absolution, dean

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Not everyone was cut out to be a hunter. It took a certain type of person and not everyone had that in them and he never wished it on anyone anyway. But, it was no different than any other job in that respect. There were a dozen things that he couldn’t have done if he wanted to. He absolutely wasn’t cut out for everything and he couldn’t imagine anything other than hunting that he could have done. Now, there really wasn’t a choice to it, but had there been, Dean still didn’t think that he would have chosen anything different. Not when he was built to be a hunter. He enjoyed it and not everyone would have enjoyed that kind of violence or the idea of being in danger more often than not. For Dean, he got a rush from it; the adrenaline was something that he craved rather than hated. And when it came down to it, he would rather be out there saving people than doing anything else. It wasn’t always easy. He didn’t say that it was. There were days where a particular hunt felt like too much or he became frustrated with the lack of answers or his inability to help at the right speed. But, then, at the end of the day, he pulled through and it was all worth it. Even here, in Lawrence, where it was the last town he wanted to be in, he wouldn’t have put himself somewhere else if there were people in danger here. There were people dying. And regardless of his feelings for being stuck there, he wasn’t going to turn his back on them. And not once did he think this was going to be easy. Already, they were there longer than Dean presumed initially. But, he had hope. They weren’t going to fail here.

He might not have been perfect and he might make mistakes, but he was good at what he did. Dean didn’t think low of what he was capable of. There were times where he didn’t have the same confidence that he showed, because Dean Winchester was the master of facades. But, he did know what he was capable of and he didn’t think that he was the wrong person to be there. And just because he wasn’t thinking about the town right now didn’t mean that he wasn’t going to buckle down again. A break wasn’t going to hurt anyone. It was better to take his mind off of it for a little while, to stop himself from being burnt out. Plus, you had to be crazy to think that he wasn’t going to take advantage of catching up with Chloe or passing up sex like that. That was one thing he wasn’t going to do and didn’t think that there was a point of, really. Neither of them were going to forget about why they were in Lawrence just because they took a little time away from it. The town was impossible to forget, as was the job, but it didn’t mean that it had to preoccupy every single thought that he had. He didn’t need to be completely obsessed without any kind of break in between. Doing that, he thought, was probably a lot worse than being able to let go and have a good time. He never understood the all work and no play lifestyle. He kissed her back, vocalizing a moan into it. “Just for the minute?” He teased, as he was rolled over and looked up at her instead, a teasing grin on his face. He leaned up again, capturing her mouth in another kiss.

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

All Chloë wanted was to solve this case quickly so that she could get the hell out of this town; she never liked it when she was taken away from home for too long, and though it happened every now and again, something being too far afield or too in depth for her to be able to justify commuting to wherever it was, she always preferred staying at home and driving in, in all honesty. She could have done that here, but it made a lot more sense to be in town already; people were dying all the time, and if she was already here, she could be on the scene straight away, rather than getting there a couple of hours later and finding that everything had already been disturbed and she couldn't get as much information from it as she possibly could. But knowing that demons were involved, that this wasn't solely human based, made Chloë hopeful that she'd be able to get away from here soon enough, leaving it in the very capable hands of her hunter friends. If there was little that she could do, then her skills would be put to better use elsewhere, although Chloë wasn't entirely sure how she would tell her bosses that when people were still being killed and nobody had been arrested for it – but she was sure that she would manage to think of something, because she had to, didn't she? There wasn't anything that she could really do to help, and of course it was awful that people were dying left, right, and centre, and she wanted that to stop, but she knew that there was little she could do to help, if Dean was here because it was one of his cases, too. You couldn't arrest a demon, there was nobody that you could hold officially culpable, when most people weren't even aware that they existed. She wished that it were different, that there was something more she could do, but it wasn't her fault that there wasn't—and as long as it got taken care of, that was the main thing that mattered.

