Chapter 37

Sam was eager to get to Wisconsin, so he opted to use the interstate highways. They were headed west, on the I-80, skirting Lake Erie before the sun set. He wanted to get at least half way across Indiana before they stopped for the night. They hit the tail end of the evening rush hour traffic going through Toledo and it cost them a lot of time. They made it to South Bend, Indiana around 10pm.

Being summer, there were plenty of available motel rooms in the college town. Sam debated going into town to see if he could hustle up some cash. College towns, even in summer, always had plenty of bars loaded with guys who thought they could play pool or darts a whole lot better than they really could. But they were both hungry. The motel clerk had a menu for a pizza place that would deliver; and they ordered from the front desk. Sam figured he'd get Amelia tucked in and fed, and then find a likely place and hustle a few drunk Notre Dame boys. By the time they had finished unloading the car for the night, the pizza was delivered. It wasn't the greatest pizza Sam had ever had, but it was hot and filling. Amelia had never gotten around to trying pizza in her last arrival or since she'd arrived a month ago. She thought it was wonderful.

"I hope my next visit is to Italy." She said after Sam told her that pizza had originated in Italy.

Sam headed to the bathroom to wash the road dust off him before heading out, while she was finishing the last slice. As he stepped out of the bathroom; he heard Amelia moaning in pain. He found her lying on her bed, holding her stomach. Sam tried very hard not to laugh at the distressed goddess, especially when she whined she 'thought she was going to die'. He should have warned her to not eat so much; but he'd seen his brother put away twice as much pepperoni pizza a hundred times. Dean had had a lifetime of practice of bad-eating habits; he guessed Amelia hadn't, at least in this lifetime.

He really needed to earn them some money. They barely had enough for gas to get to Wisconsin and back. But he remembered all the times Dean had taken care of him when he'd had a stomach ache as a kid; and he couldn't bring himself to abandon Amelia. He checked all the locks and laid down salt lines. Then he stretched out on Amelia's bed. He helped the miserable woman to move up and lie next to him, and started rubbing circles on her distended belly. She continued to moan for a while longer but was soon asleep. Sam reached over and turned out the lamp. His last thought before falling asleep was hoping Dean never found out he had slept with the same beautiful woman in his arms several times, without having sex.

X

They were up at first light, dressed and packed. Amelia was delighted to go back to wearing the clothes Sam had gotten her. And even thought the hair was still a bit of a shock; Sam was glad to have her back to looking like a woman. The Tahoe pulled onto the interstate within 30 minutes of their waking. It wasn't like he could hustle anybody at this time of day. He was so preoccupied worrying about how to come up with some money; he forgot Amelia wasn't even trying to block his thoughts.

"Sam?" She asked, bringing him out of his thoughts. "I think I can help."

"Help? With what?" He asked still forgetting she had probably been hearing his worries.

"Money."

"Dammit, Amelia. You're not even trying to stay out of my head, are you?" He turned to look at her, just in time to see her shrug her shoulders.

"No. Not really." She replied honestly; and way too nonchalantly in Sam's opinion. She saw the surprised look on his face and smiled back at him. "It saves a lot of time. Besides, it is a really good idea."

"That's not the point." He said. 'Except she was kind of right' he thought. He added 'crap' knowing she had just heard him concede the point. And he was curious how Mother Nature would earn them some cash. "What's your idea?"

She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a very expensive men's watch. "I kept Crowley's watch; when I was disposing of his things. There must be a pawn shop in Chicago where we could get a decent price."

Sam was glad there wasn't much traffic this early as he swerved the car slightly. "What the hell? You're pick pocketing demons?"

"No. Well, yes. But he wasn't wearing the pocket by then." She stated like it was an everyday occurrence to rob the King of Hell. Hearing his other concerns, she added. "It's not magic or anything. It's just an expensive, and kind of pretentious if you ask me, watch."

"Yeah. Well, that's Crowley for you." Sam agreed.

"Wait. You haven't heard the best part." She said as she tucked the watch back into her pocket. "We take the money we get for the watch and head to a racetrack. I talk to the horses for a little while, to see who's feeling really good today, you place a few bets, and viola! We have enough money to get us through the next 12 days."

