The black shadow moved down the highway, gobbling up the miles. Its classic lines gleaming in the moonlight, a steady growl the only sign of passing, as it moved through dimly lit towns. The vehicle moved over the dessert terrain, bringing its occupants ever closer to their destination.

Dean sighed, and rubbed his eyes once again. He was ready for a break, but was loath to wake either of his companions. It had been a rough couple of weeks, and both looked beat to hell.

Dean glanced towards his brother, in the passenger seat, thinking of the injuries Sam had sustained on this last hunt. He noted the large bruise already forming on Sam's forehead. Plus, Dean had a constant reminder of Sam's other injury every time the younger hunter tried to straighten. The footprint that Sam now sported on his back was clear as day, and twice as painful.

Dean's gaze shifted towards the rearview and he sent up a prayer of thanks for Catherine. She was the only reason, Sam wasn't dead. Her quick thinking and even quicker reflexes had allowed her to take out the possessed man, that had been hell bent on kicking Sam to death. Dean had been unable to protect Sam; he had been too busy performing CPR on the possessed man's latest victim.

Dean rubbed his eyes again, and gave a soft sigh. Man, he was tired, they had spent a week, trailing a man named Chris Straw. He had be had been possessed by a lower level demon. The demon had been hell bent, on destroying as many lives as possible, in a small amount of time. Like the teenage boy Dean had performed CPR on.

Straw had managed to steal a car from an elderly couple, and two minutes later hit the teenage boy, who had been walking along a sidewalk. The hunters had been following Straw hoping to catch, and hold him until they could exorcise him. They had been following the bastard, when he had hit the young man. Dean had quickly moved towards the boy's side, while Sam and Catherine had moved to intercept, and stop Straw.

Straw had managed to get Sam down; the younger hunter was unable to get to his feet, and was barely managing to keep his arms up to protect his head and face. Catherine had stepped forward pulling out a tazer gun. Waiting for the right moment, she had distracted the killer, and stunned him. As he lay immobile for a moment, she had bound him with duct tape, and quickly read the exorcism, sending the demon back to hell.

Yup, Kingman, Arizona, fun town. Dean mentally added it to the list of towns he had no intention of ever visiting again. Returning his eyes to the dark highway before him, he briefly wondered whether there would be a town left in the states that he wanted to visit, once he was done hunting. Oh well, drinking tequila on some sunny island in the Caribbean always held promise.

As Dean drove he found himself nodding off again, reaching out, he turned the music up slightly. As his gaze once more returned to his rearview, he noticed Catherine's bright blue eyes shining up at him.

Catherine met Dean's eyes in the rearview; he looked exhausted. It was good they were going to take a break for a bit. She nodded to herself, yeah they all needed to recharge. And really, Dean was right, what better place to take a little vacation than Vegas. Yep, it would do all three of them some good.

As Catherine met Dean's eyes once again, she gave him her sexiest grin. She began humming the Barry White song 'Can't Get Enough of Your Love Baby', in her mind. She watched as Dean's face flushed slightly, and his eyes suddenly held enough heat to burn her in her seat. She merely laughed instead, and leaned forward she breathing softly against his ear. She stayed like that for a moment, content to breathe in his scent, and bask in his presence.

Catherine didn't know what she had done in a former life to deserve this man. The only thing she knew, was that it must have been something good, really, really good. She leaned slightly closer and said "Hey, big fella how about pulling over, and giving me a chance to drive."

Dean felt like he was on fire, as the strains of Barry White drifted through his mind. It wasn't often that he and Catherine spent time alone. They both understood that it was dangerous for the three of them to be separated. Both Sam and Catherine, were on the yellow eyed demon's hit list due to their special abilities.

In the year that they had been hunting together, they had managed to stay relatively safe just by sticking close to each other. The three hunters complemented each other, while one held caution, the second was gung-ho and the third brought balance. Their roles each changed, depending on the situation, and that worked also.

However, it had been three long weeks since Catherine and Dean had been able to really be together. Dean glanced again at Catherine, smelling the unique scent of limes and coconut that she liked to wear. The scent always reminded him of the beach, a blue ocean, and tequila. Yeah Dean thought it had been long, too long.

Dean began pulling onto the shoulder, happy to allow someone else to drive for a while. He glanced at Sam, and noticed that his brother was groggily rubbing his eyes. "Hey, Sam, jump in the back seat we're doing a driver switch. It's your turn to stretch out."

Sam noticed that Catherine was pulling on her boots, and climbing out of the Impala to stand alongside the driver's side door. "Dean, you take the back seat. You haven't slept yet. I can keep Catherine company."

Dean noted the dark shadows around Sam's eyes, and shook his head. Deciding that Sam needed the sleep more than himself, he said, the one thing he knew would get his baby brother settled in the back seat. "Nope, Sam you need to sleep, you look like shit. Besides, Katie's humming Barry. and you know I don't stand a chance in hell of sleeping with that running through my head." Dean grinned, at the look on Sam's face.

Dean had once confessed to his younger brother, just what it signified when Catherine was in a Barry White kind of mood. "Aw Dude, come on too much information. You really need to keep some things to yourself." Sam said, as he opened the passenger door, and made for the rear door.

Sam grinned to himself as he settled onto the back seat, pulling the blanket that Catherine had been using over himself. As much as he pretended to complain, Sam was happy for Dean and Catherine. The two of them shared something really special; they deserved every bit of joy they could squeeze out of life. Yeah, Dean's Katie was a blessing in disguise.

It had been Catherine that had pulled Dean out of the abyss he was in when their father had died. And it had been Catherine, that had reminded Sam of what living really meant. Not just going through the motions, but really living. Yeah Sam thought, as he drifted off to sleep, Catherine had filled the Winchesters lives with something other than despair. She had become their bright light at the end of a dark tunnel.

888

Dean watched as Catherine settled herself at the wheel. He smiled as she sat for a moment running her hand over the steering wheel. For a moment, he could have sworn that she'd said something to the big, black classic car.

One of the only reasons he allowed her to drive the machine, was that she was equally in love with it. While staying at Bobby's, after their father's death, Catherine had actually helped to rebuild the Impala. Dean smiled back at the memory, that time spent at Bobby's, was when he had fallen in love with the beautiful hunter.

As Dean settled back, and Catherine began pulling back out on the highway, he watched Catherine from half closed eyes. His tired eyes ran over her face. Her blue eyes, wide mouth, and strong chin made her look exotic; her long hair was pulled back from her face, allowing him to really study her features.

It was then, he realized that Catherine had changed, in the past few weeks. Her constant tan seemed faded, and her eyes were rimmed with dark circles. He also noticed her face seemed thinner, he quickly thought back to the last time he had seen her eat with any kind of enthusiasm.

Dean frowned, and racked his memory. It had to be at least two months ago, they had stopped at a pizza place back in Philadelphia. He could remember teasing Catherine about eating more slices than him. She had simply grinned, and made a smart ass remark. Yeah, that had defiantly been the last time, before the fevers.

Catherine looked over at Dean, and noticed his eyes were at half-mast. She lifted her hand, and gently smoothed his forehead. Running her hand lightly down his face, she watched, as his eyes drifted shut.

As Dean felt Catherine's hands, he finally let go. Drifting off to sleep, his last thought, was that he was going to have to watch her closer.