Summary: Dean is an FBI agent from the SPN unit, who professionally hunt all over the USA with encouragement from the government. Everyone knows that angels exist, and while he had never laid eyes on one himself, Dean grudgingly acknowledges their existence. Until overnight, his world is turned upside down when a garrison of angels descend on the FBI headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona. Partnered with the arrogant and socially oblivious angel Castiel, Dean must get past his ingrained fear of the supernatural, and the painful memories that Castiel pulls to the surface. But when the angels appear to have a secret agenda, Dean's budding relationship with Castiel is put to the test, and the two of them have to choose what's most important to them - family, or duty.
Characters: Dean Winchester, Castiel, Sam Winchester, Charlie Bradbury, Victor Henriksen, Annie Hawkins, Ash, Garth Fitzgerald IV, Rufus Turner, Krissy Chambers, Jo Harvelle, Madison, Pamela Barnes, Missouri Moseley, Jessica Moore, Balthazar, Anna Milton, Uriel, Zachariah, Samandriel, Meg Masters, Bobby Singer, Ellen Harvelle, Bill Harvelle, Alastair, Kathleen Hudak, Diana Ballard
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester, Charlie Bradbury/Original Character
Warnings: Graphic Dipictions of Violence, Rape, Underage sex (not in the story but it's mentioned)
Chapter One
Sipping his coffee, Dean turns a page of the newspaper he has in front of him. There are at least ten others in a stack beside his toast, and while Charlie might sing the praises of the internet, Dean prefers searching for anything unusual the old-fashioned way. Even if it takes longer.
Flipping the last page over, Dean quickly scans it. After making sure there is nothing there, he places it on the pile next to him. There is nothing there, which means that his thirteen subscriptions to various papers from all around the country that had come in today had been a bust. And he had spent nearly an hour looking through them.
Checking his watch, he jumps slightly at the time. Dean grabs his keys, checks the knives and various lock-picking agents he had stashed about his body to make sure they were there, and leaves his apartment, putting all of the security in place. No matter how many times Krissy or Annie tried to convince him to get his own place,Dean likes his apartment just fine. It isn't small, but it isn't large either, and he still gets all the sounds of other people moving about the building. It makes him remember that other people are out there, just living their lives. It reminds him of why he did what he did. That, plus he has a good view of Phoenix's downtown, with the mountains in the background.
Driving the Impala down the streets through the early morning traffic is as annoying as ever, though Dean reins in his patience enough that he doesn't just get out of the car and arrest the driver in front of him. The three times he had done it, Rufus hadn't been impressed, and he hadn't been assigned a job for a month each time. Besides, being an idiot wasn't a state offense. Although it should be, Dean muses darkly as the car cut him off again.
Parking the Impala in the secure parking below the office was as trying, like usual. These bends shouldn't be that sharp. Just because his baby was longer than most cars didn't mean they had to go and put in turns that a Prius would have trouble getting around.
Resolving to take it up with Rufus again, Dean smiles at Krissy on the way through the doors.
"Good morning Krissy. We enjoying being here this early?"
Dean gets a groan in response. Really, being an intern sucked, because you had to get here when the first worker was here, and Dean swore sometimes that Rufus and Charlie never left. One of them was always here, sipping at their coffee or hacking into some database from some country Dean's never heard of. He's pretty sure it's illegal, but some advantages of working for the FBI is that you can bend the rules sometimes. Or most of the time, Dean's pretty sure in Charlie's case. He didn't think that donation by that selfish millionaire bastard looked legit. But at least she's 'using her powers for good' as stated by Charlie herself. Dean had seen Rufus make a face in the background, but Garth and Ash had just laughed. Dean was pretty sure that Charlie and Ash had a whole 'we hackers stick together' thing going on, but you could never be sure what was going through either of their heads.
Victor and Annie were already sitting at their desks, and Dean could hear typing sounds coming from the computer lab, so Charlie was probably here as well.
Jo bounds over, giving Dean his second coffee in an hour, and then walks around to the others, giving them their coffee as well.
Logging on was as tedious as normal, and by the time he has brought up the documents from yesterday, Ash and Garth stumble in. Dean has no idea how either of them had gotten qualified enough to work here, but it probably has something to do with Ash's computer skills and the way that Garth seems to be unable to die. Seriously, the dude must be the luckiest one on the planet.
Filling out reports is the bane of Dean's existence, but to work here with all of its benefits and steady pay, it has to be done.
"So here is where you fill out how many people were affected by whatever nasty we killed. It's purely your opinion, but it helps the high ups gauge the damage bill and how much we get paid."
Jo nods, soaking up the information. She is nearly ready to become a solid member of the team, and stop fetching them coffee in the morning. Then that will be Krissy's job. Dean smiles slightly at the thought.
"This is where you fill in how much ammo was used, or if you broke any equipment, so it can be replaced. How much holy water, was there any one time items used, stuff like that. If anyone was killed while we were on case we put their names here, so their families can get some compensation. If any hunters were also on the case, then we state that too."
"Like mom?"
"Yeah, like Ellen. This is where you put how much you spent while out, on motels mainly." Dean continues to lecture Jo about the ins and outs of the forms, letting his mind wander while he does it. It is a mind numbing task, and he can see Jo struggling to memorize all the form's requirements.
"Don't sweat it. If you need any help filling out the forms, then you can ask any of us and we'll show you. It took us all a few months to get them as well. When are you going for your FBI normal unit training?"
"In a few weeks. My God, I'm so freaked out about it."
"Are you following that schedule I set out for you?" It included gym hours and what to work on, what she should be eating and some pre-studying. "It should have you well prepared."
"Yeah, I'm following it. It seems a bit extreme though."
"Jo, that's nothing compared to what you'll be going through in a month."
"Great," Jo mutters.
"I remember my course. It must have been the worst six months of my life." Annie, always one to put a positive spin on things, cuts in from her desk. Jo pales slightly. It was a well-known and well-played upon joke that Jo is dreading her FBI training unit, but everyone in the office silently supports her campaign.
"You'll do fine. Ignore the rest of them, they're just giving you a hard time." Jo raises an eyebrow at Dean, as he was usually the first one to give her grief. He shoots back a 'shut it' expression and she smiles.
"Whatever you say Dean."
Jo bounds off before Dean can say anything else on the subject. Sighing quietly to himself and returning to his task, he set his shoulders and worked through reports for the rest of the day.
Nearing the time where Dean would start to consider calling it a day, Ash comes up with more paper stacked in his arms. Dean almost gets out his lighter and sets the pile alight before Ash even says anything about what it is, but he restrains himself.
