DEAN STRAKEN
Dean gets in his car, starting the engine before he properly ends the call. His heart was racing, panic settling in his bones, his mind thinking up the worst of scenarios as he speeds his way through the city. Arrow's broken voice was still clear in his head, her pain evident. She didn't elaborate, and Dean didn't ask any follow-up questions besides to find out her location. Explanations could wait until he had her. He would find out everything then, and he would help her any way he could.
~
Pulling up to the location, Dean pulls his car to the side of the road, spotting Arrow sitting on the pavement, an older couple standing behind her.
"Arrow," Dean calls, his eyes taking in her state as he walks to her.
"Oh! Are you the friend?" The woman begins. "We didn't want to leave until we were sure she'd be alright."
"Yeah... yeah, I'm here for her," Dean tells them, his eyes not leaving Arrow. "Thanks, I'll take it from here." He says to the couple who say their goodbyes and walk away.
"Arrow?" Dean calls softly, crouching down to look at her face. Her eyes remain downcast, Dean seeing the tears that ran down her cheek, the hiccups in her breathing.
Judging from her appearance, Dean guessed that this was the aftermath of a mission. The most obvious answer for her disheveled state was her being held hostage or tortured. The most obvious answer for her presence here and calling on him for help was that she escaped her capturers. The scenarios were plausible, though they didn't explain everything. A mission gone wrong didn't answer all Dean's questions, as Arrow didn't tend to involve him in her Lycan hunting activities. Her escaping a Lycan situation also didn't explain why she'd call him. There was a bigger piece to all this he was missing.
"It's all over, Dean," Arrow whispers to him, her voice so soft he almost didn't hear here.
"What happened? What's over?" Dean presses.
"My life." She answers dully, raising her head to look at him and then to her arm.
Dean eyes go wide as he takes a sharp intake, "Shit," He hisses out in disbelief. Out of all the possible scenarios Dean could have conjured up, this was not one of them. He couldn't believe his eyes as he stared at Arrow's arm. A little ways above the fresh rope burns on her wrist sat a Lycan's bite mark. There was dried blood caked around the individual teeth punctures, but it had evidentially stopped bleeding a long time prior. The bite hadn't begun to heal or fade as yet, meaning this all happened recently, no more than a day or two ago.
Arrow looks back up at him, his heart breaking at the expression on her face and the absolute defeat in her eyes. Moving slowly, Dean brings his hand to brush a stray strand of hair away from her face, a soft sigh escaping him. "Let's go." He says to her, moving to slip one hand behind her back, the other going beneath her knees - lifting her off the ground with ease.
Arrow's head lulls onto his shoulder as he walks them to his car, placing her in the passenger seat and buckling the seat belt across her.
Climbing into the driver's seat, Dean drives them back to his home, the drive silent and filled with dread, the reality of her situation heavy in the air.
At his house, Dean takes Arrow out of the car the same way he placed her in - secured in his arms. He carries her to the master bath attached to his room, setting her down gently. "Take as long as you need... I'll find you something you could wear. I'll leave it in the room, okay..." He says to her softly, Arrow giving him a weak nod in response. Dean leaves the room, closing the door slightly on his way out. Going through his drawers, he pulls out one of his jerseys, placing it onto his bed. He goes through his other drawers, picking out a pair of boxers for her as well, placing it on the bed.
Hearing the water in the shower turn on, Dean exits the room, heading to the kitchen. With a busy mind, Dean begins taking out the ingredients to make them breakfast. He doubted that Arrow would be in the mood to eat anything but decided to make it anyway - at least giving her the option. His thoughts were whirling in his head, coming to terms with what was happening. Arrow...a Lycan, Dean shook his head in disbelief.
He could only imagine half of what was going through her mind at the revelation, anxious to know what Arrow was thinking. He had never seen her this way, so broken and defeated. Even after her father's death and captivity, she fought back and pushed through the days after. This was different.
Dean knew hunters hardly ever, basically never, allow themselves to go through the change - choosing death instead of becoming what they hunt. Dean was well aware that considering the change was a death sentence to hunters - being killed by their own if they turned.
Dean's heart skipped a beat at the thought of Arrow dying. It was something he couldn't, but he wondered if it was something she could. He thought about her current state and her words from before. It wasn't a far-fetched notion to think she would end it all to avoid the change. It was all she knew, all she had been taught in her world. He couldn't judge her if that was the path she decided on. Even if she chose to go through the shift, her life would be in immense danger. The head of an organization becoming a Lycan would never sit well with the hunters under her. All of it was a disaster waiting to unfold.
