Our Way of Life

Sam knew exactly what Dean was doing and observed both girls to see whether they would be any trouble, but from what he could tell they were calm. To be honest, it didn't matter if they were hunters... in fact, it would be better if they were and not in some kind of crazy cult group.

Paying the bartender for the drinks, Angelina turned to look at Dean and took a swig of the beer in her hand. "What do you really want to know, Dean? I'm not really a huge fan of twenty questions, so just ask what you want to ask and I'll answer you."

@ sakura blues.

"Are you hunters?" Dean asked outright, ignoring the fact that it was his turn, ignoring the fact that he and Sam were losing. He wanted to know more about Angelina. Hunters were a rare breed, but hunters that didn't know who Sam and Dean were, and who didn't know that the brothers triggered the impending apocalypse, and letting Lucifer out of the cage? Much more rare. He looked to Sam.

Allie blinked in surprise, nearly choking on her swig of beer. She put her pool cue down, suddenly wanting the ground to swallow her up. "What's it to you?" She asked defensively, folding her arms across her chest as she set her beer down on the windowsill.

"Are you hunters?" Dean's question caused Angelina to freeze and look up, although she had suspected that he had figured it out. Snapping out of her shock as Allie spoke, she watched as her best friend set her beer down and readied herself for things to go bad.

After Dean's question, Sam watched as Angelina's head snapped up and Allie's whole demeanor changed. From that alone he knew that the answer was yes, but what he couldn't figure out was why they were getting so defensive about it?

@ sakura blues.

Allie's eyes flickered between the brothers. "We should go, Ang." She said, much more shyer than Angelina. Allie and Angelina had known hunters before, they weren't the nicest, or the most social people, and it put Allie in her place about knowing if whether not she preferred to work in a group or just with Angelina.

Dean sighed, almost completely sober now. "Wait, wait," he pleaded. "I was only asking because we are too." He shifted his shirt slightly to show off the anti possession symbol tattooed across his heart. He looked at Sam, indicating for him to do the same. "So, what brought you into the business?"

Knowing that Allie was already mapping out an escape route, Angelina moved to grab her jacket and paused as Dean spoke. Hesitating momentarily, she turned to look at the tattoo that Dean was showing her and swallowed nervously, "We don't want any trouble," she stated, glancing over at Allie as Dean asked how they became hunters and deciding to trust her instincts, "A friend of ours was killed after being possessed by a demon, we reached out to a hunter who said that he could help, but he didn't tell us that the exorcism would kill the host as well as the send the demon back to hell..."

Listening to Angelina tell them how they ended up in the business, he realized that their stories were similar, they had all lost someone close to them and used hunting as some kind of revenge for those who suffered. It was easy to tell that Allie and Angelina were close, but he had a sneaky suspicion that Angelina was more than just a friend for Allie... something told him that like him and Dean, one couldn't live without the other at their side.

@ sakura blues.

"I'm sorry," Dean apologised. "We've lost people too. We understand how much it sucks." Dean offered a smile to Angelina, trying to show her that he and Sam were nobody to fear or distrust. "Hey, how about you stay for one more drink? Forget the pool, we can just talk." He offered, raising his hands in a surrender to show he wasn't about to pull the wool over their eyes. "Must of been a real tough time for you both, huh?"

Allie nervously shifted on her feet. She hated bringing up Amy in any sort of conversation, nevermind with other hunters. "It's none of their business anyway." She murmured, bitterness in her voice. Listening to Dean ask about another drink, Allie exhaled. "It's alright with me if you want to," she told Angelina, her grip on her jacket loosening as she focused on the hideous pattern on the carpet.

"Why are you apologizing?" Angelina inquired, "Everyone has lost someone at some point, whether it was through the supernatural or not. We'll have one more drink with you, as long as we don't have to talk about our friend or our lives before becoming hunters?"

Sam saw Allie mumble something to Angelina, but her voice was too low and the bar was too loud to make out what she was saying. There was sadness in both girls eyes since they shared why they'd become hunters and he felt bad that his brother had put it there, but relieved that they didn't seem to fussed by the fact that they were also hunters.

@ sakura blues.

"Fair deal," Dean smiled, leading them to a table in the quietest corner of the bar, completely ditching the whole hustle of the pool table. "So, what're we all drinking?" He asked, getting a $20 from his pocket, indicating he was in charge of this round of drinks. "Sammy, the usual?" He asked his brother, raising his eyebrows with a small smile at the youngest Winchester.

