The Winchesters' New Protege

No Place Like Home.

Dean is not worried.

Nope.

Dean isn't worried at all. Jason is a smart kid – he could take care of himself. And it wasn't like he was halfway across the country in some godforsaken city infested with the literal human scum of the earth, hunting a nest of vampires with god-knows-what else lurking in every shadow, or anything.

Jason also hasn't called in a couple of days. But that definitely isn't because he'd had his throat ripped out by murderous, bloodthirsty vampires and is currently rotting in the corner of some abandoned warehouse turned vampire lair. There also isn't any chance that Jason had been cornered by some lowlife and then left to bleed out in some back alley where no one would ever find his body.

Okay. Fine.

Maybe Dean is a little worried. And perhaps, he's just overthinking it. But it's all perfectly possible – if completely unlikely, as Charlie helpfully adds every time that he brings it up.

Dean is in the library when his phone goes off. It takes him a fraction of a second to recognise the ringtone and desperately scramble through his pockets.

"Jason!" Dean says, placing a phone to his ear.

"Uh, hey, Dean," Jason replies, drawing out his words. It's something that he did – especially when he was younger – whenever he's about to admit to something stupid that he's done.

"Jay, is everything okay?"

"Um," Jason starts, before taking a sharp breath – like he's going to say something before settling with: "yeah..." His voice rises a good three octaves during that one word and he coughs. "Yeah. Everything is good. Good. Completely good."

"Jason..." Dean says firmly; it's at moments like this when Dean realises how much he sounds like a parent.

"Yes?"

"What did you do?"

"What?" Jason scoffs. "What makes you think that I-"

"Jason."

"Fine. But, uh, before I tell you," Jason says, "promise you won't get mad?"

"It doesn't matter what you did, Jason. I just want to know what's going on."

"Okay, well, everything was all fine and dandy at first. I was working the case – just like you and Sam taught me. Y'know, I was asking around and following leads. Charlie even helped me get some security tapes. The vamps were hiding out in a warehouse near the harbour, so I went and dealt with them. And then I... I got chased by Batman." Jason waits hesitantly for a response.

"That's not your fault."

"Okay, but then I got attacked by a werewolf."

"WHAT?" Dean can practically hear Jason recoil on the other end and takes a deep breath. "God, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little bruised, s'all."

"What happened to it?"

"I killed it," Jason says. "The only problem is that I don't know if Batman got bit. I can try to figure it out because the only way to be sure is to-"

"Wait until the next full moon," Dean finishes, sighing. "Sam and I are going over there."

"You can't," Jason blurts. "Not yet. They... They don't know about any of this. Not even the vamps. Just- I need time to explain."

There's a loud knock at the door and Jason turns with a start.

"Jace? You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, Dean. I'll... I'll call you back later. Bye."

"Okay. Bye."

He slips his phone back into his pocket and turns to the door with a sigh. "Come in."