Could Have Been Longer (Dean Winchester x Reader)

"Woah!" You yelped as you flung yourself away from the exploding door and out of view from the entrance to your house behind the sofa. You threw your arms over your head protectively as splinters of wood rained down , and your hand tightened around the kitchen knife with it's blade tinted a rusty, dried red.

---

~Two Weeks ago~

"Find anything, Sam?" The brunette looked up at the sound of your voice as you leaned back from the books spread across the table in front of you.

He sighed and waveed his hands at the laptop, clearly unimpressed, "Nothing. It's smart, I'll give it that. I can't find any clues about what it is."

You nodded as he carried on with his research and idly wondered when Dean will get back from speaking to the Mayor of the town. The case had caught (well, demanded) your attention when the Mayor of the town himself had got in contact with you (apparently he was an old friend of Ellen's, a 'retired' hunter by the name of Calloway) unable to figure out what this creature was, and requested your help.

You had been travelling and hunting with the Winchesters as long as you could remember. They became your family when your parents were murdered by a demon during your early teens, and John saved you, by chance hunting the mentioned demon. He trained you alongside his sons who were of similar ages at the same time and though you sometimes grieved over you parents' deaths, you were able to let go and protect others; stopping the same from happening to them.

The boys being overprotective of you meant that you were mainly restricted to research and investigating, though you could kick ass if you had to, and had to save their asses a few times. So you were content remaining behind in case something happened to both of them and they needed help. Better two captured and one ready to fight than all three of you, you guessed.

You swiped a tennis ball of the table and reclined in the chair, tossing it in the air and catching repeatedly, "Victims." You started, glancing at the case wall, "Females. Young. Usually quiet. Go for a night out with friends, don't come back. Some bodies found beheaded, some there's no trace of. Reports of them returning home before disappearing again. God, this case sucks for leads."  You began throwing the ball at the case wall, the thud of it's impact resounding in the dark motel room. The crappy lights above your head did next to nothing to bring a little light to the place.

Sam eyed you tossing the ball and sighed. Then the door to the room slammed open and you yelped, throwing the ball at the entrance as you leaped to your feet. Sam snorted in laughter as Dean stomped through the door, swinging it shut behind him.

"What happened, Calloway sick his daughter on you?" Sam teased. Dean just glared and flopped onto his bead, leaning on his knees and resting his head in his hands, not even returning a dig to Sam.

You shared a concerned look with the younger brother before slowly approaching Dean. You crouched in front of him, resting your hand on his forearm. He looked at you, and you could almost feel the rage in his eyes burn into your skin even though it wasn't directed at you.

"Dean, what's wrong?" You asked. He closed his eyes and inhaled, releasing a massive sigh.

Once he opened his eyes again he answered, "We have a plan to lure this thing out." You smile and stand, it was no big deal, after all.

"Awesome, it's better than what we have now." You said, crossing your arms across your chest and swaying lightly in place. "What is it?"

"You. As bait."

You stopped swaying and let it sink in. It wasn't a bad idea. You, for the most part, fit the profiling of the victims.

"And we're not doing it. I already told him." Dean added, glaring at the floor.

"What?!" You yelled, swinging your arms out, "Are you kidding me? Why the hell not?" You glared.

Dean jumped to his feet and you almost took a step back at the anger in his face. "Because this is dangerous, (Name)! We don't know what it is, and until we do, we don't know how to fight it, and if it even suspects that you're a hunter then you're at it's mercy and there's nothing I can do about it!"

You glared right back, taking a step forward and jabbing your finger at his chest, "Exactly, Dean. I'm a hunter. Not some prissy  girl that you're normally saving and fucking about with on these cases. I can handle myself and I can kick it's ass." You sighed and made eye contact with him, "I'm not a little girl. I know you think I need protecting all the time but I don't. I can do this. And even then, I got my boys at my back." You found your hands resting on his face, silently begging him to calm down, "I'll be okay."

"She's right Dean, this could be our only chance before it realises we're here and moves on." Sam's voice cut in, and your eyes widened as you snatched your hands away from Dean's face as your own heated up.

Dean, after a while of thinking, silently conceded.

---

~One Week Ago~

It had been a week since you moved into your complimentary house in order to start playing bait. It had been strange living so normally for as long as a week, though every now and then you had caught a glimpse of the Impala out of the corner of your eye like some dark mechanical guardian angel.

After another week's research and another body turning up, you, Dean, Sam and Mayor Calloway had figured that, if anything, it was a vampire. Taking girls, turning them and disposing of the ones he felt there was something wrong with. Every two nights you would head to the local bar where the victims were usually last seen, gain nothing, and then meet the boys at the motel so they could make sure you were okay (and, you smugly teased to their great protests, it was because they missed you.)

