What Dean Deserves
Summary: Áine O'Connell has been hunting, mostly alone, for years. She has a run in with Sam and Dean and makes what she hopes will be valuable contacts in the hunting community. She'll get far more than that.
Áine = Anya
Tags: Dean Winchester x Female OC. Violence. Some drinking. Eventually there will be smut, fluff, angst, and so on.
Word Count: 1890
Author's Note: I haven't written fanfiction in about a decade but I started rewatching Supernatural and got heated about writing choices. I was venting to my husband about how I wished they had given Dean a romance with another hunter, someone who could really hold her own in a fight and couldn't stop thinking about it. So, here is my version of how I think that should have been done. (No shade to Jo, there are so many reasons why the potential for her character got squandered. I am forever mad about that.)
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Chapter One - After Dark
Normally Dean liked the feeling of a woman straddling him, thighs tensed around him, but not when she was holding a machete to his throat. He was barely holding her back from cutting his head off, with his knife being used to block the blade and his other hand pushing back against her. He risked shifting his hand closer to his face.
“Easy, sweetheart,” he said as he lifted his top lip and pressed on his gums, “not a vampire.”
She stared down at him with unchanging intensity for a moment as she assessed him before finally lifting the machete. “Well, shit.” She carefully lifted herself off of him before offering a hand up. “You with anyone else?”
“Just my brother.” Dean grunted slightly as he accepted her help. He was sore enough from fighting a vampire on his own yesterday, he did not need the extra bruises from getting knocked to a rough cement floor.
She nodded as she surveyed the room. “And where would he be?”
“We split up to cover more ground.”
“Wow, smart. I'm sure that has never backfired on you.” Dean glared at her as she pressed her lips together tightly, as if she hadn't meant to let the comment slip.
“Yeah, and who are you with?”
“No one. Which means no liabilities.”
Dean felt his jaw tighten in further irritation before a soft creaking of a floorboard alerted them they were no longer alone.
“Don't you two know that being quiet is important when hunting?” One of the vampires said mockingly as they came into the dim light.
“Well, looks like you haven't figured that out eith-” Dean was cut short by a second vampire jumping him.
“Aw, fuck.” Áine grumbled as the first vampire lunged for her. She barely dodged and managed to hit them in the back of the neck with her machete, but not deep enough. They’d moved to fast for her to get a solid hit. The vampire reached back to touch the wound and snarled.
“I’m going to enjoy draining you, bitch.” He came at her again, reaching for her throat. Áine nearly managed to evade him, trying to go for a side hit at his neck, but he caught the hood of her jacket. All her momentum was stopped suddenly as she was yanked back toward him.
He wrapped one arm around her neck and reached for her arm with the machete. Áine flipped the machete to point downwards and stabbed down into his thigh. The vampire yelled in pain but wasn’t quite loosening his grip, so Áine used all the strength she could muster to cut through the muscle and out of him. He finally let go and dropped to his knees. She turned around and wasted no time in beheading him.
Áine turned to the other hunter to see he had also just finished off his attacker. They shared a look for a moment before continuing further into the nest. The sounds of fighting reached them before they could see anything and Dean heard Sam cry out in pain. His eyes flashed with a protective anger and he clenched his jaw. He went from swift and stealthy to bull in a china shop immediately. The door between them and the action was locked. Dean wasted no time in kicking it open and charging in. Áine sighed in frustration at the sudden guns blazing approach but followed anyway.
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“It’s nice to have some help.” Sam says with a grateful smile, as Áine finished putting a quick bandage on his most pressing wound. “Oh, I'm Sam, by the way. And you are?”
“Áine.” She glanced over at the slightly shorter brother, realizing she'd never asked his name. He was busy getting the survivors into his car. “Áine O'Connell.”
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They made plans to meet for food and drinks to blow off steam. Áine took a long shower, letting her muscles relax and thoroughly getting off all the filth. There was something so soothing about watching the blood wash off and go down the drain.
She arrived earlier than she meant to and found a booth toward the back where she could keep an eye on the entrance. She ordered herself a drink, three waters for the table, and a couple appetizers. They arrived shortly after she had started on her first Grateful Dead.
“Hey, Áine!” Sam had an infectious smile. She couldn't help but feel like she was looking at a puppy.
“Hey there, Sam and…I never did get your name…” She said as she looked at Dean. Sam looked at his brother, seemingly surprised.
“Oh, right. I'm Dean.” He said, his voice gruff. He sat on her side of the booth and gestured to her drink.“So, Áine, what you drinkin'?”
“A Grateful Dead. They're pretty tasty here and good bang for your buck.” She smiled at him before pretending to look over the menu again. “I ordered a couple appetizers, I know I'm always starving after a hunt.”
Dean seemed to light up at that, and even more so as the fried green beans and chicken bacon ranch fries arrived at the table. Sam laughed at the way Dean dug into the food as the waitress walked away, after taking their drink orders. “Well, you figured out how to win my brother over real quick.”
“Shut up, Sammy.” Dean grumbled with a full mouth, a piece of bacon flying out at Sam.
