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#Post#: 3565--------------------------------------------------
Lonely Eyes { Colleen & Dean }
DIR By: Maggie Flannery
Date: May 9, 2019, 8:42 am
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A/N: I don't own the Supernatural verse or Dean Winchester or
the characters from Gunsmoke. Good lord knows I'd be rolling in
dough if I did but alas, they belong to Kripke and Misters
Meston and MacDonnell . I'm just borrowing them to play with. I
make nothing from this writing.
Songs Used for Inspiration: Lonely Eyes - Chris Young &
Should've Been A Cowboy - Toby Keith
“Hey Colly, it’s Mom. Just wanted to check up on you and make
sure you’re driving safe. Stocked your freezer and did your
laundry. Be safe. I love you.”
“Hey darlin', just wanted to tell you that I’m on my way home.
Truck got a flat outside town but it’s patched. Save me a plate,
huh? Love you and I’ll be home soon.”
Green eyes gazed down at the phone in her hands one more time as
she tapped replay. Tonight in this no tell motel along the
interstate she needed to hear the voices of the two people she
loved the most. She was battered and bruised and covered in ash
from job that was supposed to be so easy but had very nearly
killed her. Salt and burn, yeah right. Damn thing was a ghoul.
Took three tries but she’d gotten rid of the damn thing. That
was the last time she covered for Bobby Singer ever again. Rain
pattered against the window catching the glow of the neon sign
outside. Every muscle she had ached, she was in dire need of a
drink and it had dawned on her as she slumped behind the wheel
of her beat up pick up at today was her mother’s birthday. She
should have been back home with her but no, Colleen had been out
on a job in Kentucky. Colleen was on a trail of some werewolf as
her mother lay in that hospice bed fighting to breathe through
the pain her pack a day habit had caused. She should have been
the one to hold Eileen’s hand and not some night shift nurse.
She hadn’t even been given the chance to talk to her one last
time before she took her final breathe. The message of her
mother’s passing had gone straight to Col’s voice mail as she
took one final shot at the mass of drooling rabid werewolf.
She’d taken it’s tail as a souvenir and it now dangled somewhat
morbidly from her rearview mirror along with her mother’s rosary
and the tiny bottle of holy water from her best friend Helene
and Buddy’s wedding ring on a piece of twine. Reminders of the
life she now lived fully. Hunting things and saving people that
surely would have thought she was insane had she actually told
people what line of work she was in. It was just easier to take
her mother’s advice and tell those that asked that she worked
for Sire Power sourcing out prized breeding stock. Explained her
penchant for dressing simply in jeans and boots and why she
still kept Buddy’s pick up on the road.
“I love you both…you know that right? I miss you both so much…”
Curling up into a ball in the middle of the double bed still
clothed in faded jeans and some t-shirt she’d picked up along
the way. Every inch of her covered in a mixture of dirt, blood
and slime. Where the slime came from she didn’t want to know.
Tears welled up in her tired eyes once more because she missed
her mother. She missed her home. Sadly she didn’t even know
where her home was anymore. In the back of her mind she could
see the house she grew up so clearly, a worn out clapboard place
out in the middle of nowhere surrounded by acres and acres of
sweetcorn or wheat depending on what sold the most at market.
She missed both of her homes, Trinity Texas where she had been
born and raised and Astwood Tennessee where she had carved out a
normal life, with all of her heart but she missed her mother and
her husband even more, especially tonight. All the could have
beens and should have beens presented themselves to her in her
mind’s eye. But, here she was, trying to keep other safe from
the Unknown. The pay wasn’t much but at one time she had loved
the thrill of the chase the hunt, the feeling of accomplishing
something most other people couldn’t. Especially after she had
lost Buddy to that demon five years back, but her story wasn’t
much different from most other hunters out there in field. But
the love of the hunt and the thrill of the chase could not be
found in her tonight. Perhaps not ever again. She let out a
strangled sob but was startled at a sharp thud against the wall
near her head. Resisting the urge to go out and slash the tires
on the shiny little mid life crisis car parked next to her she
instead eased herself up from the bed and threw the bird to him
instead. Shucking off her clothes she stumbled to the bathroom
and ended up drowning out the sounds of her sobs in a tepid
shower until she was scrubbed raw and smelling strongly of the
cheap off brand soap she had taken to packing with her. She
caught a good look at herself in the mirror as she changed into
clean clothes with the full intention of checking out and moving
on to the next job that was in Abilene, not far from where her
father was buried, maybe she’d stop by and leave some flowers
for him, but the urge for a burger and a beer drew her in like a
moth to a flame. Pulling on her boots and grabbing her purse
she let her feet lead the way to the roadhouse across the
parking lot. She stepped through the door and found it odd that
no one gave her so much as a backward glance. It was only a
little after eight, or so the clock said. She chose not to trust
a time piece that advertised beer that had gone out of
production damn near ten years ago. Checking her cell phone she
found it was nearly 8:30. Plopping herself down into a bar stool
the barman with a hangdog face shuffled over.
“What can I get you, little lady?”
“Beer and a bacon cheese burger with a side of fries, thanks.”
With a nod her turned and put her order in as an older barmaid
with a blonde bouffant pulled her beer from the tap and set it
down in front of her.
“Anything else?”
