Hell of a Family
Title: Hell of a Family
Series Title: The Face
Author:
hunters_retreat
Fandom: Supernatural/RPS/Dark Angel/10 Inch Hero Crossover
Pairing: Dean/Jensen/Alec/Priestly, Sam/Logan
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Spoilers through SPN Season 5 possible and anything from DA and TIH.
Summary: He could barely see straight. What the hell was Jensen doing?
Author's Note: Futuristic AU. Beset with loss and grief, in a world they no longer known, Dean, Jensen, Alec, and Priestly find one another and challenge the world around them.
Dean stretched as he watched camp come to life. He saw Alec and Priestly on the other side of the fire where they’d slept. He looked over to Jensen’s bedroll, past theirs, but Jensen had taken the last watch and had apparently decided not to return to his bed. He’d made the choice to distance himself from Dean that first night after the others showed and Dean wasn’t about to try to fix that while the haven was in trouble. He’d talk to Jensen later. It made some other things either anyway. He wanted to talk to Jo about the others privately. He wasn’t the man she’d known before and he had no idea what she’d think of the life he led now. Years since he’d last seen her, but she was still family and he didn’t want to lose her when he’d just found her again.
He pushed the thoughts away and grabbed his canteen to make his way to the stream. Dean cleaned up quickly and filled his canteen before he headed back to the fire where the others were fixing breakfast.
“Still moving okay, old man?” Jo asked as she came up beside him.
Dean gave her his best smirk. “I’m not slowing down any time soon. Why, you can’t keep up?”
She let out of a huff of a laugh but her eyes were turned to the scene around them. When he’d last seen her she’d still been new at the game. Time had made her more cautious. More aware of what was happening around her. He’d tell her he approved but he figured she might kick his ass for it.
“Dean, have you seen Jensen?” Chris asked as he and Jo approached the fire.
Dean shook his head. “Surprised to see he was still up. Thought he’d be back in his bedroll. We can’t usually get him out of bed without a bit of persuading.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Chris said with a laugh.
Dean smiled back but Jo gave him a questioning look. He didn’t know what to say so he danced around Chris’s insinuation. “Jensen doesn’t wake up without a few pots of coffee in him,” he said.
He ignored the look Chris gave him and turned back to Jo. “I thought you were going to take the rounds with the scouts this morning?”
“Nah. I figured I’d let the boys burn off some of their energy. They’re not very good at the waiting game.”
“And you’re a paragon of patience?”
“Dean!”
Sam yelled his name from across the camp and Dean ran, along with half the camp.
“Sammy? Is Logan okay?”
“It’s not Logan. It’s Jensen.”
“What?”
“Jensen just walked into Hope.”
“What?” he asked again, unable to process what he’d just heard. “No, he’s here. He wouldn’t have left the last watch to go to Hope.”
“I took the rest of his watch,” Jo said beside him.
“You did what?” Dean asked as he rounded on her.
“He asked if I’d stand watch since I was already awake. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Why would you do that?” He looked away from Jo and back to his brother. “What’s happening?”
“Jensen walked up to the guards and asked to speak to their leader. He said, they’d been sending a message to the Face and he was there to answer.”
“Where is Michael?”
“Trailing behind the crowd to get as close to Jensen as he can.”
“God damn it!” Dean yelled. “What the hell was he thinking?”
“Dean?”
He could barely see straight. What the hell was Jensen doing? Why would he go down to the haven when they knew something was wrong? When they already had people there?
“Dean?” Someone called his name again but he didn’t respond.
“We have to get to him,” he said, but his voice came out in a whisper.
“Dean!” Sam caught him but he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sure why he’d fallen or where from but it was Sam in front of him, brow furrowed and eyes searching his.
“Dean, we’ll get him back. Logan is in there. He and Michael won’t let anything happen to him.”
“Sammy…”
“Dean, take a drink,” Priestly was in front of him then, a canteen in his hand as he put it to Dean’s lips and tipped it back. Dean did as Priestly told him to but none of it was making sense.
“He said something yesterday,” Chris said and his words gave Dean something to focus on instead of the noose tightening around his heart.
“What?”
