WHO Dean Winchester & Lucas Friar WHAT Hunting! WHEN Saturday evening WHERE NOLA portal WARNINGS Lucas is annoying and put himself in danger :D Dean is pissed STATUS Closed | Incomplete gdoc
Even if he was all but retired in Madison Valley, Dean kept his ear to the ground for information that would lead to real work. Hunting work. It was always going to frustrate him that he couldn’t hunt in the little town, that the place was overrun with werewolves and vampires and demons and there wasn’t a damn thing he could do about it. He didn’t care about being the bad guy or about people liking him, but the stupid things weren’t hurting anyone and had never given him a reason to do it. And they were so good at blending in most of the time he couldn’t know for sure.
So when he got the chance, he hunted, and he let the part of him that needed to kill get a little exercise. He did his research, asked the right questions and read the right books and did the right internet searches so he wasn’t going in blind and he armoured up and headed to the big city.
He’d intended to be on his own, had started out that way even. Maybe he’d take Lena once he knew what they were going to be up against, she’d probably like the hunting part the way he liked the killing part. It wasn’t really continuing that way, apparently. Not a lot of people could sneak up on Dean and whoever was doing it was doing a pretty crappy job. He was going to have to deal with it.
The movement of pulling his blade from his jacket was subtle, indistinguishable from simply adjusting unless someone was paying attention. He took a sharp turn behind a building and waited to be followed, reacting with a sharp jab that he was barely able to stop before even seeing who was there.
“Man, I told you no.”
***
Lucas was bound and determined to go hang out with Dean. He wanted to explore New Orleans and he wanted to do it with one of his best friends. Plus, he knew Dean would definitely keep him safe, especially since he was so adamant about not tagging along. Usually when they hung out, it was to eat pie or to do something Lucas wanted to do, so if Dean wanted to go hunting, Lucas was going to go hunting. He'd worn his work boots and even added his cool black not-really-leather jacket over his tee because Dean always looked super badass in his leather jacket.
He'd hung around ish to where the portal was and waited for Dean to go through before following him. It was not easy following someone and Lucas was constantly paranoid that Dean totally knew he was following him, so he kept ducking and hiding poorly and generally drawing more attention to himself than he realized. It was after one such attempt to not get caught that he realized he lost sight of Dean when he popped back up again.
"Oh no," Lucas muttered to himself as he hurried down the street. He caught sight of Dean again just as he turned down an alleyway so he hurried up to catch his friend. As soon as he turned the corner of the alley, there was a knife at his throat and Dean's very disappointed face looking at him.
"Woah, hey, I'm sorry! Come on, I can totally be helpful though!" Lack of awareness of the knife notwithstanding. Lucas really just wanted to hang out more with Dean and be more like Dean. He still only saw the good in his friend.
***
Scowling, Dean stopped a moment before pulling the knife away and tucking it back into his jacket. “You’re lucky I didn’t hurt you. This is dangerous stuff and I can’t just let you tag along. You need to get out of here. Go home.”
He couldn’t work with Lucas tagging along under foot, couldn’t do what he had to do if he was worrying about protecting the young man. He’d be too worried about making sure he was safe that he couldn’t watch his own back. Best case scenario it worked out but worst case was too bad. It was Lucas dying and Dean drying trying to save his stupid ass.
He didn’t turn his friends away, few as they were and he did count Lucas among them though he was reluctant to say so aloud, without good reason.
***
"But Dean," he complained plaintively. It definitely wasn't the best way to go about making his case, but Lucas couldn't help it. He just wanted to hang out with one of his best friends doing what he loved to do. He didn't fully understand why Dean hunted and the fact that it wasn't only to keep people safe.
"I was just rushing. I'll be more careful! And I promise, I'll do everything you say when you say it and I won't second guess or anything." Lucas was more than willing to promise pretty much anything and everything except for going home. "Come on, please?? Mom and Dad have both started teaching me how to look after myself and I just want to help! If there's bad stuff here, how can I take Riley out to visit? Can't we make sure one place is safe at least?"
