Saturday, 2:00pm
"I want to know who told Tommy to follow her in the first place." Charlie had asked coolly. His dark eyes stared aimlessly at the unlit cigarette twirling between his fingers. His eyes furrowed together as he brought the cigarette to his lips lighting the end of it, taking a long hard drag, the male blew out the cloud of smoke as he brought his attention to Mac. The leader watched the other male shift uncomfortably in his chair. He wanted answers. There just wasn't any possible reason for any of them to stray from a plan that was working so well. Now, their pack was down a member and the Winchester's know that they are being tailed.
There was a long pause where nothing was said. Mac's eye's darted to the other members of the group who were sitting around the kitchen table like children waiting for a scolding. Finally clearing his throat "No one did." He admitted.
"No one did?" Charlie questioned. The long-haired male leaned back in his chair as he rubbed the scruff of his chin "So… Tommy just took it upon himself to go out in the open, taunt the bait knowing fully well that Dean Winchester was watching?"
"Yes." Mac responded bluntly with an echoing response from the rest of the group. "Charlie look. We all liked the guy but, he was a fucking idiot. He couldn't follow direction, always wanted to push the limits. He had a larger than life attitude and probably thought he could take on that Lumber Jack on his own." No one wanted to talk ill of the dead but the fucking moron single handedly put them all at risk.
"He had it coming man and I say good riddance." Elijah who typically kept his opinions to himself suddenly blurted out.
The sudden response grabbed Charlie's interest as his cold stare fell onto their most soft-spoken member before his attention went to looking out the dirty kitchen window. It was hard to determine what he was thinking. The lack of response from their fearless leader was unnerving. Either he was mulling over what Mac and Elijah had said or trying to determine what kind of beating they all were going to get.
"You're right." Charlie spoke up breaking the silence. His head slowly turned to look at his companions who were now waiting with anxious breath "Fuck him. Tommy was a wild card… reckless, more trouble than he was worth. We aren't going to sit here and worry about someone who is dead. We can't change what happened right? But what we are going to do, is figure out a new course of action. "
"Okay, but what? After Tommy's stunt last night, you know those hunters are planning to retaliate." Mac explained.
A cheeky grin slipped across Charlie's lips "No they aren't."
"How are you so sure about that?"
"I'm sure because…" Charlie started. His sinister smile still playing on his lips "Dean is in love with the waitress and I'm sure by now they have rekindled their romance leaving his little brother out high and dry doing all the work alone as usual." The male leaned forward as he clasped his hands together… "I want to send a message to Dean Winchester, and this is how we are going to do it…"
Meanwhile…
"You made these?" The brunette held her hand out as Sam placed three bullets in her palm. Stepping back, Annie found herself leaning up against the hood of the Impala. Grabbing one as she pressed it against her thumb and her pointer finger, the young woman held it up towards the light of the sun getting a better look at the details engraved on the shell casing.
"This one…" Sam started. The hunter sorted through the ones he had in his own hand, then grabbed one to show Annie "This one is a witch killing bullet." The taller Winchester held it out for her. Annie's eyes darted to the ammo resting between his fingers. Her brown eyes grew wide in awe. Before she could respond, the hunter put it back in the pile and grabbed another to show her "Now this one… this is your standard silver bullet. Perfect for killing werewolves." The tall male offered her an encouraging smirk. They have been in her shoes before, what it felt like being thrown into this shit with no idea what to do or how to handle it. But everything has a solution, even monsters.
Her dark eyes rested on the werewolf killing bullet. Suddenly she found herself lost in a day dream. With her mind clasping on the hope that they would get to use them on Charlie and his friends. Sooner rather than later but, she needed to learn how to shoot a gun first. The thought quickly left her mind as soon as it arrived. Pulling herself back into reality… "What about this one?" She asked curiously handing the bullet she was observing to Sam. Her eyes studying the male. The hunter simply smiled to himself.
"Do you see the devils trap engraved on the top? That one is for demons. It'll trap the demon in its host." Taking a deep breath, the hunter reached across retrieving the bullet from her hand, putting it back with the rest "we aren't using any of these today." He quickly added.
Her eyes furrowed together as she listened to Sam explain, then her eyes suddenly shot up at the hunter in horror "What happens to the people?"
"Um..." Was all Sam managed to get out as he stood there like a deer in headlights.
"Okay." Deans husky voice called out. The older male had been setting up targets for Annie to practice on while Sam introduced to her the basics of firearm's. The attack last night wasn't just a harsh reminder of why they were in North Dakota, but that Annie seriously needed to be able to protect herself. This was her hunting 101. The green-eyed male trotted over to Sam and Annie. "Those bottles will make great targets." Dean added as he closed the distance. "Ready?" He questioned with his stare falling onto Annie.
