#{ -that she fell for the mimic's shit. which SUCKS because she deserves so much better than to get the endings she did }

[curseofbreadbear]

[Her gratitude was more than enough; having it topped with a "great job, superstar" ( wasn't that meant to be his line? ) was jarring, but appreciated nonetheless. It felt odd to be on the receiving end of his own praises. It also made him feel...outside of himself? Despite being programmed to refer to every guest as his superstar, to be a loving and considerate personality, he felt that he had not met that expectation. Once again, he did not feel like Freddy.]

[Still...he couldn't let his disappointment in himself affect him right now. This girl still needed help, and he was going to do his best to support her while he still could. He doubted that he was going to be accompanying her on her search for Gregory, although he wished he could -- he didn't trust the boy's story. It didn't add up, but he got the feeling that she wouldn't be able to see that for herself. Perhaps he would bring up his suspicions before she left.]

[After Freddy inquired about whether she needed his assistance to get down, she paused for a moment. Maybe she was double-checking to see if she'd be able to make the jump down; from Freddy's personal assessment, it seemed that there was a low risk of minor injury. She might sprain an ankle if she landed incorrectly; there was a decent gap between the edge of the platform and where he was standing now. If she didn't draw that conclusion herself, he might warn her.]

[Thankfully, she decided on asking for his help after all; Freddy obliged, picking her up and gently bringing her down to the ground. Once she was settled, he let go. Simple as that.]

T̶̡̞̠̽͑H̴̡̢̄̑̕E̴͕̭̽R̷̀͠ͅE̵̻͕̦̊͑̎ ̶̯̞́͊̆Ẏ̶̢͘͝Ō̴̡̋͜U̵̠̥̳̎ ̵͓́̒͠G̷̘͕̎Ö̶̠̜.̸̱̇̀́ (THERE YOU GO.)

[Now that she was here, she probably wouldn't waste any time going off to find Gregory -- in other words, this was his chance to voice his concerns. He could only hope that his voice wouldn't give out.]

B̸̩̽E̸͈̽Ḟ̵̜O̴̬̕R̵̻̾Ḛ̶̈ ̸͉̽Y̸̦͝Ó̷̠Ǘ̸̡ ̴̱̽G̵̻̓Ȯ̸͎,̸͇͐ ̴͇̎I̴͙͝ ̷͎͌W̴̤̎Ȯ̴̡U̶͙͋Ḽ̸͝Ḍ̵̊ ̷͕͂L̴͙͒I̷̻̊K̸̔͜Ẽ̵̞ ̴̝̂T̴̲̃O̸̩͂ ̸̥̆W̵̛͖Ḁ̷̍R̶̝͊Ṉ̷͊ ̶͖̂Y̷͇͝Ǫ̶̾Ǘ̶͚ ̵̧́O̷̤͆F̴̭͘ ̷͕͘S̶̼͠O̸̭̅M̵̗͗E̶̠͑Ṫ̶̯H̵̯̔I̵̟͐Ṅ̶̺G̴̙͐.̶͠ͅ ̴̛̜Ị̸̒ ̵̯̕Ḍ̴̚Ȍ̶̤ ̶̼͝N̶̆͜Ǫ̵͑T̵̠̈ ̷̞̅T̷͕̔H̵͓͒I̷̙̽N̷̘̕Ḳ̸͗ ̴̺̆G̶̲͌R̸̫̍É̸̝G̶͓͠O̴͍͛R̷̳̈́Ÿ̵̖́ I̵̡̱̯͓̗̯͎͙̒S̷̨̞̞͚̺̪̹̺̐ ̸̱̖̄͐̿̏̆̃̓͝Ţ̸̜̦̥̫̳͙̹͛̉̃̓̕͜ͅE̶̺̣̗͕̰̖͎̠͈̻̋̄͒̌̑́͘L̶͙̱̺̥͎̼̖͙̺̜̒̀́͒̇͆L̸̹̦̩͙̼̯̠͇̜̖͊͌̊I̴̘̖͈̐͗̎́͒ͅṆ̷̛͇̋̿̈́̓̃̓̕G̸̦͙̠̩̯̪̱̾̒̓͜ ̴̢̛̛̞̺͊͂̆͛̌̓Y̸̡̟̝͈͙͚̾̾̾̈́͠Ǫ̶̨̺̘͍͙͉̮̬́U̶̺̱̣͔͖̪̣͉̯͐͛̀̅̍͘ ̸̨̠͔͚̯͍̌́͛͌̀́͊̾̅͝T̴͈̺̠̆̋̏͌̅̽Ȟ̴͇̈́̌̑̾͂̌͘͝Ȩ̵̧̬͎̗͛́̈̅ ̶̀̓̾̾̉̃̏͘͜T̸̩̦̥͓̑̐̒̏͌̇R̶͖̀̃́̚U̷̡̲͕͇̝̳͈̞̓̑̌̀̍̒̚͜ͅŢ̶͙̖̳͕̫͚͔͉͗̇͘͠Ḩ̶̍́̚.̵̼̩̠̠̲̙̩̲͇̋̈̀̌̽̚͘͝ͅ P̵̥̀̋̊L̶̤̰͔̈́E̸̤̔͛͘Ă̶̘̈́͝S̷̬̭̞̃̀̂Ê̵̻͔̻̐ ̸̫̪̘̅̿͘B̸̯̂Ê̷̬̅͠ ̷̹̈̎Ĉ̴̬̞͝Ḁ̸̾R̶̤͔̹̿̉̕É̷̖͈̚F̸̦͔̐͐Ù̴̼̈́͝L̵̪͗.̵̢̣̭͘ (BEFORE YOU GO, I WOULD LIKE TO WARN YOU OF SOMETHING. I DO NOT THINK GREGORY IS TELLING YOU THE TRUTH. PLEASE BE CAREFUL.)

