Fic: Fire and Rain (Supernatural) Gen
Title: Fire and Rain
Author: Epeeblade
Rating: teen/ PG
Genre: Gen
Characters: Ellen, Jo, Bobby
Warnings: SPOILERS
Spoilers: SPOILERS for episode 3.16
Words: 1,200
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership or affiliation with the TV show Supernatural or its network. This is a piece of fiction written just for fun.
Notes: Thanks to lapillus for looking it over. All errors are my own.
Summary: Phone calls in the middle of the night.
Fire and Rain
By Epeeblade
The sharp clang of the telephone woke Ellen out of a sound sleep -- the soundest she'd
had in a long time. "Damn it," she swore, dragging herself off of the pull-out couch and
towards the ancient thing on Jo's counter top. That went on any longer it would...
Wailing started up, the shocked cries of a baby torn out of his comforting bedtime.
It reminded her of another time when she had answered the phone.
It had been her cell phone, the one she got after the Roadhouse was lost. After the battle at the cemetery Ellen
knew she couldn't go back there, so she took a page out of John Winchester's book and
kept moving. When she answered that phone call she heard her daughter's voice on the
other end of the line, trembling, close to tears, but not there, not yet.
"Mama," she said.
"Jo? What's wrong, honey?" Ellen held the phone tighter to her ear, as if she could push
herself through the tiny bit of plastic and to her daughter's side. She pulled over and
turned off the car, and that's when she could make it out in the background -- the sound of
a baby crying. "Joanna Beth," she snapped, "is that a baby you've got over there?"
"Can you come, mama, please? I don't know how to take care of it..."
"How the hell?" Ellen did some mental math in her head, but came up with nothing.
"You can start off by not calling the kid 'it.' Where are you?"
"Campground," Jo answered. "It was a werewolf. I didn't get it in time, it got the parents."
Ellen heard a rustling on the other end of the phone and Jo making hushing noises. The
sobbing quieted a bit.
"Okay," Ellen checked her gas meter. "Tell me where the campground is, I'll meet you
straightaway."
Dawn broke over the horizon by the time she pulled up beside Jo's rusty old Ford. They
wouldn't have much time before the park rangers showed up. Ellen got out and peered in
the window to find Jo curled up, drowsing in the backseat with the kid in her arms. She
tapped the glass gently and Jo startled and cocked a .45 at her.
Well. Her daughter was no fool.
Relieved, Jo flung open the door. "He just got to sleep."
Ellen took the baby, close to six months old or so. He pursed his lips and snuggled
against her chest. "Jo, honey, we have to take him to the police."
"No," Jo said. "They'll put him in foster care."
"Kid this young, he'll get adopted real fast."
"Not if they can't find the parents. How are we gonna explain how we found him? And
the half-eaten corpses if I hadn't salted and burned 'em."
Ellen sighed. She looked down at the baby, who yawned and opened his big brown eyes.
He reminded her of Jo at that age, so eager to watch and learn about the world. "How the
hell are you going to keep hunting with a baby?"
"John Winchester managed with two."
And look how well that turned out, Ellen snorted. "You even know his name?"
"His mother screamed it out," Jo said, her face as pale as Ellen had ever seen. "Billy."
Well, now if that wasn't a sign, Ellen didn't know what one was. She took a deep breathe.
"Well, come on, we've got plenty of shopping to do. Babies need diapers and bottles and
plenty of other things."
Jo nodded and wiped at her eyes, the tears finally starting to flow. "Oh, honey," Ellen
whispered. "You did all you could."
And that was the start of little Bill in their lives. Ellen didn't figure on being a grandma so
soon, not to a child Jo had taken in out of an overblown sense of obligation. Jo wasn't the
kind of woman who'd back out of something once she'd set her mind to it. Ellen thought
the world could use a few more hunters who did more than just shoot things anyhow.
And if she got stuck babysitting whenever Jo needed to chase after a hunt, well, she didn't
mind. It felt good to have a purpose again.
Then the phone rang at three a.m. No good news ever came at three in the morning. Ellen
pulled the receiver off of the telephone and barked into it. "What?"
"Ellen?" Bobby's voice. Quiet. Subdued.
"Bobby?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
For a moment nothing but breathe came over the phone line. Then, Bobby's voice, broken
into a million pieces. "Dean's dead."
"Good lord," she whispered, looking behind her as Jo entered, Billy in her arms. "How?"
