Chapter 4

Dean awoke to the sun streaming through the window and Riley still sleeping peacefully in his arms. He sighed contentedly. Sam was going to be alright and he and Riley had finally gotten a descent night's sleep. A quick glance at the digital clock on the VCR told him it was 10:15am. He knew he'd better get up so he could go check on Sam. He gently rolled Riley off of him and got up from the couch. He pulled the blanket up over her shoulders before heading to the kitchen to start the coffee pot. Riley had been bringing him coffee for two days so it was only fair he reciprocated. While the coffee was percolating, he headed to the bathroom to shower and shave.

When he returned to the kitchen he found Riley in her pajamas with tousled hair and sleepy eyes clutching a cup of coffee. Dean grinned at the sight.

"Not a morning person, eh?" he asked.

"Not so much," she replied. "Bless you for starting the coffee."

"It wasn't entirely altruistic," he said as he reached around her to pour himself a cup, "I'm not a morning person either."

"How do you like your eggs?" she asked him as she pulled a carton from the fridge.

"Scrambled is fine."

"Are you going to see Sam?" she asked as she cracked eggs into a bowl and proceeded to beat them with a fork. .

"Yeah, wanna come?"

"I would, but I need to go to the Training Center. I have to go to the Sports Medicine Clinic to see if they'll clear me to train and practice," she told him as she placed a pan on the stove and turned up the burner beneath it. "If they do, I'll probably work out for a couple hours, and then I'll have practice from 2-4pm. I'll meet up with you guys at the hospital after practice"

"Shouldn't you take it easy for a couple more days?" he asked.

"I don't have time to take it easy," she replied, pouring the eggs into the pan and stirring them with a spatula. "I leave for a judo tournament in Vegas a week from tomorrow. And I have to cut some weight before weigh-ins if I'm gonna make my weight class, so that's gonna require a lot of cardio."

"Vegas, eh?"

"Yeah, but don't be too jealous, I'm usually too busy with competing to have time to enjoy any of the places I get to travel to. We basically see the airport, the hotel, and the competition venue."

"Bummer."

"I know!" she replied as she scooped the eggs onto two plates and handed one to Dean.

After they'd finished eating, Riley changed into blue Adidas shorts and a USA Judo t-shirt. She pulled a large duffel bag out from under her bed and threw in her blue gi—the pants, jacket and belt that Judo athletes compete in, an Under Armour shirt and shorts for under her gi, a couple heavy sweatshirts, t-shirts, sweatpants, and a ski hat. She shoved her feet into her running shoes and grabbed her backpack and duffel bag and headed for the door.

"Hey Dean, the hospital is right next door to the training center. Do you want to carpool?" she asked him.

"Works for me. I'll drop you at the training center then head over to see Sam."

15 minutes later, Dean pulled the Impala into a lot nearest to the Sports Medicine building.

"Thanks Dean. I'll see you in a few hours," she said as she got out and hauled her gear from the back seat.

"Don't overdo it," he warned her.

"Yes sir!" she replied as she mockingly saluted him. "Oh, and hey, Dean?"

"Yeah?"

She pointed toward to the radio that had been playing Led Zeppelin and AC/DC the whole way there. "The 1970's called and they want their music back," she teased.

"You sound just like Sam," he grumbled with a smile before putting the Impala in drive and pulling away.

Riley left Sports Med with their blessing to go back to training and practice so long as she wore head gear or something to protect the stitches. She may have stretched the truth about the concussion—actually she lied and said she never lost consciousness—but she couldn't stand the thought of being sidelined by an injury. She headed to the locker room to drop off her gear and change. She stepped on the scale and saw that she was 5 kilos over the weight she needed to be to compete. She had one week to lose 11 pounds. She put on her layers of sweats and the ski hat to help her body to sweat off some water weight while she did cardio, then grabbing her iPod, she headed into the gym to spend some quality time on the bike and treadmill.

