Three Years Later
Y/N's POV
Another day, another dollar....minus the dollar.
Although, I gotta be honest...the lack of money in the lifestyle we lived didn't bother me as much as it did once upon a time.
Because I had something much....much more valuable than that.
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"Soup's on!!!" I bellowed loudly from the kitchen of the bunker, flinging a dish towel over my shoulder as I wiped the sweat from my brow.
I had spent the last hour slaving over the stove, pulling out all the stops. I wasn't much of a chef before...my diet usually consisted of gas station munchies and the occasional stop at a burger chain. But over the years, Dean had shown me some of the basics...and it turns out I actually had a knack for it.
On the menu tonight, I had grilled up a few steaks, each made to order.
Sam liked his on the side of well-done...which Dean and I gave him shit for at every turn, because the rest of us liked our steak on the rarer side; the more pink, the better.
I had also baked a few potatoes, sauteed some mushrooms, and tossed up a side salad. The salad was mainly for Sam and I though. I didn't mind vegetables...but Dean on the other hand, always had to say some sly comment about it being rabbit food.
As I turned the stove off and went to grab a stack of plates, I heard Sam enter the kitchen behind me.
"Smells incredible." he smiled warmly at me.
"Well you better enjoy it. The one that looks like a burnt tire is for you." I snickered as I gestured to his steak with a pair of tongs.
"Fuck you." he laughed, making his way to the fridge to grab a beer.
"Where are the boys?" I asked.
"They're in the garage. If you wanna go grab them, I'll set the table." he offered.
I nodded, setting the tongs and the dish rag from my shoulder onto the counter, before making my way out of the kitchen and towards the garage.
Once I got there, I very quietly opened the door, as not to disturb whatever was going on inside. I peeked my head in, and instantly felt my heart flutter at the sight before me.
The hood of the Impala was propped open, and Dean was hunched over it, working diligently inside. And standing next to him, holding a flashlight to illuminate Dean's workspace....was Jack.
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In the months that followed my rescue from Hell, we had worked alongside Crowley, Rowena and Gabriel to locate Lucifer's son. We were all under the impression that this Nephilim would bring the end of days. He was the son of Satan, after all...isn't that how it was always foretold?
So we worked tirelessly. Rowena and Sam spent their time practicing their spellwork and readying themselves for the big prize fight that was sure to ensue...Gabriel and Cas spent a lot of their time in Heaven, trying to arm it against whatever universe-shattering carnage would come of it...and Crowley did the same, only in his domain, in Hell.
Dean and I spent our time researching anything that could potentially hurt the thing...and we made sure our weapon stores were up to par. We'd collected as many artifacts, spell ingredients, blades and guns as we could get our hands on.
And yanno....we spent a lot of our time doing other stuff too... A LOT of other stuff...but I'm sure that goes without saying.
Fast-forward a little bit, and Cas was actually able to locate the mother of the Nephilim... a civilian secretary named Kelly Kline.
And that's when everything changed.
Even from gestation, the Nephilim was able to communicate with Castiel through Kelly...and Cas had then informed us that we had it wrong...so wrong...the entire time.
Cas was under the impression that rather than destroy the universe...this Nephilim would actually allow it to heal. It's as if he was prophesying that this Nephilim would bring peace and balance the way no other cosmic being ever had...not even God himself.
Of course, Dean and I didn't buy it at first...and our skepticism and hunter-moral-compass told us everything about this was wrong, and unnerving.
And then....Jack was born.
And it didn't take long for us to realize...that it was all true.
Kelly knew that her life would perish once Jack was born...she knew it from the jump, but she loved him and believed in him, so she continued on with the pregnancy...and Cas was so gung-ho about his beliefs that he acted as her guard dog to ensure the pregnancy continued undisturbed....at one point, he even protected her from us.
Ultimately, Kelly did pass away...but it wasn't Jack's fault....although, it weighed very heavily on his heart and ate at him to no end...which is what truly helped me gain a new perspective on him.