The creature seemed to be taking it's sweet time noticing your presence, wherever the hell it was, so to advance things, Sam and Dean took up their guise as FBI agents, coming to 'ask you questions' about the sweet girl who used to live next door, Dean flinging in a few comments and flirts to get the thing's attention on you. Though it was fake, it had you stammering and flushing to Sam's great amusement ("Great acting!" Was all that Dean said later that night, the dense idiot.).

You tried to visit the boys one last night when you felt someone watching and then stopped to squash any suspicion. Your equipment was left with Sam and Dean, a vial of Dead Man's Blood slipped into your jacket as you left the motel. You had felt a heavy gaze on you every night afterwards.

---

~Now~

"I know you're here, girl."

You barely had any warning before your surprise midnight visitor, just a short phone call off Sam, shouting about Dead Man's Blood, knife, now, before it cut off.

You gasped, scrambled to your hands and knees and booked it into the kitchen. You pushed yourself to your feet and sped towards the stairs, the slow and taunting footsteps of your pursuer accompanying his amused chuckle.

Your first foot hit the bottom stair and you forced yourself up them. A hand grasped your ankle and with a sudden pop from the joint as it was pulled, you were yanked back with a shriek. Your forward momentum propelled you  into the stairs, your head bouncing off the wood with a sickening crack, your rib cage pelted on the edge of them, and the prepared knife falling from your hands almost in slow motion.

You groaned as your vision spun. You could feel blood trickling from your nose and you felt like you were going to throw up as you turned onto your back and looked at the ceiling. Had there always been a swirling pattern on the normally smooth surface? Your sight buzzed with grey spots, and when it cleared again, he was above you, face inches from yours, breath reeking of rotten blood. His arms were either side of your head, trapping you between him and the stairs.

"I told you I don't know 'em." You slurred, your brain not being able to cope with the shock of the impact with the stairs. You moaned as you felt acid rise in the back of your throat. You were going to puke. "They just asked questions and left." You lied through gritted teeth and the monster above you just smirked. Repeating what your childhood friends told you to say obviously wasn't helping. Obviously you'd been expecting the sudden intrusion with the way you had (pointlessly, he thought) equipped yourself. It seemed he didn't know you were a hunter.

He threw his head back and let out a bout of howling laughter. When he looked back to you, he grinned, revealing a full set of shark-like teeth.

It really was a vampire.

And you were seriously underequipped.

Fuck.

He suddenly tilted his head in some sort of sick fascination, as if actually seeing you for the first time. He hummed in thought, "It's a shame, that they get such pretty little things like you involved in their dirty business. For them, that is. I could smell you all over them, those stupid hunters, and I gotta say, you caught my interest. I wonder how they'd react if I took you back to them and you were like...me?" He smiled and moved one of his hands to play with your hair, "What are you? Sister? Lover? Well that doesn't matter. You're mine now."

You tried to move your head away from his hand and yelped as he grasped a hand full of hair roughly, yanking your head to the side "Oh, but I wouldn't mind a taste first." He moved his face into your neck and nuzzled, you whimpered and tried again to move away. His lips curled into an amused smirk against your throat, "Now, when I can feel your heart thundering away like a storm. Like it's singing for me. Beautiful." He kissed just above your pulse and you almost wretched and slammed your eyes shut as your spinning head seemed to calm slightly. You needed to calm, not make any sudden and stupid movements, and plan out your next actions. You shuddered as he let his tongue trail up your throat.

Dude, I will throw up on you, I swear to whatever higher power there is.

Upon opening your eyes again, a slight shimmer caught your attention from the corner of your right eye.

The knife.

You closed your eyes again. Were you really about to do this? It was bite or fight. You almost sigh. You were.

Restraining the urge to cringe and cry on the spot, you moved your left arm up, letting your hand trail lightly over the predator's forearm that was still trapping you against the stairs- your back and rib cage was aching so much right now- and opened your eyes as he raised his head to look curiously at you instead of biting. You were giving him what you hoped was a sultry gaze. "Hmmm. Sounds... tempting..." You smiled enticingly and slowly moved your free hand to your right, blindly searching for the knife.

He smirked at you, somehow not noticing your plan, and moved back to your throat as you extended it for a better reach for the knife. He was preparing to bite. "Although, you should really do your homework on who's house you're breaking into." Your fingers grazed the hilt of the knife, pulled it lightly towards you as he reared back- and you yanked it to your palm, pulling it towards you and pushing it up through his chest as you forced yourself to use him to support your standing up.

He howled in surprise, reeling back away from you in split second of confusion, the knife buried hilt deep. He looked down, and then his head snapped up, snarling at you. He made to move forward but stumbled to his knees just short of you with a strangled yell. You staggered back a few steps before smirking at him dazedly as you tried to stay balanced.

"Dead Man's Blood, bitch."

And though you knew you were very probably about to die, you hoped you'd bought Sam and Dean enough time to get here and kill this son of a bitch before he moved on. You turned, and not as fast as you'd liked, used the wall to limp your way towards your now missing front door.

But there was something different.

The Impala sat innocently in your driveway, empty, and a frustrated growl ripped from your chest.

