Work Text:
Bang. Bang. Bang.
“Coming, coming!” Sam pulled t-shirt over his head as he trotted to the front door. He’d been getting ready for bed when the insistent knocking started.
The door swung open to a very nervous young man in a Wong’s delivery uniform. Sam recognized him from the few times he ordered from them.
“Hey, its Garth, right?”
“Yeah,” he shifted on his feet, his eyes round with worry, “You’re a doctor, aren’t you?”
Sam’s instantly shifted into his professional mode. He was currently an attending at Lawrence General Hospital, having just moved back a year ago from L.A. It had been an adjustment, but a welcome one. Big city life didn’t suit Sam at all.
“I am. What’s going on?’
“I was dropping off an order down the hall to the lady in 302 and I heard this thud behind the door and now I can’t get her to answer. I think something’s wrong.”
Sam was already grabbing his medical bag, “Show me.”
302. He knew the woman who lived there. More or less. They kept running into each other. He first discovered her fighting with the soap dispenser in the laundry room. Then again when she locked herself out of the building during a thunderstorm. And then last week when the elevator got stuck between floors. He always seemed to be wandering by when she needed a rescue. She was funny, smart, accident prone, and completely adorable.
Sam had been working up the courage to ask her out, but something always seemed to crop up. An extra shift at the hospital or a birthday party for a colleague. He knew it was an excuse. For all of his professional success, Sam was, and always had been, extremely shy.
“Y/N?” He knocked loudly on the closed door, then tried the handle and found it locked.
“Alright, stand back,” he said to Garth. In one powerful move, Sam kicked the door in, the heel of his foot landing in just the right spot to splinter the doorjamb.
“Damn,” Garth blew out an impressed breath, “You aren’t even wearing shoes.”
You were laying in the foyer. Curled on your side with your hair spread out like a halo. A wallet sat a few inches away from outstretched fingers.
Sam was at your side in an instant, gingerly turning you over and searching for a pulse, “Y/N? Can you hear me?”
Garth hovered nearby, nerves in his voice, “Is she okay?”
Sam ran a hand over your forehead, “She’s burning up. Go see if you can find a washcloth and a glass of water.”
His worry only grew when he carried you to the couch and you still didn’t come to. He held your limp body up with one hand while he worked your hoodie off with the other, leaving you in a tank top and yoga pants. He’d strip that off you too, if he had to. Every inch of bare skin he touched felt like it was on fire!
“Why isn’t she waking up?” Garth asked handing Sam a kitchen towel.
“Dehydration. With a fever this high, it can happen quick.” Sam dipped the towel in the water filled coffee mug and bathed your face and neck. Sure enough, his efforts were rewarded.
You groaned, even that soft sound reverberated through your pounding head. Everything hurt and all you wanted was to slip back into the blankness of sleep. But it was so noisy! Someone kept talking, like the parents in a Snoopy cartoon. Unintelligible, insistent, and so annoying!
Sam gently tapped your cheeks, “Y/N. Come on, darlin. Open your eyes for me.”
With a bit of coaxing, you did as he asked. Everything around you swirled and slowly came into focus. Your head felt heavy and fell to the side, Sam was there and smiled down at you. As a reflex, you smiled back before your fevered brain could catch up and tell you who you were looking at.
“Hey… it’s my hero.”
Sam chuckled in relief, “Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty.”
“You’re here. That’s so nice… why are you here?”
“You passed out,” he replied, pressing the cool cloth to your brow. “Do you remember what happened?”
You tried to search your memory, but everything was so fuzzy! “Um, I came home from work… I was sick. Felt really bad. Everything hurt. Achy and cold. Headache. Then I ordered soup from the place down on Main Street. I dunno…I feel a little out of it.”
There was a blood pressure cuff wrapped around your bicep that was inflating. Where did that come from? Sam was doing that doctor thing where they listen to you talk while taking vitals at the same time.
How did doctors do that? Did they teach that in med school? It seemed especially confusing to you as your thoughts kept skipping away and going down rabbit holes.
Cool fingers felt under your jaw, pressing against swollen lymph nodes. He always had such a gentleness about him. Such grace. Surprising for a man of his size, but he seemed to take such care with you. Like you were the most rare, delicate creature in the world.
Last week when you found yourself stuck in the elevator, it was Sam who answered your call. He muscled open the doors single handed and lifted you up though the opening without breaking a sweat. You were more than a little awe struck by his display of strength and chivalry. If you’d had half a brain, you’d have invited him for coffee as a thank you. As it was, you were preoccupied with being late to work. A sadly missed opportunity with your handsome neighbor.
