Summary: When Dean runs into you at the Roadhouse, things get a little… complicated
Pairing: Cowboy!Dean x Reader
Word Count: 2,300
Warnings: Language. I can’t help it.
A/N: It took a little longer than I was hoping, but I feel confident blaming Marvel and Sarah J Maas for thoroughly distracting me this past week. New movies and books really threw a wrench into things. Anyway, this one’s from Dean’s pov which always stresses me out… hope y’all like it!
A/N: I hope y’all can feel the intense judgement and displeasure coming from my cat, who is less than thrilled I’m on my computer instead of snuggling him… lol… anyway, hope you enjoy the next installment! Not too exciting but that’s coming, I promise!
“She’s sick of this town, she’s sick of that boy, she’s sick of dreams that never take flight. There’s gotta be more than the same old story so she’s gonna turn the page tonight. Turn the radio up, roll the windows down, she’s got a full tank of gas, ain’t no stopping her now.”
-Dust, Eli Young Band
Setting out on a new path is always tenuous, and you arrive at Singer Performance Horses with more than a little uncertainty about your new job as an apprentice. But when you receive a less-than-warm welcome from the head trainer, things seem insurmountably difficult. Can you prove your worth and establish a place for yourself? Or will you pack up and head home empty-handed?
If you’d like to know more about the setting for this series, I’d recommend watching “Down the Fence” on Netflix. It will give you insight into the world of reining cow horses as well as some incredible horsemen and horsewomen - aka real life cowboys.
Summary: Arriving at your new job as an apprentice is hard enough, but a grumpy head trainer creates a whole new set of obstacles.
Pairing: Cowboy!Dean x Reader
Word Count: 2,800
Warnings: Language, some snark from Dean
A/N: Okay, guys… here it is. The long-awaited cowboy!Dean series I teased y’all about months ago. I’m still nervous about posting fics - some part of my brain feels like they’re still not done or good enough or whatever - so feedback is appreciated as always! Oh - and somebody requested more dogs so there’s a doggo in this one too ;)
Setting out on a new path is always tenuous, and you arrive at Singer Performance Horses with more than a little uncertainty about your new job as an apprentice. But when you receive a less-than-warm welcome from the head trainer, things seem insurmountably difficult. Can you prove your worth and establish a place for yourself? Or will you pack up and head home empty-handed?
Part 1: Coming Soon!
If you’d like to know more about the setting for this series, I’d recommend watching “Down the Fence” on Netflix. It will give you insight into the world of reining cow horses as well as some incredible horsemen and horsewomen - aka real life cowboys.
“And I couldn’t be sure.. I had a a feeling so peculiar That this pain will/won’t be for… Evermore. Evermore”
Dean unexpectedly dies during a routine hunt. Ellie has a really hard time moving on and accepting the finality of it. A trip down memory lane leads her to a risky but bold decision. This time instead of running away, she can try to solve the problem.
Darkness I charge you with this sign, mother in the night, are mine. I teach you the mystery of rebirth, work my mysteries in mirth. From me they come, and to me they go. I invite you to come.
And just like that, Dean is back. They get to pick up where they left off. Build a life for themselves. For Evermore
@mvdeanw so…. This video is very important to us. And we feel very proud of it. It’s our own fix it version of the finale.
I was listening to that song a lot last summer andbi kept thinking. There were lyrics that made me think of the finale. And then the ending was a lot more hopeful. So i knew roght away what i wanted to do. I had the whole sequence in my head. This time we starter at the end and worked our way to the sad parts. We wanted to be sure that it works and that the story as we intented it, works. I think we did okay.
Hope you enjoy this as much as we enjoyed making it. And i hope it makes you happy. ❤️❤️
Alex! That was beautiful! I couldn’t stop crying, but it was good. You make the perfect ending!!!
It was fun, searching for WWI uniforms references, as I’m less familiar with that period.
Thank you, @realhunterswearplaid , for resurrecting my teenage fangirl heart (the one who had a crush on Nix upon watching BoB nearly 2 decades ago). You helped dragging my Muse back after she went AWOL for months.
Pairing: Mechanic!Dean x Female!Teacher!Reader (eventual)
Word Count: 3,362
Part Summary: Y/N settles into her new house, in a new town. Right off the bat, she meets her gorgeous neighbor, finding an instant connection with him. As she goes to work on Monday, she starts to think that she could get used to Lawrence, Kansas.
