And we're back with the Winchester siblings after a very long hiatus (sorry about that).
You guys know I don't own the show so we'll skip the disclaimer, shall we?
Now onto the story!
Lindsey soon learned that the boys were early risers. She wasn't much of a morning person herself, but medical school had forced her into waking up early. She stumbled down the rickety stairs and headed straight for an empty chair at Bobby's kitchen table at 8:23, twenty minutes after she had heard voices drifting upstairs.
"Morning, sunshine," Bobby chuckled from the stove when Lindsey plopped her chin in her hand.
"Morning," she grunted, raking a hand through her wild hair. Her adoptive mom had always teased that she looked like a lion when she woke up.
Dean grinned and ruffled her hair before passing her a cup of steaming coffee. Lindsey hummed her thanks and added a small spoon of sugar to cut the bitterness of the black coffee a little before taking a grateful sip.
"What are we doing today?" she asked once she was halfway through her coffee and Sam had passed her a plate of scrambled eggs from Bobby.
"Shooting lessons," Dean answered around a bite of toast. It wasn't often that they got to sit and enjoy a real breakfast that wasn't from a greasy one-star diner and he was really savoring it.
"I don't think that's necessary," Lindsey smirked. She was used to hunting—well, not Sam and Dean's kind of hunting—with her adoptive dad back home in Tennessee.
"Lindsey, you need to be able to shoot things if they're coming at you," Sam interjected, misinterpreting her meaning.
"Sam, I meant that I'm perfectly capable of shooting a target without lessons," she corrected. Sam grinned cheekily.
"Then let's make it a contest," he challenged. Dean's eyes lit up. A shooting contest sounded fun.
"I'm in," he grinned, earning nods from Lindsey and Sam.
"Idjits," Bobby grumbled fondly as he made to clean the dishes up.
"I got it, Bobby," Dean hopped up to grab the plates.
"Sit down," Bobby demanded. "Just because I'm in this damn chair doesn't mean I'm helpless. Now go out back and get to shootin' before I ram you in the ankles." Lindsey and Sam laughed as Dean dodged the wheelchair and darted to the door to get his boots.
"Where's Cas?" Lindsey asked as she slipped her boots on, noticing the angel's absence.
"Out doing whatever Cas does when he disappears," Dean answered gruffly. "He'll be back." Lindsey nodded, not missing the slightly knowing look on Sam's face. She made a mental note to ask him about it later.
"Let's set up targets at different distances and sizes," Sam suggested as they headed to the impala to grab their guns.
"Pistols or rifles?" Lindsey asked as Dean opened the trunk.
"Let's use the handguns," Dean replied, pulling his own pearl Colt 1911 from the waistband of his jeans. He sorted through the weapons in the trunk and passed Lindsey a 500 Magnum. "This ok?"
"Yeah," she nodded, getting a feel for the grip and looking through the sight. Sam pulled his Taurus 99 from his waistband and grabbed some ammunition. "Do you two always keep guns stuffed down the back of your pants?" Lindsey asked incredulously.
"Uh, yeah," Sam answered, seeming unsure about the question.
"Aren't you worried about blowing your ass off? I thought that was something they only did in cops shows." She reached around and pulled at her own waistband; there was no way in hell she was stuffing a gun back there.
"We keep the safety on," Dean reasoned. "And our jeans fit looser than yours. I could see if you were packing."
"Is it not uncomfortable when you sit down?" Lindsey asked as they walked to the back of the house.
"You get used to it," Sam shrugged, pacing out the distance for the first target. "How far, Dean?" he asked.
"Mark off 75 yards, 150, and 200," he replied, checking his gun over. Lindsey's eyes widened slightly; she didn't usually shoot over 125 yards.
"You can take some practice shots on that," Dean offered. "Sam and I are pretty used to our guns." Lindsey nodded and waited for Sam to finish putting the cardboard targets up.
"Is it sighted in?" she asked as she looked down the barrel.
"Yeah," Dean answered. "I always keep the guns sighted in, just in case." Lindsey nodded and took her aim. She shot slightly to the left of the center, readjusted her grip, and shot again.
"Alright, I'm ready," she grinned as she looked as her dead-center bulls-eye. Dean clapped her on the back proudly before he went to replace the used target with a new one so they could keep score.
"Points increase by 15 as you go into the center, each target is worth double the one in front of it. Sound good?" he asked. Lindsey and Sam nodded.
"Alright, Lindsey," Sam grinned, clapping her gently on the back. "Ladies first."
Three rounds later, they discovered that Sam could outshoot Lindsey in close range while she had the advantage on long shots. Dean was quite smug that he could outshoot them both.
"Honestly, I'm surprised, Lindsey," Dean grinned as they took the targets down. "I had no clue you were gonna be that good'a shot."
"Like I said, my dad took me hunting a lot when I was younger. We had a lease in Kentucky that was crawling with deer," Lindsey replied. "He would probably love you guys," she added as an afterthought.
