I may own all the seasons on DVD and a betta fish newly christened Wendigo, but Sam and Dean are still outside of that.
.~o()o~.
"How much farther is it?" Leah asked, yawning.
"Maybe another ten minutes," Sam chuckled. "Long day?"
"You have no idea. I was in the back with the rambunctious three-year-old that needs constant entertainment. I love him to bits but he definitely has more energy than I do."
"I may be a little more familiar with that than you think. I have spent years on the road with Dean after all."
"Maybe you do understand after all," Leah smiled up at Sam. He slung his arm comfortably around her shoulder and drew her up against his side.
"Are you warm enough?" he asked, concerned when he felt a small shiver ripple though her frame.
"I'm a little chilled, nothing a warm fire and a cup of hot chocolate can't fix. Snuggling up to 6'4" of human furnace couldn't hurt either," she added the last sentence quietly, almost tentatively.
"Well, I have it well within my power to provide you with all three of those things once we reach the camp," Sam winked.
Leah grasped his hand and pulled his arm tighter around her. "You're doing a pretty good job of blocking the wind. I am feeling warmer already."
"Glad to be of service," Sam said gallantly.
The wailing and crying of the child suddenly rose over the noise of the wind once again. "Are you sure that is not a real child?" Leah asked.
"It's a ghost and we can't do anything to put it to rest tonight. Just ignore the sound," Sam said, glancing toward the lake where a tiny figure in white walked back and forth on the bank.
"It's hard to ignore," she said softly. "All my life, my first instinct has been to comfort a crying child, whether it was a younger sibling, a kid I was babysitting or a kid at camp. I have never been the person to walk by. It breaks my heart to leave this child there, still in pain and alone."
"That is a good way to be. Don't ever lose that tender heart. But in this case. . .people are dying and I suspect they followed that crying like you want to do. You can't help her," Sam looked down at her seriously.
"A little girl? Do you know her story?"
"Not yet, we are out here trying to find out. We tried in the surrounding towns, but something is being covered up here. Nobody is talking."
Leah stopped suddenly. "Sam," she whispered, pointing off to her right. Five transparent men had appeared out of nowhere and they stood there, simply looking at them.
"Get behind me," Sam whispered, releasing her and raising his shotgun. Five more men appeared behind the first, and then another ten, just standing, still staring.
"I can't shoot them all, I'll just piss them off. As long as they are standing still, we are in no danger, we will just have to go around them. Make no sudden moves and maybe we can get to the camp and inside a ring of salt before they decide to become more aggressive," Sam's voice was still barely above a whisper.
The ghosts moved with them, eyes not wavering, as they continued toward the camp. Slowly, the ghosts drew closer, forcing them to fall back toward the lake. Soon, they were nearly walking along the shore. The ghosts drew closer again and they were cut off, unable to move forward, unable to go back.
"Mama?" a voice spoke from behind them. "Sing to me, Mama."
Leah gasped and turned as she came face to face with the little girl.
"Sing, Mama! Sing!" the child cried again.
"No!" Sam shouted, placing himself in between Leah and the little girl. "You will not hurt her."
"You will not keep me from my mama!" the child cried, lunging forward and grasping Sam's arm before, with surprising strength, toppling him quickly off the bank and under the dank water of the lake.
"Sam!" Leah cried, seeing bubbles rise to the surface, but no trace of him. She snatched up his shotgun from where it had landed on the bank and fired at the water where she had last seen him. Ripples from the individual particles of rock salt spread across the surface and then Sam broke through the water, flinging his hair back, scattering water droplets everywhere and gasping frantically for breath. Leah dropped the shotgun and was at his side in an instant, splashing into the lake, grasping his hand and pulling him out onto the bank where they both collapsed in each others arms, breathing hard and shaking.
"We have to get farther away," Sam gasped, trying to pull himself up. He coughed harshly, spitting out murky lake water before shakily getting to his feet and reaching down for Leah.
"Gotta keep moving. All the ghost activity has dropped the temperature. It has to be below freezing now," Sam said, wrapping his arms around her again. Both of them were soaking wet and shivering hard.
They walked toward the camp again, toward the ranks of ghosts that still stood there passively. To their surprise, the ghosts moved back and let them pass.
"How much farther now, Tham?" Leah asked, barely able to get the words out through her chattering teeth.
"Did you just lisp?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, thorry, I alwayth lithp when I'm cold. I think my tongue muthles freethe," Leah buried her face in Sam's side, embarrassed.
"It's cute," Sam laughed, trying to keep focused. "We probably only have another few minutes and we can start that fire."
"We better hurry," Leah said. "It'th too cold to be thtuck out here in wet clothes. Woah!" she clung to Sam tighter when he swayed on his feet, his eyes dropping closed for a moment.