Warnings:some swearing, first day of work nerves, Dean being cute (yes, that’s a warning lol)
Music:Lookin’ Out My Back Door, I Heard It Through the Grapevine by Creedence Clearwater Revival (Setting up the house scene).
A/N:The first part is here! I’m so excited for you all to read it! Please let me know what you think, I can’t wait to hear your thoughts and feedback! P.S. I have a full playlist for this series coming soon, just finalising some selections! Happy reading and I hope you guys like it! :)
Dividers by the wonderful @firefly-graphics! Check her out for all your AU needs!!!
Y/N leaned against her car, a content smile on her face as she looked up at the house that she was about to call her new home.
The house was clean white, with a grey tiled roof. White wood railings encased the front porch, that had a porch swing in front of one of the windows. The front yard was freshly mowed, with the flower beds on either side of the porch steps. It was a modest, two-bedroom house, with not a whole lot of backyard space, but it was the most rent she could afford with her previous salary. It didn’t matter though; you could make a house a home no matter how big or small it was. Her job as a teacher wasn’t just rewarding when the kids did well, but it was able to put a roof over her head, and that was all she could ask for.
Y/N started with her bags before she opened the large U-Haul trailer attached to her car, and started taking out the boxes. It had been a long journey from Rhinebeck, New York, stopping off overnight in Ohio and then Missouri, but she made it to Lawrence, Kansas that morning, giving her enough time to start unloading her things. Considering it was just her, she knew it was going to take some time, but she was hoping to finish by lunch time so she could explore the town a little.
Is this school taking applications? Love the staffing choices. Chuck would be an awesome principal! At least in the days before he became a sick. Lol. If I could live across the street from Dean, all the better!
Man, this had been so much fun. First time doing a dystopia bang, and though I feared the horror I might encounter (both in stories and in making art) I ended up having the time of my life. @gen-spn is one of the sweetest people I’ve ever encountered, and I’m so glad I got her as my author.
From the second I read the description for this fic I knew I had to make art for it. It is Sam centric (my fave kind) and has a wonderful early-seasons-horror-vibes, emotional Sam & Dean scenes, actions scenes and plenty o’ hurt Sam. This has become one of my favorite fics of all time. I could not stop reading it once I started. There were many tissues sacrificed during the reading.
I hope I managed to capture the neon~future vibes accurately, it’s my first time trying out this palette and it was scary!
SUMMARY: Dean & Sam Winchester have lived their lives surrounded by the dark forces of the world, pushed and pulled and forced to bend in their mission to rid the world of evil and save innocent lives. Learning that they are the heirs to an extinct organization dedicated to chronicling the supernatural world was just another day at the office. In reviving the Men of Letters, however, they find they are not as alone as originally thought. Joined by Erica, a fellow legacy seeking her own answers within the walls of the bunker, the brothers dive headfirst into a world of nigh-impossible trials and ancient magic when given the chance to close the gates of Hell and forever remove demons from the face of the Earth. But as they learn that Erica’s ties to their quest run deeper than they could possibly imagine, Sam & Dean must consider the long-reaching consequences of this endeavor and whether they are willing to pay the cost. Perhaps, in the end, a legacy of blood and death is all that awaits the Winchesters.
Chapter Two: Paranoid
Teaser:
Mornings at the bunker had become a liminal time for the Winchesters. Carved deep into the Kansas bedrock, the bunker was devoid of any windows or natural lighting to indicate the time of day, and neither Sam nor Dean were in the habit of setting an alarm when they weren’t working a case. Over the years, their circadian rhythms had been well-trained to allow only short bouts of sleep at a time, but the security of the warded bunker soon lulled them into the occasional habit of oversleeping. Sometimes Dean would wake to find Sam had already taken his morning run, eaten breakfast, and settled into researching a new topic before he could even get his own eyes open. Other days Dean would spend an eternity in solitude before Sam would finally wander into the kitchen searching for coffee, hair sticking up in all directions and eyes half-closed. The younger Winchester apologized each time it happened, as if he were inconveniencing his brother by taking advantage of the extra rest. Dean, however, accepted it as another advantage of their new base of operations. This was what it felt like to be safe. This was what it felt like to be home.
