Sorry! I actually had this done by Christmas but I was out in the middle of nowhere with no wifi visiting family for the holidays. I only just got back. (I had to stay behind with my uncle until his helper arrived.)
I'm almost done with the next chapter and should be up by next week, at the latest, but until then, enjoy the new chapter!
As it turns out, Daniel is not a big fan of flying. Nope. Not at all. They spent the entire four hour plane ride freaking out together. Dean's pretty sure the flight stewardesses hate him and Daniel and might possibly have heart palpitations from them. Oops!
Daniel pulled a Dean and booked it off the plane, not following protocol and hugged the blessed ground below them. Dean follow at a - slightly, though not really - sedate pace, carrying their bags. He gave Daniel a minute to collect himself before nudging him to get to his feet and follow him into the terminal, thankful for the prosthetics he paid a pretty penny for to alter his appearence slightly so Steve wouldn't know he's back in Hawaii.
He found a neat little boon to bringing Daniel with him; Steve won't be looking for two dudes traveling together, he'd expect for Dean to be traveling alone. Though in hindsight he should have had Daniel change into a woman for their flight. Steve'd've never thought to think of that.
Their fellow passengers laughed at them when they walked passed. Dean shrugged at them and slapped on his most 'aw shucks' and charming smile at them, grinning widely when he saw a few blink, momentarily stunned at the sight of his winning smile. Daniel grumbled and scowled at the ones staring at Dean, wrapping a possessive arm around Dean's waist.
Dean rolled his eyes but returned the gesture and waved the others off. He smacked a kiss on Daniel's cheek and steered him towards the terminal. They got the rest of their bags and Dean rented an all-terrain Range Rover in gun metal grey.
He shared a smile with Daniel, who no longer has the dark hair and blue eyes of Ronald Grint, but the blond hair and brown eyes of some foreign model with wicked cheekbones they found in an old fashion magazine. At first Daniel had been hesitant to change his visage, afraid that Dean wouldn't like his new look but when he showed Dean his new appearance, the other man couldn't stop staring at him before shaking his head to clear it.
Daniel bit his lip to hide his smug smile.
Not long after they left New Mexico, Dean had asked him how old he was, a tenseness around his shoulders while he waited for Daniel's answer. He shrunk down in his seat and played with the edge of his stolen flannel.
"In my twenties," Daniel admitted, not noticing Dean's flash of relief. "I think, at least. I could be older. I lost track after my tenth winter. I don't even know my birthday."
Dean hummed in thought.
"You do realize the dangers of traveling with me, right?" Dean asked, pinning Daniel to his seat with his intense stare that had the shapeshifter fidgeting. "You could die at any time or a fellow hunter could figure out you're not human and wait for me to leave before killing you, and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it." Daniel gulped. "If I did, they'd consider me defective and put me out of my misery.
"Or worse, they could call my dad and he'd kill you then he would never let me leave his side. I'd be known as John Winchester's Greatest Disappointment. My reputation would be ruined and I'd be a laughing stock, and not just with the other hunters, but with the creatures and monsters we hunt," Dean sighed and ran one of his hands through his hair.
They drove in silence for a bit before Dean added, "Fear of us keeps the monsters and demons from doing anything too dangerous or vowing vengeance and coming after us. Word gets out I've got a shapeshifter under my protection, that's it. It'll be fighting from there on out. Hunters and monsters would be coming after us."
Daniel shivered and drew his knees up to his chest, thankful Ronald Grint was shorter than the average male.
"I guess it's a good thing we're leaving the continental United States then, huh," Dean said with a joking grin. Daniel smiled back faintly, heart still beating hard at the threat he's now made aware of looming over them.
Did it make him want to leave Dean's side? No, not really. He's so sick of being alone. No wonder his kind resorts to killing; the loneliness drives them mad, and no matter what visage they take, they're still alone in the world. They can't even congregate together because they'd end up killing each other out of self-hatred and loathing of what they are. At least on their own, they could pretend they're not monsters but normal people.
