Dawn was just beginning to swirl across the horizon in the slightest hints of pink and orange.
A shrouding mist of fog hung heavy in the air, rewarding anybody who took a breath with a lungful of humidity.
From inside a motel bedroom, the bitter aftertaste of coffee still vaguely coated her tongue, making her mouth dry.
She perched her tiny frame Indian style on the motel room's dirty coffee table. She'd been up all night, researching an other case.
The room was so silent, she could hear Dean's quiet, steady breaths from across the room, sleep still draped over him like a blanket.
He'd fallen asleep midway through and she hadn't bothered waking him up.
Looking his way, she suppressed a sigh and let a small, sympathetic smile tug at her lips.
For once, he looked at peace.
His usually-furrowed brows sat upon his forehead in proper place. His common frown was replaced by a slightly-parted pout, and the freckles stippled across his features made him look nothing less than innocent.
Ha.
Dean? Innocent?
The idea made her chuckle, but she stopped laughing and frowned as soon as she realized that it wasn't funny at all.
More than anything, it was sad.
It hardly seemed fair that every waking moment was a crippling sense of obligation even to people he didn't know.
Every day was a battle that he forced himself to fight, for better or for worse.
And mostly, it was for worse.
She wasn't quite sure if there was anything more tragic than that.
She wished she could be his shield, and just hold him and let him know that everything would be alright.
But for right now, she'd let sleep be his shield.
There was no denying that unconsciousness was the only lover Dean ever truly had.
It was the only thing that carried him away from the living hell he endured with every stroke of a clock's hands.
She let her eyes drink in his image once more, inching closer and closer to him until she was hovering over his body.
Gently lifting one of his thick, calloused hands, she brought his palm to her lips.
Maybe one day, something other than unconsciousness could be his lover.