who: caleb and dean
where: caleb's/woods
when: early morning

Consciousness was a long time coming for Dean - a result of the medication Sophie had slipped into his drink unbeknownst to him the night before. He swam up from full sleep slowly, muttering and rolling over in bed with an incomprehensible grumble as he buried his head further into the pillows and his arm went round the person next to him, cuddling him up into her back. His head was pounding and he felt all kinds of fuzzy - if he could just go back to sleep again for a couple of hours, that'd be ni...

Wait. Rewind, he thought all of a sudden as he paused and frowned, still half asleep, not having actually gotten round to opening his eyes yet. But there was that definite 'something isn't right here' about it all. And it was very definitely the fact that... Dean opened his eyes and blinked, taking in the mop of short, dark hair that was about an inch from the end of his nose. Thia. He almost laughed and he gave himself a moment, resting his head against the back of her shoulder and squeezing her a little, carefully, so as not to wake her up. But... hell. And how? He didn't remember her being here when he went to bed. But then, he suddenly realised, he didn't remember going to bed at all. No, the last thing he remembered was sitting in the kitchen with Sophie. And now this. He was sure he hadn't been drinking - Sophie was very firm on the 'you're only sixteen' of it all, after all. But... He remembered pacing a lot, and running over plans in his head. And Sophie telling him to sit down and giving him a soda. He paused. Had she drugged him. That little... She must have done, she must have drugged him and then put him to bed and... he pulled back from Thia, letting her go and looking down at himself, suddenly highly relieved to find that he was still somewhat dressed, though he was wearing yesterday's t-shirt and boxers. At least that was something.

But it didn't explain Thia though - all fast asleep in her pyjamas. He sat up and looked at her. She'd hardly stirred, but she was back, somehow, he didn't know what had happened, but she was back. And in your bed, his mind helpfully supplied, filing that particular image away for future reference as his gaze went softer and more thoughtful for a moment before he caught himself and stood, pulling the covers up over her so that only her head was showing, berating himself as he headed through the room that was his closet and into his bathroom, firmly locking the door behind him before he stripped off and climbed into the shower, turning the spray very definitely to 'cold' and standing there for a few minutes.

The water did the trick, and also cleared his head, allowed him to think. She was back, but the fact was that she'd still left. She'd still decided that she had to find him - nothing could take that decision back and somehow Dean doubted that she was back because she'd gone and done it and it was all over. He figured the most likely scenario was that Oz had talked her into coming back, or that Billy had done as he'd asked and refused her request - though the dreamwalker had told him on the phone that he would do no such thing. But, whatever, he'd have to find out first and foremost what had gone on there. A call to Billy would do that - he needed to call anyhow because he wanted that spell done. He wasn't changing his mind on that - especially not now. Thia had taken that decision, which narrowed Dean's options down to just one. He had to find Thia's father before she did.

Determination rising, he switched the stream to warm and cleaned off, rubbing shampoo vigorously through his hair and rinsing before stepping out of the shower and toweling dry. Wrapping the towel round himself, he listened for any suggestion that she was awake, before heading into his closet, grabbing some clothes and his phone and retreating back into the bathroom. He had no idea what time it was - his cell display proudly proclaimed it to be 13:23am, which meant dick, considering the length of time he'd had it for, but he figured ass-early. Too early to risk the wrath of Billy and Maddie, but he sent a quick text to Caleb before getting dressed. You awake? D

Caleb for one, had not been awake. But he wasn't the world's heaviest sleeper, either, and when his phone it up and buzzed on his bedside table, ringing out an annoying beep, that being awake thing happened pretty fast. Groaning, he blindly reached over to grab his phone, accidentally knocking it to the floor. He paused, drew in a deep breath, let it out in a rush, and asked himself if he was really coherent enough to deal with whatever he was getting texted for. And the conclusion he came to was it was really fucking early in the morning, and he wouldn't be getting texted unless it was important. And if it wasn't, someone was getting reamed. So he leaned over to snag the phone from the pile of clothes by his bed, and propped himself up on his elbows, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes groggily as he hit the display. The fuck? Dean? He decided to forgo any attempt to type at this time of morning, and just dialed the number, flopping back down as he listened to the rings in his ear.

Dean answered the phone on the second ring, still struggling into his t-shirt, since he'd grabbed it to answer before the rings woke the sleeping girl, without thought right in that moment that her being two rooms away and doubtless without her hearing aids in made that a practical impossibility. "'llo," came the initial, muffled greeting, before Dean got his head through the neck of the t-shirt and tried again. "Hi, you're awake then," he said, his voice echoing slightly in the bathroom.

"I am now." Caleb mumbled. "The fuck're you doing up? And what's so important that you need to talk to me?" he asked. Because he really didn't figure a text at this time of morning was a social one. If it was, he would be slightly weirded out, even. But yeah, he didn't figure so.

"Potentially need your help," Dean told him, propping the phone between his shoulder and cheek as he buttoned up the fly on his jeans and tightened the belt. "Or, no, if all goes to plan I'm going to need your help," he amended, crossing to the mirror and dragging a comb roughly through his hair. He could do with a shave, but he wasn't being too hot on the niceties of appearance right now. He cracked open the door to his bathroom and listened - still no sound from out there. Good. "Look," he said, his voice dropping, again, needlessly, but he really didn't want to wake her. She might try and stop him, after all. "I don't want to talk about this on the phone - can you meet me?" he asked as he walked through the closet and cracked open the door to his bedroom. She was still there, asleep, facing him now, all curled up on a ball under the covers and he couldn't help but smile for a moment as he just watched her.

"..sure. Why don't you come here. I'm not...really awake enough yet to really contemplate much. Got the address?" he asked. Math was...theoretically home. Probably crashed out too like normal people were at this time of the day. He was more awake now that he knew he might be needed though. That sort of perked his interest, though he was thinking if it was immediately, he might be useless for at least the next half hour.

