Silent Restraint

Amare pulled over for the first time since leaving North Dakota. She was just over the Sonora Pass in California. She still had a few hours till she would make it back to Reagan Vasco's town, but she didn't want to try and scale the winding roads of the Pass at night and when she was ready to pass out. She sent Sam a quick text telling him where she was and she would be there tomorrow. Then she stretched out on the bench seats and fell asleep, Zeke tangled  in her legs. 

She woke up when footsteps started crunching down the gravel by her car. Headlights illuminated her windshield and she was vaguely aware of the purr of a car somewhere up the road. She slipped her hand under her seat and grabbed her handgun. And then she saw the giant shaggy silhouette against the her driver's window and nearly took him out throwing the door open. She fell into Sam's massive, warm hug with a soft grunt. A hole in her chest that she hadn't realized was there closed rather rapidly and left her gasping and slightly sore. 

"I'm just so tired of losing people," she whispered against his soft plaid shirt. She didn't think he heard her, but he held her tighter and put a hand on the back of her head. "How did you get here?" she asked, louder this time, sniffing quietly and pulling away. 

"Dean," he said, tilting his head towards the headlights she'd forgotten about. She could just see Dean's silhouette through the windshield. A hand reached out of a side window and waved. Both the hand and the gesture were too feminine for Dean, so she assumed Dex was in the back seat. "I figured I would catch a ride back with you," he said. 

A smile played at the corner of her mouth. "I don't think that will be a problem."

"I didn't think so." Sam kissed her forehead and waved a hand at his brother. The Impala revved and a door opened. Dex jumped out and ran around to take shotgun, and then the black giant was gone. 

<>

"Ugh god when are we going to be back?" Dex groaned, her head lolling against the headrest. "I'm dying here, Jimmy."

"We'll be back-- oh yes," he broke out into a grin and turned up the radio. Dex was halfway positive the speakers were going to blow as he sang along to Children of the Sea by Black Sabbath. He sang the words, head banging and throwing his fists as if he were drumming to the beat of the bass, sometimes glancing over and singing directly to her, at which points she would giggle and shake her head at him. 

Dex wasn't much of an Ozzy fan herself, but she couldn't resist a chance to smile. She liked this new side of him since they had gotten his brother back. He was a lot happier and carefree than before. More of the big child she'd read about rather than the dense machine she had spent the last month or so with. She turned down the radio as the station played a Seger song that he didn't seem too attached to. 

"I have a question for you," she said. 

"Shoot," he replied, smiling. 

"So the books." He nodded his acknowledgement. "The guy who wrote them."

"What about him?"

"Everything. How did he know about you guys? Why would you let him write about you? Where is he now?"

Dean chuckled. "Chuck was a prophet." At the look on her face, he added, "Yeah, like Prophet of the Lord prophet.  We didn't know he was writing about us until after they stopped publishing. And as far as I know he's dead."

Dex frowned, taking it in. "How do you know he's dead?"

"Because there's only one prophet at a time and the one right now's a kid named Kevin Tran." He looked at her pointedly and said, "He's in advanced placement."

"That makes sense." She paused. "You never watch the road."

Dean frowned through the windshield. "I don't, do I?"

<><><><><>

Hayden slid out of the drivers seat of his SUV and went around to the passenger side to receive Emma. He made a show, both to her and the gathering of Hunters he knew were inside, of taking her by the upper arm and leading her ahead of him up the driveway. He smiled internally knowing the dominance games this would spark later. 

Reagan met them at the front door closely followed by Fozzy. Reagan bypassed Emma without a second glance and gave her brother a warm hug. Fozzy, always civil, gave Emma slight smile and nod in greeting, then exchanged manly back-slaps with his brother. Then they went inside. 

Gerard and Garth and a collection of other Hunters milled about the tiny house, including the Winchesters. Both had girls attached to them, but while Sam's seemed confident, if not slightly uneasy, Dean's seemed like she was trying desperately to sink into the wall behind her. Sometimes, she would look over at Foster and try to catch his eye, but then he wouldn't and she would shrink back into herself and stare at the back of Dean's head with trapped eyes. 

"Where's yours?" Hayden asked his brother quietly as they entered the room.  

"Patrick was discovered and turned by the vampires. He started feeding me false information that conflicted with what I was hearing from the rest of our side. I mean, I expected some opposite rumors, because why not. But I got a bit suspicious when everything was false. So I let him check in with me so he doesn't know I know, but I don't believe anything he says."

Hayden nodded slowly, catching Emma's 'I told you so' eyes. She told him countless times vampires can't be trusted. He shook his head and looked away from her. 

"Who let the monster in here?"

All fifteen heads turned at the same time, half of them to Emma and he other half to Gerard Sinclair. He was lounging on Reagan's love-seat sofa, a female hunter he knew only as June sat at his side. She was sipping beer and acting like nothing was happening, except she was eyeing Emma like a choice cut of meat that she would like to take a bite of, and not in a sexy way. 

"She's fine," Hayden said quickly. "She's with me."

"I know who she's with, mate, but I'm sure most of us would prefer the animals to wear a leash," Gerard replied, condescending smile at full force. 

"Or at least wait outside," June said in a thick Scandinavian accent. Gerard touched her shoulder affectionately. 

Dean, unable to handle a situation where he didn't have a part, stepped forward with his chin raised. "Listen, mate," he said angrily. "No one here needs your bullshit. We need her whether you like it or not, so shut your damn cake hole before you royally piss me off. At this point, I'm thinkin' she's less disposable than you are." Sam gave his brother a meaningful look, which Dean pointedly ignored. "You better rethink your priorities and stop pissin people off who you need for this goddamn crusade which, turns out, ain't as apocalyptic as you made it out to be. So why don't you tell us all why we should even deal with your snobby ass, you son of a bitch?"

"What, Winchester?" Gerard retorted, standing and approaching Dean "You think I'm not worth obliterating the entirety of the vampire population? Hundreds of peoples' lives are forfeit because of some distasteful words? And you call yourself a Hunter?"

Dean bristled and balled his fists. "Don't you even--"

At that point, several of the Hunters gathered, including Sam, Reagan, and Garth, stepped forward and intervened. The meeting progressed and ended quickly that night. The tensions between Gerard and Dean, Hayden, and several of the other Hunters was tangible and everyone was ready to leave as soon as possible.