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It's late at night. The watch on his wrist says 2:47 am. There's almost no traffic on the highway. What little there is are mostly free spirits and stoners with nowhere to go.
They're headed to Cicero, Indiana. He looks over at his brother in the passenger seat. Sam is out cold. This is the first time he's slept in days.
"It's about time." Dean speaks softly to himself as he turns his eyes back to the road.
He's glad Sam's asleep. Recent events have prevented either of them from getting more than an hour's rest at most. Dean doesn't care about himself, he's gonna die soon anyway, he only cares about Sam. With Dad gone, Sam's the only one left to care about.
'That's why I did it, Sammy.' he thinks to himself. 'cause your the only one left.'
Tears are starting up in his eyes. He's gotta pull over. He needs to step out for a minute and get some air. He looks at the gas gauge, Baby could use a fill up. He looks up and sees an exit sign, he flips on the turn signal and goes down the ramp.
The station he pulls into is as run down as he feels. The car slowing to a stop startles Sam awake.
"Dean," he says groggily. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing, Sammy." Dean reassures his brother. "Just a quick stop. Gotta get some fuel. Why don't you go back to sleep?"
Sam doesn't argue. He switches positions in his seat and falls back asleep. Dean opens the door and steps out quietly, not wanting to wake the younger Winchester again. The pumps are ancient, the only good note is he doesn't have to prepay. He fills his tank and hangs the nozzle up. He looks through the window at Sam, still sound asleep, and heads inside.
There are only two other people in the store besides him: A dude browsing, and the guy at the register. They needed food for the road. Dean grabbed a couple energy bars for Sam and a Kit-Kat and a piece of blueberry pie for himself. He walks over towards the checkout and looks up.
He drops his shit and reach's around his back for his gun. The dude that was browsing is now holding a gun to the guy at the register.
"Drop the gun, Honey Bunny!" Dean tells him, trying to keep his cool.
The dude turns his head around to reveal pitch black eyes.
"You first, Pumpkin." The Demon retorts sharply. He gives him a closer look and finally recognizes Dean. "You're the Winchester, the one who sold his soul."
The Demon knows. It hasn't been that long but the Demon knows. Dean's scared but he won't show it, he can't. He looks at the guy behind the counter, he's mouthing "help me". He shifts his eyes back to Demon, who's looking out at the pumps. He sees the Impala sitting outside and turns his head back to Dean.
"Ah how sweet this is," the Demon says chuckling, a pleased smile fills his face. "I've got the one that's dying and the one that should be dead."
"Look, man," Dean begins, he raising his gun slightly higher. "You can have me, but leave my brother outta this."
"Now why should I do that?" The Demon asks. "You'll be along soon enough. Sam was already with us, he's fair game."
"Hey, the deal was that Sammy lived!" For the first time, Dean let's a hint of fear surface.
"No, the deal was that he was brought back." The Demon states. "I could go out there right now and slit his throat and your contract would still be legally binding."
Dean doesn't speak another word. He's afraid his voice would break to much. He sold his soul so his brother wouldn't go before his time. Like always though, those black-eyed bastards found a loophole.
The Demon pulls his gun away from the clerk towards the Winchester. Dean pulls the trigger. The Demon's vessel falls backwards onto the floor. Black smoke leaves the body and disappears through the window. The clerk and Dean look at each other.
Dean opens the car door and gets in. Sam's awake, the gunshot woke him up.
"Hey Sleeping Beauty, got you some energy bars." Dean says to his brother.
"Everything alright in there?" Sam asks him. "I thought I heard gunshots."
"Huh," Dean looks out the window. "Must have been a dream."
"Yeah," Sam runs his hand down his face. "Yeah, you're probably right."
"First time for everything, huh." Dean replies, chuckling.
Sam chuckles too, this makes Dean smile. He starts the car and puts it in gear. They take off down the highway, headed towards their next case.
Dean never tells Sam what happened in the gas station.