្.˚⠀━━━⠀⠀BLACK WATER RIDGE!
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❛ BOHEMIAN ━━ BOOK ONE ❜
𑁍ࠬ¸𓍢 ━━ ❪ SUPERNATURAL ❫ ˖ ୧ 。
𓆸 ┊ ⠀𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐔𝐑 ⠀┊ ❀
◟ ✦ HE NEEDS US, BOTH OF US. ❞
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BOWIE WINCHESTER KNEW HIS GREATEST weakness was that he always put others before himself even when he knew he shouldn't. A fair example of this would be when he was younger, John was out hunting, leaving his underaged children at a motel with little to no money for food━━Bowie would find himself giving everything he had to his little brother Sam ( even when Bowie was barely given enough for himself.)

It often left him underweight and always exhausted but as a little boy, he didn't know any better. He thought it was normal. So, throughout his life, Bowie would always, without hesitation, put anyone's needs before his own.

Until he made the decision to go to college. It had been probably the only time in Bowie's life that he made a choice that protected himself and it still kept him up at night. Guilt always warmed the child who found the courage to remove themselves from an abusive home.

Even now, nothing had changed. Bowie found himself leaning against the Impala, watching his brother Dean through the window as he stocked up for their trip to Blackwater Ridge. After Sam's girlfriend had tragically passed on the week before, Bowie had officially decided to stay as long as his brother needed him━━damn Bowie's mental health in the process.

It was no longer about putting an end to his life-long battle of finding the thing that killed his mother like Bowie originally agreed to go for.

It was about making sure his little brother wasn't alone while he grieved another loss of a person who died the same tragic way their mother did.

"What do you mean you're staying?" Katherine's voice bellowed through the phone, the chopsticks to her Chinese take-out clinking in the background. Bowie winced at her bewildered tone, "You're telling me you still haven't found John? It's been two weeks—"

"Not about finding John anymore," He says softly, "This is about taking care of Sam."

At this, he glanced at the passenger seat where Sam was fast asleep━━finally. It took Bowie threatening to suffocate him for him to clothes his eyes.

"And who's taking care of you?" She emphasized, "Bowie, you can't keep sacrificing your mental health to take care of others! We both know what happens when things get too much and trigger you. And with great offense, your family is your biggest emotional trigger."

"Whatever got to Jessica, was the same thing that killed our mom. I need to make sure Sam doesn't go down the same path John did," Bowie says firmly, "I left him once, I can't do it again. Not now." He adds softly. "It's time to put this hunt to rest."

He could picture her rubbing her eyes in defeat, "Bowie, I hate prying, I do. . .but what about your position at the Art Institute? They're gonna send a letter any day now—"

"No, they aren't." He sighed, "They haven't even called me. Let's face it, I'm good but I was never that good." There was a long pause, "How's Stevie?"

"Misses you," She says, "'Course that might just be me projecting." She admits.

His lips tugged up in a smile, "You missing me, Katherine Louise?" He teased.

The young girl hides her stammer before a loud scoff, "I just miss not having to pay your rent while you're gone!" She replied, "You can send me a check refund."

Bowie shook his head, "Yeah, okay." The bell of the gas station rings, and Dean steps outside, "Look, I'll call you in a couple of days. If money really becomes trouble just sell some of my old paintings, okay?" She grumbled in agreement on the other end, "Oh, and Katherine?"

"Yeah?"

"I miss you, too."

Bowie snaps the phone shut and shoves it into his back pocket, giving his brother a firm nod of acknowledgment as he opened the back door and slipped inside. This time, he was quick to dodge the food and drinks Dean chucked roughly his way, the two sharing a glare.

"Talking to your little girlfriend?" Dean mocked, pulling out of the parking lot.

Bowie rolled his eyes, "Her name is Katherine," He corrects. "And she could knock you on your ass if she wanted, and trust me, she wants to."

"Yeah, I bet you tell her all that victim stuff that happened to you," Dean continued, his face twisting into bitter amusement. "Easy to make us the bad guys when you believe what you want."

Bowie clenched his jaw, saying nothing. Under any circumstance, he would've smashed Dean's head into the window but over the last week, Bowie had come to the reminder that nothing was ever solved with violence.

If it wasn't for the fact that Sam needed both of them, Bowie and Dean would've killed each other already.

So, instead of making a snark comment, Bowie pulled off his hearing aids and closed his eyes.

Within ten minutes, Sam is startled out of his sleep from another nightmare, the feeling of the leather seat moving against Bowie's knee caused the man to snap his eyes open and reach hastily for his hearing aids, turning them up just as he caught Dean's words.

"You okay?"

Sam pressed his fingers between his eyes, shaking away the sleep. He pretended that his rude awakening never happened, sitting up straighter and masking the best nonchalant face he could muster, "Yeah, I'm fine." He lies.

