Pillow talk {Annali}

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

This was going to be one very awkward night.

The afternoon spent trying to re-organise the papers and clean up the breakages in Annali's father's vault had been pretty mind numbing but at least it made things easy as far as the curse was concerned. Hard to get seperated from Annali in an enclosed vault. To avoid getting locked in again, just in case, Dean had shifted some of the furniture in the basement to prop open the door, since this time Sam really wanted to get inside too.

It had been like watching a five year old at Disneyland seeing Sam knee deep in historical books and artifacts, so engrossed in it all a bomb could have gone off and he'd have not heard it. In fact, Dean was pretty sure that if he had left the room, Sam probably wouldn't have noticed for hours. Unless, of course, he'd left Annali in there with him. Then there would have been the whole near fatal heart attack scenario all over again and Dean really didn't want to repeat that anytime soon.

The day had been rough on him from the start, he hadn't slept well the night before - not that he ever did much these days anyway - but then getting tossed around by a pissed off ghost, cursed and nearly dying on the floor of a bathroom had all taken it out if him. By early evening he was exhausted and had nearly fallen asleep in one corner of the vault until Annali had suggested that they take everything Sam still wanted to go through back to her house so that Dean could get some rest.

Of course Dean had claimed he was fine and was just resting his eyes, protesting the fact he was anything other than okay but he could see it wasn't washing with anyone. Fortunately Sam picked up on it and offered up that he was pretty worn out too, sparing Dean which he was thankful for. However, though Sam had claimed he was going to bed - Annali had very kindly offered up the spare room for him - Dean knew that he'd be up until the early hours, working on his laptop in Annali's office which is probably where he would end up sleeping too. At least there was a sofa in there he could stretch out on.

It wasn't the first time Sam hadn't shared a room with his brother, in fact, Dean figured he'd be used to it again now after being on his own for four months, but that wasn't the reason the night was going to be awkward. No, if it was simply a case of having to sleep on his own that wouldn't have been a issue, but this curse that he and Annali had been put under meant that there was no other option than to sleep in the same room as her and he felt sure that she wasn't quite ready for that.

She was doing her best to deal with the situation, being the good host to both of them when most would have lost the plot hours ago, but from what Dean had observed of her, Annali was quite a private and shy person. She wasn't used to having people in her life like this. She certainly wasn't used to having Dean trail around, following her every move and vice versa.

"So how're we doing this then?" He said to her, looking awkward as the pair of them stood at her bedroom door. He didn't want to decide for her what the best way to work out the sleeping arrangements were, he'd give her the control, let her sleep where she was most comfortable and he'd work around it. If it came to it, sleeping on the floor at the end of her bed would be nothing unusual. He just hoped that any sleep he did get wasn't going to be plagued with nightmares. That was the last thing he wanted her to have to deal with.

[The Preceptor]

Throughout the day, the curse hadn't really seemed like such a horrible thing. Annali could have thought of plenty of much worse things that could have happened than to be forced to be near a guy who looked like Dean Winchester all the time. Sure, it made bathroom breaks a little weird, and judging the distance between them was still taking some getting used to. She couldn't remember ever having heartburn so bad in her life.

But there was a plus side to it. Being forced to remain so near to Dean meant that there was very little that the brothers could say to one another without Annali overhearing them, even if she wasn't trying to do so. It wasn't the exactly the style of two grown men to pass notes. A lot of what she overheard made no sense at all to her, of course, but from what she managed to pick up, she could tell that they had either experienced some incredible things, or had extremely active imaginations. Either way, she knew there were stories there.

But now it was the end of the day, or at least, the end of the day enough. Dean had looked exhausted and honestly, she was feeling a bit tired as well, though she just needed to relax, and not necessarily to sleep. She had given Sam the key to her parents' home, in case he needed to make another trip, and now she and the older Winchester brother had to decide on their sleeping arrangements. Annali wanted to make her guest as comfortable as possible but there were so many questions going on in her mind. What if one of them needed to use the restroom in the middle of the night? What if one of them got hungry? Man, she could really use a soak in the tub right now...

