Fools Rush In [Sam]

[Deleted]

DEAN WINCHESTER

Driving all night was never fun. It was something that was sometimes necessary, if they were trying to haul ass to a job on a life or death deadline, or – sometimes in Dean’s case – if he needed a few endless stretches of asphalt and a few hours of Zeppelin on the radio to clear his head. Sometimes Sam complained. Other times he pulled out his laptop and kept himself busy.

Sometimes he slept.

Dean glanced over at his brother in the passenger seat. His head was lolling to one side against the seat. His eyes were closed and his mouth was hanging open. No matter what the seat adjustment, Sam always seemed to look awkward crammed into the Impala’s passenger side. There never seemed to be enough room for his legs. Now that Dean thought about it, maybe there wasn’t. That was the bitch of a bench seat. Too far up and Sam’s knees were in the dashboard. Too far back and Dean couldn’t reach the pedals without some go-go Gadget legs.

He took a long sip from his coffee cup, draining the last of its contents. The sky was black. Not a star in sight. He’d heard you couldn’t see the stars in these parts. Something to do with the lights.

Dean grinned as he passed a sign telling him the next exit would lead to their destination. He was almost giddy with anticipation. Sam would want to kill him, of course, but he’d lighten up once they started having fun. He always did. Dean switched on his directional and eased onto the off-ramp.

It seemed like ever since they’d rained on Lucifer’s parade they’d been hunting non-stop. In some ways, Dean found it refreshing in a nostalgic kind of way. They were back to basics: saving people, hunting things. For once there didn’t seem to be an apocalypse staring them in the face at the end of the road. But, they were tired. There was no question about that. The way Dean saw it, they deserved a little vacation.

When they got to the main drag, the street lined with cars and lights, Dean reached over to smack Sam in the chest.

“Wake up, Sammy.”

He glanced over at his brother with a smile. It had to be one in the morning. He’d told Sam he’d wake him in the morning when they got to their next stop. Of course, he hadn’t planned this little vacation until he’d seen Vegas on the map between points A and B.

“Welcome to Vegas, dude.”

Dean peered through the windshield as he drove along. He would’ve loved to stop at one of those casinos right off the bat, but he needed to keep his head on straight long enough to find them a hotel room.

[Sam Winchester (NPC)]

[dropcap]S[/dropcap]am was dreaming. It was a weird, twisted dream of course. What other kind of dream was there for someone like him? After all he's seen and done, 'normal' was just not a part of his life. Not even in his dreams. The dream faded away as he felt a thump on his chest. He woke up with a start and the details of the dream faded away. Leaving him with a strange sense of something odd, but nothing more specific.

"What, huh?"

Blinking as he sat up in the seat and looked around. He rubbed a hand over his face to try and wake himself up and covertly erase any traces of drool. Not that there was any, but just in case.

"Where are we? Vegas? What the hell are we doing here? I thought we were going to Phoenix or something."

Sam stared out at the bright lights. It was crazy. So many lights were flashing all around them that the only way you could tell it was night time was because of all the lights. This was not going to end well, he could just feel it.

"Dude, seriously? I thought we had a job. We don't have time for this."

It shouldn't have surprised Sam though. This is exactly something he should have expected from his brother. Vegas was like a giant cookie waved in front of the Cookie Monster, only with more lights and half-naked show girls. The place was like a beacon calling to Dean. No way they could have gotten within 500 miles of the place without it sucking the older Winchester into it's grasp.

Sam let out a long sigh. He knew this was not an arguement he was going to win. It wasn't even worth it to try. So, he swallowed down any further protests and resigned himself to the little side trip Dean had decided they needed.

"Can we find a place to stay? Maybe get some sleep, it's like one o'clock in the morning. Can we get off the strip at least?"

Rolling his head around on his neck, he felt the muscles stretch out and the bones, crackle and pop as the tension released. Then he let himself lean back and sink into the back of the seat. Friggin' Las Vegas. What the hell kind of trouble were they going to get into here?

[Deleted]

Dean chuckled as Sam sat up, disoriented and sleepy. He’d be confused, for sure, and his first instinct would probably be to protest. Dean had come to expect that. It was in Sam’s nature: Fun? No, we should be doing something serious. At least, that was how Dean saw him.

“Where are we? Vegas? What the hell are we doing here? I thought we were going to Phoenix or something.”

Dean glanced over at Sam before turning his attention back to the road.

“Sammy, it’s Vegas,” he said.

As if that should explain his entire reasoning behind the impromptu trip.

“The land of gambling, drive-thru weddings, and legalized prostitution.”

He smiled and winked. Prostitution wasn’t exactly Sam’s thing – or Dean’s either, for that matter. But it was nice to know the option was on the table.

“Dude, seriously? I thought we had a job. We don't have time for this.”

Dean rolled his eyes.

“We always have a job, Sam. When do we ever have time for anything fun? We gotta make time, dude. Cut loose a little. We’re gonna get all worn out and sloppy.”

That was always tricky: knowing when to step back and take a break. Sam had his way of doing it – though Dean didn’t condone whatever his brother did with Ruby in his spare time, it did seem to keep Sam from getting all cranky and wound up. It didn’t mean it was right, just that it was Sam’s way of blowing off steam. Dean drank, which was a good way to forget he was a hunter for a little while, but it definitely wasn’t a permanent solution. Crap caught up with him after a while. Dean found if he got too sucked into the job and didn’t take a step back and remember to take care of himself once in a while, he got sloppy, less sharp. Taking time off was a good thing, even if it wasn’t always convenient.

“Can we find a place to stay? Maybe get some sleep, it's like one o'clock in the morning. Can we get off the strip at least?”

Dean frowned. He’d been hoping they could jump right into things, maybe play some craps or something. But, he had just dropped a bomb on Sam after a surprise wake up call in the form of a smack, so he had to cut the guy a little slack. Dean nodded.

“Yeah. Keep an eye out for a hotel we can pull into,” he said. “Haven’t seen one yet. I’ve been a little busy looking at all the lights. Dude, who needs this many lights? I wonder what that place’s electric bill looks like.”

He pointed through the windshield to what looked like a club with a huge, flashing sign and blinking lights all around the doorway.