"I'll go get the drinks, if you want." Allie suggested, making her voice heard for once as she placed her jacket on top of Angelina's lap, more to be teasing than anything else. "Ang, whiskey?" She asked, making Dean give a low whistle of appreciation.

"You girls know how to drink, huh?" He chuckled.

Following the others over to a table, Angelina took a seat and looked over at Allie as she sat down next to her. Turning as Dean removed a $20 dollar bill from his pocket, she watched as he conversed with his brother and saw all the signs of a teasing big brother in Dean's eyes. Looking up as Allie offered to go get the drinks from the bar, she smiled as a jacket was laid across her lap and nodded as Allie asked if she wanted whiskey.

Wanting to get to know Allie a little more, Sam smoothly offered to help her with the drinks and followed her up to the bar without a word. Glancing back towards the table, Sam noticed the look in his brother's eyes and was surprised that it was something more than what he showed when picking up one-night stands.

Keeping half her attention on Allie, Angelina tightened her hold on the jacket and waited for Dean to speak.

@ sakura blues.

"So, you two are close, huh?" Dean smiled. He didn't need the confirmation, he could just tell. Angelina and Allie both seemed to look to each other when one felt uneasy about a situation. "It's cute." He wanted to make a good, smart, interesting conversation, but he seemed to struggle. He wanted to make a good impression with Angelina. "Alright, so, how long have you been in the game?" Dean asked, trying to avoid the past, now knowing it was a touchy subject, but wanting to find out more about the girls in general.

Allie offered a thankful smile to Sam as she leaned against the bar, putting in an order for four double strength shots of the best whiskey the place had to offer. Sitting on a stool as she waited, Allie studied Sam, noticing how gentle and kind natured he seemed. "Close to your brother, then?" She asked, her demeanor still anxious as she played with the hem of her Metallica t-shirt. "I get it. This life can get lonely."

@ sakura blues.

"Like sisters, minus the blood and name," Angelina told him with a smile, glancing over at Allie and noticing the way she was still nervously messing with her shirt. Mentally laughing at Dean's poor attempt at small talk, Angelina found herself pulled in by something that she couldn't quite explain and took a deep breath as she answered his question, "It's been nearly two years, since we hit the road and started looking for cases of our own."

Sensing Allie's uneasiness around him, Sam stayed quiet and allowed her to make the first move towards a conversation. Smiling slightly as she spoke, he paused for a few seconds to think about his answer and then continued, "Yeah we're close now... things were a little touchy for a while, but he's my brother and you need someone in this life that you trust to have your back."

"Man, you're still babies." Dean commented. "Sam and I, we've pretty much been at it our whole lives." He seemed exhausted by that fact. In this world, all Dean could ever depend on, was Sam. And no love or bond was greater than the one he held for his little brother. "So, do you only deal with demons, or?" He pressed, clearly curious about Angelina. She was clearly confident and well spoken and so educated, and that attracted Dean like nothing else. "Well, uh, Sam and I are actually looking for another case. We heard there was this huge demon thing going on, if you wanna tag along. Us hunters gotta look out for each other." He smiled, totally sober now.

Allie smiled at Sam's words, nodding along. "Amen to that." She smiled at the bartender, accepting the tray of drinks and handing over the $20, gracefully accepting the $5 change. She looked at Sam, really taking him in for a moment. She couldn't help but smile, letting her guard down for a moment. Allie had never had someone that she was drawn to, and yet, here was Sam, and something inside her told her to let down her walls and talk to him. But Allie was so socially awkward, she wondered if anyone like Sam could ever take an interest in her - especially when she was here, harboring a school girl crush.

@ sakura blues.

Hearing Dean talking about his brother and life so openly made Angelina feel a little guilty about refusing to talk about Amy or their lives before hunting, but those subjects still felt so raw. "No, our last case was vampires... sneaky little fuckers those things, nearly ended up sired by the end of it," Angelina explained, wanting to let him in a little, "Joining you on a case sounds great though, it's been a while since we've had anything on the larger scale..."

Waiting for Allie to pay, Sam saw the way she was looking at him and was taken back when a genuine smile spread across her face. At that moment, he saw the walls around her drop for a brief moment and he was certain that with a little work he could slip behind them to carry some of the burdens she seemed to hold upon her shoulders.

"Vamps are assholes," Dean confirmed with a chuckle. "Sounds good, though. More hands on deck, the better. You know exorcisms, right?" He smiled. "You two seem like you can hold your own." Dean grinned. "So, what's like, the biggest thing you've ever hunted?" Dean asked, avoiding the subject of Lucifer and opening the cage, knowing that some other hunters still considered him and Sam to be those assholes who triggered the apocalypse. He also avoided mentioning Castiel.