"It's complicated," Bobby started. "Short of it, he and Sam and I went after Lillith..."
"Bobby Singer, you son of a bitch," she growled, "You should have called me. You
shouldn't...you shouldn't have gone by yourselves."
The sound of rustling, as if he was shifting the phone. "I'm calling now, Ellen. Sam...he
ain't right. I'm gonna need some help with this."
She looked around and made a mental note for what they would need to pack. Two
seconds into her mental list she realized she planned on taking both Jo and Billy. Well,
she thought, maybe John Winchester hadn't been that much of a fool. Times like this, a
baby could be a balm for a soul. "Where are you?"
"We're heading back to my place with...with the body." Bobby swallowed hard on the
other end. "Meet you there?"
She nodded. "Count on it." Ellen placed the phone down carefully, giving herself time
before looking up at Jo's confused face. "Jo, honey."
"Mom?"
"That was Bobby," she started. Why did she always have to break news like this to her
child? "About Dean."
"Is he okay?"
"Jo, no, he didn't make it," Ellen's voice had dropped down to a whisper.
Jo didn't say anything. She turned away and pressed her lips to the soft hair on Billy's
head. Ellen watched and wondered what thoughts ran through her daughter's mind. Dean
and Jo hadn't parted on good terms. Too late now to fix that.
"We're going up to Bobby's, help patch up Sam," Ellen said, forceful, not giving Jo a
chance to refuse.
"And then we're going to take out the thing that killed him, right?" Jo turned back, fire in
her dark eyes. That was the child Ellen knew.
Ellen shook her head. "You'll have to settle that with Sam."
"Here," Jo handed Billy to her. "I gotta get my shifts taken care of. Make sure we got
plenty of gas in the car. Can you see if we need to pick up more diapers before we
leave?"
"Joanna Beth, I taught you better than that, we're always gonna need more diapers." Ellen
smiled at her.
Jo nodded, her eyes bright in the dim light. She turned away, and Ellen gave her the space
to grieve in peace. Billy fussed and Ellen shifted him to her other hip. "C'mon, sweetie,
let's get you back to bed. Going on your very first hunting trip tomorrow."
Someone had to make sure those fool men didn't run off half-cocked again.
end
Author: Epeeblade
Rating: teen/ PG
Genre: Gen
Characters: Ellen, Jo, Bobby
Warnings: SPOILERS
Spoilers: SPOILERS for episode 3.16
Words: 1,200
Disclaimer: I claim no ownership or affiliation with the TV show Supernatural or its network. This is a piece of fiction written just for fun.
Notes: Thanks to lapillus for looking it over. All errors are my own.
Summary: Phone calls in the middle of the night.
Fire and Rain
By Epeeblade
The sharp clang of the telephone woke Ellen out of a sound sleep -- the soundest she'd
had in a long time. "Damn it," she swore, dragging herself off of the pull-out couch and
towards the ancient thing on Jo's counter top. That went on any longer it would...
Wailing started up, the shocked cries of a baby torn out of his comforting bedtime.
It reminded her of another time when she had answered the phone.
It had been her cell phone, the one she got after the Roadhouse was lost. After the battle at the cemetery Ellen
knew she couldn't go back there, so she took a page out of John Winchester's book and
kept moving. When she answered that phone call she heard her daughter's voice on the
other end of the line, trembling, close to tears, but not there, not yet.
"Mama," she said.
"Jo? What's wrong, honey?" Ellen held the phone tighter to her ear, as if she could push
herself through the tiny bit of plastic and to her daughter's side. She pulled over and
turned off the car, and that's when she could make it out in the background -- the sound of
a baby crying. "Joanna Beth," she snapped, "is that a baby you've got over there?"
"Can you come, mama, please? I don't know how to take care of it..."
"How the hell?" Ellen did some mental math in her head, but came up with nothing.
"You can start off by not calling the kid 'it.' Where are you?"
"Campground," Jo answered. "It was a werewolf. I didn't get it in time, it got the parents."
Ellen heard a rustling on the other end of the phone and Jo making hushing noises. The
sobbing quieted a bit.
"Okay," Ellen checked her gas meter. "Tell me where the campground is, I'll meet you
straightaway."
Dawn broke over the horizon by the time she pulled up beside Jo's rusty old Ford. They
wouldn't have much time before the park rangers showed up. Ellen got out and peered in
the window to find Jo curled up, drowsing in the backseat with the kid in her arms. She
tapped the glass gently and Jo startled and cocked a .45 at her.
