The afternoon had worn on into evening, Dexter 's tired eyes and full mind leaving him mentally spinning in circles. Sam had left the library a couple hours before to go practice shooting in the range on the other side of the bunker, and Dean was, well, elsewhere, to the best of Dexter's knowledge. And he didn't really care where, either. He dismissed the matter simply, thinking, better he's not in my face.
He sighed, leaning on the desk as he flipped absently through the notebook, tucking in some photocopies of texts he'd printed and paper clipped to the pages. He'd been working on double-checking his notes, and when finished with that, read through the notebook again, he had a better idea where different sorts of information were.
His eyes were tired, though, the pages beginning to all look the same. He pushed his chair back, standing from his desk. He grabbed his notebook and made his way back to what he'd begun tentatively referring to mentally as his room, although even just thinking of it in the personal possessive brought up the mental footnote that he wasn't entirely welcome. Not that this bothered him. It felt natural as anything, something decades of pretending and hiding in plain sight had made second nature.
He put the notebook down on the bedside table, sitting back to lounge on the bed for a moment, hoping the physical relaxation would allow his mind the time to do the same.
If Dean's serious, he thought, I have another day or two, max, before I have to hit the road. Plans, I need to plan... If I'm going to hunt, I need to get a car, supplies, the works…
The savings he'd left in Oregon crossed his mind before he shook his head to chase away the improbable thought, anger at the loss following it. No, if anyone found them, they were definitely gone, as were his laptop and van. Everything, everything would surely be gone by now. No, he'd have to start again.
The brothers, he thought absently, made their way through fraud and gambling. A smile formed as a new idea crossed his mind. With a computer, he realized, he could put to use he hacking skills he'd so long neglected save for the purposes of covering his tracks. Now, maybe, that could be a source of income if he looked in the right places.
He was roused from his thoughts when he heard the door open, footsteps coming up the hallway.
"Hey, Dean," he heard Sam call out in the hall.
Standing, he went out to see what was going on.
"Yeah?" Dean replied from where he was, walking towards the kitchen.
"Thinking supper yet?"
"Yeah, I've been wanting a steak."
"Sounds good," Sam nodded.
"Dexter, you want anything?" he asked.
"Oh, uh, yeah, I'll take whatever you're having. I'll just be in here, though, studying." Dexter shrugged. "Let me know when it's ready."
"Alright," Sam agreed. "Will do."
...
"So get this," Dean said as Sam came to the table with his plate.
"Yeah? What is it?" Sam replied, sliding into a seat beside Dean.
"There's some nasty stuff in Ahoskie," Dean said as he paused to take a bite of rice.
"What about it?"
"Series of disappearances there, over the past couple weeks, right? Well, this morning, they found a bunch of bodies. Completely gutted." Dean quirked his head as he spoke.
"So? Whaddya think?" he followed up with he question after Sam failed to respond for a few moments, staring quietly at the vegetables, grilled chicken and rice on his plate instead.
"Yeah, no, it sounds like it might be something I guess," Sam replied contemplatively.
"You guess, what? I mean, to me that says lead. Big bold letters right there." Dean took a big bite of seak.
"Yeah," Sam shrugged. "Ahoskie. Where is it, again?"
"North Carolina." Dean supplied. "Ready for a road trip?"
"Guess so," Sam replied, shrugging as he took a tentative bite of his veggies.
"So, gonna get rid of vamp guy?" Dean asked, "Coz it's a good ways off, and whatever this is, it's serious shit."
"No, he doesn't know enough yet," Sam shook his head. "I think it's a good idea if he came along."
"Oh you're kidding me," Dean snorted so that he appeared at risk of inhaling a bite of rice.
"No, I'm not, actually. Look, your car, your call, I guess, but I'm not comfortable letting him go yet. . And…yknow, I haven't always liked everything you did, either. You had Benny. I mean-"
"Fine," Dean muttered, rolling his eyes. "If I will get you to shut up about it. But he stays the hell out of the way."
" I don't think that will be an issue," Sam returned. "He's already asking if he's too much trouble…"
"Too much trouble? The guy's been nothing but!" Dean snarked, thumping the table with his hand for emphasis, making the glass of water Sam had shake slightly.
"Yeah," Sam rolled his eyes. "Because I'm sure he wanted to be a vampire."
"You know what I mean," Dean muttered. "Don't go pretending I'm being the unreasonable one here."
"Yeah, sure, I do know exactly what you mean," Sam jibed with a wry grin.
"Whatever, dude,' Dean shrugged. "Long as he stays the hell out of the way, alright? And if you ask me, I'm being really freaking generous."
"I know," Sam nodded. "Thanks."
"Yeah, yeah, don't go on about it. I might change my mind," Dean grumbled, rolling his eyes as he took a swallow of his beer.
This earned a chuckle from Sam, who dug into his food now, wanting to finish before it got cold, but also eager to tell Dexter, who had insisted on eating holed up in his room, studying the lore.
….
"Hey, Dexter?" Sam knocked on the door, which Dexter opened quickly, plate in hand.
"Yeah?" He asked, expression inquisitive.
"So, I have some news," Sam said, smiling.
"What about?" He frowned, sitting on the foot of the bed.
"Well, it looks like we might have a case," Sam explained.
"A case? What sort?"
"Not sure yet, although first glance it looks like some sort of animal-like monster. Victims are gutted."
"So, you'll be going I guess," Dexter nodded.
"Yeah, we're gonna be leaving for North Carolina in he morning, if you want to tag along."
"Really?"
"Yeah, really. You're not ready for action yet, but you can watch and learn."
"God, that sounds awesome," Dexter grinned. "So, when do we leave?"
"5:00 AM," Sam replied, nodding. "So you'll be ready?"
"Yeah, definitely," Dexter smiled, a look taking root in his eyes that made Sam feel just a little uneasy. He blinked and it was gone.
"Night," he muttered as he turned away.
"Yeah, seeya in the morning then," Dexter returned.
Oh well, he told himself as he walked away out the door. I'm just letting all that soul stuff get to me...