Chapter Nine

Interlude 1

Grace woke up slowly, from the feet upwards. As her eyes blinked open, she came face to face with a man.

All her instincts kicked in, everything she'd been taught came into play and adrenaline began to pump fiercely through her veins.

Her right hand dived under her pillow and wrapped around the cold handle of her gun, as her legs came up and pushed back, moving her away from the intruder in her bed.
She sat up, cocked the gun and pointed it to his head in one smooth motion.

Then he woke up.

"Jesus, Grace!"

It was Dean. Green eyes focused intently on the silver gun that was directed at his face.

"Put the freaking gun down!"

The sound of Sam waking up came from the next bed, behind her, and he added his own swearing to the mix.

In shock, Grace continued to regard Dean as he struggled up onto his elbows. Some basic instinct was making her track him with the gun. Finally, she took a breath and released the hammer, placing the gun carefully down on the bed. Then she got angry.

"What in the name of hell are you doing in my bed?"

"Sleeping. I was anyway."

"I'm not kidding, Dean!"

"Neither am I!" He regarded her for a moment and then added, as if it was obvious, "We've been sharing for ages."

"Why? Why can't you share with Sam?"

"We tried – once. He kicked me in the shin."

"You punched me in the face," came the muffled protest from the other bed, Sam had his face buried in his pillow.

"Basically – we can't share." Dean sent his brother a glare which Same found easy to ignore. "And, at that point, you guys hadn't known each other very long." Dean shrugged as best he could while still half lying down.

Grace looked quite like she wanted to punch him in the face herself.

"Look, Grace, we can't afford two rooms. And even if we could, we couldn't leave you in a room by yourself."

"You could have freaking asked!"

"Hey, I'm wearing clothes."

"Ugh, your useless."

She lay down again, her back firmly towards him.

"You stay on your side of the bed and keep your hands to yourself."

"Yes, ma'am."