#wanted verse

you know another AU i’d kill to see? because apparently my brain is on fuckin' fire? a highlander au.

just think about it. it’s basically tailor made for dean. a man who’s died a thousand times but never stays dead? an immortal who’s spent centuries living under different names, different faces, different sins. soldier, knight, pirate, outlaw, gunslinger… but always fighting, always surviving.

he’s walked through empires and wars, seen the rise and fall of kings, buried more friends than he can count. he’s learned to keep his head down when the world starts spinning too fast but he can never really stay out of it. not when there’s something to fight for. not when someone needs saving. even if it means risking his secret every damn time.

and why is he immortal? heaven, of course.

when the angels first fell, heaven forged a handful of mortal vessels meant to hold michael’s power. souls that needed tempered by endless death and rebirth. divine experiments in human form. call it reincarnation, call it cruelty. but in the end, there can be only one.

dean’s known the truth for longer than he wants to admit, but he’s spent centuries running from it. hiding. pretending. but now, in the 21st century, the signs are showing. angels whisper again through the static. demons crawl up from the cracks. the air hums with something he hasn’t felt in lifetimes...

the end’s coming... and he knows it.

but dean? he’s done waiting.

if the apocalypse is finally on his doorstep, if the last battle between immortals is about to start, then he’ll meet it head on. no more hiding. no more pretend. with his sword in hand, whiskey on his breath, and a few thousand years of rage burning behind his eyes he'd be ready.

and michael? well if he wants dean he's going to have to fight him too. because this hunter isn't simply going to say yes. he knows it's all been rigged from the start. there is no reward. there never has been.

i've been looking through old dark angel gifs got me thinking about heaven and god's involvement in the winchester lineage. we know the boys had some plot armor "enhancements" according to chuck. they still got hurt but they healed from things faster, didn't get sick very often or easy, nice teeth, had some insane luck and a few other things.

but what if we lean into that dark angel idea of "genetically enhanced" humans and how they handled that? what if instead of being a hunter dean grew up in a training lab? basically a place run by heaven to ensure that the michael sword was fit for use. so he'd learn about heavenly culture and languages along with all kinds of earth based culture. that way when michael takes him as a vessel he instantly knows how to handle the current world.

instead of him witnessing mary dying at 4 years old he was kidnapped by heaven. maybe even too early to remember his brother much or maybe not even know sam exists. this way mary can still die as usual and john becomes the hunter they expect to break the first seal in hell.

gimme lab escapee dean who was too clever for heaven to contain. instead of an anti-possession tattoo he's got enochian symbols of warding tattooed across his back and down his arms. instead of hustling pool he cage fights. instead of constantly traveling he keeps trying to find places to settle only to have to run off when the angels show up again. gimme a dean who is the solider son john always wanted but he never gets to have. gimme a dean who was conditioned all his life to say yes but still has that stubborn strength of will to say no.

i would place the running away when he was probably an older teenager. 18/19. it would be fun to either have someone he escapes with (maybe the lab holds more than just heavenly subjects) or just someone who he ends up connecting with shortly after escaping. i feel like dean always needs an anchor because any and all versions of dean hate being alone. (for fun reasons in this verse i won't disclose yet. gotta have that angst though am i right?)

of course it could be set further past his escape too. maybe a place where he gets the chance to settle for longer than any other place. he finally thinks heaven is off his back but then surprise. he finds out something that makes him have to chance going back to the lab. like his friend gets captured or maybe he finds out he has a little brother and he gives himself up to save them. (because of course he's going to self-sacrifice)

In a world that seems so normal, so filled with humans and nothing more... it is anything but that. There are humans who have the ability to see into the spiritual realm, to see what others do not - to see the shadows and darkness. They know the truth - vampires, werewolves, witches - all the dark forces, the demons. Their job is to hunt them when and if they are causing problems in the world - as they so often do exactly that. Demons pop up from time to time, always evil, always needing to be slain and sent directly back to hell. Injuries occur, as does death, but it's not so simple to kill these hunters. They have the power of light, of God, of angels on their side. Does it make them immortal? No. But the strange tattoos covering their flesh has some benefits: runes - including a healing rune, if you can activate it in time.

What would happen if one was shielded from this life, this world? What would happen if one never knew it existed, yet he/she possessed such sight? One night, this person runs into a cloaked hunter, able to see the person despite the fact nobody else around him/her can see. Before long, he/she is propelled into a brand new world, one where he/she must learn everything - survival, fighting, runes, weapons, death, and destruction... perhaps even love. The twist is that he/she has a knack for it, of course, it's a gift, a birthright. He/She picks it up quickly, able to create new runes nobody else has ever seen, runes that do things unexpected. What other twists and turns lie around the corner? Can he/she handle this world, this new reality? What about friends? Family? Humans in his/her midst that don't have such a gift. Is it wise to keep it secret or reveal it? After all, they could be potential targets given his/her new life.

Based off of the Uglies series by Scott Westerfeld, more heavily inspired by “Specials”.

Plot:

When Frank and Joe were very young, their father, Fenton, investigated and broke apart a scientific building where human experiments were being forcefully done. Many scientists were arrested for their crimes against humanity, but others escaped, with tech and files and evil knowledge. In revenge against Fenton for “ruining” their cause, the scientists kidnap the brothers to resume their experiments, subjecting them to horrified abuse and surgeries to “enhance them” beyond human limitations.

Years have passed, and now Frank and Joe, at nineteen and eighteen years old respectfully, are now humanized weapons. They, with a team of teenagers who were kidnapped and enhanced as they were, work as assassins for the Company. They go by the title of Special Circumstances.

Enhancements:

Terrifying beauty: Described as hauntingly attractive with some frightening wolfish features, seeing one of the Specials is both awe inspiring and petrifying. Their eyes seem to glow, with swirling tattoos on their skin that shows their heartrate, giving away some of their emotions. Frank, despite being the leader of the team, is the only one who doesn’t have the tattoos.

“Skin-tennas” and Microchips: The team has microchips imbedded into their bodies, causing their bodies to be extra sensitive to touch. A simple touch to their fingertips can connect them to one another, almost like earpieces in which they can communicate to each other when well out of eyesight. 

Superhuman Senses: Faster than the average man -- hell, even as fast as a cheetah -- the team can run or move in the blink of an eye. They have the strength of ten men, and incredible regeneration abilities depending on the severity of wounds. A cut to the skin can heal in thirty seconds. A broken bone takes fifteen minutes. They have night vision and heat sensors in their eyes, making it easy for them to see in the dark. Their eyesight is so powerful that they can see further distances, as well as incredibly small details, from the pores of someone’s skin to the tiny little lines on a leaf.

Sharp Nails and Teeth: Sometimes strength isn’t enough. Sometimes, fighting dirty is the only way to make a target complacent. If that means scratching and biting them into submission, so be it. The nails and teeth look normal, but they are razor sharp and can break skin with the right amount of pressure, which is less than the pressure it takes for normal nails to break skin.

Drawbacks

Stunted Emotions: The team is loyal to one another, due to the shared abuse and “training” they undertook to become the Special Circumstances. Some who have met them describe them as unfeeling, while others claim they feel too much. As such, interaction with them can be either frightening or socially awkward.