She didn't want people to die, and ultimately, that was the aim, wasn't it? Do everything that they could to make sure that people didn't end up being the next body in the morgue—and yet it was hard for Chloë when she hadn't even known that demons existed until today, she wasn't quite sure what it was that they were, or what they were capable of, and of course it was worrying. She understood, in that she believed they were real, she was sure that they really did do horrific things – and it was kind of reassuring to know that these people weren't being killed by other people – but that didn't mean she knew the full extent of it, or what it was really like. Demons weren't something she'd known were even real, until just now. She needed time to process that, to get Dean to tell her a bit more about what that meant...but knowing that she didn't have to track down the human being who could do such horrific things was kind of reassuring, in a way. She always liked to find out that humanity wasn't as bad as she thought it was. Oh, Chloë knew that that view wouldn't last, she knew that sooner or later, someone was going to do something so horrific she thought she might barf, but she could be glad that here, at least, people weren't being torn apart by other people. That was something, even if she was still worried, even if she really wanted to make sure that nobody was going to end up hurt, here. She didn't want them to die, and she'd do everything she could to make sure that didn't happen...but right now wouldn't make much of a difference. They couldn't be out there all of the time. “Just for the minute,” she confirmed teasingly, kissing him back before she sat up, slowly unbuttoning her shirt.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

No one wanted a case to drag on; not when people’s lives were at risk. If there was a monster out there, then the odds were it was going to kill again. There usually wasn’t a question about it. It was often just a matter of when it was going to happen, rather than if it was. And here, there was no doubt that people would die. He didn’t like to look at it that way. But the longer it took, the more people would die in the meantime, because already the demons had proven that they didn’t care who died and if anything they were taking some kind of pleasure in terrorizing the town. Plus, he never knew a demon not to be completely evil. This is what they did. And he had to figure out why they were there and how to stop them. It wasn’t going to be easy though and he already knew it wasn’t going to be a fast hunt. Already, they were there longer than he meant to. Of course, going into Lawrence, he had no idea what was going to come of it. He had no idea that there were going to be demons, because they went there chasing one of Sam’s visions. They had been at their old house, fighting a poltergeist, not demons that were killing off locals. But, the game changed and he couldn’t help but think that there was nothing coincidental about it. But knowing that it wasn’t coincidental and being sure of what was going on weren’t the same things. Despite knowing the time it was going to take, however, he also didn’t plan to stall on it. He would get it done and he would do it as quickly as he could. But, if he took a break, it wasn’t going to hurt. A few hours didn’t put anyone in danger that wouldn’t have been to begin with. It wasn’t as if he was going to be able to predict when someone was in danger. He didn’t have that type of foresight. He would have saved anyone he could, but he couldn’t know ahead of time.

What he didn’t want was for more people to be hurt. But, what was he supposed to do if someone was hurt while he was here? And if he had been anywhere else, it wouldn’t change it. Dean was only human; like all hunters were. He could try to prevent people from dying by going after the source of the killing, but in this case, he didn’t have all of that information yet. It wasn’t an easy process and it was still early on, as much as he already hated being there, it wasn’t as if he was deep into the case yet. Dean wanted the job to be done. He wanted to leave Lawrence safe and he didn’t want anyone dragged in that didn’t have to be. It was nice to see Chloe again and if there was one fed that he wanted in town, it would have been her. Already, he knew it was helpful enough that she was there, but he also hoped that she didn’t have to stay for long. He didn’t want her to be trapped here. Honestly, he hoped that he didn’t get trapped in there long. He wanted to finish the job and get out of there; they could go back to looking for Dad and not worry about Lawrence again. He never wanted to go back and that hadn’t changed by being there. “I don’t think you’ll abide by that,” he teased, and when she sat up, he looked up at her, eyes following her hands as she unbuttoned her shirt. There was no shame in blatantly checking her out, a smirk plastered on his face. Hey, it was a good view.

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

There was nothing wrong with taking a little break, every now and then; Chloë tried not to do it in the middle of a case, wherever possible, but she also didn't meet up with an old friend every day, and it seemed as though this was going to be a case that dragged out, at any rate, and not one that could be solved quickly, especially if Dean was right – she trusted that he was – and this person, at least, hadn't been killed by someone else. That just made everything Chloë had to do harder, because there was not going to be some nice way to wrap this up, not if there wasn't a real murderer around at all; the FBI wasn't going to accept that as a fact, unfortunately, and honestly, she had no idea what she was going to be able to do other than let the case go cold once the killings stopped, but she was going to have a lot of time to think about that, it appeared, which meant that she didn't have to figure out how to spin this to the Bureau right this second, which was generally a good thing, since it was farthest from her mind. She couldn't be expected to work twenty-four-seven, and neither could Dean; they were both human, they both deserved to be able to rest every now and again, because in the end, if somebody was going to die tonight, they'd die whether the two of them were out on the streets or if they had a couple of beers inside them and were currently jumping each other's bones. It would happen anyway, and of course it was terrible, but Chloë couldn't stop people from dying by not having any kind of life herself. She was going to be better for being refreshed and relaxed, and she wouldn't get that if she never had a chance to do anything fun.