"So how're we doing this then?"

"Umm..." she said, biting her lip as she looked around the room. The sleeping arrangements weren't on her mind now so much as the realization that she was actually going to need to change into her bed clothes. Arranging the furniture would be fairly simple. "You can have the bed... if you would help me move this chair over close? That way I can just read for a while until I'm ready to sleep..."

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"Your bed?" Dean looked at the tempting matress with it's many layers of silky sheets and inviting pillows and scratched the back of his head with one hand. He really wanted to accept and go throw himself onto it like he often did when they checked into a new motel and he found out the bed's had magic fingers, but he was raised better than that and wasn't about to put himself first.

"I can't take your bed. How about I take the chair instead?" He offered, stepping inside the room and taking a seat in it to see how comfortable it was.

This ain't so bad...

It sort of reminded him of when he, Sam and Jo had all stayed in the apartment to catch H.H. Holmes ghost. He'd ended up sleeping in a recliner then too and hadn't had a problem drifting off. Of course, he was a little stiff in the morning, but that had also been a case of putting the others first. He'd let Jo and Sam have the bedrooms (not that Jo had slept in hers).

[The Preceptor]

Annali couldn't help but smile when he offered to take the chair instead. A true gentleman. While she knew that it seemed the obvious thing for a man to give up the more comfortable sleeping arrangements to a lady, she also knew that there were plenty of guys who wouldn't do so. Still, she needed to offer one more time. "I really don't mind, Dean. You're my guest," she said shyly, meeting his gaze for a brief moment before tucking her hair behind her ear and moving past him to the bookshelf.

She stood there for a minute, sliding her index finger along the spines of the books, trying to decide what she was in the mood for. In all honesty, what she was in the mood for was sitting and listening to Dean talk... hearing whatever stories he might be willing to share with her, but as tired as he seemed, asking him to do so would be entirely selfish. She finally pulled a rather worn copy of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein from the shelf and tucked it under her arm before turning back to him.

"So are you hungry? Do you want something to eat or a shower or... um... anything at all I can get you before we turn in?" Annali bit her bottom lip again, trying not to look as awkward as she felt about the situation they were being forced into.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"It's not a problem, honestly." Dean replied sincerely, getting up again to push the chair nearer to the bed. He left it at it's limit of five feet, close enough to avoid activating the curse, but far enough that he wouldn't be crowding her.

"I've slept plenty of places that were far more uncomfortable than this, believe me. If we're not in a motel, we're sleeping in the car or on the floor of our friend Bobby's front room."

He settled the chair where he wanted it, pretty much in the middle of the room half facing the bed.

"And if we're really unlucky, we have to camp." He made a show of shuddering at the thought then smiled over at Annali. She'd offered him food again, despite the fact he hadn't eaten so well as he had done in her house for ages. Perhaps he could get ued to this curse after all. It wasn't like he hated being stuck with someone who wanted to feed him all the time.

"Ah, no I'm good, thanks. I think you've looked after us both enough today. It's, uh...well it's been kinda nice to have you around." He admitted, feeling a little foolish the moment it came out. There was an element of first date nerves about the whole situation of being in her bedroom which was just plain weird for Dean. Being with a hot woman in her bedroom was usually when he was most at ease. Somehow this was different to all those other times though. She was different to all those other girls.

[The Preceptor]

So it looked like things were settled then. Annali had given Sam free run of the house, as it was still fairly early in the night and he hadn't looked like he was anywhere close to being finished with his day. She admired that about him... he had seemed absolutely thrilled with all of the literary and historical treasures that her father had collected, and Annali was pleased to find someone else who seemed to understand their value.