Today Dean awoke to his internal clock insisting it was later in the morning than he was used to, but his weary body suggested he take a few more hours to rest. He sat up and dug the heels of his palms into his eyes to shake the dregs of sleepiness away. A glance at his watch revealed it was barely eight o’clock. Normally, this would suggest he was unusually well-rested. Now it only served to remind him of how restless his night had been. He’d finally dozed off in the early hours of the morning after constant tossing and turning, unable to shut his brain off and go to sleep. The reason for this was a few doors down the hall in room fourteen—unless she was already awake.
Dean had been less than delighted upon realizing the bunker’s newest guest had decided to take up residence in the room directly around the corner from his own. He’d been tempted to tell Erica to buzz off and pick one of the bunker’s other numerous bedrooms to sleep in, but then had thought it might not be such a bad idea for her to be close enough to keep under watch. He hadn’t anticipated how the encroachment would mess with his own sense of security. Every time he closed his eyes, his mind constructed images of her stalking the halls to murder him and his brother in their beds or else conjuring up legions of evil to do her bidding while they slept. He had even found himself out of bed at one point, creeping to her door—just checking on her, he told himself—only to find she had locked herself inside. That had done little to reassure him.
Story Summary: Dean & Sam Winchester have lived their lives surrounded by the dark forces of the world, pushed and pulled and forced to bend in their mission to rid the world of evil and save innocent lives. Learning that they are the heirs to an extinct organization dedicated to chronicling the supernatural world was just another day at the office. In reviving the Men of Letters, however, they find they are not as alone as originally thought. Joined by Erica, a fellow legacy seeking her own answers within the walls of the bunker, the brothers dive headfirst into a world of nigh-impossible trials and ancient magic when given the chance to close the gates of Hell and forever remove demons from the face of the Earth. But as they learn that Erica’s ties to their quest run deeper than they could possibly imagine, Sam & Dean must consider the long-reaching consequences of this endeavor and whether they are willing to pay the cost. Perhaps, in the end, a legacy of blood and death is all that awaits the Winchesters.
Chapter Summary: Trouble brews when the Winchesters don’t see eye-to-eye on how to handle their new guest. Sam digs for the truth behind Erica’s connection to the Men of Letters while Dean questions her motives.
Word Count: 5, 811
Excerpt:
On the surface, Erica gave all the right answers and each of her actions made perfect sense. But Dean’s instincts were still screaming a warning. He didn’t like the way she watched everything, seeming to miss nothing even though she didn’t say anything. He didn’t like the way she studied him with narrowed eyes when she thought he wasn’t paying attention. He didn’t like the edge to her smile or the bite to her words, suggesting a double-meaning he couldn’t decode. Trouble simmered beneath the surface of her carefully constructed façade. He was certain.
Sam, however, made it clear that he thought Dean was being paranoid, having said as much when Dean had voiced his concerns after dinner. Erica was nice. She had answered their questions. She had fed them. Now she had gotten Sam alone, out for a run through the woods where anything could go wrong.
Dean wondered if maybe his brother was having his own tactics turned against him. If so, Erica was good. But he trusted Sam to be better. His brother was capable of handling practically anything, and even if she managed to catch him off-guard, the younger Winchester had Erica more than outmatched in size. Still, that didn’t mean Dean liked the idea of the two being alone with him having no idea of where exactly to look if they didn’t return in a timely manner. Almost losing his appetite at the thought of what could be happening outside the bunker, he impatiently settled in to wait.
The time spent pondering the myriad of ways Erica could kill Sam during their run while making it look like an accident was mercifully short…
SUMMARY: Dean & Sam Winchester have lived their lives surrounded by the dark forces of the world, pushed and pulled and forced to bend in their mission to rid the world of evil and save innocent lives. Learning that they are the heirs to an extinct organization dedicated to chronicling the supernatural world was just another day at the office. In reviving the Men of Letters, however, they find they are not as alone as originally thought. Joined by Erica, a fellow legacy seeking her own answers within the walls of the bunker, the brothers dive headfirst into a world of nigh-impossible trials and ancient magic when given the chance to close the gates of Hell and forever remove demons from the face of the Earth. But as they learn that Erica’s ties to their quest run deeper than they could possibly imagine, Sam & Dean must consider the long-reaching consequences of this endeavor and whether they are willing to pay the cost. Perhaps, in the end, a legacy of blood and death is all that awaits the Winchesters.
Chapter One: Intruder Alert
Teaser:
Sam stepped over the threshold onto the bunker’s main landing, only to pull up short. His eyes narrowed as he surveyed the brightly lit control room and the library visible beyond. “Did we kill the power when we left?”