She'd always thought that there was a balance to be had when it came to things like that; she'd been a hard worker in school, that could never be denied, but she'd managed to go to parties, too, she'd played sports and gone shopping with her friends and the kinds of things that the average teenager did, too. She wouldn't have gone to a party the night before a big exam, but yeah, Chloë had always thought that she could have fun and work hard at the same time, and maybe she'd just been lucky, in that she'd never had to study particularly hard in order to be able to maintain her grade point average, but even so, finding that balance was something that had stuck with her. Her job was important, sure, but she was never going to be happy if she didn't let her hair down every now and again. People were always going to be dying, and while she could potentially stop more from dying if she was already on a case, make sure that some murderer didn't get to victims two and three, she couldn't do anything about it before she knew that somebody was a killer. She wasn't psychic, after all. She didn't even know if psychics were a real thing or not – she'd make a mental note to ask Dean about that at some point when she wasn't sitting on top of him and undressing. She shifted her hips, grinding against him as she tossed her shirt aside, before getting up and removing her shoes and pants, slowly. “No?” she murmured, a smirk on her face. “I accept your challenge. Go sit in the chair—” She pointed at the chair that was at the foot of the bed, “—before I make you.”

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To know how to knuckle down and work didn’t exclude knowing to have fun. Dean prided himself in knowing to have fun. Hunting made it impossible to be able to chase fun at every turn, but it didn’t make him lack it either. He knew when he could relax, throw back a few drinks, pick up women and have a good time. And who was to say that hunting couldn’t be fun in itself? Dean loved his life. Even when it was rough and even when he was stuck in the town he was born in, without answers, he could still manage to have a good time. Hunting was rough. It wasn’t the job for everyone (and he would suggest anyone with a normal life not to go for it), but it was his. And he wouldn’t have given it up for anything. And right now, there was nothing wrong with taking his mind off the case a little. There wasn’t anything urgent that needed his attention and if there had been, then he wouldn’t have been doing this. Neither of them would have been. But, frankly, there was nothing that he could do right now. Working now or doing it later wasn’t going to change anything. He could afford to catch up with a friend and it wasn’t as if he took off from a crime scene all of the time to have a drink and catch up with an old friend. Actually, it couldn’t happen often, not when he lacked old friends most of the time. Dean didn’t have a lot of friends, much less people that he had known before and stayed close to. Chloe was one of few and he didn’t have any trouble taking the time to hang out, catch up and to add awesome sex into the mix. He would have been crazy and would have had too much of a stick up his ass if he had refused this.

There was definitely a balance when it came to working and having a good time. It was boring enough if you didn’t know how to have fun. And Dean didn’t want to be one of those hardened hunters that was so focused on hunting that there was nothing else left to his life. The last thing he wanted was to get burnt out. It was especially bad when lives counted on what he did. But, it didn’t look like he was headed in that direction anytime soon. He supposed the longer they were stuck there, the more he’d be drained of this place, but that was different. And he was hoping that even though it looked like they would be there a while that they wouldn’t be there forever. He wanted there to be some kind of break, where they could figure out what was behind all of the sudden death and influx of demons and take care of it. Dean didn’t want to be there to begin with, much less stick around when they already finished the job they came for. But, as it stood, they really didn’t have a choice in the matter. He wasn’t just going to leave it because it wasn’t why he initially arrived. A quiet groan filtered into the room at the movement of her hips against his and he watched her, practically devouring her with his eyes until she moved. He sat up a little more and couldn’t help but chuckle. “Before you make me, huh?” He asked, and while he sat up, he didn’t move off the bed and instead shifted as if to make himself more comfortable there. “I don’t think you’d do that.” He teased, a playful smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth without any attempt at holding it back.

