and look out for us like a mom would, especially for you Sammy.

You would lie there gurgling and cooing in my arms and I knew that if you were ever taken away from me it would be the worst thing in the world. When I was really frightened I used to repeat over and over, 'You gotta look out for Sammy, you gotta look out for the baby!' and although she never answered me in words, I swear I could feel her in my head telling me that Sammy was her baby too and that we would both watch over him," Dean finished off uncomfortably.

X

"Dean...I...I'm so sorry, man. I was always on the receiving end. I didn't realise back then just how much you did for me. God, I wish Dad had fostered me out, at least you wouldn't have been forced to give up your childhood for me."

"Don't ever say that again, Sammy!" Dean replied angrily. "You were the only bright shining light in the crappy childhood I had. If you hadn't been there, I don't know that I would have survived it. You saved me Sammy. Always remember that!"

"Well that makes two of us then, Dean, 'cos you as sure as hell saved me. You did everything for me. I'll never be able to pay you back for that."

"Okay then, let's just say that we've kept each other alive, and leave it at that, Sasquatch," Dean declared firmly.

X

There was nothing more to say. they both understood what each meant to the other. The bond that linked them had been forged by their shared childhood yet it was not of this world, for it was a bond of the soul, two souls entwined for all eternity.

"Hey, Sam, you missed a spot here. Get your ass round and buff it up. My Baby has to be nothing less than perfect," Dean snarked.

"Yeah," Sam agreed heartfelt. "Nothing less than perfect!"

XXX The enD XXX

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