"What is it?"
"Rufus just gave me some stuff for you to fill out on how defensible Phoenix is from aerial attack." Ash must have seen Dean's face, because he nods. "I have no idea why they want this, but Rufus says that it comes from high up on the food chain, if you know what that means. He also said that he'd like it as soon as you could complete it."
"Why me?" Dean mutters under his breath as he takes the stack from Ash. He knows why. The others might be better at researching, or getting information from people, but Dean is good at fighting, and he knows Phoenix better than the back of his hand.
Dean is no stranger to staying back at the office for late nights, but when Charlie leaves and he can hear Krissy's snores coming from the room outside, he decides to go home and sleep off these ridiculous questions. Aerial attack? What the fuck? Deciding that he doesn't want to contemplate planes or how his stomach wants to empty itself just by thinking about them, he puts the papers in one of his pockets for unfinished work next to his computer, logs off, picks up his stuff and wakes Krissy.
"Whaa?" She slurs out. Dean looks at the clock on the wall behind her. Just past two. He's had later nights.
"Come on kid-o. I'll drop you off at your house."
Supporting Krissy slightly as they walk down to the car park, Dean opens the passenger door to the Impala and sits Krissy down in it. Making a mental note to tease her about drooling on his car tomorrow, he cruises through the almost empty streets towards where he knows Krissy lives. She wakes up by the time that he had arrive at her house, and she grins at him with a whispered "Thanks," before she gets and walks towards her front door.
Watching to make sure that she unlocks the door and is inside before he pulls away, Dean tries not to think of his bed and his early call time in the morning. Sometimes he does think that it would be easier if he just slept at the office, but he's also certain that if a room where you could sleep in the office was supplied, Rufus would never leave and Charlie would stay most of the time as well.
Dumping his bag on the kitchen counter when he gets home, he checks his calendar for tomorrow, and groans when he sees that today was a designated Sam-calling day. Sam would never let him hear the end of it after he was so strict about their schedule.
Although since he never missed a call, Sam would probably be freaking out. Looking at the digital clock that is on the stove, Dean reluctantly admits that twenty to three isn't an appropriate time to be calling anyone.
Stripping off his clothes, Dean checks his alarm and tumbles into the embrace of sleep.
Beep beep beep beep bee-
Dean slams his hand down on the clock, stopping the most annoying sound in all of existence mid-tone. Getting up at 6:40 meant that he had somehow gotten his four hours of sleep in, but it didn't feel like it. Dean could feel the day of doing nothing put paperwork weighing on him, and he hopes that something will come up today that he can just get in and kill.
But first things first. He showers, eats a few eggs and dresses. Walking down the flights of stairs, he holds down the 1 on his phone, speed-dialling Sam.
"Dean? Are you okay?" Sam's voice comes through after the first ring, and Dean wonders if his younger brother has been clutching onto the phone waiting for him to call.
"Yeah Sam, I'm fine. I just forgot to call yesterday. The asshats at the office thought it would be a good idea to laden me down with every form under the sun."
Dean hears Sam's sigh of relief, muffled as it was. When he speaks next, the younger Winchester's voice is light and teasing. "Wow. Mr Never Let A Week Pass Without A Call forgets? Is the world ending? Has Phoenix burned down?"
Dean smiles at his brother's gentle ribbing. "Whatever. Bitch."
All he gets is a "Jerk," in response.
Putting the phone on speaker when he gets into the Impala, Dean asks his normal questions about Sam's week. Sam, geek that he was, is all too happy to rant about his latest case – some business who was suing after a poltergeist tore up a month's worth of goods and nearly destroyed the shop. As it is only a small business, apparently this is a big thing, but Dean doesn't know enough about Sam's lawyer stuff to really understand what his brother is going on about. He just listens to the rise and fall of his voice, and basks in the certainty that his younger brother is safe.
"Are you even listening?"
"'Course Sammy. Some business person is trying to blame some gardener for disturbing a grave in an attempt to get money out of his employers. You add anything to the archives this week, or are you too engrossed in your gardener hate story?"
Dean can nearly hear the blush that comes over the silence in the phone. "No, I'm trying to prove that the gardener knew nothing about the grave and rebutting Adam's arguments. The kid's pretty quick."
"Well get onto it. The government doesn't pay you to translate century old grimoires for you to sit around on your ass and do nothing."
"I'll get onto it Dean."
"Good. I hate paging through those horrible old books."
While he listens to his brother go off on a tangent as to how useful those 'horrible old books' were to his work, Dean parks the Impala and makes his way up to the fifteenth level.
"Sounds great Sammy. Look, I'm at work, so – "
"Ring if I want to, if not there's the scheduled one at the end of the week. I know Dean. I've got this."
"Okay then Sam. I'll talk to you later."
"Bye Dean."
At the click of the phone that signals the end of the call, Dean lowers the phone from his ear and nods to Krissy at the desk outside the door. Passing inside, Garth and Ash both say good morning and Dean greets Annie and Jo before sitting down at his desk.
He's just filling in the last of the forms on the ridiculous aerial questionnaire when Victor walks in.
"Anyone up for a good-old wolf hunt?"
There was a pause as everyone raises their heads, then a loud chorus of 'Yes's and 'You bet's and Dean's yell of "You're not killing anything without me!"
Everyone looks over at him questioningly, he shrugs. "I've been itching for something to hunt for the last week."
"I got a tip-off from Caleb of a pack of werewolves over in Virginia. It's probably going to need all hands on deck."
Dean is already heading over to Rufus's office, report in hand. When he knocks, he only has to wait a second for the "Who is it".
"Dean."
"I hope you have that report." Was the only answer he receives.
Taking that as permission to come in, Dean opens the door and hands the report to the leader of the SPN team. "I guessed some of the heights of the buildings, but it should be mostly accurate. No idea why you wanted an aerial attack plan though. Who's going to want to send planes against Phoenix?
"It's not your place to question the orders boy." Rufus' gruff voice says.
"Victor just came in with a tip-off from Caleb about a werewolf pack in Virginia. He said that he'll need all hands, so everyone's packing up so we can get ourselves some wolf skins."
"Fine. Just remember to get their teeth and tails if you can. If Pamela hears that you went up against a pack of wolves without it she'll have all our skins."
Dean winces at the image of the angry psychic. "Noted. I'll tell the others."
Rufus turns his attention to the reports, a dismissal if there ever was one. Turning, he leaves the office.