“He thought the raiders were letting people in to get the Face’s attention. He thought one of you should go down there to let them know they had it before they started to do something more drastic.”
“And he decided he had to be the one to go,” Priestly said with a deep sigh. Dean looked up at Priestly, at Alec, and saw the fear that neither could quite hide. Dean wasn’t the only one with something to lose and while Priestly seemed to be okay, there was something in Alec’s eyes, in the way he wasn’t talking, that made Dean worry about him more.
He looked at Priestly and the other man glanced slightly at the transgenic. Dean knew that Priestly saw the same thing he did.
“We’ll get him back,” Priestly said.
Dean sat up and grabbed Alec before the other man realized he was moving, which said something about his mental state at the moment. He wrapped Alec close and felt a little relief when Alec returned the embrace.
“Priestly is right. We will get him. He might be a damn fool for going in there without us, but he wouldn’t put himself in danger like that without thinking it through. He’s got a plan. He wouldn’t… he wouldn’t...”
Sam said the words he couldn’t. “Jensen wouldn’t walk in to get himself killed. He knows what it would do to you. To all of you.”
Dean looked over at his brother and Sam gave him a small smile. “To all of us. We don’t work without the Face and the Face doesn’t work without him. He knows that by now.”
“I can’t, Sam. I … make the call.”
Sam’s eyes went vacant for a moment, the way they did when Sam had first escaped from the psychics and he’d get lost in the bond with Logan. When he looked back at Dean, it was a hunter’s smile on his face.
“They want the Face. We give it to them. I told you once, I’d protect him the way I protect you, Dean. I’ll take the fucking walls down if I have to.”
Dean let out a deep breath because if Sam was on his side, he didn’t doubt they could get to Jensen. He just hoped Jensen stayed out of trouble until then.
“Alright Sam. Let Logan know the plan.” He looked over at the others then. He could think again, he could plan and plot and find a way to do the most damage where they needed it. He had Sam at his back and the others would follow them.
“Chris, scout out the front entrance of Hope. Make sure nothing new is coming in to surprise us,” Sam barked out the orders. “Alec, scout out the back roads. We need you to move fast so don’t pretend for us. Priestly, get everyone loaded and ready to go in. Everyone else, get this camp broken down. We will save the haven if we can, but if we can’t, we will bring it down around their ears and we might need a quick escape.”
Everyone began to move but Dean grabbed Alec before he could run off. “Be careful. We want to know what’s happening, not get someone else caught up in the cross hairs.” He pulled Alec in and kissed him quickly and Alec smiled as he pulled away.
“Be back as fast as I can. Take care of each other until then.”
He left then, running faster than Dean could keep track of. Priestly came up and set his chin over Dean’s shoulder as they watched Alec run further away. Damn, he knew Alec was fast but it wasn’t until something like this happened that they remembered just how fast he was.
“I have supplies to get out. I’ll check in with the planning once I get everyone set.” Dean looked over his shoulder and Priestly batted his eyelashes at Dean. He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped and when Priestly leaned closer Dean pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.
“Go get to work soldier.”
The other man was off and running then, shouting at the others and Dean was left to watch him go, amazed at the difference between the self-conscious man Priestly had come to them as, to the take charge personality he’d become. He was blessed, for the first time in his life, with someone - besides his brother - worth fighting for, someone that would fight for him just as hard. Someone worth dying for and who would die for him. And he was blessed with it three-fold.
“Dean?”
Sam called him over and Dean turned to see Sam and Jo waiting for him.
“Anyone going to explain that?” Jo asked, her eyes moving from Dean to where Priestly had run off.
“No,” Dean said gruffly. He could admit to himself, if no one else, that Jensen probably hadn’t come to him because of Jo. Jensen had been standoffish towards Jo since their introduction and Dean knew he hadn’t handled that well. Jensen had decided to keep his own council and only Chris, who was still stubbornly thick about the things Jensen was capable of, had known his thoughts. If he’d mentioned going off to any of the Face, they’d have known to keep an eye on him. Dean wanted to curse himself for being so stupid but he didn’t have the time for that.
“I think they’ll let us walk right in the front gates, Sammy. What can Logan tell us about their security?”
