Dean woke up to the dull ticking of a motel wall clock. It was one of those unfortunate crossbreeds, not quite a digital or an analogue. It ticked but glowed in the dark… amongst other things. Blinking to clear his eyes he saw that it was 2.15am, automatically he checked the room. In the bed beside him SAM was fast asleep seemingly peaceful. The sofa was made up as a bed and he realised that, at her own insistence, Sophie should be asleep on it. She wasn't.

'Damn.' He muttered climbing out of his own bed.

Outside the room the air was slightly chilled and orange-tainted from the streetlights. Glancing around Dean tried to work out where exactly the younger girl could have gone. There was a large dumpster pushed up against the wall of the building and on top of that there was a trash can laying on its side. Now suspicious, Dean pushed himself up with his hands Dean grappled onto the dumpster and then on to the motel roof.

Sophie was sat on the farther edge of the roof, starring blankly at nothing. Dean wasn't sure whether or not to disturb her but the same instinct that had dragged him out his bed and onto the roof, forced him forward. She was, he thought while watching her profile, good looking. In a way, a non-typical way. Shaking himself rid of such thoughts mostly, he walked towards her.

'Hey.' Sophie jumped. She hadn't heard Dean get onto the roof, let alone walk across it.

'Umm… Hey.'

'Enjoying the view?' Sophie decided there wasn't very much point in hoping he'd leave. Dean had settled at her side as if it was the most natural thing in the world.

'Just thinking.'

'About?' Dean asked the questioning, knowing the answer.

'The night my mother died…' Unsure as usual with him, Sophie continued: 'I just keep thinking there must have been something I could have done…'

'Don't.' Dean's voice was sharp and cut through her thoughts. 'Don't think like that. I've been doing it for the last twenty-three years of my life. There is nothing, nothing, you could have done.'

'You don't get it Dean.' Sophie's voice was soft and told Dean that she knew he was wrong. Not thought, knew. She was completely resigned.

'There was nothing you could have done to save your family.' Dean repeated.

'No. There was nothing you could do to save your mother, Dean. But you're proof that I could have saved Mary. I could have saved my sister, Dean. I know it.'

'You can't…'

'I can. Because you saved Sam.'

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A/N: I'm hoping there is a large gap between Provenance and Dead Man's Blood.

Like his brother, Sam woke to the noise of the clock. However instead of 2.15am it was 8am. Sam dragged himself out of the bed and into the shower. When he emerged he found Sophie sat cross-legged on the sofa eating cereal.

'Morning.' She said smiling. Sam grinned in response and then glanced around the room.

'Where's Dean?'

'Oh he went to get food. Look something up… dunno what. We were both up fairly early.'

Getting up early wasn't something Dean did regularly and Sam instinctively looked at Sophie. She ignored the pointed look. Sam made himself something to drink and thought carefully about what he was going to say.

'Erm… Sophie… Dean isn't…' he paused unsure about how to phrase what he needed to say. 'He isn't know for his… commitment…' Sam winced as he said it.

'Neither am I.' Sophie said smiling. 'We get on okay. You know, it's nice to know people you have stuff in common with.'

Sam nodded. But didn't say anything. Sophie finished her breakfast and stood up. He felt bad for what he'd said and opened his mouth to say something- anything…

'Sam- we didn't sleep together last night.' She disappeared into the bathroom and Sam was left feeling guiltier than ever.

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'Where are you going?' Asked Dean, who was lounging on his bed watching Sophie with slightly narrowed eyes.

'To a bar.' Sophie answered with a tense tone. She was dressed and sorting through her bag for lip-gloss.

'With a guy you met this afternoon?'

'You know, I was sure my dad was shorter… much darker hair…'

During this exchange Sam had remained quiet, watching his brother and his friend. He couldn't smile: if he did Dean would kill him. But the tension between the two was palpable. Jealousy, Sam decided.

'I'm going. Bye.' Sophie left the room quickly and pulled the door shut behind her with more than necessary force. It took Dean a lot of resolve to wait the three minutes that he did.

'Bye.'

'Dean? Where are you going?' Sam called after his brother.

'Out.' Dean slammed the door. Sam grabbed his book and smiled to himself.

His reading time lasted an hour and a half. Then Sophie slid through the door. She looked tired but otherwise fine. Flashing a smile at him she slipped away in silence. Considering this slightly odd Sam turned his attention back to his book after a few minutes. This time it lasted on ten minutes.

'Dean?'

'Yeah?'

'How come your back?'

'Bad bar. Nothing interesting.'

'Oh. Ok.' Sam decided not to mention that Sophie was back. It might be more interesting to see what happened.

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What happened was at 1.30am Dean finally gave up trying to play solitaire on his laptop. He sighed and lay back on his bed then stood up and wandered around the room. Then sat on the bed again. Sam, who had not been sleeping anyway, sat up and faced him.

'What?'

'What if something's attacked her?' Dean said bluntly and tried to add as much bluster as he could. As if she was an annoyance, rather than a concern.

'She's asleep Dean. She got back before you did.' Sam was far too tired not to tell him.

'What! You didn't think to mention it?'

'Why?' At this Dean suddenly stiffened. As if he'd realised something he threw himself on the bed, snapped of the light and appeared to sleep. A few moments later, in the dark, Sam saw him wander to Sophie's room and check on her. Then, he finally slept.