“You came home from work, was that last night?”
“Um, yeah. Yes. As if Mondays aren’t sucky enough.”
Sam’s eyebrows rose, “That was two days ago.”
“What?”
“Today’s Wednesday.”
That information had you on the move. You sat straight up and instantly went white. The room titled and if it weren’t for Sam’s hands steadying your shoulders, you probably would have slid right off the couch.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast,” Sam advised, forcing you to recline.
“I gotta go call work… or… somebody.”
“The only place you are going is to the E.R.”
“No, I can’t go to the hospital.”
“Y/N, listen to me. You’re dehydrated to the point that you fainted. Your fever is 103, that’s dangerous territory.”
Sam tried to be stern, but he just didn’t have it in him. You looked so pitiful with your hair sticking to the sweat slick skin and the dark smudges under your eyes. You were desperately sick and he wasn’t going to simply leave you without treatment.
“I know a lot of people are scared of the doctor, but I promise I’ll be right there with you.”
You swallowed, wincing at the feeling of knives in your throat. “I’m not scared, I’m uninsured. My job is new, benefits don’t kick in for thirty days.”
Garth piped up, “You’re a doctor, can’t you just prescribe something and treat her here?”
“It’s not that simple. She needs to be admitted so they can get an I.V. going and get some fluids into her system. And bring that fever under control.”
He felt your head loll against him. He looked down in alarm and found you’d lost consciousness again.
“Y/N? Wake up, Y/N!”
This time no amount of effort would bring you around.
“Damn it,” Sam growled as he got to his feet. He grabbed a notepad from your entry table and scribbled a list down. “Do you know that walk-in clinic on 42nd street?”
Garth followed him, “Yeah, I pass it on my way to work.”
“Great. My brother is on call there tonight, go in and ask for Dean. Tell him it’s for me, he’ll help you.” Sam tore off the list and thrust it into Garth’s hand, “Get everything and hurry!”
Garth shoved the paper in his pocket, “What if they don’t believe me? That clinic isn’t in the best part of town, junkies hassle them all the time.”
“Dean will believe you but in case he doesn’t say Poughkeepsie. It’s our go word, means drop everything.”
“A secret code word, you guys must be brothers,” Garth muttered on his way out the door.
You woke feeling warm. Bundled up in something soft and secure. Your eyes stayed closed as you enjoyed the luxurious feeling. Most mornings you woke up stiff with your muscles complaining about the ancient futon you had yet to replace. It was left over from college and the wood slats dug into your hips, but moving to a new town was expensive! Anything like a proper mattress would have to wait until you had a few more paychecks under your belt.
You stretched a bit, content to roll over and fall back into your dreams, but something tugged on your hand and pinched. You frowned and tried again; it was like you were caught in a fishing net.
“What the hell…?” You grumbled unhappily, determined to keep your eyes closed out of stubbornness. You blindly felt around and found a tube and tape attached to your right hand.
Your eyes popped open. An I.V.?
You weren’t in your bed. You weren’t in your room! Where the hell were you?
The dimensions matched your bedroom, but it wasn’t bare bones like yours. This one was painted a lovely smoke grey. Bookshelves lined one wall and a mahogany dresser matched it on the other. The bed was the biggest you’d ever seen. The headboard was massive and intricately carved. The mattress was firm but yielding.
The bedside table housed bottles of medication, a stethoscope, a digital thermometer, and a glass of water. You remembered being sick. Sicker than you’d ever felt. You remembered your boss sending you home then… nothing. Just a blur.
You sat up slowly. When the room didn’t spin, you decided to press your luck. You pulled back the covers enough to dangle your feet over the edge. Your toes found plush carpet. You felt weak, but not dizzy. And you were cold without the blankets. Looking down you found bare legs. You were wearing only your tank top and Wonder Woman underwear.
Fuck. Where the hell are my clothes?!
With a quick yank, you pulled the I.V. out and headed for the door.
“Yeah, Dean I know. If I promise to wash and wax your car, will you get off my case?”
“No way in hell you are waxing my Baby, do I need to remind you about Liza Raffaella in the eighth grade?”
“Please don’t,” Sam groaned into the phone.
“It’s wax on, wax off. Not wax on, go chat up a nerd girl for three hours while the wax bakes on in the sun!”
“Sam?”
Sam spun at the raspy voice behind him. You were standing in the hall, your hand braced against the wall for balance. You looked a little wobbly, but far better than you had in hours.