She really was beautiful, all calm and peaceful and asleep like that and Dean absently decided that he didn't agree with her - she would make a great Snow White. Or something, he didn't know, but he knew it was distracting. Caleb's voice drew him back to the conversation though and he blinked, shutting the closet door again and leaning back as he answered. "Huh? Oh, right - yeah. I... You gave me the address the other day. I'm good, I'll... be there in half an hour or so?" he suggested.

"Alright...see you then." Caleb said, still kind of mildly confused about this shit but whatever. It wasn't like his life was going to get less weird or anything. So he got up, dragging himself out of bed--which he realized belatedly that he'd slept really stupidly well. This he attributed entirely to Leija and tension release the day before. Then he went to shower and possibly put coffee on, so he could at least have some help in this being up and expected to think at this time of the day. He noted that Math was in fact asleep on the couch, and wondered when he'd get around to taking a room. Then he went, made coffee that was probably a little too strong, and went to sit on the porch to wait.

Dean hung up the phone and walked back out into the bedroom, retrieving his boots from under the bed and sitting down at his desk to lace them up - though he was mostly watching the sleeping Thia as he did that. He really, really wanted to know what had gone on last night, but that could wait. This couldn't - he needed to be one step ahead of her. Which meant leaving. Now. Which meant not sitting there like a fool and staring. He'd slept in the same bed as her before, of course, and that really hadn't made his brain go all mushy the way that was threatening right now, but this was different. This was his bed. With her in it. This was... He really needed to leave. he stood, firmly, grabbing his jacket from the back of the chair and heading toward the bedroom door, before he paused and diverted, going to grab the gun and holster from where he'd hidden them in the back of his closet after Oz' lecture. He shrugged them on, then the jacket over the top. He attempted to leave again, and again diverted, this time back to his desk where he scrawled her a short note, telling her that he'd be back later. And then, finally, he left.

It took him less time than he thought to get to Caleb's house, though the day was confirmed as being stupidly early and it looked like it had only just stopped raining. He abandoned his bike out the front of Caleb's house and noting his friend was sitting waiting for him. "Hey," he upnodded as he headed up onto the porch and took a seat.

Caleb was on his second cup of overly strong coffee by the time Dean arrived, and as a result, was in fact more awake. He was sitting on the porch's top step, half leaned up against the overhang's support rail. "Hey." he said in return. "...so what's going on?" Something important. Something he couldn't talk about over the phone and he was wondering if it had to do with Lullaby, or the identity stuff they'd been discussing.

"Thia tried to leave last night," Dean told him, figuring that he should just cut through all of the crap and get right down to it. "She decided that her father was definitely a threat, that he'd come through us to get to her, that she was a risk to us and that the only way to deal with him was to track him down. I intend to find him first." There, that was about as bare bones as he could make it, though he was still terrified of the reality of the decision that he'd made and what that meant. But it was a strange kind of fear - one that came with a well of calm at its centre, one that came with a quiet determination to see this through.

He opened his mouth, then shut it again as Caleb thought that over. "...find him first." he repeated, mind already going over scenarios on that. "And what exactly do you intend to do when you find him?" he asked lightly. Caleb knew what his first instinct would be on that score. Threats weren't threats anymore if they were buried in a shallow grave in the woods somewhere, or say, weighted down and dropped into the lake. Actually...now that he was thinking about that, if there was a body that needed to be disposed of, he could just give it to Melia... He wondered if he should be disturbed by his own thought process there.

Dean only hesitated a moment, before looking over at Caleb, his elbows resting on his knees, his hands clasped loosely before him. "Whatever needs to be done," he said, drawing on that well of calm. He knew what that meant, he knew what could possibly be involved in that and the majority of his brain was going into loud meltdown over it, clattering and clamouring and panicking all over the place. And Dean stood in the middle, in that little space, looking out over it all - and not seeing any other option.

There was silence for a long time, as Caleb thought about this. "...okay, Dean, just for clarity here, but you're talking about murder, right?" he asked. "And since we're talking about it, that'd be really, really premeditated murder, so we're not even looking at manslaughter, or murder two. We're looking at murder one. Are you seriously talking about that?" he asked. Because well...this was Dean. And really, of all his classmates, he didn't especially picture Dean as the type.

Dean looked away, down at his hands and for a moment they shook. He hadn't put it into those words, not even in his head. He'd known what it involved, but he hadn't actually put words to it. Things were easier to deal with when there weren't words defining them. "Someone's got to do something," he said, still looking down at his hands.

That was jarring. He was staring at Dean and almost asked where the punchline was, but the look on his friend's face and everything about his posture and everything really sort of clued him in to the fact that he wasn't. And well. He knew how Dean got about Lullaby. Again there was silence, and he sipped at his coffee some more. "And that's going to be what..you and I?" he asked. Since Dean had said he'd need help, and Caleb had to back him on that. The back of his mind was already ticking along shit like the fact that he knew the guy was a bigtime black magic user, and that could be a problem. Though he was probably human, and that was better, and that still left open the option of giving the body to Mel---he was a little too calm about this, he could tell. "Tell me something." he said. "Have you ever killed anything in your entire life?"

Dean looked back up at that and nodded. "Vampires," he said, simply, though most of them hadn't died - it was hard to kill a vampire with a bullet. Not hard to kill a man though, he thought and for a moment his inner turmoil just stopped and he felt goosebumps lift along his arms, before it all started up again. "You don't think I can do this, do you?" he asked, lifting his chin a little, defiantly.

"Can't say I figured you for the type." Caleb said, which wasn't necessarily an answer. Really, he thought that most people were capable of it. They just had to be pushed far enough. But that was where that whole crime of passion thing came into play, and this wasn't it. This was pre-emptive strike material. "And with the vampires, how many did you kill, and were you right there in it?" he asked. "Because it's different. I've...killed a lot of things." And his method was usually in the middle of the fray.