[He'd done his best to keep it brief, but he could tell that his voice had glitched at some of the more important spots of his "speech." With any luck, she'd gotten the message anyway.]

@curseofbreadbear

" It's okay. It's not your fault. " Cassie reassures, sounding a little weary, but it's more so at her overall situation than Freddy's capacity to help her (or lack thereof.) In fact, he's arguably been the most help she's gotten so far even if mostly moral-- well there's Helpi, but a lot of his help has felt... backhanded, to say the least.

But first things first: her flashlight predicament.

Granted, it's likely the least of her problems in the grand scheme of things, but it's still a necessity; Visibility has become a great issue with the PizzaPlex in the dilapidated state it has gotten. Walking around blindly is a good way to, for example, fall through a hole she'd otherwise notice with a light source.

Not to mention the flashlight helped make things a bit less scary for a little kid, and Cassie could use all the peace of mind she can get.

Wait, "be back"? Before she can inquiry what Freddy had in 'mind', the damaged Glamrock was backtracking, soon only his heavy steps echoing through the ruined attraction being what Cassie could make out in the darkness (her view range was much shorter without the flashlight.) Good thing she could hear him to get a general idea of his location. Still she felt pretty lost as she remained in place, antsy; like being stranded on a raft in the open ocean.

She nearly misses Freddy being right down the platform, but the flashlight was still on, so she could notice the light moving in the darkness when he held it back over the edge.

" Oh. Oh, you found it! Thank you! " Cassie bends down to take the flashlight back. " Great job, superstar. " ... it felt an appropriate praise for his help. She spares a moment to look the flashlight over in her hand: She's mild surprised that it didn't break upon being dropped... half the time, Fazbear Entertainment-branded things are so cheaply-made, that breaking them just by staring a little too hard wasn't fully out of the realm of possibility.

" Huh? Help getting down? " Cassie lays out, again to make sure she got Freddy right. " Wait, let me see... " She points the flashlight down over the edge to assess the bottom and height a little more clearly, aside from seeing him standing down there as well. She lightly bites the inside of her cheek.

" Umm... I... I think I might need the help, yes. I'm kinda scared of jumping down myself and breaking a leg or something... "

Which might not be an actual risk, but badly spraining an ankle instead or sustaining some kind of injury due to landing 'wrong' had a pretty good chance of happening.

