1st Drink ++ Video

[justrunsasaloon]

[The explosions sends her flying backwards and her head cracks against a wall that sends sparks dancing in front of her eyes.

Rolling, Ellen pushes herself up. The phone next to her chirps and she grabs it, unwittingly turning on the video function. There's nails in her body and bruises blossoming along her skin. Scrapes and gashes seep blood. The first breath hurts and gouges into her lungs.]

So much for Paradise.

[She forces herself into a sitting position and notices the phone.]

Great, cell service in Heaven. Damn I could use a drink.

[The second deep breath hurts just as much as the first. Damn, isn't there supposed to be a happily ever after? This sucks.]

Cas, just so you know, Heaven sucks.

Comments

[justrunsasaloon]

That so?

[Ellen slides onto a stool, catching the container with her fingers. She looks at the burger then at Dean. She can see the need of approval, but she also has to wonder -

... No, she doesn't. What she has to do is eat the damned burger, and then worry about everything else later. Her fingers pick up the burger and she takes a bite.

There is no way in heaven or hell that Dean Winchester made this. The damned thing tastes like crack and she's going to have to watch how many of these she eats because otherwise she'll never fit in her jeans. Ever.]

You made this?

[She has to ask, around a bite, of course. She didn't know Dean could cook. But damn son.]

This is... this is great.

[It takes her a minute, because she's not going to chat with her mouth full, okay?]

[righteously]

[He can't help it, he really can't- a triumphant whoop! comes out, and he spins a little, punching the air victoriously. Seal of approval from the highest man- woman- on the totem pole.

Everyone else can suck it, he knows who the real taste judge is and he just got his A.]

Hell yeah, I did. Good, right? You should try my stew.

[He points seriously.]

Melts in your mouth. That ain't no lie.

[justrunsasaloon]

[ellen would laugh, but she's eating, so... she'll laugh at him later. Right now, she has a burger to eat. And it is a good burger.

But she still watches him with amusement.

Ellen sips a beer.]

Who taught you to cook? Because I know it wasn't your father.

[She liked John, really.]

[righteously]

[References to his dad usually hurt. Used to hurt. Are almost never good, because the only person alive to really bring him up anymore is Sam, and Sam never does it in a way that feels okay.

With Ellen, though, it's different. She says it with a fond sort of nostalgia, an amusement that brings a soft huff of a laugh from him before he could help it.]

You kiddin' me? Dad couldn't cook toast. Hell, when the bread popped out, half the time he didn't know whether he should exorcise it or shoot it.

[That might be a slight exaggeration.

He wasn't really around enough for that.]

Nah, somebody had to learn to cook. How the hell do you think Sam got to be a freakin' giant? I've been shoveling food in him for as long as I can remember. Just took a good stove to get it right.

[A beat.]

Plus, I'm kind of amazing.

[justrunsasaloon]

[Ellen lets out a chuckle. She shakes her head, mostly in amusement. Because she can see John reacting like that.]

Still cocky as hell, I see. Nice to see some things never change.

[she pops a fry into her mouth. She loves bar food, sometimes, and she's earned the calories today. She would eat until she was sick, if someone else is doing the cooking and cleaning.

Ellen looks around. Its nice to be back in a bar, it's been far too long. She misses the work.]

You lookin' for some help in here?

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[quis_ut_deus]

His wife was dying. I offered to save her.

[He'll avoid mentioning the fact that he's part of the reason Mary needed saving in the first place. It's not really how he sees the situation, anyway. Anna's actions were her own.]

[righteously]

[He takes the time to wink at her and click through his teeth. Cocky as hell, to the moon and back. No changing that.

He takes to cleaning off the bartop of crumbs and empty bottles before her second question, that brings him pause again while he eyes her.]

What, fresh back from the dead and you're already looking to serve beers and pay taxes?

[That is to say, don't you ever vacation, woman? Jo had asked him the same damn thing the very first day, all but forced herself into double shifts the second her feet were on solid ground.]

Nice to see some things never change.

