Monday, Jul 17, 2006
Previous chapters can be found here: http://www.fanfiction.net/s/3011743/1/
Lauren was surprised at how lonely she felt after Dean had left to go get Sam. It was like the hole in her heart had just opened up again. She used to love spending time alone. It didn’t matter now, she had to focus. She had three days to try to figure out what the dreams meant. She knew they had to mean something. She spent her time doing research, training, or sitting by the lake, which was the only source of peace that she had. She felt a connection to Angel there somehow, looking out over the water. She’d always wanted to bring Angel there, to where she and Dean had fallen in love, where Angel had been conceived. It seemed right that she would feel closest to Angel here.
She walked back into the house to make something resembling lunch, tripping over the laptop case as she’d walked past the table in the living room and stubbed her toe. Dammit, she cursed silently to herself, stupid case! And that’s when it first happened. The laptop case slid across the floor like she had kicked it, but her foot was nowhere near it when it happened. She stood motionless for a full minute. It’s official; I’ve lost my mind!
Two days later, she was reading and reached for the iced tea she had left on the coffee table, tipping in her chair. She could reach the end of the table, but not the glass. She didn’t feel like getting up and was frustrated. Suddenly, the glass moved across the table to her hand. Of course it ended up on the floor, along with herself and the chair because she was so freaked out by the whole thing that she jumped, the weight shifting in her chair enough to tip it over and dump her on her butt. She’d chalked the other day up to lack of sleep and just not realizing she had kicked the case and convinced herself it hadn’t really happened. This was unmistakable. That glass had really moved. Ok, maybe there is a supernatural force at work here, a presence in the house. But deep inside, she knew that wasn’t the case.
Dean was relieved when he pulled up to the cabin and saw Lauren’s truck sitting there in the drive. He had been a little worried that he would come back and find her gone.
“Lauren,” he said as he entered with Sam on his heels. “We’re back,” he looked around the living room and poked his head in the bedroom. “She’s probably out back,” he said as he started for the back door.
Sam had followed him out. Lauren was sitting on the dock as she always did, staring out at the water with her back to the cabin. Dean wasn’t kidding when he warned me about how thin she is. His eyes went from Lauren’s back to Dean as he caught the slump in Dean’s shoulders after seeing her there.
“Mind if I go talk to her?” Sam asked.
“Go ahead,” Dean said resignedly.
“This has to be a mistake, it can’t be me; I’m not strong enough” Lauren was mumbling quietly and shaking her head as Sam approached. She stopped talking suddenly, with her back still to the cabin. “Hi Sam,” she said.
“Lauren, how did you know it was me?” Sam asked.
Lauren hesitated for a minute, thinking. “I don’t know; I just did.”
“It’s getting cold out Lauren, why don’t you come inside and get warmed up,” Sam said, noting the goose bumps on her arms.
“In a little while,” she answered.
Sam walked around her then, sitting down in front her, sliding his legs under hers so they were like two pairs of scissors, edging closer to her, creating a diamond shape between their two torsos.
“Glad I’m wearing jeans,” Lauren said sarcastically. “When did your legs get so long?”
“You remember this?” Sam said.
“You’re hopeless, you know that Sam?” she said.
“Yeah, but you love me,” he smiled back.
She sighed deeply at the memory of the days when they first met, before he went away to school. Whenever Lauren was upset about something and would clam up, Sam would sit with her like this, and pull her chin up, invading her personal space and giving her that look until she told him all her troubles.
“It’s beautiful out here Lauren; I can’t believe I lived in this town and didn’t know about this place,” Sam said then.
“Yeah, it is. Dean and I used to come out here a lot…” her voice trailed off and she was quiet again. Sam pulled her chin up now and looked her dead in the face, expectantly.
“Good God, you’ve perfected the puppy eyes,” she said after about ten seconds. He smiled then.
“I’m your friend, I always have been,” he said.
She looked away from him then and back at the water. “I know you are Sam.” She took a deep breath. “I talk to her out here a lot,” she said.
Sam nodded. “I know it’s hard Lauren, but…”
“She answers me Sam,” Lauren said suddenly, standing up then and walking to the edge of the dock.