"Another nightmare?" Bowie asked.

Sam clears his throat, saying nothing.

Dean and Bowie glance at each other through the mirror. Their silent words were loud and clear that Sam was nowhere near okay as he pretended to be.

"Want to drive for a while?" Dean suggests lightly.

Sam scoffed a chuckle, looking surprised. "Dean, in your whole life, you never once asked me that."

He backtracks, "Just thought you might want to. Nevermind."

Bowie pops his head over the bench seat, "Can I drive?" He asked, knowing fully well that he didn't actually want to.

"No," Dean replies simply, giving his brother an overly kind smile.

"No," Bowie repeats under his breath, pitching his voice really high. Dean glared back.

"Look, guys, you're worried about me. I get it and thank you, but I'm perfectly fine." Sam says, looking at each of his brothers with a knowing look.

"Mm-hm." They both dragged, looking at each other in surprise. Jinx.

Sam grabs the map, quickly unraveling it and changing the subject. "All right. Where are we?"

"We are just outside of grand junction."

Sam sighed, "You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."

Bowie frowned, "We were there for a week and there was nothing on the thing that killed her," He didn't want to say her name, not risking seeing his little brother flinch. "If we want to find the thing that killed her—"

"We gotta find dad first." Sam finished.

The boy reeled, "I was actually going to say look into more fires for any match's and start from there, but that works too, I guess." He muttered.

"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years? It's no coincidence." Dean notes, "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

"Daddy's Boy," Bowie sang under his breath.

Dean rolled his eyes.

"It's weird, man." Sam shakes his head, "These coordinates he left us, this Black Water Ridge..."

"Yeah, what about it?"

"There's nothing there, just words."

Bowie grinned, "That's fine! I was a Boy Scout."

"When did you have time to be a Boy Scout?" Dean accused.

The boy deflates a little, "Okay, fine. I'm a self-taught Boy Scout, but—" He holds a finger up, "I passed all the badges in my head, and now I'm a fantastic tracker."

"Thank you," Dean says sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Bowie replies seriously.

"Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" Sam frowned.

"Are you surprised?" Bowie asked him.

To that, never of them respond.

——————————————————

Bowie stood in the Ranger Station with his hands in his jacket pockets, his eyes scanning the pamphlets on the wall—all emphasized on the safety when it came to traveling around Black Water Ridge.

"So Black Water Ridge is pretty remote," Sam spoke up, looking at a 3D version of the map, "It's cut off by these canyons. Rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place. ."

Bowie snapped his fingers as if he solved the whole case, "Bet five bucks whatever John was looking for is in those mines!"

Dean scoffed, "You're just guessing." He waved off, "Dude, check out the size of this fucking bear." He motions to the photo.

". .And a dozen or more Grizzlies in the area." Sam continued, standing beside him. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

The new vibration of foot patterns caused Bowie to stand straighter, his eyes cast toward the door seconds before a Ranger stepped out of his office, scooping the brother's out with a stern look.

"You guys aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?" He accuses.

"Oh, no sir. We're environmental-study majors from U.C Boulder," Sam lies with ease, "Just working on a paper."

Bowie slowly raises his hand, "I actually want to go near the Ridge, so—" Dean steps on his foot.

"Recycle, man." Dean fist-bumps the air.

"Bullshit," The Ranger says, "You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?"

Bowie instantly nods, "Yeah. We are. Hailey and I go way back."

"Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her." says the Ranger, "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the twenty-fourth. So it's not exactly a missing person now, is it?"

Bowie nods along, rubbing the corners of his mouth, "Yeah, you know, I keep telling Hails not to worry about it, but you know how she is."

"I'm sure her brother's just fine," He agrees.

"Actually," Dean continued. "You know what would help? If I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

With a hesitating nod, the Ranger agrees to make a copy of the permit. Bowie could feel the shift in tension when the brothers stepped out of the station, Sam almost looked annoyed at their brother.

"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" He accused.

"What do you mean?" Dean mused.

"The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find dad. I mean why even talk to this girl?" He asked in frustration.

"Because we don't know anything yet," Bowie reminds him, giving him a look. "You want to hike up a mountain and get mauled by a bear? Maybe Hailey knows something the Rangers don't. ."

"I can't believe I'm agreeing with Bowie, but he's right." Dean motioned to him, "We should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it."

Noticing the way his brothers stared at him, Sam clenched his jaw, "What?"

"Since when are you all shoot first, ask questions later anyway?" Dean accused.

"Since now."

Bowie grimaced at the slam of the door, glancing at Dean who muttered under his breath. With a sign, Bowie leaned forward and grabbed the door before Dean could open it.

"What?" Dean huffed.

"Come here," Bowie grumbled.

