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skylar0graceTitle: What Isn’t But Really Ought To Be.
Author: SkylarGrace.
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Maybe it isn’t so perfect after all…
Spoilers: Obviously ‘WIAWSNB’ but to be on the safe side, I’m gonna say all of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Supernatural’.
Disclaimer: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended. ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended.
Notes: Based off of the challenge ‘What Isn’t But Really Ought To Be’ set by Tany.
Dean Winchester sat behind the wheel of the Impala trying to think of something else other than the warehouse he was on his way to check out. His night had been, so far, utterly boring and he wondered if there was a demon out there capable of boring a person to death. Probably was, there was one for everything else. He was startled out of his reverie by the ringing of his mobile. His brother was the only one who’d be calling so he didn’t even bother with pleasantries.
“Yeah?”
“There’s a cop car outside,” Sam replied from his end of the call.
“You think it’s for us?”
“I don’t know.”
Dean frowned in concentration. “I don’t see how. I mean, we ditched the plates, the credit cards.”
“They’re leaving. False alarm.”
Dean gave a small inward sigh of relief. He would never admit it to his brother but he hoped they were never caught by the police again. Saving the world was a tough gig, especially if the majority of the general populace didn’t even know about the creepy underworld that crawled out to play every night.
“See? Nothing to worry about,” Dean replied, exuding confidence he didn’t feel.
“Yeah, being fugitives is a friggin’ dance party.”
Dean ignored the bitter tone and chuckled instead. “Hey, man, chicks dig the danger vibe.”
Dean turned left into another part of the warehouse district, his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. It was unlikely the demon would walk out in front of the car and give itself up to be killed, but one could hope. At least then he wouldn’t be driving around in the middle of the night.
“So, you got anything yet?”
Dean scoffed. “Are you kidding me? How could I? You’ve got me sifting through, like, fifty square miles of real estate here.”
“Well, that’s where all the victims disappeared.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got diddly-squat. What about you?”
“Just one thing. I’m pretty sure of it now: we’re hunting a Djinn.”
He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “A freakin’ genie?”
“Yup.”
“So, what, you think that these suckers can really grant wishes?”
“I don’t know. I guess they’re powerful enough. Not exactly like Barbara Eden in harem pants. I mean, Djinn have been feeding off people for centuries. They’re all over the Koran.”
“My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn’t she? Way hotter than that Bewitched chick.”
Sam almost growled in frustration into the phone. “Are you even listening to me?”
Dean glared. Sammy really needed a girlfriend. Or at least a humour implant. Either way, he needed to lighten up a bit. Dean couldn’t stop himself from worrying about his little brother. It had been that way from the very beginning and would be til the day he died. “Yeah. So, where do the Djinns lair up?”
“Ruins, usually – the bigger, the better. More places to hide.”
Dean slowed the car and turned it around in the direction he’d come. “Yeah, I think I saw a place a couple miles back. I’m gonna go check it out.”
“Wait, no, no, no. Come pick me up first.”
“No, I’m sure it’s nothing. I just wanna take a look around.”
He hung up and ignored the feeling that Sam was better off there. He couldn’t quite place it and if something was going to go wrong, he wanted Sam a far away as possible. He drove back down the road he’d just driven on, the asphalt blurring past and spied the eerie looking building up ahead. The place certainly gave him the creeps but he’d originally dismissed it because of the eerie factor. Who willingly went into a building that didn’t feel right? Well, him for one, obviously. Dean rolled his eyes at himself as he climbed out of the car and started up the stairs.
Dean walked down the corridor, his eyes quickly glancing in the abandoned offices for any signs of movement. The rooms are complete hovels, stripped of anything of value long ago, the dust settling as a blanket over the broken bits of furniture still there. His eyes scanned the floor around him but there wasn’t enough dust to create footprints.
A shiver ran up his spine and his muscles stiffened in response. He reached for and gripped his knife as the corner approached and as he rounded it, prepared to strike. There was nothing there but the feeling had not dissipated and he was starting to get the feeling that he was being stalked, instead of watched, and Dean prepared to go back to the last few offices he’d walked past. The feeling started there, so it could be watching him from there.
