A/N: Sorry it took a while to get this chapter up, but I was stuck for a bit. Hope you enjoy :)
But It's A Weight Above Me:
Now that Jimmy Medina was dead, Sam decided that Toni's research could be discarded and he worked at bundling it up first. On their way to Mississippi, Sam had started to look over all of the information that Toni had gathered, but he had been so intrigued by the story of Jimmy Medina that he hadn't ventured past his Missing Person's file. This made finding a case file with details of deaths from Mobile, AL somewhat unsettling.
In this folder, he found information about five women who had been murdered in the span of three nights with no suspects or witnesses. After reading over a couple of articles from the 'Press-Register', Sam whipped around to face Toni, but stopped himself just before he shouted out his questions to the sleeping woman.
No, wait until morning, he told himself. Instead of starting his interrogation, Sam pulled out a pen and started to write down his list of questions so that he would have them on hand when Toni woke up.
He continued looking over everything in her folders and pulled up the website for the 'Press-Register' to look for any recent articles about any animal attacks that may have happened in the last week. When his searches, using a wide variety of combinations of key words, turned up nothing, Sam typed up a quick email to Toby. He outlined (as delicately as possible) the details about their theories regarding Valerie Stowe and Jimmy Medina's reasons for turning in an effort to guide his nephew to a path to find this werewolf.
While he waited for Toby's reply and for Toni to wake up, Sam shifted his attention to other cases that he had been working on prior to meeting up with her. There was never a shortage of ghosts, ghouls and goblins out there for him and Dean to hunt down, so he used this time to organize the wealth of information he had gathered. He wanted to be absolutely certain that he and Dean would have a project to head out to as soon as they reconnected.
Toni woke up laying facedown still completely naked with a satisfied grin on her face. Her activities with Sam from the night before were still fresh in her memory, so she reached over to his side of the bed to pull herself closer to him before she opened her eyes. When her palm hit nothing but the comforter and bed-sheets, Toni opened her eyes and frowned when she confirmed that she was in fact alone on the bed.
She silently rolled onto her side and smiled at seeing Sam seated at the table with his back to the bed. Toni was mildly annoyed when she noticed that he had dressed because one of her favorite thing to do was to find new way of exciting Sam's body awake when she had woken up beside him. Since they had been apart for so long, Toni had looked forward to using some of her old tricks on him before moving onto some new ones that she had learned.
Without alerting him to the fact that she was now awake, Toni snuck up behind Sam and wrapped her arms around his neck before kissing his cheek.
"I don't remember giving you permission to put on clothes there soldier," she teased as she rested her chin on his shoulder to read what he had up on his laptop.
His unwavering attention remained on his notes as he flatly replied, "Well it would feel pretty inappropriate to be researching in my birthday suit."
When Sam's focus remained steadfast on his work, Toni scowled. She still wanted to celebrate after killing that murderous beast and couldn't believe he had shifted his focus already. She leaned in and gently nipped his earlobe then as she kissed his temple and along his cheek and jawline, she maneuvered herself around until she was seated straddling his lap. Sam shifted slightly so that he could finish reading the article on the screen of his computer as Toni tried to work her magic with her mouth on his cheeks and neck.
"Sam… Stop… Reading…" She instructed between kisses as she tried to find his hands to wrap them around her naked torso.
He let his right hand wander up to her left shoulder and he rubbed soft circles over it. "Toni… Toni… Toni…" He protested with a little more force on each word until she stopped trying to divert his attention by kissing him and sat up straight.
She crossed her arms over her chest, looked down at him with an annoyed pout and Sam sternly asked, "Why didn't you tell me that there was another werewolf in Alabama?"
Toni rolled her eyes, half turned her body to close his laptop and replied dismissively, "Oh that? Don't worry about that Sam, we took care of it." She held his face to kiss his lips and then tried to find the spot she thought that she remembered was his 'sweet spot' on his neck by working over his exposed flesh with her lips, teeth and tongue.
"Toni… Come on… I'm serious. I read those articles you found," he continued as he held her shoulders and gently pushed her back. "Now if there's another one out there, we need to find it."
Seeing the thoroughly pissed off look on Sam's face caused Toni to finally admit defeat… For now. So she stood up and walked over to her briefcase. Sam finally took the opportunity her lack of clothing afforded and drank in the image of her near perfect figure. She had a few prominent scars on her back, thighs and arms that hadn't been there when they were together at Stanford and to him they enhanced her undeniable beauty. Toni thought that scars freaked guys out, but for Sam there was nothing sexier than a woman that could take care of herself in any type of altercation.
