𝐏𝐑𝐎𝐋𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐄.

( 1x01: pilot. )

Aristotle was used to being woken up in the middle of the night, plagued with nightmares that consisted of rubber on asphalt and the metallic taste of blood. But, waking up to the sound of a window creaking open was something entirely new.

The teenager's eyelids fluttered open almost abruptly as his subconscious registered the sound and the draft of night air he felt on his exposed skin only further confirmed his suspicions. Footsteps shuffled around in the darkness and Aristotle instinctively pulled the green stuffed T-rex he held closer to his chest. Contemplating on whether or not to turn on the lamp that was beside him on the table, he squinted at the darkness in a rather useless attempt to see who - or what - exactly was moving around in the shadows. But before he could register anything there was the sound of what the young teen could only imagine was a physical fight and with his teeth pulling back his lower lip, Aristotle shrunk back against the couch.

"Whoa, easy, tiger," a voice Aristotle didn't recognize laughed.

"Dean?"

That voice Aristotle knew like his own. Sam Winchester, the guy who had been taking care of him, alongside his girlfriend Jessica ever since Aristotle's parents fell victim to a car accident. That was a little over five months ago and even though many people told the couple to send Aristotle off to live with his actual family, the two never did.

The unfamiliar voice laughed again and Aristotle wrinkled his nose up at the sound before finally deciding to shed light on the room by pulling the chain on the lamp beside him. It barely lit up the surrounding area but it provided him just enough light to see a strapping male sporting a leather jacket step back from Sam. The male's gaze drifted towards Aristotle as the yellowish glow of the light bulb washed across his face, eyes widening a bit before they returned to Sam. His lips parted to speak but before he could utter a sentence the lights flooded into the room and Jessica appeared in the doorway.

"Sam?"

"Jess. Hey." Sam turned his head in unison with the other. "Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."

"Wait," Jessica questioned, "Your brother Dean?"

Dean approached the blonde with his gaze looking at her appreciatively. Aristotle set his jaw at this, growing nauseated at the way this unfamiliar person looked at Jessica like she was an object.

"Oh, I love the Smurfs." Dean grinned. "You know, I gotta tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league."

Jessica turned to exit the room. "Just let me go put something on."

"No, no, no." Dean's voice stopped her. "I wouldn't dream of it. Seriously."

"Hey, Dean," Aristotle finally spoke up with the name coming out as a sarcastic sneer. "Maybe stop treating her like she's some object."

At the sound of his voice, Dean's head turned to look at Aristotle once again, the confusion from before as the two locked gazes.

"Hey, Sammy." He turned his head back towards Sam with his teeth flashing in a grin. "You go and have a kid and didn't think to tell me about it?"

Sam's gaze flickered to Aristotle briefly before returning to his brother. "He's not my kid."

"So, what?" Dean mused. "You just let random twelve-year-olds crash on your couch?"

"He's not twelve, Dean."

"I'm fourteen."

As both Sam and Aristotle's voices spoke in unison Dean did a double-take.

"And I have a name," Aristotle continued. "It's Aristotle."

Dean's eyes widened slightly in what Aristotle could only recognize as shock. In return, he squinted back at the other.

"Anyway," Dean slowly returned his gaze to his younger brother, dragging out the end of the word. "I gotta borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business."

He glanced back at Aristotle briefly. "But, uh, nice meeting you."

"No," Sam shook his head. "Whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of them."

"Okay," Dean muttered.

"Dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a Miller Time shift," Sam replied. "He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Dean ducked his head before returning his gaze to Sam. "Dad's on a hunting trip… And he hasn't been home in a few days."

Aristotle's brow furrowed, confused. The teen didn't know much about Sam's family, especially not his father, so the sentence that had left Dean's lips left his curiosity piqued. His attention turned to Sam, whose face hadn't changed a bit but his tone was grave as he spoke.

"Jess, Ari, excuse us. We have to go outside."

