Author's Note: It's been a while since I updated and I'm so so so sorry. Hope you guys are still enjoying this and hopefully I've passed my bit of writers block.. The beginning I find is a little rough and I'm not too happy with it, grahhhh, anywho here it is, just for you guys. Enjoy and as always review :D Oh and I'd like to thank Ty3 whose comment in her review inspired a short moment in this chappie and hun, I'm still reading your story I'm a few chapters behind but I'm trying to catch up, so keep it up. Love it! Anyway, on with the show!

Disclaimer: Me? Own Supernatural? Ha, ya right.

Crash Course

By: Babyhilts

Chapter 9:

Been Dazed and Confused for so long it's not true.
Wanted a woman, never bargained for you.
Lots of people talk and few of them know,
soul of a woman was created below.Led Zeppelin

Sleep was wrapping about me like a warm blanket and were it not for the bumbling voice of Dean Winchester humming above me then I'd have given into it. The cold had cut through right to my bones, I didn't think it was possible to be that cold, but then again, I was now living proof that one could. Zeppelin sung their rock classic through the speakers of the old Chevy, while Dean mimicked their tone and mumbled a few lyrics as backup. He held his arms protectively about my waist, pulling my shivering form closer towards him. One arm never left, the other wandered now and then along the length of my right shoulder, running his hand vigorously against the wool. It scratched and at times when I was almost unconscious it hurt but I never told him to stop and I never complained. I just lay there, teeth chattering and mind reeling.

The impala sped down the empty back roads that marked the town of Stull. In quick flashes of shadowed trees and darkened houses did the small burg pass us by. Sam never released his foot from the accelerator. His eyes wandered once towards the rearview mirror but they were empty, thoughtful perhaps. Dean had caught the look. I felt his body shift and he pulled me closer. Zeppelin rose another octave and the car jumped as the tires hit a dip in the road.

A sickness was creeping into the pit of my stomach. I clutched the edge of the blanket weakly between my hands. There was a slight pressure on my shoulder. I tried to look back. Hurriedly my eyes tried to scan the space behind me. My head jerked backwards and came into contact with Dean's chin. I grimaced at the sound of his teeth clamping loudly together.

"Whoa, easy tiger. Just relax, huh."

There was movement from the driver's seat. The impala took a sharp turn and I clung desperately to Dean. A whispered curse reached my ears. Things grew hazy for a moment. Warmth and silence settled in, chasing away the cold and then Dean shook me.

"What's wrong Dean?" Sam called out from the front.

"Besides your driving?"

"Ha ha, very funny."

"Nothing is wrong Sammy, you just keep your foot on the gas." Things grew quiet a moment and Dean lowered his head and whispered gently in my ear "You still cold?"

That was the understatement of the year. Could he not feel my entire body trembling in his arms? Or did he think it was the normal reaction for every girl who came into contact with Dean Winchester?

"Freezing" I bit out. Dean nodded and continued to try and generate heat in my arm.

Although there was this dense fog that had crept into my head since leaving the cemetery, which I attributed mainly to the cold, I couldn't help but let my mind continue to race with questions. After all the time I'd spent lying and hiding my true self from the Winchester's here I was, riding back to Lawrence, about to spill my guts about everything. Suddenly, the whole, being honest thing wasn't looking so easy anymore. I mean how do you explain to two men that 'Hey, I've been following your life on Tv for the past year and well, I've had dreams about you before you met me and I've taped like every hunt since you collected Sam at Stanford and have watch each one five times over.' I know what the response would be. 'Leah appears to be cuckoo fro coa-coa puffs lets ship her to the padded cell.'