He was born to the world, much like a human child, without any knowledge of good vs. evil, without any knowledge of the way the world works, and he was desperate for guidance, he was desperate to learn the ways of being a good-natured person. He didn't even acknowledge that Lucifer was his father, let alone the idea of Lucifer.
Although, there was obviously nothing normal about the circumstances of his birth. Within minutes of his arrival, he had already taken the form of a handsome, teenage boy. He had fair, smooth skin, a mess of wavy, dirty-blonde hair, a charming smile, a gentle voice, and deep blue eyes...that also glowed a piercing hue of gold whenever his powers came into play.
Obviously, our first instinct was to be afraid and repulsed...but we learned very quickly that there was nothing to be afraid of. He was lonely....he didn't know his purpose...he didn't know what to do without a family to call his own and a place to call his home...
Honestly...in that aspect....he reminded me a lot of myself before I met Dean.
So, with a lot of convincing on my part...especially with Dean....we decided the safest place for him would be at home, with us.
It didn't take long for Sam, Cas and I to get wrapped around his finger. He was one of the sweetest kids I'd ever met....and if you didn't already know that he was the spawn of Satan, and a weapon capable of mass destruction....you never would've guessed it in a million years.
Dean....it took him the longest to ease up and accept Jack for what he was. But eventually...slowly but surely....Dean fell head over heels too.
We all adopted him, in a sense. Dean, Sam and Cas were like fathers to him...and in a way...I kinda adopted the role of his mother.
I never wanted children...I had myself surgically protected from that possibility many years ago, when I decided the life of a hunter was my fate.
During one drunken night, Dean and I had even talked about any possibility...and we decided my sterilization was probably for the best. This life was no life for a child.
But Jack....as much as it upset me deep down....Jack didn't have a choice but to be in this life. There was no safer place in the universe for him than in the bunker with us, because before he even spoke his first words, angels and demons alike were trying to gun for him...trying to claim his unnatural power for themselves.
But we didn't see Jack that way. Powers or not...we saw his soul for what it really was.
For all intents and purposes....he was my son. And I loved him as such.
Jack and I had a special bond...he was doomed to a life without his mother, and I was doomed to a life without children of my own...and in each other, we found a great comfort...and Dean could see it too.
So, as cold and hard-edged as Dean came off....I knew how he really felt. I knew everything about that man, inside and out, like the back of my hand.
And the truth was....Jack was his son too, in his heart...and we all got to live out a, twisted, fucked-up, multilayered version...of our very own apple-pie life.
And that version....well...that was us.
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So here I stood, leaning against the doorframe and crossing my arms over my chest, with the biggest grin I could muster splattered across my face as I witnessed Dean teaching Jack about the ins and outs of auto mechanics, just as any father would.
"Alright, now shine the light over here." Dean instructed, pointing to a specific place amongst the mechanisms of the car, and Jack immediately obeyed, listening intently with a small smile on his face.
Dean went on to explain the tiniest details about each little part, and Jacks eyes lit up brighter and brighter with excitement as he retained all the information.
"Do you think I can learn how to drive it, one day?" Jack asked hopefully.
"Hey, one step at a time, kid. You're lucky I'm letting you touch her." Dean grumbled.
I let a soft giggle escape my lips at the exchange, and it drew both of their attention to me.
"Hello, Y/N!" Jack raised his hand as he greeted me. "Dean was just teaching me all about his car."
"Oh yeah? That's nice of him." I smiled. "Well, I hate to cut the learning experience short...but dinner's on the table."
Dean stood straight, wiping his hands off on an old, oil-stained rag as he smirked at me.
"Sounds good, babe....I'm starving." he muttered.
Jack ran past me, barreling his way inside the bunker, and Dean slowly moseyed his way over to me. He stood in front of me, snaking his arms around my waist as he beamed down at me.
"And I don't just mean for food..." he let out a playful growl as he lowered his head to press his lips to mine.
I let out a muffled chuckle against his lips, throwing my arms around his neck as I kissed him back lovingly for a moment.
"You're always hungry for that." I mumbled as I pulled away from his lips.