**
It was dinner time before the plan was ready and they were in place. There wasn’t much to it. Get in. Get Jensen. Kick the raiders the hell out of their haven. Dean had always favored simple plans. Sam had sighed and Alec had smirked but Dean knew what he was doing and they were ready to follow him.
Sam was at his back with Jo and Chris while Priestly and Alec walked on either side of him. Some of their people followed behind, while others snuck quietly behind to take position. There was no one left at their camp except the few people designated to keep the truck ready in case they needed to run.
They walked down the long drive that led into the former school. No one tried to stop them and no one spoke to them. They followed on the edge of the roadway though, fear and apprehension in their wake. Dean knew the others felt it, but everyone held their heads high and he was damn proud of them for that.
When they’d set the people up in Hope Haven, they’d turned the large green in front of the school into a community square. The first night, they’d pulled the tables and benches from the cafeteria and had a hell of a party to celebrate. The tables were still there and the people of Hope watched as Dean and the others approached the main dais that had been constructed.
“We have visitors,” the man said with a smirk as he held up a glass. “Welcome to Hope. I am Simon, mayor of this quaint village.”
“Funny, because last I checked there wasn’t a mayor in Hope. And Eddie, the guy in charge, wasn’t such a pretentious ass.”
“You would be Winchester, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” he and Sam answered together.
Simon looked between Dean and Sam and he shot an angry glare to someone behind him.
“The transgenic,” Simon looked over at Alec and then to Priestly, “and the cook. I believe there was another, wasn’t there Face?”
“Where is he?” Dean demanded.
Simon smiled and Dean wanted to punch the smirk off his face. Sam was at his back though, in his head and through the bond he saw Logan’s thoughts and knew Jensen was right behind the dais.
“I thought it would take some time for the Face to arrive. I’m afraid we haven’t got the welcome party ready just yet. I supposed we’ll have to do for now.”
The guards that should have been on the wall showed up around the crowd and Dean felt everyone tense. Dean wasn’t as worried about them as he probably should be. So long as Simon kept them from opening fire just yet though, things were still going pretty much to plan.
“I have a proposal for the Face.”
“Then you should send Jensen out here,” Alec said. “We won’t make a deal without him.”
Simon looked at the men that had come with the Face and looked back to his own men. “Bring him out.”
Jensen came into view and Dean let out a sigh of relief. There were no visible bruises, no injuries that he could see. Jensen kept his head held high and there was fire in his eyes as he looked at Dean.
“Tell them my proposal.”
Jensen walked past the man but he stopped before he got to Dean and the others. “He wants to keep control of Hope haven. He will send a tithe to the Face for protection but he will have all say in what happens in this haven.”
“And why would we agree to that?”
“He has two psychics,” Jensen said.
Dean smiled at Simon. “Two psychics? Haven’t you heard? We don’t run from psychics.”
“No? And just what do you plan to do against them?”
Two men stepped out from behind the dais and Dean saw Logan and Michael move away from their hiding place then. Michael moved off to the side unnoticed as Logan joined them. Dean saw Sam pulled Logan up beside him. His brother stared at his partner for a moment before Dean felt the bond between them flare.
“You ready, Jensen?” Dean asked.
“Two psychics? I don’t know Dean. It might be too much for us,” Jensen said as he took a final step closer. He smiled then and Dean could see the way Jensen had worked into the other man’s head. The guards that should have been on the walls were watching them because they didn’t expect trouble. Simon didn’t expect trouble.
Jensen looked at Sam then and smiled. “I think one psychic is more trouble than we know what to do with.”
Sam laughed. “Let’s find out.”
Sam struck out and the two psychics were unconscious before either was able to pull up their defenses. A single shot in the night from the walls made the guards look up to find that Dean’s men had taken the wall and had the vantage point. The people of Hope haven moved behind the Face and Simon and his soldiers were left without options.
“You said they’d fold!” Simon hissed at Jensen as Michael put the barrel of his gun to the man’s head.
“We built our community from the bottom up, scraping by day by day until we had something worth fighting for. Did you really think you could come in with a few men and make us crumble?” Jensen asked. “There is real evil in this world and you are nothing but a piss-ant thug. Michael, bury him.”