Sam’s brows furrowed. He got up and walked over to stand behind her, quiet and waiting for the rest.
“I’m going insane! I can feel my mind just slipping away Sam,” she said, and Sam put his hands on her shoulders, running them down the length of her arms to rest on his hands on hers. “I don’t know what to do anymore. Something’s happening to me and I don’t know what it is.” She leaned back against him now as silent tears ran down her cheeks.
“You’re not going insane Lauren,” Sam said, squeezing her tight and reassuring her. “You’ve just been through hell.”
Dean looked on from a window inside the cabin, trying to fight the hurt that he felt that Lauren would feel like she could be more comfortable with Sam than with him. Don’t be stupid Dean; at least she’s talking to somebody.
He watched them there for a few minutes, then saw them walking back up the dock toward the house holding hands and had to remind himself what good friends they had become before Dean had gotten involved with her and again after they’d all moved in together, when he’d shut her out and she was hurting so badly about it. Sam might be exactly what she needs right now. When they walked in the door, he could see that she’d been crying. She surprised him by walking up to him and whispering “I’m glad you’re back,” her lips lightly brushing his ear as she got close, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
He looked at her then, curious, as she walked into the kitchen. “You guys must be hungry; I’ll make dinner.”
Dean looked at Sam after she disappeared around the corner. “Well?” he asked.
“She’s a little unsure of herself right now, but I think it’s to be expected,” Sam answered.
Dean started tapping his foot nervously.
“What?” Sam asked.
“Nothing,” Dean replied.
“What?” he asked again.
“It’s just,” he sighed, “I wish…”
“You wish she could talk to you more, not confide in me?” Sam said, striking Dean with how perceptive he was. Dean shrugged.
“She doesn’t feel threatened by me Dean. She just needs a friend, a real friend that she doesn’t feel pressured to give something that she’s not able to give right now,” Sam said matter-of-factly.
“She told you that?” Dean asked; he had done his best not to pressure her.
“No, but she knows how you feel. You guys can pretty much talk to each other without saying a word; it’s like you have this mental connection or something. It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Sam smiled. “I think deep down she wants to reconnect with you, she’s just not really comfortable in her own skin right now Dean.”
A week later they went on their first hunt as a team, a spirit of a teenage girl who had been murdered by her cheating boyfriend after she’d told him she was pregnant. Dean was so worried about where Lauren was that he walked right into a hallway without looking first, checking behind him to see where Lauren had gone off to. The spirit was right there and promptly knocked the gun out of his hand. He heard, “Drop!” from his right as the thing took a swing at him and Sam took it out in one shot.
Lauren walked over to where Dean was on the floor and reached down to help him up. “Dumb ass!” she called behind her as Dean was still dusting himself off.
“Saved your ass again!” Sam smirked as he and Dean fell in behind Lauren on the way to the front door.
“Shut up Sam,” Dean said, more than a little embarrassed.
She was a natural, and with every hunt, a little more of the old Lauren started to show itself. A smile here, a laugh there, mostly when she saved one of the brothers after they did something stupid. This was exactly what she needed.
But the dreams never left. They still haunted her at night. And she still got up each night at 2 am, sweating and scared and unsure of herself. Dean knew she would go somewhere quiet, log into her laptop and sit there until dawn, looking for the next hunt, researching.
They were closer now, starting to rebuild what they had before, but it had been a slow process. It had been nearly eight months since Angel’s death and Lauren was just now able to start to be affectionate with Dean again, mostly in spontaneous moments when she wasn’t really thinking about it. A wink here, a flirty smile there, a kiss every now and then, and the sarcastic comments were flying freely like they used to.
Sam tried not to say anything, afraid of jinxing it for Dean. He was happy again, and Lauren seemed to be getting her self-confidence back. They had brought beer back to the room after finishing up their latest hunt and Lauren hadn’t built her tolerance all the way back up again, so she was a bit tipsy after only two. They been going through their teasing thing again in Sam’s hotel room (they had adjoining rooms this time) while he was trying to catch up on his e-mail.
“Will you two get a room already?” Sam finally said, exasperated.