Turning on his stove, Dean puts on slices of French toast on his griddle, slices of bacon into a pan next to it. He frowned at the food, as it cooked, wondering if Arrow would even be in the mood to eat anything.
~
Arrow comes into the kitchen an hour later, Dean locking eyes with her as she rounds the corner. "I made breakfast," He says quickly, "Though it's a little cold now, I could heat it up for us."
"I'm not hungry..." Arrow mumbles, walking to him where he was seated at the kitchen counter. 'Us? you didn't eat?" She asks him.
"No. I was waiting for you," Dean answers with a small smile and a shrug. "Would you rather something to drink instead? Coffee, water...wine, a beer?" He asks gently.
Arrow huffs a dry laugh in response, Dean seeing the small twitch of her lips before they fall flat again, "I can't stomach anything now... I might take you up on that wine later, though." She sighs heavily, her hand moving to touch her bite mark.
"Here, I have a first aid kit here. Let me look at your scratches and cuts." Dean says , grabbing the case from one of the cabinets. He doesn't let her protest, walking to her and examining her face.
Opening the case, he begins prepping the supplies, standing inches from Arrow as she quietly looks up at him.
"These here, on your face," He begins, holding her chin gently in his hand, "These don't look too bad. Shallow cuts, I only think this one here might scar a little. Nothing too bad."
"Scarring is the least of my body's problems. Arrow comments with a sigh.
"I know you don't want to..." Dean begins, his voice soft, "but we should talk it." He says, gesturing to her arm. "I looked at the calendar, Arrow, you.."
"Four weeks." She says, cutting him off. " I have four weeks left."
Dean takes hold of her hand gently as he inspects the bite, passing his finger near it, "What does this mean for you, Arrow?" He asks.
Arrow pulls her hands from his, placing it back at her side, "It means my life is over. And there's nothing to be done about it." She answers. "I can't go through the change, I can't allow myself to turn. That's completely out of the question. There's no cure for Lycanthropy, so there's no saving me either. There is literally nothing to be done... I -"
"You'd rather die?" Dean asks, unable to bite his tongue.
"A hunter can not be a Lycan, Dean! I am Arrow BERLIN! I run an organization! I've hunted Lycans since the moment I could walk and hold a knife in my hands! I hunt Lycans for a living! I kill them!"
"Yeah, the bad ones..." Dean interjects, "You-"
"I what? I would be one of the good ones?" She asks incredulously, mockery in her tone. "A hunter can not be a Lycan Dean. No matter if they're good or bad. I'd be a fool to even consider it. Maybe, just maybe, regular hunters could manage to get away with something like that. But me? There's no way! Word would get out, and I'd be hunted! Hunted, like the Lycan I would be... My own organization, no doubt. I wouldn't last long."
"Here!"
"What?" Arrow asks, confused.
Dean himself was a little taken back by his suggestion, but he continued on, "Here, maybe. Cause your name is known here... but if you leave Tares, you could live -"
"As a Lycan?! No!"
"Is it so bad to even consider?!" Dean exclaims desperately, "You'd rather forfeit life than give being a wolf a chance? You don't even have to shift other than the first time. It'd be just like your human. You get a job and -"
"No."
"No? Won't you even consider?" Dean asks.
"There's no point. I'd never be able to live that life, Dean."
"You could start over, Arrow. Live a life you create for yourself, anything you want. Have you never wanted something besides the life of a hunter? Is being a hunter that fulfilling? Has it given you so much that you must give up all you are? All you could be? " Dean presses.
"I am a hunter, Dean. Through and through. There's no other alternative for me." Arrow say to him firmly.
"What would you do then? With the rest of your days, as the hunter you are?" Dean asks. "Would you hide the bite until it heals while you go in your office and run the organization? Would you try to find your successor? To take over after you're gone. Or would you make the most of the next four weeks and...just live?"
"Just live?"
"You've given hunting everything. Is it going to get the next four weeks from you too?"
~
ARROW BERLIN
"I don't know," Arrow whispers, answering Dean's question, and it was the truth. She hadn't the slightest clue as to how she would spend the next four weeks ahead of her. Her life wasn't hers anymore, and the more she thought over Dean's words, she realized - It was never hers. Her life belonged to hunting and the organization, not her. Not truly.