Where were they?

CRASH

"Sammy, it's in here! I can't see (Name) anywhere."

Ah, there they are. You spun back into the house and could see into the kitchen.

They fucking broke my back door! Well, it's not my back door, not even my house. But still, it's a damn nice house!

"Where's (Name)?!" Dean yelled, and you caught sight of him as he flashed past the opening of the kitchen towards the vampire, who was just laughing.

"You're so panicked. I never expected that from the infamous Dean Winchester. Do tell. Who is that lovely woman. Your whore?"

The vamp let out a yelp as Dean's boot made contact with it's face.

You rolled your eyes at the monster successfully provoking Dean as you started to limp back to their location, cringing as your ankle twinged in protest.

"Well it looks like she did a number on you, you blood sucking son of a bitch." Dean's voice was low and dangerous.

The vampire laughed hoarsely, "But not before I did a number on her, like how I'm going to do a number on you. You interrupted my recruiting of a fine specimen. I can't wait to taste her." And the creature burst out into a series of unhinged giggles.

"You-"

"Dean! Stop. If we want to find (Name) we'll need him." Sam pulled his elder brother back from attacking as you finally got to the doorway and slumped against it, taking the weight off your injured ankle. Your head was pretty much clear now, you could see and think straight.

"I'm here, guys, I'm fine." All attention in the room turned to you and you smirked, "Now if you'd come in through the front door like any normal people you'd have seen me."

Dean's eyes widened and in two long strides he was in front of you, gently cupping your bloodied face, "Jesus, (Name)."

You smiled and sighed as you moved into his touch. You could almost describe it as soft, and it distracted you from the pain your body was in.

You pushed his arms away reluctantly, your arms feeling heavy, useless and swinging when he moved away, "I'm fine for now, deal with him first. There was only so much Dead Man's Blood on that-URGH."

And suddenly Dean was thrown to the other side of the room and the vampire was tearing through your neck and groaning in ecstasy. One of his hands was wound painfully in your hair while the other yanked the now useless knife from his chest and threw it to the floor.

"(NAME)!" The brothers shouted simultaneously, and you swore you had never seen them move so quick, tossing weapons to each other and moving in on the distracted blood sucker.

You gagged at the smell and feel of your blood rushing away from your body, the burning at your shoulder as the vampire tore through flesh and blood and as you inevitably gave in to unconsciousness, you silently entrusted the brothers with your life.

---

You were looking at the ceiling, lying on the floor? Blurry, just a colour.

Black.

That was Dean's face swirling above yours, you were sure. Shadows and slight warmth at your cheeks as he held them and your heart fluttered.

Black.

He was shouting. It was muffled. Something wet was hitting your face. You tried to smile. Tried to form the words.

"I love you, Dean Winchester."

Black.

---

You would be able to recognise the purr of the Impala's engine if you were blindfolded and hung upside down in a soundproof room. So when your brain slowly accepted the sound as being real, you wondered if you were dead. It felt like it had been so long since you had heard it.

But then the pain kicked in and your eyes opened swiftly, slamming shut again against the bright orange lights that the car repeatedly passed under. You groaned.

"Dean pull over." You gasped.

There was a curse from Dean as you salt bolt upright in the back of the car. Dean swerved and your stomach lurched, "Now or the back seats are going to get it." You whimpered, and the car ground to a halt.

The door clicked open and you threw yourself out, nearly stumbling to the floor if not for an arm wrapping around your waist as you sucked in air from outside and breathed deeply. Your head was pounding, your nose was slightly numb and throbbing, and Dean was rubbing your back in soothing motions.

You sagged against Dean- his scent so familiar and comforting and something that just comforted you- your energy suddenly spent. Your hand found it's way to where the vampire had been tearing chunks out of you and felt bandages and stitches. You yelped at the surge of pain your touch brought.

"Hey, you alright?" He whispered against your hair. You nodded, standing more upright, though he wouldn't let you stand on your own.

"Tired. Sam?" You said.

"Torching the house. Calloway's pissed."

You sighed and laughed shakily, "Well he shouldn't be. We got rid of the damn pest didn't we?" He laughed, but it was strained and forced. "How long was I out?" Your throat was raw as you looked up to him.

He swallowed, seemingly struggling with his thoughts, "A day." His voice cracked and he coughed, "Just a day." Before he pulled you into a comforting hug and buried his face in your hair.

"What is it?" You laughed nervously. He hadn't been this touchy since his hormones kicked in during his teens.

"It could have been longer." He muttered. And that's all you needed to hear to understand.

You wrapped your arms around him and hummed. "I'm not going anywhere, Dean."

---

BONUS ENDING
You pulled away, and you smiled lightly, "You saved my ass back there. Thank you." Though it faltered slightly as your (e/c) eyes found his, "Hey, in the house, when I blacked out... did I...say anything?"

He smirked almost knowingly and turned, heading back to the Impala, helping you along with him.

"Maybe."