Allie made her way back with Sam, putting the tray down on the table and sitting next to Angelina, staying silent as she heard Dean ask what the biggest thing they've hunted was, letting Angelina do the talking on her behalf, knowing that her best friend understood she didn't open up easily. Putting the $5 on the tray for Dean to take, Allie took her shot and downed it in one, needing some dutch courage for situations like this.

@ sakura blues.

Thinking back through everything they had faced together, Angelina was relieved when Allie returned to the table with the drinks and took comfort in the fact that she wasn't truly facing the situation alone. "Exorcism is the one thing we definitely know. We've faced so much it's hard to pinpoint which one was the biggest... possession, poltergeist, witches, some sort of swamp monster that was eating homeless people," Angelina told them, "I guess we faced our toughest case a few months back though, a demon-worshipping group had summoned a demon soldier and were running around town doing its dirty work..."

Listening as Angelina's list went on, Sam found himself impressed by how much they had faced and by the fact that they were still alive. They were still fairly new to the hunting game with only two years under their belts, but it sounded as though they knew what they were doing and he wouldn't mind having them around to help out a bit.

Allie nodded along with Angelina's list, shaking her head at the mention of the swamp monster, half amused, half distressed at the thought. "Then there was that Aztec God in that doll," Allie reminded Angelina softly with a frown. Angelina had adjusted to hunting a lot better than Allie had, but Allie still had a lot of fun on hunts, fighting the good fight with her best friend. She couldn't lie, sometimes she missed home, but Allie used a witch's spell to make her parents forget her, and it was something she had since regretted, but it permitted her to hunt without guilt. Only Angelina knew, and only Allie knew Angelina's past. That was the beautiful thing about their friendship.

"We had a God in a scarecrow." Dean nodded sympathetically. "Creepy bastards. Hey Sam, Angelina said she and Allie can help us out on that big demon gig." Dean smiled, downing his shot and pocketing the $5, preparing for the next round. Despite the rough introduction (and Dean's idiotic, drunken antics), Dean was actually looking forward to having the girls tag along. It gave Dean an excuse to get to know Angelina, and if things went good, he hoped they would continue seeing each other. Dean never moved this quick, but something about the girl just felt right.

@ sakura blues.

Tensing slightly at the mention of the Aztec God, Angelina glanced over at Allie and smiled as her best friend took her hand under the table. That case was the first time that Angelina had nearly lost Allie and from that point on, she vowed to never let anything get that close again. Being away from her family wasn't all that tough for Angelina, they had hardly ever noticed that she was there anyway and when they did... the point was that Allie was the only person that Angelina had needed.

Nodding in agreement to Deans comment about the whole Scarecrow case, Sam remembered how rocky his relationship had been with his big brother back then and was thankful that things were now different. Hearing that the girls would be joining them for the next case, Sam felt excitement begin to build in his stomach and glanced over at Allie with a smile, "It'll be good to have you both along for the ride."

Allie squeezed Angelina's hand with a grateful smile, although she didn't make it too obvious. She smiled at Sam's words, wondering if she was allowed to feel so... happy... that she had more time to spend with Sam, especially with how she left things with Jack. All throughout that period in their lives, Angelina had been there to pick up the pieces of Allie's broken heart. She tensed at the thought, and frowned. "So, are we finding a motel for tonight?" She asked, keeping her voice low. "Driving under the influence isn't smart."

Dean could see, just by studying the girls, that their hunting journey had been so different to his and Sam's. He was a good judge of character, and he could see that the girls had been close and remained close, and the times that Sam and Dean had argued seemed almost embarrassing. "Yeah, we should get going soon. So, what kind of car do you drive?" Dean asked, wanting to get a good idea. He knew that no car could ever truly match up to the beautiful Impala parked outside, but curiosity got to him.

@ sakura blues.

Seeing the conflicted look on her best friends face, Angelina knew that Allie was thinking about Jack and squeezed her hand back to tell her that it was okay for her to feel whatever it was that she was feeling. Looking up when Dean asked about the car they drove, Angelina chuckled, "We are currently driving a red Volkswagen beetle that may not actually belong to us in the sense of us having paid for the said car."

Allowing Dean to answer Allie's question about the motel, he wondered how many motels the girls had stayed in over the years and found his mind wandering. Rolling his eyes as Dean asked about their ride, he was surprised o hear that the girls had nicked a car and found that he was actually quite impressed by the fact that they had boosted a ride rather than buying one.