"Like you aren't?" he scoffed.
I playfully smacked my hand against his chest, grinning up at him ear-to-ear. "Hurry your ass up, I don't wanna hear you bitch when your steak is cold...you big softie." I flashed him a wink as I broke free from his arms and turned to make my way into the bunker.
"Mm...keep up that attitude, I'll show you how little of a softie I actually am." he muttered as he landed a firm smack on my ass, following me inside.
"Don't threaten me with a good time." I bit my lip as I flashed a telling look back at him.
His pupils dilated slightly as he admired my face. "You're so lucky it's dinner time."
We continued to playfully nudge at each other all the way back to the kitchen, where we found Sam and Jack sitting at the fully set table, waiting eagerly.
Cas popped in and out at the most unexpected times, as was his trademark. So I always set a place for him, just in case...although, it looked like tonight, our dinner was just gonna be the four of us.
We all loaded our plates and sat down, raising up our beer bottles above the center of the table to clink them ceremoniously against each other. No one said a toast, because as we looked around at each other, and at the filling meal on our plates....we knew it went without saying what we were thankful for.
As we ate, we engaged in lighthearted conversation. We told jokes, told stories, told Jack about our favorite music and our favorite movies, explained to him how sports worked and the golden rule of the driver picking the music, and the shotgun shutting his cakehole.
We laughed until we were all hysterical...and as I glanced at Sam's happy tears, Jack's hopeful blue eyes, and Dean's glistening, genuine smile...the only thing I could feel was pure, unfiltered bliss in my soul.
No...we didn't have money...but we had something that money could never buy:
A family.
As the laughter died down and we settled to silence, Jack's brows furrowed in concern, and he lifted his gaze to meet mine.
"Are you okay, Y/N?" he asked gently.
"Of course, sweetheart...why wouldn't I be?" I raised a brow at his question.
"I thought you might've had a nightmare last night." he frowned.
I tilted my head in confusion at his random statement.
"No...I didn't have any nightmares. Why would you think that?" I urged.
"Well...I was walking past your room, and I heard you screaming, and making a lot of loud sounds." he stated plainly.
Sam and Dean simultaneously choked on the sips of beer they were downing, and they clapped their hands over their mouths to keep from spewing it all over the table.
My face blushed a bright crimson red, and I placed a hand to my forehead, shielding my face from view as my eyes darted down to my lap.
Sam had to turn away from the table to hide his face as his large frame shook vigorously with his laughter.
"No...uh....Jack...she was screaming for a....a good thing..." Dean stumbled over his words, gnawing at his lip as he tried to stifle a cheesy grin.
"Oh! So you mean like...sex, right? I've heard of that." he asked matter-of-factly.
That shameless bluntness... I knew it wasn't genetically possible....but I liked to think he got that from Castiel.
"Uh...yes, Jack. Sex." I mumbled, chuckling to myself.
"Oh, I see. What's that like? How does it work?" his bright eyes beamed as his gaze flickered between Dean and I.
"Well, those two are definitely the ones to ask." Sam wheezed.
I shot him a mean glare, and he raised his hands up innocently as he snickered.
"We'll uh...we'll tell you about it one day, Jack. Just please, not now." Dean grumbled.
Jack nodded, shrugging before casually shoveling another bite of food into his mouth.
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Later that evening, Dean and I had packed our go-bags, and were making our way out of our room, (that Gabriel thankfully kept the way it was), and towards the garage.
We had caught wind of a smaller vamps nest a few hours away from the bunker...and we decided a breath of fresh air was well-needed for both of us. We were so absorbed with Jack, keeping him happy, well-trained, and safe....and we were also very secluded in our room, refusing to get off of each other....even after all these years.
The skies were quiet...for the time being. Jack was under wraps, Lucifer was still dead, Heaven and Hell were both calm...what better time for a good old cut and dry hunt?
So...Sam graciously agreed to stay home with Jack while Dean and I went to go clear out the nest ourselves and get away for a while.