[orange-waterfalls]

The Deal

Illinois x gender neutral!reader

@lawfluff-evil ty for the prompt

A/N: It got to be way too long so I split it into two parts lol. Rated T for cursing. Second part will be posted soon, probably.

Word Count: 1.9k

Part 2

"Oh hey, sorry if you fell in love with me. They always do…" and just like that, Illinois saunters out of the cave, leaving you with a rock and a banana. Cocky bastard you think. You look at the items in your hands, wondering what the hell you're supposed to do now. Some dust must have made its way to your nose because you sneeze. The rock turns to dust revealing a diamond inside. You gape, inspecting it for a moment before turning to the banana. You did get them from the same place…

You peel it.

Lo and behold, it's not just a banana, it's a golden banana. You ponder leaving and keeping all the treasure for yourself. Well, he didn't do anymore than you. Besides, he's the one who left you. You decide against it because, sadly, deep down, you're a good person. You run towards the exit, where Illinois went, hoping to catch up with him. You're far behind him, it seems, because you don't find him even after you exit the cave, where you find Mark. His suit is tattered and dirty and he's panting like he was just running for his life. Which… he was… technically. He looks up at you and glares.

"Thanks a lot, buddy, where the hell were you while I was getting chased by a sentient Boulder?!" He yells. You hold up the diamond and the gold. He raised his eyebrows.

"Forget everything bad I've ever said about you," he laughs and limps over to you. You wince at the sight and start to feel bad. "Where'd you find this?" You point to the cave. He laughs.

"We'll be rich! At least something good came out of the heist!" You furrow your eyebrows. Mark notices this and his smile falters a bit. "What's wrong?"

"I want to find someone," you say.

"You met them in there?" He asks. You nod. "Did he come out this way?" You nod again. Mark sighs. "Well… you brought this back… I guess it's the least I can do." You smile and throw your arms around him. He laughs and hugs you back. "Alright, don't get all mushy on me, now." He pulls back. "What does he look like?" You stare at Mark for a minute. He looks behind him, not knowing exactly what's happening. You bring your hand up and point to him. He points to himself. "He looks like me?" You nod. Mark crosses his arms in front of his chest. "Well, if he looks like me, how is he so special?" You tap your leg for a moment before answering.

"You know Indiana Jones?" You ask. Mark nods. You raise your eyebrows, expecting him to connect what you were saying. Mark laughs.

"He's Indiana Jones? Aw, are you a fan? Is that why you wanna see him again?" He teases. You glare at him and punch his arm. "Ah! Sorry sorry!" He stops laughing. "So, what's his name?" You pause, knowing what he's going to say as soon as you tell him, and he waits for your answer. You mumble incoherently. "Sorry?" He cups a hand around his ear and leans towards you. You take a deep breath.

"His name's Illinois…" you say. There's silence for a moment before Mark bursts out laughing. You almost start laughing too, but keep your composure.

"Illinois? Really?! Did he pick it himself?" He asks. You break and laugh as well. You both stand and laugh like idiots for a minute before stopping.

"So, uh… where exactly are we?" You ask. Mark shrugs.

"Something happened at the car… I think we teleported… somehow…" you punch the bridge of your nose.

"What even is today…" you sigh, annoyed. Mark chuckles and pats your shoulder.

"I know, I know," He consoles, Well, we should try to find society. Maybe we'll find your new boyfriend on the way" he teases. You scoff.

"One thing that I'm absolutely sure of is that he is not into me," you cross your arms.

"How do you know?" Mark asks. You clear your throat as you mimic Illinois' accent.

"Oh, and uh, sorry if you fell in love with me. Heh, they always do," you roll your eyes after you finish. Mark giggles.

"Oh no! He said that to you?" He asks sympathetically. You nod and sigh. He grabs your arm. "I am so sorry. But, if he doesn't like you, why do you what to find him?"