Michael knocked the guy unconscious and then Jensen turned to Dean and it was all he could think about. The bond between he and Sam closed and he knew Sam and Logan would take care of everything else for a few minutes.
“Dean, I know you’re gonna be pissed but-“
Dean kissed him before he could say anything else. Jensen opened to him and Dean pulled his lover close. He needed to feel Jensen, to know that he was safe after all of this. Jensen pulled away and Dean tried to chase his lips but Jensen stopped him with a smile.
“I don’t think this is the time or place for what you have in mind, Dean.”
“Don’t fucking care,” Dean said quietly. “You have no idea-“
“I do. I knew. I’m sorry but I needed to do this though.”
“Stupidest idea you have ever had. You’re lucky Priestly and Alec like you so much or I’d tell Michael to bury you with Simon.”
Jensen smiled as he brought one hand up to Dean’s face. “I knew we had to come in. I just wanted to buy these people time before Simon got it in his head that dead bodies would get our attention better than lost trucks.”
“The rest of our people?” Alec asked as he came up beside them.
“They’re fine. They were locked together but unharmed. I think they wanted to wait until we were all here to use them against us.”
“Good to have you back, Jensen,” Alec brushed a kiss to Jensen’s temple before Priestly pulled Jensen out of his arms. He might have fought but decided against it once he realized that Priestly’s brief kiss had given way to a stern lecture about how long Priestly was going to let Dean keep Jensen locked in their room at B-Base.
“Dean?”
He turned to see Jo coming closer. The walls were held and their people had taken the raiders away to one of the locked basements that the community used as a prison. He’d planned it well enough that he didn’t need to do a damned thing now. Which meant he had to face Jo and there was a look in her eyes that said she wasn’t about to be put off again.
“Yeah Jo.”
“The uh-“
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Jensen. Alec. Priestly. They’re mine. I was going to try to get you away from everything before I talked to you about it but I should have known that would never happen.”
“Did you think you’d break my heart Dean?” Jo asked. “Did you think I was pining away for you all these years?”
“We don’t have a lot of family left, Jo. I guess I was afraid you’d walk away when you realized I wasn’t the man you thought I was.”
“Are you a better man now, Dean?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “They make me stronger. Braver. Jensen,” he looked over at his lovers because Alec was with them and they were all staring at him. Stupid transgenic hearing. “He keeps me human when I’m fighting monsters. They all do. And if you can’t accept that then I’ll grieve for our friendship but this is who I am.”
“And Sam?” Jo asked.
“Super-psychic doesn’t have room to bitch about strange bedfellows,” Dean said. He felt his brother’s smug approval and nearly turned around to flip him off but decided his better man speech would probably suffer for it.
Jo looked over at Sam and then looked back at him. “You were never gonna have a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. Never say you as one to settle down, but I think this is as close to it as I’m ever gonna imagine. So long as they’re good to you, I got no trouble with them.”
Dean let out a deep breath and pulled Jo into a hug. “It’s good to have you around girl. You ever thought about coming up to B-base to see how we do things?”
“Might. Seems like it could be trouble around there.”
“Before you two start planning trouble,” Sam interrupted, “how about we finish getting this place cleaned up? Alec promised us a tour once it was safe. I haven’t seen any of the havens yet.”
“Me either!” Priestly echoed.
Jensen gave Dean a small smile and it was all he needed to clear his head of all the negative things he’d been holding in the last few days. “We get Hope haven settled. We got three more to visit on the way home, and then back to B-base. Anyone wants to come along for the ride is welcome.”
They’d probably get a handful of people to come with them, lose a couple along the way as they visited the other havens, but in the end it was about community, as Jensen had pointed out on the road here. Good will and all that. Dean pulled Jensen close and Alec had Priestly at his side already, and he was ready to take it all on, ready to face it all.
Family didn’t end in blood, Bobby had told him a lifetime ago. He was grateful for the teaching because Sam and Dean had lost everything but each other. At the end of days, they’d come around though and found something to hold onto. They had each other and they had the community the Face had built. In the end, The Face had come to find itself one hell of a family.