As he turned around, A hand pressed against his chest and shoved him into the wall behind himself. Dean’s eyes widened as the heavily tattooed man with electric blue eyes held him fast and slowly raised his other hand. Dean tried to fight back but realised that at some point he’d dropped his knife. The Djinn’s hand began emitting a blue glow and as it touched his forehead, Dean fell into the darkness.
~
Dean jerked awake and found himself in an unknown apartment. There was a TV on with muted sound and as Dean turned to the side, he saw a beautiful woman asleep, her body half covered by the white sheets on the bed. If Dean wasn’t so confused he would have thought he’d scored but he last remembered the Djinn attacking. If he’d gotten away, if he’d killed the Djinn, he would have remembered. Dean pulled on his shirt and wandered through the house into the lounge room. Looking at the well-off furnishings around him, he dialled Sam’s number.
“Dean?”
Relief flooded through him. “Sam?”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” he began, “I don’t know where I am.”
In the back of his mind he noticed that Sam didn’t sound too worried but his mind was filled with thoughts of the Djinn. Maybe it had somehow transported him? “What? What happened?”
“The Djinn – it attacked me.”
“The gin? You’re drinking gin?”
Dean could have slapped him then. Why would he be drinking in the middle of hunting down a demon? “No, asshat, the Djinn. The scary creature, remember? It put its hand on me, and then I woke up next to some hot chick.”
“Who, Carmen?” Sam sounded amused but Dean just frowned.
“Who?” Dean was beginning to get a slight headache. Somehow Sam knew who he was with, even though he didn’t. It didn’t get more bizarre than that.
“Dean, you’re drunk. You’re drunk-dialing me.”
“I am not drunk,” he almost yelled, “Quit screwing around!”
“Look, it’s late, all right? Just get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait, Sam. Sam!” Dean growled in frustration, almost throwing his phone. Since when did Sammy blow him off in the middle of a hunt?
Dean wondered through the room trying so sense something of familiarity but was drawing blanks. He moved into the kitchen and noticed some mail on the servery and picked it up. Bingo! At least this would tell him where he was. He almost fell over backwards when he noticed his name printed on each of the envelopes, each one addressed to Lawrence, Kansas.
“Lawrence? What the hell?”
The woman he’d woken up next to walked into the room, tying the belt on her dressing gown into a knot sleepily.
“Honey? What are you doing up?”
“Hey…Carmen,” he said, testing the name. She didn’t react and so he continued. “I just, uh…”
“Aw, you can’t sleep, huh?”
Dean warily looked at her smirk as she walked toward him. “Yeah.”
Carmen wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against is. Dean couldn’t remember feeling this nervous about a girl putting the moves on him. Her head bent up to his ear and her whispered breath was warm and very appealing.
“Well, why don’t you come back to bed, and let’s see if I can do anything to help.”
“Sure, yeah. In a minute. You go ahead.”
She moved away from him slightly, smirk still in place as her eyes held promises he was sure to enjoy. “Okay. Don’t stay up too long.”
Dean nearly choked. “No.”
Carmen kissed him before turning around and heading for the bathroom. Ignoring his traitorous body that was insisting he follow, Dean looked around the room. Obviously this was his place, bizarrely enough, and he moved quickly toward the photos there. There were several of Carmen and the two of them together at different places; the beach, the park, at dinner. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed another picture and as he moved closer, drawn in by something he didn’t want to identify, his blood ran cold.
There, beside he and Carmen, was his Dad. More importantly was the woman beside him. Her long blonde hair was hanging down in waves as she smiled for the camera, totally at ease and a hint in her eyes as though she were in on a private joke that the photographer hadn’t captured. His hands shook as the pieces fit together in his mind and without another thought, opened, the frame dropping as he turned and headed for the door. The sound of shattering glass announced his departure as the apartment door swung closed
The Impala almost didn’t come to a stop before Dean had his door open and began racing up the footpath to the house he didn’t think he’d ever visit again. He knocked loudly before his frustration got the better of him and he began ringing the doorbell frantically. The door suddenly opened and his finger paused mid-push on the doorbell. His body froze as the tired woman looked at him confused.