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

Chloë took her job seriously, that wasn't something that she was going to deny; it meant a lot to her, and she knew that it was an important thing that she did. She caught bad guys, so that they couldn't hurt any more people, and she fully believed in doing that. It wasn't something that was pointless just because somebody was dead, it wasn't something that she could let slide; if they'd been murdered, then they deserved to have somebody looking into it. And if someone had killed another person, then she was going to find them, find enough evidence to make her arrest stick, and she'd testify in court every single time, because she fully believed that people like that should never get to see the light of day again. Of course there were grey areas, sometimes, times when she empathised greatly with the murderer, but the fact was still that they had taken a life, and however justified, that wasn't something that she could let happen. Most people weren't justified, though; they had a motive, maybe even one that she could understand, but cold blooded murder was cold blooded murder, and that was all that mattered. They'd taken a life, and they had to pay for that, of course they did. She wasn't going to stop believing that; there was no way that people should have gotten away with murder. They did and she hated it, in all honesty, but it was never because Chloë didn't do her job well, because she made sure that she did. But sometimes the defence was too good, or the prosecution not good enough, or a whole number of other reason that meant that somebody got off instead of going to jail. She didn't like it, didn't have to like it, but it was how the criminal justice system worked sometimes. But if she let someone's case progress that far, then Chloë believed they were guilty. She tried not to make something stick when she thought someone was innocent.

Sure, it was hard to know sometimes, but Chloë did her job, she spent a long time going over it, and she probably put in more hours than she needed to, because she was a perfectionist, but she'd far prefer to do that than not enough, than there being some error that got a case acquitted. It wasn't as though she worked twenty-four-seven, after all; sure, if she was in the middle of a big case she'd work a lot, but the rest of the time, she really was okay with just doing her thing and taking it a little easier. She'd still work, she still had to be ready to drop everything if she got a call, but ultimately, Chloë knew how to relax. She wasn't some workaholic who never saw the light of day outside of her office, after all. She was more than capable of having fun. She liked having fun, she liked going out and having a few drinks, getting laid, she liked going shopping or seeing her friends, or any number of things, really. Relaxing was important, she was sure of that, because it would have been impossible to work well if she was tense the entire time. All work and no play made Jack a dull boy, after all, and Chloë had no desire to be dull. She could be serious sometimes, sure, but that wasn't the same thing in the slightest. She was pretty sure that Dean could attest to her being fun. “Oh, you don't?” she replied with a smirk, moving to stand in front of him before she leaned down, cupping his face with her hands as she kissed him, slow and deep. “I think—” Another kiss, “—that you're wrong.” She stepped back before taking his arm, trying to pull him to his feet.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dean had an important job, but that didn’t mean that it was the only job that mattered. Just because some people didn’t spend their lives fighting monsters or saving people didn’t determine their worth. People weren’t supposed to be defined that way. As far as he was concerned, every life counted and each person mattered. There would always be people to protect the ones that wanted a normal life and that weren’t cut out for something else. And it wasn’t a bad thing in the least; after all, Dean wasn’t cut out for normal. He couldn’t picture himself living a nine-to-five, mowing the lawn and having a wife and a couple of kids. It was an image that hadn’t appealed to him. Maybe if he had lived a different life to begin with, it would have been something he went for. He didn’t know and couldn’t know what he would have done if his life had been different. If he grew up normal, without any exposure to the supernatural, there was no telling what his life would turn out like. He thought that maybe he still would have tried to help people or maybe he would have fought; gone into the military or something. Or maybe he’d just be Joe Mechanic, living in Kansas. That was really one option that probably made a lot of sense. But, at the end of the day, that’s not what his life had turned into. He wasn’t a regular guy, living a regular life. He was a hunter and it was going to stay that way. He didn’t know anything else or want it. It might not have been an easy life, but it was still his. And just because he didn’t always appreciate it, it didn’t mean that he didn’t love it.

He still didn’t see himself as anything else. And while he was willing to break now, if there had been any reason for him not to, he wouldn’t have. Dean might have been able to take breaks easily and he was a little more laid-back than some, but it didn’t mean he couldn’t recognize an urgent situation when it arose. He knew better than to be hanging out and having a good time when lives were in danger. There could be people in danger right now, but it wasn’t as if he could find out about it or do anything to stop it, even if he was doing his job. Right now, it would have revolved around research and little more than that. So, why not take a break? He liked to kick back, have a few drinks, maybe catch TV or a movie; hell even take out a stretch of highway and just drive. Dean knew how to relax and sex was one way of doing it. Actually, it had to be his favorite way. And with Chloe, there was no doubt how it would end and how good they’d be together. They didn’t have to worry about the crappy sex you took a chance with when it came to strangers. “Nope, I don’t,” Dean replied, arrogant smirk plastered on his face. He kissed her back, just as deeply, a sound murmured into it. Each kiss, he met, and the smirk didn’t fade once from his face. He couldn’t make it if he tried. As she took his arm though, he stood to his feet. “Funny, ‘cause I’m never wrong.” He said and naturally he would say it, even if it was far from true. The truth didn’t need to be amplified here. In fact, most teases didn’t have validity to them, that was the point.

