Author's Notes: This chapter is kind of short, and the story took a weird turn I hadn't planned on.

I also noticed I probably got the rating wrong. There isn't supposed to be any deaths and Amelia has already killed a few demons. So, I'm changing the rating to a T.

And I continue to be delighted with those who read the story and take time to review and follow. Thanks.

Chapter 7

Sam drove the rest of the night. Amelia said they should keep going south, and they just needed to find someplace safe, she wanted to tell him how they were going to get Dean out of Purgatory. So, Sam followed the Missouri River, keeping them off the interstate. By the time the sun was starting to rise they were approaching Kansas City. It had been more than 24 hours since he woke up in the Impala and he had no idea how long Amelia had been awake. He had often driven longer and his body was used to being pushed beyond its limits but this morning he was exhausted. Sam wasn't sure if Amelia even needed to sleep, but he did. "Are you tired? Should we find someplace to crash for a few hours?"

She seemed lost in a deep thought or like when she was communicating with things he couldn't see. He didn't know if he should interrupt her, so he just watched her out of the corner of his eye and kept driving.

"Is one of those places you mentioned near-by?" Amelia asked quietly.

He was so tired he hadn't even thought about where they were. Lawrence was only about 50 miles to the west of here. He really didn't want to think about going back there, but he knew he there was no point in lying to someone who could read his thoughts. "Lawrence, Kansas isn't far." He paused before adding, "It's where I was born, and jumped into Lucifer's cage."

"I'm sorry Sam. I can feel how hard this is for you, but we will need to go there." She could feel his dread starting to rise. "But we should get some rest first. And, yes, I need to sleep." She couldn't remember if he had asked that out loud or just in his thoughts.

Sam was so shaken about having to go back to Lawrence he couldn't remember if he had asked her about sleeping or if she had read his mind again. He really didn't care at this point. He found a decent looking motel on the outskirts of the city. As he got out of the car to get them a room, Amelia climbed out of the passenger side. He suddenly thought about how this was going to work and turned to Amelia. "Do you want separate rooms?"

"I think we should stay together. It will be safer and we need to talk." She responded as they made their way to the office.

"Two queens." Sam responded when the clerk had asked him what he needed. He got the same familiar stare of disbelief he and Dean got when people assumed they were gay. He assumed this time they must have thought he and Amelia were lovers. As Sam signed the register and put down the cash it dawned on him it was a reasonable assumption. He hadn't thought about it before but Amelia was kind of cute. Of course, even though she looked like a twenty-something woman, she was apparently older than dirt. He snorted to himself at that thought as he grabbed the room keys and turned to find Amelia glaring at him. 'Crap. He really needed to remember about that mind reading thing'.

They got back in the car and it dawned on Sam they hadn't eaten since mid-day yesterday. "How about we grab something to eat before we crash? She nodded her consent and they drove until they found an intersection with two diners. The Biggerson's looked large and clean. Their sign for the pie bar made him think of Dean, and Levi food additive. They headed for the smaller, Mom and Pop place across the street. Sam held the door open, not sure how pissed she was at him for the 'old as dirt' thing. He asked for a booth towards the back, as was their custom, so he could watch for any trouble. He sat facing the door and Amelia slid in across from him. The waitress brought them water, handed them the menus, asked if they wanted coffee. Sam looked at Amelia and she shook her head and he told the waitress no. She told them the specials and left them alone. Amelia glanced at her menu and then looked up at Sam.

"Crash?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. It means to sleep, usually for a short time after being up a long time and really tired."

"I see. I thought maybe it was a new expression for intercourse." She said matter-of-factly. Sam spit out the water he had just sipped.

"What? No. No. No." He choked out between coughs.

A twinkle lit up her eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked with a teasing lilt in her voice.

He looked at her with a confused look on his face.

"That's what you get for thinking I'm older than dirt!" Amelia was outright laughing at him now. "The dirt was already here, thank you very much."

As Sam regained his composure he thought Dean would like this woman, or whatever she was, and her sense of humor.

They ordered their breakfasts and ate while she was still occasionally giggling, and he tried very hard not to think of anything.

After eating they drove back to the motel and their room at the back, hard to see from the road. Sam got the duffel bags out of the trunk. Amelia had taken one of the keys and already had the door open. Seeing her standing just inside the room looking around at the furnishings he realized she had no belongings, not even a change of clothes.

"Would you like to shower and use a clean T-shirt to sleep in?" Sam offered.

"Washing off the last couple of days sounds very nice. The shirt won't be necessary, but thank you." And she headed off to the bathroom. Sam threw his bags on the bed nearest the door, taking Dean's usual position of first-line-of-defense. He heard the water come on and thought about what 'won't be necessary' meant. She was Mother Nature after all. He really hoped it didn't mean she wouldn't be coming out of the bathroom naked.

Even under the running water she could hear Sam's thoughts about how she would exit the bathroom. She wasn't sure why she enjoyed teasing him. It really wasn't like her. Maybe, because he was like Zeus, one of her consorts when she had been known as Demeter. He was tall and beautiful, strong and brave, and kind and caring all at the same time. Remembering how much she had loved the Greek deity suddenly made her warm all over. 'Well, enough of that', she thought to herself. She was here to help save Sam's brother and the planet, not find romance again.

She got out of the shower, swished the clothes she had put to soak in the sink a couple of times, rung them out and then gave them a quick blow dry. She put her clean clothes back on and stepped out of the bathroom. Sam was laying down salt in front of the door and she could see he had already done the windows. He turned around to face her. She wasn't sure if he looked relieved or disappointed. She chuckled to herself and made a point of not reading his thoughts.

He didn't know how she had laundered her clothes so quickly, but figured it was no big deal for a goddess. He also didn't know if he was glad she wasn't naked and hoped she wasn't reading his thoughts right now. "I'll take the bed near the door, you can have that one." He said as he pointed to the other bed. She nodded and started turning down the sheets. As he walked past her to the bathroom he could swear she smelled of wildflowers. As he closed the door he noticed there were no shampoo bottles in the shower. 'Well, of course, she'd smell like wildflowers….'

Sam showered quickly and put on his sleeping stuff. When he stepped back into the room he saw Amelia looked like she was already asleep, and that her clothes were laid across the foot of her bed. He also noticed the whole room now had a soft bouquet of wildflowers after a summer storm. 'Shit, where did that come from'. He grabbed the salt and went back to line the bathroom window.

He climbed into his bed, turned to check on the naked goddess sleeping in the next bed, or at least hoped she was asleep and not reading the thoughts currently in his mind. He turned back the other way doubting he could fall asleep after that but was out within minutes.