"Did we get an a-okay from the boss?" Annie asks.
"Yeah, but he said that we need to get some teeth and tails for Pamela."
Annie winces and Dean can basically see the thought process of thinking about the physic. "Yeah, okay. You wanna call up Sam, see if he wants to tango with some werewolves as an after work recreational activity?"
"Yeah, I was thinking of calling him up. He'd only have a short drive, as opposed to our trek. I know that he gets sick of transcribing all his texts."
"I thank God for his translation of texts every day," Charlie shouts from across the room.
"Do we have a more definite place than just Virginia?
"Blacksburg."
"Sounds good. We leave after lunch?"
There is another chorus, this time of 'Sure's and 'Yep's.
Dean goes and reviews the path he'll have to take to get to Blacksburg. Realising that they will be gone for over a week, more if Sam convinces him to come up to DC with him, he says his goodbyes and travels back to his apartment.
Cleaning out his fridge of all the perishables, he carries them down the hall to Chuck's apartment.
Knocking, he waits for the short and usually scruffy man to open the door.
"Who is – oh, Dean, hey. Not expecting you to come round, is something up?"
"We're heading down to Virginia to get rid of a werewolf pack. Can you eat my perishables?"
"Yeah, yeah sure, I can do that." Dean smiles slightly at Chuck's extended sentences. He had saved Chuck from the depths of a cave where a demonic cult that hadn't been fake had been preparing to sacrifice him. Taking care of the cult and saving a civilian in the process was usually something that Dean was happy about, but when it turned out that Chuck lived down the hall from him he resigned himself to Chuck's almost hero-worship that he had to put up with every time he visited. It was useful, however, to have someone to watch his apartment, grab his mail and get rid of his food whenever he had to go away suddenly. As Chuck knew about the supernatural world that most people were oblivious to, he didn't have to hide or explain his strange hours, what he did for a job and why he was away so much, like he would have had to do if he trusted someone who didn't know about the supernatural world to do the things that Chuck did.
"Can you get my mail and watch the apartment?"
"Yep, sure, no problems."
"Awesome. I'll see you 'round Chuck."
The shorter man nods and closes the door behind Dean as he leaves.
Dean walks back into his apartment, changes into flannel and jeans, and set up the security, grabbing a few hundred dollars in cash and some of his personal weapons including the Knife, before closing up.
The ride through the city is nice, quieter than usual, and Dean soaks up the suburban sprawl, since he wouldn't see it again for another week. Parking the Impala outside instead of the secure parking, as they were leaving in less than an hour, Dean catches the lift up to the SPN floor of the high-rise building. He is greeted with the comforting sounds of arsenals being restocked, silver bullets being checked and wolfsbane being dealt out into zip-lock bags.
Dean grabs a velvet pack of 50 silver bullets and tucks it into his coat pocket, taking his Glock and sheathing it into the holster at the small of his back. Taking a shotgun and another handheld pistol, he looks around to see everyone ready. Leading was his area of expertise when Rufus wasn't around, and everyone was looking at him to get this show on the road.
"Everyone got everything?" They all nod. "Charlie, extra silver bullets, silver knives and the silver swords?"
"Yes, yes and yes."
"Annie, we got enough wolfsbane?"
"Enough to put their nose out of commission for the next few months."
"Victor, the copy of the report Calen gave to everyone?"
Victor silently hands out the pieces of paper.
"Ash, directions to Blacksburg?"
"Yes I do Dean."
"Good. Everyone choose your cars, and wave goodbye to our interns." The hunters all turn to Krissy and Jo and wave.
"This is shit. I should be allowed to come." Jo complains.
"When you get your training over and done with Jo. You get a break from us, you should be happy."
Both of the interns roll their eyes.
Charlie and Garth end up in the Impala, with Victor and Annie riding with Ash.
Choosing a cassette tape at random, Dean grins when Metallica came on. Charlie rolls her eyes and Garth just put on his sunglasses and was soon snoring in the backseat.
Having Ash's monster four-wheel drive constantly in front of him limits Dean's viewpoint of the road, but he doesn't mind all that much. With his music around him, the soft sounds of Garth snoring and Charlie's head on the window, looking out as the city boundaries slowly turn to countryside, Dean let himself feel a moment of peace.
It's on the fourth morning that they arrive at Blacksburg. Sam's waiting at one of the local diners, backpack at his feet, and each partnership takes a table to themselves, not giving any hints that they all know each other. That way if one of them gets in trouble, they can have back up without the assailant knowing that they have back up.
Charlie sits with Dean, sliding into the seat beside him and opposite Sam. On the cases that she takes, which aren't many, Dean and Charlie partner up. Victor and Annie work together, with Annie being one of the hunters that took out the wendigo that ate Victor's mother, and offered him a position in the SPN unit if he could cope with the training program. Victor was tough, and it surprised nobody that he aced the training.
Garth and Ash team up because no one else could stand working with their eclectic personalities for long. They complement each other, and Garth's agreeable attitude went well with Ash's laid back personality. That, plus the fact that both just hid their hard working skills on Saturn, where only they could find them, and only if they wanted to. Dean was just glad that apparently they were easy to get to, since switching between hard working and taking it easy happened quickly and often.
Dean prefers to work alone, or with his brother, but Charlie wasn't a bad alternative.
"Sam! Always good to see you little bro. How's the family holding up?"
"Hi Sam," Charlie adds.
"Hey guys. Jess is good, only a few months to go before we get our little one."
"Is she being more annoying than usual? I told you she'd get more annoying than usual."
"Dean, I'm pretty sure she has a right to be annoying! Far out, she is pregnant."
Dean shrugs his shoulders slightly at Charlie's comment. "Maybe. We can only know if he tells us."
Sam sighs. "Yeah, she is getting more…" He trails off, at a loss for words.
"More Jess?"
"Yeah, more Jess."
"You guys know that that makes no sense right?"
The brothers shrug, and Charlie shakes her head.
"Hello, what can I get you fine people this morning?" The waitress comes up and gets out her notebook and pen, reading to take down their orders.
"Coffee, black."
"A Greek salad and a glass of water please."
"Mocha with chocolate thanks."
The waitress nods and goes to talk to Annie and Victor.
"Sam, I just want to thank you for translating all the texts that you send over. Seriously, I love you for it."
Sam rubs the back of his neck, smiling slightly. "It's Kevin that does most of the work really. But thanks, I'll tell him that our efforts are going to good use."