"Well, I wanted to return this diamond since he's the one who found the rock it was in," you explain. Mark stares at you like you're a crazy person. He takes a deep breath.

"That is uncharacteristically noble of you and I think we shouldn't," he says quickly. You gape at him.

"Mark!" You say accusingly.

"Well, he's the one who left before he found out! And he seems like a dick!" Mark sets his hands on his hips.

"He is a dick," you mumble angrily.

"Exactly! So… we can just… keep them! And sell them! And then we can be rich! Right? Wasn't that the purpose of robbing a museum in the first place?" He tries to convince you to keep the treasure. You sigh.

"No, Mark, we are good people…" you pause and Mark stares at you blankly. You start again. "We are… relatively fair people," he raised an eyebrow at you. You groan. "Ok we fucking suck. But this feels right! It's the right thing to do! Please, buddy? Pal? Friend?" You beg.

"Ugh, fine," Mark groans, "but I will use this against you at a later time." You smile and hug him. He tries not to, but grins and hugs you back. "So, which way should we go?" He asks.

"Oh, no, no, no," you chuckle, "you're not throwing this one onto me. You decide this time, sir."

"Oh. Uh… alright…" he rubs the back of his neck and looks around for a minute. "Uh… this way!" He points to the right of you, where there's a forest. You look at him weirdly, but follow him anyway. You two walk through the forest until you find a trail that leads you to a small village. You go up to a person.

"Excuse me, but, where are we?"

"Tijuana," the woman says. You feel like you've heard that before, but…

"Let me rephrase, what country are we in?"

"Mèxico," she answers. You turn to Mark.

"Mexico, Mark. We're in Mexico." You say.

"That's awesome. That's wonderful. That's great." He laughs, an angry tone in his voice. How the hell are we in Mexico?!" He yells. A couple people turn their heads, looking at him strangely. You set a hand on his shoulder.

"Easy, buddy. It's alright." You see a flash of red and look to the side of you. You see wheels as well. Your eyes widen. You walk to the car and see that it's the same one you used to escape from the museum. "Mark." You call.

"What?" He snaps.

"I found the car," You state. His eyes widen as he runs over to you.

"Holy shit, thank God" he sighs.

"So, I think it'd be about a two hour drive back to L.A., but we would need more gas…" you comment. You turn to the people that have gathered to see what you're doing. "Hi, um, is there… is there a gas station around?" A boy goes inside one of the houses and brings back a can of gas. You raise your eyebrows. "Oh, no, we couldn't-" He pushes it towards you.

"Tomas! Tomas*!" He pressures. You turn to Mark, who shrugs his shoulders. You hesitantly take the can from the boy.

"Gracias**," you thank. The boy nods and smiles.

"Oh, uh have you guys seen a guy? Looks kinda like me but with a hat?" Mark asks the people.

"Sí***, he went to the bar," A man explains and points to said bar. You and Mark walk over. You go inside and see that the only people inside are Illinois and the bartender. It makes sense, it's still pretty early. Illinois notices you and smirks.

"Well, look who came back?" He teases. "Miss me too much?" You stare at him, unamused.

"No." You say angrily.

"Sure you didn't." He chuckles. "Look, bud, i already said I was sorry if you fell in love with me. I also already said I was married to the adventure." He explains. Mark leans over to you.

"I'm not gonna lie, he is suave," Mark admits. You punch his arm. "Ow!" He whines.

"I didn't come back because I love you." You say, which is… partially true… but mostly false. "I can back because that rock you left me turned into this," Mark holds up the large diamond. Illinois' smile falls a bit. "And that banana I got wasn't a banana," you hold up your gold. Illinois looks at you two before regaining his composure standing up from the bar stool.

"Well, since that rock was found by me, you can hand it over here, partner," he holds his hand out for the diamond. Mark doesn't move. Illinois looks at his hand and back at Mark.

"Well… they were the one who actually found out it was a diamond… you, you cocky bitch, left. I feel like they deserve to keep it." He states. You look at him, smiling. He could be a dick, but he was still your best friend. Illinois blinks and scoffs.