“Pretty sure, yeah,” Dean confirmed from behind his left shoulder. “Why? Oh.”
Wasting no time, the eldest Winchester stepped around Sam, dropping his duffel bag on the landing and drawing his pistol from inside his jacket. Slow, deliberate steps carried him down the metal stairs in silence as sharp eyes skimmed familiar surroundings. Matching Sam’s low, cautious tone, he asked, “No one can get in here without a key, right?”
Sam nodded as he drew his own weapon, then remembered that Dean couldn’t see him as he followed his brother downstairs. He thought back to his disastrous visit with a former member of the Men of Letters and the valuable information he had imparted a few weeks before. “That’s what Larry said. This place is supposed to be warded; nothing gets in unless we let it.”
“And we’re the only ones with a key.”
It wasn’t a question as Dean switched off his pistol’s safety, head on a swivel as he paced through the control room, searching for anything out of place. Sam mirrored his brother as they entered the library. Each took a side of the room and paced between the shelves, checking each nook for intruders or clues.
As Sam approached the middle reading nook on the right side of the library, he found his first confirmation of an intruder in their new base; stacks of books and papers littered a small study table, which Sam knew neither of the brothers had used yet. Dean hadn’t been much interested in the library archives at all, preferring to explore the bunker’s many other features while Sam had been doing his own reading on the larger center tables where he could spread multiple books for easy reference. Even if he had used the more private area provided by the reading bays, he had spent all his time researching the Men of Letters and their various allies around the world. As he skimmed the gathered titles and a few passages that had been bookmarked—a pencil in one, a receipt for ten bucks worth of fuel in another, a shamefully dog-eared page in the last—he noticed they all pertained to demons and summoning rituals.
“Someone’s been here.”
“You sure? I thought maybe this was yours,” Dean called. Sam found him standing at the center table, a black leather jacket hooked on one finger that was obviously too small for either of the brothers to claim.
“You’re hilarious,” Sam said dryly, abandoning the study area to join his brother.
“I know.” Dean broke into a self-satisfied grin before draping the jacket over the back of one of the chairs. Returning to business, his lips pressed into a thin line as he glanced around the library. A series of hand gestures directed Sam to search the right wing while Dean took the left.
Tightening his grip on his pistol, Sam nodded his agreement, slipping past his brother back toward the main entrance.
“Sammy?” The low note of warning called his attention to where his brother still lingered at the head of the library’s center table. “If they can slip past the wards, there’s no telling who or what they are.”
Though it was unnecessary, Sam understood the unspoken message there.
SUMMARY: Dean & Sam Winchester have lived their lives surrounded by the dark forces of the world, pushed and pulled and forced to bend in their mission to rid the world of evil and save innocent lives. Learning that they are the heirs to an extinct organization dedicated to chronicling the supernatural world was just another day at the office. In reviving the Men of Letters, however, they find they are not as alone as originally thought. Joined by Erica, a fellow legacy seeking her own answers within the walls of the bunker, the brothers dive headfirst into a world of nigh-impossible trials and ancient magic when given the chance to close the gates of Hell and forever remove demons from the face of the Earth. But as they learn that Erica’s ties to their quest run deeper than they could possibly imagine, Sam & Dean must consider the long-reaching consequences of this endeavor and whether they are willing to pay the cost. Perhaps, in the end, a legacy of blood and death is all that awaits the Winchesters.
TIMELINE: AU Season 8 beginning post-8x13 “Everybody Hate Hitler”
cas actually knows all the greatest secrets of the universe and he just casually lets these things out in normal conversation just to see his family’s surprise. dean’s talking about area 51 with charlie and cas just casually says “yeah, there’s aliens there. saw it myself,” and charlie’s bowl shatters on the ground as her and dean launch themselves at cas in awe. sam and jack talking about buried treasures and sam mentioning the lost city of atlantis and cas just suddenly rattles off coordinates as he walks into the room and jack asks what cas means and cas is like “that’s the coordinates. to atlantis. that’s what you were talking about, right? I watched it disappear and memorized the location” and jack is immediately scrambling from his chair saying what are they waiting for they need to go discover this hidden treasure right away. one time jack jokingly calls sam ‘big foot’ and cas rounds the corner and says “no, big foot was taller, but sam does has nicer hair” and then both sam and jack starting peppering cas with questions about other urban legends. the one that really gets to dean is when theyre walking around a lake one time and he kicks a stone into the water and says “this monster is starting to feel as fake as the loch ness monster,” and cas immediately whips around and says “oh nessie wasn’t a monster, she was actually quite gentle” and dean almost falls into the lake in shock
Summary: One year later, Dean’s got some big, big plans.