She really would have liked to clean up a bit more before bed, either with a hot shower or a long soak in a bubble-filled tub, but poor Dean was so tired that she decided it would have to wait until morning. She wouldn't admit it to him, but she was thankful that he wasn't hungry still, as she had cooked them decent meals for both lunch and dinner and honestly was a bit tired of the kitchen today. Everything seemed taken care of, and there was no more putting off the inevitable.

Annali headed over to her armoire and pulled the double doors open. She bent down to open the bottom drawer, from which she pulled out a thin, but oversized quilt and a rather thick, soft blanket. Annali handed the neatly folded coverings to Dean and then turned back to the armoire and began searching through the top drawer for something to sleep in that night. She imagined she wouldn't get away with the usual silk camisole and matching underwear that she usually slept in, so she pulled out a pair of somewhat-matching silk pajama pants as well.

"Um..." she muttered, turning back to look at him. She met his gaze and then looked away quickly, embarrassed by the situation and what she needed to ask him. "Could you... you know..." She finished by making a circling gesture in the air with her finger.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Dean's version of getting ready for bed was a little simpler than Annali's. It involved him unlacing his boots, toeing them off, setting them to one side and that was pretty much it. If he hadn't been sleeping in Annali's bedroom, he could have quite happily have skipped the setting them to one side part but figured that he'd make the extra effort since her room was so neat and tidy.

He gratefully accepted the blankets finding himself stroking the soft fabrics in awe when she had turned her back on him. You didn't get softness like this with scratchy motel blankets that was for sure. When she turned back around he dropped them on the chair, not wanting to get caught fondling a duvet like a girl but it took him a few moments to catch onto what Annali was asking him to do so that she could change into her pyjamas.

"What? Oh...oh right, sure." He smiled back at her and turned around, one hand idly brushing the stubble on his chin for something to do while he patiently waited for her to dress. His eyes wandered around the rest of the room as he thought of something to say to lessen the embarrassment but when he caught site of her reflection in a small mirror on her dressing table, he couldn't help but stare.

She had her back to him still, her modesty somewhat intact while she changed out of her top, but the sight of her bare skin still had him mesmerized. His mouth went dry, his heart pounded just that little bit faster and it was all he could do to tear his eyes away before she slipped out of her jeans.

"So, Frankenstein huh?" He blurted out the first thing that sprang to mind as he picked up the book she'd picked out.

"Not exactly light bedtime reading is it?"

[The Preceptor]

It was so difficult to ignore the fact that there was a man in the room that she hadn't even known for twenty-four hours, but Annali realized that she had to tough it out unless she wanted to go without a change of clothes for who knew how long. Yeah... wasn't going to happen. Luckily Dean was a perfect gentleman about her request, and didn't make her feel any more awkward by gawking at her when he realized she intended to change clothes with him in the room. She had to force herself not to glance at him over her shoulder, though... because admittedly she was afraid that she might happen to meet his eyes rather than the back of his head, and that would make things completely awkward. For now, she just had to rely on trust... he had given no indication so far that he would even be interested in looking anyway, and this put the shy brunette at ease for the most part.

She was pulling on the pastel-striped pajama pants when he commented about her choice of reading materials. Annali couldn't help but chuckle as she headed over to her vanity and picked up a hair brush, pulling it carefully through her thick, silky locks. "It's a good book," she said with a defensive laugh as she set the brush down once again, turning to face him. "Besides, if I get scared, at least I have you to protect me."

It was a joke, of course, but it still made her blush and avoid his gaze as she took the soft blanket from him and spread it out comfortably over the chair. She grabbed a couple of the extra pillows from her bed and fluffed them up, arranging them on the chair in a way that she hoped would be comfortable for him before realizing that it was pointless. He was going to fix them however he needed to once he actually kicked up the recliner.

Finally she walked over by the door and flipped the light switch. The room was suddenly cast in near-darkness, with the exception of the soft ambience of the lamp on the nightstand and the pale glow of the moonlight through the window near the headboard. She moved to stand before Dean, wanting to somehow end the evening properly but not sure how to do so. She at least was in the comfort of her own home... there was no telling how awkward the situation made HIM feel.