"I don't know - three, maybe. They attacked the house in force. It was dark and it's hard to tell whether or not they're dead, y'know," Dean shrugged, feeling himself getting defensive and trying to quash that. He wanted Caleb's help - he'd be going up against someone much more powerful than he was and he couldn't do it alone. Caleb was probably the hardest person he knew, aside from Oz - and he didn't think Oz would go for this. "And no, I wasn't right there, I was inside, but I didn't hesitate when it came down to it either," he argued.

Caleb's mind was reeling over things. "...lay out for me how serious this is." he said. "And how serious you are about this. What does this mean, and is there any way to go around? Because it can be done, but..." They were still talking about murder after all. And while Caleb didn't think he''d ever killed a normal human before, that didn't mean he'd been planning on starting, either. Though with the ideas in the back of his mind about hunting anyhow, he was pretty sure people like the one they were talking about right now would be on the list. And he wasn't actually finding flaws in the logic of it. Just...he didn't want Dean in on a situation where he was going to not be able to handle things.

"Thia and I have been talking a lot the past few days," Dean said, pushing everything aside and concentrating on the question. "We've started in on some of the issues that you and I have been discussing - though, she doesn't get it, not really. She still thinks the worst thing out there would be death. And really? I'm not a big fan of taking that belief away from her if I can help it. Anyway, her father started coming up more and more, we got right into it and - she's convinced herself that he's not only likely to show, but that he's actively hunting her down right now. And she disagreed with my proposition for dealing with the risk - which was to start by making sure that, if he did appear, he couldn't get at us, first and foremost. Along side that, I wanted to find him, figure out where he was and what the risks were and keep tabs on him. I hadn't really got any further down the line than that. But Thia wasn't happy with that. She decided that if he did show, she was too much of a danger to us to stick around, no matter what defenses we had in place. She was all for running the moment he showed - which I thought, and still think, is fucking stupid." He paused for breath.

Caleb again opted for a bit of silence as he thought things over. Really, he'd already projected what he thought a man like the one that had been described to him could be capable of, so he was willing to go worst case scenario on things. "She's still going to go try to find him, and you want to make sure you get to him first, so....what. So he doesn't hurt her, or she winds up missing and you never see her again?" he asked. It was a little blunt, but he wasn't known for his tact all the time.

Dean shook his head. "At that point, she wasn't going to try and find him. She was just going to be running. Then I opened my big mouth and pointed out that, even if she ran, he could still come after us out of spite, or to try and get her location out of us." He pulled a face. "That wasn't my finest moment - she absolutely fucking freaked. Decided that she had to track him down, because if she found him, he wouldn't have to come through us to find her. I just... She was talking about dealing with him, but... She's just a - she's just a girl. And, I know, lots of girls are far from helpless, but Thia's not one of them. She's terrified of the guy and she hasn't thought this through - what's she going to do? Go to him and bide her time? Wait for her moment? She's already stabbed him once and I doubt the guy's stupid. He's not going to trust her. Or he shouldn't. And what if he does? Hurt her? What if what she did before has toppled her from whatever pedestal he had her on? I don't... All she's focusing on is that if he killed her, she'd come back. That gives her one up on me - that she has to do this to protect us, because we only have one life. I just don't think she can do this and I know I can't say it'll get her killed - though I think it will, at least once - but I'm worried about what he'll do to her if she tries and fails. She's not planned this and she's determined to do it alone. She won't listen to me, she won't accept my help - anyone's help." He looked over at Caleb. "This isn't about me, you know," he told him. "About me being all 'oh no, she'll leave me and I'll never see her again'. She doesn't want to do this. She's doing this... She's doing this for me. And for everyone else. But she can't do it alone. And I've tried everything else I can to stop her."

Caleb listened to the whole thing, and wondered how this sort of thing came about. Because from what he was hearing, they both had decided to go off and do something for the other one, and didn't want the other involved. He also had to say that if she'd stabbed him before that didn't necessarily put her in the category of 'just a girl'. Took guts to stab anything. It was up close, personal, and you were probably going to get blood on yourself because of it. So that took something. So, he thought Dean might not be giving her enough credit, but at the same time, he didn't figure Dean would entertain much in the way of plans that involved her--even if one was kind of itching at the back of his head that did. "...how far are you willing to go for this?" he asked eventually, watching Dean very carefully at that.

"All the way," Dean told him, this time without any pause at all. "It'd be stupid to start something I wasn't willing to finish, so... I'm willing to finish it. I didn't want it to go like this, but if this is what it takes, then this is what it takes." He was impressed with himself. His voice stayed firm and stable as he said that, betraying none of the terror he felt inside, or any of the screaming panic about what this meant, or fear about what this would do to him, what this said about him that he could even consider this, about how this confirmed all the worst things he'd ever thought about himself. He didn't want to do this, but he knew he would.

"If we're going to do this, then I need to take you out and we need to go hunting." Caleb said first. "And we need an actual viable plan. And I know you're going to hate this more than anything in the universe? But the best bait is her." he said. It was just logic. Just practical. He didn't figure Dean would go for it, but maybe he could wear him down if he kept at it long enough. But the 'we' in the first statement would at least let Dean know that he was in.

Dean shook his head. "She won't go for that," he told him. "I've already tried that whole 'we'll do this together' approach and she shot me down straight. She won't risk anyone getting hurt over her. But I agree, plans are good things, and I'll do whatever you think's best, but this has to happen quickly - she's back home again now, but I know Thia. She won't be staying. I don't know what happened to bring her back in the first place, but she's stubborn and when she gets an idea in her head, there's no shifting her."

"Well you don't know if she'd go for that unless you ask her." Caleb said. "Having a plan that involves her might help, since she's so gun ho about doing shit herself anyways, and maybe it'll be more solid in her head if it's less of a 'we'll do this vague thing we don't know how it's going to run' together and more of a 'here's the plan' together." he suggested. He was still thinking about everything. "I know I can hit shit not directly in front of someone but I have to be within about twenty five feet...you've got the gun, so you can stay back." Which left the x factor of Lullaby herself and her father. Lullaby, because hey, if he could talk them into this bait thing, they could almost choose where the fight went down, which was a lot better, and her dad being they didn't know what he had up his sleeve. So shit on that score, but still. He'd still rather pick the battle field.

