"What a dick."

Dean was starting to get fed up with his family. First, Sam goes off to Stanford- which is obviously fine- but he disconnected his phone, cut ties with him and John. Dean didn't ask for much from his brother when he saw him off as he went to the bus. All he said was for him to shoot him a text, tell him he's alive. Did that happen? Nope. Nuh uh.

Then, John decided to be, well, John and disappear in the middle of the night without saying anything. All he did was leave a note. It's time we've hunted on our own. Apparently, he didn't want to say it face-to-face, wasn't man enough to say it. He always thought John meant it when he said family always stuck together.

Go to Hell, Dad.

Now, he was hunting on his own but he was tired. With no one to watch his back, he was wound up and sleep-deprived. He had to do all his research on his own because he didn't have enough money to buy another phone after a fugly destroyed it. He was dirty and worn out and hungry. He probably looked homeless. Hell, he lived in his Impala.

He'd been driving for hours now, running near empty on the gas tank, and his stomach had decided to make itself known. He figured it had been a couple days since he last ate and finally went to turn into a town nearby. God, he didn't even know what state he was in. Last time he checked, he was somewhere in Oklahoma.

Geez.

He pulled up in front of a local diner and stumbled on in, thankful it was early in the morning. There was barely anyone around and anyone that did see him only cast him one or two worried glances. He quickly slid into a booth in the back away from anyone's wandering gazes and sank down in the comfortable, worn seats.

"You look like Hell."

Dean looked up to see a waiter looking at him with a raised eyebrow, a menu in his hand. He looked about his age, twenty-three, and held himself with caution. Rightfully so since Dean probably looked like a serial killer on the run. He wore a black shirt that said Support Madison Wisconsin's School for Gifted Artists. There was a cool splash of colors behind the words and a signature at the bottom. One of the artists in the school probably made it. Well, at least he knew where he was now. He took in the rest of the man's appearance. He had windblown black hair and bright green eyes that looked like someone had cut an emerald and stuck it in his face. He had a healthy tan, like he spent most of his time outside, and he seemed to work out a bit in his spare time. He held himself carefully, like he was ready to fight. It didn't seem intentional, more like he had stood like that so many times, it was second nature.

"Feels like it," He chuckled in response to the waiter's comment. He looked at his name tag. Jackson. "So, Jackson," He tapped the cover of the menu the other had dropped in front of him not unkindly. "What's the cheapest thing you got here."

Jackson quirked an eyebrow, green eyes dropping to the menu before looking at Dean, "How much money you got on ya?"

The Winchester dug in his pockets for a moment and produced a couple of crumpled bills, laying it out on the table. He didn't say anything as Jackson reached over and unfolded them to count it all. He realized that the man didn't move his hands from over the table, unconsciously showing that he wasn't going to run away with his money or scam him. "So?" He bit his lip when the waiter frowned for a split second before his features smoothed out.

"This'll do you good," Jackson snatched up the menu with a smile. He turned around slightly to look back at one of the waitresses walking around near the front, "Hey, May, get this guy a drink, will ya?"

"Get it yourself, you lazy bastard," A redhead said with a fond eyeroll. "I ain't your maid."

"I'd fire you if you were," The waiter responded, pouting at her. "You'd be a lousy maid. You'd poison me first chance you get."

"I'm touched you know me so well."

Jackson shook his head and turned back to Dean, who was struggling not to laugh at the exchange, "I'll be right back. What do ya wanna drink?"

"Uh, Coke?"

"Alright," The green-eyed man put the money back on the table. "I'll bring some food by, too. I think we can get ya somethin' good with what ya got."

"Thanks, man," Dean said sincerely. The man didn't treat him like he was trash, like some people did in other towns. He was being kind and didn't comment on how he looked besides his first remark.

"Anytime. Hey, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Dean. Dean Winchester."

Jackson tensed for a millisecond before he gave the hunter an easy-going smile, "Well, Dean, I'll be right back with your drink and maybe some food."

Dean watched as the waiter walked off, making some snarky comment at May, which earned him a smack on the head with a menu. He had reacted when he heard his name- his last name in particular. What if he was some supernatural baddie in hiding.