"Oh they are. A couple weeks ago, Garth and Ash were up in Wyoming, and they…"
Dean lets the story fade into the background, instead looking out the window and watching the people pass by. There was a man across the street, wearing a tan trench coat, who was just standing there and watching the diner with his hands in his pockets. Dean narrows his eyes and is about to say something when a truck trundles by, and by the time Dean can see the other side of the street the man is gone. Pushing it out of his thoughts, he turns back to the conversation to hear Sam asking about the werewolves.
Dean hands him a copy of Caleb's report, and looks over it again himself. In the two full moon's before the cycle starts again tonight, there have been quite a few killings and people found with their hearts missing. Then it went quite last month, and Caleb comments that he thinks it's because they just turned people last month. He estimates there to be somewhere between 20 and 40 werewolves – not something to laugh at. In fact, Dean wonders if there are any hunters that are in the area.
Sam whistles lowly. "Well I get why you called me. This is some intense stuff Dean."
"You can say that again," Dean mumbles over the rim of his coffee, flashing the waitress a smile as she puts down Sam's health crap and Charlie's nearly hot chocolate. "You still in?"
Sam looks at him like he's crazy, so Dean takes that as a yes. "Just checking. You know, with the whole father thing."
"We've faced worse."
"Not much worse. Besides, no judgement here."
Sam raises an eyebrow but doesn't say anything else, just stabs his salad.
Dean drinks the rest of his coffee in one go, and places the mug down on the table next to him. "So what's our game plan?"
Sam looks around at the other teams, with their heads bent together, drinking their respective beverages. "Don't you want to wait to talk until we're all together?"
"We talk about the problem separately so we all get different ideas, and then we come together and combine what we've come up with so that we get the best outcome possible. It was my idea," Charlie unabashedly preens, and Dean huffs out a breath of laughter.
"'S true. She came up with it."
Sam looks suitably impressed, and Dean leans back in the booth, stretching to get the cramps from driving all night out of his back.
"We're probably going to be up all night for the next three or so nights, so I suggest that we move to a nocturnal schedule. We've already started, or Ash and I did, last night when we drove all night to get here, but you guys are going to have to make yourselves sleep today so you don't fall down from exhaustion tonight." Sam nods and Charlie groans lowly.
"Great," she mutters.
"Then we'll have to find where the werewolves are hiding out. If they know if they're werewolves or not, if they're together even outside their time of month. And we need to know what they're planning."
"That's a lot of research," Sam remarks, titling his head.
"We can manage. Anything to add?" Sam and Charlie shake their heads. "Then you ready to go?"
Sam shoves the last of his salad in his mouth while Charlie drinks her mocha. Ash and Garth are still talking, but from their expressions Dean's going to guess that it's not about work. Annie and Victor are sitting quietly, finishing their drinks. "Everyone else's nearly done. I'm gonna go pay."
Dean stands and weaves between the tables towards the cashier. He flirts with her while he's paying, and wishes for a second that he wasn't working a case right now, so he could take the time to get to know these women a bit better. But oh well, he smiles when she wishes him a good day, and waves for Sam and Charlie to follow him out the door, knowing that the others will follow soon enough.
It's while they're walking towards the Impala that the girl approaches them. She's tall, has long dark hair, and walks purposefully up to grab Dean's arm.
Dean freezes with his hand halfway to the gun tucked into the back of his pants. The only reason he doesn't draw is because they're in a street full of civilians, and the girl doesn't seem to want to kill him. A novelty.
"Hey," she says.
"Hello," Dean warily says back.
"Are you one of the hunters?"
This puts all of them on edge, looking at the girl to see how she knows about hunters.
"I'll take that as a yes. Your cars the Impala, right?"
When Dean nods slowly, she walks ahead to where she's parked, opens the door and slides in the back.
When Charlie clears her throat, Sam looks at her. "Okay I know don't go on many hunts but is that normal?"
They say "No," at the same time.
"Just checking," she mutters.
With nothing else to do, they walk over and sit in the Impala as well.
"Well don't you guys have a hotel or something yet?"
"We only just got here," Charlie tells her.
"Oh. Then 'I recommend the Red Rose. If you drive two streets up, turn left, and go along that road, you can't miss it. I'm Madison, by the way."
Dean looks sceptically at Charlie and Sam when they tell her their names, but he reluctantly offers up his own. She nods and mouths them to herself as if she's memorizing them. Putting the Impala into drive when Sam pokes him, he grudgingly follows Madison's directions.
"So how did you know we were hunters?"
"The outfit." Dean looks at them and realises that they're all wearing plaid. "The way that you sat with your friends in the diner, and how they're following us now. I don't usually see hunters in such big groups, but you definitely need one for all the crap that's going down in this town in the next few days."
"What do you know about what's happening in the next few days?" Sam asks sharply.
Madison laughs. "Honey, I'm a werewolf."
They're pulled in at a red light so she gets Dean's gun pointed at her as well.
"Give me one reason why I shouldn't shoot you right now," Dean says, looking at Madison while also keeping an eye on the traffic. When the light changes he reluctantly puts the gun down and continues driving.
"Same reason that you haven't shot me yet. You need info, I can tell you that info."
"Why would you want to help us?" Charlie asks, and Sam nods, like it's an interesting question. "Aren't they your family?"
Madison spits out the window, not looking where it lands. "I hate what I am. And Bret and his group are no family of mine, although we might be the same species. I don't want anyone to be killed or changed in this town any longer, and all they're planning is to do is kill everyone they don't change. No one should have to live through what I do every month."
"Gives a whole new meaning to the phrase 'time of the month', Dean muses under his breath. Madison still hears him though, and bears her teeth at the words.
"I'd appreciate it if you didn't make any werewolf jokes."
"Yeah, I can do that," Dean says.
"Dean," Sam hisses at him while shooting him a bitchface. Slowly Charlie and Sam sheath their guns, a gesture of trust.
They park in the parking area of the Red Rose, and Sam goes to book rooms for everyone. Madison leans up against the Impala, and Dean barely contains the urge to tell her to get her paws off his baby before she wishes her paws had been anywhere but. Charlie shoots an amused glance at him and waves over the other two teams as they come into the car park.
While she introduces them and repeats what Madison had told them, Dean waits for Sam to get back from booking the rooms. When he sees the tall shaggy man coming out of the front office, he smiles slightly to himself, before starting to pelt Madison with questions.
She knows most of what the pack is doing, mainly because she had travelled with Bret for a while, hoping that he would embrace her 'peaceful' lifestyle and lock himself up near her every full moon when they turn. As soon as it was apparent that he had no interest in doing that, she learned all she could of what he planned to do and then bailed as soon as she could.