"She won't go for it," Dean said again, but he didn't completely discount it either, though he really wasn't a fan of her being up close and personal and him not being right there with her. Really, really not. That made him twitch big time.

Caleb eyed Dean. "She won't go for it or you don't want her to go for it?" he asked. "Because I'll be honest with you here, man. If we're doing this? We need to be able to orchestrate it. You don't go fucking around with people who can warp fucking reality to do what they want and expect it to go down easy if we don't have this planned with a lot of back up ones. You said she was hot to find him anyways, so just play it on that. She can still find him, she can still put herself out there, and if she does, if we do shit that way, we can start picking where we want this to go down. That'll be the most important advantage we could ask for, and we're going to need one."

"If we're going for honesty, then yeah, I'd prefer to keep her out of harm's way. But, also honestly? I honestly don't think she'll go for it. But, I'll talk to her. But, I also think we should have plans in place for when she decides that not only is she not willing to let us be involved, but that the moment she finds out we're planning something, she steps up on whatever she's going to do, to make sure we've not got time to follow through." He paused, musingly. "Which, could actually be a plan all on its own..." he contemplated, hating himself for thinking like that.

"What, so don't tell her and just manipulate the situation and follow to see what she does?" Caleb asked. He didn't actually have moral twitches on that. Not if they were talking about taking out someone who was going to be a pain in the ass and oh yeah--could get them all killed. He finished off the mug of coffee he had, then set it on the porch behind him. "C'mon." he said, standing up and heading down the steps towards the garage. Then he paused and glanced back at Dean. "You're armed...right?"

Dean stood when Caleb did and followed him. "I mean, work on the basis that if I talk to her and tell her what we're planning, and if she knows where he is, about five minutes after I tell her, max, she'll be out that door and looking for him. It's not a great plan, I can already think of about half a dozen holes in it, but it might want to go on the list of possibilities. And yeah, I'm armed," he confirmed, though he kept his jacket well over the holster and out of sight.

Caleb didn't need to see it, he just continued into the garage, then hit the button to pull the door up. He went to the car, which he'd started sort of half trying to get the passenger side door frame back into shape, but hadn't done much, and he started it up. It ran. That was the important thing. "Anyone else going to be in on this, or just us?" he asked, waiting for Dean to get in before pulling the car out.

"The result is the most important thing to me," Dean said as he manhandled the passenger door shut. "I know this isn't something I can handle alone, which is why I'm here, but the list of people I know who'd be any help at all is stupidly short. There's Oz, but... I'm still trying to work out if he'd help, or just lock me in the bloody cage again. And then there's a group of kids at school who are all gung ho about gearing up for the next apocalypse or something, which is great and all, but I don't think they'd really be up for this kind of thing. Plus, some of them knew Thia and I couldn't explain why this guy's dangerous without bringing her into it. Even if he killed her in the first place, this all seems like out of the blue or something. Or that - I don't know. Maybe they'd think I was on some kind of vengeance trip or something. Anyway, I don't think... There were some witches in there, talk about protection spells, so I figure we're talking Maddie. And Thia's... Joshua was there and he's telekinetic. I don't know about the rest of them though."

Caleb concentrated on driving, thinking about the spot Math had taken him before. They could go see if there were any creatures left to poke around at. "Don't talk to anyone you aren't solid on." he said first. "For something like this, if you aren't solid on people, unless they're directly involved, then fuck that noise, it'll just fuck up. Plus the more people, the more who know that we're actively hunting down and killing someone, and y'know? Not everyone's going to handle that real spectacularly well. I don't especially want to go to prison, and I'm sure you don't either. So think hard about who can hold their own without a doubt, and who can be trusted."

"That leaves you, me and Oz," Dean told him. "The only other people I would 110% trust wouldn't be any use anyhow. And no, I'm not looking to go to prison for this. This needs to be... God. You ever hidden a body?" he asked, the reality of that part of things hitting home and leaving him cold again. This was becoming more and more real by the second.

"No." Caleb said. "Never had to, most of the shit I kill aren't really people-shaped, if you know what I mean. But I know...well.. One or two ways we can get rid of one." he admitted. In the back of his mind he was wondering if he had actually fully graduated into the land of being sociopathic. Yeah. Probably. And he was strangely comfortable with that. It was just who he was. And apparently, right now, that was a good thing, because it was going to be necessary.

Dean thunked his head back against the passenger seat and wondered what happened to his life. Where it all went crazy, where things like murder started to make sense. But there was no other way. He couldn't... It wasn't like this was all going to turn out with sunshine and roses. No, the best that he could hope for was that he'd get home and Find out from Maddie that the guy was on the other side of the world. He'd take that - that the guy was far, far away and never coming back and in some place where Thia couldn't afford the airfare to.

Caleb didn't say anything further for a few long minutes, just driving. He watched Dean out of the corner of his eye and wondered what the guy was thinking about. "...until this actually goes down, there's always time to back out." he said. Which he thought might actually need to be stated. His mind was still threading lines of ideas together, plans for how to actually go about taking down someone like Lullaby's dad. Vaguely, in the back of his mind, he wondered if this was something he could talk to his brother about, or if he should just...not tell him. Normally he'd think he should tell him but he didn't know. This was as a matter of fact, pretty major, now wasn't it.

Dean closed his eyes and resisted the urge to pull his feet up onto the seat and ball up. "Do you think I'm doing the wrong thing?" he asked.

"Depends on your definition of the word 'wrong'." Caleb said honestly. "I think you're in this, and you're in it deep. I think you're thinking defensively, because she's involved. And I also think that this guy, with what I said before about the possibilities with him, and all that other shit, could in fact be just as much trouble as he's being made out to be, and I for one wouldn't be that inclined to sit back and do nothing. But...I'm a little fucked up. I don't quite think like a lot of other people do. So from you it's a little...different." He paused. "I know if we do this and all...life is going to look a lot different for you afterwards."