Pairing: Cowboy!Dean x Reader
Warnings: none I can think of
Word Count: ~2,500?
A/N: I can’t promise it’s any good, friends, but here it is! It’s been awhile, so I’m a little rusty! Hope you enjoy. You guys can thank Chris Lane and his song Big, Big Plans for kickstarting my brain. Because wow, it needed it.
You practically bounced in your seat as Sam slowly inched the truck and trailer into place near the barns. He didn’t need to say anything, you knew he was smirking over there at your impatience to get back and see a certain someone.
You wouldn’t outright admit it, but you missed Dean the past few weeks on the road. A busy summer had meant some tough choices at the farm, sending you out to a string of shows with a crew of horses while Dean remained at home. He continued the training schedule as well as he could without you and trucked out to a few nearby shows every now and then.
Riding and training without Dean felt like you were missing a limb, but the runs with your horses had gone well and you’d made some decent money and you were returning home feeling victorious.
Sam had gone along to give you a hand, since moving and showing six horses wasn’t exactly a one person activity. He finally put the truck in park and turned to you with an infuriatingly knowing smile. You flipped him off and shoved out of the cab, Rowan on your heels, silencing his laugh with a slam of the door.
The barn staff was already convening to get the horses unloaded and settled, and you nodded in greeting as you ducked into the barn, mercifully cool even in the summer heat. Rowan dashed off down one of the side aisles, and soon enough Benny’s booming voice greeted the dog.
“Hey, Benny,” you greeted, rounding the corner to find the farrier on the floor with Rowan, both of them grinning.
“Hey cher,” he said, still patting Rowan, “Dean’s in his office.”
“Thanks,” you replied, trying not to be in too much of an obvious hurry as you walked away. The giant fans in the wide open doors created a nice breeze through the barn and muffled most of the noise, so Dean didn’t hear your footsteps as you approached his office. You stopped and leaned in the doorway, and his attention quickly snapped up from the papers on his desk.
“Hey,” you said with a grin. He looked so good it hurt. He was wearing a black Singer Performance Horses t-shirt, his hat abandoned on the hook nearby. He was tanner than usual, the freckles on his face more prominent, his hair cropped short.
Dean stood slowly, his eyes never leaving yours. Then he stepped around his desk, grabbed your hand and pulled you towards him into a kiss. You kissed him back, throwing your arms around his neck as he grabbed your hips.
“Welcome home,” Dean said, pausing briefly and pulling back.
“Thanks,” you laughed, staring up at him in an effort to re-memorize the details of his face. Dean Winchester was a lot to take in.
“I was busy while you were gone,” Dean continued, making you raise an eyebrow. In response, he reached around you to close the door and then turn the lock with a resounding click.
“You put in a lock,” you realized, tilting your head suspiciously.
“Just for this,” he replied, pulling you back to him.
>>>
“Can I open my eyes yet?” you complained for the umpteenth time, slouched dramatically in the passenger seat of the impala. You had tipped your hat down low over your face after Dean had insisted you not look to maintain the surprise he was planning. He considered the request for a moment thoughtfully. It wasn’t like you could know where he was taking you, he was just being dramatic with all the secrecy.
“Yeah alright,” he finally agreed, watching as you ripped your hat off excitedly, only to frown at the endless blank landscape around the highway.
Good. You didn’t have a clue where he was taking you.
“Where are we going?” you asked again, giving him an imploring look. But Dean only smirked, beyond pleased with himself. It had been a year since you came to the farm, since Dean first met you, and he wanted to do something special for it.
Because you changed everything, and Dean had some big, big plans.
You scowled and crossed your arms with a huff, making Dean chuckle.
“Patience…” he advised, already knowing that wouldn’t go over well.
“How much longer?”
“Half an hour.”
“Please tell me where we’re going.”
“Not a chance.”
“Dean…” you whined, dragging out the vowels.
“You’ll like it, just relax,” he insisted, adjusting his grip on the wheel. It wasn’t often that he had an excuse to take baby out for a nice long drive, not when so many aspects of his job demanded the towing capacity or the storage space of a pickup. Thankfully, this trip had allowed him to take his prized possession out for a well-deserved joy-ride, with the added bonus of confusing you even further about the nature of this trip.