“We already have one!” Lauren laughed. Dean looked at Sam, cocking his head to one side and half chuckling as he shrugged his shoulders. He’d had more than two at this point and was starting to hit his groove. Lauren stepped through the doorway to the room she and Dean were in, poking her head back through and pointing at Dean with her index finger, crooking it back to motion him into their room with a “come hither” look on her face.
Dean smiled and started to get up, then caught himself. “I couldn’t take advantage of you in this situation,” he said after thinking about it.
“Screw that,” she said, grabbing his arm then. “You need to learn to have a little fun in your life Dean Winchester!” He pulled away long enough to grab two more beers from the fridge, raising his eyebrows at Sam as he allowed Lauren to drag him into the next room again.
“Goodnight Sammy!” he said, winking as he started to close the door behind him, his eyes lit up in the biggest grin Sam had seen since he’d told him Lauren had agreed to marry him. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Damn you Meg for screwing up their lives like that!
“It’s about time!” Sam called after them as he slung a pillow at the doorway, laughing.
A few weeks later, Dean got up one morning to find Lauren sitting at the little coffee table in their motel room, laptop open, rubbing her temples forcefully. The fact that she had quickly switched screens when he sat up in bed had not gone unnoticed.
“Another headache?” he asked, then heard a knock at the door.
“I’m fine,” she answered, getting up to greet Sam as he came over for morning coffee. They got rooms next door to each other these days and Sam always came over as soon as he woke up.
“Hi Sam,” she smiled, standing on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek as she headed out the door. “I’m going for a run,” she called over her shoulder to Dean as she left.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sam asked Dean as he closed the door behind him.
Dean sighed. “She says nothing.”
“That wasn’t a real smile, you guys have a fight?” Sam asked.
“Nope,” Dean answered, “but she’s hiding something. How are your computer skills these days little brother?”
Lauren came back in about an hour dripping sweat. Dean and Sam were sitting at the coffee table in front of the laptop.
“You boys find something for our next job,” she asked, taking the ponytail holder out of her hair.
“Not sure yet,” Dean said. He seemed angry.
“What’s up?” Lauren asked, walking back over to where they were sitting, as Dean turned the laptop screen so that she could see it.
“Mind explaining this?” Dean asked evenly, as the screen revealed an old newspaper article with a picture of a baby wearing an amulet exactly like the one she had given Dean.
Lauren was surprised at how lonely she felt after Dean had left to go get Sam. It was like the hole in her heart had just opened up again. She used to love spending time alone. It didn’t matter now, she had to focus. She had three days to try to figure out what the dreams meant. She knew they had to mean something. She spent her time doing research, training, or sitting by the lake, which was the only source of peace that she had. She felt a connection to Angel there somehow, looking out over the water. She’d always wanted to bring Angel there, to where she and Dean had fallen in love, where Angel had been conceived. It seemed right that she would feel closest to Angel here.
She walked back into the house to make something resembling lunch, tripping over the laptop case as she’d walked past the table in the living room and stubbed her toe. Dammit, she cursed silently to herself, stupid case! And that’s when it first happened. The laptop case slid across the floor like she had kicked it, but her foot was nowhere near it when it happened. She stood motionless for a full minute. It’s official; I’ve lost my mind!
Two days later, she was reading and reached for the iced tea she had left on the coffee table, tipping in her chair. She could reach the end of the table, but not the glass. She didn’t feel like getting up and was frustrated. Suddenly, the glass moved across the table to her hand. Of course it ended up on the floor, along with herself and the chair because she was so freaked out by the whole thing that she jumped, the weight shifting in her chair enough to tip it over and dump her on her butt. She’d chalked the other day up to lack of sleep and just not realizing she had kicked the case and convinced herself it hadn’t really happened. This was unmistakable. That glass had really moved. Ok, maybe there is a supernatural force at work here, a presence in the house. But deep inside, she knew that wasn’t the case.
Dean was relieved when he pulled up to the cabin and saw Lauren’s truck sitting there in the drive. He had been a little worried that he would come back and find her gone.
“Lauren,” he said as he entered with Sam on his heels. “We’re back,” he looked around the living room and poked his head in the bedroom. “She’s probably out back,” he said as he started for the back door.
