On Your Side

"Why aren't you riding with Bayleigh?" Dean asked as they passed along the outskirts of Miami after lunch.

"She wanted to be alone for a minute," Sam said.

"So you really like her."

"Yea. Yea I think I do."

"Not to be rude, but why?"

Sam shrugged. "Well she's funny and smart and-"

"You're being cliche."

Sam frowned. "I am," he said despairingly. "But it's all true. And the circumstances... They really couldn't be better."

"How so?" Dean looked at his brother from the corner of his eye.

"Well, you know we," he waved a finger between him and Dean, "are never going to settle down. And neither is Bayleigh. Apparently, after she found out about Rufus, she tried. And you and I both tried once. And I think it's been made obvious that it doesn't work that way, so maybe me and Bayleigh can never settle down together." Dean nodded slowly, hearing the logic in his brother's argument.

"Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Are you sure, though?"

"She already explained to me her... Her terms, I guess you can call them."

"Huh. And what were those?"

"Just that she's a drifter so I have to be prepared for her to leave if she has to."

"And what're you gonna do if she does leave?"

Sam paused. "I guess I'm kinda hoping that'll never happen. This is the closet thing I'll ever get to an apple pie life and I'm not going to miss it on doubts and maybe's ." Dean nodded again.

"How's she holding up after I killed her dog?"

"Worse than she let's on, but she's handling it. She knows I'm here."

"Do you... do you think I should buy her another one?" Dean asked quietly.

"Would you want another dog after that?"

Dean laughed shortly. "No. No I wouldn't."

<><><><><>

She tiptoed through the dark hallway and down the stairs. There was a faint light up ahead. Bayleigh turned around to make sure the guys noticed, but they were gone. She looked through the gloom, wide-eyed.

A string of curses ran through her mind. She whirled around at the whisper of footsteps. Nothing. Then there was more from towards the light. She lifted her arm, her lamb's blood-covered knife held high and a drip of blood rolling down her forearm. (a/n: have you figured out what kind of monster it is yet?)

Suddenly, something grabbed her from behind. She spun, coming face to face with glowing blue eyes against a heavily tattooed face. She slashed down with her knife and connected with a shoulder.

Her last thought was, 'Fucking harmless spot,' and then everything went black.

<><><><><>

An alarm clock beeped loudly beside her head.

Bayleigh woke up, flinging her hand under her pillow for her gun but found nothing. She hit the off button and looked around.

She was in a warm comfy bed that was way too soft to belong to a motel. The door at the end of the bed was slightly ajar. All she heard through the door was a shower running. To her right, a closet stood open with both men and women's clothes.

She sat up in bed. Her shoulders felt relaxed, a sensation she hadn't realized she'd been missing out on for a while.

She stood up in wonder and touched the expensive-looking clothes with her fingers, perfectly manicured and painted a deep purple. The door opened a little bit more and a tiny gray-faced Boston terrier ran through, nudging her ankles and taking off. She followed the dog slowly.

It led her to a tiny kitchen attached to a sparsely-furnished yet homey and comfy looking living room. Coffee was brewing in a crimson coffee-maker in the counter. The dog was pawing at the pantry door. She opened it slowly. She pulled a can of dog food off the shelf and followed the dog over to a plate on the ground.

"You're up," a voice said behind her. Sam.

He looked exactly the same, except not as tan or muscled, more lean; thin and yet defined. All he was wearing was a towel.

"Sam. Thank, god. What's going on?"

He gave her a crooked smile. "Well you're about to over feed Penny." He took the can and emptied half of it into the dish. Then he looked back up at her. "What? You look like you've seen a ghost." He smiled lightly, a playful grin that she hadn't yet seen on his face. "Don't worry love," he wrapped his arms around her, "I'll protect you."

His lips met hers with an unexpected force. His kisses were rough... But this was different. It's not that she didn't like it, but it made her realize how careful he'd been with her before.

He pulled away, the smile still playing at his lips.

"What's wrong?" His arms tightened around her.

"Sam-- I'm so confused. What are we doing here?"

He cocked his head to the side. "We live here." He paused. "You okay?"

Bayleigh shook her head. "No... What--"

His mouth started forming words, a word, but no sound was coming out.

"What are you-?"

An then she heard it. Her name. His voice, but not coming from his mouth. She heard it, but it was like she was listening to it through ear buds, not out loud.

<><><><><>

"Bayleigh! Bayleigh, wake up," Sam said, touching her face. She stirred under his fingers.

"What the fu- Sam what happened?"

"The djinn. He got you."

Bayleigh's heart sank. It was only a dream. None of it was real. That sad sense of peace she felt, the contentedness, how she had trouble remembering all of her troubles.

She gripped Sam's forearm tightly. "How long?"

"Just now. Seconds ago. Why?"

"Because it felt like ten minutes." She looked at the ground, then at the djinn. Dean was standing over it, the hilt of his knife sticking out it it's heart, hers out of it's shoulder. She took a moment to be proud of how deep she had been able to stick the knife in while being attacked.

"You good?" Sam asked.

She snapped her attention back to him, nodded, and accepted his hand up.