Series Title: The Face
Author:
hunters_retreat
Fandom: Supernatural/RPS/Dark Angel/10 Inch Hero Crossover
Pairing: Dean/Jensen/Alec/Priestly, Sam/Logan
Rating: NC-17
Warnings: Spoilers through SPN Season 5 possible and anything from DA and TIH.
Summary: He could barely see straight. What the hell was Jensen doing?
Author's Note: Futuristic AU. Beset with loss and grief, in a world they no longer known, Dean, Jensen, Alec, and Priestly find one another and challenge the world around them.
Dean stretched as he watched camp come to life. He saw Alec and Priestly on the other side of the fire where they’d slept. He looked over to Jensen’s bedroll, past theirs, but Jensen had taken the last watch and had apparently decided not to return to his bed. He’d made the choice to distance himself from Dean that first night after the others showed and Dean wasn’t about to try to fix that while the haven was in trouble. He’d talk to Jensen later. It made some other things either anyway. He wanted to talk to Jo about the others privately. He wasn’t the man she’d known before and he had no idea what she’d think of the life he led now. Years since he’d last seen her, but she was still family and he didn’t want to lose her when he’d just found her again.
He pushed the thoughts away and grabbed his canteen to make his way to the stream. Dean cleaned up quickly and filled his canteen before he headed back to the fire where the others were fixing breakfast.
“Still moving okay, old man?” Jo asked as she came up beside him.
Dean gave her his best smirk. “I’m not slowing down any time soon. Why, you can’t keep up?”
She let out of a huff of a laugh but her eyes were turned to the scene around them. When he’d last seen her she’d still been new at the game. Time had made her more cautious. More aware of what was happening around her. He’d tell her he approved but he figured she might kick his ass for it.
“Dean, have you seen Jensen?” Chris asked as he and Jo approached the fire.
Dean shook his head. “Surprised to see he was still up. Thought he’d be back in his bedroll. We can’t usually get him out of bed without a bit of persuading.”
“Yeah, I bet,” Chris said with a laugh.
Dean smiled back but Jo gave him a questioning look. He didn’t know what to say so he danced around Chris’s insinuation. “Jensen doesn’t wake up without a few pots of coffee in him,” he said.
He ignored the look Chris gave him and turned back to Jo. “I thought you were going to take the rounds with the scouts this morning?”
“Nah. I figured I’d let the boys burn off some of their energy. They’re not very good at the waiting game.”
“And you’re a paragon of patience?”
“Dean!”
Sam yelled his name from across the camp and Dean ran, along with half the camp.
“Sammy? Is Logan okay?”
“It’s not Logan. It’s Jensen.”
“What?”
“Jensen just walked into Hope.”
“What?” he asked again, unable to process what he’d just heard. “No, he’s here. He wouldn’t have left the last watch to go to Hope.”
“I took the rest of his watch,” Jo said beside him.
“You did what?” Dean asked as he rounded on her.
“He asked if I’d stand watch since I was already awake. I didn’t think anything of it.”
“Why would you do that?” He looked away from Jo and back to his brother. “What’s happening?”
“Jensen walked up to the guards and asked to speak to their leader. He said, they’d been sending a message to the Face and he was there to answer.”
“Where is Michael?”
“Trailing behind the crowd to get as close to Jensen as he can.”
“God damn it!” Dean yelled. “What the hell was he thinking?”
“Dean?”
He could barely see straight. What the hell was Jensen doing? Why would he go down to the haven when they knew something was wrong? When they already had people there?
“Dean?” Someone called his name again but he didn’t respond.
“We have to get to him,” he said, but his voice came out in a whisper.
“Dean!” Sam caught him but he wasn’t sure why. He wasn’t sure why he’d fallen or where from but it was Sam in front of him, brow furrowed and eyes searching his.
“Dean, we’ll get him back. Logan is in there. He and Michael won’t let anything happen to him.”
“Sammy…”
“Dean, take a drink,” Priestly was in front of him then, a canteen in his hand as he put it to Dean’s lips and tipped it back. Dean did as Priestly told him to but none of it was making sense.
“He said something yesterday,” Chris said and his words gave Dean something to focus on instead of the noose tightening around his heart.
“What?”