“Dean?”
She spoke. He’d always dreamed of talking with her and now here she was, standing in front of him as though she’d always had that opportunity. “Mum?”
“What are you doing here? Are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, almost speechless. Mary Winchester stepped back and ushered him inside.
“Well, come inside.” She led him into their lounge room. “Carmen just called and said you just took off all of a sudden.”
The Hunter part of his brain kicked into gear. There were many things that could attempt to be his mother and after the night he was having, he wasn’t going to rule anything out – no matter how painful it was going to be.
“Carmen? Right. Let me ask you a question: when I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed?”
Mary frowned in confusion. “Dean, I don’t understand—”
“Just answer the question.”
She looked taken aback by his abrupt tone before her head tilted as she gazed upon her distressed son. “I told you angels were watching over you.”
Tears threatened to spill over as he rushed to her, relief flooding through him as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged his mother for all he was worth. “I don’t believe it.”
Mary hugged him back and gave a worried smile as she looked at him. “Honey, you’re scaring me. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“You don’t think that wishes can really…”
“What?”
Dean shook his head at the absurdity. He didn’t know how this had all happened but he was amazed. Maybe the Djinn had granted him a wish after all. What else could have given him back his mother?
“Forget it.” Dean hugged her again. “Forget it. I’m just happy to see you, that’s all. You’re beautiful.”
Mary gave him a bashful smile. “What?”
Dean began taking in the house. He hadn’t been in it since he was four. After the night of the fire, it had ceased to be their house and instead became the packaging for another happy family, one that hadn’t suffered the loss that they had.
“Hey, when I was young, was there ever a fire here?”
“No, never.”
“I thought there was. I guess I was wrong,” he trailed off and Mary looked across at him as she observed her son.
Dean looked through the many photos of the entire Winchester family throughout the years and saw pictures of himself in College, at his prom and Sam’s High School graduation. Dean picked up the picture of his Dad in a softball uniform and held it up for her to see.
“Dad’s on a softball team.” Dean noticed the strange look his mother gave him and looked back down at the photo. His Dad looked almost the same as the last time he had seen him, without the odd uniform. “Dad’s softball team – that’s funny to me.”
Mary smiled wistfully. “He loved that stupid team.”
Dean looked up quickly. “Dad’s dead?” Mary looked at him strangely again and Dean pushed forward in the hopes that he didn’t sound to crazy. “And the thing that killed him was a...”
“A stroke,” she replied slowly, “He died in his sleep, you know that.”
No demons, just an old fashioned, common human condition. “That’s great.”
“Excuse me?” she almost squeaked.
“That’s great that he went peacefully,” he backpedalled. “It sure beats the alternative.”
Mary cast a sad expression on him and took a step forward. “You’ve been drinking.”
“No. I haven’t, Mom.”
She eyed him, disbelief stretched across her saddened features. “I’m just gonna call Carmen and have her come pick you up, okay?”
“Wait, no, no. Don’t do that. I wanna stay here.”
“Why?” she asked in confusion. Dean looked around the room. If this were all a dream, he didn’t want to spend it with a make-believe girlfriend. He wanted to be home.
“Because I miss the place. It’s okay, you go to bed. Okay?”
Dean sat down on the lounge and looked back at her. She watched him studying the lounge room for a moment before she drew his attention. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Dean nodded and smiled reassuringly. “I think so.”
“Okay.” She stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Dean leaned into her touch as she looked into his eyes. “Get some rest. I love you.”
“Me, too.”
He watched her begin walking up the stairs to her bedroom before looking around the lounge room. Nothing had changed, and yet, everything had. His eyes soaked up every part of the room before drifting into an easy sleep.
Author: SkylarGrace.
Status: Complete.
Rating: PG-13.
Summary: Maybe it isn’t so perfect after all…
Spoilers: Obviously ‘WIAWSNB’ but to be on the safe side, I’m gonna say all of ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and ‘Supernatural’.