Sam had followed him out. Lauren was sitting on the dock as she always did, staring out at the water with her back to the cabin. Dean wasn’t kidding when he warned me about how thin she is. His eyes went from Lauren’s back to Dean as he caught the slump in Dean’s shoulders after seeing her there.
“Mind if I go talk to her?” Sam asked.
“Go ahead,” Dean said resignedly.
“This has to be a mistake, it can’t be me; I’m not strong enough” Lauren was mumbling quietly and shaking her head as Sam approached. She stopped talking suddenly, with her back still to the cabin. “Hi Sam,” she said.
“Lauren, how did you know it was me?” Sam asked.
Lauren hesitated for a minute, thinking. “I don’t know; I just did.”
“It’s getting cold out Lauren, why don’t you come inside and get warmed up,” Sam said, noting the goose bumps on her arms.
“In a little while,” she answered.
Sam walked around her then, sitting down in front her, sliding his legs under hers so they were like two pairs of scissors, edging closer to her, creating a diamond shape between their two torsos.
“Glad I’m wearing jeans,” Lauren said sarcastically. “When did your legs get so long?”
“You remember this?” Sam said.
“You’re hopeless, you know that Sam?” she said.
“Yeah, but you love me,” he smiled back.
She sighed deeply at the memory of the days when they first met, before he went away to school. Whenever Lauren was upset about something and would clam up, Sam would sit with her like this, and pull her chin up, invading her personal space and giving her that look until she told him all her troubles.
“It’s beautiful out here Lauren; I can’t believe I lived in this town and didn’t know about this place,” Sam said then.
“Yeah, it is. Dean and I used to come out here a lot…” her voice trailed off and she was quiet again. Sam pulled her chin up now and looked her dead in the face, expectantly.
“Good God, you’ve perfected the puppy eyes,” she said after about ten seconds. He smiled then.
“I’m your friend, I always have been,” he said.
She looked away from him then and back at the water. “I know you are Sam.” She took a deep breath. “I talk to her out here a lot,” she said.
Sam nodded. “I know it’s hard Lauren, but…”
“She answers me Sam,” Lauren said suddenly, standing up then and walking to the edge of the dock.
Sam’s brows furrowed. He got up and walked over to stand behind her, quiet and waiting for the rest.
“I’m going insane! I can feel my mind just slipping away Sam,” she said, and Sam put his hands on her shoulders, running them down the length of her arms to rest on his hands on hers. “I don’t know what to do anymore. Something’s happening to me and I don’t know what it is.” She leaned back against him now as silent tears ran down her cheeks.
“You’re not going insane Lauren,” Sam said, squeezing her tight and reassuring her. “You’ve just been through hell.”
Dean looked on from a window inside the cabin, trying to fight the hurt that he felt that Lauren would feel like she could be more comfortable with Sam than with him. Don’t be stupid Dean; at least she’s talking to somebody.
He watched them there for a few minutes, then saw them walking back up the dock toward the house holding hands and had to remind himself what good friends they had become before Dean had gotten involved with her and again after they’d all moved in together, when he’d shut her out and she was hurting so badly about it. Sam might be exactly what she needs right now. When they walked in the door, he could see that she’d been crying. She surprised him by walking up to him and whispering “I’m glad you’re back,” her lips lightly brushing his ear as she got close, leaving goose bumps in their wake.
He looked at her then, curious, as she walked into the kitchen. “You guys must be hungry; I’ll make dinner.”
Dean looked at Sam after she disappeared around the corner. “Well?” he asked.
“She’s a little unsure of herself right now, but I think it’s to be expected,” Sam answered.
Dean started tapping his foot nervously.
“What?” Sam asked.
“Nothing,” Dean replied.
“What?” he asked again.
“It’s just,” he sighed, “I wish…”
“You wish she could talk to you more, not confide in me?” Sam said, striking Dean with how perceptive he was. Dean shrugged.
“She doesn’t feel threatened by me Dean. She just needs a friend, a real friend that she doesn’t feel pressured to give something that she’s not able to give right now,” Sam said matter-of-factly.
“She told you that?” Dean asked; he had done his best not to pressure her.
