Unlikely Guardian, Unlikely Ward [Jake C., Dean W.]
[Backdated. Should have been right after this post, but life is complicated. Apologies all around.]
On one hand, Jake could understand the need to have someone else in the tower with him. He wasn’t a teenager yet, and in a city that boasted werewolves, vampires, and the Joker, it was pretty unreasonable to leave someone his age alone. On the other hand, Jake knew he’d been in worse situations, and he was entirely capable of taking care of himself.
He didn’t let Dinah hear him grumbling over the phone, but once she’d hung up, Jake had grumbled and grumbled some more. He didn’t know who this guy was, or why Dinah had been with him, but...
...but Jake was worried about his foster mother, annoyed at being helpless, and frustrated at being left to sit and wait all the time. So while he was waiting, he ate some food, fed Oy, did the dishes, and got started on his homework. Idle anger was useless anger, Roland had taught them, so at least he could make something productive out of it.
----
Dean went “home,” got cleaned up, got packed up, and headed to the address Dinah had given him. It took him some time, seeing as he didn’t use the cab like Dinah had wanted. Jake wasn’t left alone for more than a couple hours, and Dean didn’t see why a couple hours would really matter. He didn’t take his time, but he didn’t run as if someone’s life depended on it. He knew what it was like to be dumped on someone while a parent, the only parent, was away doing who knew what.
He settled the recently acquired duffle at his feet as his hand lifted to knock on the door. The place looked safe enough, so that was a plus. He didn’t know how Dinah afforded a place like this; sure, she had the flower shop, but there was only so far flower shops could take a girl.
“Being a superhero must a cushy gig.”
----
Oy was off and barking at the door from the first knock. Jake followed behind, and hushed him before peeking out the window. It was a habit Barbara had ingrained in him. The sharp Oriza was in his hand, half-hidden behind his back, as Jake undid the locks and cracked the door open.
“Yeah?”
He gave the guy an untrusting look. Safer to assume a stranger than to assume a friend.
----
Dean looked down at the kid; yeah, he knew that look. He’d given that look to a few people who thought they should invade in the strange life John Winchester had created for his two boys. Dean didn’t try to give him some weird winning smile; instead, he decided to treat him like he would if the kid was Ben.
“Yeah. Dean Winchester. Dinah’s friend. Came to sleep on the couch.” There was a smirk at the end of that. He didn’t add why he was coming to sleep on the couch, but Jake probably knew that, seeing as Dinah was supposed to call ahead to let the boy know what was going on.
“You must be Jake.” Dean offered his hand.
----
Jake shifted his glance to the guy’s hand, and made no secret of switching the plate from one hand to the other as he reached up to shake. “Yeah. So you’re the hero of the day.” He stepped back, opening the door wider so that Dean could step inside. Oy looked up at the newcomer, barked once, then turned to the boy. “Ake?”
“Oy, this is Dean. Dean, that’s Oy. He doesn’t bite unless he has to.” Which could mean any number of things, but Jake still had scars on his hand from when Oy had bitten him. Granted, the billy-bumbler had been falling off a bridge at the time, so it had been a necessity.
Before turning completely away, Jake looked up at Dean. “Is she going to be okay?” He’d appreciated the straightforward way Dean had approached him. He was hoping it would continue.
-----
“Oy?” Dean glanced down at the dog, then blinked. He looked down at the...what the hell was that? All he could do was whistle and shake his head. Whatever it was, it didn’t look like much he’d seen in his life, and he’d seen a good bit. He wasn’t even going to ask if Oy had just spoken.
“Well, I won’t bite him if he doesn’t bite me. Think that’s pretty fine.” Dean had noticed the kid was carrying something, but he had no idea what it was. Dinah hadn’t said that the kid was different, but why would she? He was her kid. Dean picked up his bag and walked in.
“She’ll be fine. We can go pick her up tomorrow. You’re going to have to make sure she stays off her feet for a little while.” He almost added “which means no superhero action,” but he didn’t know if Jake knew about that. “Did you get the lasagna out? I’m starving.”
----
Jake led the way to the kitchen, but he was thinking of something else. Eddie Dean. Dean Winchester. Was it enough? “Yeah, the lasagna’s good. Do you have a middle name, Dean?” If it was five letters long, that might be a little... well, that would be something.
“Right. No superhero action for Dinah.” Jake wrinkled his nose. “I might have to tie her to a chair for that. I don’t think she knows how to stay off her feet.”
----
“Middle name?” Dean tossed his stuff down by the door as he followed Jake to the kitchen. “Don’t really have one.” The hunter looked over the apartment, just getting a feel for the place. It looked almost like he was casing the joint, but he really wasn’t one to take from friends, if Dinah was his friend. She seemed to be more his damsel in distress.
“Right, no superheroing.” His mouth opened as if to say something then it closed. “Let’s hold off on the rodeo there, cowboy. Mainly because I’m sure she’d find her way out of a chair, and it’d probably hurt her more. She got stabbed in the side.” Dean pointed to the spot on his own body. “Right about here. It’s not good to be doing the twisting and turning and pulling being tied up may require.”
He didn’t step into the kitchen, rather he took a lean in the doorway. “No, your job is to be her kid. That’ll probably work a lot better than tying her up.”