He really, really, really wanted to make sure that Dean couldn't say no, so he was just throwing out all the arguments that he possibly could right off the bat. He didn't even want to wait for Dean to quash one before bringing up another.
***
If Dean didn’t like the kid so much he’d be more annoyed about not being able to get a word in edgewise. There was plea after plea and he didn’t want to let any of it get to him. Except he did understand. He wanted to make sure things were safe enough to bring his girl, too, and maybe if they just checked out some place he already knew was relatively safe,it would be okay. He wanted to be able to give in a little.
Still he just shook his head. “I’m not letting you just walk into trouble. Take your little girlfriend to some cafe in the daylight and you’ll be fine.” That seemed safe. Some place with a lot of people was always the safer option. “You’re not a hunter, man. And I don’t want to make you one.”
He wouldn’t do that. He’d already ruined enough lives, dragged too many people into this. Lucas was too nice, to innocent. Dean didn’t want him corrupted, and he didn’t want to see that side of him. Dean knew there was that darker part of him and didn’t want Lucas to have to know it too.
***
Lucas' whole expression fell when Dean didn't seem to budge on letting him join in on the hunt. He'd been so sure that once he caught up to his friend, he'd be allowed to tag along. "Please? I know I can take her during the day but we still have school and I don't want to have to rush," he said as he toed at the ground. It was super disappointing that he couldn't tag along with Dean.
"I wouldn't really be a hunter. Just a...a tag along! Like what they do for cops!" Surely Dean could see the benefit of giving Lucas that kind of first hand opportunity. "We might not even run into anything, right? I mean, we could just be poking around and not find anything. And it's not like I wouldn't be safe cause you'd be with me the whole time and I'd listen." It just sucked all around that this wasn't working out the way he wanted it to.
***
“Hunting isn’t something you can just tag along on.” Dean was trying, really trying, to be understanding and patient but he really didn’t want Lucas in harm’s way. He didn’t want him anywhere near monsters. “It’s...not for you. Look. If you want to learn to look after yourself with monsters, fine, I can help you with that. But you don’t need on the job training.”
Knowing the tricks of the trade to defend himself wasn’t a bad idea, and Dean would be happy to teach Lucas to swing a machete and draw sigils in blood and to pack holy water wherever he went. He’d be happy to make the kid recite the exorcism until he was blue in the face. He was a lot less happy about letting him actually hunt, even if it was just following along.
With a sigh he just tilted his head. “Come on.”
They’d take the long way back to the portal and hopefully avoid anything fangy, and with any luck the kid would be satisfied with that.
***
Lucas definitely disagreed about needing on the job training, but he pressed his lips together to stop himself from arguing. It was pretty clear that Dean had made up his mind and while it sucked, it was ultimately up to Dean. He kicked at the ground a little, his shoulders slumped, and he was clearly down about the whole thing. Right up until Dean said to come on.
"Really?" he asked, way too eager and happy for someone who'd been sulking a moment ago. Lucas could turn on a dime fast though and he was excited to actually get to tag along with his friend. "Thanks! I didn't mean to mess up your night or anything. I just wanted to do something you like to do, you know? We usually just eat pie, which I know we both like, but then we do stuff I like and we don't really do stuff you like. That's not being a good friend. Plus you're cool! You're like the coolest person I know!" He really did just want to be like his friend.
Lucas fell into step next to Dean with a big grin on his face, fully confident that they'd find something to fight and save the day. That's what heroes did, and Dean was definitely a hero.
***
“First lesson. Talk less,” Dean grumbled as they walked. “This isn’t a field trip and noisy makes you a target.” There was a definite advantage in quiet, but hopefully Lucas wouldn’t have to actually learn that. Hopefully his chatter wasn’t drawing any attention. That was too much to ask.
He could feel the eyes on him as they slipped through the streets. There was the itching in the back of his head and in his hands that just screamed trouble was coming from somewhere and even if Lucas couldn’t shut up, Dean fell quiet, stony faced and alert.
