I'm miles from where you are,
I lay down on the cold ground
I, I pray that something picks me up
And sets me down in your warm arms
- "Set Fire To The Third Bar" by Snow Patrol
Condensation clouded the Impala's windows. Dean sighed and clicked the windshield wipers again. His ribs ached. Definitely broken. He planned to wrap them the best he could when they reached their hotel. But now he wanted to put as much distance between them and that place as possible. Claire's head rested against her window in the passenger seat. She had drifted into the deep sleep that followed a hard cry. Her body was all bunched up, curled against the door. Dean wondered absently how she could be comfortable in such a position.
The stars were bright. Not a cloud in sight. They twinkled as the highway rushed by. A haunting large moon, full, hung high in the sky.
The car was silent. Dean didn't play any music. He didn't plan to, right now. Sometimes music couldn't help. Rare, it was, but it happened.
"I do not understand your fascination with Led Zeppelin." Castiel sat stiffly at the motel's cheap desk, flipping through papers littered with Latin text.
"He's classic, man! It's all in the beat.."
The argument was an old one, between old friends. It could go on for hours, but both men could easily smile at the end. Often, Castiel started it purposely, a small twitch in his face being the only clue.
Dean swallowed and gripped the steering wheel tighter in his hand, trying his best to focus on the road.
The clock read 3:21 when Dean parked in the lot of a gas station. He filled up, then made sure to lock the doors of the Impala before walking inside. Claire didn't twitch.
Dean stood in front of the drink section, contemplating getting a bear. Well, fantasizing. He wasn't going to drink, not while driving and certainly not with a kid in the car. Instead he bought a medium sized coffee. The cashier looked half asleep, and she took his card, ringing him up without giving it a second glance. Good thing, too. Dean only had a few more days on that card, tops, before he was damned sure it would be tracked by the feds.
Dean took a sip while climbing back into his baby and made a face. Horrible coffee. Oh well, at least it would keep him up. Dean planned to drive for at least another hour and a half before finding a cheap place for the two of them to sleep. He glanced back up at the sky as he started the car. Stars twinkled back at him.