“I gotta go,” he told his brother before ending the call. “Y/N, hey. How you feeling?”
“Confused. How did I get here and where are my clothes?”
“Oh!” Sam’s cheeks colored instantly as he grabbed a soft, woven throw from the back of an over-sized chair. He draped it over your shoulders and ushered you to the sofa.
“Sorry about that, your fever was sky high. Needed to bring it down in a hurry. Here, sit.”
You sank down onto a couch that was just as comfortable as the bed you’d woken up in. Sam disappeared into the kitchen then returned with a glass of ginger ale and some crackers. He was rattling off something about Chinese takeout and your pants being in the laundry. All the while he was fussing over you. His long fingers found the pulse point on your wrist, and he produced a pen light from somewhere to check your pupils.
After a few minutes, he realized you were staring at him, “Y/N?”
“Sam, grateful that I am for your hospitality and bedside manner… I still don’t understand why I’m here.”
“Well, I figured it would be a better place for you to recover… with all the construction.”
Now you were really confused, “Construction?”
Sam rubbed the back of his neck and embarrassment turned his ears pink, “Yeah. I ah… I kinda broke down your door.”
“What?!”
“You weren’t answering! I just had a really bad feeling, and I would never have forgiven myself if something happened to you.”
His gaze traveled your face then locked on your eyes. “I was worried about you.”
You looked at him, really looked. He was beautiful, as he always was, but there was an edge of exhaustion to his features. His five o’clock shadow was darker than you’d ever seen it. The fine lines around his eyes and lips were etched deeper and his hazel eyes were slightly red. Even his enviable hair was disheveled.
“So, you committed destruction of property to save my life?”
“I did.” He gave a nod, his tone teasing, “You gonna turn me in?”
A small smile played around your lips, “Nah. I might need your services again. I have a habit of getting into trouble. Nice to know I’ve got my own personal hero on call.”
“You call, I’ll come running.”
Two Years Later:
“That was not our first date!”
“We spent the entire weekend curled up in my bed, it counts.”
“I was unconscious!”
“Not the whole time,” Sam countered, threading his fingers through yours, “Sometimes you’d wake up. Of course, you were delirious. You did have some of the most creative fever dreams… what was that one about the Catholic church hiding the existence of extra-terrestrials by dressing them up like the clergy?”
“They were hiding dinosaurs, not aliens. Tiny dinosaurs under their creepy old lady robes. And still, not a date. I think you’ll find most dating experts would agree with me on this.”
“Dating experts?”
“Your brother.”
Sam huffed out a laugh, “Don’t be fooled by the rumors, he’s not the Casanova everyone thinks he is.”
“I dunno, guy gets a lot of dates.”
“First dates. Ask him about his batting average for second dates.”
“Oh yeah? Got him beat, do you?”
“Hands down.”
Sam curled a finger under your chin and brought his lips down to meet yours. You hummed happily as an electric spark zinged all the way down to your toes. It was crazy that even after two years he still managed to excite you with just a touch, or a look. You never had to doubt his feelings for you, he wore them openly and proudly. He never missed the opportunity to hold your hand in the grocery store or to wrap his arm around your shoulders at the movies. A kiss to the temple, a hand at the small of your back. Every touch was filled with the warmth of the sun on a summer’s day. Every night was filled with the heat and passion of desire that could never be sated.
You leaned into Sam’s side as he guided the two of you down the winding path that cut through the willows. “So, tell me Doctor Winchester, why haven’t I been to your family’s estate before?”
“I wouldn’t call it an estate, it’s just a few acres.”
“I don’t care if it’s a patch of dead grass… you have horses! Horses, Sam! I’ve wanted to go horseback riding since I was ten.”
“We might be able to squeeze in a lesson for you before we head home.”
“Really?!”
“I’ll bet you’re a natural, you’re already an expert with a riding crop,” he whispered in your ear.
“Sam!” You admonished him, instantly turning red, “That was a one time!”
“Best birthday ever. And to answer your question; you haven’t been here before because I was waiting.”
The path curved and opened up to a decent sized pond. A dock jutted out onto the clear, still waters and ended in an elaborate gazebo. Painted a picturesque white and topped with a copper finial, hundreds of tiny fairy lights hung from the rafters glittering with magic and romance.
“Oh wow,” you breathed, following Sam down the planks. “This is like something out of a book. God, it’s beautiful!”
