Title: Automatic

Summary: (AU) - A few years out of high school, Dean and AJ realize they have more in common than they thought. Self-destructive Dean is about to stumble into the underground cage fighting scene, while AJ is trying to make something better out of a difficult life.

Characters: Dean/AJ, and all their friends

Rated M for future chapters. Language, violence, adult situations, all the good stuff.

Other stuff that you might find interesting: Roddy Piper as Dean's father, Kaitlyn, Roman & Seth play big parts. Many appearances by many characters, I've tried to fill all the roles appropriately. Some bits and pieces inspired by GTA V. Any questions, please ask.

Automatic
Chapter 1 - Caught In The Rain

AJ wanted to wait for the rain to let up, but it was getting late and the storm was only getting worse. She'd get soaked on the way to the bus station no matter what, it was only a matter of how fast. Resigned to a ride home in wet clothes, AJ left through the back door of the club and began the two block sprint.

Dean was in the back seat of the luxury SUV that Roman was driving. Seth was in the passenger seat. None of them owned the vehicle. They wouldn't have it for much longer anyway.

"Hey, turn around and pull over." Dean said calmly, as if it was something they always did on pick-up runs.

"Come on man, we're late already." Roman complained half-heartedly. Seth looked around, to see whatever caught Dean's attention.

"Turn around and pull over!" Dean insisted, no explanation. "He's not gonna care if we're a few minutes late, when has he ever cared? Turn around, or I swear to god-"

Dean, never buckled in, leaned forward and reached around Roman's seat, trying to grab the wheel.

"Dude!" Roman shouted, though it was with a smile on his face. Seth laughed too. They were both used to his antics. Roman shrugged him off and swatted him away. There was no one else on the road at that hour. Just a small, girly figure running on the sidewalk about a block back. Dean clawed at Roman's shoulder again, trying to turn the wheel himself. Roman began an abrupt, illegal u-turn across five rain-slicked lanes.

"Shit!" Dean shouted as he was thrown against the opposite side of the back seat.

"That's what you get!" Roman barked jokingly.

"You're gonna get us killed!" Seth laughed.

Dean pushed a hand into the back of Seth's seat, barely able to prevent himself from falling onto the floor behind it.

"Roman drives like that," Dean said, voice strained as he righted himself with sore muscles. "And I'm the one who's gonna get us killed?"

"I was talking to both of you." said Seth.

"Said the guy that jumped off a roof last week…Okay, where do I stop?" Roman interrupted himself.

"Right here, right here..."

They were a few feet past the bus station when Roman pulled over and slid to a stop on the wet road.

Dean opened his window and stuck his head out. He'd seen AJ running on the street and recognized her by her height, by the knee-high Chucks, and by the cascades of brunette hair sticking out of her hooded sweatshirt, which was pulled up against the rain.

AJ didn't notice the SUV until it was swerving back her way. The engine revved as the car fishtailed. AJ swore under her breath and kept her head down, in case it was some asshole from the club trying to yell something at her.

"AJ!" Dean shouted.

Against her better judgment, AJ looked up, not sure if she'd heard her name or not.

The rain was coming down hard. Dean's face was already dripping wet, and he blinked away the droplets obscuring his vision.

"AJ!" Dean shouted again, wiping his face and laughing because she wasn't running toward them yet. She didn't seem to recognize them.

Seth rolled down his window and joined Dean's desperate plea for her to join them.

"Get in, come on!"

"Come on!" they shouted together, banging on the side of the car like it was a getaway.

AJ recognized them then. They'd gone to the same high school, a year apart. The boys had all dropped out before their senior year, while AJ stayed and graduated. She hadn't been close to any of them. She'd barely spoken to them outside of any classes they may have taken together. She was surprised they knew who she was, let alone recognized her in this weather.

After a few seconds' hesitation, AJ jogged toward the car and reached for the curb side rear door. Dean slid to the other side of the back seat as AJ rushed to get into the car and out of the rain. It was quiet in there. Once AJ slammed the door shut behind herself, she could feel the cost of luxury around her.

