Summary: Sam and Dean were used to not being thanked for their job. They were hunters, it came with the gig. It was a cycle of killing things and moving on, and the people they saved would move on and forget as well. But when they stumble across a certain hotel, they find that this might not be so after all, and that some people just want the chance to say thank you. One-Shot. Outsiders POV
Hi everyone! So this is just a one-shot set somewhere after 7x11. It is from an outsider POV. I'd like to thank my awesome beta Skylark22155 for helping out with the story.
"Can we get a room?" said the older balding man across the counter from me, making a sideways glance at the scarcely dressed women with too much make-up on standing next to him.
"Of course, two queens or a king?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
"A king, just for the night," the man answered handing me a credit card. I took the card, trying my best not to roll my eyes when I spotted the wedding ring on his finger. It didn't take a genius to figure out that the woman standing next to him was defiantly not his wife.
"Thank you sir, here is your receipt and your room key. Checkout is by 11 o'clock tomorrow morning. Have a nice day. "
The man hardly gave me a second glance as he turned and left the office. His lady friend trailed behind him as they went back out into the blazing heat of the setting sun.
I hated the hot weather, the feeling of sweat running down my back, making my clothes stick to me. I especially hated it when the air conditioner decided to break down and a crappy box fan stuck in the window was the only form of ventilation in my small hotel office.
I turned back to the book I was reading before the man came in, silently cursing the ugly scars on my arms that forced me to wear long sleeves. The scars that were always there to remind me not only of the horrors I was lucky enough to live through, but the ones that most people only believed to live in nightmares.
It had been a pretty slow day here at the Vagabond Motel that me and my husband, Scott, own.
Scott was currently out on a supply run, and wasn't due back for another hour or so. He doesn't like leaving me alone for very long. He tends to be a bit over-protective toward me, but I can't really blame him. He has scares of his own, just not as visible as mine were.
The low rumble of a car engine from outside made me look up from my book. A shinny black car had just pulled into the parking lot. I didn't know much about cars, but this car was beautiful, obviously a classic. I could see that there were two young men inside as they drove past the office. They parked at the far end of the lot, both hoping out immediately. The passenger headed to the back of the car and opened the trunk, while the driver started toward me.
The first thing that I noticed was that they didn't seem like our normal customer. They weren't a family on a road trip or two people looking for a place to hook up. The driver walked with too much swagger to be a business man and they didn't seem like the type interested in the toy train show that was in town. I just hoped they weren't going to be trouble.
Just in case, I checked that the taser Scott insisted I have was still tucked in the cubby just under the desk for easy access. Gosh, I think some of Scott's paranoia was rubbing off on me.
As the driver entered the office I noticed that he too wore long sleeves. This made me frown. Why on earth would someone where sleeves on a hot day like this if they didn't have to? I was about to start melting.
The sound of the man clearing his throat pulled me from my musings.
"I'm sorry", I said glancing down as I felt my cheeks get red. "How can I help y-" the last word got stuck in my throat when I looked up and saw his eyes.
To anyone else I'm sure they would have just seen a pair of handsome green eyes, but to me I saw what lay underneath. I saw the same haunted look deep inside that I saw when I looked in the mirror, only tenfold. Little things about these men that I would only notice if I was looking for them clicked into place.
These men were hunters.
The sleeves he was wearing were probably there for the exact same reason mine were.
I'd mistaken a couple of combat veterans over the years for hunters but it had been at least a year since a hunter walked through my doors.
"You okay lady?" He said, obviously confused as to why I was staring at him like a crazy person.
"Ya" I said, trying to pull myself together. "How can I help you?"
"Two queens, nonsmoking, for 1 week" he said obviously deciding to overlook my odd behavior.
"No problem", I said, still trying to pull myself together. I turned to the computer and stared clicking away. I put them in the nicest suite we had. It was reserved in a couple of days, but I couldn't bring myself to care at the moment. I would deal with that later.
"How much do I owe you?" he said starting to pull a card out his wallet.
"Nothing."
The very thought of any hunter owing me anything was ridiculous. A hunter had saved my life without asking anything in return. The least I could do was offer another one a place to lay their head. I'm pretty sure the man thought I was completely insane by the way he was looking at me.
"I don't understand" he said.
In explanation I pulled up the sleeves of my shirt. His eyes widened at the marks on my arms.
"Six years ago I was kidnapped by ghouls."
A slight narrowing of his eyes and tightening if his jaw told me he had had personal experience with this particular monster.
"I was held for three days." I continued, "They killed two people right in front of me. Ripped them apart. They decided to take their time with me, slowly taking pieces of me. Just when I didn't think I could take any more a man broke down the front door. All he was armed with was a shotgun and one hell of a surly attitude. He killed all 3 of the ghouls, before taking me to the hospital. He didn't exactly stick around afterwards and I never got a chance to thank him. I spent a lot of time after that trying to figure out what exactly happened to me that night. I have a feeling we both know where that road ended. So the least I can do is let another hunter stay a few nights in my hotel."
He didn't seem to know how to react to my impromptu speech. He just stared at me wide eyed. I couldn't really blame him. From what I had gathered, hunters rarely got a proper thank you for the work that they did, let alone have complete strangers call them out as hunters.
"Didn't happen to get a name of the hunter did you?" he said finally breaking his silence.