He grabbed his older brother by the collar and dragged him away from the car, glancing back at Sam who was watching them intensely.

"I want to renegotiate my deal━"

"What?" He scoffed, waving his hand. "No, no, no. We had a set deal━"

"Shut up, will you?" Bowie clenched his jaw, giving a small sigh through his nose to calm himself. "I know I said the second we find John that I'm gone but. . ."

The tension in Dean shifted into surprise, his face dropping as he swept his brother's face in shock. "You want to stay?" He realized.

"Look, I don't know if you've noticed but Sam isn't exactly Sam right now."

"Why do you even care?" Dean asked in annoyance.

"Because contrary to your idea of me, Dean, I fucking care about our brother." He snapped roughly. He closed his eyes again, gathering himself by running a hand through his hair, "He's grieving. Whether he thinks so or not, he needs us, both of us."

"Agreed," Dean says instantly.

"So, the new deal is; I'll stay for as long as Sam needs me to. John aside. This is about Sammy. All I ask in return is that if we do this? We do it together. We put our dumbass feud aside," Bowie tells him, swallowing his pride and petty thickly. "We help him. No more fighting, no more snark comments. Together. Deal?"

Bowie curled his hand into a fist, raising it between them. Dean glanced down at it, his lips pressed together. He was battling his stubbornness, pushing away his hatred for his brother in an attempt to protect the other one.

Truthfully, it was the best deal on the table. Not only did they have Bowie to track John, but they also had him emotionally. Dean hated how easily Sam opened up to Bowie but if there was any time Sam needed it, it was now.

"Deal," Dean bumped his fist into Bowie's.

For a moment, they shared a genuine smile.

━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━

A woman with long brown hair opened the door. Hailey. Her face was firm and her hand was placed on the hip of her low-rise jeans.

The Winchester boys stood firmly beside each other and it seemed Dean was instantly ready to speak for all of them.

"You must be Hailey Collins." He motioned between them, "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Bowie. We're Rangers with the park services. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, we wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."

She rolled her jaw in hesitation, "Let me see some I.D." Dean pulled out his only, and Hailey looked at it long and hard before pulling the door open, "Come in."

"Thanks."

Bowie heard her mention something about Dean's car that got him smirking. He rolled his eyes at his brother before stepping further into the house.

A boy, probably in his young teens, sat in the kitchen distracting himself with a fork. He looked worried.

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked her.

"He checks in every day by cell." She explains, "He emails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Well, maybe he can't get cell reception," Sam suggests.

"He's got a satellite phone, too." She shut it down, moving back into the kitchen for more plates.

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check-in?" Dean spoke up.

The spoon clinks on the china from the young boy's hand, glaring at Dean in distraught, "He wouldn't do that." He goes silent again.

"Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Bowie nods softly, "Well, I'm glad the death of your parents brought you closer. I can't imagine how you must be feeling right now, with the thought of losing a brother after everything. You aren't crazy for being worried." He reassures her.

Hailey softened at this. It seemed to be exactly what she needed to hear. That she wasn't crazy. She nods gently at Bowie in a silent thank you.

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked suddenly.

Hailey nods, motioning the three toward her desktop in the living room. Sam was the one in the chair, both Dean and Bowie towering above him as they watched him sort through the files.

It was funny to think about really, the brothers always had these kinds of roles during Hunts, even as young children.

Sam was always the tech-savvy one. He found the hunts online, worked the media on any box computer they could get their hands on.

Dean was always the brute strength one. He got things done physically, always shot first.

Then there was Bowie, the brains. He wasn't as strong as Dean or as book smart as Sam but he worked the cases in a different way━━the way no Hunter ever did.

He didn't know why his mind worked the way it did, every strategy was carefully calculated, every piece of evidence was analyzed. And although he didn't have much of his ears, every sense in Bowie's body worked ten times better.

There was no running from Bowie, ever. If what he was hunting messed up even an inch, that man would see it.

It's what made him a good hunter, even without his hearing.

And it was the same reason Bowie saw the flash of black cross the screen behind Tommy Collins in a few second clip. His eyes widened as he slapped Sam's arm softly to go back. He did, and on the second time, Sam noticed it too.

"Well, we're heading out to Black Water Ridge first thing," Dean tells her.

"Then maybe I'll see you there." She responds strongly, "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

Bowie nods softly, "I wouldn't ask you to say behind. If my brothers went missing I'd look for him too."

Dean took note that Bowie said brothers. Meaning he was including Dean, too. He shouldn't take it to heart, but he did.

He blamed himself deep down for still caring about what Bowie thought of him.

"You mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked her.

"Sure."

Sam gave a firm nod, and the brothers were gone.

[ the relationships are progressing
and I love them. ]

DEC / 21 / 2021