"Wow." was her first comment as she pushed the hood from her head. "I feel like I might ruin the seats."

Roman looked at Dean in the rearview mirror.

"It's just water." Dean told AJ, ignoring Roman's look.

She turned to him and smirked shyly, pushing the hair from her face, the few wet strands that had not been protected by her hood.

"We figured you could use a ride home." Dean explained.

"Thanks." said AJ, in a hesitant tone. She was hoping they wouldn't give her shit about the club she'd just left. She was nervous enough about her parents finding out. Either the guys hadn't noticed, or they didn't care, because it wasn't mentioned for the rest of the trip. Probably the best choice for a random car ride home, since they didn't talk to anyone from school anymore either.

"Where to?" Roman asked.

AJ looked up at the rearview mirror and caught his gaze.

"Do you know where the strip mall on 8th is?"

"The one with the crazy donut shop?" Seth chimed in.

"Yeah, it's right near there, I can tell you where to turn."

Roman checked for traffic and pulled away from the curb.

"If it's too out of the way, you don't have to take me all the way there." AJ added.

"Nah, it's fine." Dean insisted. "We've got all night, right Roman?"

"It's totally fine." Roman assured AJ, smirking in the mirror at both of the backseat passengers. "It's actually on the way to where we're going, don't worry about it."

They were all quiet as Roman hit the left turn signal and started off in a new direction. Rain kept pelting the windshield, the wipers barely able to keep up with the torrent.

"Your car break down or something?" Dean asked AJ. His tone was dry, and even though AJ didn't know them all that well, she knew Dean was teasing her.

"I don't have one." AJ answered wryly. "I'm saving up, though."

"Yeah, me too."

Seth snickered from the front seat. AJ felt like she was missing part of an inside joke.

"We can't all have luxury sedans, dickwad." Dean kicked the back corner of Seth's seat.

"Dude, don't kick the seats!" Roman scolded him, more serious that time.

"Sorry." Dean said, more to AJ than to Roman, since he'd had to get past one of her little calves to hit Seth.

"It's okay." she told Dean, right before succumbing to a yawn.

"Just getting off work?" Dean asked.

AJ nodded. "I wait tables. It was a long night."

"More power to you. Customer service isn't easy."

"Seriously." AJ commented quietly, picking at a thread that dangled from her ripped jeans.

She wasn't sure what to say to them. She was tired, and she'd spent all of her flirtatiousness waiting those tables and earning tips from slimy weirdos.

Dean watched her, looking at her closely for the first time. He remembered sitting next to her in Spanish 2 for a few days, before he got kicked out and dropped the class. She used to chuckle under her breath when he messed with the teacher. She'd always been cute.

"I was a short order cook for about a week." said Dean.

AJ looked over at him, smiling softly and politely. He stared back, not afraid of eye contact.

"They demoted me to dishwasher after one day." he said.

AJ chuckled silently, just like she had in their Spanish class.

"Then what happened?" Roman prompted him sarcastically.

"I quit!" Dean reminded him.

"You didn't quit, you got fired!" Seth corrected. "For ripping the hose out of the wall."

"Hey!" Dean called back. "I decided to quit, and THEN I ripped the hose off the wall. They just happened to fire me before I could get the words out."

"It was a symbolic 'I quit.'" Seth conceded.

"Yeah, that." said Dean. AJ was showing a genuine smile now, amused by the group story, the details of which only a close friend would remember and call you out.

"I can't afford to lose my job right now." AJ said, teasing him back.

Dean laughed inwardly. "I couldn't afford it then either." he drawled. "Good thing I have responsible friends lookin' out for me."

"What's that? You still owe me money?" Seth asked, apparently hearing different voices.

"I don't do well in tight spaces unless I'm allowed to hit something." Dean explained, once again ignoring his friends in favor of chatting with AJ.

"You were a boxer, right?" she asked.

