A mari usque ad mare - Part 12 (13/14)
A mari usque ad mare - Part 12 (13/14)
1,402/28,777 of R rated Gen (with an edge of subtext) crack!fic in which Dean revisits his past in unexpected ways. (The Winchester Chicken Dance)
Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Epilogue
Part 12
Acqua vitae
‘I look like a chicken! Look at me,’ Dean said as he stood back upright and dragged waterlogged clumps of feathers and sunflower petals out of his short hair. ‘Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have doubled the number of feathers. If we don’t get this exactly right we’ll be stuck …’
Oh. ‘Whoa! We’re home … Dude, mind my feathers!’
Sam eventually swung him back down and stood there grinning at him through a storm of feathers, tears, and rain.
Dean flapped his arms in disgust, releasing another yellow and white cloud into the air, as he took a quick look around to see if anyone had noticed their manifestation. Even he would have had a hard time explaining that to the locals. Fortunately the Gods had obviously had enough fun with the Brothers Winchester for the time being because there was no one else at the springs except for a sardonic looking raven perched securely on a branch of a tree nearby.
‘Dude, we’re like Gabriel and Michael … I mean …’ He shrugged. God, I was a girl way too long. But he said it anyway. ‘Sam and Dean.’
Sam’s smile just got even brighter. ‘Us again.’
Dean shot a quick glance at the raven. Not yet, let it be. He shook himself again, coughing as even more feathers floated free. Okay, enough already. ‘Come on, Big Bird, let’s nuke this spring and blow this chicken … I mean … popsicle joint.’
‘Dean? We just got back in one piece, could you possibly not think about using explosives any time soon?’
Two pieces. ‘Fine. We’ll find another way, but I’m not throwing a pin in and making a wish.’ Been there, done that.
♒
They waded out of the springs together, bumping shoulders companionably as they argued about which one of them looked the worst in feathers. In the end they declared it a draw, Dean insisting that this proved that Winchesters and feathers were a dangerous combination.
‘Thank God that’s over,’ Dean said as they squelched slowly back up the grassy bank towards the Impala.
‘Dei gratia, indeed,’ a quiet voice agreed. Sister Julie stepped out of the lightening shadows amongst the willows to stand before them, hands shakily clasped in prayer.
‘Dean, no!’ Sam shouted, holding him back.
‘Fucking, nun!’ Dean screamed, dragging Sam to a stop in front of her. ‘You knew didn’t you? All these years? And you didn’t stop him?’
‘It wasn’t my place to judge him,’ Sister Julie replied.
‘Judge him?’ Dean said incredulously. ‘He was a monster. A murderer. How could you not?’
‘Only Almighty God can stand in judgement,’ she said.
‘God? Where was your God when he cursed all those people; while they lay there for years; while they died?
Where was he then?’
‘With them,’ came the quiet answer. ‘With them.’
‘No! How can you say that? You saw what was going to happen didn’t you? All those years ago when you came here to the springs with Graham. Tell me what made you leave him, what turned you away from the world.’ Dean had stopped fighting Sam, voice dropping to a whisper as he stood firm in judgement. ‘Tell me what you saw, and then tell me you didn’t see this coming.’
Sister Julie moved away from them to look out over the sun beginning its ascent over the springs. ‘I saw … evil … and the … possibility … of redemption,’ she answered finally.
Dean’s voice was shaking with disbelief and fury. ‘You saw it, and you could have stopped it before it all started, and you walked away, and let him go.’
‘I turned my back, and let him be. We were all given the gift of free will. Graham had the chance to choose differently. My choice was to pray he wouldn’t take that path.’
‘And when he did?’ Sam asked for the first time, standing next to Dean in support, not restraint.
‘Then his course was set,’ she said with obvious affection and regret. ‘As was yours.’
‘Ours?’ Dean asked.
‘You came here for a reason,’ she said, finally looking directly at him. ‘Did you find what you were searching for?’
‘We found Graham,’ Sam said on Dean’s behalf when he didn’t answer.
‘And he’s dead,’ she replied, not shifting her gaze from Dean.
‘Yes, I’m …’ Sam couldn’t finish. Sorry for your loss. Sorry I had to kill him. Not sorry that I saved my brother.
‘I know,’ she said, looking at him with brief kindness. She wasn’t condemning the act, merely accepting it.
‘Will they recover?’ Dean finally found the strength to ask. ‘The other victims, will they get better’
‘No.’ Sister Julie’s reply was clear and firm. She wasn’t offering them the charity of false hope. ‘It is done, and they are gone from us, but not from the sight of God.’
‘What will you do now?’ Dean was honestly curious. All the rage had drained out of him. He’d made a similar choice, for Sam, and knew how hard it was to carry the weight of all those souls on your conscience.
Marianne Grossman & Alan Willis, Patricia Day & Gilbert Jones, Sara Michaels …
‘Deo adiuvante, I will be with them till the end,’ Sister Julie said tranquilly. ‘But you still haven’t answered my question. Did you find what you were looking for?’