"Unfortunately he had decided that I was his perfect mate, so he continued to chase me all over. I finally was able to throw him here, but I have to stick around, otherwise he'll know that I left and he'll be able to trace my scent from where I leave town. So I'm stuck, hoping that he won't find me but knowing that if I leave he'll probably find me faster. All the while I get to watch as he builds his army. I know that he has nearly forty wolves under his command, and all of them know what they are. Not many of them are happy about being turned, but when you've just undergone your first change and you find an alpha standing over you… Well you need to follow someone for the first year or so. And after that you're so imprinted that you wouldn't want to leave anyway. It's a win-win situation for Bret. The only reason he was going to mess this place up was because I was here, and I was going to leave today, but then I saw that you guys were here, and that you probably needed some info on what he's planning. So here I am."
Ash and Garth were nodding, while Annie and Victor look unconvinced. But that was probably just Annie's old school training and the fact that a wendigo ate Victor's mother. Dean didn't trust her exactly either, but he was willing to use her for her information, and kill her once all this was over and done with.
"Okay then guys. We should all hit the sack, and be ready to get up around five. That'll give us time to prepare and go over our strategy plan before heading out before the moon rises." Sam distributes room keys to everyone, and after everyone assents and starts moving off to their rooms, Dean turns to Sam, only to see him giving her a room key of her own hesitantly. She smiles and thanks him loud enough that Dean can hear, and walks off with a sway to her hips that Dean can't help but appreciate. He picks up his duffel from the Impala, throwing Charlie's to her.
"Really? You gave her a room key?" Dean asks as they go past the front lady and towards where the rooms are.
"Well what else was I meant to do?"
"You don't trust her, do you?"
Sam hesitates before shaking his head and Dean swears silently. "Seriously Sammy? We're just using her for her information alright?"
Sam looks like he's going to pull out a bitchface for the second time that day before he nods and starts walking towards the last room in the corridor. Dean knows already that that would be the one that Sam would have picked for them, so he waits next to it while Sam unlocks the door.
Dean puts his bag on one bed while Sam puts his backpack on the other. "You have no idea how hard it was to convince Jess to let me come down here man. I mean, the last hunt I had was a few months ago, but it was also –"
"Before she told you she was pregnant?"
"Yeah. So she thinks that my hunting days were over, and she barely tolerates my translating of the texts. I'm sure that if it didn't bring in such a healthy pay check she would insist that I quit that too."
"Well she does have a point you know Sam. She doesn't want me ringing her and telling her that you're dead, or something equally nasty."
Sam scowls a him. "I thought you said no judgement?"
"No judgement, no judgement." Dean quickly adds. Sam smiles slightly then sighs.
"I don't want to do this full time, like you do, but I also don't want to stop. Saving people, hunting things… It's like the family business, you know? I want to be a part of that, the whole idea, the whole helping thing. But I also want to have a home, a family."
"You know sooner or later you're gonna have to pick. And I don't exactly see you abandoning Jess and the little one for something that you don't even really want to do."
Sam sighs. "Yeah, I know. I'm just going to savour each hunt as we do them, you know?"
"We can bond over other things than killing stuff you know." Dean wonders over to the air conditioning unit, to see if he could get some warmer air going through.
"Probably. It's just that you're so far away, we live in DC, and you're in Phoenix, and you hate planes and I don't think it's good to take small children on them, doesn't that make them sick or something, and agh." Dean bangs the machine to see if it's just having a hard time starting up.
"I get what you mean Sam. We'll work it out, yeah? Just try to get some sleep. I already set the alarm."
Sam nods and gets under the covers. Dean bangs the air con one more time to see if it's going to work or not, and when it lets out a puff of air that he's fairly sure is colder than the room temperature and doesn't do anything else he gives it up as a lost cause.
Getting under the covers, he hopes he doesn't dream tonight.
Red black screams chains knife glinting blood fire screams chains screams red blood laughing fear screams screams anger fasinati –
Dean pulls himself out of the nightmare with a gasp. So much to hope for a peaceful rest. Sam is snoring away, and Dean checks the time. It's only half past three, so he takes a shower, trying to wash off the sweat he had woken up lying in and the bad feeling at the back of his throat and the guilt weaving itself just under his thoughts. He takes a shaky breath in, and leaves his head under the water of the shower, breathing through his mouth so he could stay there without choking.
When he finally got out Sam was already up, had probably been woken up by Dean taking a shower. Sam doesn't say anything, but he casts a knowing look at Dean, and that's almost worse. Dean wants to forget what happened to him, and having people around who know what his nightmares are about doesn't make it easier. Still, when he had needed somewhere to crash for a few months while he recovered, Sam had been there, and while he might have pushed and pried and eventually made Dean spill, Dean could see that it was all for his own good in the end. If he hadn't told anyone, he was fairly sure he would have either cracked or exploded, and he wasn't sure which one was worse.
Checking to make sure that his anti-possession tattoo was intact always helped, and he examines it before he put his shirt on. Like always, it was set over his heart, without any breaks in the lines. Letting out the breath he was holding, Dean pulls his shirt on, and proceeds to pack away as much as he could on him – silver bullet stashes everywhere, lock picks, extra small blades in his boots, pockets, in his sleeve, basically getting ready to go and kick some werewolf ass.
Sam came out, and also proceeded to kit himself out. Dean threw a packet of wolfsbane at him, and checks the time. It was quarter past four, so he guesses that the rest of his team would probably be up.
Victor and Garth were sitting together on their couch when Dean knocks, and he could also hear the shower running. "Are Annie and Charlie up?"
"I don't know. Haven't gone over there yet." Dean nods.
"I'll go and check then." The other two nod, and Dean turns to find the two women behind him, looking fully ready to go and face an army of wolves.
"Can you go and check if Madison's awake?" Dean asks Charlie.
"Sure."
"Okay guys, regroup in our room when you're ready okay?" When he gets nods of acknowledgement from them, Dean walks back to his room. Sam has the files up, and is looking over them.
"There's not really anything we can do until Madison tells us where the pack is meeting tonight, so we'll have to wait for her." Dean grunts in response, still not happy about working with a supernatural creature. "And I know how you feel about anything that isn't human, but I think we can trust her."
"Why Sam? Why do you think that? We've known her for under twelve hours. How is that any base on which to trust someone?"
"When she was telling her story… I don't know. There was something in her eyes, and you know that I used a few of my court tricks to trip up someone when they're lying, and she passed every one, even when I just made them into normal questions. She wasn't lying Dean, and I think she really wants her stalker out of the picture."
