Stranded Together Pt 1

Apparently, nobody was flying out of town tonight. The storm coming into the area was going to keep the rest of the roster stranded here at the airport. Ava stood in the lobby, cell phone in hand, scowling. She'd just tried to get a room and they were all completely full.

She called her stepmother and checked on Lola for the 9th time in about an hour, and then it hit her. She was by herself. And she was discovering that she didn't quite like that, her daughter being away from her, all that much.

But, Lola was safer with them for tonight. All day, Ava had been getting calls from an unknown number, and Ben had called once or twice, his usual 'indirect' threats, so when Stephanie asked if she and Ava's father could take Lola back with them for a weekend, let them spend time with their granddaughter, Ava had reluctantly agreed. They'd asked her to go, but she'd told them that she felt like they hardly got to spend any one on one time with Lola.. And she hadn't wanted to alert them to any danger.

And now, she was missing her little girl like crazy. And worried also, because the other caller hadn't been quite so indirect about their threats, the intent behind them. What if something happened and Ava weren't there to stop it?

She groaned and grabbed her luggage, intending to just go find a place to crash in the lobby, but she felt a tap on her shoulder, and she turned around to find Dean standing there, brow raised.

"Where were ya goin? And why the hell didn't ya go back with ya dad and ya stepmom?" Dean questioned, his voice coming out curious and a little demanding at the same time as he fixed his eyes on her intently.

"Because, my stepmom and Dad took Lola for the weekend. They'd been bugging me to take her for a while, so when they asked tonight, I told them they could. Kind of wishing I hadn't now.." Ava trailed off then said "Doesn't look anyone's going anywhere tonight, does it?"

"Doesn't. Hotels are full too." Dean said as his eyes roamed over her body slowly.

"I sort of needed the time to think about some stuff anyway." Ava muttered mostly to herself, but she realized what he thought almost immediately when he stiffened and then asked angrily, "Like what?"

'Here it comes, man.. And she's gonna walk away too, starting in..' his subconcious taunted him as he looked at her, waiting on her to give him the whole, "You're sick, we can't be together" speech he was actually quite used to hearing. What he wasn't expecting is what happened next..

Ava leaned against him warily, and ducked her head so nobody (Curtis Axle and some of the other guys, mainly, the ones who might see them, tell her father and make him angry) saw her, she dug through her pockets and then muttered, "About what I'm gonna do about some stuff." as she avoided his gaze.

Of course, he took this the complete wrong way, and he glared at her and said quietly and angrily, "I fuckin knew it. Can't handle daddy bein mad at ya, can ya?"

"Dean, don't. It's not even remotely what you're thinking right now, and frankly, I'm not in the mood for your shit right now." Ava said quietly, calmly as she looked up at him, waiting on him to walk away.

He had this habit, she'd noticed, he automatically assumed that everyone was going to leave sooner or later, or they would give up on him, hurt him. She'd figured this out relatively early on into their odd friendship and now she knew enough about him to know that she hated the way people couldn't see what she saw in him.

"Well? Isn't this the part where you storm off and write me off? You know, like you've been attempting to since day one?" Ava asked as she looked up at him, voice raising a little, mostly in fear, mostly in annoyance.

Dean gritted his teeth in anger and grabbed her wrist, practically dragging her outside. If they were gonna fight and this was gonna end, he wasn't about to give the assholes he was on the roster with the satisfaction of seeing it.

"The fuck is this coming from?" he asked as he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets, to keep from getting pissed, hitting her. Because whether he liked to admit it or not, he just didn't want to do that. Not knowing what she'd grown up in, not knowing what she'd lived through, how messed up her life was, much like his.

" You just seem to be so damn good at assuming the worst, Dean." Ava said quietly, a flat voice as she looked up at him, hurt.

She turned to walk off and he grabbed her wrist and then said "I'm not done."

"Yeah? Well I've got worse shit to worry about right now than you're damn insecurities, Ambrose. People I live might be in danger because of me.. Strike might, they are. Unless I do something."

