Title: Hunter

Disclaimer: I didn't create Dean, John, Mary, or their world. Kripke—demon/angel—did.

Warnings: Pre-pilot, spoilers for nothing.

Pairings: none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 200

Point of view: third

Notes: inspired by the 'shifter's line in "Skin"--You think I didn't have dreams of my own?

More notes: originally posted under another username


He breathes in danger and breathes out life.

Once, he remembers, he dreamed of more, of safety and happiness, of sleep without nightmares and days without blood, of normality and baseball, of more.

But dreams are all it was, and dreams pass. Fade. Shift and become something new, something mature.

What he does is important, and it is a choice now. His choice. He chooses to stay hunting, steady on the course. No other path calls to him.

He pays a price, of course, a price of broken bones and constant bruises, a price of blood spilt and tears unwillingly shed. The cost is not a deterrent, though. Anything worth doing hurts, and a price is paid for everything.

This is his choice, now, even if in the beginning it wasn't. The nights of sleeplessness and the days researching, the terror lurking in the dark—never knowing if Dad will come back, or even if he himself will see the next sunrise—

By his own decision, he abides.

He understands what even Dad has forgotten. It is not for vengeance he follows the path of hunting.

It's because he looks into the darkness, sees what's there, and cannot look away.