Sam didn't have to worry about Amelia reading his thoughts right then; because he was so dumbfounded by what he just heard his brain shut off for a few seconds. He snapped out of it when she grabbed the steering wheel as they started to drift to the side of the road. He saw an exit and quickly pulled off the highway. Even after he came to a complete stop, his hands were grasping the steering wheel so tight his knuckles were white.

"Okay, let me get this straight. You lift a watch off a demon. Not just any demon, the King of the Demons." She started to speak but he held up his hand. "I know you can hear everything I'm thinking, but I, I need to say it out loud." She opened her mouth to try again, but it was his turn to glare at her. "Okay. I'll concede Crowley really didn't need the watch anymore; considering where he was." She nodded but made no attempt to talk.

"Then you tell me Mother Nature doesn't have a problem betting on races involving animals raised for the sole purpose of entertaining frivolous humans?" He said as he stared at her.

She smiled at him. He was as concerned for the welfare of some of her most beautiful beasts as he was himself and his brother. Her smile faded as she thought about his question. No, she didn't like the way most of the world's domesticated animals were treated; but short of a complete do-over of the planet, it was too late for her to help save them.

"No, Sam. In the grand scheme of mistakes you humans have made in your relationships with the other species of the planet; making enough money to save your brother and close the seals does not bother me much." She said very seriously, and more harshly than she had intended. She felt a tear escape and roll down her cheek.

"I would have thought a goddess could lie better." Sam reached over and wiped the tear away.

X

It turned out Crowley's watch was as expensive, and pretentious, as they had thought. Sam had enough experience and Amelia's unusual hair made them sound and look just a touch nefarious, never a bad thing in a pawn shop. Amelia read the broker's thoughts and created just the right back story to get an extra $500 out of the guy. She also managed to disable the security cameras in the store. They were in and out quickly and cleanly, with over two thousand dollars in Sam's pocket.

They debated if they should even go to the track; Sam was used to getting by on a whole lot less. If it was just the gas and living expenses for the next two weeks, they had plenty. But what if they had to switch cars again? And money had a way of keeping people from asking questions they may not want to answer.

Sam had years of hustling pool, darts and playing poker; betting on horses was not something they had ever seen as a viable income source. They walked into the Arlington Park racetrack, on the northwest outskirts of Chicago, just after noon. Amelia headed straight to the paddock area, managing to obtain temporary ID/security badges for the both of them. Sam wondered why Amelia was so knowledgeable on the process and procedures. She just turned back at him and smiled.

Amelia walked among the horses, trainers, owners and jockeys; listening to all of them intently. She knew it wasn't just which horse was feeling good and eager to stretch his legs. Professional horse racing was no different than any sport where gambling was involved. The owners, trainers and jockeys often had agendas that had nothing to do with their horse's ability to race that day. A strong, healthy pony itching to fly didn't mean they would be allowed to run the race they wanted.

Amelia took all the information, sat down with a racing form and then gave Sam a list of horses to bet on for the first two races. She headed back to the paddocks as a new group of horses was brought up from the stables. They didn't make any huge bets and made a couple small bets on losers, to lessen attention on their winning streak. After five races, they had turned Crowley's watch money into about 15 thousand.

Sam was cashing out the winning tickets on the last race when Amelia whispered she'd meet him at the car and disappeared into the crowd. He really didn't like separating, but there was something in her voice that made him shiver. He had seen the way she had gone slightly pale while standing near one of the horse owners. His horse had been scratched from the race at the last minute and the grandstand had been abuzz with rumors of someone being caught doping their horses.

As he was climbing into the SUV, with Amelia nowhere in sight, Sam heard sirens coming from the barn areas. A short time later, Amelia arrived and was closing her door, just as a Med-evac helicopter arrived and landed. They were pulling out of the parking lot as the helicopter took off overhead and headed towards Chicago. "Do I want to know?" Sam asked Amelia.

Amelia stared straight at him. "Samuel. I have no idea what you mean."

He followed the signs to I-90 westbound, thinking to himself, 'Yeah, a goddess should really be able to lie better than that'.

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Author's Note: Well, I'm not going to make my goal of being done by the start of the new season. As of Wednesday, it becomes AU. I still promise to finish the story. Sorry for the longer gaps in posting; Real Life has been kicking me in the nads for about a week.