“No, but she knows how you feel. You guys can pretty much talk to each other without saying a word; it’s like you have this mental connection or something. It doesn’t go unnoticed,” Sam smiled. “I think deep down she wants to reconnect with you, she’s just not really comfortable in her own skin right now Dean.”
A week later they went on their first hunt as a team, a spirit of a teenage girl who had been murdered by her cheating boyfriend after she’d told him she was pregnant. Dean was so worried about where Lauren was that he walked right into a hallway without looking first, checking behind him to see where Lauren had gone off to. The spirit was right there and promptly knocked the gun out of his hand. He heard, “Drop!” from his right as the thing took a swing at him and Sam took it out in one shot.
Lauren walked over to where Dean was on the floor and reached down to help him up. “Dumb ass!” she called behind her as Dean was still dusting himself off.
“Saved your ass again!” Sam smirked as he and Dean fell in behind Lauren on the way to the front door.
“Shut up Sam,” Dean said, more than a little embarrassed.
She was a natural, and with every hunt, a little more of the old Lauren started to show itself. A smile here, a laugh there, mostly when she saved one of the brothers after they did something stupid. This was exactly what she needed.
But the dreams never left. They still haunted her at night. And she still got up each night at 2 am, sweating and scared and unsure of herself. Dean knew she would go somewhere quiet, log into her laptop and sit there until dawn, looking for the next hunt, researching.
They were closer now, starting to rebuild what they had before, but it had been a slow process. It had been nearly eight months since Angel’s death and Lauren was just now able to start to be affectionate with Dean again, mostly in spontaneous moments when she wasn’t really thinking about it. A wink here, a flirty smile there, a kiss every now and then, and the sarcastic comments were flying freely like they used to.
Sam tried not to say anything, afraid of jinxing it for Dean. He was happy again, and Lauren seemed to be getting her self-confidence back. They had brought beer back to the room after finishing up their latest hunt and Lauren hadn’t built her tolerance all the way back up again, so she was a bit tipsy after only two. They been going through their teasing thing again in Sam’s hotel room (they had adjoining rooms this time) while he was trying to catch up on his e-mail.
“Will you two get a room already?” Sam finally said, exasperated.
“We already have one!” Lauren laughed. Dean looked at Sam, cocking his head to one side and half chuckling as he shrugged his shoulders. He’d had more than two at this point and was starting to hit his groove. Lauren stepped through the doorway to the room she and Dean were in, poking her head back through and pointing at Dean with her index finger, crooking it back to motion him into their room with a “come hither” look on her face.
Dean smiled and started to get up, then caught himself. “I couldn’t take advantage of you in this situation,” he said after thinking about it.
“Screw that,” she said, grabbing his arm then. “You need to learn to have a little fun in your life Dean Winchester!” He pulled away long enough to grab two more beers from the fridge, raising his eyebrows at Sam as he allowed Lauren to drag him into the next room again.
“Goodnight Sammy!” he said, winking as he started to close the door behind him, his eyes lit up in the biggest grin Sam had seen since he’d told him Lauren had agreed to marry him. That seemed like a lifetime ago. Damn you Meg for screwing up their lives like that!
“It’s about time!” Sam called after them as he slung a pillow at the doorway, laughing.
A few weeks later, Dean got up one morning to find Lauren sitting at the little coffee table in their motel room, laptop open, rubbing her temples forcefully. The fact that she had quickly switched screens when he sat up in bed had not gone unnoticed.
“Another headache?” he asked, then heard a knock at the door.
“I’m fine,” she answered, getting up to greet Sam as he came over for morning coffee. They got rooms next door to each other these days and Sam always came over as soon as he woke up.
“Hi Sam,” she smiled, standing on tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek as she headed out the door. “I’m going for a run,” she called over her shoulder to Dean as she left.
“What’s wrong with her?” Sam asked Dean as he closed the door behind him.
Dean sighed. “She says nothing.”
“That wasn’t a real smile, you guys have a fight?” Sam asked.
“Nope,” Dean answered, “but she’s hiding something. How are your computer skills these days little brother?”
Lauren came back in about an hour dripping sweat. Dean and Sam were sitting at the coffee table in front of the laptop.