Echoes of Ronald Grint's life still float around inside his head and he wonders if this is a contributing factor to his kind going crazy. It's not easy juggling so many memories and keeping the facts straight. Luckily the new memories of Enver Mathias drown it out. Maybe Daniel should have chosen another image to take because all he's getting is parties and whispers of some foreign language he's not bothering to learn.
Though he guess Matthias might be from Denmark. That's just a guess. He really doesn't want to learn about the man he's copying. He's making this image his own. He's blocking the man's memories, apart from Matthias' knowledge of European Folklore. Yay for smart models!
Dean pursed his lips when he explained why he won't talk about the guy whose appearance he's taking but didn't push, which Daniel is insanely grateful for, but he seemed appeased by his newfound folklore knowledge. The hunter raised an eyebrow when Daniel asked him to take a picture for him as a reference should he ever need to change his image to someone else and so he could change back.
The hunter had laughed and joked about having a shapeshifter as a partner being the ultimate secret weapon in his arsenal.
Daniel knew the hunter was joking but a ball of warmth set up residence in his chest and he laughed along. He vowed right then and there to be useful to Dean, not only as a reason to give the hunter not to kill him, but as a thank you. He won't say that though. Dean seems like the kind of person who doesn't take gratitude well or a simple thanks.
He tried having sex with the hunter again, this time as a thank you instead of letting their hormones get the best of them, but Dean had gently rebuffed him, explaining what happened between them was a one-time thing. Daniel had pouted for miles but he understood Dean's hesitance. He wouldn't want to sleep with a shapeshifting creature either; a creature who couldn't even remember what it originally looked like, let alone remember if it had been born a boy or a girl.
Daniel's first and, apparently, only sexual experience had been with a hunter, who had hours previously been wanting to kill him, and, now two weeks later, he's trying not to act like a brat because he couldn't continue having sex with his "savior".
It was a sad, lonely, lonely life Daniel had been living until he met Dean.
He's still feeling a bit proprietary towards the hunter, hence him scaring off the other passengers on their plane. Luckily for him, Dean indulges his impulses as long as Daniel doesn't take it too far. Like say, kissing and/or groping him.
The only stop they made was at the realtor's office to get the keys to their new property. Dean fibbed with the nosy woman, flirting shamelessly that had the older lady blushing like a school girl, causing Daniel to bite back any negative reactions and kept his mouth shut. He dawdled around the office, waiting for Dean to get done.
The welcoming, beckoning warmth of the Hawaiian sun taunted him from the other side of the plexiglass. "Come to me," it whispered seductively. "I know how much you want to."
Daniel shook his head to keep from listening to the sunlight. Dean'd be mad if he disobeyed. They have to keep a low profile as to not attract the attention of Dean's ex, who is quite big and scary looking. Dean's ex is the kind of person he took great pains to avoid while he lived on the streets, or, on occasion, beneath them. They're usually big alpha males who knew exactly how to throw their weight around to get what they want from people but they also know how to make their appearance less threatening when they wanted to.
How they do that, Daniel has no clue. And he might be slightly jealous of that skill.
Dean had told him of his deal with Steve McGarrett and his government task force and what transpired a few months ago that sent Dean running back to the "mainland", as Dean called it. They've only been on the island of Kauai for an hour and Dean's entire demeanor changed to a more loose limbed yet still lethal grace that had Daniel shifting in his ridiculously colored board shorts. The hunter seemed more at ease here.
Or maybe Dean is a damn good actor and he's hiding his tenseness by acting relaxed to put Daniel at ease. He's learning Dean wouldn't be above doing that.
The hunter wrapped up his conversation with the nosy realtor and herded Daniel out into the Hawaiian sunlight. Both Daniel and the sunlight sighed in relief. Dean quirked a brow but he was smiling. Daniel basked in the light for a minute, the feeling of a new beginning washed over while Dean patienly waited for him by the Range Rover. He shot Dean a smile before joining him.
"Ready?" Dean asked mockingly.
Daniel ducked his head and nodded bashfully.
Dean snorted.
ALK
Their rental property ended up being a pale blue bungalow set on ten acres of land that had Dean frowning slightly. Dean told him he'd been hoping for a little more acreage but what they have will do, and when Daniel asked for what, Dean smiled a little evilly and told him it was for his future training. That and they'll need to rig up some early warning systems and an alarm for humans and monsters.