Disclaimer: ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ and all related characters are copyright Joss Whedon and ME. No infringement intended. ‘Supernatural’ and all related characters are copyright Eric Kripke, Kripke Enterprises & The CW Network. No infringement intended.
Notes: Based off of the challenge ‘What Isn’t But Really Ought To Be’ set by Tany.
Chapter One
Dean Winchester sat behind the wheel of the Impala trying to think of something else other than the warehouse he was on his way to check out. His night had been, so far, utterly boring and he wondered if there was a demon out there capable of boring a person to death. Probably was, there was one for everything else. He was startled out of his reverie by the ringing of his mobile. His brother was the only one who’d be calling so he didn’t even bother with pleasantries.
“Yeah?”
“There’s a cop car outside,” Sam replied from his end of the call.
“You think it’s for us?”
“I don’t know.”
Dean frowned in concentration. “I don’t see how. I mean, we ditched the plates, the credit cards.”
“They’re leaving. False alarm.”
Dean gave a small inward sigh of relief. He would never admit it to his brother but he hoped they were never caught by the police again. Saving the world was a tough gig, especially if the majority of the general populace didn’t even know about the creepy underworld that crawled out to play every night.
“See? Nothing to worry about,” Dean replied, exuding confidence he didn’t feel.
“Yeah, being fugitives is a friggin’ dance party.”
Dean ignored the bitter tone and chuckled instead. “Hey, man, chicks dig the danger vibe.”
Dean turned left into another part of the warehouse district, his eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. It was unlikely the demon would walk out in front of the car and give itself up to be killed, but one could hope. At least then he wouldn’t be driving around in the middle of the night.
“So, you got anything yet?”
Dean scoffed. “Are you kidding me? How could I? You’ve got me sifting through, like, fifty square miles of real estate here.”
“Well, that’s where all the victims disappeared.”
“Yeah, well, I’ve got diddly-squat. What about you?”
“Just one thing. I’m pretty sure of it now: we’re hunting a Djinn.”
He couldn’t stop himself from laughing. “A freakin’ genie?”
“Yup.”
“So, what, you think that these suckers can really grant wishes?”
“I don’t know. I guess they’re powerful enough. Not exactly like Barbara Eden in harem pants. I mean, Djinn have been feeding off people for centuries. They’re all over the Koran.”
“My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn’t she? Way hotter than that Bewitched chick.”
Sam almost growled in frustration into the phone. “Are you even listening to me?”
Dean glared. Sammy really needed a girlfriend. Or at least a humour implant. Either way, he needed to lighten up a bit. Dean couldn’t stop himself from worrying about his little brother. It had been that way from the very beginning and would be til the day he died. “Yeah. So, where do the Djinns lair up?”
“Ruins, usually – the bigger, the better. More places to hide.”
Dean slowed the car and turned it around in the direction he’d come. “Yeah, I think I saw a place a couple miles back. I’m gonna go check it out.”
“Wait, no, no, no. Come pick me up first.”
“No, I’m sure it’s nothing. I just wanna take a look around.”
He hung up and ignored the feeling that Sam was better off there. He couldn’t quite place it and if something was going to go wrong, he wanted Sam a far away as possible. He drove back down the road he’d just driven on, the asphalt blurring past and spied the eerie looking building up ahead. The place certainly gave him the creeps but he’d originally dismissed it because of the eerie factor. Who willingly went into a building that didn’t feel right? Well, him for one, obviously. Dean rolled his eyes at himself as he climbed out of the car and started up the stairs.
Dean walked down the corridor, his eyes quickly glancing in the abandoned offices for any signs of movement. The rooms are complete hovels, stripped of anything of value long ago, the dust settling as a blanket over the broken bits of furniture still there. His eyes scanned the floor around him but there wasn’t enough dust to create footprints.
A shiver ran up his spine and his muscles stiffened in response. He reached for and gripped his knife as the corner approached and as he rounded it, prepared to strike. There was nothing there but the feeling had not dissipated and he was starting to get the feeling that he was being stalked, instead of watched, and Dean prepared to go back to the last few offices he’d walked past. The feeling started there, so it could be watching him from there.
