Dean's face slowly darkened, and his tone became colder, with a bit of suppressed anger. "You really don't remember? The day you ran away, I happened to be watching you. I looked for you for two whole days without eating. I thought you were captured by a monster and thought you were dead. When my father came back, I received the most severe scolding in my life and was made to stand all night."
The smile on Sam's face suddenly froze. He stood up and looked at Dean, his face full of guilt. He opened his mouth and was speechless for a long time. "... I'm sorry, I never thought about this. I just wanted to escape at that time, I..."
Dean looked away, suppressed his anger, and said, "Forget it, let's continue on our way. Zachariah might catch up with us soon."
Sam knelt down and touched Bones's head, and said softly, "Just be patient." He got up and followed Dean. He didn't say anything the whole way, and he was so worried.
He always only remembered how relaxed he was when he escaped, and those days when no one was in control. He never thought that Dean would be punished because of him, or that he would be frightened because of him. Over the years, Dean had silently shouldered so many things that he couldn't even count. He seemed to have been moving forward on his own, and never looked back to see how tired Dean was.
After walking not far, the scene in front of me changed again.
At the door of the familiar apartment, the street lights were dim, and a black suitcase was placed on the steps. It was the one that Sam brought with him when he went to Stanford.
Dean stopped and stared at the box, his eyes heavy and his voice harsh. "This was the night you left home for Stanford, right?"
He turned to look at Sam, with a bit of unbelievable hurt in his eyes, and a trembling tone. "Is this the Heaven in your eyes? Your happiest memory is leaving home and leaving me?"
Sam looked away, a little at a loss, and explained in a low voice, "I can't control Heaven's memory. It came out by itself, I..."
Dean laughed, with a bit of self-deprecation. "For you, it is a happy memory, but for me, it is one of the worst nights in my life. When I went back that day, the house was empty, and only my father and I were left. I know you wanted to pursue your own life, but when you left, you didn't even say a decent goodbye."
Sam explained in a low voice, "At that time I could finally leave my father and make my own decisions. I didn't want to live a life of fighting and killing anymore, I wanted to be an ordinary person."
Dean interrupted him, his voice was deeper and a little aggrieved. "It's not just dad you left. You left this family and me."
Sam opened his mouth and said repeatedly, "I'm sorry... I didn't think about it that much at the time. I'm really sorry. I was too young at the time and just wanted to escape."
Dean didn't look at him and said, "I know." He turned around and walked forward, his back tense.
Sam hurriedly followed, wanting to explain something, but Dean spoke first, with a tired tone in his tone. "Your Heaven is someone else's Thanksgiving, a flight away from your family, leaving your family behind. What else do you want me to say? Sam, in your heart, what is home?"
Sam felt sour and astringent in his heart, and said in a low voice, "I have never experienced the feeling of being well taken care of. My understanding of family is originally different from yours. You are the brother, and you have guarded this family since you were a child, but I... I just want to escape."
Dean suddenly stopped and turned to look at him, with hurt and a little disappointment in his eyes. "But I am also your family. It was supposed to be the two of us against the whole world, wasn't it? No matter what happens, we should stand together."
Sam looked into his eyes and said seriously, "That's how it is. Dean, you are my brother, you will always be."
Dean stared into his eyes and asked in a very soft voice, "Really?"
Before Sam could answer, Zachariah's voice suddenly came from the distance, with a joking smile, wrapping around it like a poisonous snake. "Hey, have you two run enough? How about chatting about home affairs? Do you want me to join?"
The two people's expressions changed, they looked at each other, and ran away to the depths of their memories.
The two of them turned into the alley in a panic, and the laughter of Zachariah behind them got closer and closer.
At this time, a door nearby suddenly opened, and a man wearing a wrestling mask suddenly poked his head out from behind the door, making a silent gesture to them. "Shh! Come here quickly! Hurry up if you don't want to be caught!"
Sam asked as he ran, "Who are you?"
The man pulled off his mask, revealing his trademark messy long brown hair, a stubble on his chin, a cynical smile on his face, wearing an old T-shirt with a rock band printed on it, and jeans with holes in the knees - it was Ash.
"Good morning, you bastards." Ash raised his eyebrows, turned sideways to let them in, closed the door with his backhand, and locked it.
Behind the door is the familiar Roadhouse, with a bar counter, a pool table, and band posters all over the wall. Even the smell of beer and popcorn in the air is exactly the same as the Roadhouse back then.
