Long Way From Home (Dean)

[GWEN MORGAN]

LOVELAND, COLORADO

It was a cold and uncomfortable night as Gwen did her best to ignore the cat-calls that she recieved as she passed down a seedier part of town. With the dark of night came nutjobs of all sorts and tonight wasn't any different. She did her best to ignore all the crazies and continue down until she finally reached a familiar bar. Henry's Pub. It was a simple place, not very fancy and usually not very crowded with very few regulars. It was the perfect place to stop by and get something to eat and drink before Gwen was on the road again.

As soon as she stepped on the property she immediately felt better. The place was warm from all the cooking going on in the back and fairly quiet with only a few different pockets of people sitting around the various booths and tables.

Gwen was originally intent on sneaking into the corner of the room and trying to attract as little attention as possible but she paused. Her eyes brightened with amusement seeing a familiar face and she couldn't help herself going over and kissing said Dean Winchester on the cheek. Gwen laughed as she pulled back teasingly, "Now here's someone I know. I didn't think I'd be seeing you again. How has life been treating you, Dean?" She leaned on the table, not sitting down just yet because she was intent on waiting for him to invite her to join him. No sense in being rude to a friend. It had been a while since they last saw each other but Gwen felt as if it had just been yesterday. Her grin widened.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

It had been a rather long day or at least that was what Dean had felt after the sun had set. He and his younger brother Sam had spent all of that day driving around town and pretending to be FBI agents to try and get the local police to give them any further clues about their case, but they got nothing except hostility.

The rest of the day followed without any major leads they had only managed to pick up a few clues here and there. Seeing as there wasn't much else they could do for the day they had headed back to their motel. Dean had decided that he needed a well deserved. He extended an invitation to his brother, but Sam had declined as he had wanted to stay behind and continue working. He shook his head and mutter something about Sam needed to have a bit of fun before leaving.

There he was sitting at a table inside Henry's Pub slowly drinking from the bottle of beer that he had ordered. He had been scanning around the room for any pretty ladies, but the few that he had seen were all seemingly taken. So he resorted to just watching the whatever sports they were showing on the bar's TV screen. But he knew that after a while even that would get old for him.

As he was intensely staring at the TV screen he felt a pressure against his cheek. He immediately recognized the sensation of a kiss and turned his head. To his surprise he saw Gwen standing there smiling at him. He took a moment to get over the surprise of her greeting and broke out in one of his trademark smiles.

"Well hey there Gwen, it's been a while hasn't it." he said to her with a laugh.

[GWEN MORGAN]

"It certainly has. Though I feel as though I just saw you yesterday-I could never forget a smile like that," Gwen teased. Her own smile never left it's place, as she tilted her head to the side and regarded Dean. He was looker, that was for sure. Somehow she had forgotten how good-looking he was. Gwen wondered if he was still up to his flirting ways... hell, why was she even wondering? Even though they had only been on one hunt together Gwen knew what Dean was like to an extent. Dean Winchester was the man you could rely on in a storm but also the man who never slowed down when it came to having a good time.

Her smile faded a little as she noticed how tired Dean looked. It was probably another hunt and if his looks had anything to indicate a rather difficult one. "You look exhausted. You all right?" Without waiting for a reply, she took a seat across from him, her brow furrowed in concern.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

Dean could not help but grin a little wider at the barely veiled compliment that Gwen that happen to throw his way. It was always nice for him to hear that he was an unforgettable sort of person; especially to the girls. A vain as it sounded it was what lifted his mood to hear that. It was also pretty nice for him that the compliment came from a pretty decent looking girl too.

He was briefly surprised by how easily she seemed to pick up on the fact that he was feeling a bit tired even though he had tried to hide it pretty well. He really did not want to admit that he was feeling, so he tried to play it down as much as he could. Since he really felt uncomfortable about talking about his feelings and worries. Even if he was with a girl who was very easy on the eyes.

"Comes with the job." he told her with a brief laugh and look another long drink from the bottle of beer he had ordered earlier.

[GWEN MORGAN]

It was obvious Dean was downplaying how exhausted he was. At least it was to Gwen. She had gotten quite good at reading people since the last time she had been on Earth. The subtle signs were always there if you looked in the right places at the right times. She ordered herself a beer and raised an eyebrow at Dean.

