Sleep of the Just *Complete*

~*~



“You could’ve ridden with him, you know,” Dawn said, sitting back in her seat with her feet up on the dashboard. She’d taken off her shoes and in her short jean cut-offs, more than a few truckers were slowing down as they passed to stare at the long line of her legs. A couple had glanced at Faith and she just blew them a kiss and let them wonder.



“What, and leave you and Sam all alone?” she teased. “Besides there’s time for that later. From Sam’s map, it looks like this Roadhouse is a few days trip, at least. For now, I want the inside scoop on you and Sammy, so spill it.”



“There is no scoop, Faith. I told you, nothing happened,” Dawn said, unable to keep from smiling.



“But you want it to,” Faith countered and Dawn sighed.



“Maybe.”



“No, not maybe. You want Sam Winchester in a tear-up-the-bed, wind-up-on-the-floor, finish-against-the-wall bad kind of way, admit it!” Faith said, laughing and Dawn couldn’t help but laugh with her.



“Yes! Okay, yes, I admit it,” she said, still grinning.



“And Sam’s feeling it too?” Faith asked.



“Pretty sure,” Dawn said, remembering the way he’d looked at her when he thought she was sleeping.



“Then go for it! Life’s too short to put things like this off, Dawn. Even if things aren’t fairy tale perfect, believe me, a Winchester’s worth it,” she said and Dawn got the idea that she wasn’t just talking about her and Sam anymore.



“Faith, you and Dean-“



Faith groaned.



“Aw, Dawn, don’t,” she begged, but Dawn ignored her.



“It’s not a bad thing to care about someone you know,” Dawn said. Faith was quiet for a long time before she spoke again.



“Caring hurts, Dawn. In my line of work, our line of work, caring is dangerous. There’s just too much to lose,” the slayer said. She looked over at Dawn. “Dean and I, we are the job, it’s part of us. You and Sammy, there’s hope there. Both of you could live a normal life, away from all this, if you wanted to.”



“But you love him,” Dawn said, quietly and Faith didn’t say anything more.



~*~



Dean was staring at his brother with a look of disbelief and a little bit of disappointment.



“Don’t look at me like that, Dean,” Sam said, rolling his eyes. “It wasn’t like she did it on purpose. It just sort of happened.”



“Oh, you are so naïve sometimes I wonder if you’re really my brother,” Dean said, shaking his head.



“What, you mean you think she flashed her underwear at me on purpose? That she was, what, trying to get my attention or something? Come on, Dean, get real,” Sam argued.



“It worked, didn’t it? She’s got your full attention. You haven’t said a word about anything else since we got in the car,” Dean pointed out and Sam just stared at him, quiet for a long moment.



“Seriously?” he finally said. “You honestly think that, or are you just being a perv?”



Dean gave a long-suffering sigh.



“Sam, the girl’s hot. She slept in your shirt, flashed her panties at you and then smiled when she caught you looking. What part of that is a problem?”



Sam fell silent again, glancing in the side mirror at Faith’s car behind them. He could see a pair of bare feet perched on the dashboard on the passenger side. Dawn…



Warrant’s Cherry Pie came blaring from Dean’s pocket and he pulled out his cell phone, answering it with a “Yeah?” Sam had never heard that particular ringtone from his brother’s phone before, but he had a fairly good idea who it belonged to. Glancing in the mirror again, he saw that Faith’s car was no longer behind them and he looked at Dean, wondering what was going on.



“You got it,” Dean said, hanging up and pulling the Impala off the road. He did a u-turn in the dirt and headed back the way they’d come.



“What’s wrong? What are we doing?” Sam asked, as Dean pulled off again, only a half-mile or so down the road. He saw Faith’s car, parked in the dust, her and Dawn getting out as Dean put the Impala in park.



“Apparently, we’re going swimming,” Dean said, opening his door and getting out. Sam shook his head and got out as well, looking at Faith.



“Swimming?” he asked, a little incredulous. He and Dean never stopped for things like this. They just headed from job to job, rarely taking any time for themselves in between.



“Hey, Sammy, it’s hot, I’m sweaty and there’s a rope swing,” Faith said with a grin, gesturing to where an old rope could be seen hanging from a tree beside the river that ran alongside the highway. Dawn was laughing as the Slayer slammed her door shut and ran to the tree, kicking off her shoes and stripping off her leather pants to reveal black bikini panties. Leaving her white tank top in place, she grabbed the rope and swung out over the river, letting go at the furthest point and landing with a splash in the water.



“Relax, Sammy, enjoy the day,” Dean said, watching Faith surface in the river with a grin. He toed off his boots, stripped off his socks and shirt and emptied his pockets into a pile by his clothes before swinging out on the rope swing and splashing down into the river in his jeans.



“Its just Faith, Sam,” Dawn said, smiling at him and moving toward the riverbank at a slower pace. He fell into step beside her as she continued. “She kind of likes to live for every minute. You get used to it.”



“I’m starting to see that,” Sam said, glancing at the river again, where Dean had surfaced and was kissing Faith in the water. She was wrapped around him as if no one else were around to see them and he looked away.



Already barefoot, Dawn was unbuttoning her top and sliding it off her shoulders to reveal a pink bikini top. She dropped the shirt near Faith’s pants and looked back at Sam, pulling her hair behind her and off her neck so that the smooth line of her shoulders was visible.



“Aren’t you getting in? It really is hot,” she said and he could’ve sworn there was a glint of laughter in her eyes. Was Dean right then? Was she doing this on purpose, to get his attention? He watched her turn back toward the river, looking down at Dean and Faith again and Sam took a breath. Dean was usually right about these things.



He moved closer, so that he was just behind her, less than an inch from touching her and leaned down by her ear.



“You’re planning on getting in, right?” he asked and she turned her head, looking back and up at him, smiling when she saw how close he was.



“Yeah, as soon as I can get over being a chicken. It looks cold,” she said, leaning back against him, as if they did this sort of thing all the time and she was perfectly comfortable with it. Grateful for the first time in his life for Dean’s sense when it came to women, Sam smiled. He slid one arm around her waist and scooped her legs with the other, lifting her up and starting toward the river.



“Let me give you a hand with that,” he said, grinning and Dawn let out a laughing shriek.



“Sam Winchester, don’t you dare!” she said, putting her arms around his neck. He paused at the edge of the water, smiling at her. “No, please, stop!”



“Make me.”



~*~



That sounded like a dare if she’d ever heard one and Dawn wasn’t the type of girl who turned down a dare. Her arms were already around his neck and she ran one hand up, fingers threading through his hair, then leaned forward and kissed him.



It was meant to be a quick kiss but he responded and it became something more, softer, real. Dawn tightened her arms around his neck a little and the way he was holding her became less playful as he pulled her closer against him. Dawn’s eyes fell shut, as she got lost in him, the way he tasted, the way he felt against her. She was falling…



Ice cold water enveloped her when they hit the water and she came up gasping, Sam right beside her. Hearing laughter, she looked up at the bank and saw Dean, right where they’d been standing. Faith was still in the water, also laughing like she might never stop.



“Oh, I’m gonna kill him,” Sam said, staring at his brother.



“Sorry, Sammy,” Dean said, between the laughter, “It looked like the two of you might need some cooling off.”



~*~