He raised a brow, then got a sneaking suspicion he knew what she meant and growling he punched a parking meter nearby and caught up to her, grabbing her, not caring that when he did so, quite a few people gave him odd looks, began looking around the place for security.

He carried her over to the spot he'd parked the rental car he was returning and stood her on her own two feet then said firmly, "Talk now."

"Why? Did you not just assume I was done with you?"

"Damn it, woman. Are ya just tryin to make me snap?" Dean growled as he kept a firm hold on her wrist, smirking. He knew he had her, she wasn't going anywhere.

"Fine, Dean.. Do you want to know what I needed to think about?" Ava asked, her voice oddly calm and angry, cold almost as she glared up at him and thrust her cell phone at him. "Read those. Tell me, if you were in my shoes, what you'd have to think about." Ava said as she bit her lower lip, watched him reading the texts from the unknown number, and the two or three indirect threats she'd gotten from Ben today.

Dean read the texts, looked at some of the sickening 'images' some unknown number sent her, obviously to scare the living shit out of her, force her into going back, honoring the marriage she'd just gotten out of, that'd been arranged by her mother's former husband, Ripley.

Then he got to the one that indirectly hinted that he'd be hurt and he laughed. "Seriously.. This guy thinks he's something, doesn't he?"

"He can make it happen, Dean. This is not funny." Ava said quietly as she looked around nervously, biting her lip nervously as she did so.

"To me, yeah, it is."

"And why the hell is it so funny to you?"

"Because. I told ya. Ya mine, and I don't honestly give a damn about what that little wanna be mob boy and his hired idiots do. I'm not gonna just let some fuckin guy walk away with ya." Dean said calmly as he forced her to look up.

"Dean, don't.. It's my fault you're even caught in this shit."

"The hell it is. I wanted ya. I'm the one who decided I was gonna have ya one way or another. And I'm not just gonna sit back, let some dumb fuck take ya either." Dean asserted as he looked at her, then muttered, "Ya weren't seriously thinkin about goin back, were ya?"

"The thought had crossed my mind, yeah.. For Lola's safety, and my family, so he wouldn't hurt you guys." Ava said, not realizing what words she'd chosen automatically until seconds later. When she did realize it, she looked up at him and said quietly, "I got pissed in there because I get so damn sick of you thinking I'm just doing this to piss off my dad, or because I'm bored and I wanna be with a bad guy. None of that's true."

Dean studied her a moment and then she finished by saying in a quiet and thoughtful voice, "Look.. I know where your mind goes. We're actually not that different, Dean. And if I were gonna do that? I would have told you going in that all I wanted was to piss off my dad. I'm not gonna lie about what I want."

He thought about it quietly for a little while and then said calmly, " Do you even really know what ya want?"

"Actually, I've told you already."

"I'm not a good guy."

"Yeah, well, you don't see what I see either." Ava said as she shifted her bag from one shoulder to the other and said quietly, " We done?"

"For now." Dean said quietly, still letting the shock sink in.

"Good. I'm gonna go in because this rain is freezing." Ava said as she shivered and then went to walk into the building, stopping to wait on him, her hand on her hip.

Dean stubbed out the cigarette he'd lit and walked over, the entire time trying to block out the nagging subconcious voices that kept reminding him, 'Sooner or later, she will leave too. Don't get too caught up in her, they all say one thing, do the opposite. Ya too fucked up to be loved.'

Back inside the airport, Ava called her stepmother, checked on Lola again, and then got the number of a smaller hotel in the next town by thumbing through the phone book.

Dean found Seth and Roman waiting in the lobby, and sank down in a chair.

"Lemme guess. You finally pushed too hard."

"Nope."

"What the hell's wrong then?" Roman asked as he sat down, looking at his friend.

"Nothin. Just found out that I'm gonna take my time killing her ex husband when I get my damn hands on him finally." Dean said calmly as he added, "What?"