Ash leaned on the bar and threw two bottles of cold beer to them. "Here, cold beer. You won't get hungover even if you drink too much here. It's very refreshing. I've been here for a long time."
When Sam sat down, he couldn't help but smile and asked, "How can a person like you enter Heaven? I thought you had to enter Hell."
Ash raised his eyebrows proudly and twirled the beer bottle cap in his hand. "I have been redeemed a long time ago. I was the most powerful snake charmer in the church back then. God I guess the old man appreciates my talent."
He explained the structure of Heaven to the brothers: Heaven is not a whole big place, but hundreds of billions of private memory spaces put together, just like Disneyland, each Everyone has his own park, and is trapped in his own beautiful memories for the rest of his life. The most central place is called Magic Kingdom, which is also Garden, and is where God stays.
Dean frowned and asked, "Everyone has his or her own Heaven? Then how can we meet together?"
"Absolutely, only special circumstances such as soul mates will share space." Ash shrugged, "Most people can never leave their own little world in their lives, but I am different. I have the ability to travel between Heaven, and that's what I rely on." He pointed to the homemade scanner on the bar, with messy codes jumping on the screen.
"I've done a lot with this homemade scanner. You two have died more than anyone else, but every time you go back, your memory will be erased by angels, so you don't remember."
He paused and asked casually, "By the way, how are Ellen and Qiao?"
Sam shook his head and said in a relaxed tone, "Ellen and Qiao were seriously injured some time ago, but they were cured by Haorui. Now they are supporting other hunters everywhere."
Ash was stunned for a moment and whistled. "Okay, that kid has some skills. I thought... okay, just live, it's better than staying here."
He flipped through the scanner again and frowned. "Zachariah has blocked all the roads and is conducting a comprehensive search. You can't wait long. I found a shortcut and can take a shortcut directly to the Magic Kingdom, but the road is not easy to walk. Please be careful on the way, don't get caught."
When the two were about to leave, the door next to them opened. A woman in police uniform walked in. Her blond hair was tied neatly behind her head. Her eyebrows were still as gentle as in the memory, but her face was almost transparent and pale - it was Nancy, the policewoman who was tortured to death by Lilith.
"Sam, Dean, long time no see." Nancy looked at them with a smile, his eyes were gentle and a little relieved.
Sam and Dean froze, their throats tightened, and they couldn't speak for a long time, "Nancy..."
Nancy came over, looked at them, and said softly, "I'm living a good life here. Sam, Dean, don't work so hard, and don't always feel sorry for me. Heaven is very safe, no need to fight, no need to worry."
She paused, and her tone was a little pleading. "Actually... it's not that bad to promise Michael. When everything is over, you can all come here and be safe, okay? No need to work hard anymore."
Sam's face cooled down a little, and he took half a step back with a firm tone. "No. There are still people I care about in this world. Apocalypse is not over yet. There are still so many people suffering. I can't hide here."
Dean patted Sam on the shoulder, nodded to Nancy, said nothing, turned around and followed Ash to the shortcut.
Ash leaned at the door and waved, shouting nonchalantly, "You two will die anyway, and we have to meet sooner or later. When you come back, I will give you cold beer!"
Light flashed at the end of the shortcut, and after the two stood firm, they found Lawrence's hometown in front of them again. The white porch and warm yellow windows were exactly the same as they had just remembered.
Dean frowned and cursed, "What the hell, why are you back again? Ash Is the road that that guy pointed out reliable?"
Sam was also confused and looked around. "I don't know, I can only find the way again. Maybe the track is somewhere else."
At this time, Mary's voice came down from the stairs, as gentle as water, and asked, "Why are you awake, Dean? Are you having a nightmare? Come on down, mommy will warm you a glass of milk."
Dean closed his eyes, suppressed the surging emotions in his heart, and said with a cold face, "Sorry, you are not serious. We don't have time to waste here, Zachariah is right behind."
He turned to leave, but Mary's voice suddenly turned cold, with biting malice, piercing him like an ice pick. "How about I tell you about my nightmare, Dean? The night I was burned to death."
Dean paused in his steps. Sam quickly pulled him. "Dean, don't listen, let's go!"
But Mary's voice continued, pressed against his back, describing in detail the pain of being burned to death by yellow fire, the smell of burnt skin, the sound of Bones's shattering, and finally said word by word, "When I finally died, my only thought was - I can finally get rid of you."
"I have never loved you. You are my burden. I have been tied to you my whole life."