----
Jake rolled his eyes at that, setting the Oriza down on the table. “Yeah. Nice and easy to tell me to just ‘be her kid’ after telling me she shouldn’t be stretching or twisting or anything like that. Being a kid means being a needy and demanding brat.” He pulled the lasagna tray out from the fridge, and cut a thick slice for Dean, then shoved it in the microwave.
Then he turned back towards Dean, blue eyes hard with anger. “I might be twelve, but I’m not an idiot. I’ve seen things even you probably wouldn’t believe. I’ve died more times than I want to remember, and I’ve lost more family than I can ever forget. So I’m not going to sit around and ‘be a kid’ when I can help take care of my mother.”
----
Dean’s brows went up at the reaction; he couldn’t help the laugh that escaped. “Jake, man, relax. I didn’t mean hang on her and all that..crap. Just be her kid. Remind her that she has to take it easy. Remind her that you need her; work the guilt because, boy, she’s going to work it on you one day, if she’s a good mother she will. And tying her up is still a bad idea.”
He watched Jake carefully, smiling still. Dean understood; oh, boy, did he ever understand where Jake was coming from.
“Look, my dad, he wasn’t the same kind of supehero Dinah is, but he had the whole revenge, saving the world thing going on. So, I get it. I also get the losing family, bringing them back from the dead, going to Hell, taking a trip or two to Heaven, and dying more times than I can count. But, I also know, Dinah cares about you more than my dad did us. Not saying he didn’t love us, but he had other things going on. Just be her kid, and remind her that if she does go out and get in trouble again, she’ll only make things worse. Tell her, ‘Dean will have to stay around longer’ - trust me, no good mom wants me looking after her kid too long. I’m a bad influence; I might let you stay up late and not force you to get up for school - it’s bad, man, so bad.” Dean was only somewhat joking. “What’s to drink around here?”
---
Jake relaxed a bit more. “Alright. I’m just... tired of being treated like a kid all the time. Like I need to be protected from everything.”
He raised an eyebrow at Dean’s question. “There’s some white wine in the fridge, but that’s about it. If you’re looking for beer, you’ll have to get it yourself.” If this was the guy Dinah was trusting to stay with him, Jake wondered why he didn’t just call Snake instead. Same objections, right?
Jake sat down at the table, propping his chin up on one hand. “So... you kill monsters?”
----
“Guess what, pal, you are a kid. It’s how it works. Who wants to grow up?” Dean pushed from the door way to get the lasagna out of the microwave; he was careful about the plate, using whatever potholder/ovenmitt he could find, and walked it over to the table, pausing for a moment. “Wait, there’s no Coke? Pepsi? No highly sugared carbonated drink? Dude, you’re a kid; you’re missing out on the best things in life if you don’t have that around here.”
Dean smiled at him; “drink” didn’t always mean something with alcohol, even if he wouldn’t have minded a beer. He might be a bad influence, but he was the good kind of bad influence? He opted for water instead, fixed himself a quick drink before sitting down at the kitchen table. He even remembered to grab a fork.
“Monsters, sure. Demons, vampires, ghosts, whatever.” He shrugged. “It’s very exciting.” The smirk said that he believed in some way it was, but it was also everyday life for a hunter.
----
Jake wrinkled his nose. “There’s some juice in the fridge, and some milk. I don’t like sodas. They’re... too sweet. It’s kinda gross.” He might have enjoyed the occasional Pepsi or Nozz-ola before, but after traveling with Roland, Eddie, and Suze, even the over-processed sugary drinks were far too sweet for Jake to enjoy. If he wanted something sweet to drink, milk with a bit of honey was his preference. Even most of the fruit juices Dinah bought for him had to be watered down.
“I lived without that stuff for long enough that it doesn’t taste right anymore.” Jake shrugged. “Do you smoke?”
At Dean’s explanation, Jake raised an eyebrow. “I’ve seen vampires. And werewolves. Well, some kind of werewolf. They wore belts. Ever hear of a demon house?”
----
Dean gave Jake a look; he was a parents dream, even if it was a little odd. What kid didn’t like sugar, kill your insides goodness? The hunter stuck with water though; he didn’t see any reason to bother with anything else. Plus, milk didn’t seem right with lasagna. He dug in, giving a few appropriate appreciative sounds as he did so. Even if she wasn’t present to hear them, Dinah did deserve some kind of kudos. It wasn’t the best, but it wasn’t the worst. The main thing was..it was homemade.
“No. Never got into it; plus, they’re expensive after a while. If I’m going to waste my money on something that’s probably going to kill me, I’ll do it on booze not on cancer sticks.” He took a sip of water and leaned back, leveling a searching gaze on the boy.
“Never met a werewolf that wore a belt, at least not when they weren’t in human form. I’ve been in a demon’s house, but probably not the same thing as you’re thinking. So, what’s with all the questions, Jake?” He took another sip of water. “What’s the angle, mm?”
----
Jake shrugged. "I don't get to explore much. And my father used to smoke. Sometimes, when things went to hell, it was nice to have one." Not that Babs or Dinah would have ever agreed to let him have one. Jake thought Snake might be a better source for that.
"I got caught in one once. It was a house, that was a demon. It tried to eat me, but Roland - my father - saved me. It was guarding the door between our worlds. I never saw another one, but I was curious. I thought you might have."