He reached out automatically to his left. ‘I found my brother.’
Sister Julie looked down at their clasped hands and nodded, before turning away once more to do final penance before the eyes of her God.
♒
‘It’s not over yet, you know,’ Sam said quietly into the silent dawn.
‘Almost, Sammy. All over, bar the shouting.’ It will never be over.
‘Rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes in after it?’ Despite his words Sam was already moving back towards the water ready to go in search of the tablet. Dean knew there was no way that Sam would ever let him enter that water again.
‘No need,’ Dean said. ‘Give me a minute.’
Dean walked over to the gnarled old willow tree, and rested calmly against the trunk for a moment before looking up.
‘There’s no way I’m saying thank you, or anything like that,’ he said awkwardly. ‘And don’t get any stupid ideas about me sacrificing an eye, because there’s only one person I’d ever do that for.’
Donald ignored him, choosing instead to move awkwardly along the branch until he was directly overhead.
‘You poop on me, and you’re never getting any more sunflower seeds for the rest of your very long life,’ Dean said severely.
A squawk was his only answer before Donald lifted a leg and released … the curse tablet into Dean’s upraised hands.
♒
Once, twice, thrice around the spring. Using a sledgehammer to break the curse tablet apart, before grinding the bitter fragments into dust, mixing with salt, and finally burning the entirety on a fire beside the springs.
Dean thumped Sam cheerfully on the shoulder. ‘Just as well I brought you with me, huh? Knew a geek would come in handy sooner or later. I would have said to hell with it, and just left the thing to drown in the springs.’
‘What do you mean, you brought me?’ Sam exclaimed. ‘I just happened to get sucked into the spell too. I didn’t even touch the water in that spring. You’re the one who got zapped by the curse. I just …’
Dean smirked at him. Gotcha! ‘You just came along for the ride? I’ve been your brother forever, Sammy. You think a little thing like time travel is going to separate us? Face it, you’re stuck with me no matter what!’
‘Dean?’
‘Yeah, Sammy?’
‘If you don’t shut up, I won’t buy you an ice-cream on our way out of town.’
Dean really hated it when Sam got the last word. He hated it even more when the only thing he could bring himself to say was, ‘Vanilla?’
♒
Love makes us crazy. If you could live your life over, would you do it all again?
Of course you would.
2nd November 1983 - Mary Winchester
2nd November 2006 - John Winchester
2nd November 2009 11:53 pm - Sam Winchester
2nd November 2009 11:57 pm - Dean Winchester
Can’t change the past? What about the future? Just watch me.
♒ ♒
Epilogue
1,402/28,777 of R rated Gen (with an edge of subtext) crack!fic in which Dean revisits his past in unexpected ways. (The Winchester Chicken Dance)
Prologue | Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Epilogue
Part 12
Acqua vitae
‘I look like a chicken! Look at me,’ Dean said as he stood back upright and dragged waterlogged clumps of feathers and sunflower petals out of his short hair. ‘Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have doubled the number of feathers. If we don’t get this exactly right we’ll be stuck …’
Oh. ‘Whoa! We’re home … Dude, mind my feathers!’
Sam eventually swung him back down and stood there grinning at him through a storm of feathers, tears, and rain.
Dean flapped his arms in disgust, releasing another yellow and white cloud into the air, as he took a quick look around to see if anyone had noticed their manifestation. Even he would have had a hard time explaining that to the locals. Fortunately the Gods had obviously had enough fun with the Brothers Winchester for the time being because there was no one else at the springs except for a sardonic looking raven perched securely on a branch of a tree nearby.
‘Dude, we’re like Gabriel and Michael … I mean …’ He shrugged. God, I was a girl way too long. But he said it anyway. ‘Sam and Dean.’
Sam’s smile just got even brighter. ‘Us again.’
Dean shot a quick glance at the raven. Not yet, let it be. He shook himself again, coughing as even more feathers floated free. Okay, enough already. ‘Come on, Big Bird, let’s nuke this spring and blow this chicken … I mean … popsicle joint.’
‘Dean? We just got back in one piece, could you possibly not think about using explosives any time soon?’
Two pieces. ‘Fine. We’ll find another way, but I’m not throwing a pin in and making a wish.’ Been there, done that.
♒
They waded out of the springs together, bumping shoulders companionably as they argued about which one of them looked the worst in feathers. In the end they declared it a draw, Dean insisting that this proved that Winchesters and feathers were a dangerous combination.
‘Thank God that’s over,’ Dean said as they squelched slowly back up the grassy bank towards the Impala.
‘Dei gratia, indeed,’ a quiet voice agreed. Sister Julie stepped out of the lightening shadows amongst the willows to stand before them, hands shakily clasped in prayer.
‘Dean, no!’ Sam shouted, holding him back.
‘Fucking, nun!’ Dean screamed, dragging Sam to a stop in front of her. ‘You knew didn’t you? All these years? And you didn’t stop him?’
‘It wasn’t my place to judge him,’ Sister Julie replied.
‘Judge him?’ Dean said incredulously. ‘He was a monster. A murderer. How could you not?’
