013. CHRISTIAN EXPO

✎ S1E5 ⇢ ˗ˏˋ PART 1 , 2019

|"GOOD FOR THE SOUL"
     Dean didn't dream of anything that night, unfortunately. He had simply awoken early in the morning to birds chirping, filling his ears. He sensed an extra weight on his chest, slowly opening his groggy eyes. Half-open, he finds his pet dog on his belly asleep. With a pleased groan, he rubs his dog's head. "Mornin' Tazz." His characteristically deep husky voice rang out as he spoke.

He gets up tiredly, falling asleep as he sits up on the couch. His dog jumped off and went wherever it pleased. He shriveled his hair and stands. He stretches with his hands above his head and moans. The stretch was too good as he felt sudden dizziness afterward, grasping the arm of the couch.

He then makes his way to his kitchen, grabs a cup and puts it under the coffee maker, gets his favorite type of coffee, and turns it on. His back faces the living room as he stares out through the window that had his backyard visible.

He opens the backdoor and whistles for his dog to use the restroom; he closes it as he watched his dog go past the door. As he made his way back to the living room, a fully dressed Hughie walks towards him and sat on a chair.

"Morning Dean," Hughie spoke with a drastic change of emotion from yesterday.

Dean looks at him with a confused expression and leans against the counter across from him. He crosses his arms and hugs his elbows. "Mornin'. What's got you all happy?"

Hughie plays with his jacket sleeve. "Nothing in particular, but- there's an event I'm going to with Annie today. I was thinking if you wanted to come too?"

He hums, taking in the request Hughie has asked. "What exactly is it? I don't keep up with practically anything."

"It's a Christian thing," Hughie says as Dean checks on his coffee, seeing it was done pouring. He takes it out, the coffee mug warm to the touch. Dean turns his attention back to Hughie, taking a sip of his drink. "She wanted me to come with her, and..." He bit his tongue at what he had said next. "Butcher will be there too. You can give him what you showed me last night."

"Oh sure," Dean said. "I could...you planning to leave right now?"

"I- I was, yeah," Hughie nods, folding his hands together. "Unless you still want to come?"

"...I'll go. I'm basically on a break from work, so why not?" Dean responded.

Hughie grins and stands up. "Great, well, let's get going. It's quite a drive-"

"Hold up," Dean held up his hand.

"Uh, for what?" Hughie asks.

Dean points to himself, then to his coffee, signaling him wanting to finish his coffee before anything. Looking disheveled everywhere with baggy eyes he takes his mug with him, walking to the stairs. "Lemme change. I'll be out in a sec."

"Sure," Hughie laughs at his appearance and puts his hands on his hips. He sat on the couch, waiting for Dean.

He soon came back after 10 minutes. Hughie turned his head around and took a second to observe. Dean wore a hat that was half brown in the front and white in the back. He had black glasses covering his green eyes. His attire was matching, too. He had a plain military green shirt with a brown dress shirt over it. A jacket over the two going back and forth between evergreen and a palace green color. Last but not least, with black jeans and brown boots. No one would know it was Rebound if they crossed paths with him in his current attire.

He heard Dean cough to get his attention. "We gonna get a move on?"

"Oh- yeah, yeah. Let's go." Hughie gets embarrassed at staring, hoping Dean thought nothing of it. He gets up and heads to the door.

Dean opens the door, so Hughie went through first. He looks at Hughie as if he were checking him out. With a pleased hum, he spoke. "We're kinda matching Hughie, you notice that?"

Hughie wore a forest green jacket with an orange and white stripe going vertical on the left shoulder. With a Billy Joel shirt underneath it. "Yeah, wanna cookie for that astounding find?"

Letting out a deep laugh, Dean pushes him out by his back. His touch was gentle, even though the action was meant as a push. "Okay, let's not make me feel dumb for trying to compliment you."

"Oh..." Hughie felt rather bad after that.