Rifling through her bag for her wallet she pulled out a crumpled
twenty. Tonight was a night for all the vices.
“Yeah, can I get a pack of Morley Reds and two shots of Bird
Dog?”
“Sure thing. You know that smoking’ll give you wrinkles right?”
“Trust me, in my line of work there are things that’ll get me
way before the wrinkles even have time to set in. Keep the
change for a tip.”
A quick glance at the barmaid’s name tag proclaimed she was Kaye
to the world.
“But that’s nearly a ten dollar tip. You sure?”
“Positive, Kaye.”
“Thank you, sugar.”
Colleen offered a small smile in return as she popped a
cigarette into her mouth and lit it. Taking a deep drag she took
a few long pulls from her beer and gathered wool for a moment.
‘What would I have been doing if I wasn’t here trying to slay
oogie boogies and things that go bump in the night? It’s
Wednesday. I’d probably made meatloaf for dinner and be busy
folding laundry maybe be up trying to calm a colicky baby or
talking to Mom on the phone.’
“Penny for your thoughts, Tennessee.”
Turning to her right she blinked confused at who was talking to
her. Flannel and faded jeans and a smirk that would make God
himself want to smack him appraised her. His eyes were a soft
deep green and his nose straight despite how many hits he’d
taken over the years. She almost didn’t recognize him without a
covering of dirt and dust.
“Tennessee?”
"Well, yeah. You're the only ten I see around here."
Inwardly Colleen cringed at the utter cheese of the pick up line
she had fallen for. Leave it to her seat mate to make her laugh
at the cheesiest line known to man kind. Maybe he could
recognize the down vibe that surrounded her. Hunters, she
learned were very good judges of character.
“Oh for the love of Christ. I can’t believe I fell for that.
What am I supposed to call you? Wisconsin?”
Confusion washed over the green eyed man and she watched as a
slight flush settled over his features as realization set in.
Colleen offered him her second shot which he accepted with a
smile a nod before offering her a glass clink.
“I’ll tell you my name is you tell me yours.”
Knocking back her shot Colleen smiled coyly at him. Two could
play this game she decided.
“Kitty Russell. You?”
Her sly smile was returned ten fold as Kaye came out of the
kitchens with twinned orders of the roadhouse’s special of the
night.
“Matt Dillon. U.S. Marshall.”
“Oh you’re a sly one, Marshall Dillon.”
A twinge at her heart reminded her that Buddy had loved all
those old westerns but Gunsmoke had been his favorite. Her
fellow hunter knew that after he worked a case with Buddy a few
years ago.
“Long time no see, Dean. How’s your brother?”
“Sammy’s good. Resting up back in the room but doing pretty
good. Sorry to hear about Buddy.”
It was only then that she noticed Kaye brought out one plate of
fries and snagged one for herself before sliding the plate
towards her fellow hunter. She prayed that he wouldn’t notice
the puffiness around her eyes.
“Thank you. Hard to believe it’s been four years last month.
Lost my mother a year ago next week.”
“Doesn’t seem possible that he’s gone. I’m…sorry about your
Mom.”
“Thanks, I’d like to think that they’re both up there laughing
their asses off and offering advice to me somehow when they see
me take a hard hit.”
Her appetite had up and left her so she ended up cutting the
behemoth of a burger in half. Offering up the other half of her
burger to Dean he offered a nod of thanks. How long had it been
since he’d last eaten? Their hands brushed against one another
for a moment and lingered. Or felt another person’s touch? She
got a good look into his eyes this time around and she
recognized that lonely look. She saw it enough in the mirror
these days to know it.
‘Starved on both fronts. Like me.’
She thought to herself as she took a sip of her second beer and
tackled those thoughts out of her mind. She’d be damned if she
let those kinds of things enter her mind. There were plenty of
nights she had felt like this and she had made it through.
Casting a side long glance at the man to her right he caught her
glance and offered her a smile and a shoulder nudge.
“Checkin’ me out...did you go back to your maiden name?"
A sudden blush crept over Dean's features and to the tips of his
ears. Colleen almost wished she could snap a photo for Helene
back home and get it framed. The unshakeable Dean Winchester was
a tad embarrassed.
“It's Walker and yeah, maybe I am checkin' you out. I’ve heard
what you’ve said about my ass over the years, Winchester.
Repaying the compliment.”
It had almost been worth it seeing him choke on a piece of bacon
and oogle her for a moment. Almost. Thumping him on the back he
held up a hand signaling that he was okay. Something in her
heard, God it sounded like her mother, told her to go for it.
What did she have to lose? Without Helene and a few of her
hunter connections she was didn’t have anyone.
‘Throw those seeds into the wind, girl. See what comes up. Buddy
would understand.’
“D…do you wanna get out of here after you’re finished with your
food? I’m booked over across the parking lot at that motor
lodge…and I don’t really want to be alone tonight.”
A blush crept across her face and to her relief ( and let’s be
honest, joy ) Dean nodded. His eyes had glazed over as if he’d
won the lottery but he nodded just the same.
“Bobby told me about the case he sent you on. I could check you
for scratches.”
‘That’s a new one if ever I’ve heard it.’
“See, now that’s a hunter pick up line. Meet me there in ten
minutes. Knock twice.”
“Yes ma’am.”
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