Daniel'd really prefer not to learn how to hunt, he'd just be backup instead of an investigator, and he'd even help Dean dig up any bones or do research for the hunter. The thought of killing his own kind, makes him sick to his stomach, or even going after his fellow supernatural creatures. It's wrong on a level he's not sure how to explain to a hunter. Even if that hunter is Dean.
What if Dean doesn't want him around because he's not offering anything useful for him to use in his battle against evil?
He doesn't want to leave the only person who has been knowingly nice to him. And what he means by that, is that Dean knows he's a shapeshifter and is being nice to him. He doesn't treat Daniel like he's a monster. He treats him like Daniel's "normal". Just another guy, and Daniel is really liking it.
Dean snapped his fingers to get Daniel's attention, causing the young shapeshifter to flinch and almost bang his head against the passenger side window. Blushing hotly, he looked at Dean and prayed Dean wouldn't say anything about what just happened.
Other than an amused smirk, Dean gestured for him to get out and grab their bags while he unlocked their house for the foreseeable future. It was a modest three bedroom, one bathroom house with a somewhat updated kitchen. The appliances at least looked like it wouldn't go up in flames should they turn it on and the furniture wasn't completely horrible (no floral patterns, yay!), but there is some serious dusting needing to be done.
He'll have Daniel do it. Cleaning is not his thing.
Daniel came barreling through the house, staggering under the weight of all the bags. Dean shook his head despairingly. Two trips max was all that was needed but nooooo, Daniel had to bring them all in at the same time.
The shapeshifter deposited the bags onto the floor, sending up a plume of dust that had Daniel coughing and stumbling away to get some "fresher" air. Dean doubled over laughing while Daniel blushed bright red in embarrassment, he shoved the hunter to get him to stop making fun of him but it only made Dean laugh harder
Oh yeah, they are so airing out the house.
"Open the windows," Dean ordered Daniel.
Daniel heaved a put upon sigh. He trudged his way over to the literal wall of windows and started unlatching them before he went back around to shove them open.
"Why couldn't they have a folding sliding door?" Daniel complained. "That way we could have the living lead out onto the porch."
"Lanai," Dean corrected.
"What?"
"It's not called a porch. It's called a lanai," Dean informed the bemused shapeshifter.
Daniel frowned at the "lanai". He opened his mouth to say something but shrugged and continued walking around the bungalow to open all the windows. He trusts Dean. Doesn't matter if Daniel doesn't get it, Dean knows best. That, and Dean lived here for a year with a walking Adonis. Or is it Poseidon? Either nickname works for the SEAL.
Both names are intimidating as hell, too.
Dean watched Daniel for a bit, his mind carefully blank. He didn't want to trigger any memories that'll weaken his resolve to stay away from Kamekona and Grace on Oahu, but god, it's getting harder and harder to not find the next plane going home - Oahu - back to Oahu, not home. That's not his home. Not anymore. Not after overreacting and storming off like a spoiled child because his feelings got hurt and didn't get his way. That's not him. That's not who his dad raised.
A part of him is screaming at him to call Steve to talk. To actually talk. Not Dean's strong suit. Or Steve's for that matter. They both suck at communication. Not a good combination in maintaining a healthy and strong relationship between a cop and a Hunter. But another part, a bigger part, is quietly telling him he needs to let Steve go, to let the Hawaiian live his life free of any supernatural danger with his team and ohana.
They have enough dangerous elements in their life, they don't need him adding to it.
He misses Grace though. He never said goodbye to her, she probably hates him now, or maybe she never wants to see him again. Dean wouldn't blame her.
Sam used to give their dad the silent treatment being all passive-aggressive until their dad snapped and either yelled at Dean to fix it or not-exactly apologized by buying Sam some books or they stayed at their current residence for another month. Those three things usually worked on Sammy. Especially Dean yelling at Sam to knock it off.
Sam and their dad know Dean hates being pulled into their arguments, and Dean likes to use that against them all the time to keep them from fighting for too long.