An hour and a half later she was drenched in sweat and exhausted. Running had jarred her body and caused her ribs to throb but the pain had been tolerable. She returned to the locker room and popped 3 Advil into her mouth. She stripped down to her sports bra and spandex shorts then spent 20 minutes in the sauna. When she was done she weighed herself again and found she was down 5 pounds.

"Not bad," she told herself. She took a quick shower and threw on a clean t-shirt and shorts, then headed to the cafeteria to grab some lunch before heading to practice.

"Dude, she was totally checking you out!" Dean exclaimed once the nurse had closed the door on her way out. "She's a nurse, she's hot, and she is drooling all over you because you're the big hero who got shot in the hold-up. Are you gonna go for it? Or have I taught you nothing?"

"She's not my type, Dean," Sam told him, as the memories of Jess dressing up as a naughty nurse for a Halloween party flooded back to him. Jess was my type he thought sadly. "Besides, I'd hate to deprive you of fulfilling your own hot nurse fantasies," Sam said with a forced smile.

"She's all yours, Sammy," Dean replied. "We'll call her my get well present to you."

"Gee, how nice of you to let me have her," Sam said sarcastically.

"Anything for you, little brother!" Dean said with a wide cocky grin.

"Hey guys!" Riley said as she entered the room.

"Hey! Did they clear you?" Dean asked.

"Yup, I'm good to go," she said as she flopped into an empty chair.

"Really?" Dean asked uncertainly.

"Really. I made it through a workout and practice and I'm still standing—ok, so right now I'm sitting but you know what I mean. Anyway, how are you feeling Sam?" she asked turning her attention to the younger Winchester.

"I'm getting there," he replied. "They let me have actual food today—of course it tasted like crap…" he trailed off.

"In that case, you are so gonna love me," Riley said with a smile as she pulled a napkin wrapped wad from her backpack. "I hope you like your burger well done," she said handing it to him. "I sorta smuggled it out of the cafeteria for you."

"And it's still hot too!" he said before taking a bite. "Mmmmm… aw man, I really do love you right now!" he mumbled as he chewed.

"I don't suppose you brought me one," Dean said hopefully.

"Uh, negative," she told him. "I only deliver to those confined to beds."

Riley and Dean left the hospital around 7pm, grabbed a quick dinner and headed back to Riley's. They made themselves comfortable on the couch and watched another DVD. When the credits began to roll at the end, Riley yawned and stood up.

"Ok, Dean, I'm beat. I'm gonna head to bed. Do you need anything?"

"Nope, I'm good," he replied. "Good night Riley."

"G'night Dean," she replied as she headed toward her bedroom.

Dean wasn't ready to sleep yet so he flipped channels, settling on ESPN's Sports Center. When it was over, he turned off the TV and stretched. He decided he'd check on Riley before going to sleep. He walked down the hall and peered through the open door into her room. He heard the tell-tale sounds of a nightmare and walked toward her in the dim light of the streetlight shinning through the curtains. When he sat down on the edge of her bed, she bolted upright, gasping for air.

"It's ok, it's just me," he said quietly.

"Dean," she sighed, shaking off the remnants of the dream. "Arrrggghhh! I'm so sick of this! Why can't I just freakin' stop dreaming about it?" she asked.

"I don't know Riley," he said softly as he reached up to wipe a tear from her cheek.

"I just want to put it behind me—and I've been pretty successful too. Until it's time to go to sleep, that is." She blew out a frustrated sigh. "This sucks."

"I wish I could make the nightmares stop for you," he told her. "Hell, I wish you'd never had to go through it in the first place." He took her hand. "What can I do?"

"Talk to me until I fall asleep."

"Ok." He thought for a moment. "I can tell you about the pranks Sammy and I used to pull on each other growing up. Those stories are always a crowd pleaser!"

"Ooh! I wanna hear all about it!" Riley said with a smile as she settled back against her pillows.

