Fallen [Dean Winchester FanFiction]

VII

Seven

Two months later...

It was a quarter after eight p.m. Alaine had settled herself into a chair inside of the operations room. Having arrived shortly from a four-day-long witch hunt in Wyoming, she was taking this moment of silence to enjoy a nice bowl of cereal for dinner.

The peace and quiet was well appreciated. Since she'd first arrived at the bunker, Dean and her had been on the move, almost non-stop. Case after case, hunt after hunt. She wasn't one to really complain since it'd been her idea to tackle on all of those jobs. She'd thought having Dean as a partner would facilitate things, even make them more fun.

Boy, had she been dead wrong.

Dean Winchester was a grueling man who hardly took no for an answer. It was either his way or the highway, and while on a case, those qualities seemed to magnify tenfold. He was difficult to work with, always wanting to barge in, hardly stopping to think things through. It was always 'shoot first, ask questions later' with him, and that alone had warranted alot of disagreements between the two of them.

Nonetheless, they'd managed to save quite a few lives in the past eight weeks, and although Alaine didn't really agree with all of his methods, she still saw it as a win.

On the other hand, Dean saw it all as a way to distract himself from the fact that he still hadn't heard back from Castiel, or from his brother for that matter. After countless attempts, and having to speak to an automated voice messaging system more times than he could bare, he'd come to the conclusion that Sam just didn't want to be found. Having no one to blame but himself, Dean decided it be best if he allowed his brother the space he needed to get over things. He hated the thought of not knowing whether or not he was okay, but being left with no other option, he figured it wise to leave Sam be. At least for now.

And although things haven't been a walk in the park, he was grateful for Alaine's company. Granted she was a firecracker—and a real pain in the ass when she wanted to be—the woman had her good qualities, and those qualities helped keep him at ease.

Being around her now felt as if almost no time had passed at all. She was still the same Alaine he'd met all those years ago-funny, empathetic, and all around selfless. To Dean, it was like their friendship had picked up right where it'd left off. They were free to act like themselves around another without having to worry about judgement being passed. They knew each other-their likes and dislikes, what made them tick. In such a short time, they also managed to learn a lot more about one another. It only made sense that after nineteen years, certain things would change, but it didn't alter the bond they shared.

In their respective eyes, they were still the same Dean and Alaine; the same Dean and Alaine that still fit together like two missing pieces out of a puzzle.

After sitting in the operations room for a long while, Alaine had been in the middle of finishing her cereal when a deep, resounding voice carried through the bunker. She raised the ceramic bowl to her lips, tipping her head back to drink from the leftover milk as Dean casually strolled into the room.

"Hey."

Her eyes flickered over to him. She hummed in acknowledgement.

"So, I got this idea—"

"Uh-oh. That can't be good."

Dean ignored her remark. He approached the side of her chair, his figure looming over hers as she cast him an interrogative look. He watched her set the bowl down onto the table, her fingers then moving to wipe at the obvious milk mustache on her face.

"If it's another case, don't even ask."

"That's not what I was thinking."

Alaine arched a brow in curiosity. "Prey do tell then."