Summary: Dean Winchester is the cocky, but well-respected Lieutenant at Firehouse 25. He leads by example, but he’s also known to break a few hearts. He’s starting to crave something he’s never had, though. Something stable. Something real.
That’s when he meets you, on a truly terrible day, trapped in a rickety old elevator.
AN: "Smoke eater": a self-appointed slang term for a firefighter.
Get ready for an AU! Several SPN characters will make their appearances: Sam and John Winchester, Castiel as "Cas Novak," Ellen and Jo Harvelle, Jack Kline, Benny Lafitte, Gordon Walker, Meg Masters, Chuck Shurley, Nick (yes, even him), and more!
Series Tags/Warnings: (**18+ only!) There will be a lot of heart, a lot of fun, drama, heartbreak, protective Dean, and even a murder mystery. Rating for eventual smut, perilous situations, and other chapter-specific tags.
Chapters:
Part 1 - Class and Style
Part 2 - Lieutenant Winchester
Part 3 - Got a Hold on Me
Part 4 - Rocky Road
Part 5 - Twitterpated
Part 6 - Just Casual
Part 7 - Cherry Pie & Lemon Drizzle
Part 8 - Likewise, Baby
Part 9 - Do Not Disturb
Part 10 - Toil and Trouble
Part 11 - Heart of the Home - (COMING 11/17)
Part 12 - All in the Family
Part 13 - Boiling Point
Part 14 - Message in a Bottle
Part 15 - The Good Part
Part 16 - Break Down the Gates
Part 17 - The Real Deal
Part 18 - Sacrifice
Epilogue - Easy as Pie
Dean Winchester Masterlist
Main Masterlist
Series Tag List:
Comment below if you'd like to be tagged in this series!
Think of this like Pride and Prejudice combined with Peaky Blinders. 💓
Alfie Solomons X F!Reader
Warnings: age gap (a little more than ten years), longing, fluff. I guess this takes place in between S2 and S3 but don’t think about it too much. Also this is word vomit and unedited! Oops.
It felt like a curse was cast upon you by your brother, Tommy Shelby. You felt like he kept you prisoner in the Arrow House, miles away from South Heath and miles away from Camden Town. Surrounded by forest, surrounded by the same rainy weather, most of the time.
Tommy tried explaining that it was for your own good, to keep you safe from harm. Since you were the youngest female Shelby, he was considerably worried that “you’ll be kidnapped and sold off” by a rival gang. You didn’t really pay attention to his reasonings since you were so angry at the time. Now you’re lonely, except when Finn was around the house, and when you took care of Charlie, your nephew. Tommy was never home, always doing business in South Heath. It was a rare sight to even see him at mealtimes. Even when he was home, you refused to speak to him. You decided the silent treatment would be the best punishment for him locking you away, but, Tommy was an expert at the silent treatment too.
The grounds of the Arrow House were too big for you at first. Now, it’s suffocating. Waking up to see the same ceiling. Sitting outside on the same bench. Playing with Charlie on the same blanket in the same yard. Gardening the same garden with the same flowers. Baking the same bread, same cookies, same everything. Even riding your horse became like a routine.
Sometimes, while baking, your hands would shake as they hovered over the rolling pin or the dough. It reminds you of a certain someone, who’s probably in his bakery right now, doing God knows what. You assume he doesn’t even think about you, because you only met him formally a couple of times, like at the recent charity ball, and some times in passing when he was in South Heath. You assume he doesn’t think about you because you’re younger than him. He probably sees you as a little girl who’s barely even 24. You can’t help feel like everyone has forgotten about your existence. Even him.
But, you realize, that’s your nature. Your purpose. To be forgotten as a Shelby, all in order to keep you safe from harm outside the gang. Perhaps Tommy viewed the man from the bakery a threat to you, too, even though you barely spoken.
You try your hardest to remember how his voice sounded exactly…in the mornings, when you’re barely awake, the memories come easier. His voice was gruff but with a soft side to it…deep, but not frightening…while you baked, the memories come easier then too. But then then what you recall of his voice slips away, just after you grasped onto what you could.
Baking became a sad activity after that. Now with summertime almost over, you tried to spend as much time as possible outside when it wasn’t raining. The yard wasn’t as suffocating as the interior of the large mansion. You would walk the small paths close to the large plain that is the backyard, watching the sun rise, early in the morning when you couldn’t sleep. You were too restless, too lonely, that even sleeping is difficult. You didn’t want dreams that showed you what you couldn’t have, namely, him.
