I'm sorry it's been awhile! I got caught up in GISHWHES and 1st birthdays and changing my course at Open University and going to the beach, then I was very tired. Actually, I'm still pretty tired.

Anyway, enjoy! (or don't, I'm not a dictator)

Disclaimer: Not my characters or universes, I just like to dress them up like little dolls and play with them. Though not the same games I used to play with dolls or this would be a lot sicker.

Sam looked over to the passenger seat where Dawn was bobbing around and singing along to some random pop song she'd found on the radio, the dried blood on the cuffs of her sleeves a surreal contrast to the exaggerated cheerful movements of her arms and hands. There was something decidedly off-putting about how quickly her terrified eyes and defensive posture had returned to that of a regular woman. "So, you seem to be feeling a lot better." He said casually.

Dawn shrugged, not breaking off her singing.

"You sure you're okay?" He fished for information.

She nodded and gave a small smile that betrayed her awareness of how odd she must seem. "Yeah. Tired, and my wrists hurt and I think I'm gonna need to pee soon, but hey. Just another day in the life of Dawn Summers; on the run from demons who want to kidnap her and use her blood to open the gates to hell. It's all getting a little old to be honest. I miss the good old days when monsters only wanted my blood because they skipped lunch while plotting to kill my sister."

Her statement became all the more awkward as the song finished on her last few words, leaving them in silence.

"So, were your parents in the hunting gig too?" Sam asked eventually.

"Nah, Mom was the closest either of them came, but even then it was more when things happened around her rather than looking for them. Usually vampires." Dawn answered easily, her fake cheerful tone doing nothing to hide the grief in her voice but getting the point across that it was not something she wanted to expand on. One big heart to heart moment was more than enough.

"My Dad was, right back from when I was a baby. In a way in made things easier, you know? Dean and I, we were born to this life pretty much, we didn't have to go from normal to exorcisms and beheadings. Well, Dean did a little, but I don't think he can remember much of before." Sam cleared his throat as no reply was forthcoming. "You wanna stop at the next place? I think there's a motel around here and no offence but you could really use a shower or something. Probably some sleep and access to a first aid kit, too."

Dawn rolled her eyes. "You don't smell too great yourself you know. That's what happens when you get high and have sex without taking a shower after. Kudos on the volume though, I barely heard you." She said it all without thinking, an automatic snarky response that just might alter the universe she was in forever.

Sam stiffened.

Dawn looked out of the window, taking deep breaths and trying to keep calm. Sam wouldn't hurt her unless he thought she was a threat. Or he was still too hopped up on demon blood to know what he was doing, but he seemed pretty lucid.

"I would, uh, appreciate it if you didn't mention my... Problem, to my brother." Sam said smoothly after a few moments, panic making his hands grip the wheel tighter. If she was dangerous like Ruby thought, then she wouldn't get the chance to tell Dean anything, but if she had just overheard the goings on in Ruby's room and not known anything about it before then, then he was going to have to convince her that silence was the best policy.

Dawn nodded, not looking at him.

After another hour or so of driving they reached the motel Sam had suggested and got a twin bed room. Dawn was a little self-conscious about sharing a room with a guy she didn't know outside of a TV show but at least it didn't look like he was going to be sleeping. If that could be counted as a good thing and not something that was worrying and a little creepy.

Dawn hopped into the bathroom, taking her clothes with her so that she could at least get them semi-clean and dry them over the heater. The blood stains were a loss with just water and hand soap, but the grime of wearing the same clothes for three or four days without even changing at night for the latter ones should mostly come out.

Sam waited for the sound of running water before fishing his phone out. He called Ruby first; much more risky if Dawn overheard anything.

"Sam?"

"Yeah. Listen, I found Dawn. She's just in the bathroom." He fidgeted. "I'm gonna hang out with her for a few days, try to figure out what she knows."

Ruby's sigh sounded tinny over the phone and lost some of its effect. "Just don't let your guard down, okay? And don't tell the god squad about her. Not telling what they'd do with her if she knows stuff."

The rest of the short conversation revolved around when he would next need Ruby's blood. It made him feel a little queasy but over excited at the same time, so he gave himself a few minutes to breathe before calling Dean. He got the busy tone. All for the best really as Dawn turned the water off not much longer after that and he had no idea what he was going to tell his brother anyway. Sorry, I ran off with the key 'cause my demon girlfriend kidnapped her and says she knows too much. I'll call back in a few days if I haven't killed her or she hasn't killed me. That would go down well.

He'd call later.

"Better?" Sam asked when Dawn exited the bathroom a few minutes later, wrapped in a large towel and looking a lot younger than she was from exhaustion.

She gave a small, tired smile and nodded, heading for one of the beds. She didn't lie down to sleep straight away though; too many half formed thoughts chasing each other around her head and making it impossible to relax. Instead she turned on the news, lying back and listening to the boring voice of the presenter as he reported a flood in some country her high school geology had failed to fix in her mind, a stabbing a few miles away, a couple of freak weather conditions worldwide that had scientists flustered. The droning, monotonous tone filled her head until it felt like concrete and she needed to slump further down into the bed to let it be supported by slightly lumpy pillows.

Sam didn't sleep. He carried on watching the news that Dawn had put on, switching channels to find another news show when it ended. So much going on, so many demonic and some angelic omens that only the wackiest of religious nut jobs could see for what they were. So much death that would only multiply a thousand, no, a million fold if Lucifer got out.

But he wasn't going to. Between them, Sam, Ruby and Dean would stop it. No matter what the cost. No matter if he had to drink demon blood every day for months, no matter if his relationship with his brother grew strained. Family wouldn't mean all that much if the devil got out. He repeated it to himself until the urge to call Dean again passed.

Later. Once he knew what he was going to say.