"Oh, is that so? And who might you be?" He asks, putting his hands on his hips.

"I'm their best friend," he claims, "and I think they deserve this more than you do." You look at Illinois, worried. You didn't know if he was violent or not. He didn't seem like it, but you can't just assume. He squints at Mark, and then laughs.

"Ain't you a lucky one?" He turns and says to you, "That's some friend you got here. Tell you what, we'll go on another adventure. We'll split whatever treasure we find, but whoever finds treasure first gets to keep the diamond as well." He suggests. You look at him. He's arrogant. He knows he's gonna win. So do you. You could just walk away and keep the diamond, but you do want to spend time with him. Get to know him better. You're already in love, might as well ride the train till it stops. You take a deep breath.

"Alright," you agree, "let's do it." You reach out to shake hands. Mark stops you.

"You sure about this?" He asks, "We can just… go home. Head back to base. We don't even have to keep the treasure, we can just leave." You knit your eyebrows. He turns fully towards you and puts his hands on your shoulders. "I don't want you to get hurt. Please." Your eyes soften and you smile at him. You put your hands on his shoulders.

"I'm pretty smart, Mark, and I can take care of myself. I'll be fine." You try to convince him. He still looks worried. You hand him the golden banana. "Either way, we'll still have this." He smiles.

"Yeah… alright. Sure," he finally gives in, "but you better not die on me." He warns. You nod. You turn to Illinois, who still has his hand out for you to take. You shake it.

"Deal." You agree. He smirks.

"Let's get going."

---

*Take it! Take it!

**Thank you

***Yes

Pardon my Spanish, I'm on my second year lol

[writingthingsisdifficult]

Secrets

My sweet friend and muse, the wonderful @isamthereforeiam gave me this amazing idea. I just hope I’ve done it justice. Thank you.

What happens when both parties in a relationship keep the same secret?

Let me know what you think (keep in mind that English is my second language, so there might be mistakes I didn’t find when I read through it). Also, let me know if you wan on or off my tag list.

Word count: 2900

The phone tickled my thigh as it buzzed in my pocket, and I pulled it out, grateful I had remembered to set it to silent. I intended to decline the call, but Sam’s picture shone on the screen, and I pushed the green button before I even thought about it.

“Hey, darling,” I whispered, hoping my quiet voice wouldn’t give me away.

“Hey, Y/N. Am I interrupting anything? Why are you whispering?” He whispered back automatically. I don’t know why, but that was always the case when we phoned each other – mirroring the other’s mood or voice. Personally, I think I did it because of my profession, but some people are just natural mimics, I guess.

“Just working,” I replied, hoping my voice was neutral enough to hide the surge of adrenaline that coursed through me. “I’m in the middle of a… meeting. Can I call you in a few? Or was it something important?” I could hear him move around, and then something heavy clanged to the ground.

“Watch it, Sammy!” Dean growled in the background.

“No, nothing important,” Sam said, but there was a hint of sadness to his voice. “I just miss you.”

“Aw, Sam. I miss you too. More than you know.”

“Sam, come on. Gotta roll.” Dean was impatient today. But I didn’t mind: I was kinda busy myself.

“Gotta go. Love you.”

“Love you too.” I smiled and blew a kiss into the phone. “Talk to you later, okay? And give your brother a hug from me.”

After hanging up, I rested the phone against my cheek for a few seconds. I knew I had to tell Sam about my real job eventually, but for now I could handle the amount of lies I had to juggle.

With the phone securely back in my pocket, I returned to reality, listening for my pursuer from my hidden spot inside the closet by the kitchen.

The werewolf was getting closer. She didn’t conceal her steps the same way a fully-grown one would when on the prowl, but then again: she was just a cub. Recently turned, but angrier and more ferocious than I had ever seen before.

“I can hear you breathe,” she sang, and I could tell from her steps that she was coming closer. “You’re gonna be a tasty meal, and I am sooooo hungry!”

Crap. That ruled out talking some sense into her. She wasn’t interested in keeping her humanity, then. That meant time for plan B, which, if I was honest, had been plan A pretty much all along.