“Stay close,” he instructed gruffly, catching hold of the back of Lucas’ jacket and all but dragging him along. Hunting any kind of vampire wasn’t for a novice, wasn’t for a kid who wasn’t even that, and Dean just wanted to get him safely out of there. Too many people had wound up hurt or worse because of him already. He couldn’t see it happen to little mr sunshine and bunnies. Dean knew he couldn’t take it.
***
"Oops," he mimed zipping his lip to indicate that the message had been received loud and clear. Lucas supposed that sort of made sense because if there was a lot of talking, that was an easy target for monsters. He hadn't thought of that at first and reconsidered now if he shouldn't have asked for an intro course before all this. Live and learn. New Orleans would be a great way to just see the ropes and then Dean could teach him more hands on stuff.
Except it turned out maybe not. "Okay," he replied, definitely as quiet as he could. His voice definitely betrayed some of his nerves, something a spike of adrenaline couldn't quite cover as much as he wanted it to. Lucas stayed so close he was practically bumping into Dean with every step and all of a sudden it was just so real. He looked up nervously at his friend and bit back the question of whether or not they were going to be alright. Of course he was going to be alright. Dean would make sure of it.
***
Dean wouldn’t make the promise of being alright, but he was going to do his best. He hauled Lucas in, put the kid’s back to a wall and himself in front of him just in time for some burly looking thing to come wandering out of the shadows at them, all over-confidence and fangs. Dean would usually make a couple of quips, make the thing think it had a chance, but not against this one. This one he was actually nervous about.
He could take on just about anything any monster had to throw at him but the thing staring him down and eyeing his little friend like he was a piece of meat was probably bigger than Sam, which meant he pretty much dwarfed Dean. Speed would have to be his ally.
His only thought toward protecting his companion, Dean just pulled his knife again and lept into action, trying to push the fight safely away from the kid.
***
He hit the back of the wall with a bit of an oomf, more out of surprise than anything else because he hadn't been paying attention. Lucas was pretty sure Dean was going to hate him forever once he killed the monster but that was less important than actually killing the monster first. The monster that was currently towering over them like some kind of giant thing. Lucas swallowed hard, regret for all of his choices today clear and present on his face. He was going to be in so much trouble.
Lucas could only watch, kind of dumbly if he were being honest, as Dean just dove head first into battle. Against a monster like twice his size. All to protect him. If he hadn't been scared out of his mind, he would have felt kind of warm and fuzzy. He could only watch for the moment as Dean tried to back the monster up, to distract him. It took a bit, but Lucas managed to work through some of his fear enough to look about for something, anything, to defend himself with. There was a rusted pipe at his feet that he picked up, but he stayed where he was against the wall. The pipe was just in case.
***
Dean noticed Lucas scrambling to have some sort of defense and at the same time as he was impressed by the initiative, most people just panicked and forgot they could fight back even if they didn’t stand a chance, he wanted that much more for the kid not to have to use it. Because he didn’t stand a chance in hell. Dean could barely hold his own and he did this sort of stuff for a living.
Except he didn’t anymore and he was out of practice. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he’d had to seriously fight. He didn’t see himself winning this one if he hadn’t had something to fight for. As it was, he was getting his ass kicked, got thrown aside like a damn rag doll, barely found his feet again in time to see the monster approaching Lucas instead.
He didn’t give himself a second to think, just scrambled to his feet and with every ounce of strength he had in him, sliced his knife through the thing’s neck before it could get a single grimy hand on the kid. Ugly face and all, the head dropped to the ground, rolled a little and settled as the body followed. Blood splattered across both of them but didn’t phase Dean, he just looked at Lucas.
“You good?”
***
Lucas was terrified. Absolutely, wholeheartedly and completely terrified in a way he'd never been in his life. If this was what hunting was, he definitely never going hunting for real again. Although he could admit that he definitely needed actual instruction, more than what he'd been getting, because this would've left him dead if not for Dean. Who'd somehow decapitated the giant monster all to save him.
He dropped the pipe and rushed into Dean, wrapped his arms around him and buried his face right in his chest. "No," he croaked weakly. He was shaking, absolutely terrified still. "I wanna go home." It was pathetic, totally childish, but it was true and honest and he trusted that Dean wasn't going to judge him too much for it.