"Just another day then," Dean said, absently. His life seemed to be changing on a daily basis at the moment, nothing ever looked the same as it had the day before. Especially not him and the more he found out, the less he wanted to know. It was like he was watching himself grow up into some guy he didn't much like, turning into everything he'd never wanted to be, because things had to be done. And he was good at them. What was this, but just another step down that road. And why else would he have agreed with Oz to have weapons training, but so that he'd be able to do something like this - so that he was able to kill. He'd faced it then, when the offer was made, and he hated doing it, but sometimes, some things in life were more important and if it kept people safe, he didn't have to much like who he was.

Caleb didn't especially like the sound of that, really. It sounded...bleak. He wondered if he should say something. But he wasn't sure what he could say. "Look, you should probably reconsider." he said. "I get it, and I get what you're thinking and everything, but...seriously." It was one of those times where Caleb realized that things didn't look the same to him as they did to others, and maybe it wouldn't even work the same way. Sort of the last thing he wanted to do was go through something like this with his only real male friend that he would rather keep up with, and have Dean crack over it. Yeah that just wouldn't go over well at all. And while he was fairly positive he could take out a person and not bat an eye, Dean...he was thinking there'd be flinching on that score. And there should be. he mentally added.

Dean looked over, his face a mask. "We there yet?" he asked, seriously. he wasn't reconsidering anything, wasn't even entertaining that. This needed to be done and obviously his friend needed proof that he could do it. He just didn't have to like it.

"Almost." Caleb answered. "Question. If I said no, would you be going through with this shit anyways?" he asked. Not that he was going to. No, he's already signed himself up, actually and wasn't going to back out on that, but still. He wanted to know just how committed Dean was in this. He was wiling to bet Dean was about to tell him he would anyways. Caleb just didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

"Yes - if I could find a way of doing it that wasn't going to get me killed," he told Caleb. Because he wasn't out to commit suicide over this, that wasn't the idea. "It'd be harder on my own," he added, looking over at Caleb. "I'm just a bloke who's a good shot - I don't know shit about magic, I have no idea what this guy can throw at me. That's why I came to you. You do know about magic - and specifically offensive magic. You're the best I've got, but if you don't want in, I'll have to find another way." What that might be, he had no clue, though he doubted that the guy would be able to dodge a bullet if he put a gun to his head. Getting that close would be tough and then he had no idea what to do afterwards. Going this alone, he was sure that he'd get caught and then that was it, game over. But at least she'd be safe, that helped fill the hollow feeling inside as he realised that he'd solidified on the fact he was going to murder Lullaby's father.

"I didn't say I didn't want in." Caleb said. "I'm in. I said I was already. I just wanted to know." he answered, that before pulling over, the landscape around them familiar to him. There was the tree, and the path, and it was across the road and off to the left there that they needed to go. He killed the engine, but left the keys in the ignition. After all, if things went badly, he didn't want there to be the scenario of 'the keys are on the dead body being eaten by monsters'. He'd seen enough horror movies. Then he got out, and shut the door, looking across the street at the path, eyes slightly narrowed.

Dean got out of the car, leaving the door slightly ajar - given the state of the damn thing, he didn't want it to stick if they were running from something. He got the very strong feeling that that was a distinct possibility as he shrugged off his jacket and decided to leave it behind, throwing it on the back seat before taking out the gun and checking it, leaving the safety on for now. He'd been practising more with it lately and the weapon felt comfortable and familiar in his grip. "So, what we looking for?" he asked, his voice muted, quiet.

"Nest of creatures, just up that path." Caleb said. Then he turned his eyes on Dean. "Stay back from me." he said, and there was no room for argument on that. "The kind of thing I can do could cut you in two and I do mean that literally. It's got a range on it though, so I need a good thirty feet, just to be safe. But you've got the gun, so use that. Just...whatever you do, don't get any closer." He started across the road. "...and try not to hit me." because he wasn't really up for being shot today.

Dean gave him a look. "I can aim, you know," he told the guy, but he slowed to let Caleb move in front of him and away, before following on behind, listening for any unusual sounds as they headed down the path.

"These things are fast, and they've got claws and teeth--pack mentality, so pay attention, there'll be two flanking for every one that you see making a direct attack." That might have been generous to give the creatures, but he'd rather Dean be overly paranoid than not know at all. He was a fan of paranoia. It kept people looking for shit. He also was really hoping that these things didn't breed and mature that fast. He and Math had taken out quite a few of them. He thought that it wasn't the whole nest or anything, though. He was banking on that. It wasn't as if they'd stuck around to make sure or anything. He took the knife out of his pocket, and sliced it across his forearm after he pushed his sleeve up, just to get enough blood flowing before he started this shit. They walked for a while and then he was actually starting to see the scars in the earth from the last time he was here. Well...that was something.

Dean walked carefully, well back from Caleb by now, fully alert for attack. It was heralded by the crack of something breaking in the undergrowth to their right before a fast moving creature burst out onto the path between the two teens. Dean had picked up the sound and already been turning, bringing his weapon to bear as the thing appeared and he aimed and squeezed off two shots, one smoothly after the other, both hitting the creature in the head, dropping it before it had even finished its leap. He hadn't even had to think about it. As before, Dean had simply reacted, all the worry and panic and crap disappearing in that moment where action was needed.

Caleb looked back over his shoulder, then actually flashed a grin at Dean, the creature's brains leaking out of it's skull onto the earth. He might have said something but well. That's when the rest of the creatures decided to weigh in. Which had Caleb turning. He saw two, and had his shorter range spell off just as they were getting to him, the three rake spell tearing through the ground and the creatures alike, one of them knocking into him but it was only kind of three quarters of a thing by then. What with it's back flank kind of bisected.

Dean had turned the gun to the next attack when Caleb let his spell go and Dean actually hesitated, shocked. He'd never seen anything like that as it ripped the creatures apart and he actually took an involuntary step back, exhaling hard. That had been rather more than he'd expected, actually. Fucking scary, if he was being really honest with himself. But then all thoughts along those lines were banished as another one of the creatures appeared to his left and came straight for him. Dean turned and fired, hitting the thing in the leg, dropping it, though it was still alive and snarling at him.