“I’m not really dressed for a nice dinner,” you informed him, making Dean chuckle. You were determined to get the answer out of him.
“I told you, we’re not going anywhere to eat,” he said, making you hum thoughtfully.
“Are we going to see your dad?” you asked suddenly, and Dean barked out a laugh.
“Definitely not.”
You huffed in annoyance again, staring out the window at the fields rolling by, eyes flicking to every sign on the side of the road, likely hoping to pick up on some clue. Dean knew there wouldn’t be anything obvious to point out your destination, though. There was a sign, but it was simply for a national park, and those weren’t exactly uncommon out here. You perked up a little when Dean finally turned off the highway, but were silent until he pulled down the driveway.
“Devil’s Garden?” you asked incredulously, reading the sign at the gate, “what the hell is this?”
“You’ll see,” Dean replied, easing the impala down the dirt road. He had been here once before, mostly to do some scouting and get more information. Then he had gone straight to Bobby, who had given him a long, strange look before agreeing that it was a fantastic idea.
“I swear to god if you hauled my ass out of bed for a goddamn auction on our day off, I’ll kill you,” you grumbled as you spotted corrals and holding pens. But there was something different in your voice and you sat up straighter, like you knew there had to be more to this place, more to Dean’s plans. And it didn’t take long. Up ahead there were more gates, more fencing, and at least a few hundred horses. As the impala crept closer, more details made the picture all too clear. The horses were separated into smaller groups, many with brands or paint on their hip indicating age, which ranged from foals to seniors. Some were skinny, bones poking out of their hides where they shouldn’t, and others looked healthy as anything, but they all bore long, tangled manes, and they all were wild.
“Are those…” you breathed, hands gripping the dashboard as you craned your neck to see everything, anything, “mustangs?”
>>>>
You couldn’t stop staring.
There were so many horses, and it broke your heart.
Wild, majestic and proud - only to be rounded up and confined to holding pens. The mustangs were becoming a controversial problem as their numbers climbed and their habitat shrunk. Farmers put up fences, landowners didn’t want them around, and more and more the mustangs, something you considered a symbol of freedom and strength, were being viewed as a nuisance.
Dean was standing beside you, quiet, as if he knew you needed a moment to sort through your emotions.
“Are they- are they for sale?”
“Adoption,” Dean corrected, “we’re here to pick out two.”
“Two?”
“Well yeah, I want one too.”
You turned to find him smirking at you, which only made you grin.
“Where do we start?”
One of the staff members led you around to a few of the corrals, showing you the different horses, separated into age groups. It was an impossible choice, really, but you were sure that you’d know the right one when you saw it. There were a few that caught your eye, a large grey with a dark mane, a couple paints and bays that tugged at your heartstrings, but you couldn’t make the choice.
Until you spotted them.
A pair of horses stood near the edge of one pen, almost shoulder to shoulder. One had it’s head lowered, eyes half closed in sleep, but the other was alert, ears swiveling to catch sounds from the workers and other horses. They were dark brown bays, solidly built and in apparent good condition, tails swishing idly.
“They’re brothers we think,” the girl said when you asked, “they’re always looking for each other. The bigger one nearly killed us when we separated them for vetting.”
You glanced sidelong at Dean only to find him chuckling, scuffing his boot in the loose red tinted dirt.
“Them, I want them,” you said firmly, and when Dean met your eyes, you saw approval in his gaze.
“We’ll take em,” he agreed.
“Do you want to pick them up when you come for the others?” The woman asked, scribbling down the horses’ hip numbers on her clipboard.
“Others?” You demanded, whipping back around to face Dean, who only gave you a cheeky grin before answering.
“Yeah, but we’ll use a second trailer. Pulling them from this group will be hard enough on them, don’t need to do it again.”
“Fair enough,” she replied, handing her clipboard to Dean for a signature.
“Who are the others?” You hissed as the woman walked away, leaving the two of you leaning against the fence and watching your two new mustangs. They eyed you back suspiciously, the larger one pinning his ears and snapping at a passing chestnut. You knew to be patient with Dean, that pushing for more information too hard wouldn’t get you anywhere, but god was it frustrating.
“When we heard how desperate the mustang problem is,” Dean finally began, eyes trained on the wild horses before you, “Bobby offered to take a herd.”