She has been answering his question as a hunter should, the answers coming out of her on autopilot, without her thinking too hard about it. They were the obvious answers for her because she was Hunter Arrow Berlin. There weren't any alternatives for her situation... there was no way around her demise. She was sure about it... until she looked into Dean's eyes.
His angry, sad, questioning eyes.
He was questioning all her answers, making her wonder if she should do the same. She only had four weeks until the next full moon, which wasn't that much time. She didn't have the time to truly consider how she'd spend the rest of her human time... or how she would end it. Arrow lets out a sigh as she walks away from Dean, moving to sit on his couch. Curling her legs underneath her, she begins to question everything, thinking about the choices ahead of her.
Dean goes on about his house, leaving her to think quietly, which she appreciated. He always seemed to know when to push and when to back off.
A knock at the door startles her out of her thinking, Arrow glancing at the clock mounted on the wall. It was fairly early, making her wonder who could be coming to see Dean at this hour. She remains quiet, watching him look at the clock as well as he heads to the door.
"Straken, I've called and texted you." She hears a female voice say to Dean as soon as he opens the door. She noticed how he kept a firm grip on it, not letting it swing open anymore than he allowed.
"And I replied. I told you I have some personal thing to handle." Dean responds.
"Not going to invite me in Straken?" The girl jokes, getting no response from Dean.
"Look, I got another case for us to look into, so get dressed and meet me in the car. Five minutes, chop chop." She orders, Arrow stiffening at her words. 'That's right, he has a job, Arrow!' She scolds herself, realizing she'd pulled him away from his routine life to help her. She felt little hints of guilt creeping in at her lack of consideration. She felt bad, but her was the only one she could have thought of to help her. He was the only one she trusted. And he never hesitated to come to her aide.
"Quinn, I really can't leave right now. I have to take the day, actually." Dean says to her.
"Are you joking, Straken. Do I need to remind you how big this task force is? Or that you were the one who forced you way into it despite my wishes?!" She says to him angrily.
"No, Quinn, I'm aware, trust me. But like I said, I have a personal emergency to deal with. Can't you go with one of the others for this?" Dean replies.
"Let me lay out your options here, Dean, so you understand what's at stake. You either quit trying to undermine my authority and get dressed so we can get to work. Or, I can remove you from the task force." She says to him, Arrow hearing the smugness in her tone.
"What?!" Dean exclaims. "You can't be serious, Quinn. You'd quick me off the task force for this one thing?"
You have your options, choose!" She snidely.
"Quinn," Dean begins, but she cuts him off.
"Choose."
Arrow watches Dean sigh heavily, turning back ever so slightly to lock eyes with her. Arrow looks on at him, knowing he won't put his job in jeopardy. Especially considering her issue had no solutions. Her life may be in shambles, but she didn't expect him to mess up his for her.
"Guess I'm off the task forces then..." He says to the girl who lets out a shocked "What!" At his statement. "I'll talk to the captain when I can. I assume you'll give him your report of events as well." Dean continues flatly. "I'll see you at the precinct. Good day, Quinn." He ends, shutting the door easily before the woman could say anything further.
Arrow sits with her mouth open in shock, getting up off the couch at heading to him.
"What was that?!" she hisses to him softly, "Dean, that was your job!"
"Not my job, just a task force," He explains lightly - Arrow not seeing how he could possibly be so indifferent about what just happened. "She didn't want me on it in the first place," He chuckles. "I forced my way in , this was just an excuse for her to finally get me out, I guess."
"All the more reason to go!" Arrow rebuts.
"Nah," Dean says, grabbing her hand, "I have more important things going on at the moment." He answers softly, looking at her bite mark and then at her eyes. Arrow sees the sincerity behind his words.
"I don't want you to put your life on hold for me, Dean. There's nothing we could do." She says to him, trying to reason.
"It'll be fine. I will be fine. Will you be fine, Arrow?"
Arrow opens her mouth to answer but shuts it when no words come out...
'Would I be fine?' She wondered, the thought springing tears to her eyes. She had four weeks and no definitive plan nor the slightest clue as to what to do.
She lets the tears fall as Dean pulls her into his chest, holding her close. Once again, she wondered what her choices were and which would be the best course of action to take. Dean's words from earlier float around in her head amidst her jumbled frantic thoughts - Louder than the rest.
"Just live." He'd said to her.
And maybe she'd do just that.....
Just live....
. . . Until she died.