“Come on, Dean. Let me know what’s going on,” Gwen leaned back, with a shrug. “I know you’re not the touchy-feely type like Sam is but at least tell me if I can help.” She did still owe them after all considering Sam and Dean both saved her ass the last time. It seemed that lately whenever Gwen went on a hunt by herself- trouble seemed to follow her. As uncomfortable as it was, she knew the reason was James himself. She’d taken to doing more hunts in groups because she wasn’t sure how long she could run away from him.

Shaking the thought aside Gwen gave Dean a hard, no-nonsense look. “I owe you big time. Let me at least start to pay you back.”

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

Dean looked at the young woman next to him and saw that she was completely serious about him telling her what was wrong. She sounded just like Sam did when he tried to whiddle Dean into opening up about his feelings. It took a huge chunk of his self-control to hold in the groan he felt wanting to come out of his mouth. Even if a pretty girl like Gwen was asking him to open up to her he felt himself still resisting it. It was part of who he was, he was a tough person who acted like nothing seemed to phase him even though that was a lie. A lot of things bothered him, but he could never see himself talking about it to anyone. Not unless he was forced to, but she had brought up letting her pay him back, maybe including her in on the case would be a helpful move for him.

"I"ve been working a case, a string of local deaths and so far we've got bupkiss on what's chomping on the folks around here." he told her and then took another deep drink from his bottle of beer to help with his parch throat.

[GWEN MORGAN]

"So, you're having trouble getting information for the hunt?" Gwen bit her lower lip in thought for a moment, setting her beer down before giving Dean a smirk. "Well, I can help you with that. The town's close-knit and real hush-hush about most problems like this but I have a solution. I used to know some other hunters down here. Got to know some of the locals real well- especially some of the priests in the area. I'm betting we could ask one of them about what's been happening, about how we want to comfort the families who have lost someone. Maybe we'll get some leads that way,"

Gwen leaned back in the booth, shrugging. "And I'd be honored to help you and Sam on the actual hunt itself. It'll be another way I can repay the debt I have to you guys," She paused for a moment before smiling brightly. "Thanks for accepting my help, Dean. I know how...expressing your feelings and whatnot isn't a walk in the park but I'll be glad if I can help you boys."

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

It made sense Dean thought to himself as he listened to her explain the inner-workings of the town and its people. Obviously the townspeople would do everything in their power to keep their internal affairs quiet from outsiders. No one ever wanted their 'dirty laundry' all out in the open for others to see, especially supposed police officers from another town like Dean had masqueraded as earlier in the day.

So really it was not much of a surprise that the local law enforcement made it much harder for Dean to get any farther in the case, but hearing that Gwen knew someone in town raised his spirits a bit. It was a stretch, but hopefully it would pan out and get him somewhere. Even though he rarely liked working with other hunters, as he never trusted strangers. They always seemed to have their own secret agenda which meant that he had to spend more time kicking their ass then getting the job done.

But he was willing to give it a try now since there did not seem to be not many other options he could take.

"How long until we can get a hold of these hunting buddies of yours?" he asked her sounding a little chipper than before.

[GWEN MORGAN]

Gwen couldn’t have been more pleased. She was finally able to start repaying her debt to the Winchester brothers. She never left a debt unpaid. Depending on how much Dean let her help she might even be able to repay them in full with just one mission. It was a sweet sort of satisfaction that ran through her veins as Dean consented to letting her help.

“Well, not many of them are in town. I do, however, know a local priest that may be able to get us the information we need. He thinks I’m the daughter of one of the hunters I went on a job with a few years back so he’ll be able to recognize me. Not many people pass through and stay here for long bouts of time so I’m sure we’ll have no problems.” Father Caleb-if she remembered correctly. He was a gentle sort of man who would be easy to deceive. Nice but very gullible. They wouldn’t have any problems getting clues and hints on the latest occurrences from him.

She took another sip of beer with a sly grin. “I know how to get to the church too. We can head over there whenever you’re ready to go.”

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

Hearing that there was at least one of the old hunters Gwen knew were still around in the town seriously pumped up Dean's blood and spirit. Knowing that there was a possible lead and it was even closer to his grasp made it hard for him to want to wait until the morning to visit the old guy. He took a long drink from his beer bottle draining whatever beer he had left and placed it down onto the counter top. He gasped loudly as he took a deep breath to fill his lung back up with air after the long drink without taking a breath.

"How about right now?" he asked her trying to sound as calm as he could manage but it was not working as well as he had hoped since there was a touch of urgency in his voice. But it was understandable as he wanted to get this job over and gank whatever the hell it was that was hunting the innocent people in this little backwater hick town. The sooner they did that the sooner he could escape to a place that was hopefully much more fun and friendlier.