"Aww, she remembers." Dean grinned, lightly tapping the side of her sneaker with the toe of his black boot.

AJ smiled and shook her head, giving another silent chuckle. "I'm surprised you remembered me." she said.

"Your shoes gave you away." Dean said, still smiling. "Nah, I remember you. We didn't talk much, but I remember. I'm still boxing, though. Not very well, but...I'm still trying."

"Is that where you got the black eye?" AJ asked, craning her neck so she could see the left side of his face better. It was dark in the back seat, but every time they passed under a street light she could see the discoloration around his eye socket.

"Yeah..." Dean turned his head so she could see. She inspected the gnarly bruise with the calm indifference of a fellow athlete. When he reached up to touch his temple, testing the boundaries of the tender area, AJ noticed his knuckles too.

"How'd you get those?" she asked, curious about the deep red scabs on his knuckles.

"These?" Dean held both hands up, glancing at them casually before sitting back in his seat. He shrugged. "I guess I forgot to put the gloves on."

He smiled. AJ knew he was joking. There was more to the story than that. But if he didn't want to talk about it...

"You still into the martial arts stuff?" he asked her.

"Aww, you remembered." AJ echoed sarcastically.

Dean made a 'yeah, yeah' face and tapped her foot again.

"You were a little bad ass, from what I remember. How many black belts you got now?"

"None yet." AJ admitted. "I'm working on it."

"Like you're working on getting a car?" Dean teased her again.

AJ rolled her eyes and smiled in spite of herself. "Yeah."

"I bet you'd kick all our asses."

Roman chuckled to himself in the front seat. Dean was in a good mood tonight. He was always better around cute girls. It was a nice change from the recent brooding.

"Just don't give me a reason." AJ warned him jokingly.

"This is why hitchhiking is illegal, right?"

AJ laughed. "I don't think so. But you basically kidnapped me, so..."

"We have it coming?"

"Right."

"Don't worry, we'll get you home safe and sound."

"But then you'll know where I live..."

"Come on, what's not to trust?" Seth piped up from the front.

AJ furrowed her brow, trying to pick just one example from a very long list.

"Didn't you steal the principal's car once?"

"Twice." Dean said, confirming and correcting at the same time. He held up two fingers and wiggled them.

"Oh shit, I forgot about that..." Seth said, smiling proudly to himself.

AJ chuckled and shook her head again. They had somehow avoided expulsion after that prank, even after becoming folk heroes to the entire student body. The joke had been that they not only brought the car back in perfect condition, but with a full tank of gas and sparkling clean too.

"How were you not all in permanent detention?" AJ wondered aloud.

"I don't know," said Roman. "I thought we were."

His buddies laughed in response.

"Once we turned eighteen, they basically asked us to leave." said Seth.

"Which we did. Gladly." Dean added wryly.

When AJ glanced Dean's way, he widened his eyes playfully. They smiled at each other and AJ turned to look out the window.

"Once you're past the mall, it'll be two lights and then a right turn." she said to the driver.

"Cool." Roman replied. "Shouldn't take too long this late at night."

"You like working late?" asked Dean, stealing AJ's attention back from the road.

She shrugged. "Not really. But it pays well."

"Long as you're getting what you need..."

"Yeah..."

They drove right through the heart of the city on their way to AJ's house. It was nearly half the drive just to get downtown.

"You work pretty far from home, for a girl that doesn't own her own car." Dean remarked.

"Nosy." AJ said in response. She smirked, and Dean grinned. Some distant thunder made them all glance up at the sky. "I usually carpool." AJ explained, voice muffled by the window as she peered outside. "Or take the bus." She shrugged again. "It's been worth it so far."

"We do what we gotta do." said Dean.

"And what do you do?"

"I drive for my dad, when he needs help."

"He drives limousines, right?"

"He's got a cab company too. I fill in sometimes."

"Oh, no wonder you're so good at this. Picking up random people off the street."

Dean made a face of mock frustration. "Damn. Should've been running the meter."

"Right turn?" Roman asked, slowing down at another intersection.