I fiddled with the silver bullets in my pocket. Why the hell didn’t I load my gun before I went in after her? Rookie mistake. I have been doing this shit for ling enough that I should’ve known better.

The steps stopped outside the closet door, and a shadow blocked any light from coming in under it. “There you are,” she said and threw the door open. The backlight made her grow several sizes, and the stone in my stomach grew with it.

My hand tightened around the gun, and I forced a smirk. “Here I am,” I replied just as the safety clicked off. “It was nice seeing you,” I added and squeezed the trigger.

The bullet knew exactly where it was supposed to go, and seconds later I crawled over the corpse of a young teenage girl with an exploded chest, trying not to look into her open eyes.

She stared into nothingness, looking as if she never expected to die like this. Poor girl. She should’ve been taught better. Maybe if she’d been more discreet, I would never have found her.

Briefly I wondered what her parents thought had happened to her. Did they even know what she had been made into? Or were they out there looking for her, praying for her to come home? I swallowed the lump in my throat and forced the thoughts away. No good ever came from overthinking things.

The gasoline fumes stung in my eyes as I poured a trail out of the door. Pinching the bridge of my nose hard, I made a mental note to pick up a six-pack of IPA or something before heading back to the motel. I deserved a break after this. A quiet evening of drowning my sorrows in nice beer and, if I was lucky, a good movie on TV. I watched the flames snake their way down the hall, licking the walls before I turned and ran for my car.

The door slammed shut, and I backed out of the driveway as fast as I could. In the unlikely event the neighbours hadn’t heard the shot, the house would soon be engulfed in flames, and I wanted to be as far away as possible before the fire brigade showed up.

The store I stopped in didn’t have the best selection of poison, but they had enough. And the guy didn’t even look up from his phone when I paid. If he had, he would’ve seen a customer covered in blood droplets, and then I probably wouldn’t get the relaxing evening I had planned.

It was times like this I wished I had a hunting partner, someone to carry the burden with, but I preferred to work alone. Oh yeah, I knew there was a community out there – I’d run into a couple of groups on occasion, but I could never seem to find my place. Too many testosterone filled, dick measuring idiots for my comfort.  Sure, some of the stories were good. But they’re like fishing stories, I guess. Every time it got told, the apocalypse got bigger.

After showering, tending to my bruises, and throwing on a fresh pair of sweatpants and a baseball tee, I plonked down on my bed and turned on the TV, balancing a bottle and the remote control in one hand and a Danish in the other – and a second one in my mouth.

Switching through the channels, it soon became clear that although the motel boasted over two hundred channels, not one of them showed anything worth watching, so I turned off the sound and called Sam. It was always nice to hear his voice after a hunt – a reminder that there was still innocence in the world

“Hey, Y/N.” He picked up after two rings, and hearing him was as if the whole sun was pouring from the phone. A sharp pang of both love and longing hit me hard in the chest.

“Hi, Sam. Uh, am I interrupting anything?”

“Nah. Not at all. Ah-ah…” His voice was oddly strained. “Watch it, Dean!” A muttered sorry followed, and then something that sounded like metal on wood.

“You okay, Sam?”

He chuckled. “Yeah, don’t worry. Dean needs to learn to be more careful, that’s all.”

“Just slap his head. That’ll teach him.” I could just picture the giggle he was trying to hide.

“I might just do that. How was your day?”

“Nothing unusual,” I lied. Well, technically it wasn’t a lie – but I doubted Sam would think the same. “What about you?”

“Spent the day in the car,” he replied. “Boring as hell. My butt fell asleep. Made me miss you even more.”

“Well, if it’s any consolation, I miss you too. And your butt. Hey, Sam, I was thinking,” I began, absentmindedly sucking the icing off my thumb, “maybe we could meet up this weekend? There’s one last thing I gotta fix for my boss, then I’m heading back home.”

Truth be told, that one thing was a possible vampire case a couple of days’ drive from where I was parked for the night, and conveniently enough it was on the way home.

