Archive of Our Own

Nobody puts Baby in a corner.

Those were the words she had heard not too long ago. And they had come straight out of Dean’s mouth. He had said them in front of Sam. Without any provocation from anyone else. And yet here she sat, wherever here was. She really couldn’t tell. The only thing she knew was that it was dark, she was alone and she certainly wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

Where the hell was she? She should be with the boys, especially Dean. Keeping them safe inside of her metal body as they drove to their next destination. But she wasn’t. Maybe she wasn’t in the proverbial corner but the outcome sure felt the same. The only thing she knew was that she was sidelined, on the bench, put out to pasture. Almost as if she were a horse that had ran its course. She could think of a million more euphemisms to describe herself but the truth was apparently she was no longer useful. That pretty much summed up how she felt anyway.

She could remember a time not too long ago when she had been the key to the Winchester’s successes. Okay, maybe ‘key’ was a little bit much and she was being just too conceited, but she knew she had played a very important role. Or at least she thought she had. But for some reason it didn’t seem to matter any more. At least not to any one who mattered to her. Which was a very strange thing. She was used to a lot more reverence than this. Especially from Dean.

Maybe, almost everyone else had thought of her as just a car. But not Dean. No, he had been different from the very beginning. Since the first time he had sat on his daddy’s lap behind the wheel and pretended to drive, he had treated her differently. Even though he had to have known he wasn’t going anywhere fast he sure made a lot of noise. At first she had almost felt insulted, after all she was a muscle car and a little noise was to be expected but not to the extent he was making it out to be. But the feeling had disappeared the minute she had heard his laughter. It was so contagious even John had joined in. And that man had had precious little to laugh about in those days.

There had been a lot of firsts after that. Many she remembered with extreme fondness.

One of her favorites was the first time they had all gone on a long trip. Sammy was in his car seat in the back beside Dean who was buckled up securely. Every few minutes Dean would sit up straight and ask the dreaded ‘Are we there yet?” The first few times, she had agreed with Mary, it was adorable but after that even she had to admit it started to grate just a bit. After about the zillionth time John had finally turned on the radio. Within a few minutes Dean had fallen fast asleep with his head leaning against Sammy’s car seat.

Then there was the time when Dean and Sam were little and somehow Sammy had talked Dean into playing hide and seek, Dean had quickly jumped inside of her to hide. He had thought it was the perfect hiding place. But he never would have guessed that it was the first place his little brother would look. He should have known. Everyone knew, even little Sammy, how much Dean had adored her.

And of course the first time Dean had taken her for a joy ride, without John’s permission, was one of the fondest memories she had. It had just been her and Dean and the open road. Well, a drive up the street going about five miles an hour but still it was the thought behind it that counted. She would never forget the look on his face for as long as she...lived. The look on his daddy’s face had been one to remember as well.

There was also Dean’s first time. As in his First Time. Or at least that’s what he had told the girl he was with when she appeared too nervous to go through with it. Apparently, smooth talking the ladies was one of the first things he had learned from watching old movies late at night. He sure had worked hard that night to impress the young lady with him. And it had worked. If she could blush she would just from the memory of what had happened in her back seat.

And others she would prefer to never think about again. Thank you very much.

One of the times she would prefer to forget was the first time John had taken the boys trick or treating. Apparently, he hadn’t known about the ‘kids full of a lot of chocolate candy shouldn’t travel inside the impala’ rule. They hadn’t even been on the road very long when they had went around the first curve, one thing had led to another and both boys were sick all over her back seat! She would have been sick herself if she could have figured out a way to do it.

But the one that she wished she really could forget was the time she had let a tractor-trailer hit her. It had almost destroyed her. Hell, it had destroyed the Winchesters. Her family. And she would never forgive herself for letting them down. She knew second-guessing wasn’t a good thing to do but maybe if she had done something different, been a little faster then maybe just maybe her boys wouldn’t have lost their father. Some days she couldn’t help but wonder if what had happened that night was one of the reasons why she was now sidelined.

Perhaps it was her fault, maybe she deserved to be put out of commission. Maybe she had messed up one too many times. That was the only explanation she could think of. There was no other reason to explain her not being with her family. If not she wouldn’t be sitting out her existence on the edge of nowhere waiting for someone, anyone Please, let it be Dean. to come and take her out of the corner.

After all he had promised.

Nobody puts Baby in a corner.