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It’s New Years Eve 2029. The Green Cooler is packed with beer, all nicely chilled of course, and is sitting in the backseat of the Impala as they wait for their boys.
Ok, some may say that at 46 and 50 Sam and Dean are no longer children, but to them, they would always be their “boys.” But that’s what happens when you’ve watched over people since they were babies.
There’s a comfortable quiet in the garage. These two have known each other for more years than either wants to remember. They’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly of a hunter’s life and managed to survive it together.
Sure, things were a bit quieter now that the Winchesters were concentrating more on training up young hunters, but they still took on the odd job now and then, and Baby and The Cooler were always ready for a new adventure. Tonight, however, wasn’t about monsters. It was about tradition.
As the silence stretched on, The Cooler decided to break the ice, “So,” he said nonchalantly, “another year gone by.”
Baby flicked a glance in the rear view mirror at her old traveling companion and replied in the same tone, “Yup.”
The Cooler gave a weary sigh. The old gal was no more talkative than her driver. But he wasn’t put off by it. “It’s been quite a ride, hasn’t it?”
Baby smiled at the choice of words. The Cooler was serious about his job, but he did tend to like making bad jokes now and then. “You mean an easy ride for you. I’m the one who does all the work, hauling your lazy ass all over the place.”
Assuming an affronted tone, The Cooler shot back, “Hey, now! I’ve seen my share of dirty work!”
In a skeptical voice, Baby asked, “Oh, really? When?”
The Cooler replied proudly, “There was that time that girl used me to beat off a hellhound. I saved Sam’s life!”
“You mean the hellhound that dented my hood and roof and broke my window?” Baby asked pointedly.
Not willing to surrender his pride, The Cooler continued, “And then there was the time Dean put a severed werepire head in me! One that was still alive, I might add! Sucker was growling and snarling like anything the whole time.”
With a smirk in her voice, Baby inquired innocently, “Would that be the same head Dean cut off using one of my doors?”
The Cooler gave her an annoyed look for a moment, then hiding a grin, stated boldly, “I once had to hold a bunch of slimy green smoothies. Beat that!”
Baby was shocked into silence for a brief second, staring at the smug Cooler, then both of them broke out in laughter.
Finally getting a hold of herself, the Impala said in mock horror, “Oh, yes! Hazardous duty indeed! You win, my friend.”
They both settled back into a reflective mood, looking back on their many years of service to the Winchesters in their battle of good against evil. There were some rough times, some hard times and some downright scary-as-hell times.
But there were some really good times too. Long, sunny days of just driving down the road, the four of them with the music blaring, the wind whipping through the open windows, Sam and Dean laughing and teasing each other. There were quiet nights spent under clear skies, staring at the infinite stars with the boys lying on Baby’s hood or stretched out on her seats, The Cooler providing handy refreshments as the Winchesters discussed their latest hunt or just reminisced about days gone by. The four of them together. That was all they really needed. That was their true home.
In a hushed, thoughtful voice, Baby absently observed, “It's all been worth it, hasn’t it? I don’t have any regrets about our life.”
The Cooler answered her seriously, “Neither do I. In our own way, we helped make the world a better place. What more could we ask? I wouldn’t change a thing.”
Just then they heard some familiar voices heading down the hall towards the garage. Looking at the clock, they saw it was around 11:30.
“Finally!” They both said in unison and chuckled at each other.
As the clomping of booted feet grew closer, Sam was commenting in a light tone, “The new recruits are really coming along. I think Josh and Candy will be ready to go out on their own in a couple of weeks.”
Dean replied in a mocking, grumpy voice, “Yeah. I still can’t believe we have a hunter named Candy!”
As Sam moved to open the doors to the tunnel out, he chuckled and replied, “ At least it’s with a Y and not an I.”
Dean slid into Baby’s driver’s seat with happy familiarity and chuckled in return, “True, but it still seems wrong.” He turned and lifted The Cooler’s lid to check the contents, gave a satisfied grunt and dropped it back in place.
Sam opened the passenger door with the accustomed creak and settled in the seat with a grateful sigh before smirking at his brother. “Hey, she’s good enough to get through YOUR guard!”
“That was just luck!” Dean shot back defensively.
Sam put on a straight face and answered seriously, “Of course, Dean. She just got lucky…THREE TIMES.”
The Cooler and Baby exchanged amused looks. Some things never changed.
After shooting a betrayed frown at his not so little brother, Dean fired up Baby’s engine and reluctantly admitted, “Ok, so she’s good.”
Sam grinned and replied, “Or you’re just getting old.”
Dean threw a playful punch at Sam before carefully steering his precious car out of the garage and into the dark tunnel, “Watch it, bro! I’m still young enough to beat YOUR ass!”
As they broke out into the crisp, clear night, Sam sighed, “Maybe. But then I’m getting old too.”
Once they hit the road, Dean gunned the engine and headed west. “Yeah. How did that happen? I never thought we’d live long enough to get old!”
“Neither did I,” Sam said, settling deeper into his seat. “Guess we just got lucky.”
“Yeah, never expected THAT either!” Dean turned his head to smile at his brother, only to find Sam doing the same thing.
The Cooler and Baby basked in the comfort of the boys’ banter as they drove on. The haunting lyrics of “Simple Man” came from the speakers as Dean finally pulled off into an empty field on their right. It was far from any town or city. Far from any man-made lights that might dim the endless stars above. He parked the car and turned off her purring engine, and silence fell around them. Without a word, Dean climbed out and grabbed The Cooler, putting it in easy reach of Baby’s hood while Sam fetched a blanket from the trunk. Still not needing to speak, Dean grabbed a couple of bottles of beer and opened them as they both stretched out on the front of Baby and leaned against her windshield.
As he took his bottle from Dean, Sam casually commented, “It’s too bad Cas can’t be here.”
Giving a sigh, the older Winchester agreed, “Yeah, but Jack needed his help to sort out some trouble in Heaven. The last thing we need is another problem upstairs.”
Sam nodded agreement as he sipped his beer. Dean pulled his coat closed tighter and shivered. “Damn, it’s cold out tonight!”
Sam arched his brow at his brother. “That’s what the blanket is for.”
“You’re such an old woman, Sammy,” Dean remarked in a peevish voice.
“Fine. Then there’s more for me,” Sam replied calmly, and then started counting in his head. He had only gotten to eight before Dean grumbled, “So are you gonna share or what?”
Hiding a smile, Sam spread the fleece over them both and they settled in, staring up at the sparkling sky and swigging their drinks.
The Cooler gave Baby an exasperated glance, saying, “Sometimes it’s hard to believe these two have saved the world more than once.”
Baby returned an amused grin. “You got that right, my friend!”
Suddenly, Sam’s phone chirped and a mechanical voice began counting down, “5… 4… 3… 2… 1...”
Sam and Dean clinked the necks of their bottles together.
“Happy New Year, little brother.”
“Happy New Year, old man.”
“Bitch.”
“Jerk.”
With matching smiles, they raised their bottles and took a drink.
The Cooler looked fondly at his friend. “You’re still as beautiful as ever, darlin’. Happy New Year, you old tin cart!”
Baby replied, warmly, “And you will always be the coolest, sweetheart. Happy New Year, you decrepit ice bucket!”
And so another year ends and a new one begins. Who knows what it will bring? Joy and sorrow, love and pain? No doubt a bit of all of that. But they would keep on grinding. Keep on fighting. Because that’s what they do. All four of them.
But for now, it’s enough just to be here together. To take a breath of clean air, enjoy each other’s quiet company and pause to remember what they were fighting for. To know that someone always had their back.