“You boys find something for our next job,” she asked, taking the ponytail holder out of her hair.
“Not sure yet,” Dean said. He seemed angry.
“What’s up?” Lauren asked, walking back over to where they were sitting, as Dean turned the laptop screen so that she could see it.
“Mind explaining this?” Dean asked evenly, as the screen revealed an old newspaper article with a picture of a baby wearing an amulet exactly like the one she had given Dean.
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Posted Jul 17, 2006 2:36 pm PT
Oooh can't wait to find out what's going on with the amulet. And thank god Dean and Lauren finally made up! Although it isn't going to last again, is it? Gahh.. great stuff, as always! Keep it coming! 
Posted Jul 17, 2006 2:38 pm PT
“Good God, you’ve perfected the puppy eyes,” 
“Dumb ass!” she called behind her as Dean was still dusting himself off.
“Saved your ass again!” Sam smirked as he and Dean fell in behind Lauren on the way to the front door.
“Shut up Sam,” Dean said, more than a little embarrassed.
That little exchange made me laugh.
“I’m going for a run,” she called over her shoulder to Dean as she left.
That's never good.
"Mind explaining this?” Dean asked evenly, as the screen revealed an old newspaper article with a picture of a baby wearing an amulet exactly like the one she had given Dean.
Oh. Sh*t. If you wouldn't have said what was on the screen, I'd have to go through my own screen to slap you! Just kidding. So was the baby Lauren or something? Hmm..this story intrigues me more and more with every chapter. Hooray for normal Lauren!!
“Dumb ass!” she called behind her as Dean was still dusting himself off.
“Saved your ass again!” Sam smirked as he and Dean fell in behind Lauren on the way to the front door.
“Shut up Sam,” Dean said, more than a little embarrassed.
That little exchange made me laugh.
“I’m going for a run,” she called over her shoulder to Dean as she left.
That's never good."Mind explaining this?” Dean asked evenly, as the screen revealed an old newspaper article with a picture of a baby wearing an amulet exactly like the one she had given Dean.
Oh. Sh*t. If you wouldn't have said what was on the screen, I'd have to go through my own screen to slap you! Just kidding. So was the baby Lauren or something? Hmm..this story intrigues me more and more with every chapter. Hooray for normal Lauren!!
Posted Jul 17, 2006 2:39 pm PT
Posted Jul 17, 2006 2:49 pm PT
Sifi, I'm getting there.
Intra, thanks!
Ciara, I love ya girl. Thanks for puffing me up like a "peacock"!
Kat, thank you again for your input, although I forgot to change this: "A smile here, a laugh there, mostly when she saved one of the brothers after they did something stupid." Is that one line ok to stay you think?
Intra, thanks!
Ciara, I love ya girl. Thanks for puffing me up like a "peacock"!
Kat, thank you again for your input, although I forgot to change this: "A smile here, a laugh there, mostly when she saved one of the brothers after they did something stupid." Is that one line ok to stay you think?
Posted Jul 17, 2006 3:02 pm PT
Posted Jul 17, 2006 3:04 pm PT
Another great chapter.
Mmmm...I see a fight ensuing.
Where are you going? Am definitely looking forward to more, and lovin' the ride.
Keep it up.
Mmmm...I see a fight ensuing.
Where are you going? Am definitely looking forward to more, and lovin' the ride.
Keep it up.
Posted Jul 17, 2006 7:02 pm PT
hmmm wonder whats going on with lauren and the baby wearing the amulet, i think i've figured it out but you're full of surprises so i could be wrong! I really can't wait to see where this all ends up. Great chapter as always
Posted Jul 18, 2006 12:14 pm PT
I think I'm doing something and the I figure out that I didn't.. 
Well... fianlly I'm leaving the feedback
I love this story... is like a huge book... and since it's such a loong story I'm starting to mix it up with other fics...
Well... fianlly I'm leaving the feedback I love this story... is like a huge book... and since it's such a loong story I'm starting to mix it up with other fics...
Posted Jul 18, 2006 5:43 pm PT
Sorry beist, some things take time to develop properly... I only hope I am doing a good job at developing it properly.
Posted Jul 18, 2006 6:03 pm PT
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