Chapter 9: Wake Up Call
What felt like just seconds later, Dean was jarred awake by someone pushing at his shoulder.
He started awake, flailing wildly. "Where is it? I'll kill it with my hands."
"Woah," a small voice cautioned. "Chill out. I'm just waking you up."
He let his vision go into focus, and he saw Sophie standing over him, her arms crossed. He looked over to the alarm clock and saw a bright green flashing 6:00. "What the hell?" he grumbled. "It's not even sunrise."
"We agreed to leave early," she said. "To go check on Patrick."
"And your stepfather," he said, remembering.
"Right."
Dean sat up, noticing that Sam was gone. "Where's Sam?"
"He went to go get coffee and gas. He made a lot less of a fuss when I tried to wake him up."
"How long have you been up for?" Dean asked, sitting up and swinging his feet over the side of the bed.
"Since five. I didn't sleep for very long, to be honest. I kept rolling over onto my shoulder and waking up."
"Sorry to hear that."
She shrugged. "I can sleep when I'm dead. Now c'mon, put some pep in that step."
"Look, I told you last night. A few hours one way or the other isn't going to make a difference," he complained, but still he stood up from the bed and straightened out his shirt.
Sophie glared at him, hands on her hips. "If it were Sam about to be hunted by a world of creepy-crawlies, we'd have been there last night."
Dean looked carefully at Sophie before walking over to his bag and grabbing out a toothbrush. "Yeah, probably," he admitted. "But not if it would have put you in danger."
"No," she shook her head. "You still would have gone."
Dean walked over to the bathroom. "Yes, but you would have been far, far away."
Sophie didn't look too happy about that. "So, what, now I'm a burden and useless?"
"I never said either of those!" Dean exclaimed, beginning to get frustrated.
"It was implied."
Dean ran his toothbrush underwater and squeezed some toothpaste onto it. "Are you always like this, or is it the painkillers talking?"
"Am I always really pissed off because the stranger whose hotel room I'm crashing in thinks I'd be useless in saving my best friend from a horde of angry monsters?" he heard her snap as he quickly swiped the brush back and forth carelessly across his teeth. "Sorry, can't say I have a lot of experience in that area. Try me the next time it happens and I'll tell you whether it's just me or the Advil."
He spit and rinsed his mouth. "You could be a little grateful, you know," he snapped back. "You'd be dead right now if Sam and I hadn't saved you. Or worse."
She was silent for a moment, and then she said, her tone changed, "I guess I should've thanked you for that," she admitted. "Not to say that everything that's happened afterwards hasn't sucked, but…I'm glad I'm alive."
"Good," Dean said, taking the biting edge out of his tone. He rinsed off his toothbrush and walked outside of the bathroom. "Now let me get ready and we'll leave when Sam gets back."
She nodded. "I'll just be in here," she said, grabbing her duffle bag and heading into the bathroom.
"No, you'll be out here," Dean said. "You hogged the shower last night."
She stuck her head out, giving him a death glare. "Sorry to be an inconvenience, I wanted to make sure all of my dry blood was washed off my body. I'll be sure to put your comfort over my sanity the next time we decide who gets the most shower time."
"Stop whining and let me in there," Dean grumbled, suddenly understanding what it must feel like to be on the receiving end of someone so mouthy.
Sophie was grumbling too as she stepped out of the bathroom, motioning with her arms towards the tiny little room. "By all means," she said mockingly. He gave her a look and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door and locking it.
He listened to the sound of the mattress creaking as Sophie undoubtedly plopped down on it, and then he turned on the shower and undressed. Once the water was hot, he stepped in, letting the water hit his head and run down his sore back. He hadn't had much time to rest his body since tracking and killing that nest of vamps, but it was starting to catch up with him. Slowly, he began to relax as he settled into the rhythm of the water beating down on his back and running down his body, rinsing away the sweat and grime and stress of the last couple of days.
And then he heard a terrified scream come from the room, and just like he'd never relaxed, every one of his nerves were on fire again.
Sophie.
He jumped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist at record speed. "Sophie?" he yelled out, not knowing how the hell he was going to protect Sophie or himself half naked and weaponless. Trying not to think too hard about his helplessness, he burst through the door into the hotel room, determined to fight tooth and nail.
Sophie was standing in the corner, holding the lamp that had been sitting on the bedside table like a baseball bat, a look of disbelief and terror on her face.
Standing across from her was a dark-haired man wearing a blue tie and a trench coat.
Who ever could it be ;) Thanks as always for reading. Follow, favorite, and feedback is always helpful! ~ Lacey :)
