but oh what a year

[patrols]

Comments

[imnot_likeyou]

[He shakes his head.]

Don't worry about it. Already forgotten.

[Which is also the benefit of pissing off a Winchester. Once it's resolved, they tend not to hold grudges. Unless, of course, someone is dead. They have bigger things to worry about.]

I'll set up a text thread to introduce you to Donna and Jody.

[camber]

Kay. ( He nods. Shaky on the dismount, but he landed. ) Don't... tell Ben I uh -

( A beat. You know. Love him. )

He knows I was going to talk to you. But, not uh. I haven't.

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam shakes his head.]

Not mine to tell.

[But he's glad that Ben knew he was going to talk to him.]

[camber]

Thanks. ( He winces. This is awkward now. ) I'm gonna get a beer. You want a beer?

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam shakes his head before holding up his own.]

I'm good. Thanks though.

[And he'll probably go get some air.]

[camber]

( That could have been more awkward. Altogether, he's about to be in a whole group chat. Feels like a new start. Steered things back. Maybe the same can be said for him and Ben.

He finds the bar, though, and picks through the beer choices in the tub of ice. )

[decoys]

[Jo swings around to get a refill herself, eyeing the same tub but willing to give the guy a chance to go first.]

If you want a beer that isn't completely fancy, I'd look in he next tub over.

[camber]

Good call.

( He takes a step down, finding a Corona. He holds one out to her, offering? )

[decoys]

Thanks.

[She'll take it and easily pop the top.]

I'm Jo. You're Ben's friend, right?

[camber]

One of his best. Dickerson.

( He pops the top and clinks his glass against hers. )

You know Ben?

[decoys]

Just met him. I know Sam and Dean.

[So she's heard all kinds of things.]

Our dads hunted together back in the day, and we worked a few jobs together here and there.

[camber]

Shit. You guys are everywhere. Hunters.

( He sips from his beer. )

What's it like?

[decoys]

Hunting?

[She's not sure what he's looking for from that question, so she shrugs.]

It's a job. Granted, it's a job I enjoy, I didn't get into it for the usual reasons.

[camber]

Yeah? What's the usual reasons?

( Maybe his reason falls under the usual column. )

[decoys]

Grief, revenge and alcoholism is the usual hunter package. After that comes family legacies - that would be me and the boys - and then there's people who accidentally stumble into it and can't look away. Though that's a pretty small percentage.

[Mostly Jody and Donna, from what she understands, though she hasn't met them yet.]

[camber]

That last part might be describing me.

( He tips his beer pointing at her and then back at him. )

Though, it's giving car crash or train accident. In this case, I can't shake it. I don't know how much you ... know about Ben's involvement or how he found out about everything.

[decoys]

Just bits and pieces. I know Dean made a fucked up decision, as Dean is prone to do, but he thought it was the least fucked up of all the fucked up options. But I never knew Ben.

[She died before he really came into the picture.]

[camber]

Yeah, well, he crashed back into his life thanks to some detective work. And I was there when it all came back out. Including the angel in the room.

( He even had an interesting conversation with Elena. )

Can't unknow it all, you know? World feels bigger than it did.

[decoys]

[Jo shakes her head.]

Honestly, I think it's better that way. The more people that know how to keep themselves safe, the less deaths wind up on our plate.

[camber]

And the more people that can avenge the deaths that do.

( He considers what Sam did. )

Dean's brother got me in touch with two hunters. Started me a network.

[decoys]

[Jo nods.]

Good. That's the best place to start. I'd offer some more contacts but ... a lot of them, if they're still alive, probably think I'm dead so ... that won't end well.

[camber]

You're not, not anymore. You'll get it all back.

( And maybe use it to your advantage. He doesn't say he sees where Ben gets his stubborn streak and that strength within. He doesn't suffer fools. Not the time or place, though. )

So, you're one of the lucky?

[decoys]

Yep. Lucky me.

[She takes another long pull from her beer.]

Grateful to be breathing, but still don't love the whole lack of answers we have at the moment.

[camber]

What's the going rate for answers right now?

( Now he's being nosy, but maybe it's that natural hunter instinct kicking in. )

[decoys]

Well, the witches have deemed whatever it is complete, but it's not any kind of spell they've seen before. They also didn't recognize the witch that did it.

[So that's a whole lot of dead ends.]

But they have a guy coming over the weekend who knows other things, so maybe he'll drum up something.