Which is exactly how Aristotle found himself sitting beside Jessica as the two of them watched as Sam rummaged through the dresser drawers for clothes.

"So," the teenager said, "You're seriously gonna go on a road trip with this guy who just broke in?"

Sam suppressed a chuckle. "He's my brother, Ari."

"Okay, well there's other ways of getting in contact with people like, oh I don't know, maybe picking up the phone and calling them?" Aristotle replied, throwing his hands out to the side for emphasis as his gaze followed after Sam.

"Is this about your dad?" Jessica inquired. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah. You know, just a little family drama," Sam replied in a tone that made Aristotle's brows furrow together.

"Your brother said he was on some kind of hunting trip."

"Oh, yeah, he's just deer hunting up at the cabin," Sam replied. "He's probably got Jim, Jack, and José along with him. I'm just going to go bring him back."

"What about the interview?" Jessica questioned.

"I'll make the interview. This is only for a couple of days," Sam promised quietly.

"Sam, I mean it, please," Jessica implored. "Just stop for a second. You sure you're okay?"

Aristotle turned his attention towards the other with a small frown tugging his lips downwards. His brown eyes were brimmed with concern, finding Sam's promise of being fine lackluster.

"It's just...you won't even talk about your family. And now you're taking off in the middle of the night to spend a weekend with them?" Jessica continued. "And with Monday coming up, which is kind of a huge deal."

"And considering the family member you're going on this road trip with broke in through a window," Aristotle added.

"Hey," Sam said, "Everything's going to be okay. I will be back in time, I promise."

Aristotle wanted to protest against Sam's statement, attempt to get him to stay home, but, all the words fell short and all he could do was return the hug he was given from the older before watching him leave.

Jessica glanced briefly at the teen who sat idly on their bed before she called after her boyfriend. "At least tell us where you're going!"

━━━━━━━━━

Aristotle never realized how much space a person could fill until that space was empty.

The brunet exhaled, gaze trained on the book in front of him, but the words seemed to be muddling up on the white pages. He knew it was likely from the lack of sleep he was receiving but no matter what he did he couldn't shut his mind off to relax.

"Ari?" The voice of Jessica questioned from the doorway, nearly causing the other to jump. "What're you doing up?"

Aristotle shut the book as his gaze turned to the blonde. "I couldn't sleep."

"Well," Jessica spoke gently but Aristotle could tell there was more she wanted to say, "Then you can help me bake these cookies for when Sam gets home."

Aristotle smiled, getting to his feet and following behind the other towards the secluded makeshift kitchen the dorm room owned. For a moment, his worry from before had somehow dissipated with the promise of baked goods.

Jessica placed a metal bowl in his hands, smiling slightly. "Get to mixing, kiddo."

Aristotle snorted before beginning to mix the wet and dry ingredients, for once not thinking about the fact that Sam wasn't home yet.

"Why couldn't you sleep?"

So much for that, Aristotle thought.

He sighed out with his gaze trained on the brown mixture that was coming to life as he continued to stir. "I'm worried."

"About?"

"About Sam," Aristotle replied in a mutter. "It's Sunday and he's not back yet. What if something happened? I mean, what if Dean wasn't who he said he was and their dad isn't missing?"

"Ari, you've got to have a little more faith in him," Jessica chuckled.

"I have faith in Sam," The teenager looked up at her. "Just not in Dean, the guy who broke in and whisked his brother off on some road trip to find their missing father."

Jessica looked at the younger, perplexed. "Ari.."

"If something happens to Sam because of Dean… I just–" Aristotle's voice caught,  not aware he was tearing up until the scenery in front of him became blurry.

With a soft 'oh' Jessica crossed the room, taking the bowl from Aristotle's shaking hands and gathering him up in her arms. Drawing in a breath, Aristotle shrunk into the female's hold with his face hidden in her shoulder, arms around her torso, bringing himself closer within the process.

"I'm scared," He whispered.

"It's okay," Jessica consoled. "I am too. But, Sam's gonna come back tonight and things'll go back to normal."

