Piper was curled under Dean's shoulder in a diner booth, laughing as he whispered dirty talk to her and pulled her legs to lay across his. Since he had finally revealed everything from hell, he was rarely not touching her. She had finally gotten to shower by herself this morning, and when she had gotten out, he had promptly gotten her sweaty and breathless again.
She didn't mind, she enjoyed the attention he was showering on her. The big hand playing with the end of her braid, the knee touching hers, his lips brushing against her shoulder as she was researching on her laptop. Piper soaked it all up happily.
As if to drive home the point, Dean put a hand on her knee and moved it up very slowly, licking around the shell of her ear and murmuring all the things he'd like to do to her. "I'm going to bend you over-"
Sam coughed as he slid into the seat across from them. "Guys, come on, this is getting embarrassing. We're in a diner, for Christ's sake."
Piper smiled and put her hand on Dean's face, pushing him away. "Sorry, Sam."
She felt Dean grin against her palm. "Not sorry, Sammy," he said cheerfully against her hand.
Piper turned back to the younger hunter, and was surprised to see his expression softening as he looked at them. "Whatcha got?" She asked cheerfully, mulling that expression over in her mind.
"So get this. Guy gets stabbed on the street ten times."
Dean shrugged. "So?"
"So, there were no holes in his shirt."
xxxxx
Piper walked beside Dean into a dimly lit theater, looking around curiously. There were two tables set up, one with two older men, and the other with one older man sitting across from a younger man.
They approached the older men, and Piper had to swat Dean's hand as it slid down her back to rest on her ass. When one of the men turned, she gave them what she hoped was a sunny smile. "Hello! Are you Vernon Haskell?"
The man who had turned narrowed his eyes at her. "Who's asking?"
Dean flashed his FBI badge. "I'm agent Ulrich, this is my partner, Agent Hammett. We're looking into the death of Patrick Vance."
Piper was distracted by the two men at the other table. The younger one was talking into a camera. "I'm Jeb Dexter. This is Devil Twist. We're chilling at the International Magicians' Convention, which is a dope chance to tip my hat to the wicked cats who came before me. Smoking hot effect last night, Jim."
The other man looked uncomfortable. "Jay."
Jeb's brow wrinkled. "Huh?"
"My name is Jay."
"Yeah, whatever. We can loop it later."
"Oh, God, what a douche bag." She wrinkled her nose. Vernon gave her an approving look.
Dean nodded. "Couldn't agree more. Is, uh-" He pulled out the tarot card they had found with the dead man's things. "This familiar to you?" He showed the card to Vernon, who shrugged
"Should it be?"
Pipe smiled. "Well, we heard that you used tarot cards in your act."
Vernon's eyebrows went up. "My act? That was a long time ago. I haven't touched a deck in years, you know." He held up his hand, which was trembling. Piper felt a wave of sympathy wash over her.
Dean seemed less affected. "Do you know someone that might use them now?"
"Well, there was a guy down on Bleeker Street."
The other man at the table nodded. "Oh, yeah. He, he peddles that kind of specialty stuff."
Piper turned to him. "Did he have a problem with Vance?"
Vernon nodded. "Matter of fact, Vance crossed him about a year ago. Probably cost him fifty grand in royalties."
"Do you know the exact address?"
"Four twenty-six Bleeker." Vernon supplied.
"Ask for Chief."
Dean nodded. "Chief. Thank you."
xxxxx
Piper was still chuckling at Dean's encounter with Chief as they sat in the motel room. She was sitting cross-legged on her and Dean's bed, laptop balanced on her knee. Dean was laying next to her propped up on his elbow, his hand resting on her other knee. They were discussing the case.
Sam was on his laptop, too. "Looks like this guy Jay was a pretty big deal in the seventies."
"Which in magician land means what, exactly?" Dean asked, his eyes not leaving Piper's computer screen.
Sam shrugged. "Big enough to play radio city music hall."
Piper met his eyes. "What changed?
Another shrug. "He got old."
Dean's eyebrows went up. "Okay, so maybe incredible Jay is using real magic to stage a comeback."
Piper looked down at him. "It's possible. There are spells that create a death transference."
He looked up at her and squeezed her knee gently. "How does the tarot card mix into it?"
She shook her head. "I don't know."
Dean leaned back. "Man… Hope I die before I get old. Whole thing seems brutal, don't it?"
Piper smacked him lightly on the back of the head. "Excuse me?"
"You think we will? Die before we get old?" Sam interrupted.
Dean shrugged. "Haven't we both already?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean, Dean. I mean, do you think we'll still be chasing demons when we're sixty?"
Dean shook his head. "No, I think we'll be dead, for good." Piper glared at him, and he held his hand up defensively. "What? You want to end up like… Like Travis? Huh? Or Gordon, maybe?"