"Right." AJ confirmed. "Actually, you can just drop me off here."

"You sure?" asked Roman.

"It's still raining," Seth pointed out, even though it had stopped a few minutes ago.

"We got you, don't worry about it." Dean chimed in.

"Okay, okay." AJ conceded with a smile on her face.

"I hope you like having your arm twisted." Dean joked quietly. AJ glanced at him, and her smile briefly widened. Dean craned his neck and looked out his window, gauging her neighborhood. It looked like his own neighborhood: working class, busy streets, with pockets of nice residential areas. Families that endured and stuck together in spite of their circumstances, helping each other to protect against break-ins and vandalism. Dean and his friends did not take cars from neighborhoods like that.

AJ told Roman to turn down a short street in one of those residential pockets.

"The blue one." AJ sat up straight with her bag in her hands.

Roman pulled over in front of a small, one-story home. A small patch of grass, surrounded by a ragged chain link fence, served as its front yard.

"Thanks, guys. That shaved about an hour off my trip home."

"Any time," said Roman. "Seriously."

AJ took the time to get her house key out of her bag before exiting the car.

"I have to be stealthy now." she explained. "I don't want to wake my parents up."

"I just got the strongest urge to lay on the car horn..." said Seth.

"You should never say things like that to us," Roman told her. "Not when we're in a car."

"We're bad people in cars." said Dean.

"I swear to god, I would come back and kill all three of you." AJ warned. She didn't know them well enough to know if they were serious or not.

Dean nodded upward in AJ's direction. "You ever want to look at some cheap cars," he said. "Stop by my dad's garage. He finds stuff at police auctions all the time, perfect condition. He usually soups 'em up and turns them over pretty quick, but I bet he'd give you one if you asked. He's got a weakness for pretty girls."

AJ froze up, smiling awkwardly at his compliment and invitation. She rested her hand on the door handle, hesitating.

"Maybe." she said lightly. "Sometime."

"Then you won't have to get kidnapped in the middle of the night by three weirdos." said Dean.

"I appreciate it, really." AJ tilted her head and smiled. "Thanks again for the ride." she said to all three of them as she opened the door.

"Have a good night." said Dean. "Don't wake Daddy." he added with an impish smile.

AJ shook her head and smiled one last time, and she said goodbye to Roman and Seth.

They watched her run up the walk and onto the porch, where she could tip-toe to the door and slip the key inside the lock.

"Damn. She got cute." Roman commented.

"She's been cute." Dean corrected him.

"You should have gotten her number." said Roman, glancing over his shoulder at Dean.

"Loser." Seth added casually.

"Like I'm gonna put her on the spot with you two in the car." said Dean. "I see her in the neighborhood sometimes. I'll see her again."

They were all still watching AJ. She was having trouble with the lock.

"Should we wait?" Roman asked.

"Nah, it's creepy." said Dean.

"We gotta make sure she gets inside." Seth said in an exaggerated, worried tone.

"You're gonna creep her out, ya fuckin creeps!" Dean mock yelled at them.

Seth started to roll his window down, as if he was going to shout something to AJ. Dean immediately jumped him from behind, putting an arm around his neck and closing a fist around a clump of his hair.

Seth fought back, grunting as he laughed and shoved an elbow hard into Dean's face. Dean grimaced and barely moved; the pain in his jaw was as close a friend to him as the two guys in the car. Roman pulled away from the curb just as AJ got her front door open and slipped inside.

"Stop with the fucking horseplay, already!" Roman yelled. Dean let go immediately, leaving Seth to rub his neck back to normal.

"Jeez, Dad." said Seth, making fun of Roman as if he hadn't just been the victim of a half-hearted choking attempt.

"It's got white upholstery and shit!" said Roman, still worried first and foremost about the car.

"We get iiiit!" Dean yelled back, snickering along with Seth when he was done.

"Why do we all turn into Annoying Dad when it's our turn to drive?" asked Seth.