He has no idea how Grace is going to react if he contacts her. She might ignore him or tell Danny that he contacted her and he and the rest of Five-0 would be on the next plane back to Hawaii to find him.
No. Dean's going to keep his distance for now. Not that he'd kept in contact with her after he left in the first place.
"Dean?" Daniel called, voice sounded worried. Like he'd been saying Dean's name for a while.
"Hmm?"
"All the windows are open," he told the Hunter. "What should I do now?"
Dean looked at him, thinking. "Unpack then meet me outside."
Daniel nodded and got two steps towards where the bedrooms presumably are before stopping.
"Daniel?" Dean questioned. "You okay?"
"Why am I meeting you outside?"
"You'll see," Dean replied mysteriously. It did nothing to ease Daniel's sudden bout of dread.
Dean's going to start training him this night, isn't he? Daniel is going to hate Hawaii, he knows this to his borrowed bones. Hawaii won't hold any memories of fun in the sun. No. Hawaii will remind him of sweat, blood and tears, of being torn down to his very soul - or whatever monsters like him have if not a soul - and he is going to be reborn a hunter.
The shapeshifter in him is rebelling hard at the very thought but the human side of him is more than ready to learn how to kill and survive in a world with monsters bigger and stronger than he is. The two conflicting emotions are giving him a headache and making his stomach turn.
"I can't hunt," Daniel admitted quietly, unsconsciously hoping Dean hadn't've heard him.
There's a sudden tension in the air. It had Daniel's prey instincts kicking into overdrive, adrenaline soared through his veins in preparation of either a fight-or-flight maneuver. From Dean.
He could feel Dean's stare boring into him. He's afraid to turn around to see the hunter's expression. What if he's going to send Daniel away? Or worse. What if he's going to kill him, and the last thing he sees is a disappointed Dean? He doesn't think he could handle that. He'd rather die than disappoint his savior. Which would be kind of moot since he's dead/dying by said savior's hand at that point.
"Okay," Dean said simply after a few minutes of staring at him intently, like it was no big deal.
Wait, what?
Daniel turned around to see Dean making a face at the amount of dust in the house. He ran a finger over the surface of the breakfast bar, and even from Daniel's position he could see the grime on Dean's index finger. They are so dusting in the future.
He has to ask.
"Is it really okay? That I don't want to hunt. It's okay?"
Dean nodded at him.
"You're still learning self-defense and you're going to help me with research. You're going to learn the signs of a paranormal activity," he replied. "And you're going to help me with interviews, especially with your abilities to shapeshift. I might need a woman's touch with the more hysterical witnesses since Sammy's in school now. He's the one that usually handled them."
"I - okay." What else is Daniel supposed to say to that? He's not going to jinx himself by asking more questions.
"You're also going to help me with digging up graves and re-burying them," Dean added.
"Okay," Daniel grinned. Dean's not going to make him hunt! He's not going to abandon Daniel or kill him! If he wasn't in love with Dean before, he sure is now.
Maybe his kind does have a god and it listened to him and granted this boon because it's a benevolent god.
ALK
Daniel takes it back. His god is not benevolent. Nope. Daniel's god likes to watch him suffer.
It's been two and a half weeks since they arrived in Kauai, and in those two weeks, Daniel's been doing physical training nonstop. He though Dean'd ease him into training since he's so new to it and new to working out. That's a big negatory.
Dean's logic, and Daniel can't fault it (he's tried. So hard), is that the borrowed muscles he has already know what to do, and that Daniel needs to quit fighting those instincts.
The one time Daniel heeded Dean's advice in training, he managed to get a hit in, punching Dean in thigh. Okay, so it wasn't a great or even coordinated hit (he'd been aiming for his stomach), but Daniel did manage to hit him. Just once, mind you. It was enough for Dean to continue lecturing him on ignoring Enver Mathias' reflexes.
At this point, Daniel can give the speech to himself verbatim.
Dean cuffed him upside the head when he caught Daniel mouthing the speech along with him. It made Dean stop for a bit but he only used that time to change up the wording before starting right back in on lecturing Daniel.
Daniel'd wondered if Sam, Dean's younger brother, had to go through this almost constant lecturing or if Dean himself was subjected to the "Do as I say, I know better" speech.