The Chevy slowed down and the vehicle inched it's way into a turn. The familiar crunch of gravel beneath the tires soon ensued and Dean was ripping the wool blanket off of me. The cold hit me like whiplash. I bit back a groaned and slammed my eyes shut. Water still ran down in rivulets along my legs from where it had absorbed into the white fabric of my new dress. I moved my toes inside the Suede boots. They were numb. A squish, squish sound filled the impala when I struggled to bring them back to life. I wanted to move, to sit up and figure out why the car was no longer moving, but I felt powerless and drained. A minute ago I could have kept an intelligent conversation but that was a minute earlier and I didn't trust the strength of my voice.

Dean lifted my body off his chest. I rose into a seated position with his hand pressed firmly against the small of my back to steady me. Sam turned the ignition over and Zeppelin faded into the night. The last of the heat died out. I shuddered and felt the uncomfortable torture of never finding warmth creeping in fast. The driver's door opened, a rush of air entered and Sam was gone too. I gasped and tried to fall back into the seat where I knew some of the body heat Dean and I had formed still resided.

"Come on Leah, were home." I felt him fiddling behind me but I wasn't sure with what. I didn't bother to try and keep my weight off him, I was too tired, too cold, too scared to care about anything. I let my body sag backwards. Dean huffed and pushed me forward a bit more. "Leah, help a guy out, huh?"

"I can't…"

"Don't." His voice was firm and he roughly pushed me forward and off his chest. The steadying hand disappeared. It felt even colder. "I can't take a chick flick moment right now."

I smirked and through chattering teeth responded. "Is that what this is?"

Dean looked back. Through the darkness I could see the outline of disheveled hair and broad shoulders. I saw him still in his movements and turn back to me. "You tell me."

I faltered. "I… don't know."

"Well I do" he grabbed something from off the impala's floor and pushed the back door open. A head of shaggy hair and an awkwardly long frame appeared in the doorway. Dean laughed harshly "here's the queen of chick flick moments."

"Dean…"

"Sam take this, it's Leah's change of clothes. I got a handle of things. Go, get Missouri."

Sam disappeared, plastic bag in his hands. The cold was seeping into the car and I wanted nothing more than to pull away and hide underneath the wool blanket with Dean holding me. As if it took a near death experience for the guy to lighten up. That and a set of heels.

"White definitely wasn't a good choice" Dean smirked, his face inches away from my own. I turned towards him, taking in a deep breath, breathing in the smell that was Dean Winchester. I looked down at the dress and through the bit of light that emanated from a nearby lamppost I caught the familiar color of my black panties. I looked closer and there was the matching bra and my skin shone through the translucent fabric in a light, pink tint. Now, I was feeling a bit warmer. "Don't worry. Black looks good on you."

I glared at the hunter but there was barely any emotion behind it, I just didn't care. What done was done, I just wanted the moment to end and to disappear into the house. Dean's hands wandered forward and he tugged at the hem of my dress. I pulled back, surprised that my body responded.

"Easy," I quieted and watched as the bit of dress that had rose nearly to my hip was pulled back at an appropriate length. "Thought I'd save us both another peep show."

"Thanks."

Dean nodded. "Come on, let's get you inside. I'm sure Sam's got Missouri in a twist by now, so it should be exciting."

I felt his arms slid beneath my back and behind my knees as he lifted me off the upholstery and out of the car. I shivered and instinctively threw my arms about his neck. The moment I did so, I tensed. Dean shut the back door and laughed.

"I'm not that bad am I?"

"I don't know, you tell me?"

We made our way up the driveway. I slid around in his grasp and when I did, Dean only tightened the hold he had on me.

"You really gotta stop doing that" he was saying.

"Stop doing what?"

"Trying to out smartass me. It can really bruise a man's ego."

"Well, I'll try to keep that in mind next time I'm around a man."

"Here I am, pulling a real life knight in shining armor moment that most chicks would die for and you can't even go easy on me for one moment."

I laughed. "The knight in shining armor never rescued the damsel with a shotgun filled with rocksalt and he sure as hell never rode off into the sunset with her in his Chevy Impala with Zeppelin playing."

"I'm the new and improved model."