Toni plucked out a manila file folder form her briefcase, intentionally lingering while she was bent over so that Sam could have a great view of her body. Then she sashayed back to him and once again straddled his lap. In a soft, sultry voice as she passed the file to him, she explained, "Like I said, we took care of it. Jimmy and Michelle were in Mobile when the attacks started and were gone when they stopped…" Sam claimed the paper work and Toni again nipped at his neck between her words. "Michelle confirmed it and the M.O. was the exact same as the attacks here in Osyka…"
"Huh… Yeah that looks about right," Sam begrudgingly conceded.
Toni sat back and smirked smugly while taking the folder back and dropped it to the floor. "And let me guess… No new animal attacks since the last one I noted?"
Sam shook his head silently. Toni slipped her hand through the slit of Sam's boxers and her smirked morphed into a devilish grin. "Did I mention that Michelle also told me that four out of the five victims either attended or worked at the same conference Jimmy was in town for?"
She watched Sam's Adam's apple bob as he swallowed a moan so he could gasp out a, "No."
"So… Trust me? No more big bad wolf for us to hunt?" Toni whispered into his ear as she worked her hand up and down his length.
"And the fifth," Sam questioned breathlessly.
Toni placed a fairly forceful kiss on his lips then replied against them, "Housekeeping staff… At their hotel…"
At that, Sam gripped the back of her head and pushed her mouth flush with his own. Toni gasped with surprise that he was finally joining in before relaxing into the embrace. With his other hand, Sam ceased the motion of her nimble fist in his shorts in order to ensure that he could last a full round and then tapped her buttocks to encourage her to lift up so that he could remove his boxers. She stood and watched as he shimmied out of them, then she tugged on the hem of his shirt and pulled it off his torso. Once his nakedness matched her own, she licked her lips then quirked an approving eyebrow without moving.
"Get over here," Sam commanded in a lust filled tone, pulling her back towards him.
Toni shrieked joyfully as he pulled her onto his lap and she immediately helped him to penetrate her as she made herself comfortable there. She couldn't have kept quiet if she had want to as they both climaxed at roughly the same time. Sam held her close while they came down from their high. While she was still totally lost in a blissful daze, he carried Toni back to the bed.
He laid down with her and she cuddled into his side like she always had in the past. "Guess you weren't kidding when you said that I had lost my privilege of being on top."
Toni snorted in a laugh and lightly slapped his chest before responding, "Sam! It would have been mighty uncomfortable the other way around!"
Sam chuckled a little bit louder then too and kissed the top of her head before settling back on his pillow. He could feel her warm breath on his chest but his thoughts quickly wandered back to the strange disappearances he had read about in Illinois.
She felt his pecks clench, indicating he was deep in thought and she knew there was something serious on his mind. She sighed and asked, "So? What are you wondering now?"
He pulled her close and questioned with a chuckle, "What?"
Toni pushed up off his chest, so she could look down at him and clarified, "There's something else on your mind… I've told you everything about the werewolves, so what else is going on in that head of yours?"
"Oh… Umm… Sorry. I was just thinking about another case that I found in Limestone, Illinois," he responded honestly. He knew that his companion would appreciate that he wasn't trying to hide anything from her.
"Damn… So we really do have to join the real world today? We can't just stay naked in bed for the next twenty four hours?" She retorted without any force before pecking his lips and then she rested her chin on her hands that were folded on his chest. "So… How far into Iowa is Dean's family?"
"Pretty close to the Wisconsin and Illinois borders… Why do you ask?"
"Just trying to figure out the easiest place for me to drop you off to meet Dean, so that you guys can take care of this new case," Toni answered in a tone that would sound 'strangely civil' to anyone that didn't truly know her.
Sam pulled her down into a tight embrace, kissed her forehead and laughed softly saying, "How did I forget all of this about you?"
Toni relaxed onto his chest and deeper into his embrace as she responded in a humorous tone, "I don't know because I'm awesome, right? How could anyone forget me?"
She leaned in and blew a raspberry against his collarbone because she couldn't think of any other way to detach herself from the desire to cling to him right now. He laughed and allowed her to roll away, but he still groaned softly when she got off the bed.
"I'm gonna hop in the shower so you can call Dean and give him the good news that you'll be seeing each other soon," Toni said as she walked towards the open door of the bathroom.
Sam was still smiling and shaking his head when he threw on his boxers and t-shirt once again. Then he searched through the mound of wet clothes and towels for his phone. Before Sam could get overly frustrated at the difficultly he was having in finding his cell, it mercifully started to ring.
"Hello? Oh… Hey Samuel… Yeah, actually I found that too… Umm… Probably the day after tomorrow… No, I've been working a case in Mississippi. Yeah. No, don't worry, I'm all over it."