"Are you sure you have to go? Why can't I come with you?" Jack whined as we stood by the garage door, doing one last-minute check to make sure we had everything.
I placed my palms on either side of his face, smiling at him as I looked in his eyes.
"I promise you...when you're ready, we'll take you out on a hunt. Something much more exciting than a vamp's nest. And we'll only be gone a couple days, don't worry." I assured him, planting a quick kiss to his forehead.
"She's right. Just get some good training in with Sam while we're gone, and you'll be that much closer." Dean added as he stepped closer to Jack, josling his hair with his hand.
I glanced over at Sam, shooting him a telling look as I directed my pointer finger at him.
"Behave." I warned him.
Sam pretended to look offended, placing his palm on his chest to gesture to himself.
"Me?" he scoffed sarcastically.
I rolled my eyes, and with one final goodbye to Sam and Jack, Dean and I made our way out to the garage.
He loaded his go-bag in the Impala, and I strapped mine securely to the back of Vixen. We had decided to ride separately...as both of our babies hadn't been taken out for a joy ride in a while.
He walked over to me, smiling widely as he watched me straddle my bike.
"Last one to the motel has to pay for the room?" he raised his brows as he leaned over, gripping my handlebars in his hands.
"You're on. You know I love a friendly competition." I teased.
"Oh, sweetheart....there's nothing friendly about it." he growled as he leaned down, pressing a quick kiss to my lips...and although it's a sensation I'd felt countless times...the sparks that were created between our lips never failed to ignite the fire in me.
He broke the kiss before making his way to the Impala. He hopped in the driver's seat, starting up his engine, as I lowered my helmet on my head and followed suit.
With me close on his tail, we peeled off, speeding out of the garage and heading towards the general direction of the interstate.
After about ten minutes, we pulled up to a stoplight, just before a wide open stretch of straight, empty road.
I pulled up along the driver's side of the Impala, lifting the face shield of my helmet and turning to glance at Dean as I revved my engine daringly at him.
"Hey, baby...how much?" he yelled his joke over the roar of our engines.
"If you have to ask, hot stuff....you can't afford it." I shot back at him with a wink.
"Are you teasing me, Y/N?" he raised a brow as he gripped the steering wheel.
"Catch me and find out." I taunted.
As the light turned green, the thunderous roar of our engines echoed down the road, and we sped off, racing each other as fast as we could down the interstate.
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Our passion never faltered. Our love never dimmed. Our spark never died out.
We still competed with each other like the early days of our relationship...we still slept with each other like it was all we knew how to do...and we still laughed and cried together like the non-sappy, hopeless romantics we were.
But above all...we were still hunters. Damn good ones.
We never knew where the road would take us...we knew that maybe one day, Jack would be in danger. Maybe one day...Lucifer really would come back. Maybe one day...the home we'd built would crumble down to the foundations. Maybe God had something in store for us that would bring us to our knees.
But nonetheless....we stayed on that road. Because this road wasn't lonely. It wasn't thankless...it wasn't all for nothing. It wasn't hard to settle down...and we didn't have identity crises.
We had each other, our kid, Sam and our friends....and we were filled with so much gratitude for that much, that it outweighed all the bad that got hurled our way. It wasn't for nothing...because along this path...we'd found each other. We'd found a purpose...we'd found a reason...to keep on keepin' on. We had a home...a home filled with the perfect mix of love and angst to keep ourselves satisfied...and we knew exactly who we were.
I was Y/N L/N, and he was Dean Winchester. I belonged to him....and he belonged to me.
It was beautifully symbiotic...and now... in exchange for helping him filter out his internal darkness all these years...I now got to bask in the brightness of the light that resided in him too.
He wasn't just my dominant partner...he was my twin flame. He was a father. He was my soul mate, he was my reason. He was my lover, and he was my best friend.
And as we traveled down this road, unaware of the what the future could hold...we knew of two things for sure...we knew them deep down in the pits of our souls and we let them propel us forward every day.
One... we would travel this road together, no matter what.
And two....no matter where...and no matter how...
There'll be peace when we are done.
THE END