Take Out The Gunman

13

Dean reached over to silence his alarm early the next morning, before burying his head beneath his pillow. He and Garth had today off to rest up after their out of town trip so it wasn't necessary to be awake right now. He hated when he forgot to shut off the alarm.

The Detective rolled onto his back to glance out the bedroom window: it was still dark outside. He groaned aloud and closed his eyes, determined to go back to sleep. Five seconds later, they were open again and he was staring at this ceiling.

"Balls," he muttered as he realized that he was up for the day. He sat up and ran a hand through his hair before sliding out of the bed. Might as well get dressed and go for a morning run, since he was up anyway. 

Dean had finished his run and was back in his apartment just as the sun was rising. He entered the kitchen for a bottle of water, and let out a startled curse as he heard,

"Morning."

Sam was sitting at the kitchen bar with a book in front of him. "Didn't mean to scare you," the younger man finished with a slight grin.

"What? No. I knew you were there," Dean scoffed as he retrieved a bottle of water out of the fridge. He glanced at Sam and found the other smirking at him. "Okay fine," he relented with a grin, "You might have startled me a little. You're like a ninja."

"What's a ninja?"

Dean stared at the young man, mouth falling open. "You – you're kidding?" he asked. His eyes narrowed in a feigned glare as the other grinned suddenly and he realized he was being played.

"Totally kidding."

"Smartass," he flipped his water bottle lid at the grinning kid, "I'm going to take a shower and then we'll go out for breakfast." 

After breakfast a while later, Dean and Sam stopped in at 'Gabe's', the local coffee shop near the Detective's office building. Dean wasn't surprised to find Garth and his wife, Bess, there. They joined them at the couple's table while waiting on their order, and the sudden, random thought that Sam had gotten taller in the past week or so struck him as he stood next to the younger man. Speaking it aloud had Garth, Bess and Sam all three laughing at him, of course. "Bitches," the detective muttered with a smirk as he took a seat.

"This place is run by Gabe and his brother Luc," Garth was telling Sam a few minutes later, "They have the best coffee in town, I swear." Dean watched them, silently enjoying the sight of an at-ease Sam. His eyes shifted to Meghan, the barista, as she approached the table with their order. She shot Sam a wink as she handed them their drinks – the younger man blushed and shyly dropped his head, causing Dean and Garth to exchange amused smiles.

"Oh, damn," Dean glanced at Bess as he heard the blonde woman's soft-spoken curse, to find her staring toward the door. He looked over and a frown touched his own features as he watched a sharp-dressed woman approach the table. He stood as she drew closer – from the corner of his eye, he saw Sam do the same.

"Detectives," Bela Talbot, the assistant district attorney, gave Dean and Garth a short nod as she reached the table. Her eyes, however, were locked on Sam.

"Talbot," Dean's own voice was low, warning tracing that single word. He recognized that calculating look on her face, had seen it before.

Bela shot him a slightly uneasy glance before shifting her focus back to Sam. She plastered a smile that could easily pass for friendly, sweet, innocent, before greeting,

"Hello, Sammy."

Sam had stepped behind Dean when the ADA approached, so that the detective was partially shielding him. He stared at Bela in silence for several seconds before responding with,