Title: Breaking From Abeyance
Pairing: Rachel/Dean
Category: Action/Adventure/Angst (some romance)
Feedback: Is certainly welcome! It helps me get my fics out faster too.
Summary: On a dangerous hunt, Rachel finally meets John Winchester and helps Dean come to a realization about his own complicated relationship with his father and his future with Rachel as the three Winchesters team up together to defeat an enemy with links to their pasts.
Timeline: This story is written loosely around the events surrounding the last few episode of Supernatural Season One. Assume One Tree Hill seasons 1-3 occurred the way they normally did. This story roughly follows the events of "Reflections Road" and is in the same canon 'verse. I would suggest reading "Reflections Road" first to gain a sense of the context.
Disclaimer: Eric Kripke owns Dean and Sam from Supernatural, Mark Schwann owns Rachel from One Tree Hill. I obviously don't own anything, so please don't come file litigations.
When Dean hears the name "Daniel Elkin" for the first time, it takes several minutes before it registers. They're in their usual routine: Sam is quickly scanning news headlines for paranormal activity and throwing out possible suggestions, Dean is taking his time to down his coffee before settling into hunting mode, and Rachel is warming her hands on her own mug, listening to the two brothers sort through the news items as she occasionally squeezes Dean's hand and interjects with her own comments. Dean probably doesn't need his extra jolt of caffeine today, though. He's been up since 7 o'clock in the morning, training with Rachel. She's getting better at hand-to-hand combat and while she doesn't have the same physical strength that he and Sam do, she's agile and quick and she keeps him on his toes as they're sparring. He's still recovering from a kick she delivered to his side during their practice session when she had caught him off guard, feinting to the right before delivering the unexpected kick. He can't help but grin in reminiscence at the proud look she had on her face when she had executed that move, and while that kick had hurt, he was proud of her too. With each practice session and hunt he sees her gain more confidence and more skill. Rachel sees him grinning and asks him,
"What're you thinking about?" She gently tilts her head to look at him, and Dean sees that her pretty red hair, lightly curled and wavy at the tips is still a bit damp from their shower together. His grin widens when he remembers their shower this morning- the sex is always better after they've been sparring together and Dean still thinks one of his best ideas to keep his and Rachel's sex life consistent and interesting has been his suggestion to shower together after training. He snaps back to attention when he realizes Rachel's asking him a question and Sam is still waiting for his response.
"Oh, nothing in particular," He replies, resting a hand on her thigh underneath the table and he can observe her subtle flush of the cheeks when he does that, even though she tries to act as nonchalant as possible. "I was just thinking about how we can continue to improve our training sessions together."
Sam can't help but roll his eyes. "Dude, focus for a second and stop lusting after your girlfriend. Did you say that name sounded familiar to you?"
"Yeah," He thinks hard for a couple of seconds, trying to remember where he knows the name from before he reaches for his organizer and flips open to the page. He's actually quite meticulous when it comes to hunting and he's proud that Dad's the one who taught him to gather and record information with a rigour that would impress a librarian. "Daniel Elkins, fellow hunter, resident of Colorado, and he's actually an old friend of Dad's. His specialty is in hunting vampires."
"This Daniel Elkins lived in Colorado, alright," Sam confirms, quickly skimming the article again. "Think this could be the guy?"
"Only one way to find out, Sammy," He tells his brother and Rachel signals for their server to give them the bill. They're so used to this routine by now and they know that they've got to make it to Colorado while the trail's still fresh. He can't shake the feeling that he has- call it a hunter's instinct, but if Daniel Elkins, one of the most trained hunters he has ever known has been killed, there's more lurking beneath this incident than what appears on the surface. He gets an uneasy feeling that Daniel's death may just the beginning of a series of paranormal events that they're just beginning to walk into and this isn't such an open-and-slam shut case like other ones they've dealt with. As they're walking to the Impala, Rachel grabs his hand and holds it in her own. He usually doesn't do this whole handholding thing with girls (well, make it never) but he and Rachel have been together for a little more than a year now, which is the longest relationship he's ever had, and she knows how to communicate with him just by a single touch. She's picked up that he's worried about Daniel and she lightly squeezes his hand when they're walking out the Impala together. He steals a glance at her and she gets it. He doesn't need to tell her he's worried; she can read it in his face. She doesn't need to say anything and he doesn't need to explain anything to her; they're just comfortable and they both understand the other.
*
It's close to midnight when they reach Elkin's house beyond the edges of town. Elkin obviously liked to live in isolation; the last house they had passed was five minutes ago, and Elkin lived by himself in a house hidden in the evergreen trees way deep in his property lot. Dean's seen scenes like this many times before- very little fazes him, but that doesn't mean that he's not careful. The door is ajar, and that's the first sign that something's wrong. He quietly pushes the rest of the door open in order to lead the way. They've all got their gear: he's armed with his gun and flashlight; Sam is shining his flashlight around the house and looking for clues, and Rachel's got a knife tucked into her belt and she's also shining her own flashlight around her, keeping careful watch.