The answer to that was no, she hated guns, but it was starting to look as if she didn't have a choice "Ready as I'll ever be." Responding happily as she could. But truthfully, Annie wasn't all that excited for her sudden survival training. Everything was happening so fast for the young woman, she hadn't had time to catch her breath. All morning Dean was going on about how he needed to show her how to use a gun. She understood his point of view, but she had a few concerns of her own like the fact that Dean and Sam were not staying in Bismarck, any day now she was going to give Dean a kiss, and watch the Impala drive off for the last time. Then what? She was going to be alone. She needed to be able to defend herself from more than just werewolves. When there was an opening for her to say something, she didn't take it, she chickened out. He was so excited to be able to share with her parts of his world. She couldn't crush the illusion he built in his mind.
"Don't be nervous. Everyone suck's the first time." The corners of dean's green eyes crinkled as he smiled. Annie looked up at him only offering a soft smile of her own in return. The older male caressed her cheek before wrapping his arm across her shoulder before they followed Sam to the area Dean had set-up.
The brunette stood there observing the targets presented before her. The two brothers on either side of her laughing, at what she had no idea, she wasn't listening she was too focused on how wildly out of place she felt attempting this. She felt a gentle tap on her shoulder. Her dark eyes glanced over to find Dean holding a gun out.
"This is a Colt M1911A1. It's a .45 caliber hand gun. It uses a seven-round, single stack, magazine. " The hunter held the gun out, encouraging the brunette to take it. Her eyes studied the handgun for a moment before hesitantly taking it into her own hands "Don't worry its empty." Dean chuckled softly. "This is my gun of choice. I keep it on me at all times." The hunter added.
"No offense but it looks kind of old." The thing was ancient, like pre-First World War old.
"Maybe, but she's reliable and saved my ass more than once." The hunter responded fondly. Quickly bringing his attention back to the current topic. "Right. So, this is the safety, trigger, and this is the magazine clip." The hunter proceeded to show her how to load the gun and the proper way to hold it. "What do you say, wanna give it a try?"
"Umm… maybe one of you should show me first."
There was no hesitation from either of the men. Both brothers shot stares like daggers at each other. It was abundantly clear the seasoned hunters were itching for a little target practice or maybe it was the thrill of competition amongst themselves. Deans brows narrowed, Sam's hand twitched. Eyes locked on each other until… "Son of a bitch." Dean blinked. Sam smiled smugly as he pulled his own gun from his back pocket. Little brother would get to go first. Annie just stood there with a look of "that was fucking weird".
The brunette moved closer to Dean while Sam positioned himself in front of the targets. The young woman watched Sam quietly, observing as he took practice aims, adjusted how he was standing and after a moment, the younger Winchester spoke up as he glanced over his shoulder "Just like how we write with our dominant hand, when you shoot a gun, you lead with your dominant side. I'm right-handed so I shoot with my right. Plant your feet firm, keep your toes pointed straight. Whatever direction your toes are pointing, your bullet will follow. I'm going to step forward with my right foot and step back with my left." Sam's eyes narrowed in concentration. His arms raised as he aimed his gun, adjusting his aim slightly then pow pow pow the hunter started shooting off bullet after bullet. Annie looked on mesmerized by the accuracy. Each bottle shattering into little pieces, it was one of the most impressive things she had seen.
"Show off" Dean taunted. Sam simply left him with a dirty look as he stepped away from the spot he was standing.
"See easy." Sam happily told Annie. Though the look of uncertainty on her face said yeah right.
The brunette nervously cleared her throat as Dean placed his hand gun back in the young woman's palm. The hunter followed close behind as she stepped forward to the same spot Sam was just standing. Dean had positioned himself behind Annie. His arms stretched along hers as he helped her aim. "Lower your chin." The hunter gently instructed. For Sam it was interesting to watch. He hadn't really seen Dean with Annie and it was rare to see him being so soft. Simply put, it was nice. His brother looked happy.
"Keep your arm straight…" Dean explained while slowly letting go of Annie. Quickly he bent down helping her adjust how she was standing "Keep your eye on the target, aim. It's going to have a kick be careful..." The hunter stepped to the side, giving the brunette a nod. Both he and his brother watched on with bated breath as she fired her first shot and… she missed. "It's okay." He immediately told her. The brunette noticeably disappointed at her first attempt. "It's your first time don't worry about it. I think you were aiming a little high. We'll just try it again."
