girlSam's reality. Sam and Leeroy's hotel room someplace near Denver

[i_salted_dean]

Sam walked through the door and came back into the motel room. Glancing at the bed where Leeroy still slept, she pulled on a pair of jeans and left to go get coffee and something to eat.

Leeroy heard Sam rustling about the room and opened his eyes. He didn't move; rather, he just listened until she left before sitting upright and stretching. He didn't want her to think she had woken him up. With a yawn, he headed for the washroom, intent on having a shower.

She could hear the sound of water running as she let herself back into the room with two cups of coffee and a bag of doughnuts. Glancing toward the bathroom door, she blushed slightly and went to get a plate from the kitchenett.

Brutally efficient showers were one of those things that Leeroy couldn't stop doing, no matter how long it had been since he was actually required to be in and out in five minutes, and so it wasn't long before he emerged fully dressed and much cleaner.

"'Morning," he said when he saw Sam.

"Morning." She looked up, then back to the doughnuts with an embarrassed grin. -Okay, what the heck do married couples do in the morning? Ugh, I need a shower....- "Doughnut?"

"Sure," he said, lowering himself into a chair that was beside the table. Taking a doughnut, he bit into it, feeling a vague longing for Tim Horton's. "So what are we gonna do today?"

She bowed her head over her own doughnut, then bit it and looked up. "Well, I'm gonna take a shower, and then... I don't know, check the news."

He smiled at her. "There ever gonna be a time when ye don't think 'bout workin'?" It wasn't meant to incite argument, Leeroy rather liked Sam's work ethic.

That got him a blank look over a cheek bulging with doughnut. "We just got back from a holiday." Sure, she'd worked then too, training and learning new things, but still, it had been a holiday.

Another smile. "Yes, b'y. But I means a holiday where ye has a little bit o' fun."

"Um... we went out drinking nearly every night I was in Port Aux Basques, and there was the launch, and that penguin movie...."

"Yes, but not a day went by when you didn' work on somethin'." He took another bite out of his doughnut and continued. "I means jus' takin' time fer yerself, y'know. Just relaxin'."

Sam gave him a very blank look.

"What, ye've never done that before?"

"Um... if what I just mentioned doesn't count... then no." She squinched her face slightly.

"Were ye ever interested in doin' that?" He took his cup of coffee and a packet of sugar and looked at her with amusement as he sweetened his drink.

Sam looked to right and left as though searching for an answer, then opened her mouth and closed it, eyebrows raising. "I didn't have time."

"I s'pose not," Leeroy said quietly, wondering if he'd crossed a line.

Sam thought about what she'd said and blinked as she realized the truth of the words. Her childhood had effectively ended on her sixth birthday. From then onward she'd known she had a limited time unless her family succeeded in getting It. She'd thrown herself into what research a six year old was capable of even before she'd left the hospital. Her laptop had been in her arms at Missouri's funeral.

He just looked at her; the vague thought process fading in and out like a radio signal. They had a lot in common in that respect: Sam had a brutally short childhood, whereas Leeroy never had one at all.

"But ye don't have to worry about that one anymore, right? Didn't John take care of it when..." He fell silent. "Ye knows what I means."

"When I died," she said quietly. "Yeah. But there are others. I've been dreaming about one of its kids...."

"Others." Leeroy spoke the word with derision. "Will they ever go away?"

"I don't know. I was born the way I was because of them." She looked at her doughnut, then took a drink of black coffee. "If God's changing us to deal with them it kind of makes it seem like an ongoing thing."

"Hm." He shrugged, knocking back more coffee and wishing even more that there was a Tim's up the road. "No rest, then, huh?" It wasn't that he minded - he just hoped that he'd get at least a day where it could just be he and Sam and nobody or nothing else. It didn't look like that was going to happen anytime soon - but he was with her, and that was enough.

"That's important to you, isn't it?" She quirked an eyebrow.

"That I gets t' spend some time alone with the woman I loves?" He grinned. "It's kinda important, yes."

She grinned back, her cheeks pinking again as she dropped her eyes to her breakfast. "So what do you suggest?"

"I dunno," he said. "Ye likes research enough; why don't we go out and see if they got anythin' to look at in this town? Ye know, stuff that ain't... creepy."

Comments

[i_salted_dean]

"Sounds like a plan." She picked up her coffee and drained the cup, then got to her feet and turned toward the bathroom before pausing and stooping to kiss him. That done, she was gone with a thump of the bathroom door.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He sat there for a moment, an odd look on his face.

"You know it's mean t' kiss n' run like that before I can return the favour, right?"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"And what's that s'posed t' mean?" Leeroy grinned widely. "I thinks ye got me confused with my brother."

He paused, and noticed her blushing. "Either way, it looks good on you."

[i_salted_dean]

She muttered embarressedly, then frowned at her stump and tucked her leg in her dufflebag. "If we're not doing anything I guess I can give my leg a rest."

[i_salted_dean]

"Right." She flushed slightly and closed the computor.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He smiled and held up the car keys. "I'll drive."

[i_salted_dean]

Sam turned to go after him, but suddenly doubled over and grabbed at her head as a vision slashed across her inner eye.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He turned around and caught her, steering her back toward the bed.

"What's the matter?" he asked, alarmed.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"It's okay." He held out his arms, wanting very bad to just hug her.

[i_salted_dean]

She hopped over, glad to bury herself in his embrace and hide for a few minutes.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Yes, b'y. Looked almost like fog, 'cept fog don't move like that." He looked outside the window, wondering if there were any more.