Dean sighed. "Well you're the one with the logic of a lawyer behind you, so whatever. I still don't want to be working with her though. And I know that some of the others don't want to be either."
"Then I guess it's a good thing that she's human ninety per cent of the time then. Just pretend that she's another one of the people that you need to save. She has a crazed pack of werewolves about to go after her Dean – how much more do you need?"
Charlie and Madison chose that moment to walk in the room. While Sam called her over to the table to discuss the where's and how's and when's of this werewolf pack, Charlie came and sat next to Dean.
"Do you have all your gear packed?"
"Yeah, and I checked that everyone else does too. We're ready to go and make Pamela happy."
"Good. You know she calls every time I decide to do something that she doesn't approve of? I swear, she's more tuned into our lives than some of us are. I'm pretty sure Missouri makes her do it, since she's always so tart on the phone, but that could be because there we're on equal ground. Without me looking at her, she doesn't have to think about what she's doing, and can psychic up however she likes."
Charlie raised her eyebrows, and thankfully decided not to ask what exactly Dean had been thinking of doing when Pamela calls. Thank god for small mercies.
When Annie, Victor, Garth and Ash came in, looking armed to the teeth, Dean smiled. Sam looks up, and Madison sneezed repeatedly. Dean supposes that the wolfsbane was doing weird stuff to her nose.
"Okay guys, Madison has been telling me where the werewolves meet up, where they change and where she thinks they're going to attack tonight."
"Can we shoot her now?"
Madison swallowed but otherwise made no sound.
Sam looked impatient. "No, there's a door that she has to open for us. She's coming along, and no one is allowed to shoot her!"
There was an awkward shuffling, and Annie murmured "Sorry," under her breath for asking if she could kill Madison. Dean wasn't sure if she was apologizing to him or the werewolf.
"The warehouse where they gather to change would be my best bet of where to corner them." Sam pointed to a place on the map, and everyone crowds around. While everyone looks, Dean studied it for any other getaways that could be used. He had already looked and realised that this location would definitely be best.
"Okay guys. Annie and Victor, you're with Sam, Charlie and I. Garth and Ash, you'll wait here and here," Dean tells them, pointing at different places on the map, "And shoot anything furry that tries to escape. Cover the area in wolfsbane so they'll be disorientated if they get out, and then make sure it's a clean shot to the heart if you do shoot. A werewolf with a silver bullet in him is a very angry werewolf, and you do not want one of those coming after you. They're quicker than normal, and don't care if you're going to kill them, they just run straight at you, and they want to kill you, and most of the time they succeed. Clear?"
Everyone nods, and Dean turns towards Madison. "You're going to be covering Sam. Do what he says, and maybe after all this, if you're both still alive, I won't shoot you." Sam looks like he's going to say something, but Dean silences him with a movement of his head. Sam did his classic bitchface at him, and Dean revels in the freedom of being the elder brother.
"We're going to need to get there before the moon rises, and that's in an hour. Everyone pick a car, Madison you're with me, and we're moving."
Everyone seems to decide that they wanted to stick to the same cars as yesterday, so Dean pulls out of the parking lot with Sam, Charlie and Madison in the Impala.
The drive takes twenty minutes, and they park two blocks away from the where the action would take place. Madison silently gets out of the car, making even Dean seem loud, and he could see her fighting her werewolf senses. Dean had warned her that if she turned on anyone during the night they would shoot her, and she had agreed that that was fair, but she was confident that she wouldn't as long as they didn't attack her first. Dean had said that they had no way of knowing who was who, and Madison had looked like she was wondering if this was a good idea. She had then gone over to her bad, pulled out seven large bottles of food colouring, and proceeded to drink them all. Apparently all they had to do now was not shoot the blue wolf, and she would be fine.
Annie and Victor came over and joined them while Ash and Garth walked towards their respective exits.
Crossing the street, Dean looked at the rapidly setting sun, and shook his head. As if he needed another reason to dislike winter.
Madison push open a door, and Dean hates to admit it, but he would have never spotted that by itself, and even if he had known that there was a door there he probably wouldn't have seen it. Madison put a finger to her lips, and Dean motions her to go forward. They knew how to do their jobs.
Coming out behind some shelves, Dean looks through the small space where a board had been torn out. Counting people, he saw thirty or thirty-two. He told this number to Sam, Annie, Victor and Charlie who all nodded. There were two path ways out of the doorway, and Madison touches his wrist and points upwards, making him see the ladder that went to the walks overhead. He motions for Sam and Madison to go up, and then shoos Annie and Victor onto the path away from the one that Charlie was standing at.
Dean pulls his gun out, checks that the others were safe where they were supposed to be, and followed the red haired lady around the side of the warehouse.
Dean knew they were in trouble when all sound ceased from the werewolves. The low talking stops, and the shuffling sounds of people walking were stilled. The first ripping sounds alerted them to what was coming, and Dean stops caring about stealth, and ran for the first place where he could shoot.
Changing into a werewolf apparently took some time, and before the unit had to deal with fully grown werewolves, Dean drops six, Charlie shoots four and between the others, another fifteen go down.
The only problem now is that they had finished their transformation, and there are still nine left.
Apparently the leader is one of the ones still alive, because he howls, and the others spilt up and charge at the two teams each side of the warehouse. Two ran towards the exit where Dean knew Garth was positioned at. Moving werewolves were a lot harder to kill than still ones, and Dean wasted two bullets, the wolves easily dodging around them.
The leader looks up, sees Madison who is very blue, and jumps for the walks. That was as much as Dean could see before his vision is filled with fur. Managing to shoot just before he becomes dinner, Dean still gets knocked over, but instead of teeth and claws going after him, it was just dead weight.
Heaving it off him was an effort, and he stands up in time just to see the other jump for Charlie. Unable to do anything, he watches as it neatly curved towards her… And was shot by a bullet from above. Grinning at his brother's competence, Dean helps a clawed Charlie up, and looks around to see Annie and Victor heading towards them, with Victor limping slightly, Annie supporting the younger man.
"You guys okay?" Dean calls out, concerned.
Annie nods. "I'm fine, Victor here got a wolf on his leg. I'm pretty sure the knees popped out and the ankle could be broken."
"And you?" Dean directs the question at Charlie.
"He put his claws through my arm, but if I die of anything it's going to be blood loss.
Dean nods, and pulls out some bandages from his first aid pocket, wrapping them around the claw marks. "Sam!" He calls out. "You okay?"