He had barely hung up after speaking with his grandfather when he scrolled down to the number he had originally meant to call.
"Hey Toby, is Dean around? Oh… Yeah… Uh huh… Yeah, me too… Whoa, okay… You've gotta slow down there, I haven't had any coffee yet so I can't…"
"Sam! Is there a dry towel in this place?" Toni called out from the now open bathroom door. She hadn't noticed that Sam was on the phone and really hadn't meant to be rude with her off color commentary as she continued. "Not that I mind walking around naked or anything."
"Umm… Uhh… That would be Toni… Yeah, that's her. Just ask Dean to call me when he gets back, okay?" Sam explained while shooting her a mildly exasperated look.
"Oh shit! Sorry, I didn't know you were on the phone," Toni apologized plucking her beach towel off the bed to dry herself off.
Sam smiled and shook his head as he watched her towel dry herself and dress as if he wasn't even there. Toni was a woman who was confident in her own skin and she moved with an ease that proved that fact without ever appearing cocky. Sam had noticed this trait back when they first met. In fact, it was the primary thing that attracted him to her the most and he was happy that it was something that still hadn't changed over the years.
After dressing, Toni pulled her hair into a tight bun and asked, "So? Did you and Dean decide on a place to meet?"
Sam slipped out a change of clothes and picked up a towel from the top of the pile before answering, "No, he wasn't home. After I've showered, I'll try to figure something out."
While he was taking his turn in the washroom, Toni started to pack. She shook out all of the towels from the floor and tossed them onto the unmade bed. She then crudely folded her towel and blanket and placed them into her nearly over stuffed laundry bag before turning her attention to her research.
Sam re-entered the room fully dressed and tossed his wet towel onto the pile Toni had created on the bed. He did a quick survey of the room as he packed his sleepwear into his duffel and smiled to himself because Toni had cleaned up all of his medical supplies and appeared to have everything ready to go. She left out a couple of notebooks along with Sam's laptop, but the rest of her research had been put away. He chuckled that this time it was his turn to sneak up on her while she was engrossed in whatever was on the screen of his laptop.
"So, I was thinking that we could meet Dean just outside of La Salle, Illinois," Toni stated just before Sam was able to wrap his arms around her neck. "That way I can continue on the Interstate so I don't have to stray too far off my route to Madison."
She turned her head and kissed his cheek then softly said, "Sorry, I heard you toss your towel onto the bed."
Sam laughed softly then sat down beside her replying, "Actually I think that's kind of a deal breaker."
Toni's eyes snapped away from the computer screen to Sam's face while he put his fist out to pass her something. "Yeah, I think I'm going to have to ask you for a divorce."
She let out a soft, relieved sigh before she allowed herself to share in his soft laughter. As she reclaimed the wedding band, she half-heartedly joked, "Alright… But you get custody of the children."
Sam watched as Toni slowly removed her ring set and almost hesitantly put them all into their box. She stared at them for a moment before closing the lid and turned her attention back to Sam. He thought that he could see sadness in her eyes, but then she smiled brightly and he realized that he really had no idea what was going on in her mind (Not that it really mattered at the end of the day.)
"So if we share driving duties… Umm… We should be able to get there later tonight… Uhh… If we… You know, don't stop anywhere… Uhh… for too long or anything… You know, so that you can take care of… Umm… Whatever it is that you found in Illinois," Toni reluctantly explained.
With a gentle nod, Sam shut his laptop and placed it in his bag. "Sounds like a plan."
He got up and started bundling all of his bags together without noticing the look on Toni's face. She remained seated at the table starting at the black jewelry box in her hands. He still had his back to her when Sam brought her out of her thoughts asking, "And Madison? Is that where the Colonel is living now?"
"Huh? Oh… Yeah, yeah it is. I figure that I'll take some down time while the shoulder heals with him. I might even work a bit to save up some money before head out anywhere else," she replied with a smile.
Before she could continue or elaborate, Sam's phone rang. He quickly pulled it out then told his brother about Samuel's call and about the job that they had found. It didn't seem like it took too much more to convince Dean to meet him in Illinois. Toni tried her best to keep form eavesdropping, so she decided to load everything into her truck while the Winchester brothers caught up.
"Yeah… I'll call you when we get closer to there. Okay, yeah see ya later."
Toni stayed just outside of their room's door while she waited for Sam to finish his call to ensure that he would have some privacy. He turned towards the table, but closed his mouth and kept from speaking when he realized that Toni wasn't waiting for him there.
"I packed everything up in the truck… did you want to take the first shift driving?" She offered at the door holding her keys out in her hand.
