falling like the stars, sam winchester [ 3 ]

067. morning grouches

"You're back." She mumbles.

"Yeah. Yeah, hey." He whispers.

"It over?" Miranda sleepily mumbles.

"Dean killed Cain. So... that's over." Sam quietly says. "Serena's awake, I'm gonna get her some breakfast."

"No. No, I can do it. You should get some sleep." Miranda insists.

"No. No, it's okay, I got it." Sam says. "Daddy/daughter time doesn't sound too bad right now."

"You sure?" Miranda asks.

"Yeah. I got her." Sam assures. "Besides, she has your morning grouchiness and we don't need you getting into a fight with a four year old." He smirks. Miranda rolls her eyes, lightly smacking him in the chest making him laugh. Sam kisses her on the forehead. "Go back to sleep. Love you."

"Love you." She mumbles, drifting back to sleep.

+++

Sam hangs up his phone as Dean walks into the library.

"Hey. How did you sleep?" Sam asks.

"Like a drunk baby. What do we got?" Dean asks.

"Uh, nothing." Sam says.

"Really?" Dean asks.

"Yeah, I mean, uh, no weird deaths, no demon signs. There's a kitsune working some truck stops outside of Boise, but Rudy's on it, so..." Sam shrugs.

"All right. So, uh, snow day. I say we get drunk and shoot crap." Dean says.

"Yeah, except we do that every day. Actually, I was thinking about seeing a movie." Sam says. Miranda knows of his plan to secretly help Dean. She agreed to not blow his cover, but she also opted to stay home, insisting they shouldn't bring the children anywhere possibly dangerous.

"Yeah, that would be cool." Dean says.

"It's a French movie." Sam says.

"You mean like nudie French?"

"Even better. It's about a mime that's secretly a cockroach."

"I-I don't get it." Dean says.

"Dude, the New York Times said--"

"Who cares?" Dean cuts his brother off.

"All right, well... it's playing in Wichita, so I might not be back till morning." Sam says.

"Well, I trust you. Make good choices."

"Right. You know, I mean... I don't have to go alone--"

"It's fine. Besides, I could use a little "me" time."

"All right. Stay out of my room."

"Totally."

+++

"Crowley told me. Or rather Rowena told him after she tried and failed to kill me." Dean says as Miranda walks into the library.

"What the hell happened?" Sam asks.

"The Mark protected me. Rowena doesn't really have a beef with me. She was pissed at Crowley because she thinks he's going soft." Dean says.

"She's not wrong." Sam says.

"Yeah, well, after he and mommy dearest got into a fight--"

"Mommy dearest?"

"Rowena is Crowley's mother." Dean informs, the couple sharing shocked looks. "More about that later. So, then he came and told me what she had said. The Mark is an actual curse. So, anyway, I'm sorry. I probably should've told you that."