"No, I didn't but on the way to the hospital I heard him on the phone yelling at someone named Rufus who was supposed to be his backup, but had apparently got held up on something. I searched for both of them for years and never found so much as the name of the man that saved me. Why?" I said narrowing my eyes. Could he know who the man was?
He gave a little smirk and shake of his head and I think I saw some moisture gather in his eyes. "Oh no reason really." He replied looking down at his feet and taking a small step back.
"Wait!" I said quickly, "Do you know the man that saved me?"
He looked up at me, clenching his jaw. I could tell he was trying to put up a good front, but I could see the grief in his eyes.
No. Please no.
"He's dead isn't he?" I asked. He looked down to the floor and gave a small nod.
I always thought this could be the reality behind not being able to find him, but it didn't make it any easier. Hunters had dangerous jobs and sometimes the monster got them before they got the monster.
"When?" I asked, wiping away the moisture that had gathered in my eyes.
"'Bout a month ago" he said, understanding the simple question.
"What happened"? I asked, not really wanting to know the answer.
Anger spread over his face before he looked up and met my eyes. "An evil sonofabitch happened".
I was suddenly filled with the same anger he was. Something had killed my hero, my protector. That thing needed to pay for what it did. I would take care of it myself if I had to.
"Did you get it?" I asked.
A steely determination spread over his face before he answered ,"No, not yet, but I plan to. If it is the last thing I do."
I nodded, having no doubt in my mind that he would succeed.
I turned away from him and quickly tried to compose myself before grabbing his room key and handing it to him.
"If you need ANYTHING, please let me know. If you can't find me then my husband Scott can help you. Please don't be afraid to ask."
"Thanks. Really." He said his voice slightly husky.
I gave him a small smile and a nod, before he turned and walked out the door. I watched him all the way to the car. When he got there he took his bag from the man waiting for him, and disappeared around the corner to their room.
That night me and Scott lay in bed wrapped in each others arms, both lost in our own thoughts. Neither of us even pretended to sleep. Scott had taken the news about the man that saved me about as well as I did. He had always wanted to thank the man that had brought me back to him. Neither of us would ever get that chance now.
I saw the hunters come and go though out the next week. I heard their car come in the parking lot well after midnight a couple of times, while I lay awake thinking about their lives and sacrifices that they make every day. They never came to me or Scott for anything. When checkout time came I was surprised to see the other man walk into my little office.
He seemed more shy and humble than his brother. When he set the room key down on the counter in front of me and I got a good look at his face I saw the same haunted look deep in his eyes. Despite this , he still had a kind welcomeness about him that the other man had lacked.
"Hi, I just wanted to thank you for letting us stay here for free. You really didn't have to." He said.
"Please. It's the least I can do. I am just grateful for the job that you do. Few get a chance to really understand or thank you for it. I am lucky to get that chance every so often."
I could see in his eyes that he is was genuinely thankful for my small gesture, but not wanting to embarrass him with a display of emotion, I continued with a smirk.
"Besides, I think we both know that the card your friend tried to give me was never actually going to pay for the room."
A smile spread across his face. "Ya, I guess you're right." He answered, before pulling a business card out of his pocket and setting it on the counter next to the key. "Here are our numbers. If you ever need us don't be afraid to call. My name is Sam and my brother's name is Dean. If you can't get a hold of us you can try this number" He said writing another number on the back of the card with the name Garth next to it.
"Thank you" I said.
I had a small stack of numbers in my desk drawer similar to this that were also given to me by hunters that had passed through. I would add it to the stack and hope I would never need it.
"If you're ever in town again and need a place to stay or lay low, please don't be afraid to come back. Hunters can always find refuge here." I offered. It was the same thing I had offered to all hunters that passed through here.
"We will," he said with a smile, before turning to head out to his waiting car.
"Wait," I said quickly.
Sam paused, hand on the door and glanced back at me with a questioning look.
I hesitated not wanting to cause him any pain. But I had to know.
"Just... What was his name? The man that saved me."
Sam looked me strait in the eyes, grief mixed with understanding on his face.
"His name was Bobby Singer. He was a great man. He helped a lot of people." he said.
I glanced away from him, blinking away tears. "Thank you" I said, my voice thick. Sam nodded, before turning and walking out the door.
I saw his brother throw a bag in the back seat before looking up toward me. He gave me a quick wave goodbye before getting in the driver seat. Sam hoped in the passenger seat and then they drove out of the parking lot.
I sat lost in my own thoughts for a long time after that. The sound of Scott coming in the office brought me back to the world. He had a tool box in his hand.
"Hey babe." He said, setting his tool box down behind the counter. "Did you call someone out to fix the air conditioner?" he asked, while walking over to the thermostat on the wall.
"No, why?" I asked with a frown.
He knew as well as I did that we didn't have the money for it right now.
"Because," he answered. "I just went to see if I could fix it, and guess what," he said flipping on the air conditioner. Cool air started blowing out of the vents onto my over heated skin. "It was already fixed."
"What?" I said in surprise, "How?"
"Beats me," he answered, walking over and wrapping his arms around me. "Maybe we have a guardian angel watching over us" he said with a chuckle, slowly swaying out torsos back and forth as he planted a gentle kiss on my forehead.
Then it hit me, and a smile spread across my face. "Ya, or maybe two."
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