I went to force out another remark when the sound of heavy footsteps broke through my reverie. I twisted in Dean's arms but found it difficult as he never loosened his grip. A long stream of light attacked my eyes. I held them close. Dean's leather boots thumped against a set of stairs and I knew we were on the porch.

"Dean Winchester, you stop running your mouth off and get that poor girl inside right this minute."

Dean tensed slightly and muttered something about always being blamed for everything as we stepped across the porch. Missouri, I assumed moved in behind us and as we entered the house shut the door behind herself.

"Don't you sass me boy." We paused. "What are you doing? Get her out of those clothes and into something warm. I'll draw a bath. Well, what are you waiting for? Go."

Dean moved before he could be told again. We went up the stairs and were halfway down the hall when I asked to be let down. I was feeling a bit better now that we were home and safe inside the house. Dean hesitated a moment but reluctantly set me on my feet. I swayed a moment. I propped myself against the wall, ignoring the look the older Winchester gave me.

"I don't want you changing me" I grounded out. Dean smirked.

"You sure? I think it could be fun."

"That's your lower brain thinking then."

Cautiously I made my way into the bedroom. Dean stopped me mid step.

"I said, I could change myself Winchester…" I turned around and caught that worried look on Dean's face again. He didn't say anything for a moment, just held my gaze. There was a foots distance between us and in one swift movement, he filled that space. My breath hitched and my chest tightened. I played with the wet fabric of my dress. Dean must have noticed my wandering fingers because he soon had them in his hands, keeping them still. I smirked and looked up. He wasn't smirking.

"I thought you didn't want any chick flick moments"

He shook his head. "I'm just holding your hands."

"Why?" I whispered. Dean smiled.

"I don't know?"

"Dean…"

"Look, what happened tonight…back at the restaurant and at the cemetery, whatever that was…I'm…"

"Don't. Not now."

I hated myself, but I tugged my hands out of his. I couldn't handle Dean trying to apologize and that's exactly what I assumed he was doing. Not after all the cold shoulders he'd given me, I couldn't take the sudden kindness, the kindness he shared with his brother. He was getting soft because of the accident and only because of the accident and I couldn't let myself get sucked into that too. Not with all that was happening, I was already too dysfunctional since crashing the Jetta, that forming a bond with Dean would just put the rest of my mind out of whack. Besides, in another minute when he found out everything I'd been keeping secret, I was sure we'd just be back right where we started. Cold shoulders and sarcastic remarks.

"Don't what?"

Why couldn't he leave this alone? I just wanted to get a change of clothes and spill my guts, then just be left alone.

"Don't do what I know you were going to do."

"What was I going to do?"

I shook my head. "I'm going to get changed. When I get out we can talk about what I mentioned earlier at the cemetery."

"Maybe you should relax first. It can wait till morning…"

"No it can't Dean. Not anymore."

I drifted into the spare room where Sam had taken my bag of clothes the day before. The door closed quietly behind me and I felt relief wash through my worn down body. Dean was getting to be a handful. One minute he was Mr. Bi-polar and couldn't trust me at all and then suddenly I almost drown and he can't help but want to make sure I'm okay. I was glad that he was letting his guards down but it wasn't because he had learnt to trust me, it was because he was putting the blame on himself. I could sense it in the apology. It wasn't his fault. I'd been the idiot who ran out to the cemetery. Not him. I had refused to go in the daylight, with two skilled hunters.

I ran over to the bed and took a seat on the soft mattress. I let my eyes wander over the items in the room. There was a torn and beaten black duffel bag sitting in the far corner. A shirt I was familiar with Dean wearing hung out the top and I realized I was in his room. My own set of bags sat beside his. The baggy sweatpants looked unbelievably comfortable at the moment as did the cheap tops I'd bought a few days earlier.

Combing a hand through my wet hair I got up in a rush to collect the items. I must have moved faster than I thought. The room spun around me. I staggered forward and grabbed out at the bedside table. The lamp, the only lighting in the room at the moment, wobbled uneasily on the wooden surface. I breathed out a sigh of relief as the feeling of vertigo dissipated.

