[Set in newyork_groove. bound_byfate is mine to use and abuse as I choose. Set about eight years ago, right after Sam left for Stanford when Dean was feeling a little reckless. yougottatrustme, ibrought_thison, and asmymen_depart are all referenced with permission and love.]

Dean needed something to do with his time.

He had spent the past eighteen years looking after Sam. John Winchester was a smart man, and a hell of a leader for the Winchester-Campbell crime family, but father of the year he was not. Dean loved his father, but he was often more concerned with keeping his family safe than actually spending time with his family. Dean had a job. It was take care of Sam. Take care of Sam he did—in fact, he might have protected him a little more than he should. Because now Sam was gone, and Dean was alone—and to be frank, he hated every fucking minute of it.

He was in a bar on the wrong side of town, but even that side of town knew not to mess with him. They knew who he was and that trying to kick him out of their bar would just make more trouble for them than they really wanted. They were more than willing to let him have his booth in the back of the bar and drink himself into oblivion rather than cause any trouble. It’s not like he didn’t pay. At least, until she walked in.

She was wearing a tight black dress that hugged all her curves in all the right places, along with just the right flash of pale cleavage at the top. She was practically built to get his attention, and he was aware that it might have been a little too much of a coincidence, but he was a little too drunk to care at the moment, and was more than willing to try and get that cleavage to fit in the palm of his hand without getting slapped. It took way faster than he had anticipated, but he was high on endorphins and alcohol and was more than willing to follow her back to her hotel room and let her have her wicked way with him.

That had the potential to be a bad move.

She pulled the knife the second they got in the door. She was fast, and he had to give her a lot of credit, but Dean Winchester didn’t get to where he was by being an idiot. Five minutes of struggling later, and he had her pinned against the door, tightening his grip on her wrist until the knife was dropped. He pressed closer, leaning in to drop his voice against her ear before letting his hand slide over her curves, still sensual but clearly checking for weapons. “Anything else I should know about, or is this gonna be more like a treasure hunt?”

“You know, that’s kind of pathetic,” she grit her teeth, her hips pushing back against his hips. “I’m here to try and kill you, and you’re still turned on.”

He grinned, before leaning forward to nip against her skin, while his hand slipped past the hem of her skirt, finding the inside of her thigh and moving upwards, chuckling at the involuntary moan that came from her lips. “Looks like I’m not the only one, sweetheart.” His fingers teased the crease of her thigh before getting back down to business. “So who sent you?”

“Don’t know, don’t care,” she replied. “I get a check and a target, and I get the job done.”

Dean straightened a bit, surprised. “You’re a Reaper.” Someone had sent a Reaper after him? John must have really pissed someone the fuck off.

“Huh. You’re not as much of an idiot as they said you’d be.” He backed off just enough to let her turn around, which was proving to be a problem because, well, cleavage, but he managed to keep his cool together for just a moment longer. “Almost makes me feel bad that I have to off you.”

Dean needed to think fast, which was a problem because his brain wasn’t so big on the idea at the moment. He still had her pinned by the wrists, but he really didn’t know how much longer that was going to last. Reapers were damn good at what they did, and he needed a way to talk himself out of this, and fast.

“How much?”

“What?”

“How much was the hit?”

“Five mill. Why?”

He didn’t have that kind of green. Not handy, anyway. But he maybe could do something else. “What if I could offer you something better?”

“Better?” Now she was looking confused. She was trying to figure out what he was after, and he wasn’t even sure if he had the power to broker this, but he was going to try.

“I’m John Winchester’s kid. You had to know that before you got here. What if I could get your boss an in with the biggest crime family in New York City?”

She raised an eyebrow. “You’re trying to bargain with me?”

“Hey, I don’t wanna die, and I don’t exactly feel like killin’ anyone tonight.” He loosened his grip on her wrists a bit, trying it gauge if he could trust her. “Since I doubt you’re gonna leave here without killin’ me unless I give you somethin’ else—” It was a long shot, but at least he had to try.

“And if he accepts?”

“Then we have an alliance. You don’t pick up hits on us, we keep business comin’ your way.”

“They might want a little more than just allies, Dean,” she said, straightening a bit. “They might want something they can make a little more money off of, if you know what I mean.”

He caught the drift. He wasn’t exactly thrilled with the idea, but it was the price of keeping his family safe. Besides, he wanted to get out of New York for a while anyway. “Fine. I’ll give him whatever he wants. We got a deal?”

The girl considered the look on his face for a moment, before nodding. “Okay. I’ll talk to him.” That was the great thing about a person who was paid to kill someone. IT wasn’t personal to them. There was always a way to work some leverage. He relaxed a bit more, but then she was advancing on him again, in a way that was a little more friendly. “But first things first.”

She backed him up so that he was forced to sit on the bed, before pushing up to straddle his lap, then leaning in to kiss him again. He leaned into the kiss eagerly, before pulling back with a grin as his hands found the zipper to her dress. “Told ya it made ya hot.”

“Shut your mouth before I change my mind about not killing you.” She leaned in to kiss him breathless again, before pulling back and murmuring against his lips. “Tessa.”

“Huh?”

“My name’s Tessa.”

“Nice doing business with you, Tessa.”



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