"Hands up!" Dean barked, pulling him from his straying thoughts.
Daniel managed to bring his hands up in time to stop a jab to the face but he was too slow to stop a combo to his left side and now unprotected face. Enver's memories decided to recall the time his trainer did the exact same combo to him when he first starting learning self-defense. That information would have been helpful just a few seconds earlier. Like say before he got a shiner and a bruised rib (he's guessing on that last one).
Dean tsked at him, and Daniel felt his face heat up at disappointing the hunter.
"I'm sorry," Daniel muttered pitifully. "I'll do better."
The hunter shrugged his apology off.
"I know you will. You need to quit letting your mind wander. Next time I won't be so nice and hit you in the fleshy parts," Dean warned him.
Daniel saluted and fell into a fighting stance, successfully dodging and deflecting Dean's furlough of punches and kicks. Dean grinned at him when he was done.
Daniel's smile could have lit up the entire island chain.
"Better," Dean complimented. "Keep this up and we'll do something fun."
Daniel perked up at that. "Like going surfing?" he asked hopefully.
"Maybe."
"And going hiking?"
"That one we'll do next weekend."
"Without training?"
"Of course there'll be training."
"No. I meant, I won't have to do well in training to go hiking?"
"Duh."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
"Hungry?"
"Always."
"Pizza?"
"No pineapples."
"Done."
Daniel found it hilarious that Dean's so against pineapple being on pizza. Personally, Daniel doesn't mind the fruit - kind of prefers it in all honesty - but he knows that Dean's somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to food. One would think he'd be a little more adventurous with his eating, you know, with traveling all across the country and everything when hunting. He knows every diner has their own unique flavoring and cooking style.
"We should go out and eat instead of heating one up," Daniel suggested. He'll never get over how beautiful the island is. He wonders what Oahu is like.
"Fine with me," Dean replied without looking up from packing their gear away. He gestured for Daniel to come over so he could unwrap his hands. "There's a place nearby that delivers or do you prefer sitting and eating in a diner?"
"The latter."
"All right." He unwrapped Daniel's hands, checking for any tearing that needed cleaning; found none. "Let's go. The sooner we get back the sooner I can finish working on your credentials."
Daniel ran off in the house to get cleaned up and ready for dinner. He's learned during their time together that Dean's rather grumpy after training and the best thing to do is act instead of waiting to be told something. If he doesn't, Dean'll either lose his patience or he'd disappear somewhere on the island for hours on end. Daniel has no idea where Dean goes, and even followed him a couple times but he lost the hunter within minutes of hitting town.
So far they've been lucky that no one from Dean's old life hasn't seen them. Dean never says anything, nor that he ever will, but a part of him is disappointed that Steve hasn't found him hiding out in Hawaii. All it would take is for them to run a facial recognition program on Dean and they'd find him easy.
He swears the more he learns about Dean, the more confused he gets about the hunter.
Dean wants to move on but he chose Hawaii to hide. He swore to never get attached to someone and yet he's taken Daniel under his wing, a shapeshifter, and he's teaching him how to hunt. He's mad at his little brother and yet he still has tabs on the guy. Dean loves and respects his dad but he's also terrified of him.
Contradiction, thy name is Dean Winchester.
The sound of a bag hitting the wooden floors of their bungalow startled Daniel out of his thoughts. He quickly grabbed his clothes to change into after he showered. He took a Navy shower (that's what Dean calls it. No need to guess where he learned that from) and was dressed before Dean could even work up the effort to yell at him for taking so damn long, despite knowing Daniel showers and gets ready faster than Dean on any given day.
Dean snorted at him when he saw Daniel's hair sticking up left and right.
Daniel flushed and combed his hands through his hair to try and somewhat style it, to look presentable in public. Or at least look decent enough where management won't kick them out for looking like hobos.
Apparently that happened to Dean once back on the mainland.