Slowly and cautiously, I straightened myself from the protective hunch that I'd fallen in and inched my way towards the bags. I searched through until I found the grey sweats and a loose fitting t-shirt. I piled them into the crook of my arm and scrounged around for some undergarments before heading back towards the bed. I'd taken a little more than two steps when the vertigo came again. Full force, it knocked me off balance and I stumbled backwards. I caught my footing and gasped. A tightening commenced in my chest. I started off bad and only got worse the longer I stayed still. I waited for it to pass, but it didn't. A minute passed but it felt like forever, just one, agonizingly stretched out moment in time. A pain erupted in the back of my head. I tried to scream out, for help, for Dean, but all that came was a whimper. The tightening increased suddenly and again I lost my balance. The room spun. The walls were tilting, crashing down onto the floor, while the ceiling turned upside down. I couldn't breathe through the constriction in my chest and I panicked just as I had done outside the restaurant the day Dean helped me to knock over my orange juice. I sucked in hurried breaths and stumbled backwards. My calves and butt fell into the front of the bedside table. The lamp was jolted too hard and as I stumbled forward, it rolled of the table and hit the carpet, the bulb shattering on impact. The room fell into darkness. I continued to stumble forward. In an attempt to stop myself, I felt my feet and ankles intertwine and I unintentionally tripped myself.

"Leah!"

I heard my voice shouted but didn't stay conscious long enough to know who had said it. The door to the room opened and I felt myself falling into darkness.

The darkness didn't seem to last very long. I struggled to open my eyes and forced myself to sit up. I searched around me for whoever had called out my name just before everything went black, but no one was there. I was alone.

I got to my feet and was taken aback with fear. I wasn't even in the same room, I wasn't in Kansas anymore. Where was Sam? Where was Dean? I rushed forward, out of the empty room. I staggered into a white hallway. Just white. No chairs or carpet, just white everywhere, there weren't any doors or windows. I turned to go back to where I'd woken up, but when I did the room wasn't there. I was alone.

I wrapped my arms protectively about my chest, shivering through the cold that still lingered inside my body. I paced the hallway for a few minutes, searching like a wild animal for a way out. I felt like I was being watched the entire time and it unnerved me even more. This wasn't right. How had I gotten here so fast?

A rush of cold air shot past my face. I turned on my heel towards the opposite end of the hall. There was no end anymore but a gaping doorway with light at the end. It felt very cliché to say the least and I half expected Grandma Carlson standing at the end telling me to 'step into the light' but it never happened. I wasn't sure going into the light would be my best option but at the moment it looked as though it was my only one.

I ventured forward, my boots echoing their walk down the empty hall. I reached the doorway with a surge of apprehension and entered. I was in the hospital room once again, the monitors beeping and the IV sticking out of my arm. I was staring down at my unconscious form draped in that tacky white and blue polka dotted hospital gown. I went around the side of the bed and hovered over my body. I was getting used to seeing myself like this but something wasn't right. How long had I been unconscious like this? The doctor had told Caitlyn that I'd be okay. Maybe a bit of brain damage or memory loss, but okay just the same. Okay as in I'd live. Why was I still on life support? There were tubes stuck down my throat and the machine pumping air into my lungs. I should be off it by now. Why wasn't I?

Suddenly, I felt myself blown back. My body shifted through the medical machines they had me hooked up and I hit the wall with a solid thud. I slid to the floor, the air knocked from my lungs. Sucking in oxygen desperately, I heard a disturbing sound from my bed. When I looked up I heard gasping and saw my unconscious body struggling beneath the binding sheets. My body nearly lifted itself off the bed, while my head thrashed from side to side. Stumbling to my feet I got a closer look and realized with horror that something was screwing around with me. The tubes stuck in my throat were being jerked around. I could see myself trying and failing to breath without the machine, while at the same time I choked on the medical equipment. The tubes sticking outside moved around by some unseen force. I moved forward to help save the real me when I was thrown back once again. I cried out as my back hit the wall. When I looked up I noticed a dark shadow standing over me. My first guess was a reaper, but what kind of reaper maliciously pulls someone off life support.