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     He wasn't really religious, Dean never believed in a God, or he has yet to find evidence of such. He wasn't full atheist either, but an agnostic atheist. He wouldn't discredit others beliefs in a certain god. If the only proof of a God was a Bible full of testaments that have been translated over years of ye Olde English and modern English, of course he'd be skeptical. But when you have superhero(s) that have literally wings that looked ethereal, it could persuade anyone. To his benefit, he knew how all the supes were made, they weren't God given or born. Belief keeps a person in hope for a better future, life and in most cases. The afterlife. Dean wish he had that sense of belief, something to hold to for life. Instead he lives on the edge of his life everyday, worrying about Homelander and his suicidal tendencies.

If he was honest to himself, he hasn't really thought of it since meeting Hughie. As much as he doesn't want to admit it, he was his only friend since...well since forever.

He shakes his thoughts away and focuses on his walk. He watched as Hughie walked along with Starlight.

Finding a man with a beard similar to Butcher's, wearing a Hawaiian shirt led Dean to believe it was the English Bitch he met at the place they held Translucent. Another unknow man stood beside him.

The hell actually happend to him anyway...
Dean walks up from behind them. "Butcher..."

Butcher turns with a skeptical look until he sees Dean. A smirk forms on his face. "Well if it ain't Hughie's fuck buddy."

"Seriously?" Dean spoke with a annoyed voice.

"Who is this Butcher, another guy you drag into the mess?" The man in a brown leather jacket, with a grey shirt. A gold chain hanging off his neck, spoke with hostility.

"Even better," Butcher got close to the man's face, to which the man held a confused expression and back up a bit. "Rebound."

You don't go saying that about, dumbass....

It seem this struck fear in the man as he back up a second time and looks at Butcher with fearful eyes. "The hell you got this punk here for Butcher? It's bad enough he looks like you know who."

"Don't piss yourself M.M, I got a hold on him. Oh and uh," Butcher then turns his attention back to Dean. "Dean, M.M."

Then he turns back to the man named M.M. "M.M., Dean. Now you're acquainted, so don't fuckin' kill eachother alright?"

Butcher began to walk towards the center where people stood, listening to Ezekiel preaching. Dean recognized him from the club.

He puts his hands in his pockets and spoke. "So," M.M looks at Dean with a bitch face full of skepticism. "What does M.M stand for?"

"Mother's Milk. Just- don't get in my way alright?" M.M then follows Butcher, leaving a shocked Dean behind. Hmm...does he know soldier boy. Assuming that is who he was referring to...

He catches up to them, finding Hughie walking along with them. "$15,000 dollars for an exclusive VIP experience with Ezekiel. Seriously? There's not an easier and cheaper way for us to get to him?" Hughie catches Dean in his peripheral and gives a nod, acknowledging his existence as does Dean. Following them from behind quietly.

"We ain't getting to Ezekiel. You are." Butcher said.

Hughie voice raises in confusion. "I am?"

M.M intervenes. "Whoa, whoa, wait. What?"

Butcher continues to talk. "Well, Starlight's one of the headliners, right? She'll get you in."

"Whoa," Hughie states, scratching at his head. "Look, we've only been on, like, a date and a half, okay? I can't just ask her for a Diamond Club Pass."

Butcher takes off his glasses. "What's the matter? You worried your fake supe girlfriend's gonna think you're using her? Hell, take Dean for more convincing. She'll probably agree with him there."

"Wait, wait," Dean held up a hand and gets in between Hughie and M.M. Hughie steps aside for Dean while M.M did not. "what are you guys even planning?"

"Hughie," Butcher states in a non-sympathic way. "Keeping your own lad out the business, Rebound at that. How could you?"

Hughie shrugs. "I didn't really think he needed to know. He had other stuff going on." Hughie didn't want another burden being put on Dean's shoulder after hearing what had happened to him in the past few days.

"Know what?" Dean asks with persistence.

"Well you seen that cunt up on the stage?" Butcher points to Ezekiel.

Dean leans on his right leg and crosses his arms. His left eyebrow rises. "Yeah, that's the guy from the club."

He cleans his glasses on his shirt as he nods. "Aye, he's been doing some...underground trading. We need Hughie to get closer and get information."

