Chapter 13
Once the four arrived back at the tower Dean decided he wanted to go to the gym and work off some steam.
“Are you sure you should be doing that?” Tony asked after Dean told them his plans, “You know, with your back and all?”
“It’ll be fine, I’ve fought through a lot worse,” Dean answered.
“I don’t know Dean, we don’t want you to get hurt,” Steve added sceptically.
Dean sighed, “I’ll be fine,” he said again.
The husbands looked at each other and then turned back to Dean.
“Fine,” Steve started, “But do not overwork yourself, we don’t want you to reopen your wounds.”
Dean smiled and let out a huff of air, “Thank you, you have no idea how much I’ve needed this.”
The husbands smiled back at Dean and he turned around to begin walking to the gym.
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When Dean got to the gym, after changing into suitable clothes, he saw Natasha, Clint and Bucky in there.
Natasha and Bucky were sparring while Clint was using one of the punching bags.
They all looked up as he entered.
“Should you be in here?” Natasha asked, giving him somewhat of a mum look.
Dean pulled out his cheeky smile and replied, “Steve and Tony said it was okay as long as I don’t go to hard.”
Natasha looked concerned but said, “Okay…”
Clint just shrugged and went back to punching, while Natasha and Bucky went back to sparring.
Dean headed straight over to the punching bag next to Clint’s and went to start hitting it.
“Wait wait wait. You need to tape up your hands,” he said.
Dean rolled his eyes and went over to the tape.
He walked back to the punching bag and started hitting. He immediately felt better as his hands connected with something. ‘God, I missed this,’ he thought.
“You’re stupid…” His father’s voice rang through his ears.
Dean hit the bag harder.
“You’re worthless…”
Dean hit the bag again.
Dean kept punching and punching, ignoring the steadily growing pain in his back and his father’s voice in his head, in favour of letting out his anger.
“Wow what did that bag ever do to you?” Bucky asked.
Dean stopped hitting and looked up to see all three of them staring at him. He then looked down to his knuckles and saw a small amount of blood seeping through the tape.
Dean just shrugged.
“Hey buddy,” Dean looked around to see Steve stood at the door of the gym. ‘When did he get here?’ Dean thought.
“You okay?” Steve asked.
“I’m fine,” Dean replied shortly. He made a move to start punching again but Bucky held his wrist back.
“Maybe you should stop for today,” Bucky suggested.
Dean glared at him, “I’m fine.”
“Yeah you keep saying that,” Steve replied sadly. “Come on, lunch is almost ready.”
Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. He then started to walk out of the gym, walking past Steve, not saying a word.
Dean made his way back to his room and took off his shirt, a small amount of blood had seeped through that as well. His back stung but he ignored it and just lay on his bed, staring at the ceiling.
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The other four who were left stood in the gym started to make their way to the kitchen in silence.
When they arrived, Bucky, Clint and Nat went to help the others set the table while Steve pulled Tony aside.
“I’m a little worried about Dean, in the gym he looked out of it,” Steve began.
As Tony was about to say something, Sam interrupted. “Yeah he gets like that sometimes,” he said sadly, “It happens when he remembers stuff, he thinks I don’t know but I do.”
“Oh?” Tony questioned.
“Yeah. He like spaces out and gets angry sometimes,” Sam offered.
“How do we help him?” Steve asked.
“I normally just give him space and he calms down pretty quick,” Sam said.
“Okay…” Steve and Tony say at the same time, both wanting to do more.
“Do you think he’ll come out for lunch?” Steve asked.
“Probably not, I’ll just take him a sandwich later or something,” Sam replied.
The husbands nodded and then went to sit at the table, both still worried about Dean.
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Dean had gotten to his room and thrown himself on his bed.
He stayed laying down for about 10 minutes before he got back up.
Dean walked over to the backpack he brought from home and pulled out his gun. Just the weight in his hand made him feel better. Hunting was one of the only things that made him feel useful, so the feel of the gun in his hand just felt right.
He stood up with it in his hand and put it in his waistband. ‘Good to have you back,’ he thought.
He walked out of his room and spoke to FRIDAY.
“Can you please tell someone that I went out. And that I’ll be back soon,” Dean said while walking.
“Yes Dean, should I tell them where you are going?” The AI asked.
“No that’s fine, just tell them I’m going out,” Dean replied.
“Okay Dean.”
With that Dean entered the elevator and went down to the lobby to exit the tower.
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The team and Sam were sat around the table eating when FRIDAY spoke up.
“Dean has told me to let you know that he has gone out and will be back later,” FRIDAY spoke.
“Did he say where he was going?” Steve asked, slightly panicked.
“No, he did not,” The AI spoke again.
“Did he say when he’d be back?” Tony asked this time.
“Later,” FRIDAY replied.
Tony sighed.
“Do you think he’s going to do anything stupid?” Natasha turned to Sam.
Sam shook his head, “No, he’ll just be letting off some steam.”
The table relaxed, but only slightly.
“Did he say anything else?” Steve asked.
“No sir,” FRIDAY responded.
Steve just stared down at his plate, worry building.
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Dean was walking through the woods and finally came to a relatively clear space.
He went to stand a few feet away from a thick tree and pulled out his gun from his waistband.
Dean aimed the gun at the tree and began shooting at the tree.
The bullets all landed in a tight circle, with barely a few millimetres between each one. Dean shot the gun until his clip was empty and lowered his arms.
He immediately felt better. The loud bangs somehow relaxed him, it was something familiar, the smell of the gunpowder and the slight tingle in his shoulder from the kick back.
He put the gun in his waistband and started to make his way back to the tower, feeling the best he had in a few days.