She stared at her feet for a minute, twisting the material of the lavendar camisole she wore in her small fists. When finally she looked up at his face, she saw the weariness in eyes and could tell that it was a result of more than just the events of that day. Annali sighed softly, and reached up to touch a hand tentatively to the side of his head as she swallowed nervously. "I really don't think I could thank you enough for what you've done," she said in a hushed whisper before leaning in and wrapping her arms around him in a warm hug.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

"It's a good book,"

"Hmm...Sam said the same thing when he was in high school." Dean commented as he flipped the book over in his hands to look at the decorative art down the spine. Though it appeared to have been well used, Dean thought that perhaps it was an original copy. Given all the antiques and collectables not only in her father's house but here too, it wasn't much of a stretch of the imagination.

"Well I saw the movie instead and that was kinda lame."

I also met the real life Dr. Frankenstein and he was a hell of a lot creepier than Robert DeNiro. Dean shook the memory of Doc Benton out of his mind and set the book back down again, sensing that Annali was done with dressing.

"Besides, if I get scared, at least I have you to protect me."

Dean tentatively glanced over his shoulder, just in case she wasn't quite done, completely losing his train of thought when he saw her in her silky nightwear.

"Heh, yeah." He laughed softly at her comment, suddenly unsure what to do with his hands, settling for stuffing them in his back pockets while he courageously fought to keep his gaze above shoulder height. When she slipped past him to go switch off the light, he shook his head at himself and scrubbed a hand over his face. Now that he was somewhat hidden in the darkness, he could let how he really felt show. All the exhaustion, not only from today, but the last few days in which he and Sam had been through so much, just seemed to settle heavier on his shoulders as though the shadows added more weight.

Annali seemed to see it too and when she gently put her hand on the side of his face, he wasn't sure what to do. On the one hand, he didn't want her to know he was damaged on the inside, wanted to maintain the facade of being the guy who could deal with anything life threw at him. If she could see the cracks then Sam would know there were gaping fissures. But on the other hand, the way she looked at him, the tiny gestures she made, it was as though someone up high was letting him know there was some kind of forgiveness for him, even if it was only this one tiny moment of affection.

"I really don't think I could thank you enough for what you've done,"

The hug was a surprise, caught him off guard for a moment and it took him a second to reciprocate it. One hand wrapped around her back, the other softly resting on her hip, her hair tickling his cheek as he closed his eyes and breathed in the scent of her. They let go at the same time, Dean thankful that the lights were off so that his humbled expression wasn't so obvious.

"I'm not sure why you're thanking me when I got you into this mess." He said, tilting his head a little to try and see her face better in the shadows.

[The Preceptor]

Annali gave him a questioning look in the dim ambient light, not sure why he couldn't see what she felt was obvious. Dean and his brother were heroes... surely they realized that. "Because of you, my mother can come home to a safe house," she replied gently. "And as far as this... mess, as you put it... it hasn't been all that bad so far." She smiled slightly at him, trying to encourage him a little. He really did seem to feel guilty for their situation, and she wished that he wouldn't. How could a guy like that have self-esteem issues?

Gently picking up her book once again, she gave him one last smile before crawling up into the bed. Annali pulled a small book light from the nightstand drawer and clipped it to the book, adjusting the light so that its soft glow illuminated the pages... hopefully it was dim enough that it wouldn't disturb him. She held her hand poised over the lamp switch as she waited for Dean to get settled and comfortable in the chair. "Sweet dreams, Dean," she said, attempting to brush aside an unsettling feeling in her stomach as she switched off the lamp, then settled back into her pillows and began to read.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

Sweet dreams? God, if only....

"Yeah, you too." Dean said softly before getting comfortable in his own bed for the night. He leant back in the recliner, adjusting his pillows when it locked into a position where he could lay down. The blanket and the over-sized quilt got loosely draped over his body and after a long yawn, he started to relax. It turned out, the chair was quite comfortable after all. Far better than sleeping on the floor at any rate.