"Okay, then what?" Hughie butted in. "I- just go up to Ezekiel, "Hey man. Whats up with you smuggling blue dope into Chinatown basements?" "

"Yeah, pretty much. Once you show him this." Butcher took out his phone and held it towards Hughie. It showed Ezekiel and two other men making out.

"Damn," Dean lets out a laugh. While Hughie grasp the phone quickly and covers it with his jacket.

"Jesus," Hughie says. "This is from that club you took us to?"

"You remember our first night together. I'm touched." Butcher eagerly states. While Hughie and Dean held a 'wtf' look.

"Okay, why is this the first time I'm hearing about this plan? This kid needs to be trained up, Butcher."

Dean didn't say anything but he mentally agreed on M.M recommendation. Hughie to Dean was a guy suffering from ptsd with no prior knowledge on fighting, negotiating, or anything dealing with crime. Hughie was and is still a saint in Dean's eyes. As much as it contradicts his beliefs.

"Yeah. Yeah, what he said. I don't know how to blackmail anybody." Hughie states as he agreed with M.M.

Butcher lowers his voice and got closer to the three. "Hughie, you've done a murder. Comparatively speaking, this will be a piece of cake." It had seem Butcher said something in front of Dean he wasn't supposed to. He gave a smirk to him and left it at that, leaving.

M.M. and Hughie share a look.

Murder? The hell is he talking about?

Hughie had stiffen when Butcher spoke about the murder. He remembered Dean didn't know anything about it, or he had hoped and didn't want to confront it with a pissed off supe. As M.M left the two, Hughie began to close in on himself more.

"Hey...what does Butcher mean you've done murder?" Dean asks with a questionable gaze. Watching as Hughie kept his eyes straight with a stiff stance.

Hughie takes in a long breath and faces Dean. Dean began to notice the types of faces Hughie does when he looks frightend. Right now, he observed Hughie to be in a trance state, looking behind Dean. "Oh," He concluded. "It's none of business... I'll just stop asking about it-"

Hughie was surprised by how naive Dean was at the moment. How he didn't click pieces that Translucent wasn't heard from after he left, and it was the last he saw Dean in a bit. No suspicion from Dean apparently. "No," Hughie stops Dean. He grabs his forearm and takes him behind a tent, secluded from most crowds. His hold, tight against Dean's green jacket.

Usually when people grab him this way it leads to a hotel bed, no matter what. Dean's open to new experiences. "Woah, Hughie I mean, really? Kinda quick, ain't it buddy?" Dean taunts as Hughie pushes him against the white tent, making him almost fall on it. He gets up and slides his hand on Hughie's chest.

"What?" Hughie gazes at the hand on his chest. It triggered a weirdly sensation within him, but he discards it. He looks at Dean with a concerned gaze until he got a hint at what Dean was supposedly talking about. His eye lids widden. "No- dude, that is not why I brought you right here." He grabs his wrist and throws it.

Hughie scans their surroundings once more. "Can you hear Homelander? Is he around?"

Dean closes his eyes as he focuses in on anything sounding like John. No flying, no speech, no yelling, John wasn't near. He opens his eyes to a concerned Hughie.

"Well?" Hughies spoke with instance.

"He's not near," He took off his hat and fans his head a bit before putting it back on. "Why? Does it involve him?"

Hughie nods and shakes off his hands. "Okay..." Hughie directed that more to him than Dean. "It's about the murder."

Dean shrugs and rubs his stubble. "I mean I really didn't take you for murder Hughie, the only thing that concerns me is how you aren't-"

"Translucent." Hughie states with a low voice, knowing Dean could hear it.

Scoffing, Dean walks past him. Looking over his shoulder to Hughie. "Translucent? You killed him?"

Hughie's pace of breath picks up. "Look Dean I didn't mean to, he was just-"

"It's alright, it's alright. The prick kinda had it coming." Dean still didn't turn to Hughie.

Blicking rappidly, Hughie walks up to Dean. "So...you're not mad? He is- was your teammate? I mean people tend to get mad with stuff like this."

Looking up to the sky, Dean exhales. He turns with a sudden twirl, making Hughie back up a few feet in suprise. "I'm not mad Hughie, Im just bummed I wasn't there to see it."

