Chapter Text
Dean wasn't particularly happy, right now. Following his kid brother's lead on a case was one thing, since Sammy generally had a good head on his shoulders, and Dean knew he could trust the little nerd. But following a few actual kids' lead on a case was a whole different fucking can of worms- and hunting something that these kids apparently specialized in? A Cyclops?That was more like a can of- Beans, or… Spam. Or something.
He thumbed at the bronze dagger he currently held, twisting it slightly in his palm to watch the odd way the weapon reflected the sunlight, and scoffed to himself. Honestly, Dean wasn't convinced that he shouldn't just drag his brother out of Ten Sleep and book it a few states away, until they were dealing with their own brand of weird again. But here they were, letting a couple teens lead them towards a group of warehouses in the fading afternoon light, gravel crunching under boots and sneakers alike.
That was the heart of the problem though, wasn't it? These two were kids, despite their near adulthood, and the four of them were on their way to go save a couple even smaller kids.
A pair of seven year old twins, Dean thought to himself, shaking his head in disgust. There was no way in hell he or his brother were walking away from two kidnapped children, especially in a situation they could help with, relative strangeness aside.
Dean squinted ahead at Percy and Annabeth again, sizing them up. Blondie reminded him of his brother, in the way that she was obviously whip smart and stubborn as all hell. And the other one? Well…
Dean liked to think that being raised as a hunter, growing up looking over his shoulder and learning what evil looked and moved like had sharpened his instincts into something near infallible. Not that he'd ever be able to say something like that aloud without Sam laughing his ass off… but still. Dean knew to trust his intuition when it came to danger.
Finally slipping the dagger into his belt, Dean followed behind the group at a distance, watching the way that the dimming sunlight bounced against the bighorn mountains and off the heads of the three in front of him. Sam's hair was a shiny brown, which was getting shaggier- kid needed a haircut. Orange bounced off the girl's blonde princess curls, which were pulled up into a messy pony, and shined on the boy's almost unnaturally inky black hair.
They were just kids, though. He and Sam had done their usual tests for making sure that Annabeth and Percy weren't any of the usual kinds of supernatural- Silver knife, Holy water, speaking the name of god, and all that rot. They were just a couple of teens. A couple of freaking weird teens, but not demons, or shapeshifters, or werewolves, or spirits. Just kids.
But even with all their tests, something about Percy unsettled Dean. The teen set off his hunting instincts in at least ten different ways, even if he couldn't pinpoint what about him was actually doing the spooking. Maybe it was the delinquent attitude that reminded him of himself as a teen, but that couldn't be it. Dean had dealt with wayward kids before, and often surprised Sam that he actually wasn't all that terrible with them.
Maybe it was the way that the kid had readied his stance for a fight instinctively after Dean and Sam exited the car earlier. But… that shouldn't be it either- he'd never begrudge another hunter, even weird ones like these kids, that kind of instinct. After all, he and Sam were grown adults who had cornered who had cornered them in an alley. It would have been more suspicious not to be scared or prepare for a fight of some sort, in their position.
Sam and Annabeth were talking each other's ears off, though they were still both keeping some cards close to their chests. Dean was glad to see it, honestly- that his brother wasn't immediately telling all of their family secrets (not that Dean thought he would)- But also that these two kids weren't 100% trusting a couple random Hunters. Dean would have considered scolding them for acting like dumbasses if they did, honestly…. After Sam had wrung them for more information about the kind of monsters they dealt with, what killed them, etc etc.
When Percy suddenly looked back and met his eyes, the feeling of being in danger intensified for a moment before settling back down, somehow. He saw an appraising look in the kids eyes that matched his own, and watched as the 17 year old slowed down, detaching from his girlfriend's side to join Dean a few yards back.
"Sorry." Percy offered easily, meeting his eyes again with a sidelong smile. He was only about an inch shorter than Dean, which might have pissed him off on principle if he wasn't used to Sam being a downright Sasquatch of a man now that they were both adults. No one person needed to be that tall, dude.
Dean frowned at the unprompted apology. "The hell for, kid?"
"For… ah. Spooking you. It's not really something I do on purpose, you know?" He responded easily, as if they were talking about pizza toppings or something. "My friends keep saying I have a resting asshole face. That, mixed with whatever other vibes you've been picking up from me…." Percy trailed off, shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. The kid had a furrow between his thick black brows, and looked vaguely uncomfortable, which was having the unfortunate effect of making Dean feel like an asshole.
He was an asshole, of course. But it seemed like the kid didn't like seeming scary, or just didn't see himself that way, and Dean's obvious suspicion hadn't made it any better. So he felt like even more of an ass than usual.
Percy cleared his throat, which knocked him out of his thoughts. "Anyways. You guys didn't have to come along. But you are, so… thanks."
Dean watched the boy in disbelief for a second before realizing he was serious. "Of course we were going to come along!" he argued somewhat gruffly. The idea of leaving a couple kids to go fight a monster and save two other kids was out of the god damned question.
The teen cracked a grin at that, like Dean had just passed some sort of test. "Technically speaking, you really didn't." He pointed out. Then Percy skipped back ahead to join up with the others, a hand settling protectively between his girlfriend's shoulder blades as he matched pace with her and Sam.
Huffing a sigh, Dean slowly sped up to join the group, at his brother's side. He watched as Percy threw him a sidelong grin over their smarties, and couldn't help the smile that tugged at his own lips.
Alright, so maybe this kid wasn't as dangerous as his instincts had been telling him.
Or maybe Percy was just as dangerous as his intuition had been screaming at him. Just… not to him or Sam.
Dean watched the way Percy's eyes softened, watching Annabeth and Sam yap about silver killing werewolves, and supposed he could live with that.