"So if she didn't give up on you, then why the hell are you not over there with her, man? Correct me if I'm wrong, but her parents went back to Conneticutt.. Lola's with them. She's completely and totally alone, Dean. You sure that's a good idea given the situation she's in?"

"I'm in shock right now." he muttered as he raked his hand through his hair, explained the whole argument to Seth and Roman.

When he finished, they both looked at one another and began to double over laughing.

"This shit's not funny." Dean snarled as he added, "I just keep waitin on something to happen, her to come to her senses, or me to snap and fuck it all up."

Ava hung up the phone and scanned the lobby, looking for Dean. She found him sitting with Roman and Seth, having what appeared to be a deep discussion.

She walked over and stood behind him, clearing her throat as she said "I might have found a hotel.. The only problem is that it's in the next town, about 45 minutes away."

"We should get going then. All the flights out are cancelled tonight." Roman pointed out as Seth nodded in agreement, giving Dean a firm shove to make him snap back into reality.

"Yeah." Dean muttered as Ava looked at him and asked quietly, "Do you wanna ride with me? I'm not really big on driving by myself especially not in bad weather."

He looked at Seth and then Roman then grabbed his bag and caught up to Ava, holding out his hand for the keys.

Ava looked at him a moment then placed the keys into his hand.

"About before.. I'm sorry I snapped at you, Dean, it's just.. It really pisses me off when you get like that. And I'm not really good at holding my anger back."

"Why's it bother ya so much?" Dean asked in curiousity as Ava looked at him and said calmly, "Because I want you the way you are. I don't want some guy who tries to be something he's not just to impress me. I've been down that road once, I'd really prefer not to go down it again. Besides, you don't see yourself the way I see you. It pisses me off." Ava shrugged as she asked, "Are we gonna go or.."

"Yeah. You didn't get one of those ugly fucking hybrids, did you?" Dean asked as he looked at her.

"Nope. I got a Challenger this time." Ava smirked as she looked at him, biting her lip, walking a little closer to him as they walked out the door, Seth and Roman arguing loudly behind them.

For the most part, the drive to the hotel Ava found was pretty quiet. Dean drove, and he tormented himself wondering what exactly she did see when she looked at him. He wanted to ask her, but he wasn't about to.

Ava sat in the passenger seat watching him as he drove, at one point, she casually leaned across, brushed her lips to his cheek and said quietly, "You okay?"

"Yeah, just thinking."

"About?"

"Nothin." Dean said as he looked at her then said "You weren't really gonna go back.. Were ya?"

"Hell no. Actually, I was considering taking my daughter and running. Why?"

"Because there wasn't a way in hell I was gonna just let ya leave anyway. Ya mine, remember?"

Ava laughed a little then leaned across again, whispered in his ear, "You trying to convince me, or you, Ambrose? Because I kinda figured that out already. I've said this a lot already, but I'll say it until you believe me.I'm not going anywhere. If I were, I would have already."

He bit his lower lip then looked over at her and muttered, " Why though?"

Ava shrugged mysteriously, as she finished sending a text to her father and her stepmother, checking in, letting them know she had found a hotel and no, she wasn't travelling alone.

When she'd hung up, she said quietly, " Dad's just gonna have to deal with this. I'm not hiding how I feel."

Dean looked over at her, brow raised as he said with a smirk, "You know he's gonna be mad as hell."

"And, he'll have to realize sooner or later that I'm doing something he told me a long time ago to do. I'm going with my gut and my heart. You, though. You better not make me regret this." Ava said as Dean shrugged and said "Not makin any promises. I'm a fucked up and sick guy, Ava." as he focused on driving again, his mind wandering now, already coming up with various ways he'd probably screw this up.

Ava groaned when she looked in the rearview and muttered, "Damn it. That's just freaking great."

"What?"

"Apparently, someone's following us." Ava muttered as she added, "Two cars back."

"How do ya know?"

"Because, they left the airport right after we did, before Seth and Roman. I thought they turned off two exits ago, but apparently, they fell back. Now that the traffic's almost non existant, they can't really hide."