"You can calm yourself." Jackson was suddenly back with a Coke, sliding it over to the Winchester and dropping a straw in it. "You make it seem like everyone's goin' to attack ya. No one here's like that." He tilted his head, "Well, maybe May wi-" He never got to finish as a pad of paper came flying and hit him in the back of the head.

"Sorry," Dean forced himself to relax. For a moment, he thought he knew what he was thinking, that he suspected him to be something dangerous. "Not everyone's been kind to me like you've been."

"Jackson? Kind?" The waitress from before, May, came over with a tray of food, placing a bacon cheeseburger with some fries in front of the hunter. "Please, he insults everyone he meets- sometimes I think on purpose. He's a bastard."

"I'm hurt," Jackson rolled his eyes, leaning on the side of the booth across from Dean. "Don't listen to her, she's been out to get me ever since the boss told me I was his favorite."

"Keep tellin' yourself that, Cupcake," She patted Jackson's face with a patronizing smile. "Now, let's let the man eat his food, ya? I'm pretty sure you got some more customers to serve."

"Yeah, yeah, okay, mom. Yeesh."

Dean looked down at his food after the two left and then his money. He had a feeling that the burger and fries cost more than the measly seven dollars he had. Still, he didn't want to look a gift horse in the mouth. Taking a bite of his burger, he was sure he was in Heaven, "Oh, my God, this is amazing." He quickly devoured everything until there was nothing left on his plate.

"Well, I'll be sure to tell Ernie his food was good," Jackson chuckled when he saw May walk off with the plate. He sat down across from the Winchester with two plates with a slice of pie, sliding over one. "So, tell me your story. Why do you look like my cousin Fred?"

Dean didn't know who Fred was but he was starting to see what May meant when she said that Jackson could be insulting. He wasn't offended, though. He looked like crap. "You sure you can be sittin' here?"

"I'm on break. Besides," He picked up his own plate and leaned back in his seat. "I always sit around anyway. Boss doesn't care as long as both the customers and I don't cause any trouble. Anyways, story time."

The Winchester chuckled, "Well, my mom died when I was just a kid so it was just me, my little brother, and my dad. We traveled a lot over the years and I guess Sammy, my brother, just got tired of never being able to live in one place. First chance he got, he applied for a college and got into Stanford full ride."

"Nice," Jackson nodded but he didn't smile and his eyes were calculating, like he knew that this story wasn't a happy one for Dean. "Let me guess, he left and felt like he could do better on his own, that he didn't need you or your father."

"Exactly," Dean nodded, grabbing a fork and stabbing his pie.

"And your dad? Where's he?"

"Dunno. He just up and left in the middle of the night a couple weeks ago and left a note saying that we needed to do our own things on our own."

"Wow," Jackson whistled, putting down his plate for a moment. "What a dick."

Dean snorted, "Tell me about it."

"Hey, where are you staying at? A motel?"

"Nah, can't afford it," He took a bite of his pie. "I'm stayin' in my car."

"Well, I got an apartment a couple blocks down from here. It's not much but you can stay in the guest room until you can find some order in your life. What'cha say, Winchester?"

Dean went to speak when May walked by saying, "I'd just go with him. Jackson can be really stubborn and, if he wants you to stay with him, you're stayin' with him."

The brunette sighed, "Alright, then. What time do you get off."

"Eh, don't worry about it. Hey, boss," The waiter looked back at a closed door near the back of the dinner. He continued even when he couldn't hear a response, "I'm going to disappear for a little, okay?"

There was a moment of silence besides the quiet chatter of the few people around before a muffled voice said, "It's too early to deal with your shit, ya asshole. Just leave already."

"Love you, too!" Jackson grinned and stood up, "Let's go, Dean, before he decides to kill me or something. I don't know about you but I'm too pretty to die."

The Winchester shook his head. What the hell did he get himself into?

Tell me what you guys thought. This, obviously, isn't my first SPN/PJO crossover but it's definitely different than the other, that's for sure.
Any ideas/criticism/random thingies are always welcome here in casa de Jones. :) You can PM me any time, too.

-Jones