“Dude!” Sam threw his balled up straw wrapper at his older brother, who dodged it.
Áine couldn't contain an escaping chuckle at their antics, though it brought a familiar twinge of pain. It must be nice to have family.
“Sorry about Dean, he got hit on the head and forgot how to not eat like a caveman.” Sam said as he gave Dean a pointed stare.
“Yeah, whatever. Some of us actually do enough work to have an appetite. How many times have I saved your ass this week?” Dean shoved another handful of cheesy fries into his mouth.
“Okay, moving on from the adorable bickering,” Áine quickly said as she shoved a few fries in her mouth before Dean ate them all. “How long have you two been doing this?”
“Bickering? Since Sammy learned to speak…”
Áine rolled her eyes.
“Since we were kids. Family thing.” Sam said as he finally grabbed a fried green bean.
Áine decided not to ask further, that kind of answer indicated more than enough. “That explains why you seem to know your shit.”
“What about you?” Dean asked.
“Since high school. So, I counted 9 vamps in the nest, all dealt with, any others?”
“I got two on the further side of the warehouse, I thought there were 12 total.” Sam turned pensive. “We definitely got their leader though…hopefully one loose end won't be hard to tie up.”
“High school?” Dean raised an eyebrow and turned to her.
“Uh, yeah?” She wasn’t sure what was confusing about that.
“What, like Buffy?” He gave her a mischievous grin and she rolled her eyes.
“Yup, exactly like Buffy. Minus the banging of hot, broody, vampires.”
“But were you a cheerleader? Tell me you were a cheerleader.” Dean gave her a smirk that would have been charming, if it wasn’t for the fact that his mouth was stuffed with partially eaten food as he spoke.
“Dean,” hissed Sam as he glared at his brother.
“It’s fine, Sam.” She smiled at him, sympathetic but amused. “Sorry to disappoint, but no. Not a pom-pom kinda girl.”
“Damn. Well, anyway, even if we can’t find that one it isn’t the end of the world. I’d rather get ‘em all but,” Dean shrugs and finally stopped eating long enough to drink some water.
“Honestly, I agree. We can check around but they’re probably long gone.” Áine nodded and took a sip of her drink.
Gradually, the conversation shifted toward more normal topics. Music, movies, and shit shows on the basic cable in motels. She discussed nerdy documentaries with Sam and old westerns with Dean. They had a lot in common, though Dean was disappointed to find she did not agree that all music after 1979 was crap.
“Come on, nothing beats 70’s music, especially 70’s rock!” Dean drained the last of his beer, waiting for Sam to finish deciding how much to tip before they left.
“It was an amazing era, I’m not disputing that. But you’re really going to tell me that nothing Queen put out after 1979 was good? Lynyrd Skynyrd? Black Sabbath? Ozzy? Everything they all did after ‘79 was crap?” She gestured widely with her hands, thumping her hand on the table for emphasis with every band she listed.
Dean opened his mouth to respond but found himself speechless. No one had ever put it that way before. Sam looked over at him, a bit surprised to hear no retort. They’d finally found someone who could shut Dean up, and about music no less.
“Not to mention, there are good bands today. The music is different and that’s a good thing, it’d be boring as fuck if music hadn’t evolved since the 70’s. Have you ever listened to Linkin Park, Rage Against The Machine, Red Hot Chili Peppers? Fuckin’ Metallica, dude.”
“Metallica, I like.” Dean nodded, he had to give her that one.
Áine feigned a gasp. “A band that started in 1981?But Dean, I thought you said…”
“Okay, okay.” He shook his head, throwing his hands up in defeat and started to get up from the table. “But after the 80’s music really has started to go downhill.”
“Shifting the goalpost, huh? My previous points still stand and you know I’m right.” She stuck her tongue out at him as she started to scoot out of the booth.
Dean made a halfhearted attempt to hide his smile as he moved out of her way. She was certainly keeping him on his toes, he liked that. Sam was chuckling but keeping his thoughts to himself as he threw down some cash to cover the tip.
“You need a ride, Áine?” Sam asked as they walked out the door together into the chilly night.
“Nah, I drove.” Part of her was sad the evening was coming to an end. “This was nice. I hope I see you two again sometime.”
“Yeah, likewise.” Sam smiled at her and then seemed to have a thought as he pulled out his phone. “Oh, wait, we should exchange numbers. You know, in case you ever need help or something.”
That made her smile. She didn’t have that many contacts in the hunter world and even fewer she actually liked. Now she had two more. They said their goodbyes and went their separate ways for the night. Before Áine drove off, she checked her phone for any messages and smiled. One of the few other hunters she liked had asked her to check in. She hit dial and waited for him to pick up.
“About damn time you called, kid.” Bobby grumbled immediately.
“It’s nice to hear from you too, Bobby.” She smiled. “I got busy, met some other hunters, actually. They were on the same job.”
“Ya don’t say?”
“Yeah, you know two brothers named Sam and Dean?” She raised an eyebrow as Bobby let out a deep sigh.