“He thought the raiders were letting people in to get the Face’s attention. He thought one of you should go down there to let them know they had it before they started to do something more drastic.”
“And he decided he had to be the one to go,” Priestly said with a deep sigh. Dean looked up at Priestly, at Alec, and saw the fear that neither could quite hide. Dean wasn’t the only one with something to lose and while Priestly seemed to be okay, there was something in Alec’s eyes, in the way he wasn’t talking, that made Dean worry about him more.
He looked at Priestly and the other man glanced slightly at the transgenic. Dean knew that Priestly saw the same thing he did.
“We’ll get him back,” Priestly said.
Dean sat up and grabbed Alec before the other man realized he was moving, which said something about his mental state at the moment. He wrapped Alec close and felt a little relief when Alec returned the embrace.
“Priestly is right. We will get him. He might be a damn fool for going in there without us, but he wouldn’t put himself in danger like that without thinking it through. He’s got a plan. He wouldn’t… he wouldn’t...”
Sam said the words he couldn’t. “Jensen wouldn’t walk in to get himself killed. He knows what it would do to you. To all of you.”
Dean looked over at his brother and Sam gave him a small smile. “To all of us. We don’t work without the Face and the Face doesn’t work without him. He knows that by now.”
“I can’t, Sam. I … make the call.”
Sam’s eyes went vacant for a moment, the way they did when Sam had first escaped from the psychics and he’d get lost in the bond with Logan. When he looked back at Dean, it was a hunter’s smile on his face.
“They want the Face. We give it to them. I told you once, I’d protect him the way I protect you, Dean. I’ll take the fucking walls down if I have to.”
Dean let out a deep breath because if Sam was on his side, he didn’t doubt they could get to Jensen. He just hoped Jensen stayed out of trouble until then.
“Alright Sam. Let Logan know the plan.” He looked over at the others then. He could think again, he could plan and plot and find a way to do the most damage where they needed it. He had Sam at his back and the others would follow them.
“Chris, scout out the front entrance of Hope. Make sure nothing new is coming in to surprise us,” Sam barked out the orders. “Alec, scout out the back roads. We need you to move fast so don’t pretend for us. Priestly, get everyone loaded and ready to go in. Everyone else, get this camp broken down. We will save the haven if we can, but if we can’t, we will bring it down around their ears and we might need a quick escape.”
Everyone began to move but Dean grabbed Alec before he could run off. “Be careful. We want to know what’s happening, not get someone else caught up in the cross hairs.” He pulled Alec in and kissed him quickly and Alec smiled as he pulled away.
“Be back as fast as I can. Take care of each other until then.”
He left then, running faster than Dean could keep track of. Priestly came up and set his chin over Dean’s shoulder as they watched Alec run further away. Damn, he knew Alec was fast but it wasn’t until something like this happened that they remembered just how fast he was.
“I have supplies to get out. I’ll check in with the planning once I get everyone set.” Dean looked over his shoulder and Priestly batted his eyelashes at Dean. He couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped and when Priestly leaned closer Dean pressed a chaste kiss to his lips.
“Go get to work soldier.”
The other man was off and running then, shouting at the others and Dean was left to watch him go, amazed at the difference between the self-conscious man Priestly had come to them as, to the take charge personality he’d become. He was blessed, for the first time in his life, with someone - besides his brother - worth fighting for, someone that would fight for him just as hard. Someone worth dying for and who would die for him. And he was blessed with it three-fold.
“Dean?”
Sam called him over and Dean turned to see Sam and Jo waiting for him.
“Anyone going to explain that?” Jo asked, her eyes moving from Dean to where Priestly had run off.
“No,” Dean said gruffly. He could admit to himself, if no one else, that Jensen probably hadn’t come to him because of Jo. Jensen had been standoffish towards Jo since their introduction and Dean knew he hadn’t handled that well. Jensen had decided to keep his own council and only Chris, who was still stubbornly thick about the things Jensen was capable of, had known his thoughts. If he’d mentioned going off to any of the Face, they’d have known to keep an eye on him. Dean wanted to curse himself for being so stupid but he didn’t have the time for that.
“I think they’ll let us walk right in the front gates, Sammy. What can Logan tell us about their security?”