[He fires that line right back, amusement tugging at his lips and eyebrows.]

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[justrunsasaloon]

But you couldn't save her from the demon?

[She can't believe that.]

[justrunsasaloon]

Not so much on the paying taxes. Had Ash handle those.

[Because why the hell not? He'd been good at the numbers, and it'd saved her from pulling her hair out.

It doesn't hurt to mention Ash. She'd loved that boy, his weirdness and all, but he has to be better off, not being trapped in a place like this. Something good has to come of it, right? She'd lost the Roadhouse, but Ash was safe, taken out of the fight at the beginning.

She snorts around her beer at him.]

What do you expect me to do? Sit on my ass and eat bonbons? I'd go crazy in three days. Tops.

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[quis_ut_deus]

[She's not quite wrong, but not quite right, either. It's impressive what barriers one can erect when they simply believe certain outcomes inevitable.

Not that saving Mary would have served his endgame, anyway.]

No. That was fate. We gave Dean the opportunity to try, once - ask him about it, see how well that went for him.

[righteously]

[That seems to catch him off guard, and he actually stops to blink and run that through his mind. Ash did their goddamn taxes?

Ash. Paying taxes.

Of course he did.]

Bet your returns were friggin' great.

[He mutters absently, shaking it off. He never actually expected her to sit on her ass, no matter how much a part of him dispairs over it as much as he'd done with Jo. Can't the people in his life ever take a goddamn vacation for their own health?

No. Of course not.]

Well, if you're volunteering, can't think of anyone around here I'd trust behind the counter more than you.

{Except Jo, but she already works there, so.

It'd be like some kind of universal harmony. In his mind, the pair of them definitely belonged running something of the kind.]

But you're not working yourself into the ground, you hear? I'll talk to Jo, we can figure out some split shifts.

[justrunsasaloon]

[Ellen grins. she knows that everything Ash had done had been perfectly legal. The two audits she underwent said exactly that. But. Her returns had been better. Advantage of a largely cash business.

She'd never admit it, though. She misses Ash still. she always will. Hell, just hearing Bill's name sometimes makes her ache.

Her eyebrows rise, munching on a fry.]

You dictating to me, Dean?

[She's amused, so so amused. She'll work as much as she wants. It'll at least pass the time.]

[righteously]

Yes, ma'am.

[He confirms solemnly, meeting her eye as he nods at her. He might be dictating, but the fact of the matter is? He's got people to take care of, and she's one of them. She might be able to boss him left and right, but the bottom line is he's gonna do everything he can to make up for lost time, to keep her safe, her and her daughter. He's older, now, and he's in a position that he can actually do that, so he will. Even if it's something as small as making sure she doesn't work herself into the ground.

He'll take whatever slaps or glares or beat-downs she wants to throw at him, but that's just the way things are.]

[justrunsasaloon]

[Instead of slapping him or arguing, she just laughs. Because, Dean Winchester? Dictating to her? She munches her fries, grinning.]

You know I can't take that from you, right? A Winchester? Dictating to me?

[She shakes her head. It just can't be done.]

Gotta get Jo to get her shotgun out. Maybe get out my gun, too. A Winchester dictating to me.

[But she's still eating that burger. Try and take it.]

[righteously]

[Despite himself, his lips pull up in a soft, sort of fond smile.]

Yeah, well.

[He shrugs a shoulder.]

Somebody's gotta restore the family name to something less douchey.

[Not that his dad wasn't a great man, but he's grown up enough to admit that his dad... wasn't really the best person to other people. Wasn't the most reliable friend, or family member for that matter.

Not that he's a shining beacon of good PR either, but he can start somewhere. In this case, with a burger and an attempt to show he cares.]

[justrunsasaloon]

[That makes her put the burger down. There's a lot of things that she could rag on John Winchester for. There's a lot of things that she wants to say about the SOB that got her husband killed.]

Let me tell you something, Dean. You haven't got to restore anything. Not with me.

[Because she wants him to know that she doesn't hold him responsible for what John did. She's not going to let Dean hold that on his shoulders.]