Dean growled and then said calmly, "I'm gonna kill him." as he pulled off at a gas station, and texted Roman and Seth.

"Dude.. that crazy ex husband of hers is following them." Seth said as Roman nodded and then asked, "Lemme guess.. He was ahead of us about 10 minutes ago then turned off and got back on the interstate?"

"I noticed that too. Thought maybe some idiot got lost. You think we might finally get to put our hands on the guy?"

"Betting Dean hopes so." Roman muttered as he added, "We know how much the guy hates sharing." and pulling back onto the road.

The hotel was just in sight and Dean pulled into the parking lot. He watched the rearview and waited, drumming his fingers against the steering wheel impatiently, waiting.

About a minute later, the SUV drove past and he muttered, "Yeah, that figures. Send somebody else to do his dirt. Pussy. I knew it when I realized he was the one driving that Ferrari."

"Whoa.. You're the one who busted his windshield?" Ava asked, as she looked at Dean, stifling a laugh. Dean shrugged and said "Hey.. He's lucky it wasn't with his head. I don't share. I said ya mine, I meant it."

Seth swung the car into the empty space next to Ava's rental car and got out, calling out, "That's about right, man.. Get both of us all excited to fight, then the son of a bitch doesn't even park and see what's gonna happen." as Dean nodded and Roman said calmly, "Because he's trying to figure out if we're staying here or not. I've got a bad feeling."

Dean nodded and then said "That's why Ava's not getting out of our sight." as Ava looked at them then said "Umm, okay?" as Dean smirked, slipped his arm around her.

They walked into the hotel and got the last two suites of adjoining rooms available, luckily. Ava slid her key into the card slot on the door, and the first thing she noticed was how quiet it was. It made her miss her daughter that much more.

The bathroom door opening had her jumping and Dean stepped in, then said "Damn.. It's too quiet now."

Ava raised her brow then nodding said quietly, "Yeah, I know what you mean. I miss Lola."

"Actually, I do too.. She kinda.. She reminds me of my cousin.. I was.. I tried to take care of her." Dean admitted as he flopped down onto the bed.

"What happened?"

"CPS. Someone called, ratted out my aunt and my ma, they took her. I haven't seen or heard from her since.. I used to think about tryin to go back, find her one day, but.." Dean muttered, mostly looking at his hands, wondering why he felt the need to blurt that out.

Ava sat processing what he'd just told her about himself. It only confirmed what she felt about him, what she saw when she looked at him, as opposed to what everyone else seemed to see.

"My stepmom tried that. Ripley got it overrode." Ava said quietly as she leaned back, against Dean, trying to warm up.

"Cold?"

"Mhmm." Ava said as he leaned closer, pulled her into a slightly rough and intense kiss. Ava groaned and then said quietly, "Warmer now." as the kiss broke.

"Thought so." Dean said with a smirk.

"Oh haha." Ava muttered as she stood and walked to the window, looked out. The storm looked like it was just about to get really bad. "We might have gotten off the road just in time. Looks nasty out there."

"Ya not scared are ya?" Dean asked, snickering in amusement.

"Kiss my ass, Ambrose."

"Ya ass all over, Levesque."

The SUV turned around and the man parked at a rest stop, made a quick call. "Yeah, it was her, she was with that fucking guy. You want me to go back?"

Ben smirked to himself on the other end of the phone line then said "Not just yet. Just lie low for now. If they saw you like you think they did, then they'll be expecting you to show up tonight, try something.. We wait until they're not expecting it and then we show Ava what happens when you walk away from me."

"Sure thing, boss." the man said as he leaned back in his seat, settled in. He'd been hoping to get this over with, but apparently, now he'd be following them a while. Didn't make the man too happy. Personally, he'd rather just do what he was expected to do, leave and collect his reward. The longer a job took the more antsy it made the man of being caught.

The idea of prison just didn't set well with him. Nor did the idea of walking away from a job he was hired to do. Ben and Ripley hired him to 'send a message' and bring the girls back. And he wasn't going to stop until he'd done just that.