Even though she had her reservations about using a gun. She had to admit, it felt kind of exciting. Holding that colt in her hand and feeling the force that escaped it when she pulled the trigger. It was something else. She did hope that she would be a little better than that but as Dean said, it was her first time, she needed to remind herself of that. Annie looked over at Dean responding with a nod. The hunter stepped forward assisting Annie with her aim. "I'm going to miss." Mumbling mostly to herself as she focused on the target in front of her. Dean gave her aim one final adjustment before stepping back once more. Sam who had been quietly observing told her to take her time and go when she was ready. That was exactly what Annie did. She studied her target and after a moment she counted down to three in her head, slowly pulling the trigger back. Without giving any warning, she pulled the trigger back completely releasing her second shot…
"Holy hot damn! Did you see that?" Dean hollered throwing his hands up in excitement as he whipped around to look at Sam.
It took Annie a minute. It wasn't until Dean started losing his mind that she realized she had hit the beer bottle. Slowly a wide smile moved along her lips lighting up her entire face. "I hit that!" She exclaimed in pure excitement. She felt proud of herself. The next thing she knew was Dean playfully picking her up in celebration "That's my girl, see I never doubted it!"
"I think we got ourselves a natural." Sam chimed in while he and Annie exchanged enthusiastic high-fives.
The trio spent another hour on target practice. Annie didn't do nearly as well as she did on her second try, but she had fun, more fun than she expected. The brothers of course found themselves in bit of friendly competition with each other. It started with them timing each other on how quickly they could shoot down targets, then somehow escalated into them trying to disarm each other. They were ridiculous, but at the same time it was nice to see them spending time together. Something they hadn't been doing a lot of lately.
They were now walking back to the Impala after cleaning everything up. Sam and Annie were walking a head as Dean trailed behind. Something was on the hunter's mind and it didn't go ignored on the other two. The brunettes pace slowed as she stole glances at Dean from over her shoulder. Eventually she just told Sam to go ahead without them and they would catch up.
"Hey are you okay?" The brunette asked cautiously as Dean closed the distance between them. The hunters stare met hers as he lifted his head. "Yeah I'm fine." He tried to shrug the question off. Dean offered a small smile as he moved ahead of the brunette, and without any warning stopped dead in his tracks turning around to look at her "No, I'm not." Dean finally admitted. One hand rubbed the back of his head as his eyes stared into the distance. His brows furrowed together, commanding his attention to the woman standing in front of him. Wiping his mouth, he let out a deep breath.
"Okay… so here's the thing… um, I don't—" This was harder to bringing up then he thought, and the hunter found himself unable to collect his thoughts.
"Dean?" Annie asked. She stood there studying the male, truthfully his behavior was starting to worry her.
The hunter's eyes fell to the gravel as he kicked little rocks, taking another deep breath the hunter seemed to have found the courage he was looking for "I don't expect you to run around carrying a gun with you. I know this isn't everyone's thing." Dean started. Stepping closer to Annie, he reached over running his fingers through her dark hair "You and I know that I won't always be around…"
The words passing through his lips, literally gave the brunette pause. He was addressing the same thing she had been trying to bring up herself. Once again, she found herself in awe of the hunter. She had no idea he was thinking about this. He was so good at hiding his emotions. She went to say something like "I know" but the hunter quickly cut her off. He needed to get it out in the open.
"I was thinking when I was watching you, you're gonna need to be able to protect yourself and…" The hunter paused to clear his throat, suddenly pulling a small blade from his pocket "I want you to take this and keep it on you always." He added. "It's silver. If by chance me and Sam aren't with you and you get attacked by Charlie or whoever its fatal if you strike them in the heart. But it's a good weapon to have on you in case some dude gets a little too close and tries to do something."
There was so much she wanted to say to him but the only thing that came to mind that felt like enough was… "Thank you." The brunette smiled warmly. She respected his candor. They needed to address it out loud. There was no reason to act like this was going to end any other way for them. Doesn't mean they loved each other any less. This was life.
"How should I use it?"
Dean simply smirked as he twirled the blade in his hand "Grab it tightly at the handle. If someone is trying to hurt you, or grabbing at you in anyway point the blade up and shove it directly underneath their rib cage. It'll puncture their lungs." The green eyed male gently took Annie's hand pressing her fingers below his own ribs showing her what spot he was talking about and then mimicked the stabbing motion. "Keep it some place safe like…" Bending down, he lifted the pant leg of her jeans slipping it into her sneaker.
When the hunter stood backup, the young woman greeted him with a smile, she didn't say anything instead, leaned forward kissing the hunter passionately on the lips. The kiss lingered for a moment before they parted. The hunter looked down taking her hand into his while walking together back to the Impala.