“My parents built this place from the ground up. Mom had this vision in her head about a pond where she could come and watch ducks. Teach her kids to swim and fish. So, one summer, Dad started digging. I don’t think he even had a plan, all the neighbors thought he was crazy! But he was stubborn and determined. And he loved my mom more than anything.”
You walked out to the end of the platform and leaned out on the railing. Dragonflies danced along the surface of the water as the sun began to set and the crickets started to sing. “He did a great job. Did he build the gazebo too?”
“Anniversary present,” he confirmed, joining you by the railing. “This was my favorite spot when I was a kid. Dean loved the garage, hanging with Dad and tearing apart trucks with the radio blasting. I couldn’t stand the noise, so I’d come out here. Even in the winter.”
Suddenly, a swan flew down and landed in the middle of the water. Graceful and noble, it glided across the water sending the slightest of ripples out in its wake. As it turned, you could see a single black feather against the white of its tail.
“Oh! I’ve never seen a swan with one black feather.”
“He’s always had it, never could figure out why. He showed up when I was ten and just never left. I call him Solomon.”
“Is it just him? I thought swans always paired up?”
“Well, that’s the thing, they do have mates for life, but he showed up alone. And I know it sounds silly, but he was mopey. He didn’t take a lot of interest in anything; he didn’t interact with the ducks or even pay any attention to me when I tried to feed him. He was sad. Some animals grieve and I think he was grieving for his lost mate.”
“Poor guy,” you murmured, watching as Sam took a packet of birdseed from his pocket and tossed a bit out on the water.
“When I left for college, Solomon migrated and didn’t come back in the spring. I thought I’d seen the last of him, but then I got a call from Mom this past summer. He was back and he brought someone with him.”
As if on cue, a second swan swooped down and landed beside Solomon. Pure white and just as lovely. They looked like a postcard, gliding on the sunlit water.
“You’re kidding! He found another mate? I didn’t know swans would do that!”
“Some do, special cases. And Solomon’s no fool, he might have been content to be alone forever, but when that right one came along, he snapped her up.”
“That’s amazing!” You turned to Sam with a beaming grin, but stopped short when you realized he wasn’t standing there beside you. He was kneeling.
“Sam.”
He took both of your hands in his, tipping his face back to gaze up at you with such tenderness and devotion it made your breath catch.
“I’ve been thinking about this moment for a long time. I knew what I wanted to do and how I wanted it to look, but the words never came. Everything I wrote seemed inadequate. Even the word love falls short. It’s not enough, it’s not big enough. Being with you is a revelation, Y/N. You call me your hero, but baby… it’s the other way around. You rescued me.”
Tears had already gathered in your eyes when he pulled out a blue velvet box. A diamond solitaire sparkled inside like a star in the sky.
“I don’t know if I’ll ever have the words, but I swear to show you. To treasure you, to make your happiness my mission. To answer your call and to love you for all my days.”
You dropped down to your knees and tackled him. Your arms flung around his neck, nearly knocking him over in your enthusiasm. He caught you with a laugh and kept the two of you from tumbling off into the water. You kissed every square inch of the face you’d loved since he first rescued you. And you laughed. Joy bubbled up from your heart like effervescent Champagne.
“You astonishing,” Kiss. “Brilliant,” kiss. “Romantic,” kiss, kiss. “Beautiful,” kiss, kiss, kiss.
“Y/N… baby…”
“Yes?” Kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss.
His hands wrapped around your shoulders and pulled you back slightly so he could look into your eyes. He traced the curve of your face, fondly tucking your hair behind your ear. You were always moving, always racing towards everything in life. It was something he loved about you, your exuberance. Your passion! You burned so bright, his light even on the darkest days.
“Will you marry me?”
Your brow creased in confusion before you realized, he didn’t actually say the words a moment ago. You been so excited that he never got the chance.
“Yes,” you nodded, your forehead coming to rest against his. “Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Sam slipped the ring onto your finger, “Will you look at that? Perfect fit.”
“Guess that means you’re stuck with me now.” You shifted so that you were sitting in his lap, your hand cupped his jaw, “I should tell you up front that I tend to get into trouble, there’s a good chance that you’ll be required to rescue me from time to time.”
“Good thing rescuing you is my second favorite activity.”
“Second favorite?”
“Yeah,” he murmured against the curve of your neck, “Let me show you the front runner.”
Before long, Sam had swept you away in a haze with his deft fingers and clever tongue. The title of Hero that you bestowed on him became a running joke through the years and then a loving nickname. But that didn’t make it any less true. He’d always been a hero, and now he was yours.