Sam retrieved his laptop bag and stood beside the table while he gave the room a final once over before moving to meet her at the door. Toni wanted to snap at him that when she said she packed 'everything' in the truck, that mean 'everything', but she didn't want to argue with Sam on their last together. So instead she held her tongue and let him go through his regular routine just as he had allowed her to do with her own.
At the door, he held her hand that was holding the keys and asked, "Are you sure? I mean, you've already gone a full day without driving…"
Toni kept her eyes trained on their hands and swallowed hard before attempt to lightheartedly reply, "Yeah, I'm sure. Just consider it part of the divorce settlement." She finally looked up into his eyes to continue, "And a 'Thank you' for helping me. I… I know that I wouldn't have been able to have finished this job without you. You know… Valerie would have…"
Sam squeezed her hand and interrupted saying, "Or you can look at it this way; you probably wouldn't have been attacked in the first place if it wasn't for me."
She gave it a few seconds of thoughtful contemplation before responding in a firm tone, "No… I like it much better with you in the picture, messed up stitches and everything… So, are we ready to head out?"
He released her hand and looked into the room one last time before following her to the truck. He had mapped out the easiest route to Illinois and passed his laptop to Toni so that she could help him navigate the route. The roads were clear, so they were able to make it to the interstate without any delays. Once they were on the freeway, Toni threw in her favorite mix cd and sat back to take in the scenery.
"So, what kind of work will you do in Madison?" Sam asked somewhat flatly without taking his eyes off the road.
Toni shrugged and nonchalantly answered, "Oh, just this and that. One of the Colonel's friends owns a bar and he lets me waitress and stuff there for extra cash, no probing questions asked."
"Sounds like fun."
"Well, not so much… But drunk guys tend to tip really well so it's easy money," she explained with a defensive tone. "Plus if things go downhill with the Colonel then it means that I'll work at night and sleep all day. That way it won't look like I'm purposefully avoiding him or anything."
Sam chuckled softly and reached over to squeeze her knee saying, "Well he did call you this time and you said that that could be a good thing, right?"
She sighed and smiled sadly then squeezed his hand agreeing, "Right… right."
They both sat there in a comfortable silence and allowed the music to fill the space between them. After a few hundred miles, Toni ended up curled up on the bench seat with her head in Sam's lap. Sam draped his coat over her body, more out of habit than necessity, without disturbing her. She slept soundly from the Mississippi/Tennessee border and was brought out of her slumber as they reached Missouri when she felt her phone vibrate.
Toni awoke slowly, but when she noticed that Sam's thigh was playing the role of her pillow, she shot straight up and back to her side of the cab. Before she offered any apologies, she quickly answered her phone while stealing a glance at the clock. "Good afternoon, sir… Yes sir, we're actually just passing…" She paused and shot Sam an imploring look because she realized that she had no idea what State they were in let alone what city they were approaching.
Sam answered by jutting his chin in the direction of the large green sign they were driving past. "Just passing Oak Ridge, sir… Yes sir in Missouri… Well we've made good dime sir… 'We'? Oh… Umm… I'm still with Sam, Colonel… No, no sir he won't be joining me on this trip, he's meeting up with his brother Dean in La Salle sir… Yes sir… Of course… Yes, yes I will…. Yes sir… Okay… Yes sir… See you later." She tucked her phone away then turned to Sam and explained in a fairly confused tone, "My dad said to say 'Hi' and that he hopes that the next time I visit that you can come too so that he can… Umm… Thank you for helping me on this job and all."
Sam turned his eyes so that he could see her face and Toni looked completely pale. For a very brief moment he thought that she might actually vomit and was holding her breath to keep that from happening.
"You're using your 'I don't know what the hell is going on' voice," Sam observed.
"Sorry, but I kinda don't… You have to understand a couple of things Sam… First, the Colonel and I NEVER discuss hunting. Second, he has NEVER wanted to meet any of my friends, so yeah… I'm it's sort of weirding me out."
"Well, he's reaching out… You're the only family he has left, so you should look at it as a good thing."
"Yeah… I guess you kind of have a point there," she tentatively agreed while still sounding unsure.
"Well don't sound too enthusiastic there Toni," Sam good-naturedly teased. "Why are you letting this bother you so much? Man, you're being such a girl about it."
Toni gave Sam an indignant look before her left arm shot out and punched him in the upper arm retorting, "Shut up Sam! I'm not being a 'girl'. I'm being cautious! The Colonel is acting way out of character, so that could mean something's wrong, right? Right?"