Caleb was sort of half keeping some senses on Dean, but was mostly making some sort of attempt to make sure that not too many got by him. What with him not knowing how many of the fucking things there were anyways. Dropping down to one knee, Caleb pulled one of the same tricks he had previously, he murmured one of his favorite spells, and cast a second on the heels of the first. The first was the five point slash, that arched off in different directions and he heard squeals in the underbrush from having hit...well, probably a few things. The second, was the one that triggered by proximity. He didn't have to wait too long, three of them rushing him from opposite sides. When they got in close, they were pushed back, the one that got closest, and managed to get a bite down on Caleb's forearm actually crunching down into the ground, like it was a squished bug.

Dean had ignored Caleb, leaving him to it as the guy let off more spells. Instead, the Brit dropped his gun to his side and walked toward the downed creature, making himself get closer. It was scrambling in the dirt, but not getting very far. He stopped just out of reach and looked down at it for a moment, making himself take the time to appreciate what he was going to do, before he raised the gun, took the time to properly aim and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the thing between the eyes. The scrabbling stopped immediately and Dean just watched.

Caleb heard the single shot there, and looked back. The backlash he was getting hit with at the time opened up on his thigh, and down his back, and a few opened up on his arms. When an actually previously injured looking one dove at him, he didn't go for another spell as he was barreled over onto his back, he used the knife. He slashed at it's throat, a quick jerk of the blade, and then on the back swing he jammed the blade into one of it's eyes.

It was only a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime before Dean snapped out of it and turned in time to see Caleb barreled over and slashing out with his knife. He watched as one of the creatures went down, but there was another that was obviously injured, but which had picked itself up and was heading back toward his friend. Dean aimed and fired, snapping it back with the force of the kill shot, though Dean was already turning, looking for the next target.

Caleb pushed the corpse of the creature off of himself and rolled back to his crouch, noting the nearby body of another one that Dean had taken out cleanly. Well...that answered that. Dean was a good shot, and he wasn't exactly hesitating. That made him feel better about the situation, and so far, Dean wasn't even hurt. So--plus. He knew some of his own injuries had just closed up again and he looked off to his left as another one started at him. He used the knife again, actually glad for more practice with it. The vamps had been fun and all, but these were different. They moved differently, they were put together differently. It was good to get in a fight that was a little bit harder of a target than the vamps.

Dean watched as Caleb took out what appeared to be the final creature, still alert for any suggestion that there were more, but the only sounds he could hear were those that could be classed as 'normal' - the wind in the trees, the call of a bird up in the branches. Other than that, all was quiet. Apparently, it was over, yet still he stood there, tense and listening, his eyes darting around, looking everywhere, not ready to relax just yet.

Caleb stayed where he was too, still, listening. He didn't hear anything either, however, and after a good three minutes at least, he stood, swiping the blade of his knife on his jeans to clean it, before he pocketed it again. Then he started heading back towards Dean. "Okay then." he said. That was all he said, really, but he was convinced now. He knew it was different if you faced down a person, but with the total non-hesitation going on with Dean...he was really thinking that he probably wouldn't think to hesitate then either. So...yeah.

It was when Caleb spoke that Dean stopped. And it was in that moment that he honestly thought for a second that his legs weren't going to hold him up. He felt sick and he was sure that he would have thrown up, save for the fact that his stomach was as empty as it normally was. He hadn't eaten since yesterday morning. He didn't want to think about what he'd just done. The vampires had been different, they'd been attacking. It had been defense. This - this was hunting and he didn't even know what these things were, whether they were animals or more than that and did it matter anyway? They'd come out here, they'd sought them out and yeah, sure, the creatures had attacked first but... And then there'd been that one, he could have just left it injured, but he'd needed to know. He'd needed to know whether he could kill something that wasn't directly a threat to him. And he knew that part of him had hoped against hope that the answer would be 'no'. But, of course, it hadn't been. So what did that make him? What kind of a person was he?

Caleb stopped when he got closer to Dean, and just watched his friend for a long span of moments. He didn't necessarily look like he was doing that terribly well. It wasn't an overwhelming sort of thing, but it was there, or that's how Caleb saw it. He stood back, and just watched, silent for a long time. "...are you okay?" he asked eventually, voice not overly loud.

Dean looked across at the bodies, then at the ground. After a few minutes, he holstered the gun, before looking at Caleb. "Now we know," he said, his voice just as quiet as his friend's, before he turned and walked back down teh path to the car.

And that didn't answer the question. Caleb thought. He didn't immediately follow, either, feeling uneasy. That was really why he'd wanted to test things. Because he still wasn't even sure Dean could handle this. Obviously, he was capable of it. Which he had to admit he was a little surprised about. But there was a huge difference between being able to do something, and being okay with it. Caleb was just enough demon to be able to, and not bat an eye. But Dean? ...he wasn't sold on that. And he kind of didn't want to destroy who Dean was with this shit. After about a minute, he started walking to follow, thoughts dark and looming in the back of his mind.

Dean didn't say a word as they headed back to the car and he grabbed his jacket from the back, shrugging it back on and covering the gun before he climbed into the passenger seat and shut the door behind him, again having to try a couple of times before that happened properly. He could do this. He was the type of person who could do this. He knew he was, he'd always been afraid that he was and now he knew. He could destroy, he could kill, and he wouldn't even hesitate doing it. Oh, sure, he could sit here and say how he hated it, how he didn't enjoy it, but did that really make it any better? When he hadn't even really paused, when it had almost felt like a natural reaction? What did that really say about him? That this all came so easily to him.

Caleb got in and sat there in the driver's seat, not starting the car up yet. He leaned his arm in the open window, and stared straight ahead for a few moments. "You didn't answer." he finally said. "I asked if you were okay. I don't think you are. I think you should back out of this shit before it drags you down." he said honestly.