**
It was dinner time before the plan was ready and they were in place. There wasn’t much to it. Get in. Get Jensen. Kick the raiders the hell out of their haven. Dean had always favored simple plans. Sam had sighed and Alec had smirked but Dean knew what he was doing and they were ready to follow him.
Sam was at his back with Jo and Chris while Priestly and Alec walked on either side of him. Some of their people followed behind, while others snuck quietly behind to take position. There was no one left at their camp except the few people designated to keep the truck ready in case they needed to run.
They walked down the long drive that led into the former school. No one tried to stop them and no one spoke to them. They followed on the edge of the roadway though, fear and apprehension in their wake. Dean knew the others felt it, but everyone held their heads high and he was damn proud of them for that.
When they’d set the people up in Hope Haven, they’d turned the large green in front of the school into a community square. The first night, they’d pulled the tables and benches from the cafeteria and had a hell of a party to celebrate. The tables were still there and the people of Hope watched as Dean and the others approached the main dais that had been constructed.
“We have visitors,” the man said with a smirk as he held up a glass. “Welcome to Hope. I am Simon, mayor of this quaint village.”
“Funny, because last I checked there wasn’t a mayor in Hope. And Eddie, the guy in charge, wasn’t such a pretentious ass.”
“You would be Winchester, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes,” he and Sam answered together.
Simon looked between Dean and Sam and he shot an angry glare to someone behind him.
“The transgenic,” Simon looked over at Alec and then to Priestly, “and the cook. I believe there was another, wasn’t there Face?”
“Where is he?” Dean demanded.
Simon smiled and Dean wanted to punch the smirk off his face. Sam was at his back though, in his head and through the bond he saw Logan’s thoughts and knew Jensen was right behind the dais.
“I thought it would take some time for the Face to arrive. I’m afraid we haven’t got the welcome party ready just yet. I supposed we’ll have to do for now.”
The guards that should have been on the wall showed up around the crowd and Dean felt everyone tense. Dean wasn’t as worried about them as he probably should be. So long as Simon kept them from opening fire just yet though, things were still going pretty much to plan.
“I have a proposal for the Face.”
“Then you should send Jensen out here,” Alec said. “We won’t make a deal without him.”
Simon looked at the men that had come with the Face and looked back to his own men. “Bring him out.”
Jensen came into view and Dean let out a sigh of relief. There were no visible bruises, no injuries that he could see. Jensen kept his head held high and there was fire in his eyes as he looked at Dean.
“Tell them my proposal.”
Jensen walked past the man but he stopped before he got to Dean and the others. “He wants to keep control of Hope haven. He will send a tithe to the Face for protection but he will have all say in what happens in this haven.”
“And why would we agree to that?”
“He has two psychics,” Jensen said.
Dean smiled at Simon. “Two psychics? Haven’t you heard? We don’t run from psychics.”
“No? And just what do you plan to do against them?”
Two men stepped out from behind the dais and Dean saw Logan and Michael move away from their hiding place then. Michael moved off to the side unnoticed as Logan joined them. Dean saw Sam pulled Logan up beside him. His brother stared at his partner for a moment before Dean felt the bond between them flare.
“You ready, Jensen?” Dean asked.
“Two psychics? I don’t know Dean. It might be too much for us,” Jensen said as he took a final step closer. He smiled then and Dean could see the way Jensen had worked into the other man’s head. The guards that should have been on the walls were watching them because they didn’t expect trouble. Simon didn’t expect trouble.
Jensen looked at Sam then and smiled. “I think one psychic is more trouble than we know what to do with.”
Sam laughed. “Let’s find out.”
Sam struck out and the two psychics were unconscious before either was able to pull up their defenses. A single shot in the night from the walls made the guards look up to find that Dean’s men had taken the wall and had the vantage point. The people of Hope haven moved behind the Face and Simon and his soldiers were left without options.
“You said they’d fold!” Simon hissed at Jensen as Michael put the barrel of his gun to the man’s head.
“We built our community from the bottom up, scraping by day by day until we had something worth fighting for. Did you really think you could come in with a few men and make us crumble?” Jensen asked. “There is real evil in this world and you are nothing but a piss-ant thug. Michael, bury him.”
