Vala stretched her entire body out, feeling the cracks and pops throughout. She breathed in deep, a rich scent of fabric softener and cologne, and smiled. Both were so familiar. She was warm and comfortable, dressed in a silk nightgown.
"Hmm." She stirred, opening one eye to take in her surroundings.
The room was lit brightly by the sun, shouting in from the French patio doors that made up the one wall. The waves crashing onto the white sand beach below them brought the smells of the crystal clear water to the surface. The bed Vala woke in was a deep cherry wood and the sheets she wrapped herself in were expensive.
It was early morning, the sun having most likely just risen.
There was a continuous echoing thump-thump that grew louder as it grew closer, until the door to the bedroom Vala occupied swung open, and tiny feet attached to tiny bodies raced and flew at her, landing all over the bed.
The two girls were the same from before. One about five and the other nearly three. One with the auburn hair Vala was born with and the other with soft blond curls. They, too, were still in their pyjamas.
"I must be dreaming again." Vala said quietly to herself, hoping she could just ride it out until it was over.
"Mama, Mama. Happy Birthday !" the older girl screamed excitedly as she hugged Vala close with all her little might.
"Thank you Penny-Pie." Vala answered with a smile, kissing the little girl atop her auburn hair.
"Mama, We made you a burfday breffest." The younger of the two added, sitting on the other side of her mother.
"You did? Well, tell me Ruby Tuesday, where is this birthday breakfast you two angels made?"
"Daddy's bringing it up the stairs."
Vala smiled on the outside, but her heart sank.
"Really?"
Just like every other time Vala dreamed this specific dream, the footsteps started. Quietly, as first, as if he was sneaking up the stairs with the tray of pancakes, waffles, strawberries and coffee. Then, as he climbed the steps, getting closer and closer, the stomps became heavier and heavier.
He was getting closer.
Though she may have had a smile on her face, she was dying inside. Every time, every dream, it never changed. Her long dead fiancée would pop his head around the corner and the girls they never shared would scurry away, out of the room presumably to hide, though Vala wasn't really sure. Then the clouds would roll in outside, taking away the sunshine she longed for. Thunder clapped and the winds rushed in, blowing the beautiful French doors open, bringing the white sands into the room with them.
Then he would smile. But it wasn't the one that belonged to him. Rather the soulful, loving, wide eyed grin Vala used to get from her true love, it was the sinister, wild eyed smirk of the evil beast that took him from her.
He would slowly saunter into the room and take her by her wrists, pulling her against her will out of the bed that didn't exist. He'd hold her close to his chest and whisper in her ear as tears ran down her face.
It was the same words, always the same words. You weren't there to save me. Over and over and over.
Vala had never in the years she'd been having this recurring nightmare been able to stop it, or wake herself from it before it had gone too far. There was a part of her that wanted the little girls and 'burfday breffest' in bed so badly that she was willing to endure to the pain that came later to enjoy the few minutes of pleasure before it.
Soon enough the footsteps reached the last step and stopped short of the bedroom door. There was a pause longer than usual and the girls simply ducked under the covers, giggling as they went. Vala playfully told the girls to shush as she wondered what was happening. Then the man she shared the girls with popped his head around the corner and stepped into the room.
"Happy Birthday Babe. I was going to have the girls help make you this special breakfast, but I couldn't find them anywhere. Have you seen them?" Dean asked, smiling at his wife as she patted the girls next to her, trying to quiet the giggles.
Vala smiled, both in her dream and her heart.
"You know what, I haven't. I tucked them into bed last night and that was the last I saw of them." Vala played along. "Did you check their rooms?"
Dean brought the tray of pancakes, waffles, strawberries and coffee around the other side of the bed and placed them on the nightstand. He crawled into bed next to Penny, squishing her between him and her mother, and draped one of his legs over Vala's so his foot was poking Ruby in the side of her chubby stomach. Both girls giggled as Dean pretended neither of them were there. He smiled at their reactions.
"I checked the rooms but they were empty."
"Oh well, they must have ran away then."
Dean leaned over and kissed Vala with fiery passion as their eldest daughter poked her father in the ribs.
"Oh well, more time for us to play." He spoke in the husky voice Vala loved so much, giving a quick wink before Ruby dug herself out from under the covers.
"We's right here Daddy." She squealed.
"I was poking your belly and you didn't feel it!" Penny made a note, tackling her father with more pokes to the stomach.
"You were?" Dean asked Penny as she laughed in her deep, sing-song tones from being tickled nearly to death.
Ruby curled up next to Vala, wriggling in under her mother's arm, snuggling against her left side and gently sucking her thumb. Vala squeezed her close as her husband continued to play with their oldest daughter.
She took the entire scene in, smiling widely to herself while brushing Ruby's curls from her face.
"Okay Vala, time to wake up." Dean spoke to her.
Vala turned her head to her husband as he spoke to her, straight faced. He was alone on his side of the bed. Penny having vanished from his arms.
"What? Where's Penny?" Vala turned her head to her empty arms. "Ruby?"
When she turned back to Dean, he was gone too.
Alone in the room again, it began to get dark. The clouds rolled in outside faster than usual and the door burst open, wind and sand swirling around the room, tearing the place apart. Alone when the storm broke in.
Alone was worse.
"Vala! Vala!"
She opened her eyes and realized she was being confined. Dean had her in a bear hug, her arms trapped against his chest as he used one arm to hold her to him and the other to brush the hair from her face.
Once she got a grasp of the situation she began to shake, pounding with her balled up hands on Dean's chest as the tears that came with the other version of the dream released themselves.
"Get the fuck off me. Let ME GO! LET ME GO!" she yelled, unable to control her emotions.
Dean released her from the awkward hug and tried to keep his hands wrapped around her wrists, thinking he could calm her if he kept her close. Vala panicked and tore her arms from his paws, breaking a wrist in the process.
"What the fuck is your problem? You don't just grab people. Fuck." Vala cried, directing the last part at her wrist.
"Sorry." He apologized.
"FUCK." Vala gritted her teeth.
"It looks broken." Dean tried to change the subject.
"Of course it's fucking broken. I know what a broken bone feels like."
Vala was right out of it. She was angry she was still having the nightmare. She was happy that it had changed, but angry that it was taken away from her again. She had feelings for the fumbling idiot in front of her, but she was being tortured by her unjustified hatred for him.
"You were having some sort of attack Vala. You fell and hit your head off the floor. I thought you were dead." Dean tried to explain, assuming it would help.
"Thought or hoped."
"Real grown up. Awesome. Let's go have that looked at so we can get the fuck outta here."
Vala refused to have anyone look at her wrist. She wasn't spending any more time in the hospital with Dean than she absolutely had to.
When they passed a supply closet on their way to the elevator, she picked the lock. Dean, though still full of rage, had to raise an eyebrow when she cleared the lock quicker than he ever could. With one hand none-the-less.
She entered the room and opened a few of the first aid kits that sat on a shelf near the floor. She stole the tensor bandages from three of the kits before closing them back up and leaving the room. Vala would have Aislin fix it for her when they arrived back at Bobby's. Then they would pack their shit and leave.