As he turned around, A hand pressed against his chest and shoved him into the wall behind himself. Dean’s eyes widened as the heavily tattooed man with electric blue eyes held him fast and slowly raised his other hand. Dean tried to fight back but realised that at some point he’d dropped his knife. The Djinn’s hand began emitting a blue glow and as it touched his forehead, Dean fell into the darkness.
~
Dean jerked awake and found himself in an unknown apartment. There was a TV on with muted sound and as Dean turned to the side, he saw a beautiful woman asleep, her body half covered by the white sheets on the bed. If Dean wasn’t so confused he would have thought he’d scored but he last remembered the Djinn attacking. If he’d gotten away, if he’d killed the Djinn, he would have remembered. Dean pulled on his shirt and wandered through the house into the lounge room. Looking at the well-off furnishings around him, he dialled Sam’s number.
“Dean?”
Relief flooded through him. “Sam?”
“What’s going on?”
“I don’t know,” he began, “I don’t know where I am.”
In the back of his mind he noticed that Sam didn’t sound too worried but his mind was filled with thoughts of the Djinn. Maybe it had somehow transported him? “What? What happened?”
“The Djinn – it attacked me.”
“The gin? You’re drinking gin?”
Dean could have slapped him then. Why would he be drinking in the middle of hunting down a demon? “No, asshat, the Djinn. The scary creature, remember? It put its hand on me, and then I woke up next to some hot chick.”
“Who, Carmen?” Sam sounded amused but Dean just frowned.
“Who?” Dean was beginning to get a slight headache. Somehow Sam knew who he was with, even though he didn’t. It didn’t get more bizarre than that.
“Dean, you’re drunk. You’re drunk-dialing me.”
“I am not drunk,” he almost yelled, “Quit screwing around!”
“Look, it’s late, all right? Just get some sleep and I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Wait, Sam. Sam!” Dean growled in frustration, almost throwing his phone. Since when did Sammy blow him off in the middle of a hunt?
Dean wondered through the room trying so sense something of familiarity but was drawing blanks. He moved into the kitchen and noticed some mail on the servery and picked it up. Bingo! At least this would tell him where he was. He almost fell over backwards when he noticed his name printed on each of the envelopes, each one addressed to Lawrence, Kansas.
“Lawrence? What the hell?”
The woman he’d woken up next to walked into the room, tying the belt on her dressing gown into a knot sleepily.
“Honey? What are you doing up?”
“Hey…Carmen,” he said, testing the name. She didn’t react and so he continued. “I just, uh…”
“Aw, you can’t sleep, huh?”
Dean warily looked at her smirk as she walked toward him. “Yeah.”
Carmen wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her body against is. Dean couldn’t remember feeling this nervous about a girl putting the moves on him. Her head bent up to his ear and her whispered breath was warm and very appealing.
“Well, why don’t you come back to bed, and let’s see if I can do anything to help.”
“Sure, yeah. In a minute. You go ahead.”
She moved away from him slightly, smirk still in place as her eyes held promises he was sure to enjoy. “Okay. Don’t stay up too long.”
Dean nearly choked. “No.”
Carmen kissed him before turning around and heading for the bathroom. Ignoring his traitorous body that was insisting he follow, Dean looked around the room. Obviously this was his place, bizarrely enough, and he moved quickly toward the photos there. There were several of Carmen and the two of them together at different places; the beach, the park, at dinner. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed another picture and as he moved closer, drawn in by something he didn’t want to identify, his blood ran cold.
There, beside he and Carmen, was his Dad. More importantly was the woman beside him. Her long blonde hair was hanging down in waves as she smiled for the camera, totally at ease and a hint in her eyes as though she were in on a private joke that the photographer hadn’t captured. His hands shook as the pieces fit together in his mind and without another thought, opened, the frame dropping as he turned and headed for the door. The sound of shattering glass announced his departure as the apartment door swung closed
The Impala almost didn’t come to a stop before Dean had his door open and began racing up the footpath to the house he didn’t think he’d ever visit again. He knocked loudly before his frustration got the better of him and he began ringing the doorbell frantically. The door suddenly opened and his finger paused mid-push on the doorbell. His body froze as the tired woman looked at him confused.