There's a huff of breath that came from above. "Only thanks to Madison. And you owe me one Charlie!" Charlie looks bemused.
"I'll pay for your drinks one time we go out."
"Sounds good."
"Everyone ready to go grab Ash and Garth?"
"What are we going to do with Madison?" Sam asks.
Dean doesn't ask about the chomping sounds he can hear from the walk above their heads, and he resolves not to go anywhere near where the female werewolf currently is. "Just leave her for the moment. She's no harm to anyone here."
They walk through the tunnel that the two werewolves ran through, finding one dead just out of the doorway and one lying a few feet past Garth, who was groaning slightly, and his arm looks like it had two elbows, not one.
"Damnit." Dean goes over to kneel next to Garth, who has fallen unconscious.
"Sam, can you go grab Ash?"
Sam leaves, and Dean looks over the break. "You really did a number on yourself, didn't you Garth? We'll get you somewhere where they can set this, and you'll be as good as new." Dean leans down to pick Garth up, trying to avoid moving the arm as much as he can. Garth still groans, and his eyes flutter.
"Dean? Where… the wolves…"
"We cleaned them all up. None left. We're taking you to the local hospital."
Dean always hated dealing with hospitals. They asked too many questions, they smelled funny and every one there was unhappy. And he especially didn't like it when he was the one conscious, because it meant that he was the one who had to answer the questions. At least when he was lying in the bed he could pretend to be asleep when anyone came around.
Carrying Garth and putting him in the backseat of the Impala, he motions for Charlie to get in Ash's four-wheel drive, which Sam decides to drive when Ash threw his keys at him, rushing over to see what had gotten his partner this time.
Having Ash support Garth meant that Dean didn't have to be really careful when he was driving, just careful. The adrenaline from the hunt was wearing off, and he was feeling every place where the werewolf had pinned his body to the ground.
"How's he doing?" Dean asks Ash, turning into the hospital.
"Okay. Unconscious." Dean smiles at the relief in Ash's voice.
"Good." Bringing the Impala to a stop, he parks her, and helps Ash take Garth out of the back seat.
Explaining to the hospital staff could wait until Garth was seen to. When they tried to put them in a queue, he flashed his badge in her face, the lady's eyes went wide, and she told them they would be the next seen to. Within twenty minutes Garth was gone, Victor was getting his ankle x-rayed, Charlie was getting stitches and Dean started having to answer questions.
He wrote down the medical information that they demanded, putting a well-used first name and no last name in the top of each. The hospital lady looked them over.
"These ain't their real names are they?"
"No."
"We need their real names to access their medical history."
"Everything you need is one the back of the sheets. And even if you had their real names, nothing would come up in your files. So stop asking questions, or I tell my superior how you have a waiting line in the emergency room."
The lady narrows her dark eyes. "All right. But you have to pay."
Dean slaps down a thousand dollars and went to sit next to Annie.
By the time morning came around, the three of them were fixed up. The doctors wanted to keep Garth for a couple of days, but Dean told him that they would collect the teeth and tails of the werewolves and come back for him. Garth looked happy, and Dean smirks ruefully, knowing that the worst part of the job was going to be the part that Garth was missing.
Gathering Sam, Annie, Ash and Charlie, Dean put them all into the Impala and drives them back to the warehouse. They find Madison snoring naked in a pool of blood, and Sam drapes his jacket over her.
"Ash and Charlie, get the tails. Sam and Annie, remember when you're collecting the teeth, don't let the teeth break the surface of the skin, or you'll be joining Madison in her furry dreams.
Pulling on the thick gloves they used to protect themselves from the teeth, Dean grabbed the pliers and waited for Annie to grab the first werewolf. The thick black blood spurts when Dean yanks out the first tooth, and he swears under his breath, hoping that whatever Pamela wanted these for, it was something that would be used for some good deed that would eventually make it back to their tab, because this was messy.
Dropping the teeth into a container that he had bought just for this purpose, Annie and Sam held up the wolf and held its jaws open as Dean pulled.
After Charlie and Ash had collected all the tails and had stored them safely and so that blood wouldn't get anywhere in the secret compartment in the boot of the Impala, Dean, Sam and Annie had only made it through ten of the werewolves. There were ten different containers for each different werewolf, as per the psychics instructions.
Working through the next four teeth pulling sessions, Dean stands up and tries not to let his stomach turn at the sight of blood covering his hands, even if they were underneath gloves.
"Okay, we're done here." Sam gives him A Look, and Dean turns his head so he could pretend that he didn't see it. Otherwise Sam might try to have a heart to heart or something. Madison steals Sam's shirt and slips off before Dean can decide if he really will let her go. Clever girl.
Sam finds her email address in the pocket of his jacket, which is bloodstained, but that's not something that Sam isn't used to.
They torch the building, and leave before the fire brigade gets there. Picking up Garth from the hospital wasn't easy – Dean had to intimidate three doctors, give the lady at the front desk a piece of his mind, and flash his badge twice to get his teammate out the door.
Garth was smiling slightly, high off whatever the hospital had pumped him full of, chuckling at the door handle of Ash's car. Ash and Sam look bemused, while Annie and Victor climb into the Impala, Victor's fractured ankle hindering him slightly.
"How's your arm?" Dean asks Charlie.
"Yeah, I looked at it and cleaned it when the doctor's wasn't watching with some holy water. It's not going to get infected, and in a week I can get the stitches out."
"You good to drive?"
"The four-wheeler?" When Dean nodded she continues. "Yeah, probably."
"Good. I want you to make Ash sleep, and you drive. Just follow the Impala, you'll be fine." Charlie nods her assent.
Dean throws the keys to Sam. "You got some sleep in the hospital. Now drive young padawan."
Sam smiles faintly and takes the keys. Getting in, Dean looks at the time. It's just past midday, and Dean feels like he could sleep for a week. He takes out the sunglasses he keeps in the glove box for just this occasion, and leans back in the chair, adjusting himself so he can sleep. The nightmares don't usually come when he's exhausted, and Dean once more ignores Sam's knowing Looks.
Sam sighs slightly, but safe in the knowledge that his brother won't bring up anything in front of his colleagues, Dean lets himself drift off to sleep.
Dean opens his eyes when he feels the rumble of the Impala's engine stop. Sam is getting out, and by the sound of things, they're in a pretty big city. It's past three, and Dean groggily sits upwards in his seat. Annie is asleep in the backseat, but Victor just nods at him.