Michael knocked the guy unconscious and then Jensen turned to Dean and it was all he could think about. The bond between he and Sam closed and he knew Sam and Logan would take care of everything else for a few minutes.
“Dean, I know you’re gonna be pissed but-“
Dean kissed him before he could say anything else. Jensen opened to him and Dean pulled his lover close. He needed to feel Jensen, to know that he was safe after all of this. Jensen pulled away and Dean tried to chase his lips but Jensen stopped him with a smile.
“I don’t think this is the time or place for what you have in mind, Dean.”
“Don’t fucking care,” Dean said quietly. “You have no idea-“
“I do. I knew. I’m sorry but I needed to do this though.”
“Stupidest idea you have ever had. You’re lucky Priestly and Alec like you so much or I’d tell Michael to bury you with Simon.”
Jensen smiled as he brought one hand up to Dean’s face. “I knew we had to come in. I just wanted to buy these people time before Simon got it in his head that dead bodies would get our attention better than lost trucks.”
“The rest of our people?” Alec asked as he came up beside them.
“They’re fine. They were locked together but unharmed. I think they wanted to wait until we were all here to use them against us.”
“Good to have you back, Jensen,” Alec brushed a kiss to Jensen’s temple before Priestly pulled Jensen out of his arms. He might have fought but decided against it once he realized that Priestly’s brief kiss had given way to a stern lecture about how long Priestly was going to let Dean keep Jensen locked in their room at B-Base.
“Dean?”
He turned to see Jo coming closer. The walls were held and their people had taken the raiders away to one of the locked basements that the community used as a prison. He’d planned it well enough that he didn’t need to do a damned thing now. Which meant he had to face Jo and there was a look in her eyes that said she wasn’t about to be put off again.
“Yeah Jo.”
“The uh-“
“Yes.”
“Yes what?”
“Jensen. Alec. Priestly. They’re mine. I was going to try to get you away from everything before I talked to you about it but I should have known that would never happen.”
“Did you think you’d break my heart Dean?” Jo asked. “Did you think I was pining away for you all these years?”
“We don’t have a lot of family left, Jo. I guess I was afraid you’d walk away when you realized I wasn’t the man you thought I was.”
“Are you a better man now, Dean?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation. “They make me stronger. Braver. Jensen,” he looked over at his lovers because Alec was with them and they were all staring at him. Stupid transgenic hearing. “He keeps me human when I’m fighting monsters. They all do. And if you can’t accept that then I’ll grieve for our friendship but this is who I am.”
“And Sam?” Jo asked.
“Super-psychic doesn’t have room to bitch about strange bedfellows,” Dean said. He felt his brother’s smug approval and nearly turned around to flip him off but decided his better man speech would probably suffer for it.
Jo looked over at Sam and then looked back at him. “You were never gonna have a white picket fence and 2.5 kids. Never say you as one to settle down, but I think this is as close to it as I’m ever gonna imagine. So long as they’re good to you, I got no trouble with them.”
Dean let out a deep breath and pulled Jo into a hug. “It’s good to have you around girl. You ever thought about coming up to B-base to see how we do things?”
“Might. Seems like it could be trouble around there.”
“Before you two start planning trouble,” Sam interrupted, “how about we finish getting this place cleaned up? Alec promised us a tour once it was safe. I haven’t seen any of the havens yet.”
“Me either!” Priestly echoed.
Jensen gave Dean a small smile and it was all he needed to clear his head of all the negative things he’d been holding in the last few days. “We get Hope haven settled. We got three more to visit on the way home, and then back to B-base. Anyone wants to come along for the ride is welcome.”
They’d probably get a handful of people to come with them, lose a couple along the way as they visited the other havens, but in the end it was about community, as Jensen had pointed out on the road here. Good will and all that. Dean pulled Jensen close and Alec had Priestly at his side already, and he was ready to take it all on, ready to face it all.
Family didn’t end in blood, Bobby had told him a lifetime ago. He was grateful for the teaching because Sam and Dean had lost everything but each other. At the end of days, they’d come around though and found something to hold onto. They had each other and they had the community the Face had built. In the end, The Face had come to find itself one hell of a family.