I stood once again and the shadow turned on me. Glowing, yellow eyes started at me. I felt myself frozen in place and watched helplessly as the monster viciously tore the tubes from my throat. I stood there and watched my body trying to hold onto life, while at the same time I felt a burning of pain deep within my own throat.

The shadow stared at me from across the room. The door to the room was thrown open and a doctor escorted by two nurses flanked my thrashing form on the bed. The shadow smirked and stepped towards me, unnoticed by the medical staff. He took a stance in front of me, the smell of sulfur was suffocating. The eyes burning.

"Stop meddling with the Winchesters. They die at Stull. Or you." He turned and directed my attention to the bed where the doctors were trying to save me. "You die here."

In an instant that room cut out of focus. I realized the shadow has disappeared and I could vaguely make out the doctors and my bed before I was thrown back into darkness once more. It was a rush of darkness that I couldn't see through. I wasn't sure if my eyes were open or closed and I had to blink rapidly to know that I was still conscious. Then there was this wetness and a sudden feeling of warmth. I stilled a moment and felt the warm water slowly rising up the length of my body, when it reached my neck I panicked and struggled to get out. I was drowning again. It was all I could process. I kicked and moaned and through the darkness tried to prevent my head from going under. But, I wasn't going under.

"Leah…come on now…"

I heard myself moan but didn't realize I'd done it. There was a painful light cutting through my dark abyss. I squinted through it and heard a voice calling out to me again. As the light grew brighter, the voice grew louder and more clear.

"That's it. Open those baby blues."

My eyes fluttered and the first thing that appeared in my focus was Dean Winchester, his hands gripping my shoulders. I cleared the fog from my head and caught the worry in his eyes. When I looked down I was surprised to find myself in Missouri's bathtub, still in my white dress, submerged beneath the warm water. My teeth chattered noisily as I went to speak.

"What happened?"

"You tell me. I knew I should have helped you change" he forced a cocky grin but I didn't soothe me. "Relax, you're okay now. I found you on the floor, shivering and scooped you up and brought you in here. It might have been a bit of delayed shock from the cold. The water should clear it up some."

"Dean, it wasn't the cold."

"Don't tell me you tripped over yourself."

"Dean, I…" but I couldn't finish. I didn't know how to tell him what I saw. What had happened? I had to see Missouri, she could help. She'd know what to do and then I could explain it to the boys.

The door to the bathroom opened cautiously and I strained my neck to catch Sam standing in the doorway. He blushed and took a step forward.

"Am I interrupting something?"

"Just giving Leah a bath" I rolled my eyes.

"Well, hurry it up. Missouri's a bit worried about you" Sam said pointing at me. "She says she's got something to tell you, so when you two are done, come downstairs."

"Okay, give us another twenty minutes."

"No" I shouted "were finished."

Sam laughed and closed the door.

"You okay?" Dean turned to me. I nodded.

"I'll be fine…"

"I know you'll be fine, but are you okay, is what I'm asking."

I hit him in the shoulder. "Chick flick" I moaned and struggled to my feet.

Dean helped me out of the tub and into a towel that was sitting nearby. Together we left the bathroom and made our way back towards the spare room where I'd left my clothes. I wasn't sure talking to Missouri would calm my nerves anymore tonight, as they were frazzled enough as it was but I knew I had to. I couldn't help thinking about it as Dean led me into the room and I got changed. I made certain to bypass the broken glass from the lamp and when I did I reminded myself of what the dark figure had said to me in the hospital room.

"Stop meddling with the Winchesters. They die at Stull. Or you die here."

I shivered involuntarily and hugged my arms around my chest. This wasn't going to get any better, was it?