Dean looked over a shook his head. "No," he said, simply.

"Dean--it's probably not worth it if you can't live with it." Caleb said, again, in total honesty. "I can do this and honestly? It doesn't bother me. Hell I like the fight. Looks to me like you can do this, but that you're not okay with it. If you're not, don't do this." he stressed. "Find another way."

"I can do this," Dean told him, stubbornly. That was the problem, he knew - he could do this. And whether or not he'd be okay with it, well, he'd have to be. It was just giving in to what he'd always known he would become, surely. A weapon. Only this way it was on his terms. And at least it was for a good cause.

"Yeah, I said that already. It's the other part that's concerning me." Caleb said right back. His eyes were on Dean and he wasn't letting his gaze waver. All in all, he didn't like this. He was also thinking he might really have to talk to Math now. If for no other reason than to get his take. See if there wasn't anything his brother could come up with that might stop what looked to Caleb like a nice, surefire self destruct. Or maybe he was being dramatic, but he didn't think so, and he would rather be dramatic than wrong.

Dean took a breath. "Don't worry about me - I'll be... I always knew... I never wanted..." He shook his head. "I've been trying to pretend that I'm something I'm not. I just have to grow up and accept it, that's all. Stop trying to avoid who I am, who I've always been."

"And who's that exactly?" Caleb asked, thinking that they'd just tripped right the fuck over a huge Issue. With the capital letter and everything. Everyone had them, and Caleb was under the impression he just found one of Dean's. Sadly, it didn't seem to be a small dealable twitch type of one and more of a self-image, all encompassing one. Great. That was fucking perfect.

"Someone who's designed to destroy things," Dean shrugged. "Look at me, I mean, really. I have abilities, but all they can do is cause harm. Hell, they even fuck me up. I haven't been right since, well, ever. I can fuck things up, stop them working, break them down, blow them up and eventually I won't need this-" he said, pulling out the gun and chucking it on the dashboard. "-to kill. No, I'll be able to do that with my mind. I'm a fucking walking, talking weapon, all on my own. And, more than that, I'm good at this shit. I don't try to be, I don't want to be, but I am and I've been trying to pretend that... Like, if I just ignore that hard enough it'll just go away. Before, it wasn't such an issue - at home, where it was just me and I was just the weird freak who could do things. And I did - that's part of why I'm here. Because I was out of control. I needed it, I needed the change and when I got here, it was like a new start and I wasn't... It wasn't just me. And I - I wasn't going to be that guy anymore. Except there's no escaping him, because he's me, except it's not just venting frustrations now, it's real life and real people and serious problems and I need to stop pretending I'm something I'm not."

Caleb looked at Dean, then shook his head. "Oh shut the fuck up." he said. "You're a weapon because you've got destructive abilities? Whatever, that's not some predetermined bullshit that you're putting on it, it's luck of the goddamn draw. Just about any ability can be used offensively, and that's just the way this shit works. Welcome to the world of the fucked up, Dean, it's a shitty place to be, but don't go poor me on me because you don't like what it says about you. Especially if you're slapping an idea down like it's all black and white when it isn't. If you want to see yourself like just some tool that the universe is using to take shit out, that's fine, but it's bullshit. You know who the people are that are what you're describing? Demons. Those are the weapons out there. Those are the cookie fucking cutter bastards that live only to destroy everything around them so fuck off. You get choice in the matter, so use it for fucks sake. You're not a weapon, you just have the ability to be. By. Fucking. Choice. So choose not to. Find another fucking way. Hire a hunter. Look up every angle you can on anything and work it from there, but don't sit there and tell me that you've got some bullshit fucking destiny to become a monster. You're human. They only become monsters by choice."

"Yeah, well maybe that's what I choose to be, Caleb," Dean retorted, his hackles well and truly up by the time his friend finished speaking. "Because I've looked at the angles and I'm not coming up with shit. Hire a hunter? Right, yeah, of course - like I have that kind of money! Cos I'm assuming they cost, and probably seriously too. Shit, I'm gonna have to borrow the whole lot from my cousin for Thia's ID as it is, where the fuck am I meant to get more from? And yeah, so most abilities can be used offensively - I get that. But mine are specifically tailored only for destruction. There is nothing that I can do that's at all positive with my abilities. Except maybe destroy something before it destroys me. But look, wow, still destruction. Oh great, I get to be good with pre-emptive fucking strikes. Well, that makes it all better, doesn't it? So, yeah, I could just stop doing what I can do. I can hold my hands up and quit. I can choose to be something else. But it's denying who I am. And it's passing by what I can do, when I could use that to help people. When I could possibly turn that round, that ability to destroy and turn it into something positive, rather than running and hiding my head in the sand just because I don't like what that says about me, that I'm the kind of person who can do this."

"Clearly, it's not what you want to be. You just contradicted yourself." Caleb shot back. "Pick one. Either you think it's all horrible and fucked up destruction, or it's got a positive side. And yes, that's possible, it's all what you do with anything. That's the point, what matters. And yeah, hunters cost, but it might be better to leave it to a professional than try to do it yourself when I'm kind of thinking that you're going to have a complete fucking breakdown if you face this guy down and kill him. And if you don't, are you even still going to be you anymore? Because this shit does change people, and if that little girl you're protecting is fine, if that's all you're worried about then think about after. Because if this does wind up eating you up from the inside? Is that worth it? I'm not really willing to entertain the idea of sacrificing you completely just to theoretically keep her safe. I liked the girl but it wouldn't be worth it. ...might want to ask her that too, if she'd think so. You can do this but I still aren't sold on the idea that you can deal with it when you do."

"It's horrible and fucked up destruction but maybe I can put a positive spin on look I don't know! Okay! I just... I don't know any of this and maybe you do and maybe you've got it all sorted out and everything, but I don't, okay? I'm just trying to... I just... I can't not do anything and I can't afford... I don't have money. But it's her. Or it's me. And I'd prefer it to be me," Dean told him, sounding tired adn confused and knowing he was all over the place. It didn't come as any real surprise to hear that he was being contradictory.