"He'll take the damages out of our cut." Roman reminded them. "And Santino always asks who drove."

Being in the driver's seat automatically made them the responsible one. Of course that always caused the other two to overcompensate and act like idiots in response. The universe had to maintain its balance somehow.

"Oh my god..." Roman groused, checking the time and his mental map of the city.

"We'll only be a half-hour late, relax." said Dean.

"Come on, show a little hustle." said Seth, the other devil on Roman's shoulder.

"The two of you, I swear to god..."

"That's it," said Dean. "Roman's not allowed to drive for a month. Not 'til his balls grow back."

"Dean!" Seth shouted. "Leave your father alone."

Roman tried hard to hide it but it almost made him laugh. Setting his jaw, he shook his head and tried not to show it.

"Come onnnnn!" Dean growled, grabbing Roman's seat and shaking it as violently as he could without ripping it out.

Without warning, Roman stepped on the gas, pedal to the metal, and they peeled off on the wet road. If AJ had still been outside, she might have heard the excited hollering of his passengers as they took off at dangerous speeds toward Santino's garage.

Once she was inside her parents' house, AJ stayed in the hallway and unzipped her knee-high sneakers as quietly as she could. The TV was on in the living room. It was always on, day or night. More indicative of someone being home, than whether or not they were awake.

AJ tip-toed toward the kitchen. Her father was snoring on the couch, the tray from his microwave dinner still out on the coffee table with the leftovers dried inside. He already had a blanket pulled up to his chin, otherwise AJ would have tucked him in herself. At least he was resting. Sometimes he stayed up all night.

She filled a glass with water from the kitchen sink, then made her way toward her bedroom, chugging the water as she went. She set the glass down gently on her dresser, and changed into an old t-shirt and cotton shorts. After taking out her contacts, she went to go check on Mom.

The TV in her parents' bedroom was on too, the volume down low. It was more about the comforting blue glow than entertainment. AJ was relieved to find her mother sound asleep. Neither AJ nor her father could ever know how much time her mother spent in bed during the day. They spent most of their days working, or in AJ's case, out of the house with Kaitlyn. They weren't even sure what was wrong with Mrs. Foley. Neither were the doctors. There was a long list of ailments to choose from, but they needed to know exactly why she was so sick, so they could prove to the insurance company that it wasn't a pre-existing condition. No one wanted to pay those bills. Not after she'd been so sick for so long.

AJ had been dreaming of her bed all day, of curling up, sleeping in and spending all of the next day out of the heels she wore at work. But seeing her mother sleeping so peacefully, AJ couldn't resist curling up beside her, if only for a few minutes.

The boys arrived at Santino's Garage fifteen minutes later. One of the bay doors had been left open just for them. It closed behind them after Roman pulled in and turned off the engine.

"You're late." Santino called out from his office, in his thick Italian accent. For a split second, Dean's stomach twisted with panic. Then he remembered Santino was crazy and loved them unconditionally, like the nephews he never had.

They all exited the car, suddenly treating it like the expensive, stolen property that it was. They closed their doors gently, gathering at the hood of the car as Santino walked out of his office and into the main area of the garage.

"Sorry, sir." Roman said. He stood up straight and offered no excuses.

"I joke." Santino said, holding up his hands in a welcoming gesture. "It's no problem. I'm always here, this is my life now." He gestured around the garage and muttered something in Italian that the boys didn't understand. He owned a four bank garage with three dirty lifts and two old computers between them. Deliveries were always parked behind door number four, next to Santino's office.

"I trust you boys." Santino switched back to English. "You're good boys. Well, you're bad boys, taking cars and bringing them here. But it's good for me, so I like you. Show me what you got."

"L.E.," Roman said, taking the lead since he'd picked this one out. "White leather interior, lots of post-factory mods. Check out the dash displays..."

Santino opened the driver side door and peeked inside. He only glanced around for a second or two before pulling back out.

"Very nice." the older man said. He checked the outside distractedly, already pleased by what he saw. "Very nice, always. You come back next week sometime, I might have more work for you. Good?"

