Nerdy Men of Letters Dean AU....the SEQUEL Â or should I say....PREQUEL (dun dun duuuuun)
So had another rush of ideas for the fun entirely in my head AU where Henry Winchester survives, was firing them off in PMâs to @mayalaen and @powerfulweak when Maya suggested I post it in a forum that could be forwarded to other fans of Nerdy MoL dean....so.....here we go. (First a shot of one of the inspiring picture that started it all.) Â [stealth tagging @mashiarasdream to inform them of this WIP and the related link below for the father of this Wip head-cannon to fulfill my daily obligation to give them a fun story idea.]
And for those in the dark...This AU was an elaborate excuse to rerwrite Season 1 with Charlie and Castiel in it WAY sooner, and to put Dean in nerdy glasses as a MoL magic user (Charlie too). Â The premise was Henry Winchester returns to his time surviving Abaddon and tries to avert the misfortune to befall his son, but fate (and possibly angels) keep interfering ensuring that Jon continues on the path that while it leads to Henryâs grandchildren, also leads to the death of Mary Campbell, and Jonâs short trip off the deep end. Â Link HereÂ
The last batch of back and forths that result in Dean turning 28ish (or season 1 age I forget) and being initiated as a full Men of Letters with his BFF Charlie (Henry made the MoL America gender inclusive), only to panic worrying about his missing dad and sneaking off from the Bunker after using the MoL lore to forge a pact with a grumpy guardian angel Castiel to provide the muscle he fears heâll need trying to track down his dad and win over the help of his brother Sam. Â But I was admiring looking at old images of the guys in their early acting careers and though of a fun twist.Â
So after Mary dies, and Daddy Winchester runs off, Dean is left with Henry, and of course goes into Dean Winchester latches-onto-and-over-emulates-a-parental-figure(tm), diving into being a good little MoL nerd. Â Of course he rarely gets to leave the Bunker with how overprotective Grandpa Henry is. Â And even worse, he can kiss having a normal life or god-help-him relationship since there isnât another initiate in the Bunker that isnât terrified of pissing of super-protective Granpda Henry, except Charlie, his BFF, and sheâs hardly interested in dating him. (and visa versa). Â So in a desperate bid to not go stircrazy, Dean convinces Grandpa Henry to take him on a few planned trips to Chicago over a few months, when heâs 18, where Grandpa Henry is visiting the super secret Supernatural Library hidden beneath the real Chicago Library. Â
Dean, meanwhile decides to sneak into the normal, or as his friend Charlie calls it, âmuggleâ part of the library to meet...normal people and just get out from the Winchester-names far reaching shadow.Â
Years of hiding in the MoL dark bunker and cramming his face into ancient books and manuscripts have lead to dean having a bit of a vision problem, not that he even realized until heâs in a strange place heâs never been, with bright lights, (unlike the Bunker) and is having trouble seeing.
Still heâs escaped Grandpa Henry, and sure thereâs a little trouble seeing, but heâs out in the real world, with real people, that donât care about the supernatural, and he needs to just get out of the normal library for just a second and see the open sky. Â So he rushes in the direction he thinks the public library exit is, managing fine even if everything around him is a little blurry, until he runs into another guy, literally. Â And his best laid plan come crashing down.
The guy, Jimmy is fairly understanding and a tinsy bit flirty, especially when dean has to get his face fairly close just to see Jimmy clearly. Â Once they are both standing again the guy seems to forget where he was rushing a second when he gets a good look back at Dean.
That of course prompts Dean into a nerdy talk about actual angels, which OF course he knows all the stuff the MoL have talked about it. Turns out Jimmy knows plenty too having been raised a good little catholic boy. Â But their conversation is halted when Jimmyâs school mates rush in to drag him off to the Freshman Econ class study group he is late for. Â Before he can manage to get Deanâs information and figure out which college Dean is in, Dean slips away, having realized the time as well and desperate to get to Grandpa Henry before Henry notices heâs missing. Â In a parting shot, Jimmy suggests Dean considers glasses.
A month passes and Dean is eager to join Grandpa Henry on his next trip to Chicago, especially now that he can clearly see with his new glasses, which only Charlie knows the real reason why he suddenly became interested in something he hardly needs to get around the Bunker.
As soon as Grandpa Henry wanders away, Dean sneaks back into the library, ridiculously excited even if he knows the likelihood of bumping into Jimmy again is Nil.