It was a night of a hunt, Dean and his dad decided to go out for a celebratory breakfast - not stopping at their room to clean the dirt off themselves or change their clothes - and they found a 24-hour diner. Dean and his dad had just barely sat down in a booth when their waiter asked them to leave, and when Dean's dad asked why, it pissed Dean's dad off so much they got escorted off the premises by the local police because Dean's dad was yelling so loud it made the other late night/early morning customers uncomfortable. The cops were cool enough not to throw Dean and his dad in jail for disturbing the peace, they only asked them to clean up next time before going out to eat.
That night had Dean cleaning himself almost religiously after hunts before going out. It's a habit he's drilling into Daniel.
The drive to the diner was uneventful but scenic. Daniel will never get over just how beautiful the island is. It makes him wonder just how Dean left any of the islands to go back to the mainland, ignoring the whole McGarrett situation.
Dean found them a booth at the back, him facing the door, of course. Old habits apparently.
They ordered their meat-lover's pizza (no pineapple, drat) and two cokes. It kind of felt like a date, complete with butterflies and awkwardness (on Daniel's side), and when they were done eating, Dean paid for everything. Again. Daniel really needs to get a job so he could help pay for things and so he could buy things for Dean just because he can.
In all the lives that Daniel's assumed, he never bought anything for anyone. He never used his own money, money that he earned, to buy things for someone he cared about.
"I want to get a job," Daniel blurted out just as the waiter grabbed their dishes. He flushed scarlet as both Dean and the waiter stared at him.
The waiter shared a look with Dean Daniel couldn't decipher and that bugged the crap out of him. He's been with Dean for almost three weeks and he still struggles to figure out the simplest expression the hunter wears, and this waiter can read Dean better than him. That just won't do.
Dean smirked at him when Daniel scowled and shooed the waiter away.
"Don't you give me that look," Daniel warned and wagged his finger at the hunter.
Dean gave him the 'who, me?' look next. Innocence personified. It had Daniel giving himself an internal shake to keep from believing that particular expression. It's so damn convincing. Dean'd've made a great actor. A box office favorite; America's new Golden Boy.
In another life, Daniel'd most likely be Dean's biggest fan.
In another life, Daniel might've lost himself to his kind's impulses and done his best - and most likely succeeded - and killed Dean to assume his image. To feel the love of millions would be unlike any other. It would have been intoxicating . . . and a tremendous loss. Daniel would have never known just how brilliant and kind a man Dean was. His life would have been empty.
A kick to his shins pulled Daniel out of his spiraling thoughts.
"Ow!"
"Get out of your head," Dean ordered. "It's not a safe place for you."
And Dean is right. As always.
"Sorry," he mumbled. Dean waved it off. "Do we have to go back to the house or can we go for a walk or something?" Sue him for wanting to change the subject and explore the island a bit, he doesn't care.
"You go on ahead," Dean told him distractedly, his eyes trained down the dirt road they came in on. Dean's entire body screamed Alert! and it had Daniel on edge. "Go. Now."
Daniel hesitated before doing as told. Dean knows best.
"3 hours."
Daniel nodded and took off. 3 hours until he goes back to the house. 3 hours until Dean deems their new home safe.
"Good luck," he whispered as he disappeared down the shoreline.
ALK
Three hours on the dot, Daniel hid in the treeline that bordered their home. Nothing seemed amiss, but he saw no Dean, and that had Daniel fighting a panic attack. Memories of Enver Mathias pushed to the forefront of his mind, distracting him even more as he fought the memories off. His panic and worry over Dean weakened his defenses against Mathias' memories and instincts.
By the time he fought back against the onslaught of foreign memories, a black two-door car appeared magically in their driveway. He thinks it's a standard issue government vehicle. Cars are not his thing. But the sight of this car has his stomach twisting into knots.
A sense of foreboding washed over him, kicking his flight instincts into overdrive. He should change his image. A female. People are less inclined to shoot a woman on sight than a man.
Just as he reached around to grab his wallet full of pictures out of his back pocket, a black Suburban pulled in alongside the other vehicle. Three people got out: an attractive brunette, two Asians, man and a woman, and they looked dangerous. They screamed cops. Which meant there were two people in the other vehicle, probably already inside the house, and one of those two people is Steve McGarrett, Dean's ex-boyfriend.
The ex-boyfriend who is a Navy SEAL and runs a government task force.
Shit.
They found Dean.