Soon Riley's eyes had closed and her breathing started to slow and even out. Dean moved to stand but paused when he felt her grip tighten on his hand.

"Stay," she murmured sleepily.

"Ok," Dean replied as he slid under the covers with her and pulled her into his arms. She sighed contentedly and drifted off to sleep once again.

When Dean awoke, the bed beside him was empty. He saw a piece of paper on the floor and reached down to pick it up.

Dean,

I have a workout with my team from 6-7:30.

I'll be back around 8am.

Riley

He looked at his watch and saw it was only 6:27. He groaned, rolled over and went back to sleep.

Riley came home at 8:30 to find Dean still sound asleep. She ran and jumped on the bed beside him jarring him into consciousness.

"Wake up sleepyhead!" she exclaimed.

"Arrgh, I thought you weren't a morning person," he mumbled as he pulled the covers over his head.

"I'm not," she replied, "but since I've been up since 5am, this hardly qualifies as morning anymore!"

"Oh, trust me, it's still morning!" he grumbled as he lowered the covers just enough to peer at her. She pulled the covers back the rest of the way and pulled him until he was sitting upright.

"Coffee?" he said hopefully.

"Oh, alright," she said playfully pushing him back down onto the bed and heading towards the kitchen to make coffee. "Obviously, I've spoiled you," she teased as she left the room.

Dean ambled into the kitchen as Riley was pouring him a steaming cup of coffee. He gratefully accepted it and took a drink. He sat at the kitchen table and watched her rummage through the fridge as he took another sip. Her reddish-blonde hair was damp from a shower and pulled back into a bun. The bruises on her face were beginning to fade and the sparkle had returned to her eyes. She wore purple Adidas shorts and a white racer-back tank top that brought out her tan and accentuated the muscular arms and shoulders countless hours in the gym had earned her. There was no denying she was nice to look at.

"Cereal or eggs?" she asked.

"Cereal is fine," he replied, pulling himself from his thoughts.

Riley placed a box of Special K, a carton of milk, a bowl and a spoon in front of him. She grabbed an apple and joined him at the table.

"Light breakfast," he commented as he poured milk on his cereal and scooped up a big spoonful.

"I've still gotta cut some weight," she replied.

"You look good to me!" he said flirtatiously.

A blush colored her cheeks and she quickly changed the subject. "So, I don't have anything until practice at 2pm. Do you want to do something this morning?" Riley asked him.

"Uh, yeah. What did you have in mind?"

"Garden of the Gods," she replied. "It's this amazingly beautiful park with all these natural red rock formations and a bunch of paths and hiking trails. It's one of my favorite places."

"Sure, I'm in."

"I can see why you love this place so much," Dean said as they stood atop a bluff overlooking numerous red rock formations that stretched up into the cloudless blue sky. Beyond them he could see the purplish-grey Rocky Mountains stretching across the horizon.

"Yeah," Riley breathed, "I've gotten to see a lot of the world and this is still the best view I know of. It's hard not to feel at peace here."

"Thanks for sharing it with me." Dean said.

"Sure. Do you wanna hike a bit?"

"Lead the way!"

After exploring the park for awhile, Dean and Riley drove back into town around 1pm.

"So, do you want to give me the grand tour of the Olympic Training Center?" Dean asked as he turned into the entrance of the Olympic Complex.

"Ok, but I'll have to smuggle you into some places you're not allowed to be so, um, try to look athletic," she said with a smile.

"I'll do my best," Dean said, chuckling.

They looked around the Visitor's Center a bit before walking out into the Olympic Path that had two-dimensional sculptures representing different sports in the Olympic Paralympic and Pan-American Games. Riley walked him through the Shooting Center where a few shooters were firing air rifles at targets in a state-of-the-art shooting range.

"Hey! Think I could go in there and try out the air rifles? I'm a pretty good shot," Dean said with a cocky grin.

"Only if you want to be escorted off complex by security," Riley replied.