Getting out, Dean stretches lazily, watching through blurred eyes as Sam comes back towards him. Charlie pulls up beside him, and she stretches as well when she gets out, before opening the door and nearly having to catch Garth as he tumbles out. She's saved having a Garth fall on her by Ash grabbing the back of his shirt, and holding him up until they can manoeuvre him down. Sam throws her a key, and Victor another. Holding up the last one, Sam beckons Dean towards the rooms.
"I'm surprised that they're even still open Sammy," Dean tells him, leaning against the wall next to the door while Sam unlocks it. Putting his bag of essentials at the end of his bed, he watches as Sam takes off his outer layers and shoes, leaving him in his boxers as he slides under the sheets.
"Aren't you gonna sleep?"
"Nah, I slept in the car. I'll look for a flight for you tomorrow, yeah?"
Sam sighs and Looks at him, and Dean brings out his laptop and connects to the motels wifi, pulling up an airport site. "Unless you don't actually want to go back up to DC so soon? Get a break from the wife?"
"No, I'll go. Jess would skin me if I bailed on her while she's pregnant."
"Okay then, rest up so you'll be ready to deal with her wrath when you get back."
Sam pulls the covers over his head, and mutters something. Dean flips the lights off, pulls a bottle of whiskey put of his bag, and hopes he doesn't fall asleep for a few hours.
When he finally does decide to go to sleep, Dean has found three different options of flights for Sam, has saved the pages where Sam will see them tomorrow, and has spent three hours surfing the net for anything weird. Finding nothing, he wonders if he could ask to go to the Roadhouse and drop by Bobby's for a few days, let Jo see her mum again before she goes into the gruelling program run by the FBI. He'll have to ask Rufus.
He's also had way too much time to think about why he's not asleep.
Deciding that he was done fighting the urge to sleep, Dean heaves his aching body up and on top of the covers. The alcohol would lessen the chances of any dreams, and since Dean was counting on getting back to a normal sleeping schedule, or at least as normal as it ever was for him, as soon as he could, he thought that he should sleep now rather than later.
Closing his eyes he slipped into sleep.
Blood red black pain knife silver screams body fear blood screams death laughing blood red chains black black black black black black…
Taking a deep shuddering breath, Dean thinks that maybe trying to sleep wasn't such a good idea. The dreams that ended in blackness were always the worst. Not gut-wrenching fear, but a kind of ice-cold numb dread. Opening his eyes, he immediately regretted it, the light stabbing his eyes and his mouth feeling like something had died in it.
"How much did you drink last night?" Sam's voice is too loud, and grating, and there's a thread of amusement running under the concern in his voice. He was probably alerted to the fact that Dean was awake by his groan.
"That bottle was full last night," Dean mumbles, although he doesn't think Sam hears.
He walks over to the small and rather disgusting bathroom, tries not to think about what the various stains could be and no that was not a rat he just saw out of the corner of his eye, don't think about it, don't think about it.
Turning the shower on, Dean strips off the rest of his clothes and tries to wash the remnants of the dream away.
Sam had his bag packed by the time Dean got out. "You ready to go?"
"Can I get Annie to drop you off?"
"I was going to suggest that someone else did, since you're not fit for driving."
"Annie can take Ash's car. That way baby's not in danger." Dressing and walking down the hall to Annie and Victor's room was harder than it should have been, and when he knocks, Annie opens the door.
"What have I told you about your drinking boy?" She asks, pursing her lips at him.
"That it's not good for me and that it hinders my working ability," Dean recites.
"Such good advice; why don't you listen?" Annie cocks her head, and the silent truth hangs between them, but since Dean asked for no one to bring it up, they won't. However, that doesn't mean that Annie wouldn't hint and poke at it when she told him off about his drinking.
"Look, can you drive Sam to the airport? He needs to get back to Jess, something about him being gone for too long already. I'll owe you one."
"You already owe me ten Winchester, but I'll drive your brother."
Dean says good bye to Sam with a quick hug, and Sam whispers in his ear. "You've got to move on man. You can't let this rule you." Before getting into Ash's four-wheel drive and driving off, his hand raised in a wave that Dean returned.
He had drunk four glasses of water and ate some breakfast by the time Annie got back. Victor and Charlie decide they want to drive in the Impala while the others caught a ride with Ash.
Four relentless days of driving later, and Dean was opening his apartment door at two in the morning after he had dealt with Annie and Garth fighting over the proper way to deal with some obscure creature that Dean couldn't pronounce the name of. He's tired, sore from being run over by a werewolf, and had to take the bits and pieces to Pamela in the morning. They were sitting in his refrigerator, and were probably going to make his food taste like fur for the next two months.
He just wants to sleep.
But apparently the Universe was sending out a fuck you because after being woken up three times by dreams, he decided to screw waiting, and picks up the large boxes from the space in the fridge he had just for them, and drove to the outskirts of Phoenix, where the two psychics lived. He would think that it would be rude to knock on someone's door at a quarter to five in the morning, but he reasoned that they would know he was coming.
Apparently, just because they knew he was coming didn't mean that they would be happy about it.
"Dean, you know I love you, but do you really have to come around before five o'clock?" Pamela still manages to do a great job of looking at him with her glass eyes, and currently they were conveying extreme annoyance.
"Sorry," Dean mutters. "I knew you wanted your things, and I couldn't sleep, so I decided not to make you wait anymore then you had to for them."
Pamela let out a breath, and Dena knew that when he said he couldn't sleep, she believed him. Being a psychic had upsides, and then it had downsides like being able to see into his head.
Pamela had told him that it was not something she was willing to try again, so he was safe from her mind reading abilities at least.
"Give 'em here. Thanks for these. Not very often you find fresh werewolf tails."
"I don't really want to know what you use them for, so please don't tell me."
"Aw, Dean, you don't know what you're missing out on."
"Yeah, and I really don't want to know," Dean replies, rubbing his head and then his eyes.
"You look horrible you know."
"I haven't slept in nearly two days. I'm entitled to look however I want to look."
Pamela raises an eyebrow at that. "Stay here for the night. Your energies looks like they needs a rest, and being here will do you wonders."
Dean smiles gratefully. "Thanks Pam."
As he was walking past her, she adds something. "Oh, and I already rang Rufus to tell him that you won't be going in tomorrow. Sleep as much as you need."
"Of course you rang Rufus," Dean scoffs. "I'll be out of your hair soon enough."
And yet as soon as he lays down in the guest bedroom, a place he had become familiar enough with over the years, enough to let his guard down, and closes his eyes, he's asleep.