The three young men all agreed that it would be great.

"Okay, good. I get your money. For this time, and for last, like I promise. Stay here."

The boys all glanced at each other, breathing mental sighs of relief. Santino was usually pretty reasonable, but they'd seen him angry once, and once was more than enough.

"Told you we didn't have to worry." Seth teased Roman under his breath.

"See what happens next time you drive." Roman warned him. "I'm gonna put muddy foot prints all over that shit."

Santino returned with a paper bag full of neat stacks for each of them. Dean got his last, and Santino didn't let go when he went to take it.

"Don't spend it all in one place." said Santino, as if it had some deeper meaning. Dean's face must have contorted into a weird expression, because Santino broke into forced laughter, and patted him hard on the shoulder.

"Like an old gangster movie!" Santino said to the other two. "He look so scared! Okay, you go now. Spend the money on drugs and hookers, I don't care!"

The boys all shared a look, and left Santino muttering in Italian as he walked back to his office.

With pockets full of cash and no ride, they decided to save their money and walk home. The rain had stopped completely, and the asphalt smelled good.

"Can I crash tonight?" Dean asked the two others.

"Of course." said Roman.

"The Dean Suite is always available." Seth agreed, referring of course to the old couch in their living room.

Seth and Roman had a small but decent apartment together, and Dean's home was a few miles further down the road. The only reason he hadn't moved in with them was his father. No matter how many nights Dad spent driving while Dean spent the night at Seth and Roman's place, the thought of officially splitting up the last remaining members of the Piper clan was unthinkable.

Now that their errand was done and they were all paid up, Dean's thoughts drifted back to AJ. By simple deduction he'd figured out where she worked, and he wondered if she really did just wait tables there. She could make a hell of a lot more money doing that other stuff.

"You ever regret dropping out of school?" Dean asked his buds. To them it seemed out of the blue, but then again Dean was always coming out of left field with the things he did and said.

"You kidding?" asked Roman. He rose one incredulous eyebrow and glanced Dean's way.

"I'm serious."

"Yeah, I really missed out on being named Homecoming King." said Seth.

Roman chuckled at that answer, giving his own a little more thought.

"Sometimes I wish I'd stayed and graduated…" Roman said. "But then I think about what I'd be doing right now, and it's always the same thing."

"Hangin out with us douche-nozzles?" Seth guessed the last part of Roman's confession.

"Jacking cars," said Roman. "Training at a gym or a dojo. Doing whatever the fuck I want. You know?"

"Yeah…" Dean said, obviously deep in his own thoughts.

"Why?" Roman asked. "Do you regret it?"

"Naw. I mean, I think about it. Mostly just the social aspect of it."

Roman and Seth both smirked.

"You mean girls?" Seth asked.

"You know me too well." Dean said sarcastically, smiling mirthlessly as he so often did.

"Already in love." Seth teased him. "I told you you should have gotten her number."

"Such a softy." Roman chimed in.

Dean answered by skipping a few steps ahead, turning around and raising both middle fingers as he walked backwards. Seth and Roman stopped, and looked at each other.

"Are we doin' this?" Seth asked Roman.

"He asked for it." Roman pointed out.

"Oh shit." Dean muttered when he realized what they were about to do. He immediately took off running, so he could get a head start. He knew they wouldn't stop chasing him until they got home.

At five in the morning, AJ's dad gently shook her awake.

"Time to go to bed, sweetheart." he suggested groggily, still half asleep himself.

"Hi, Dad." AJ said sleepily. She pushed her hair from her face and sat up, vacating the spot next to her mother. His checkered flannel shirt was a blur without her glasses on.

"Thanks for keeping her warm, honey."

AJ hugged him on her way out.

"Love you." she murmured.

"Love you too." he replied. He was barely aware of AJ as she shuffled toward her room. "I'll see you in the morning."

Once she was in her bed, AJ covered her head with her blankets and fell back asleep. No dreams. Just dead sleep, and rest.