“I’d like that t – OW! Dean!” His voice was rough and miserable.

I squinted at my phone; I didn’t like sounds like that coming from Sam. “You sure you’re okay?”

“Yeah. As I said, Dean’s being a jerk.”

“Well, you tell him that I want my boyfriend back in one piece,” I giggled.

“I heard you,” Dean shouted, earning a laugh from both Sam and me.

We talked for hours, about all the small things that meant nothing to the world, but that meant everything to us; making plans, laughing at Dean, sharing small inside jokes… I felt my spirits rise just from hearing Sam’s beautiful voice, and I couldn’t wait for the weekend to come.

I parked my little car next to a beautiful, black car with long, sleek lines and lots of soul. Now, I didn’t know much about cars, and certainly not about classics like this one, but I knew beauty when I saw it. Dean liked classic cars, so I took a photo to show him. Surely he would appreciate the elegance. Maybe he could even tell me a bit about it: never hurt to learn new stuff. Might come in handy one day.

Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I found my way to room number 197 and began the meticulous task of sorting through my research; spreading my notebooks on the table and opening up the laptop to search the local newspapers.

From what I could read in the papers, there had been a string of disappearances in this little town. That was unusual in itself – the area was pretty peaceful, but combined with the growing pile of UFO conspiracy theories and the vague, online rumours of an established vampire nest a couple of miles outside of town, I was fairly sure what I was dealing with.

Took me a few tries to find the right place. At least the vamps had the decency to set up camp far from people. I parked my car down the road, and in the shadows I noticed the same black car I’d seen at the motel. Of course it had to belong to a bloodsucker. In the back of my mind an idea started forming: wasn’t it time for a new car soon? And the owner would be dead soon anyway. They wouldn’t miss it.

The short walk up to the house was tense and silent. Sneaking around had never been a strength of mine, but I wasn’t going to be discovered and miss my date with Sam just because I was careless.

Turned out I didn’t really have to worry. Peeking around the corner, I saw two big ones stationed outside the door, but they were too distracted by the fighting sounds coming from inside the house to see me.

It’s not unheard of that vampires fight each other. And I don’t blame them: if I was faced with an eternity of having to live with pretentious drama queens who insists on following ancient laws, I’d probably go apeshit too. Or stir up a fight just for the hell of it.

But I didn’t mind them fighting. That meant they were too busy to notice me creeping up on them until it was too late and heads started rolling.

“Boss said wait here,” the larger of the two said, pointing towards the ground.

“What for?” the smaller one replied, clearly rearing to go join the fight.

“Because we have the upper hand.” The first one was getting impatient. “When we get the signal, it’s time to join the crew; surprise those two nightmares.”

“But what about –“

“We can afford to lose a few heads.” He chuckled from his own joke. “Besides, it’s safer out here than in there.”

“Think again,” I muttered, swinging my machete with force. The sound of metal against skin and bones kindled a fire in me; releasing the adrenaline I craved and relied on.

Big Bloodsucker crashed to the ground, headless and undignified. The sudden movement seemed to startle his friend, and it took him long enough to figure out what was happening that when his brain finally decided on a course of action, my blade was already making contact with his neck.

“Some backup you are.” I rolled my eyes as his head settled next to the other, making it look like he was whispering sweet nothings in his friend’s ear.

So there was someone visiting from a rivalling nest. And someone probably said something offensive, and thus started a fight. Peachy. But I had seen worse, and if I was lucky, they had already thinned their own numbers.

The first bloodsucker I encountered inside definitely didn’t expect me. He pretty much looked like a bug with his eyes popping like that, and I couldn’t help but giggle from his expression: the adrenaline in my brain made me dance my way down the hall.

I turned the corner and ran straight into a group of three vampires, barely avoiding being kicked in the hip by a female soaring by me, and soon I was in the middle of the fight, brandishing my blade with fervour.

The last vamp collapsed on the floor in a messy heap, and her head bounced off the polished oak and rolled a good six feet; coming to rest under the sofa.