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

Chloë might not have been brought up with this career choice in mind, because it wasn't as though she came from a family of cops, or anything like that, but she genuinely had no idea what she would have done with her life, if she hadn't made it into the Academy, or if she'd not been fit enough to pass the tests, or anything like that. She'd probably have applied to the police instead, because they were less elite than the Bureau, and she could have become a detective, but it wasn't what she wanted. For some reason, the FBI had just stuck in her mind, and Chloë might not have known why that was, but it was just a fact, really, at the end of the day. She was born to be a special agent, and she couldn't imagine being anything it. It was a good thing, then, that this had worked out, wasn't it? There wasn't any alternative as far as she was concerned, and Chloë really did adore what she did for a living. It was hard, sometimes, she could get frustrated, but at the end of the day, it wasn't just something she did from nine til five, it was her life, and there was nothing else on earth that she would have wanted to be doing. She took it seriously, she thought that she was important, and she just was a fed. Even off-duty, it was what she was, and she liked to think that she didn't have a stick up her ass, or anything like that...but this was her life. That was just a fact. This was what she was going to be doing, and taking a break here and there didn't change the fact that Chloë never wanted to do anything else. Everybody was entitled to rest every now and again, and she was no exception. It wasn't like she'd just walked off a crime scene before she was done with her work, after all. Work came first, but nothing terrible was going to happen in this time she was taking for herself.

Or if it did, it would have happened even if she'd been on the clock, and Chloë couldn't allow herself to feel guilty over every death that happened. She couldn't save everybody, as much as she might have wanted to be able to, and it wasn't her duty to do that. Hell, it was her duty to solve the cases of people who were already dead, although of course she would have preferred it if it had never gotten to that point. She wasn't going to feel guilty about doing this, though, about spending time with a friend. She'd work tomorrow, and the day after, and probably the day after that, too, since this case seemed to be stretching on forever, but taking the night off was no different to what anybody else with a regular office job would do; Chloë was entitled to that as well, she didn't have to work twenty-four-seven just because she had a job in law enforcement. She'd had a couple of drinks with a friend, and now they were...getting reacquainted. It was good. Really good, in fact, and there was no way that she could feel bad when she knew where things were going to be heading. She and Dean had done this dance many times, and it was always good. Sometimes it was great not to hook up with somebody who was a stranger. Sometimes a friend, knowing what worked well, was better. “You're wrong this time,” she teased back, although pulling him up gave her momentum to stumble backwards, pulling him with her—and suddenly it seemed like a better idea to back up against the wall, to lift one of her legs up around him, and to kiss him again...so that was what she did. Much better. If she lost this round, then Chloë kind of didn't care.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

There were few people that grew up the way that Dean had. While obviously there were people that grew up around the occupation that they would choose later in life, his wasn’t a common one. There weren’t a lot of kids that grew up as hunters; learned to shoot and kill alongside of the basic elementary school education. There weren’t that many that had grown up the way that Dean had. Though, those that did, probably would understand his life better than anyone and his dedication to it. Dean never felt rebellious towards it either. He wasn’t the type that had looked at what his dad did and what he was expected to do and thought about going against it. He didn’t have that in him. In fact, all he wanted was to make his dad proud. And when it came to hunting, it was practically in his blood. He loved it, even when it became suffocating and difficult. It was the only thing that he could have seen himself doing. And what if he hadn’t been cut out for it? Or what if he was injured to the point that hunting was no longer an option? Dean figured he probably would have plopped himself down to research, make calls or still try to help people the best way he could. Of course, the idea of being restricted that way was right up there in his worst fears. He couldn’t imagine it. It would have driven him crazy if it ever happened. Dean needed to be active. He had to be a part of it. He didn’t see any other alternative. And even if hunting wasn’t for everyone, it was sure for him. There was nothing else he could visualize when he saw his life. Dean might not have thought he ever had much of a choice, but he wasn’t asking for one either.