"Never mind."

Further up the path, they peered through the windows of the Aquatic Center where some triathletes were swimming laps in the Olympic-sized swimming pool. She showed him around the building that contained the Strength and Conditioning gym and the wrestling room on the ground level and three gyms separated by partitions upstairs where the US Women's Volleyball team was practicing.

Riley let him peek through the window of the door to the Sports Medicine Clinic. She took him around the Athlete's Center that housed the cafeteria, administrative offices, a lounge and resident athlete dormitories. They paused for a minute outside a gym in Sports Center 1 to watch the US Men's gymnastics team practice before she led him downstairs to the Judo room. It was 1:40 and a few of her teammates were already there warming up and stretching out.

"Would it be ok for me to stay and watch for a bit?" Dean asked.

"Uh, I don't know. Let me check with my coach," she said before heading across the room to speak with a man in his mid-forties wearing a white gi. She returned shortly after and flashed him a thumbs up.

"Just hang out right here off the mat and out of the way." She told him as she unzipped her bag and pulled out her gi.

"Sure, no problem," he said. "I probably won't stay too long. I've bailed on Sammy all day so I should get over to see him pretty soon."

"Ok, I have practice until 4 and then I have a judo class to teach until 7. I can meet you at the hospital after that."

"Sure, but you don't have your car here."

"Oh, not a problem. My teammate Ryan and I teach the class together so I can get a ride to the dojo with him and I'll get him to drop me at the hospital afterwards," she said as she bent down to take off her shoes and socks. She slipped off her purple shorts and pulled on her gi pants over the spandex shorts she was wearing. She pulled her gi jacket on over her skin-tight Under Armour shirt and expertly tied a black belt around her waist.

"I gotta go warm up," Riley said gesturing to the mats where the other judo players were gathered around the edge stretching, "I'll talk to you later."

Dean waved and she joined the others. At 2pm, Dean watched as the athletes lined up and bowed before walking onto the main section of mats. The gi-clad athletes paired up and began to practice a particular throw called Ippon Seoinage. He shook his head in amazement as he remembered Riley telling him that everything in Judo was in Japanese.

Riley was paired up with an auburn-haired girl who looked a couple inches shy of Riley's 5 feet 10 inches. They faced each other, grabbing each other's lapels then Riley quickly let go with her right hand as she turned in putting her back toward the other girl. Riley's left hand had moved to grab the girl's right sleeve, pulling her opponents arm in front of her own body as she reached under the same arm and back up over the shoulder with her right arm. She bent at the knees getting her hips beneath the girl's then as she straightened her knees again she bent forward at the waist and pulled the girl onto, then over her back, flipping the girl forward until her back landed on the mat with a thwack.

Dean watched in awe as the girls took turns throwing each other, hitting the mat over and over again. Riley had told Dean that Judo translated from Japanese meant "gentle way." Gentle way, my ass, he thought to himself as he watched each athlete, forcefully and skillfully, throw their opponents to the ground. They worked on a few more throws before moving onto grappling, or mat work, which looked a lot like wrestling to Dean. A while later, the athletes moved to sit around the edges and watched as pairs of judo players moved to the center to spar.

The coach directed Riley and a guy her size to spar next. The faced each other in the center and bowed. The coach yelled "hajime" and the two began to fight. They had a hold of each other's gi's and were circling trying to get the right angle to execute a throw. Riley stepped toward him and to his left with her left foot then quickly hooked the guy's legs with hers, pulling them back toward her as she pushed his upper body forward. Knocking him off balance, they fell to the mat with Riley on top and positioning for a pin. Her opponent twisted beneath her and maneuvered himself into the top position.