This time he can see a lot more clearly, and wanders off in the direction where the people his age seem to be clustered. (Random college student meet and greet at the public library.)  Surprisingly...(or maybe not, he and Charlie DID cast a luck charm and a finding lost things spell, and borrow an amulet blessed by worshipers of Aphrodite before leaving the bunker.)  And sure enough a few minutes into watching some people have a âquietâ library poetry slam, a voice greets him, whispering flirtingly into his ear. âHello again Dean.â  This time Dean manages to stick around a few hours, meeting some of Jimmyâs friends, and cautiously avoiding any questions about his own classes or college with healthy deflection.
Long story short over a few months, Dean manages to meet Jimmy in the library every-time he can sneak himself along on Grandpa Henryâs trips. And eventually Charlie catches Dean in the Bunker Bathroom giving himself a pep talk. Â She learns that Dean had his first kiss, (that one with Charlie when they were fourteen doesnât count!) with Jimmy and after a groping make-out session in the public library almost lead to them getting kicked out, has been planning his next visit to Chicago carefully.
Charlie realizes Dean is convincing himself  to work up the nerve to finally lose his V-card next trip to Chicago to meet Jimmy. (Cause god knows no one in the supernatural world is gonna help HENRY âsuper mage and Savior of the Men of Lettersâ Winchesterâs  pride-and-joy grandson get laid.  Except Charlie.  But her help is more of the wingwoman variety and not the willing participant.)
Charlie gently convinces Dean to promise to tell Jimmy at least a little bit of the truth about himself before going to far. Â Dean doesnât realize sheâs trying to be sneaky. Â She is concerned that Dean or Jimmy will get themselves hurt or arenât being honest enough with each other. Â Especially since sheâs seen the pattern in Deanâs stories that makes her worried about Jimmyâs self acceptance, since Deanâs been building to this for Months, but his stories always end with Jimmy going from being ridiculously flirty, before cooling off and holding the cross on his necklace and pulling back. Â Charlie fully believes that with deanâs promise, she has pushed the confrontation back a few trips to Chicago, because she believes Dean will hold back from telling Jimmy all, giving Dean more time and trips for Jimmy to get used to his attraction. Â Dean (clueless to Charlieâs intent) isnât sure bringing up, âoh and Iâm kinda a wizardâ will help things so Charlie thinks sheâs bought them time. Â But Charlie underestimates the desire for a teenage Dean to get laid. Â So he goes and tells Jimmy the truth about himself the very next visit. Â And of course it doesnât go...well.
Dean implies itâs no more insane than the rest of the Catholic stuff Jimmy believes in, and how Jimmy alternates between believing his faith, âYou believe liking me is gonna get you sent to hell and that your priest can turn wine into a dead guysâ blood Jimmy, how is me casting a spell any different?â and resenting his faith for how it makes him compartmentalize his attraction to Dean. Â This turns into a fight over Dean vs Jimmyâs problems with being comfortable being Bi, and the issue of Jimmyâs faith and his experimentation. Â They argue. Â Deanâs learned over the months that Jimmy has an awkward relationship with his religion. Â Jimmy believes in it, but he also had some issues with himself that did not click with small town Catholics, so for college he fled his tiny hometown and his HS sweetheart because he was a little bit more BI than he felt his family was ready to accept. But he still has his faith. Â So Deanâs comment starts a fight that ends with Dean storming off.Â
[This gif isnât perfect since obviously they havenât Met...just pretend its more Dean saying he just met THIS side of Jimmy.]
What Dean doesnât notice in his angry storming away from Jimmy, is that Grandpa Henry was watching the whole thing, having been suspicious about Deanâs behavior lately, especially with how distracted nervous he was this trip. Â Dean also doesnât see Grandpa Henryâs face turn white as a ghost at the sight of Jimmyâs face. Â
Grandpa Henry cancels all future trips to the Chicago Supernatural Library, and the next time Dean joins his Grandfather its in NYC. Â Which is fine Because Dean is totally over that guy, and his stupid-pretty-face. Â So much so that he goes weeks without seeing it, before Charlie introduces him to Facebook and he stalks it to find Jimmy has switched to a college closer to his hometown and has apparently flung himself back into his faith whole heartedly...and his high-school girlfriend, Amelia.Â
Thatâs the list time Dean Winchester seeâs or thinks about Jimmy, (or at least admits it) until ten years later, when his father has gone missing, and newly Initiated Man of Letters Dean, breaks into the Bunker artifacts and secures a bond with the guardian angel Castiel, and is startled that he recognizes the face of the vessel the angel has chosen.Â