With a eye widen expression, Hughie held his mouth open. Unresponsive to Dean.

Dean closes his eyes in regret as he saw how Hughie reacted. "Too soon?"

Hughie smiles, dipping his head. They began to walk beside eachother. Hughie had his hands in his pockets swaying side to side. Their pace in walking was matching and their shoulders rub against eachother when Hughie sways. "Yeah, but knowing you...nothing is ever too soon."

Dean latches his arm around Hughie shoulders, putting his weight on him. "Hughie. What the hell does that even mean?"

Hughie looked at Dean from an angel, since he was leaving his weight on him. Dean's height was shortend by a few inches. They give eachother quite a difficult gaze to decipher, until Hughie looks away first, a smile lingering on his face. "I don't know, I was just talking out of my ass."

"Oi!" Butcher...who else would it have been?

Letting go on Hughies shoulder, Butcher returns with M.M. He had a cone of popcorn as well. "You lot believe in God?"

Hughie was the first to answer. "I mean. I don't know."

Butcher was aghast. "What? Come off it."

Hughie affirms his previous statement. "Yeah. I don't know. I don't think it's Morgan Freeman up there or anything, but it can't all be random chaos."

"How about you Dean?" Butcher asks.

Dean rests his weight on his left leg, playing with his shortened hair, much like Butcher's. "Uh, no. I believe everything happens because of the previous things that led up to it. Nothing is determined by god. Just like Translucent."

Butcher looks Dean up and down, as if he approved something off him. "Right that. Then Hughie, you think what happen to Robbin was some kind of divine intervention? Is that what you're saying?"

At that, Hughie was loss in a trance. M.M held a ridiculed expression at Butcher, disapproving of Butcher's response. He paid no mind and went away to answer a phone call.

Dean lightly slaps his hand on Hughie shoulder blade. "You alright?"

Hughie gazes at Dean's greens eyes and nods. "Yeah...let's go find Annie."

Soon enough they find Annie with her mother. Dean recognized them from a few days before. "Hey...hey you two. How's it going?" Hughie says.

Dean stood by as Annie waves her mother off and turns her attention to the two men.

"It's a been a bit, Starlight." Dean says.

Annie confused, tilts her head to get a good look at him. "I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh," Dean takes off his hat and glasses, holding them. Giving a smile at Starlight.

She laughs in relief. "Rebound- I'm so sorry. I didn't recognize you."

"It's alright, Hughie actually wanted to talk to you." Hughie side eyes Dean as he spoke.

With a more confused face, she spoke. Pointing between them. "You two know eachother?"

"Yeah, met him at a store. How'd you meet him?" Dean asks.

Hughie was appalled. They were talking as if he didn't stand right next to him. "I actually met him on a park bench- well as Annie anyway."

"Nice," Hughie and Annie share a loving smile, Dean took notice. "Well," Dean claps his hands walking backwards. "Ima let you two love birds catch up. And Hughie-"

"Yeah?" Hughie says, without looking at him.

"I'll be waiting."

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     Dean stood at the entrance to the tent, for a couples of mintues waiting for Hughie to be done. He checks his watch, his hat and glasses now back on. He wish he was with his dog at the moment.

A woman quuckly barges in his space. "Sorry sir but this is for reserved personal users only."

"Oh, um, I'm Rebound ma'am." He takes off his hat and glasses once more, showing her his face.

Her expression light up in recognition. "My apologies, you can enter." He then puts them back on.

"Okay just waiting on-" Dean sees Hughie walking his way, he was looking straight at Dean. "Got everything?"

"Yeah...I got it," Hughie sighs. His mind full of guilt at using Annie for a pass.

Showing the lady the pass, she lets them both through. They enter, automatically looking for Ezekiel. "There he is." Dean whispers, pointing to where he stood.

Hughie nods and spoke. "Okay, let me just-"

"Hughie?" Homelander voice vibrates though Dean ears. He sighs and turns to see Homelander smiling at Hughie.

Why do I always meet him in the most awkward places...