Today is one of those days where you’re walking slowly about the backyard, with only your thin nightgown and small robe wrapped tightly around yourself to comfort you. It’s quite warm already, especially with the sun rising over the horizon. The birds are already up and about too, flying across the slightly pink sky above you as you paced.
Maybe running away isn’t a bad idea…perhaps to Aunt Polly’s. She was the only one who protested that keeping you “safe” was a silly idea. She would take you in. You hoped…it was probably futile anyway. Tommy would be furious, and you didn’t want to start anything.
You stand still for a moment, watching the sky turn into a clearer blue as the sun rose. Was he watching the same sky, wondering about you, too? You couldn’t help but wonder what he thought about, and you couldn’t help but hope he thought about you sometimes. A fleeting thought, at the very least, you hoped. Perhaps he noticed you disappeared one day? Has he asked around about you? Has he tried, like you, to remember how you spoke to him? Your smile that he managed to have you make despite how nervous you were that night at the charity ball?
Has he asked Tommy where you’ve gone?
You don’t dare ask Tommy about his business partner due to your continued silent treatment, no matter how much you wanted to. It’s probably silly to him, though, having his younger sister have a schoolgirl crush on a much older man.
It was probably for the best, though, that you couldn’t see him anymore. That way, maybe, your feelings would someday change, no matter how much you don’t want them to. You want him to love you back as much as you loved him. But it’s all futile in the end. You’re never going to see him again.
You don’t notice the small tear that quickly slides down your cheek, and when you close your eyes, more come. All the pent up loneliness and anger surface for just a moment, allowing you to choke out a sob, clutching your aching chest. From afar, it probably seemed like you were choking. And you were, in a sense, choking on your own sadness and desperation for him to just think about you…
You straighten your back after a moment, quickly wiping your tears from your cheeks and took in a sharp breath. Perhaps it’s time to go inside now, Charlie is probably starting to wake up, and you like to be there when he does.
Slowly turning around to start your trek back to the house, there’s a silhouette that catches your eye, a figure behind the sun. You squint, trying to figure out if that’s Tommy or one of the gardeners, but-
Your breath hitches in your throat, your hand clutching your chest once again. That’s not Tommy, or one of the gardeners, no, this man’s gait is different than them, his shoulders broad, his chest as strong as you remember, his white shirt fitting tightly against his skin. His shirt is unbuttoned, barely tucked into his trousers, long coat thrown on halfheartedly. He’s walking with purpose, you can see it in his stride, and when you catch a glimpse of his face, you choke out,
“Alfie.”
He barely hears you, but he does finally notice you in the distance. You thought he was here on business due to his certainty in his walk and expression, but he doesn’t turn to go to the mansion, no. He keeps walking towards you.
He looks exhausted as he comes closer. Not in a bad way: his eyes are bright and excited, there’s a smile on his face, the same old wolfish one you saw at the charity ball that he gave you. He’s so close now that you hear the grass under his boots, his breathing, so close now and he doesn’t stop walking. Your almost crying again, the tears hanging onto your eyelashes. He lunges at you, his strong arms encasing you in a large bear hug, holding you tightly to his chest. Your cheek is against his warm skin, and you let out a gasp as he twirls your around in his arms before setting you down again. His hands are strong against your hips, gripping you tightly as if you’d disappear again.
He must be a dream, you think.
“God,” is all he says, his face buried into the skin of your neck and shoulder. His hand moves to hold the back of your head, keeping you still, and your breath hitches when he kisses your skin.
“Alfie,” you smile, and he pulls away enough to look at your face. His large hands cup your cheeks, thumbs gently wiping away your tears.
“Where have ya been?” His voice isn’t unhappy, how can he be, when his smile is this huge? “I spent months trying to find ya…and look what I found…”
You hold his forearms, keeping him here, so he won’t move, so you won’t move or disappear again. His eyes flicker down to your lips, then back to your eyes, then back down again. He doesn’t even have to ask, but he does ask for your permission to kiss you.
It’s soft, softer than you ever dreamed of. He’s tender while he keeps your head up so he can kiss you all he wants, and he does. He kisses you for the lost time, the moments where he should’ve asked you on a proper date, but couldn’t find the courage. But he has it now. He’s kissing you like a man starved, his tongue making you let out a small sigh which causes him shudder.
When you both pull away, breathing heavily, you have to ask one thing.
“Alfie, you’ve been looking for me?”
He nods, almost excitedly. “The whole time.”
You throw your arms around Alfie again, around his neck, and he holds you tight.
