Prompt: Sky

Because I miss the Impala :(

The world opens itself up to Dean when he's behind the wheel of his girl. Roads stretch on for miles, towns and cities and houses and cars bleed away until it's just Dean and the purr of the Impala's engines. Even the sky which knows no bounds curves and opens as Dean presses the gas pedal.

Sam sleeps shotgun, or he sits up and talks, or they listen to ACDC. Sometimes they drive in silence as the Impala motors on, riding the edge between reckless driving and smooth sailing. Sometimes one of them is in the back and bleeding, whoever is driving far past common sense as they drive blindly down those roads that stretch on for so many miles.

Usually, though, Dean doesn't pay attention to the world as it opens up before him. Of the things they pass, the scenes that blur by, the sky that goes on forever. It's the smell that gets to him, really. Her rumbling engine soothes him and the feel of her leather puts him at ease, but it's that smell that holds all of his memories.

That smoke and gun smell that seems to follow both brothers around, the scent of old whiskey and diner food. If he tries hard enough, Dean can pick up the bitter copper scent of blood. Those are the constants, the things that remind him he's home. The others, the smell of coffee, the sweet aroma of donuts, the occasional heavy acrid scent of illness come and go.

When he knows, or at least thinks, Sam isn't paying attention, sometimes Dean just runs his hands across the dashboard, along the wheels, over the leather seats. He palms the gear shift, feeling an almost erogenous thrill shoot through him. He'll lean back against the upholstery and breathe in the scent of his girl, of everything he and Sam are. Of everything they believe in and fight for.

The guilt is still there. The pain, the sadness, the loss, the fear. But here in his girl, here where he's at home, where he can feel her reverberations echo through her as he revs her engine and Sammy in her passenger seat, Dean feels that those rolling hills, that unending sky, and those unwinding roads are all leading somewhere. And he feels safe. Because he's home, and really, sometimes that's all he needs.

Some people say that the sky's the limit. To Dean, who knows much better than that, the sky's only the beginning.