Dean heads straight for Elkin's study. If the hunter wanted to leave any clues behind, they would be there. Dean heads over to Elkin's desk as a force of habit, noting the disarray and the way it looks like a tornado had been through it. The furniture is overturned, the skylights are broken, and the place is an overall mess. In the midst of all the chaos, he spots a notebook amongst Elkin's belongings, and it bears a strong resemblance to the notebook his Dad used to use on hunts. Dean picks it up and holds onto it, deciding that he needs somewhere with better light to go through the entire thing.
"Dean, Rachel, over here," Sam calls. They both go over, noting that Sam's holding an empty gun case. "Doesn't this look odd?"
"Okay, so he took his gun out while he was fighting whoever it was that attacked him," Rachel shrugs, "That's pretty normal, right?"
"Look at the casing, Rachel," Sam replies, holding it closer to Rachel for inspection. "This casing is close to over a hundred years old. Why would he grab an antique gun when he's a hunter that probably has weapons stashed all over his study?"
Rachel concedes the point, knowing that Sam is right this time. She finds that Dean and Sam take every opportunity to teach her, even if it means pointing out her mistakes. She registers the fact in her mind, but continues to look for clues elsewhere in the study. Dean is still looking around, and Sam is examining the case more carefully.
"Dean, look," Rachel interrupted Dean's search, tugging on his elbow. "It looks like someone spilled a lot of salt over here,"
"Like, "oops, I dropped my popcorn" kind of a way or in like a pattern?" He asks her, glancing over at where she's looking.
"Actually, in a, "I'm trying to leave a clue" kind of a way," Rachel replies, "See how the salt is all spread out over here in a circle? I think that must be significant."
He glances swiftly, silently praising her improved skills in observation. "That's a ward circle all right," He agrees. He notices the interesting patterns made with the salt. "Sammy, come here and tell me what you think," He calls out.
"Looks like a message," Sam finally says after joining them and staring at the patterns on the rough hardwood floor made with the salt. The rest of the study looks like it has been ransacked and searched, although for what, none of them are sure.
Dean quickly grabs a piece of paper and a pencil off the desk, rubbing the lead of the pencil on the paper over the patterns on the floor. Rachel and Sam are looking intently while he's doing that, watching as Dean expertly traces the patterns onto the paper.
"It's a postal box and a combination code," Sam speaks first, looking from the piece of paper to Dean.
The two brothers exchange a knowing nod, while Rachel just looks at them both, unsure of what it all means.
"All right, the next thing we're going to look for is the nearest post office," Dean announces, and the three exit Elkin's house as quietly as they came. Dean starts the Impala, and they head into the nearest town. After Sam's internet search, they finally come upon a postal outlet where dozens of mailboxes sit unattended. Using the piece of paper, they locate the correct box and Dean takes out the piece of paper before spinning the combination dial. Not for the first time, Rachel is in admiration of Dean's quickness and sometimes unconventional way of uncovering clues. Her boyfriend may not be exactly the most straight-laced person she knows, and Rachel has never gone for that, but she likes the fact that he knows how to get the job done. After a few more wiggles with the lock, Dean triumphantly opens the box and pulls out the single letter inside. Rachel notices that his face pales when he sees who the letter is addressed to, and she peers around him.
"It's addressed to John Winchester," Dean says in a quiet voice, trying to hide his emotions underneath.
Sam and Dean exchange another set of glances, and Rachel gets a sinking feeling in her heart. She has no doubt now that Daniel Elkins is dead and that this hunt is about to become more complicated than all of them had anticipated.
"Let's go back to the car," Sam says, trying to stay calm. Rachel appreciates that Sam's also picked up from the weird vibes coming from Dean and that he's trying to stay calm. As they walk to the car, Rachel steals a glance at her boyfriend, but his expression is difficult to decipher. She climbs into her spot at the back, and as Dean and Sam are discussing whether or not to open the letter, a knock resounds loudly on the driver's window of the Impala.
"Hi," A voice booms, and after Rachel's heart has decided that it's not going to jump out of her chest, she steals a glance at Dean. He's looking in shock at the grizzled and bearded face of someone she doesn't recognize. His beautiful emerald eyes are filled with confusion, relief, and a little bit of fear. Rachel turns her gaze to the stranger, trying to figure out who it is.
"Dad," Dean whispers.
*
Author's Note: I've always wanted to break out from my normal genre of friendship and romance fics, so this is my first attempt at writing an action/adventure fic. I will still explore the elements of Dean and Rachel's relationship and the elements of family relationships within the Winchester family, but I also wanted to diversify a bit from simply writing cute R/D fluff. The relationship issues they deal with in this story will be slightly more complex. "Breaking From Abeyance" is a fic set in the "Reflections Road" 'verse and should be read after reading "Reflections Road". Feedback is lovely and helps me get my fics out faster. Thanks!