Dean watched, entranced, as Riley fought with the tenacity and skill of a warrior. She somehow managed to get her left leg over his head and shoulders and while holding his right wrist, she pivoted her hips and flipped him onto his back. She was on her back lying perpendicular to him with her legs on top of him and his arm trapped between her legs and pulled toward her body. She lifted her hips slightly putting pressure on his elbow joint until he tapped her leg to signal his submission. Dean watched with admiration as the coach yelled "matte" to stop the fight and awarded Riley the victory. He couldn't get over how tough and confident she was on the mat.

Dean glanced at his watch as Riley returned to her seat on the mat. The digital numbers read 3:42pm. He cringed because he hadn't meant to stay so long. He caught Riley's eye and gave her a thumbs up before signaling he had to leave. She smiled and waved at him as he headed towards the door.

"Dude, I'm telling you, Riley totally kicked this guy's ass. It was sweet!" Dean told his brother with a grin.

"I like her Dean," Sam told him pointedly.

"Yeah, it's been nice having someone to hang out with while you're recuperating." Dean said nonchalantly—refusing to take the bait Sam was holding out.

"Yeah, sounds like you had a good day," Sam replied with a smile as he shifted restlessly in his hospital bed. "I wish I could have been there. All this laying around is getting old real fast," Sam said in a frustrated tone.

"I know little brother, but I need you at full strength if we're gonna find Dad and battle the collective forces of evil," Dean told him.

"Well, next time I'm gonna be the one to stay tied up in the store while you go outside with the trigger happy psychopaths," Sam said.

"You got it," Dean replied. His face softened. "Seriously Sammy, you gotta know I'd trade places with you in a heartbeat. I wish to God you hadn't gotten hurt."

"I know, Dean," Sam said gently, "but I'm ok. Everything turned out alright."

"This time," Dean said.

"Every time," Sam said firmly. "We just have to watch each other's backs like we always do and we'll handle whatever comes our way."

"Yeah," Dean said, nodding thoughtfully. "It's funny, with all the stuff we've seen and done and all the ghosts, monsters and demons we've tangled with, and it was a freakin' Quickie Mart robbery that almost took you out. We can make it through all the supernatural stuff in one piece but it's the real world crap that takes us by surprise."

"Yeah, you gotta love the irony of it," Sam said with a smile.

"I guess." Dean smiled and rolled his eyes.

Riley joined the boys at the hospital after work. She watched them eat the pizza she had brought them while she ate a container of yogurt and some carrot sticks. They relaxed and chatted for an hour before Riley and Dean left Sam to get some sleep. Riley fell asleep on the ride home and Dean nudged her awake when he pulled the Impala into her parking lot.

"Sorry to bore you," he said with a chuckle as Riley rubbed her eyes.

"No, sorry, it's been a long day," she said sleepily as they headed into her apartment. "I'm so ready for bed."

"Do you want company again?" he asked.

"Do you mind?" she asked.

"Mind?" he asked, grinning flirtatiously. But when he saw her blush uncomfortably, his tone softened. "Hey, I'm sorry. Of course I don't mind—especially if having me there helps you sleep better."

"It does, thanks," Riley said shyly. "I'm gonna go change."

"Yeah, me too," Dean replied. "I'll be there in a minute."

Dean turned off the lamp before climbing into bed beside Riley. She snuggled up against him and he put his arm around her.

"Sam looked a lot stronger today," she said quietly.

"Yeah, he's getting there." Dean replied, and a thoughtful silence stretched out between them. "Hey," Dean whispered awhile later.

"Yeah?" she whispered back.

"Thanks for today—for letting me into your world. I especially loved watching you fight."

"Yeah, it's always so much more impressive when I win," she said with a chuckle.

"It looked to me like you don't lose very often,"

"Well, I try my best to make losing a rare occurrence, but it does happen."

"Well, all I know is I was blown away. You kicked ass!"

"Thanks," she said shyly. "Hopefully I'll be able to do the same in Vegas next week."

"You will."

"What are you, psychic?" she asked teasingly.

"Nah," he replied as he thought, but my brother is. "G'night Riley."

"Good night Dean."

Please review!