‘Only Almighty God can stand in judgement,’ she said.
‘God? Where was your God when he cursed all those people; while they lay there for years; while they died?
Where was he then?’
‘With them,’ came the quiet answer. ‘With them.’
‘No! How can you say that? You saw what was going to happen didn’t you? All those years ago when you came here to the springs with Graham. Tell me what made you leave him, what turned you away from the world.’ Dean had stopped fighting Sam, voice dropping to a whisper as he stood firm in judgement. ‘Tell me what you saw, and then tell me you didn’t see this coming.’
Sister Julie moved away from them to look out over the sun beginning its ascent over the springs. ‘I saw … evil … and the … possibility … of redemption,’ she answered finally.
Dean’s voice was shaking with disbelief and fury. ‘You saw it, and you could have stopped it before it all started, and you walked away, and let him go.’
‘I turned my back, and let him be. We were all given the gift of free will. Graham had the chance to choose differently. My choice was to pray he wouldn’t take that path.’
‘And when he did?’ Sam asked for the first time, standing next to Dean in support, not restraint.
‘Then his course was set,’ she said with obvious affection and regret. ‘As was yours.’
‘Ours?’ Dean asked.
‘You came here for a reason,’ she said, finally looking directly at him. ‘Did you find what you were searching for?’
‘We found Graham,’ Sam said on Dean’s behalf when he didn’t answer.
‘And he’s dead,’ she replied, not shifting her gaze from Dean.
‘Yes, I’m …’ Sam couldn’t finish. Sorry for your loss. Sorry I had to kill him. Not sorry that I saved my brother.
‘I know,’ she said, looking at him with brief kindness. She wasn’t condemning the act, merely accepting it.
‘Will they recover?’ Dean finally found the strength to ask. ‘The other victims, will they get better’
‘No.’ Sister Julie’s reply was clear and firm. She wasn’t offering them the charity of false hope. ‘It is done, and they are gone from us, but not from the sight of God.’
‘What will you do now?’ Dean was honestly curious. All the rage had drained out of him. He’d made a similar choice, for Sam, and knew how hard it was to carry the weight of all those souls on your conscience.
Marianne Grossman & Alan Willis, Patricia Day & Gilbert Jones, Sara Michaels …
‘Deo adiuvante, I will be with them till the end,’ Sister Julie said tranquilly. ‘But you still haven’t answered my question. Did you find what you were looking for?’
He reached out automatically to his left. ‘I found my brother.’
Sister Julie looked down at their clasped hands and nodded, before turning away once more to do final penance before the eyes of her God.
♒
‘It’s not over yet, you know,’ Sam said quietly into the silent dawn.
‘Almost, Sammy. All over, bar the shouting.’ It will never be over.
‘Rock, paper, scissors to decide who goes in after it?’ Despite his words Sam was already moving back towards the water ready to go in search of the tablet. Dean knew there was no way that Sam would ever let him enter that water again.
‘No need,’ Dean said. ‘Give me a minute.’
Dean walked over to the gnarled old willow tree, and rested calmly against the trunk for a moment before looking up.
‘There’s no way I’m saying thank you, or anything like that,’ he said awkwardly. ‘And don’t get any stupid ideas about me sacrificing an eye, because there’s only one person I’d ever do that for.’
Donald ignored him, choosing instead to move awkwardly along the branch until he was directly overhead.
‘You poop on me, and you’re never getting any more sunflower seeds for the rest of your very long life,’ Dean said severely.
A squawk was his only answer before Donald lifted a leg and released … the curse tablet into Dean’s upraised hands.
♒
Once, twice, thrice around the spring. Using a sledgehammer to break the curse tablet apart, before grinding the bitter fragments into dust, mixing with salt, and finally burning the entirety on a fire beside the springs.
Dean thumped Sam cheerfully on the shoulder. ‘Just as well I brought you with me, huh? Knew a geek would come in handy sooner or later. I would have said to hell with it, and just left the thing to drown in the springs.’
‘What do you mean, you brought me?’ Sam exclaimed. ‘I just happened to get sucked into the spell too. I didn’t even touch the water in that spring. You’re the one who got zapped by the curse. I just …’
Dean smirked at him. Gotcha! ‘You just came along for the ride? I’ve been your brother forever, Sammy. You think a little thing like time travel is going to separate us? Face it, you’re stuck with me no matter what!’
‘Dean?’
‘Yeah, Sammy?’
‘If you don’t shut up, I won’t buy you an ice-cream on our way out of town.’
Dean really hated it when Sam got the last word. He hated it even more when the only thing he could bring himself to say was, ‘Vanilla?’
♒
Love makes us crazy. If you could live your life over, would you do it all again?
Of course you would.
2nd November 1983 - Mary Winchester
2nd November 2006 - John Winchester
2nd November 2009 11:53 pm - Sam Winchester
2nd November 2009 11:57 pm - Dean Winchester
Can’t change the past? What about the future? Just watch me.
♒ ♒
Epilogue