“A herd,” you repeated, dumbfounded.
"An entire family. So they could stay together, stay wild and unbroken and in their homeland. The back field behind the cabins will be theirs, to live out their days. We won’t ride em, won’t break em, just give them a safe place to live.”
You couldn’t help the tears that sparked in the corners of your eyes, and Dean slid an arm around you, pulling you into his side.
>>>>
Dean leaned against the rails of the roundpen, his eyes trained on you where you worked with the slightly smaller of the mustangs, who you had named Gunner. The whole taming wild horses thing was going well, he supposed, all things considered. The transition had been hard on everyone, but things had settled down and the horses were starting to respond. Gunner and Zeppelin hadn’t taken kindly to being separated, but everyone agreed that they had to learn to have some independence. For now they lived in adjacent paddocks that Bobby had set up specifically for the mustangs, where they could see each other most of the time.
You’d been brought close to tears by their fear and outrage the first night, slumped, exhausted after a long day on the cabin porch, the horses’ panicked calls audible in the distance. Dean had sat there with you for a long time, one hand running back and forth across your back, until finally the calls stopped. The next morning found both horses calm, crunching contentedly on their hay, but they still fell back into their dramatics every now and then.
The days since had brought bruised egos and limbs, frustration and fury, relief and pride. The process of gentling - not breaking - the wild horses was grueling for everyone. Just getting a halter onto them had been a monumental step, and building from there sometimes felt agonizingly slow. Dean had a slightly different approach than you did, but ultimately your goals were the same: build a partnership based on trust and respect.
More often than not Dean would find you sitting in Gunner’s pen with your phone or a stack of paperwork or even your lunch, offering and asking him only for companionship. Usually the mustang would ignore you, but lately he’d been getting more curious. Dean had taken to using Kaz to help him with Zeppelin, hoping her model behavior would help the horse understand that he was safe to trust.
Dean bit his tongue before he could call out a suggestion, knowing he would only distract Gunner and that you knew well enough to do your own training. As if you’d read his mind, you turned and did exactly what he would have suggested, a wide grin breaking across your face as Gunner responded appropriately. You had ditched your hat in the late-afternoon heat, hair pulled up into a messy bun, a few strands escaping to fall down to your shoulders. With a start, Dean realized your Singer Performance t-shirt was actually his, the extra length tucked into your jeans. Not a huge surprise, considering you and Rowan practically lived with him now, but it was an oddly welcome sight. He liked seeing you in his clothes.
You ended the training session on a good note, patting Gunner on the neck and leading him out of the pen, back towards his paddock and his brother. Zeppelin whinnied as he heard them coming, and Gunner replied with his own nicker, trotting over to check on his brother as soon as you released him.
“He’s looking good,” Dean commented, slinging an arm across your shoulders as you joined him.
“That felt really good. I think we made some progress,” you agreed, hip-checking him playfully as the two of you set off towards the main house for dinner, “think we can start backing them soon?”
“I think so. Need to go slow, but I think they’re ready to try.”
“Zep hasn’t tried to murder you lately for leaning on him, so that’s promising,” you laughed, making Dean smile.
“I’m glad you find the thought of my death so funny,” he said, pulling you closer and kissing the side of your head roughly. Still laughing, you shoved off of him, jogging a few steps towards the house before turning to face him.
“You almost died once on me, Winchester,” you said, smile still on your face but something more serious in your eyes, “no more of that.”
“Cross my heart,” Dean promised, stopping just in front of you.
“The rest of that is ‘hope to die,’ dummy,” you scoffed, scowling up at him.
“Shut up,” he muttered, leaning down and kissing you, long and slow, your arms coming up to circle his neck. He pulled back after a second, staring down into your face and was hit suddenly just how hard he’d been falling. “I ain’t goin anywhere,” he said, “I’ve got plans.”
“Do you, now?” you asked, tilting your head questioningly. Dean only grinned, his mind wandering back to his cabin, to the ring hidden in one of his boots and the three acres he’d bought from Bobby last year.
Big, big plans alright.
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Devil’s Garden - yes it’s real, and no, I didn’t have to make up something so appropriately named. You can find them on Facebook, too.
the colouring is weeeird on mobile as usual but ive recently learnt that my laptop has really poor colour gamut and accuracy so thats why i cannot see what i am doing lmao!!! this is as good as it gets til i get a new one, folks
