someone to stay, supernatural [ 1 ]

009. final destination thing

Dean, Ophelia, and Natalie are all asleep in one of the beds in the motel room. Ophelia is in the middle, one arm over Dean's face and her other arm across Natalie's side. She has one leg on top of Dean and the other on top of Natalie and her face is squished into the pillow.

Dean wakes up when he hears the door open. He slowly reaches under his pillow, gripping the knife.

"Morning, sunshine." Dean turns to Sam. He has a bag and carton of drinks in one hand and Libby in the other who is eating a muffin.

"What time is it?" Dean asks.

"Uh, it's about 5:45." Sam informs.

"In the morning?" Dean asks.

"Yep."

"Where does the day go?" Dean sits up. "Did you get any sleep last night?"

"Yeah, I grabbed a couple hours." Sam says.

"Liar. Cause I was up at 3:00, and you were watching a George Foreman infomercial." Dean says.

"Hey, what can I say? It's riveting TV." Sam says. "Besides, she needed unlimited cuddles." He adds.

"Stop talking." Ophelia grumbles.

"Come here, starfish." Natalie drags her closer, Ophelia cuddling into her aunt's chest. Natalie lazily runs her fingers through Ophelia's hair as they both try to get some more sleep.

"When was the last time you got a good night's sleep?" Dean asks.

"I don't know, a little while, I guess. It's not a big deal." Sam dismisses.

"Yeah, it is." Dean argues.

"Look, I appreciate your concern--"

"Oh, I'm not concerned about you. It's your job to keep my ass alive, so I need you sharp." Dean states and Sam shrugs. "Seriously, are you still having nightmares about... you know?"

"Yeah." Sam sits, sitting on his bed and Libby sits on his lap. "But it's not just her. It's everything. Plus almost losing her." Sam scratches Libby's head. "I just forgot, you know? This job. Man, it gets to you. And plus I comfort her after her nightmares, so..."

"You can't let it. You can't bring it home like that." Dean says.

"So, what? All this it... it never keeps you up at night?" Sam asks. Dean shakes his head. "Never? You're never afraid?"

"No, not really." Dean answers.

Sam reaches over and takes the knife out from under Dean's pillow, holding it up.

"That's not fear. That is precaution." Dean says, taking the knife back.

"So, you don't have nightmares of her at the lake?" Sam asks, nodding to Ophelia.

"Not the point. She's my kid, job or not, she almost died -- different situation." Dean says. "Hell, I've had nightmares of her falling off the bed and splitting her head open. It's called being a dad." He quietly says. Sam doesn't make a retort, understanding him.

"All right, whatever. I'm too tired to argue." Sam says as Dean's phone rings.

"Hello?" Dean answers it. "Oh, right, yeah. Up in Kittanning, Pennsylvania, the poltergeist thing. It's not back, is it?" He asks. "What is it?"

+++

"Thanks for making the trip so quick. I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean and your dad really helped me out." Jerry tells the twins as the group walk through the hanger. Sam is holding Libby and Ophelia is on Dean's back, her chin resting on his shoulder.