FIC - Snake In The Orchard (ficlet)
title: Snake In The Orchard
pairing: None
Rating: PG
Prompt: Retrocognition for paranormal25 prompt table
Fandom: Supernatural
The nights had started getting longer in the past few weeks. They had a case. The Mother. It seemed like getting to the bottom of this was key to what you were working on. So maybe that’s what had brought back the insomnia, the tossing and turning, the crazy dreams.
How nice it would have been if that were the explanation. How terrible it would have been if that were the explanation.
The dream started out like some weird random dream, nothing out of the ordinary, you were walking through a beautiful apple orchard on a bright sunny day. There was a woven wicker basket in your hand and you were picking the fruit from the lush trees, filling the basket and thinking maybe you’d ask your brother to use them to bake a pie or maybe an apple crisp, since you had tried your hand at cooking so many times yourself and generally ended up as a complete and epic failure.
It caught your eye as you were ambling through the trees, a sudden movement on the outside of your peripheral vision. You moved in that direction, naturally, not one to ignore something that didn’t have a clear explanation.
If only that hadn’t been in your nature.
Closer inspection of one of the trees near the center of the orchard revealed a most unwelcome sight. You’d never seen a snake quite like that before. What was it doing there, in this beautiful place where your dreams had taken you for some solace?
But then, it wasn’t a snake, really, was it?
Your dream started to change. The orchard fell away. Flashes of other scenes filled your vision. Castiel. He was talking to Balthazar. He was talking to Fate, standing there as you stood frozen in time with your brother, bargaining with her. He was with…no. It wasn’t. No way it could be.
But it was. Castiel was with Crowley. Standing in a stark hallway. Sitting in plush armchairs discussing plans, talking about souls, about opening a door to Purgatory. Castiel, invisible and next to you, listening to you and your brother and Bobby as you discussed the possibility that there was something going on that wasn’t quite right. The conversation that had been eavesdropped on had just happened, you remembered every second of it. None of you wanted to believe it was possible that Cas was up to something nefarious. This was Castiel, your friend, almost your brother, the one who had given everything to side with you, to fight for what was right. But he was different now, there was no denying that.
It all fell into place, in just a second of dreaming-or-maybe-not-dreaming, seeing things that had happened when you weren’t there, that you would have no other way of knowing. It was wrong. Off.
And it was clear. More clear that anything else that you’d felt or seen for a good long while. And you were certain. Absolutely sure that this was happening, and so glad that you'd figured it out and so heartbroken that you’d figured it out.
You hauled yourself out of bed and woke your brother with a start, not bothering to try being gentle about it.
“Dean. It’s Cas. He’s lying to us. He’s working with Crowley. I’m so sorry, man. I’m so fucking sorry.”
You hid your eyes so you didn’t have to feel your heart break again at seeing the look in his.
pairing: None
Rating: PG
Prompt: Retrocognition for paranormal25 prompt table
Fandom: Supernatural
The nights had started getting longer in the past few weeks. They had a case. The Mother. It seemed like getting to the bottom of this was key to what you were working on. So maybe that’s what had brought back the insomnia, the tossing and turning, the crazy dreams.
How nice it would have been if that were the explanation. How terrible it would have been if that were the explanation.
The dream started out like some weird random dream, nothing out of the ordinary, you were walking through a beautiful apple orchard on a bright sunny day. There was a woven wicker basket in your hand and you were picking the fruit from the lush trees, filling the basket and thinking maybe you’d ask your brother to use them to bake a pie or maybe an apple crisp, since you had tried your hand at cooking so many times yourself and generally ended up as a complete and epic failure.
It caught your eye as you were ambling through the trees, a sudden movement on the outside of your peripheral vision. You moved in that direction, naturally, not one to ignore something that didn’t have a clear explanation.
If only that hadn’t been in your nature.
Closer inspection of one of the trees near the center of the orchard revealed a most unwelcome sight. You’d never seen a snake quite like that before. What was it doing there, in this beautiful place where your dreams had taken you for some solace?
But then, it wasn’t a snake, really, was it?
Your dream started to change. The orchard fell away. Flashes of other scenes filled your vision. Castiel. He was talking to Balthazar. He was talking to Fate, standing there as you stood frozen in time with your brother, bargaining with her. He was with…no. It wasn’t. No way it could be.
But it was. Castiel was with Crowley. Standing in a stark hallway. Sitting in plush armchairs discussing plans, talking about souls, about opening a door to Purgatory. Castiel, invisible and next to you, listening to you and your brother and Bobby as you discussed the possibility that there was something going on that wasn’t quite right. The conversation that had been eavesdropped on had just happened, you remembered every second of it. None of you wanted to believe it was possible that Cas was up to something nefarious. This was Castiel, your friend, almost your brother, the one who had given everything to side with you, to fight for what was right. But he was different now, there was no denying that.
It all fell into place, in just a second of dreaming-or-maybe-not-dreaming, seeing things that had happened when you weren’t there, that you would have no other way of knowing. It was wrong. Off.
And it was clear. More clear that anything else that you’d felt or seen for a good long while. And you were certain. Absolutely sure that this was happening, and so glad that you'd figured it out and so heartbroken that you’d figured it out.
You hauled yourself out of bed and woke your brother with a start, not bothering to try being gentle about it.
“Dean. It’s Cas. He’s lying to us. He’s working with Crowley. I’m so sorry, man. I’m so fucking sorry.”
You hid your eyes so you didn’t have to feel your heart break again at seeing the look in his.