"M'tired," Sam slurred, swaying again.
"You can't thleep yet," Leah said. "I can't carry you back. I don't know where the campthite ith."
Sam started giggling. "Y'r talking funny."
"You laugh, you big thathquatch, jutht thtay awake. I'll getcha warm," she realized worriedly that he had stopped shivering and it was getting harder and harder for him to stay on his feet. Only her jeans were wet, but Sam had been immersed completely.
Finally, they stumbled over the tent in the dark. "We're here, Tham, we made it."
"Fire?" Sam questioned, now too out of it to say more than one word at a time.
"We don't have time. We need to get you warmed up right now, tho thtrip."
"What?" Sam asked.
"Take your clotheth off, unleth you want me to do it for you," Leah carefully released him and started digging through the nearest duffle bag for a pair of boxers.
"I thought you were waiting for marriage. . ." Sam trailed off, confused.
"I'm not trying to have thex with you, you moron," she threw the pair of boxers at him. "I won't look if you don't." Leah turned her back and stripped off her wet jeans and underwear and her sweater, noting with relief that her bra had managed to stay relatively dry. She pulled on the other pair of Sam's boxers. They didn't fit but they would do.
"You have a cute ass," Sam giggled again before nearly face planting in the dirt.
Leah blushed fiercely as she caught him. At least he had managed to undress himself and put on the dry boxers. Even with blue lips and goose bumps covering his entire body, Sam was frighteningly good looking and Leah was suddenly afraid for her ability to resist him. As soon as he was balanced upright again, she grabbed the two sleeping bags in the tent, unzipped them and then zipped them together. She laid it down flat in the center of the tent and piled every extra blanket and dry piece of clothing on top of it.
"Climb in," she said to Sam, holding open the unzipped side of the sleeping bag now big enough for two. He practically collapsed into the sleeping bag. Leah shoved him over before crawling in next to him.
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her right snug up against his nearly naked body. "G'night," he mumbled before allowing his eyes to drift closed.
Leah pinched his arm hard. His eyes flew open, looking at her in confusion. "Don't go to sleep yet, not until we know you aren't freezing to death,"
"I think you just wanted to get me into bed with you," Sam smirked, lazily kissing the top of her head.
"Yeah, that's totally it, not at all that body heat is the best way to stop hypothermia." Leah smiled fondly. "Idiot."
"You stopped lisping."
"I warm up fast," There was silence again for a little while. Sam's eyes closed on their own again. Leah pinched him again.
"Your skin is soft," Sam said sleepily. "I like your skin," he spread his massive hand over her belly, his thumb brushing across a certain spot on her side. She jumped and squealed a little bit. "What was that?"
"I'm ticklish and you just found the worst spot," Leah admitted.
"Ticklish?" Sam laughed. "And what if I touch you like this." He place his hand on her lower ribcage and slowly dragged it down, pressing a little firmer this time, caressing her side.
"No, that doesn't tickle," Leah replied breathlessly.
"And what about here?" he stroked her neck gently, just below her ear.
"Usually," an involuntary moan escaped her lips as Sam kissed her there, slowly dragging his lips across her neck. She could feel the merest hint of teeth as he deepened the kiss.
"Stop, Sam," she whispered.
"Why?" he asked, pulling back only a little.
"Because I still plan to wait and you are making things really hard."
"But I want you," Sam said simply.
"I want you too," she whispered. "But this can't happen unless you put a ring on my finger."
"I'm sorry," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear. They both lapsed into silence, knowing they needed each other's warmth to stay alive but the closeness almost too much temptation to bear.
"A polar bear's liver is poisonous," Sam said suddenly. "It has such a high concentration of Vitamin A that one bite will kill you.
Leah looked up at him confused before she caught on. "Giraffes only sleep between ten minutes and two hours every day, the shortest sleep period of any mammal," she replied.
"The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottles represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had," Sam again.
"Karpouzi is Greek for Watermelon," said Leah.
"Karaoke means 'empty orchestra' in Japanese,"
"The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want."
"The longest palindromic word in the Oxford English Dictionary is the onomatopoeic tattarrattat, coined by James Joyce in Ulysses in 1922 for a knock on the door," Sam didn't miss a beat.
"The longest palindrome in the world is saippuakuppinippukauppias, which is Finnish for soap dish wholesale vendor," Leah spoke again, the spirit of competition rising swiftly.
"The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache," Sam was not to be outdone.
This continued on for what felt like hours, neither hesitating, just firing off random facts before suddenly they realized they were warm again and both drifted off to sleep, tangled up in each other.
.~o()o~.
And I didn't even end on a cliffhanger! I am so nice to you guys. Let me know what you think!