canon au } { post-1401, of sleeplessness and complicated lives

[enjoythe_ride]

Michael: [After getting a call from her son on their way back to the bunker saying that her husband was a) not sleeping and b) basically declaring himself King of Hell, she diverted whatever she was originally doing to drive back. She arrives, says hello to Bobby and Mary, and makes her way through to the room where Sam and Michael usually set up for their research. Michael looks up at the sound of her heels, nods to her, then clears his throat to get Sam's attention]

Sam: [is typing with one hand, the other holding a beer against his cheek. He's absorbed in his work and doesn't look up at the heels, but Michael gets his attention and he looks up at his son, then sees his wife hovering in the background] Bela?

Bela: Hello. You look terrible. [she says with love] Both of you. [because Michael's got a few scrapes and bruises of his own]

Michael: Nice to see you too, Mom. [he packs up his computer] I'm going to Molly's.

Sam: Yeah, we had a quick rescue mission. You should see the other guys. [flashes her a brief smile before looking back at his computer.] Tell Molly hello from me, and thank her for the trays of lasagna the other day.

Michael: Will do. [gives Bela a kiss on the cheek and out the door he goes]

Bela: [moves closer and and sets a hand on his shoulder] You need to sleep.

Sam: I will, after I finish this. [instantly leans into her touch]

Bela: And what is this?

Sam: Notes from Ketch on his assignment in London. And an email from Liv on how she's doing.

Bela: How is she doing?

Sam: I'm pretty sure the Masons have all but adopted her into the family.

Bela: That's good, isn't it? Are they asking to meet her family yet?

Sam: Her last email asked about if we want to go out there for Thanksgiving. I told her it would depend on if we find her uncle or not.

Bela: It shouldn't.

Sam: [looks up at her] She'll want Dean there, I'm sure.

Bela: Dean should be the mini-step between this Thanksgiving and taking her to Buffy's Thanksgiving. Do you really want to throw those poor people into the deep end of the Winchester clan all at once?

Sam: [chuckles] Hal survived.

Bela: Hal met us first before that happened. [pauses to lean against the table next to him] It should be you and me, maybe Michael at first and then ... work our way up to Dean.

Sam: [sighs, rubbing at his eyes] Yeah, okay. [still getting used to Bela embracing the mother lifestyle as well]

Bela: [it's not so much being motherly as ... knowing that Dean wasn't socialized like a normal person. She reaches over and closes his laptop gently, before taking his hand] The notes will still be there in the morning. You should come to bed.

Sam: [he is about to utter another excuse as to why he needs to work, but his own body betrays him as he yawns] Just a nap.

Bela: [she nods. Sure. Just a nap. An at least 8 hour nap. but she will pull him to their room and start to kick off her shoes and change into something more bed appropriate]

Sam: [and he will strip, trying not to groan at the sore muscles and bruises he knows he earned while rescuing Cas. He has a pair of sweatpants somewhere, but he had been falling asleep in his clothes for awhile now he wasn't even sure where it was.]

Bela: [will hand them over when she finds them, before sliding into bed under the covers]

Sam: Thanks. [and he will pull them on and lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. Thinking]

Bela: [shifts to curl up closer] What's wrong?

Sam: I'm just worried.

Bela: About your brother?

Sam: Yeah. And Jack. Mom. Ben, who I'm pretty sure would be scorching the earth looking for Dean if I stop finding things for him to help me with...

Bela: Jack will be fine. He's human not broken. So will Dean and so will your mother. And it seems as though there's plenty to do to keep Ben busy.

Sam: Jack isn't fine. He feels useless. He wanted to come along today and I let him so he felt he was contributing. All it ended up doing was having him fail to protect himself and have that reality pounded into his face.

Bela: I said will be, not is. [she sighs] He has to adjust, just like everyone else. it will take time, but he will recover. And he'll learn that there are other things he can do.

Sam: But you didn't see his face. I'm worried that he doesn't understand how much time it will take.

Bela: Even if he doesn't, you can't make him understand it either. If anything, maybe the beating will help drive that home.

Sam: I have a bad feeling though in my gut.

Bela: Not to dismiss your gut, but your life tends to be full of terrible things.

Sam: [and he'll shift to lay on his side to look at her] Not everything.

Bela: [smiles softly] I didn't say everything. I just said there's a lot of them.

Sam: Yeah, starting right when I was six months old and going on forever.

Bela: [reaches up a hand to brush against his temple] Those things are not your fault.

Sam: Only up to a certain point.

Bela: Fine, you've also made some terrible choices, but haven't we all?

Sam: Yeah.

Bela: You've also had to make choices no person should have to make. You did the best you could.

Sam: I know. [but he still thinks that things would be better if he had never come back to life after jumping into the cage]

Bela: [yes, but if he hadn't, she would still be in hell with him] You need to rest. Things will look slightly less dire in the morning.

Sam: Doubt it. [reaches over to stroke her face] But at least I'll have you.

Bela: That is true. I'm not going anywhere.

Sam: Good. I've missed you.

Bela: I've missed you too.

Sam: [and he's going to shift closer, kissing her as a proper welcome home]

Bela: [mmmm. this is much better than how she was initially greeted]

Sam: [of course, Sam starts to drift off since his eyes are closed while kissing her. Yeah, it's been at least three days since he's slept]

Bela: [that's alright. as long as he sleeps, she won't mind. Once he's out, she kisses his forehead, before curling up and passing out herself]