"They make th' water do that?"

[i_salted_dean]

"That was a young wisp. They're not that common, but if they get strong enough they lure people into swamps and then live off the decomposing corpses." She got the shades and pulled them on with a sigh of relief.

[i_salted_dean]

She glanced at him again, then switched lanes and pulled off onto a side road so that she could pull to the shoulder and stop the Buick.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"What?" He looked at her strangely. "What's goin' on?"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He smiled down at her, closing his eyes as her fingers roved his features, then kissing the palm of her hand once she stopped. He noticed she was very red in the face.

"What's the matter?" he asked her.

[i_salted_dean]

She hesitated, blushing a little harder. -Sam, you're being a dope. You're supposed to think your husband's hot.-

-Oh crap, what if he heard that?-

That afternoon

[i_salted_dean]

Sam picked up the tiny, multijointed doll and examined it with lifted brow, then looked up at Leeroy, who was standing with his arm around her waist. "Talk about creepy."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Nah." He held out his hand and the doll was passed over and he took his turn inspecting it. "It's kind of cute. Lookit the eyes." The doll had large, expressive eyes. "And you can't say no to the articulation."

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"New batteries would help. Ye've probably worn those lithium ones down to nothin'." He held the door to the store open for her. "What else were ye thinkin' of?"

[i_salted_dean]

"I think I need a new phone." She gently tugged him inside after her, unwilling to give up his hand. "The one I have is dying and I don't want to lose the numbers on it. Maybe more memory for the laptop, but I might get that at the Cafe."

[i_salted_dean]

She tapped the housing, making sure it was as strong as it needed to be to survive in her possession, then glanced around to see where the clerk was before dropping the gadget on the floor and jamming the heel of her real foot down on it as hard as she could.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Leeroy put a hand to his mouth to stifle the laughter.

She was insane.

But then again, so was he, so it was still a good match.

[i_salted_dean]

"I'm never gonna be able to do that again," she muttered, still not looking at him.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Do what again?" He took another very long drag from the cigarette.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"That's good," he said, locking eyes with her. "C'mon, let's get this stuff squared away."

[i_salted_dean]

She nodded and went to the truck to open it. "What next?"

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Fine then." He put the tied-off bag in the trunk of the car and closed it. "Where to?"

[i_salted_dean]

"What looks good to you?" She glanced up at him, shoving her hair away from her forehead as the wind blew it around and thinking she needed a haircut again.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He grunted and doubled over slightly before joining her at the booth. "That was unnecessary, don't ye think?"

[i_salted_dean]

"Want me to kiss it better?" she offered, then blushed and busied herself with the menu.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"I dunno," Leeroy said sarcastically. "Werewolf tryin' t' keep it down?"

[i_salted_dean]

She shook her head. -You've seen 'werewolves'. They don't change. But she might think one's after her or something....-

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Fine then," he said. "Don't take my compliments when I give 'em."

[i_salted_dean]

Sam blinked, those brown eyes puzzled and uncertain. She had no idea what to say.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

And he smiled. "I wasn't a man, either, you knows."

[i_salted_dean]

Her hand turned and closed around his. -You are, and you always have been. Doesn't matter what anyone says.-

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Hey, watch it," he said, evading the weaponized silverware. "I thinks ye better learn t' live with it. Look at me, I got plenty t' look at and I'm eatin' fine."

It was just then that he decided to miss his own mouth.

[i_salted_dean]

Sam leaned back in her seat, laughing helplessly and inadvertantly kicking him with her artificial foot.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Pickin' up one sounds like the best idea..." He grinned, then frowned at her coffee cup. "An' if it's so bad, why don't ye get somethin' else?"

[i_salted_dean]

She raised an eyebrow at him in disbelief. "It's coffee."

[i_salted_dean]

"Ask her about it. Then report the dope." Her fingers found a bit of a knot in his muscle and worked at it.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Hmm?" He looked over at her with a face of confusion.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

He grinned. "And ye can't go wrong wit' Jackie Chan. I say we get it."

[i_salted_dean]

Sam grinned back and reached around him to pat his butt, then realized what she'd done and blushed.

[i_salted_dean]

Sam looked up, her slight grin lighting her face as she looked at him. -I love you.- Picking up two packages of candy, she handed them to him. "Christmas colours...." -Dean's not going to see Christmas,- she thought to herself.

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Love you too," he said softly. "And yes, b'y, what wit' it bein' December n' all..."

He rolled his eyes and gave her a good-natured punch to the shoulder.

Later that night, dans la salle d'hotel...

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

Leeroy sat at the edge of the bed, knees to his chest as he yawned and pointed a remote at the television, attempting to coax it's DVD player into playing their movie.

"Stupid thing." He punched the PLAY button again, and finally, in the way of electronic devices, the player decided it would work. He grinned and leaned back, stretching his entire six-foot frame along the length of the bed before getting under the covers and sitting with his back against the headboard. He reached over to the bedside table and stuck a Twizzler in his mouth as the DVD menu loaded.

"Ready t' watch?" he asked Sam, the candy dangling.

Re: Later that night, dans la salle d'hotel...

[i_salted_dean]

"Almost." She folded her jeans and put them in her dufflebag, then headed for the bathroom, only to blink as she wound up in the Cafe in her underwear again......

[teh-rest.livejournal.com]

"Oh, Sam," he breathed, taking her into his arms. "I'm sorry."

[i_salted_dean]

She clung to him and shuddered with terror and loss, gasping for breath as her mind went blanker than Leeroy had ever known it to be since she'd come back from the dead.