"Yeah? Maybe we'll make it down that way sometime soon," Sam reassured her.
"I would really like that," Lindsey nodded.
"Come on, I'm starving," Dean made to go in the house as his younger siblings fell into step behind him.
Bobby fixed them a lunch of spaghetti with meat sauce that was quickly consumed by the three siblings.
"Dean, we're going to get spoiled on all this homemade food we've had recently," Sam grinned as he took another bite of spaghetti.
"You're right," Dean agreed, slurping a noodle through his lips. "We better get on the road again before we get used to this."
"Where will we go?" Lindsey asked.
"Well, the apocalypse has been pretty quiet lately," Dean mused. "Heard of any cases, Bobby?"
"I think someone was sayin' something about vamps in Utah," Bobby rolled over to his desk. "I wrote it down somewhere here…. ah, there it is. Yeah, looks like there's a nest in Clarkston that's been pickin' off the locals. It's a real small town and the death toll is causing them to get antsy."
"Sounds great," Dean enthused, clapping his hands and rubbing them together. "I could use an old-fashioned vamp hunt. You two good to leave in tonight?"
"Tonight?" Lindsey was surprised that Dean was ready to go so quickly after they had rushed to get here.
"Yeah, we can switch off on driving and hopefully get there mid-afternoon tomorrow. That good with you, Sammy?" Sam nodded his response but looked to his sister.
"Are you ok with this, Lindsey?" he asked, worried that this was a little too fast for her to handle.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered honestly. She found that life was easiest when she rolled with the punches—life with her brothers would be much the same.
"Great, before we go, you should get in some machete practice, Lindsey," Dean suggested. Lindsey nodded around a mouthful of spaghetti. "Bobby, you got any sandbags you don't mind sacrificing?"
"There should be some out in the shed," Bobby replied. Dean nodded his thanks and dug into his food. The group was quiet, each lost in their own thoughts. Lindsey tried to keep a calm mask on, but internally, she was shaking.
Once they had finished and the Winchester siblings had helped Bobby clean up his kitchen, they went back outside. Dean grabbed some rope from the shed and tossed it to Sam before hauling two large sand bags over his shoulder.
"Ever lobbed any heads off, Lindsey?" Dean chuckled as they found a tree with low-hanging branches.
"Uh, maybe in a video game," Lindsey joked. Dean snorted as he slung the heavy bags onto the ground to help Sam with the rope. The boys tied a slipknot and threw it over a branch before securing a sand bag to the end.
"Sorry Lindsey, but you're a little shorter than most monsters we fight," Sam jibed as he tied the bag at height slightly higher than Lindsey's head.
"Alright, little sister," Dean began as he slid a machete from his waistband. "Like Sam said, you're at a little bit of a disadvantage on height so that means you're gonna be taking uppercuts at these evil sons of bitches, like this." He demonstrated by squatting on his back foot and throwing all his weight into his swing.
"Make sure you swing through," Sam added. "Don't stop when you hit something solid."
"So it's like swinging a bat," Lindsey reasoned, taking the machete from Dean gingerly. "A really sharp bat and the ball is trying to bite me."
"Pretty much," Dean grinned toothily and patted her on the back. Lindsey took a deep breath and rolled her shoulders a little while the boys scooted back. She took her stance just like her adoptive dad had taught her to when she played softball. She swung hard and up, putting all her weight into it, and cut clean through the bag.
"Atta girl!" Dean cheered as sand poured out. Sam gripped her shoulder encouragingly and gave her a proud smile.
"Think you're ready?" he asked quietly as Dean tied up the other bag so she could go again. Lindsey nodded as she bit her lip. Sam noticed her hesitance. "It's ok if you're not. You don't have to do this, you know?"
"No, I want to," she assured firmly. "This was how I was supposed to be raised anyways."
"That is exactly what we're fighting against," Dean interjected. "All this 'supposed to' crap and destiny. Those dickbag angels expect us to jump on board and 'play our roles'—hell no! I'm gonna make my own choices in this world. Sister, you're a part of Team Free Will now. We've got one drop out with six bucks to his name, an ex-blood junkie, a fallen angel that doesn't get any references, and now our own personal deadly doctor. Those asshats won't know what hit 'em," he finished as he gripped his siblings by the shoulders. Sam shook his head good-naturedly at Dean's speech and Lindsey grinned warmly at her brothers. As she took the machete again and watched the second sand bag fall to the ground she thought maybe the world wasn't in such bad hands after all.
Next chapter we'll have a good old-fashioned vamp hunt! And maybe Cas can make an appearance (I do love that angel).
Anyone else still absolutely reeling from that finale? I know I am! Feel free to pop in my inbox to discuss, flail, and fangirl! Seriously, I need to talk about it.
As always, thanks for reading and please review!