Well. Her daughter was no fool.
Relieved, Jo flung open the door. "He just got to sleep."
Ellen took the baby, close to six months old or so. He pursed his lips and snuggled
against her chest. "Jo, honey, we have to take him to the police."
"No," Jo said. "They'll put him in foster care."
"Kid this young, he'll get adopted real fast."
"Not if they can't find the parents. How are we gonna explain how we found him? And
the half-eaten corpses if I hadn't salted and burned 'em."
Ellen sighed. She looked down at the baby, who yawned and opened his big brown eyes.
He reminded her of Jo at that age, so eager to watch and learn about the world. "How the
hell are you going to keep hunting with a baby?"
"John Winchester managed with two."
And look how well that turned out, Ellen snorted. "You even know his name?"
"His mother screamed it out," Jo said, her face as pale as Ellen had ever seen. "Billy."
Well, now if that wasn't a sign, Ellen didn't know what one was. She took a deep breathe.
"Well, come on, we've got plenty of shopping to do. Babies need diapers and bottles and
plenty of other things."
Jo nodded and wiped at her eyes, the tears finally starting to flow. "Oh, honey," Ellen
whispered. "You did all you could."
And that was the start of little Bill in their lives. Ellen didn't figure on being a grandma so
soon, not to a child Jo had taken in out of an overblown sense of obligation. Jo wasn't the
kind of woman who'd back out of something once she'd set her mind to it. Ellen thought
the world could use a few more hunters who did more than just shoot things anyhow.
And if she got stuck babysitting whenever Jo needed to chase after a hunt, well, she didn't
mind. It felt good to have a purpose again.
Then the phone rang at three a.m. No good news ever came at three in the morning. Ellen
pulled the receiver off of the telephone and barked into it. "What?"
"Ellen?" Bobby's voice. Quiet. Subdued.
"Bobby?" She asked. "What's wrong?"
For a moment nothing but breathe came over the phone line. Then, Bobby's voice, broken
into a million pieces. "Dean's dead."
"Good lord," she whispered, looking behind her as Jo entered, Billy in her arms. "How?"
"It's complicated," Bobby started. "Short of it, he and Sam and I went after Lillith..."
"Bobby Singer, you son of a bitch," she growled, "You should have called me. You
shouldn't...you shouldn't have gone by yourselves."
The sound of rustling, as if he was shifting the phone. "I'm calling now, Ellen. Sam...he
ain't right. I'm gonna need some help with this."
She looked around and made a mental note for what they would need to pack. Two
seconds into her mental list she realized she planned on taking both Jo and Billy. Well,
she thought, maybe John Winchester hadn't been that much of a fool. Times like this, a
baby could be a balm for a soul. "Where are you?"
"We're heading back to my place with...with the body." Bobby swallowed hard on the
other end. "Meet you there?"
She nodded. "Count on it." Ellen placed the phone down carefully, giving herself time
before looking up at Jo's confused face. "Jo, honey."
"Mom?"
"That was Bobby," she started. Why did she always have to break news like this to her
child? "About Dean."
"Is he okay?"
"Jo, no, he didn't make it," Ellen's voice had dropped down to a whisper.
Jo didn't say anything. She turned away and pressed her lips to the soft hair on Billy's
head. Ellen watched and wondered what thoughts ran through her daughter's mind. Dean
and Jo hadn't parted on good terms. Too late now to fix that.
"We're going up to Bobby's, help patch up Sam," Ellen said, forceful, not giving Jo a
chance to refuse.
"And then we're going to take out the thing that killed him, right?" Jo turned back, fire in
her dark eyes. That was the child Ellen knew.
Ellen shook her head. "You'll have to settle that with Sam."
"Here," Jo handed Billy to her. "I gotta get my shifts taken care of. Make sure we got
plenty of gas in the car. Can you see if we need to pick up more diapers before we
leave?"
"Joanna Beth, I taught you better than that, we're always gonna need more diapers." Ellen
smiled at her.
Jo nodded, her eyes bright in the dim light. She turned away, and Ellen gave her the space
to grieve in peace. Billy fussed and Ellen shifted him to her other hip. "C'mon, sweetie,
let's get you back to bed. Going on your very first hunting trip tomorrow."
Someone had to make sure those fool men didn't run off half-cocked again.
end