Sleep would have come quickly too if it hadn't been for the fact he was unable to tear his eyes away from Annali when she clicked on the tiny book light to read. The small bulb cast her features in an almost candlelight glow, enhancing the natural beauty she possessed and he'd angled his head so he was able to look across at her without drawing attention to the fact.

After waking up with Castiel watching him while he'd been sleeping on several occasions, he was well aware of how disconcerting it was to be stared at when you were trying to relax, so every now and then he let his eyes fall closed and tried to just hold the image of her in his mind until it gradually faded. And it always faded, blacked out and covered by flashes of red. Memories of Hell. But when that happened, Dean simply opened his eyes again and looked at Annali one more time. Watched her expression as she read from her book. The way her mouth would curl at the corner when she'd read something she liked, or how her eyes would look sad when it was something tragic. He'd thought he'd seen her look that way at him before she'd gotten into bed.

Unfortunately he couldn't fight sleep forever though, his mind more than his body, was exhausted and gave into slumber's enticing whispers. His eyelids grew heavier and refused to stay open anymore, his arms limply resting against his chest, one on top of the duvet, one underneath. Conscious thought slowed to a gradual stop and moments later he was asleep, breathing shallow and steady just like everyone else.

He didn't know how long it was before the nighmares started, didn't even realise he was asleep when they hit. Everything about the scene in his mind told him he was still trapped in Hell. Everything from the oppressive heat on his skin, the lack of air in his lungs, the sense of choking on sulphur fumes and the memory of meat hooks digging into his flesh, pulling his limbs taut over an endless pit filled only with screams and horror.

"No!" He gasped, uncertain whether or not he had dreamed his escape from Hell's clutches.

"Yes, Dean....." A cruel voice slithered up behind him, one he recognised and feared.

"No...." He shuddered in terror causing the chains he was hanging from to rattle which in turn sent shooting pains up and down his arms and legs. Back in the waking world, he started to toss and turn on the recliner, his breathing becoming slightly more erratic with each passing minute, his face screwed up in imaginary pain.

[The Preceptor]

Annali was under the thick covers on her bed, and she drew up her legs and opened the thick, hard-cover book across her lap. At first, it was hard to ignore the fact that there was someone else in the room... a handsome stranger at that... especially while he was busy arranging the contents of his chair in a way that he found suitable. Annali bit her bottom lip and watched him over the top of the book, trying her best to be subtle because she didn't want Dean to feel all weirded out about it.

When finally he seemed comfortable, she looked back to the book. She began to read, but found that she was having a terribly difficult time of it, as she had to keep reading the same words several times and still found that they weren't committing into her brain. There was still so much on her mind, mostly the aforementioned man who was now lying quietly in the dark not far from her bed. Annali tried not to look in his direction too much. The book light provided very little ambient light but she knew that if she focused enough, she could adjust her eyes to the darkness and be able to make out the sensuous curves of his mouth, the strong shape of his jawbone, the character lines on his face. She had to refrain, though. Dean was difficult for her to see but she knew that her face was illuminated fairly well, and if he happened to look in her direction she wouldn't be able to explain herself.

Eventually she heard steady breathing coming from the chair, so relaxed and rhythmic that it would have been impossible to fake. She gently closed her book and switched off the light, setting both on the nightstand before settling back against the pillows. In the darkness, she felt she could watch him as he slept without him being any the wiser. While it was strange having him there, she found the sound of his breathing quite relaxing, and before long she had felt the heaviness in her eyelids and had drifted off into a calm sleep.