"Bobby didn't turn out too bad," Piper objected, still glaring at him.
Dean snorted. "Oh, yeah, there's a poster child for growing old gracefully."
"Maybe we'll be different, Dean," Sam insisted.
Dean looked at his brother incredulously. "What kind of Kool-Aid you drinking, man? Sammy, it ends bloody or sad. That's just the life."
There was a beat of silence. Piper was mad, and she couldn't understand why. Hunters very rarely lived to old age, even Bobby was an anomaly, and he wasn't that old. She knew that. But the thought of Dean dying before living a long life upset her.
"What if we could win?" Sam asked quietly.
Piper turned to him. "Win?"
"If there was a way we could just… Put an end to all of it."
Dean's eyes narrowed. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
Sam shook his head. "No. Look, I'm just saying… I just wish there was a way we could… Go after the source. That's all. Cut the head off the snake."
Dean snorted again. "Well, the problem with the snake is that it has a thousand heads. Evil bitches just keep piling out of the Volkswagen."
"Yeah. Guess you're right."
xxxxx
Piper's throat ached from the noose that the magician had dropped around her neck in the theater, but she kept silent as they walked into the bar to join Jay the next morning.
She felt bad for the man. He had to lose one of his best friends, and even though it had been the right thing to do, Piper wasn't sure she would have been able to do it. She thought there was a distinct possibility that she would have just gone with Sam or Dean, become immortal, and kept a low profile. She felt bad for Jay, but she also had a lot of respect for him.
She laid a gentle hand on his shoulder and rasped, "Hey, Jay. We wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday."
He didn't turn around. "I killed my best friend yesterday, and you want to thank me?" Piper let her hand drop.
Sam looked around. "Where's Vernon?"
"Oh, he's gone. He said he didn't want to speak to me again after what I did to Charlie."
There was a beat, then Dean spoke. "Listen, Jay… You know Charlie was never going to give up what he was doing. Ever. You did the right thing."
Jay did turn around now, pain blazing in his eyes. "Are you sure about that? You know, Charlie was like my brother. And now he's dead... Because I did 'the right thing.' He offered me a gift, and I just threw it back in his face. So now I have to spend the rest of my life old and alone. What's so right about that?"
The bartender held up a pack of playing cards. "Jay, your cards."
"Throw them away," Jay muttered as he pushed past them and walked out the door. Piper watched him go and felt guilt settle onto her shoulders.
Dean slung an arm around her waist, trying for lighthearted. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could go for a beer."
Sam shook his head and started away. "I'm going for a walk."
Dean shrugged and led Piper to a booth where they slid in together. She lay her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes, listening to his deep voice rumble in his chest as he ordered for the both of them.
When the waitress had left, she lifted her head and looked at him. "Hey, what was all that crap at the motel?" she whispered, trying to save her throat. "About not making it to old age."
He frowned at her. "Pipes, you probably shouldn't be talking."
She glared. "You wish, Winchester. What were you talking about?"
He shifted uncomfortably and looked away from her. "It's the reality, kitten. Hunters don't live long, and they usually go out bloody. I plan on going down swingin', don't get me wrong, but I'm not going to… To delude myself into thinking this has a happy ending."
Piper frowned, but didn't say anything. She shifted closer and put her head back on his broad shoulder. Dean was her happy ending, and even if she had given up the thought of old age a long time ago… Maybe now she wanted it.
"Look, Pipes," Dean started slowly, still not meeting her eyes. "If… If things could be different… If we could be normal, yeah. I, uh, I would want that. A long life." He swallowed hard and kept his gaze up and away from her. "With you."
Piper's heart stuttered to a stop. Did Dean Winchester just tell me he wants to spend his life with me?
He continued through her silence. "If we could have that apple pie life that Sammy always wanted, then I would want that. But we can't, and I can't… I can't think about stuff like that. I can't think about what my life, what our life, would be like without all this crap." He pulled her close and planted a kiss on the top of her head. "I just can't, kitten, okay?"
She nodded and nestled into him, feeling glowing warmth in her middle, despite the pain in her throat. "Okay, Dean," she said softly.
xxxxx
Sam walked down the street, looking for Ruby's car. He was glad Dean and Piper hadn't questioned him.
When he thought of them, his heart ached. They were good together, they were right. But what Dean said rang through Sam's head. They weren't going to get to grow old together, or have kids, or buy a house.
And Sam wasn't going to grow old, either.
He opened the door to Ruby's car. "Okay, I'm in."
"What changed your mind?"
Sam thought of Dean and Piper. "I don't want to be doing this when I'm an old man."
xxxxx
Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or the characters. (heartbroken)
Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.
If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.