If he could maybe he could manage to swing by some nicer town or state and just relax for a day or two while they looked around for another job to do after this one. That is if he could manage to talk Sammy into going along with his plan. It was much harder than it sounded since it seemed Sammy was always against doing something fun.

[GWEN MORGAN]

Gwen was momentarily taken aback. "Right now?" She tilted her head to the side slightly before grinning and nodding as it fully sunk in. "We could do it right now." She shrugged, thoughtful.

"How good is your acting?" She questioned lightly, tugging slightly at her hair. It was a fidgety mood but for the plan to work Dean had to be prepared. "Most of the folks up here don't trust people easy. You'd have to pretend to be my husband or something. Maybe if even brother. Whichever one catches your fancy more. If we're not related at least somewhat, I don't think they'll talk to us."

Gwen grimaced thinking about how hard it had been to get them to trust her last time when she came with James-before he turned. Even as his girlfriend they were all wary of her and she had had to prove herself for them to open up even just barely. It had taken years to nurture these relations and it would be very hard to get information if they didn't think her and Dean were close.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

Dean shrugged at the question he had never considered his running around and pretending to be other people as acting to him it was just him being a very good liar. So far he had not managed to get caught as easily, there were a few times where they saw through his deception. But if he did not need to present a badge it might go a little smoother since there was no need to check if he really was who he said he would be. Which was the reason why he had been found out before, as soon as things started to turn a little weird they always ran the badge number and then find out that he was a fake and come after him.

"I'll manage." he told her simply with a smirk as he could easily pretend to be a boyfriend to such a pretty girl such as her. If someone asked him it was quite a trade up from Sammy. Oh course he cared about his brother but if he had to choose a partner he would obviously go with a nice hot girl for a partner.Especially since she had proven herself to be a pretty decent hunter the last time that they had run into each other.

[GWEN MORGAN]

Gwen smirked just a bit. He was very easy to deal with unlike the other male hunters she had to pair up with from time to time. Dean might be rough around the edges like that bunch, he had his own kind of class and could at least act. Or...decieve at the very least. He was his own kind of man and that was hard to find.

Now, it might be a little tricky with word-play to get Father Caleb to reveal the details of the hunt but Gwen knew him and also understood how to do the delicate dance around what she wanted to know. Though they knew each other and he would share quite a lot with her there would be some pieces of this case he would no doubt keep private. It was all about tricking the information out of him.

"All right, I'm ready to leave if you are," Gwen stood up, already knowing the answer, taking one last sip of her beer and paying the check with cash right as the waitress came up to serve them.

[DEAN WINCHESTER]

Dean did not want to waste a perfectly good beer so he drained the bottle in one go which was not very hard since there was less than half of the bottle filled. Once it was empty he placed the bottle on the counter and pulled out his wallet where he grabbed enough money to cover his drinks. He causually tossed the cash onto the counter.

"Keep the change." he told the bartender as he was more in a rush to go and visit the supposed friend of Gwen's. Once that was settle he got up from his seat and started heading towards the door, but he made sure to walk slow enough so that Gwen could easily catch up with him.

With the bar semi-packed with all sorts of patron Dean really had to shove and push his way through the crowds, but every so often he glanced behind him to make sure that he had not lost Gwen in the mess. Especially since he had to push past quite a few dunk dudes who looked like royal dregs.

[GWEN MORGAN]

Gwen squeezed through the people, slapping a hand away that tried to reach back and pinch her ass. She pushed against a drunk who stood in the aisle and made it, finally, to Dean's side. She gave him a smile, straightening her clothes out and led the way. If it had been a rowdy bar at night then she might have had some problem but in most cases Gwen was very good at taking care of herself when it came to stupid drink men.

"Now, if I remember you have that wonderful '67 Chevy Impala. Do you want to follow me with that sweet thing or join me on my motorcycle?" Gwen wasn't even sure Dean had ever been on a motorcycle before but he seemed like the rough and tough sort that might have at least attempted it once. "Either way the drive is about twenty minutes to a half-hour."

She turned around with a quirky sort of smile, "So, are we improving our little relationship when we get there or do you want to practice our cover?" It was different with every other hunter she partnered with over the year and sometimes Gwen wasn't quite sure what they wanted. Dean was an especially hard case to crack. He was hard to figure out, that was sure.