There was no time for me to celebrate yet, because I found myself face to face with a dripping machete. It took a few seconds of squinting for my adrenaline high to subside enough. “Dean?”

He was staring at me like he’d seen a ghost. Then, out of the shadows a very familiar voice sent daggers through my heart. “Y/N?”

“Shit.”

Sam stepped out into the light, face covered in blood splatter, but still the most beautiful man I’d ever laid my eyes on. “You can say that again. Where, I mean… why… what???”

I held up a finger. “First things first: is the place empty?”

“Yeah. Or… this building is,” Dean said. “Haven’t checked the cottage in the field yet.”

“It’s clean. No more vamps outside.”

“Alright. Let’s talk.”

Silence filled the room.

“Well?” I hardly dared to look at Sam – I had no idea how he would react.

“Well…” The word dragged a bit, and he did it on purpose, I just knew it. That made my stomach feel a bit lighter.  Sam stepped closer and took my hand. “I’m kinda relieved, to be honest.”

My head snapped up, searching for something in his eyes. Of all the things he could’ve said, that wasn’t what I was expecting. But I found nothing but the soft smile he uses to cheer me up when I’m feeling insecure and stupid.

When he saw my confusion, his smile widened into a grin. “Yeah. It was exhausting trying to hide, well, everything.”

“This is fucking hilarious!” Dean looked back and forth between us, grinning like a maniac.

“But I can’t believe you kept this from us, from me…” Sam continued, ignoring his brother.

“I can’t believe you kept this from me,” I countered.

He smiled sheepishly. “Just wanted to keep you safe.”

I moved closer, and Sam wrapped his arms around me and pulled me into a gentle hug. “Yeah, me too,” I muttered, feeling like the whole world came together just perfectly.

“I can’t believe you didn’t know who we are,” Dean burst out, looking parts outraged and parts highly amused.

“Yeah, apparently you’re legends or something.” I measured him up and down and raised an eyebrow. “Guess you never impressed me enough for me to make the connection that you’re… well, you.”

“That was savage, even from you,” he chuckled, and every little trace of worry I may have had about them not approving melted away.

“You know me.”

“But seriously, though? Most hunters have heard of us.”

“Yeah. I’ve hard rumours and stuff, but figured most of it was pretty exaggerated anyway. And people always talked about those brothers, the almost never mentioned you by name.” I shrugged. “Besides, I work alone. It’s easier that way. To keep my job and private life separate,” I added when I saw Sam’s confused look. “Since you were supposed to be civilians and whatnot. If no one knew me, no one could get to you. Does that make sense?”

Sam nodded. “I guess so. Explains why I’ve never heard of you in hunter circles.”

Dean smacked his tongue and waved his arms around. “You know what? I’m getting thirsty. What do you say we discuss these recent revelations over a couple of beers?”

I could get behind that idea. “Sure. Sam? Care to join me and your brother on an adventure?”

“Coming. We’ve got so much to catch up on.” He stopped for half a second, looking at me. “No more secrets, right?”

I nodded. “No more secrets.”

Dean turned to us. “Hey, Y/N, before you met us here, what were you –“

“I was after a werewolf up near Bighorn National Forest. How about you?”

“Demon case in Gillette,” Sam answered.

“Jesus, really? So close. Fuck me, Sam, how come we’ve never run into each other on hunts before?”

“I know. How about when you said you were on that conference last month, in… in…”

“Oh yeah, in New York. It was a haunted restaurant. If we’re ever in the vicinity, we’ve got free meals waiting for us.”

Dean stopped and stared. “That was you? We came up there and everything was taken care of.” He laughed the way only he could: throwing his whole torso back, while barking loudly.

Sam tightened his grip around my waist and kissed my hair. Yeah. Everything would work out just fine.

Tagging my fabulous crew:

@awesomeahwu @brynleewolfe @funwithfanfics @babeinthebowtie @savingapplepie-eatingthings @winchesterprincessbride @savvythedork @littlegreenplasticsoldier @youtubehelpsmesurvive @schwarzwaelder-kirschtorte You are all amazing for reading my stupid little stories. <3