[ you get to see the big happy hunting family in this one cool

warnings: same as last time; language, guns, monsters, character death, injury, blood

stay safe,
lew. ]

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By the time the three of them reach the main group's home, it's just past dawn. An all night drive, only made bearable by coffee and Monster.

Lewis is waiting for the trio out on the front porch, a toddler sleeping cuddled up against his shoulder. He looks tired, but that's normal.

Ezra's the first one out of the stolen car. He doesn't even pause to say hello, instead storming directly into the house to find his angel. Lewis doesn't take offense in it.

Chase takes longer, because she's got to coax Bailey into getting out of the car. By the time he's finally climbing out, Lewis and the kid have walked over to them. "Sorry about dragging y'all out here, but Harry and Logan figured Ezra wouldn't wanna wait. We've got extra beds for you this time."

Chase gives him a tired grin. "Thanks, man. I appreciate it. B, this is Lewis, the little guy is Tyler. Lew, this is Bailey. We picked him up while we were working that crossroads demon case a few months ago."

"Are you adjusting okay?" is the first thing Lewis asks, giving Bailey a genuine smile. "I know it can be hard to get used to all of this, so if you need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"Thank you," he says softly, giving the man a nervous smile. "Ezra's really... it's hard to get used to him, but Chase has been amazing."

He seems shocked by that, but he covers it up well. "Well... Might as well come inside and try to get some sleep. You should have a few hours unless Ezra starts yelling and wakes everyone up."

"Thanks, dude," Chase tells him, taking hold of Bailey's hand. Unfortunately, she grabs his injured arm, causing him to hiss out in pain. "Sorry!"

"Find Logan when you get up. See what he can do, all right?"

"Will do, boss," she replies jokingly.

--

Chase has barely drifted off to sleep when someone shouts from further within the house. Bailey's still passed out, so she makes sure the blanket is secure around him before she hunts out the source of the noise.

Knife in hand, she makes her way towards the back of the house, Before she gets too far, Logan ends up joining her, sharing a troubled look. She eases the door open, then follows him when he lunges inside.

It's just Ezra, the guy she assumes is the angel, and Lewis' wife Z. From the look on the woman's face, she's been dealing with Ezra's bullshit for a while.

He's got a knife out, one that's somehow glowing, and automatically, she can tell it's bad news. Z stands between him and the sleeping angel, and she gives the intruding pair a disapproving look.

"I've got this under control. Ezra just won't listen," she tells Logan, who relaxes a bit.

Chase follows his lead, then quietly calls to Ezra. "Did you not learn your lesson last time? Z knows shit. Listen to Z. What's she telling you this time?"

"I'm telling him to not stab the angel. I don't know why we need to let him wake up, but we do." Z tells her, crossing her arms. "I just get a really bad feeling about what'll happen if you kill him."

"Ezra. Dude. Listen to me. You can't get answers if you kill the angel," Logan tries, sliding his pistol into the holster and stepping closer.

"Fine. Wake up the dumbass and have him put all the protection sigils he knows. We're not letting him get away again."

--

Even though Ezra demanded it, Chase doesn't wake Bailey up for a couple more hours. And when she finally does, she's gentle about it, carding her fingers through his hair and murmuring to him.

Logan, who's there to see what can be done about the gash in Bailey's arm, laughs at how out of character this is for her, but there's something almost tender in his voice when he tells her, "You must really care about this kid. If it were anyone else, you'd be shaking them awake."

She shoots him a dirty look, but before she can say anything, Bailey finally stirs, rubbing at his eyes. "What's goin' on?"

"This is Logan, he's gonna take a look at your arm where that demon clawed you. Then, we gotta go put up protections and stuff on the angel," she tells him, getting to her feet. "I'm gonna go talk to Z, come get me when you're ready to draw on the walls."

She leaves, and Bailey's carefully rubbing his eyes with his good hand before focusing on Logan. His breath catches in his throat as he scans over the other guy. "I... um... Can you help me with this?" He asks, voice pitching upwards and his face flushing darkly.

"I'll see what I can do," Logan tells him, carefully taking hold of his arm and unraveling the bandage. "Just relax. None of us are going to hurt you, all right?"

--

Despite the fact that they're only a couple years apart in age, Chase sees Z as an authority figure, even a mother figure at times. Part of it could be the knowledge she seems to have about literally every situation.

Chase lets Z braid her hair (which, she really needs a haircut and another bottle of hair bleach) while they talk. Occasionally, she'll see one of the guys peek their head in out of the corner of her eye, but they never intrude.

Z sets down the brush, then starts working on a section of hair before she says, "It's okay if you'd rather not talk about it, but I'd like to see if I could guess how you and Ezra found the new boy."

"Have at it. Want me to think about it, or are you just gonna completely guess it?"

"It's more fun to guess."

She starts to say something else, but Harry peeks in and asks, "Who's supposed to be watching Ezra? Because he's not in the house."

"I think Lewis was gonna keep an eye on him, but he probably got distracted by Ty. Give us a few, then we'll get the sigils painted and try to wake the angel up." Z ties off the braid, then both her and Chase get up.

"I'll go grab Bailey and Logan, I'll go with Lo to find Ezra if you two can help B," Chase says quickly, heading for the door.

"Sounds like a plan!"

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