"That's not good enough." Caleb said. It was simple, but direct, and he was completely fucking honest on that score. "That her or you bullshit? Not good enough."

"Well, it's all I have. I can't let her go after him, Caleb. I won't," Dean told him, equally simply.

"So buy time. I don't care how you have to do it? But buy it. Try what I said earlier. About her being bait. She seems ready to throw herself to the wolves, just like you are so maybe that'll appeal to her. I don't know. But I do know that this doesn't have to be what it's being made out to be. Let me talk to my brother, see what he says. You talk to her, talk to that chick you mentioned, the witch. Talk shit over with people, but don't lay this all on you and me hunting some asshole down and ending him. The only way I'd agree to just that right this second is if you agreed to hang back and just take the shot if you absolutely had to, and let me take the fucker out, because I know I can live with it." Caleb said, looking at the gun on the dash for a moment, then back to Dean.

"So, what does that make you then?" Dean asked at the way that Caleb had said that in light of his previous comments.

Caleb reached down to finally turn the key in the ignition. "You don't really want to know." he answered, before he turned the car around, and started them back to town. And that was the short answer. The simple answer. There wre a lot of things he could have said, all probably some form of true, but seriously, at the end of the day, what was there to say about someone who was capable of murder without really losing a lot of sleep over it?

"Oh bollocks - no. Actually, right now, I do want to know, Caleb," Dean told him, not really willing to take that crap right now. He was confused and all over the place emotionally and he was being told all sorts of shit and having a hard time with dealing with any of it and when he was being faced with double-fucking-standards from his friend, he wasn't going to be fobbed off on that. Because either there was something he didn't know, or Caleb was calling himself some kind of monster and either way, that seemed pretty damn important right now.

Caleb didn't tell people what he was. He didn't tell them for a multitude of reasons. It just didn't get done. In fact, it had taken him ages to even tell Leija. He knew he was feeling reckless and pissed right now though, and there was the idea in the back of his head to just come out with it. Put it into really sharp perspective. Because really, there wasn't much else that could. Of course, Dean also had a firearm within reach. He didn't especially want to get shot. So he went for a middle ground. Truth, but not necessarily the whole truth. "Not entirely human. And with that comes a few moral flexibilities that other people would probably get put away for." he answered, eyes on the road, though he was aware of the gun. Aware of it, and waiting to see if Dean went for it or not.

He didn't. 'Not entirely human' wasn't so much of a shock when your role model in life was a werewolf. It was just one of those things. "How not entirely human?" he asked, instead, though he sounded a little less pissed, slightly more subdued.

"This is the part where I tell you that I can't actually tell you." Caleb said. "And it's not because of...I can't. My family has enough potential trouble on it's head just because of it, and I'm not inviting more. Not in any way, and that includes if you hear it and don't exactly like the information." he explained. It was actually not said in an accusational manner. It was just one of those things. When you had demonic heritage, you didn't tell people. It was a thing.

Dean had asked before if there as going to be any problems there, and he trusted in Caleb's answer. He still did. He still trusted his friend, but that didn't mean he wasn't insanely curious. But what he was getting now didn't qualify as a total brush-off, unless he was being lied to, and he trusted that he wasn't. He trusted that Caleb just couldn't tell him, and that what he'd been given was as much as he was able to give. And so, after a moment, he nodded. "Fair enough. But you're my friend, I'm not going to bring trouble to you. It's not what I do." Quite the opposite, in fact. Dean would step up for his friends every time and he'd step up for Caleb just as much as he was currently trying to do that for Thia. That was just the way that worked.

Caleb glanced over at Dean. "I don't really think you would, it's just...honestly it's probably safer for everyone if no one knows." he said, again with perfect honesty there. Even if Dean didn't freak out about it, decided to take Leija's approach and either brush it off or accept that if Caleb had really wanted to do any damage he could have already and there wasn't any real reason he'd start now, that didn't mean others would react the same way. And if Dean was put into a position where he was supposed to own up about what he knew...it was just a slippery slope and Caleb thought it best if it didn't get there. If really, what could be done would be a denial of any informatoin. Dean couldn't tell if he didn't know.

"Nobody will hear anything from me," Dean promised with absolute honesty, again willing to put his total faith in his friend simply because he was his friend. "And - you can talk to your brother. About Thia. Just... Make sure he doesn't tell anyone, okay?"

"Trust me, if there's anyone on the planet that's good with keeping something to himself, it's my brother." Caleb said with total confidence. "I'll talk to him. You...talk to people too, like I said. It'll get figured out, we just need a better idea of what to do than we do right this second. And I still mean it on the kill shot. I'll do it. I wouldn't lose sleep over it." I don't think. Actually, he might. But he knew even if he did, it wouldn't be much.

"As long as she doesn't have to, I'll be happy," Dean told him, thinking of just how tiny and innocent she'd looked this morning. He was sure that if he let her go through with what she had in mind, no matter the result, whether she succeeded or not, some of that - possibly all of it - would be lost. And she'd lost too much already.

Caleb nodded. "Alright then. Want me to swing by the house and pick up your bike...bring you back to your house? So that talking thing can start? I'll talk to my brother when I get back home. Keep you posted on shit."

Dean quirked a half smile. "Yeah, sure - that'd be good," he agreed, wondering if Thia was up yet. If she wasn't, then he was going to be avoiding his room until she was. That had just... been a little bit too much for him this morning. In the nicest possible way, of course, but he wasn't sure that his willpower would stand up to much more along that vein and he wasn't looking to make things any more fucked up than they already were. "And let me know when you know anything. And, I'll still be working on that lit, but - priorities, y'know. This all kinda derailed everything."

"Yeah, I'm thinking it would." Caleb agreed, with a little cynical half smile. Then he kept driving, mind casting along towards his brother, and how he was going to be reacting. He was hoping that he'd not freak out, at the very least. That he could definitely do without. But...well. It was his brother, that's what they were for, right? Sure. That was his story and he was sticking to it.