Unexpected | D. Winchester

Chapter Six

Sam grew curious when she set it back down, almost as if he could read her thoughts, "So, do you and your brother hunt together?"

Her bemused smile became a mask, covering her heart's deep, dark longings.

She leaned against her chair, her right fingers tracing the thin paper on the bottle, leaving streaks of condensation. "Jeremiah," she began, her voice a low murmur, "well, he's more of a lone ranger type of guy."

Dean's gaze lingered on Serafina a beat longer, a question flickering in its depths. "And what about you?"

Caught off guard with the direct question, she smiled sardonically, hiding her truth behind a lump in her throat. "I manage," She averted his gaze, finding her beer bottle more interesting.

The road was paved with loneliness, but wouldn't dare admit that aloud. She knew that her job came with the territory, but she was also human ...and that meant accepting she had emotions that she tried very hard to suppress and lock away. 

Admitting her loneliness would crack the carefully built armor around her vulnerability. 

She shrugged nonchalantly, "Probably for the best because he's a lot to deal with,"

Her brother, Lord, knew she loved him to pieces despite their distance, but she would probably smother him in his sleep.

He talked. Incessantly.

He could talk the ears off of a jackal, given a chance.

And more often than not, his love for theatrics landed him neck-deep in trouble. Jeremiah preferred the dramatics, toying with his prey like a cat with a cornered mouse.

Serafina, on the other hand, preferred a more direct approach.

A bullet and a well-placed blade - the efficiency of a seasoned hunter.

She wasn't above a good laugh or a snide joke in the middle of a fight, but when push came to shove, she focused on her senses and lethal training to get her out alive. Her brother would tell others in their circle that she went full feral in a fight.

Sam's brows shot to his hairline as he chuckled, a flicker of understanding passing through his eyes. "Yeah," he responded, raising his glass, "I think I get where you're coming from." He snuck a look at Dean.

Dean shot him a mock-hurt look. "Hey, I'm not that hard to deal with," his gaze returned to Serafina. "Don't listen to him. I'm the fun one around here. Sammy's all business, wouldn't know a good joke if it bit him in the..."

He paused, lowering his voice. "You know what..."

Sam rolled his eyes, raising his beer for another sip.

Serafina couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips.

The brothers fell in sync with each other. One more pragmatic and observant, and the other a wild charmer with a reckless penchant for danger. Strangely, they balanced each other out in a yin-yang way.

"So," Dean paused as he got situated in his chair, "what was it like growing up with the Lockhart legends?" His eyebrow raised a fraction in curiosity.

Serafina considered his question and shook her head, "It was like Seal Team Six training for the apocalypse," She chuckled, a dark edge to the sound, "I can tell you the exact force it takes to decapitate a vampire, the seconds it takes for someone o bleed out from a carotid artery and the number of heartbeats it takes me to tie a Celtic trinity knot when I'm trapping a banshee,"

Not the most conventional childhood.

It also wasn't easy growing up with a step-father who treated you more like a weapon he was forging than a human being, someone who valued your ability to kill monsters more than your fragile little heart that had shattered into a kaleidoscope of sharp edges so young.