Unfortunately, this sleep didn't last long at all, as she was awaken by the sound of movement nearby. Annali's eyes popped open and she immediately looked over to see Dean, moving uncomfortably in the chair as though he were having a horrible dream. She frowned heavily, wondering what was proper protocol in a situation like this, but decided that she couldn't imagine anyone not wanting to be awaken from a bad dream. Throwing back the covers, Annali scooted toward the foot of the bed and sat up on the edge, where she reached out and gently tried to shake Dean awake. "Dean? Dean... wake up..." she urged worriedly.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

In his nightmare, a disgusting black claw grabbed hold of Dean's shoulder from behind, gripping it tightly. It's foul talons digging into the soft flesh, ripping at him, tearing huge gouges over his muscles. Dean clenched his teeth together to try and stop the cry coming out, wanted to rebel but in the end he couldn't stop himself. He howled loudly in pain, eyes screwed shut and breath ragged, but in the real world he merely whimpered and flinched away from Annali's touch, still very deep in his nightmare.

"It's like riding a bike isn't it. You never really forget." The sinister voice was right in his ear, it's tone malevolent and cruel. The claw withdrew and the figure came around to face him.

"Now let's see if I can remember where everything is...." The voice had become almost matter of fact as the black claws that belonged to it suddenly ripped across Dean's stomach.

"Nnurghhh!!!!" This time Dean didn't even try and hold it back. Knew there was no point. Knew there was no way out. No end to this. He had dreamed his escape, the real world, going back to Sam. None of that had been real. There was only this and it would last forever. The realisation hit him hard and the urge to call Sam's name just one last time was too over-powering.

"Sa-!"

It was rudely cut off as the shock of the claws digging into his insides became excruciating, yet familiar pain. Once more in the waking world, he whimpered and squirmed under the blankets, hands clenched tightly into the arms of the recliner.

[The Preceptor]

Annali wondered what kind of horrors this man had faced in his lifetime that would give him nightmares like this. Hell, this didn't even seem like normal nightmares... it seemed more like night terrors that children often got when they were very young... around the age of the children in her class that she held so dear. There were days when she had the children rest their eyes for about fifteen minutes, mostly to give herself a bit of space in the middle of the busy day, and it wasn't uncommon for one of the children to fall asleep from time to time. And every now and then, one of the children would see something awful in their dreams.

Now Annali watched Dean's face and thought about how innocent and vulnerable he looked in this position. Of course, she'd never say this to him. She had kind of gotten the idea that Dean was a bit of a tough guy... had his masculine reputation to uphold and letting him know that he was whimpering like a terrified child in his sleep would be detrimental to keeping that up. Still, Annali had mothering instincts at times like this, and even though Dean was a grown man, it was heartbreaking seeing him in so much psychological pain.

"Dean... Dean!" she said a bit louder, shaking him a bit more vigorously. She wanted to wake him from his sleep without shouting loud enough to alert his younger brother.

[ZZZ - Dean - RETIRED]

He could feel the claws exploring his guts, could hear the squishy noises as some were yanked out and held up for him to see. As each one passed in front of his eyes, glistening with vivid red blood - the same blood that poured from the open wounds and spattered down into the inky abyss below - the stomach churning nausea grew. That was until his stomach was torn clean out leaving him with a hollow, empty sensation in it's wake.

"You've missed this haven't you Dean? The way it feels, how your heart just thunders with the sound of tearing flesh?"

By now, Dean's head was hanging limpy down and he was able to see the devastation reaped on his body. The gaping hole in his belly, entrails hanging out, dangling down and pulling on whatever it was they were still attached to that hadn't already been ripped from him. He couldn't speak anymore, it felt like he wasn't even breathing. There was nothing but pain, pain and more torturous pain.

"Nothing to say Dean?" The claw gripped hold of his hair, dragged his head up to meet the eyes of the thing that had been toying with him.

The thing that looked just like him.

The thing with the black eyes.

The thing that was enjoying this.

"Dean...Dean!"

With a sudden jolt, Dean gasped loudly and jerked awake, his eyes wild and fearful as they tried to focus on where he was. His hands unclenched from the recliner and went immediately to his stomach, fingers now curling into his shirt just to be sure that there was still flesh underneath it. There was some relief in finding himself intact, but still the image of himself being disembowled filled his head, the nausea remaining.