“Dean?”
She spoke. He’d always dreamed of talking with her and now here she was, standing in front of him as though she’d always had that opportunity. “Mum?”
“What are you doing here? Are you all right?”
“I don’t know,” he replied, almost speechless. Mary Winchester stepped back and ushered him inside.
“Well, come inside.” She led him into their lounge room. “Carmen just called and said you just took off all of a sudden.”
The Hunter part of his brain kicked into gear. There were many things that could attempt to be his mother and after the night he was having, he wasn’t going to rule anything out – no matter how painful it was going to be.
“Carmen? Right. Let me ask you a question: when I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed?”
Mary frowned in confusion. “Dean, I don’t understand—”
“Just answer the question.”
She looked taken aback by his abrupt tone before her head tilted as she gazed upon her distressed son. “I told you angels were watching over you.”
Tears threatened to spill over as he rushed to her, relief flooding through him as he wrapped his arms around her and hugged his mother for all he was worth. “I don’t believe it.”
Mary hugged him back and gave a worried smile as she looked at him. “Honey, you’re scaring me. Just tell me what’s going on.”
“You don’t think that wishes can really…”
“What?”
Dean shook his head at the absurdity. He didn’t know how this had all happened but he was amazed. Maybe the Djinn had granted him a wish after all. What else could have given him back his mother?
“Forget it.” Dean hugged her again. “Forget it. I’m just happy to see you, that’s all. You’re beautiful.”
Mary gave him a bashful smile. “What?”
Dean began taking in the house. He hadn’t been in it since he was four. After the night of the fire, it had ceased to be their house and instead became the packaging for another happy family, one that hadn’t suffered the loss that they had.
“Hey, when I was young, was there ever a fire here?”
“No, never.”
“I thought there was. I guess I was wrong,” he trailed off and Mary looked across at him as she observed her son.
Dean looked through the many photos of the entire Winchester family throughout the years and saw pictures of himself in College, at his prom and Sam’s High School graduation. Dean picked up the picture of his Dad in a softball uniform and held it up for her to see.
“Dad’s on a softball team.” Dean noticed the strange look his mother gave him and looked back down at the photo. His Dad looked almost the same as the last time he had seen him, without the odd uniform. “Dad’s softball team – that’s funny to me.”
Mary smiled wistfully. “He loved that stupid team.”
Dean looked up quickly. “Dad’s dead?” Mary looked at him strangely again and Dean pushed forward in the hopes that he didn’t sound to crazy. “And the thing that killed him was a...”
“A stroke,” she replied slowly, “He died in his sleep, you know that.”
No demons, just an old fashioned, common human condition. “That’s great.”
“Excuse me?” she almost squeaked.
“That’s great that he went peacefully,” he backpedalled. “It sure beats the alternative.”
Mary cast a sad expression on him and took a step forward. “You’ve been drinking.”
“No. I haven’t, Mom.”
She eyed him, disbelief stretched across her saddened features. “I’m just gonna call Carmen and have her come pick you up, okay?”
“Wait, no, no. Don’t do that. I wanna stay here.”
“Why?” she asked in confusion. Dean looked around the room. If this were all a dream, he didn’t want to spend it with a make-believe girlfriend. He wanted to be home.
“Because I miss the place. It’s okay, you go to bed. Okay?”
Dean sat down on the lounge and looked back at her. She watched him studying the lounge room for a moment before she drew his attention. “Are you sure you’re all right?”
Dean nodded and smiled reassuringly. “I think so.”
“Okay.” She stepped forward and pressed a kiss to his forehead. Dean leaned into her touch as she looked into his eyes. “Get some rest. I love you.”
“Me, too.”
He watched her begin walking up the stairs to her bedroom before looking around the lounge room. Nothing had changed, and yet, everything had. His eyes soaked up every part of the room before drifting into an easy sleep.