The lack of it didn’t bother him. It was helpful that no one expected different of him and that by being a hunter, he was doing what people expected. But, at the same time, it wasn’t all about that. He wasn’t one just because his family hunted. He didn’t do it because it was all that he had ever known (although it had a big part to play). Dean did what he did because he believed in it. It was important. He was doing good out there. Even when he wasn’t at his best and when it looked like they didn’t have the odds in their favor, he worked his ass off to save people. They were important and worth risking his life over. He figured there would be days where he didn’t see the point, or when he was low enough that he couldn’t grab onto hope. But, that wasn’t now. And he wasn’t going to spend his time brooding and worried about the future. He could live in the moment when he wanted to and frankly, he preferred that over living in the past or future. It was better to live this way. He could spend time forgetting all about what was happening in Lawrence or with the rest of his life. There was nothing wrong with a bit of a break. “I’ve never been wrong before.” He smirked, “And I’m not gonna start being now.” While Dean was more used to being women that he didn’t know and would never see again, he had to admit that it wasn’t half bad to be with someone he knew. Actually, it was pretty damn excellent when feelings didn’t get involved. With Chloe, they knew exactly what was liked and what wasn’t. It was the benefit of having a partner that knew you. Dean pressed against her, not at all complaining about their move to the wall. His hand, instead, grazed over her leg, holding her up against him while he pressed his lips back against hers hungrily. He wasn’t even going to remind her that she was losing this time around. Come on, who would in that position?

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

People came from all kinds of backgrounds; Chloë might have been brought up in the kind of town where everyone knew everyone, and they had pretty similar family lives, but she was well aware of the fact that that wasn't everybody's upbringing. It would have been dull if it had been, in all honesty, because who wanted to spend their entire lives around people with exactly the same experiences as themselves? She couldn't speak for anybody else, of course, but Chloë thought that she would have found that horrifically dull; the wonder of meeting people was that everybody was so different, they had different views and different experiences, and it was great to get to know them. People could be brought up wildly differently, after all, and still want similar things—she and Dean were good examples of that. They didn't talk about their childhoods a whole lot, because that seemed pretty dull, if you asked her, and there was always something more pressing to focus on, but they were both people who fought against monsters, in one way or another, and they were both people who desperately wanted people to be safe, the world to be safe. She might have done it legitimately, her monsters might have been humans, but the outcome was very similar, and she liked that. They might have been wildly different, she and Dean, but they were also remarkably similar at the same time. It just went to show that how you were raised didn't really matter so much as doing what was right.

And Chloë was doing that was right, she was sure of that. She knew it as well as she knew herself, because she had spent a very long time with this career, now, she was certain that catching killers was the way forward. It might not have been something that could save their victims, homicides kind of worked that way, after all, but it was something that helped in other ways, in making sure that nobody else fell victim to them – and sometimes that really did mean that she got to save someone's life directly, instead of just in the abstract concept that someone who killed once had the ability to do so again. That was what she did, what she had always wanted to do; it made her sound as though she had some kind of white knight complex, but Chloë really did want to make people's lives safer. There were a lot of terrible things out there, didn't they deserve that? And she liked to think that between law enforcement like herself and hunters like Dean, who were taking care of the monsters that the majority of people didn't even know about, most people stood a fairly decent chance of being safe for the entirety of their lives. She wanted to think that, at any rate; the alternative was not, after all, a pretty one. “Oh, you've been wrong a lot,” she teased, happy, for the moment, to focus on this, to have a little fun for herself. She had to keep her own spirits up, after all, and she couldn't be saving people 24/7. Reacquainting with Dean in the way that was so familiar to them seemed like the best option right now. She wasn't sure that she could have thought of another one, when he was pressed against her like that, and Chloë kissed him back, trailing her lips over his jaw in a series of rough, biting kisses, her hands falling between them to tug his shirt up. The urgency was unmistakeable.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

long way from home,

I was inside looking outside. the millions of faces. But still I'm alone. Waiting, hours of waiting. Paying a penance

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Dean knew that his background wasn’t similar to most. He was raised a hunter and that in itself was a little different. But, even people who had entire families and stayed in one place didn’t always have the same lives as everyone else. As far as he saw it, everyone was a little different. There were some that were similar and more alike than others, but frankly, everyone had different experiences and struggles. Dean didn’t spend a lot of time talking about his childhood anyway. It wasn’t something that he thought about much either. It was over and while parts had been great, other parts hadn’t been and he didn’t see why he needed to dwell on the past at all. Besides, talking about his childhood wasn’t really that interesting. And for all of the differences, there were similarities too. He had gone to school and had average interests aside from the guns and desire to fight monsters like his dad did. That might have set him apart, but a lot grouped him in too. And just because he had that raising didn’t make him any better of a hunter. He thought it gave him the advantage, but there were people who turned out hunters for different reasons and were even better than he was. And then there were people like Chloe who fought more human monsters. As far as he was concerned, her job was as important as his was. It just so happened that she was within the law and he had to work outside of it to kill supernatural creatures that most didn’t have a clue existed. But, just because they hadn’t been raised the same didn’t mean that they didn’t have similar principals. And for all that they were different, they were also alike. There was a lot of common ground they could get along on.

