Maybe Someday; Sam Winchester

Chapter Seventy-Four

ONE YEAR AGO

     The sun's rays bothered her, to say the least. Cielo didn't like being woken up, much less by the light. Her eyes remained closed while she woke up, her surroundings becoming clearer and the realization that she was still in the car coming to her as she takes in a deep breath and listens to the Impala's rumble. Sam's low hums cause a warmth to spread through Cielo's chest as she lets her eyes open and turns her head towards him.

     "I've never heard you hum until now," she tells him, her voice hoarse from sleep. He smiles softly, still looking at the road ahead of them before turning to look at her, an eruption of butterflies in her stomach.

     "Never thought you would need to," he tells her, his heart warming as she smiles up at him and sits up straighter.

     "It's nice," she says through a yawn, stretching her arms as far as they would go. She drops her arms and looks out of the window, seeing nothing but the blurred trees and bushes. "Where are we?" She asks, rubbing her eye.

     "Right outside of Kermit, Texas," Sam replies, adjusting his grip on the wheel a little bit. "Anywhere you wanna stop?"

     "Rest stop," Cielo replies, dropping her hand again and letting them rest in her lap. "Maybe a diner."

     Sam chuckles, giving her a nod. "We'll stop here for the night," he says, switching into the lane to get off at the exit.

     "Sounds like a plan, Mr. Winchester," she says, leaning back in the seat, feeling Sam brake as he approaches the end of the road to the stoplight. From what she could see, it was a cozy town. Few stoplights, mostly stop signs and hardly any big industries.

     "Good, Mrs. Winchester," Sam replies with a smile, looking over at her for a minute before the light turned green.

     Only, Cielo gasps, holding out her hand in front of Sam. "Sam, stop!" She cries. He presses on the brake as fast as he could, but there's still a loud thump against the front of the car. The sound alone makes Cielo's stomach drop. What was it? Had to be a dog, I'm certain I saw a dog.

     Sam puts the car into park and turns on the hazard lights before getting out of the driver's side with Cielo following immediately. The girl gapes as she sees the poor dog lying in front of the car, whimpering in pain as red covers the white patches of fur on its arms and stomach. "Oh, my God," Cielo whispers, looking at Sam with wide eyes. "You hit a dog."

     "Uh huh," Sam nods, looking just as horrified as she looked.

     Cielo barely gets a second before she's rushing to the backseat to grab a towel she'd stolen from a motel room ages ago.

⛧

     The time they'd been in Texas for seemed like ages. It felt longer than they'd actually been there for. But eventually, she got tired of living out of a motel. For Pete's sake, they both already got jobs (Sam as a maintenance man for the motel and Cielo found a job at the local coffee shop as a barista), she wondered if they really would be settling there or not.

     Of course, she did not speak her thoughts. Only kept them thoughts as she stroked the top of Riot's head as he laid his head on her lap. Sam walked back and forth in front of her on the phone with the people helping them find Riot a home until he finished the call with a sigh and brought the phone down.

     "Well, the Peterson's are a no-go," Sam informs, putting his phone back in his pocket.

     "What happened?" Cielo asked, still stroking Riot's head softly as she looked up at him.

     "There was evidence of animal cruelty," he says, making her eyes widen and her protectiveness overcoming her as she held Riot a little tighter. She didn't want to give away Riot, but there was no possible way they could take care of a dog when they didn't even know what they were gonna do now. She knew that and so did he. "So, no chance of them getting Riot."

     "Good," Cielo replied. "Riot deserves the best."

     Sam purses his lips in thought, glancing down at the dog in his wife's lap. "Yeah," he agrees, walking over and rubbing the top of Riot's head gently. "Hey, I was thinking..." Cielo looks up at him expectantly, still stroking Riot's head. "Why don't we get a place here? You know, just for us?"

     Cielo raised her eyebrows and thought about their past conversations. She never mentioned wanting to move into a house, she didn't think. She didn't give any signals, and it's not like he can directly read her mind. "Really?" Cielo questions.

     "Yeah," Sam replies. "We have the money to rent a place... I actually found one right by the coffee shop."

     Cielo smiles up at him, the promise of something good— something normal being made right then and there. She wanted her best friends and sister back more than anything and she wouldn't mind hunting, especially if it meant finding them, but if this was hers and Sam's life now, where they wouldn't take on any more cases, then they should at least make something of it. Sam knew how much it meant to her to have a chance at something normal since she had a life almost like his her entire life. He also knew that she longed for something with him.

     This would be their chance and neither of them knew if they would get it again.

⛧

     As Cielo places the plates of dinner for her and Sam, she notices his distress and the sudden panic he had. "Hey," she calls gently, placing her hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

     Sam doesn't reply right away as he pulls the phone down and hangs up the voicemail. He gulps, a million thoughts running through his mind. There was no way that Dean and Diana were back. There couldn't be. There was a year of freedom and they were suddenly back?

     Sam finally looks up at his wife; her stomach flips nervously as he stares up at her.

     "They're back," he tells her quietly.

     "Who?" Cielo asks, her heart pounding against her chest that she's afraid it might burst from her chest. Her face falls in realization at Sam's silence. "No," she whispers.

     "He called," he continues. She knows exactly who Sam's talking about. "They're at Rufus' cabin."

     Cielo lets out a sigh, the silence coming over them both as they both thought to themselves. Eventually, she gives up, putting a hand on her forehead out of stress. "I don't know what to do," she says quietly.

     Sam places his hand over hers on his shoulder and takes it, pressing his lips on her knuckles softly. "Me neither," he whispers, holding onto her hand.