Sam was rubbing his upper arm and just scowled as he kept his eyes on the road. Toni's jaw remained set in an angry frown while she waited for Sam's reply. The song they had been listening to came to and Sam still hadn't made any attempts to reply which enraged Toni even further.
"Well?" She probed heatedly. "FUCK! This is why I don't for the sharing and caring approach. You put yourself out there and you just get…"
"You might have a point," Sam interrupted in a monotone. "But Toni, you shouldn't go there thinking that. Just try to keep positive, okay?"
"Okay," she reluctantly agreed ash she tried to make herself more comfortable. "Is it much farther to La Salle?" She timidly inquired.
"Once we hit St. Louis, it's just a little over 200 miles," Sam civilly replied. He could hear Toni squirming and when he looked over he noticed that she was gripping her stomach uncomfortably. "We've been going non-stop since Mississippi, maybe we should stop for a bite to eat?"
She rolled her head to look over her shoulder. "It wouldn't delay us too much, would it?"
As he eased off the Interstate at the next exit, he chuckled softly and replied, "No, it won't delay us too much. What are you hungry for?"
"It really doesn't matter to me… Whatever you feel like having is fine… Or the first drive-thru you come across would do too."
Her companion remained silent and pulled into the first 'Jack in the Box' he saw. They ordered their food and ate as he navigated them back to the freeway.
"Thanks… I guess I was hungrier than I thought I was… Sam? I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," Toni apologized while lightly rubbing the spot that they both knew would be sporting a sizeable bruise come morning. "And I promise I'll try my best not to think the worst. Really, I'm sorry Sam."
He smirked to himself then said, "Apology accepted." Then he patted his lap and added, "Why don't you get some more rest so that you'll be good to go for the drive to Madison?"
Toni nodded and made herself comfortable under Sam's jacket once again. She didn't fall asleep straight away, but she relished the feeling of peace that washed over her by being so close to Sam again.
After the third song played through to the end and she still hadn't fallen asleep, Toni rolled onto her back so that she could look up at Sam from his lap. "Hey Sam? Do you think…?"
"You're supposed to be sleeping. Now shh… Back to sleep."
She went to finish her thought, but Sam had started to softly stroke her cheek, so she instead let her fatigue overtake her. After what felt like only a few minutes, Toni awoke to the feeling of the pickup stopping.
Before she could say anything or sit up, Sam told her, "Dean should be here any minute."
By the time Toni sat up, they both heard the familiar rumble of the Impala. They got out and Sam opened the container in the box of the truck while Toni gathered all of his belongings from the cab. Dean was out and had the Impala's trunk open by the time Toni had handed Sam his laptop bag and jacket. They then made their way towards Dean hand in hand.
"So, how was Iowa?" Toni asked attempting to be as cordial as possible.
"It's always bittersweet; Love spending time with them, but hate having to leave them," Dean replied without sounding sad.
He took Sam's bags from him and placed them in the trunk. Sam slipped his jacket on, led Toni to the passenger's door and tossed his laptop bag onto the seat. Once his hands were empty, he was quickly wrapped into a warm hug. Dean closed the trunk and was about to make a smart-ass remark, but was silenced when he watched Sam pull Toni into a kiss.
"Say 'Hi' to the Colonel for me. And if it does turn out that something's up with him, give us a call, okay?" Sam said with his forehead resting against Toni's.
"Okay. Good luck in Limestone."
After they separated, Toni looked over the top of the Impala at Dean and said, "Good to see you again Dean. Hopefully we get to work on something together soon."
Dean nodded and simply replied, "Me too."
Sam then squeezed her hand one last time and they all finally parted ways.
Toni hadn't realized how right Sam had been about her resting until she got behind the wheel. She was able to make it to Madison with ease and without feeling any fatigue. When she was just few mile out from her destination, she called her father to ensure that he would be awake when she arrived.
"Hey Toni! Are you almost here? Great! I'll come out to meet you," he cheerfully replied when he heard her voice.
"Okay… Umm… I'm just about to your block sir."
At the gate of his complex, Toni paused and took in a few deep breaths to calm herself down. She had never heard the Colonel speak in such a jovial tone, especially not with her, so she wanted to stop the butterflies in her stomach from fluttering before seeing him. Once she was sure that she had her emotions in check, she continued down the road.
Her feelings of calm were soon overshadowed by apprehension when she saw her father nervously pacing on the sidewalk. He immediately stopped when he heard her pull up and greeted her with a wide grin.
"Okay Toni, it's just the Colonel. Nothing strange is going on," she coached herself before getting out.
As soon as she had her door closed, her dad had her wrapped tightly in his arms.
"Toni! You're here! I missed you!"