Sex was in that package, he supposed. He didn’t know how many people he could have slept with repeatedly without them getting the wrong idea. Most women he met were ones that he wouldn’t see again, much less get the chance to sleep with them. It seemed that most couldn’t see the difference between sex and romance. This was sex. She was a friend, but he wasn’t in love with her and he wouldn’t consider a relationship. And since he hadn’t seen her in a while, naturally, he wanted to rekindle that benefit a little bit. Sex with Chloe was always great. And he realized while being with another person more than once, they were able to identify what was good and what was bad. They knew each other well enough that they didn’t have to go through wondering what the other person liked most or didn’t like as much. They knew it by now. And while they could still have surprises, it was something comfortable. There weren’t a lot of people that he would trust having sex with too many times, given the ability to start thinking it might mean more than that. But, with Chloe, they had a clear understanding and similar views on relationships. “Except that a lot must mean never,” Dean replied, cockily. He liked the teasing. Not everyone could pull off the teasing, especially not those that expected compliments or took the teasing the wrong way each and every time. He didn’t see the point of complimenting someone constantly. He expected them to know when he was kidding and when he was serious. With Chloe, there was no question and most of their teasing was untrue. That was the point of it. It lost its fun if it was true. He moaned at the kissing, his head tilting at the lips as they wandered. “Damn, Fed.” he moaned, his hands moving to his shirt to help pull it over his head, only to toss it aside carelessly so that his hands could resume their eager touching.

thanks to nodding.acquaintance of caution 2.0

[CHLOË LAFFERTY]

Chloë wouldn't have wanted every single person in the world to be the same. That would have been incredibly dull, wouldn't it? She'd grown up in a small town where pretty much everyone had had the same kind of life, and she'd hated it. Chloë had wanted more than that, she'd wanted to get away from suburbia, but it had been difficult, for a while. Her parents hadn't been keen on the idea of her going far away to college, but that was what she'd wanted. It was all that she'd wanted; she'd been dreaming of getting out of that town for as long as she could remember. Chloë had always been independent in that way, she'd always known what she wanted, and her parents thinking that she was wrong hadn't been reason enough for her to stay, instead. It had been because they'd thought she was wrong that she was so desperate to go, in fact; she'd never been able to do anything right, she'd never wanted the things they wanted her to want, but Chloë had been so convinced about what she wanted from life. It wasn't as though she would ever have been able to be as high in her parents' affections as her sister, so why bust a gut trying to be that? She could have spent her life trying to please them and they still would have been unhappy with her. At least now, she was doing something that she wanted, she was extremely happy with her career and the way that things had gone for her. If this was what she got out of not being the perfect daughter, Chloë was more than happy being that.

Maybe she should have wanted to please her parents more, but Chloë just knew that it wasn't something that was going to be possible for her, anymore; since her sister's death, they blamed her for the fact that their golden child wasn't around anymore, and Chloë knew that that wasn't something that was just going to go away. They were going to blame her, all the time. She couldn't change that, sadly, and she saw no point in trying to please them, anymore. She was going to do what made her happy, and that was no bad thing, she thought. This was, after all, her life. If she did what they wanted, she wouldn't have enjoyed it, and she was the one who had to live it, wasn't she? Chloë wanted to be happy. She was happy, and she wasn't just going to throw that away. Life was good for her—right now, it was pretty damn great, in fact. Reacquainting with an old friend wasn't a bad thing, after all, not when that involved getting naked; it was just sex, but it was pretty great sex, given how well they knew each other's bodies. “A lot means a lot, idiot,” she teased, scraping her teeth gently over his skin, relishing in the moan that he gave. That was a good sound, without a doubt. She smirked as he tossed his shirt aside, taking the moment to rid herself of her bra, letting her head thunk against the wall as he touched her again, her teeth digging into her lip. “Pants off,” she murmured, lacing her fingers into his hair and pulling him in to kiss again.