Aristotle nodded, trying his hardest to believe that what the other was saying was true. But something inside of him, some part of him was telling him that none of it was, and that thought made him hug Jessica a bit tighter.

━━━━━━━━━

Something's on fire.

The overwhelming scent of smoke clogged Aristotle's nostrils, burning his lungs. Overtaken by confusion, he pushed the blankets off his body and sat on the edge of the couch. In the moonlit shadows of the room, he noticed Sam's jacket hanging up by the door.

Sam.

The shouts from the bedroom flooded through the confusion that had blocked him from realizing anything and the teenager turned his head sharply towards the sounds, heart freezing. He pushed himself to his feet just as the front door was kicked open and he came face to face with none other than Dean Winchester.

"Dean,"

The eldest Winchester's head turned upon hearing his name, eyes wild but they softened the slightest bit upon seeing Aristotle's frightened frame. He approached the young teen quickly and placed his cell phone in the palm of his hand. "Go outside and call 911."

Aristotle looked up at him with tears brimming his eyes. "But Sam and Jess–"

"I'll get them," Dean cut him off with a push towards the open door. Aristotle hesitated, but upon seeing the pleading look the other held he took off out the front door.

Call 911, He thought. It’s just three numbers, Aristotle, just dial it.

He flipped open the phone Dean had previously shoved into his hands, trembling fingers ghosting over the keypad, surprised the number even went through as he placed the device to his ear. He could barely hear the ringing over the white noise buzzing in his head, bile rising to the back of his throat and it took everything he had in him to not empty his stomach onto the pavement.

“911, what is your emergency?”

Aristotle hesitated. “Fire… There’s a fire.”

The phone call, only being thirty or so minutes, felt like an eternity to the panicked teenager whose gaze was trained solely on the orange-colored window where the flames of the fire crackled against the glass. Even after he had hung up, his gaze never left that spot until the movement of two figures in front of the dorm caught his attention. By now a small crowd had formed but Aristotle's attention was trained on the two men fumbling out of the burning building, everything else had faded away.

"Sam," He forced out in a broken voice. He took a few steps through the crowd that had begun to cover his view of the house, noticing as the man's gaze searched for whoever had spoken with a tearful gaze. "Sam!" He cried out over the wail of approaching sirens, nearly stumbling over himself as he pushed himself through the people who stood gawking at the fire.

As Aristotle stepped into Sam's line of sight, he noticed the absence of Jessica, and his stomach twisted. But before he could get a word out, Sam had him in his arms and, with his adrenaline rush ending rather abruptly, Aristotle collapsed into his touch. Sam's clothes smelt so much of smoke Aristotle found himself breathing through his mouth midway through the embrace.

"Where's Jess?" He questioned quietly, lifting his head from Sam's chest to meet the others' eyes. Sam didn't say a word but his facial expression was enough, the way it twisted into one of almost pain and the tears flooded to his dark eyes once more.

Aristotle felt sick. "No," He whispered, pleading. "Please, Sam."

He was greeted with silence and tears welled up in his doe eyes as the pounding in his chest returned, accompanied by the trembling of his hands. His gaze drifted to Dean as if the other would have some different answer, but the man wouldn't even look at him.

Jessica can't be dead, Aristotle thought. She was just here.

The teenager shook his head, internally telling himself to wake up. He'd wake up and things would be okay. Jess would be alive and Sam would go to his interview, things would be okay. But there was no avail to his internal pleas for his mind to wake up, no matter how many times he closed his eyes he always opened them to the same setting.

Jessica was gone, and that made him hold on to Sam as tight as possible.

author's note! ━━━━━━━━━

First chapter done! I promise these will be longer/more action filled once we get to the actual hunting episodes!
I hope you all are enjoying Ari's character so far because he's literally my baby and I'd die for him <3
The above gifs were created by the very talented voidlessstiles ! <33
I love you all and have a wonderful day!