Fic/Podfic: My Life is a Movie (2b/4)
Wednesday, September 26th, 2012 12:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
tenoko1--
The next morning, Sam and Dean ran the trail again, except they opted for the five-mile trail this time around that took a slightly different and significantly shorter route. Cas had wordlessly healed them of all the damaged they’d inflicted on themselves the day before, not even giving them chastising looks for their incredible stupidity. He’d been very quiet all evening, in fact, but not like something was bothering him, in fact, he seemed more at ease than ever, quiet and content.
Dean was completely oblivious as to what would cause a change in the angel, but at least he noticed that there was one.
Idiot.
How Sam survived to adulthood with his brother looking after him, the younger Winchester had no idea.
Note, the morning had started out as a jog to survey the area, like the day before should have been. It stopped being a survey when they spotted a creature the brothers couldn’t agree on whether it was goblin or a gremlin, and had gone tearing after the little monster.
Who promptly led them straight into a trap, sending them bursting through the underbrush, and over the line where the earth suddenly dropped off, leaving them flailing in empty air before they fell with a ‘splosh’ into a huge mudhole, eerie laughter and movement coming from the bushes all around them.
Cas looked startled when they shoved the door to the motel room open, filthy and dripping wet from having to hose each other off at the end of the building in order to get the majority of the filth off of them. Dean radiated with bloodlust, seeming far more imposing than his lean frame would originally suggest.
“What happened?” questioned Cas in alarm
“Gremlins.”
“Goblins.”
They spoke in unison; the angel’s blue eye’s flicking to each of them uncertainly.
The elder of the two scoffed and rolled his eyes, stomping into the room and peeling off his hoodie and shirt as he went. “Whatever. It was gremlins. I call first shower.” He dropped his soggy clothes with a ‘splat’ in the bathroom sink and slammed the door.
They were still arguing Goblins vs Gremlins three hours later when both brothers had showered and changed into clean clothes, making their way down Main Street to the Laundromat, both with a duffel of dirty clothes slung over their shoulder. Castiel kept pace with them and seemed to contemplate the sidewalk as it passed beneath their feet.
“Dude, think about it,” insisted Dean, shoving clothes into one of the washers like it had insulted him. “Gremlins muck about with machinery. It’s what they do. The traffic lights in town, the washers, the fire hydrants? It’s totally been gremlins.”
“‘Muck about’?” echoed Sam, pulling a face. “Do you hear yourself? And no, that was obviously a goblin we saw-“
“When have you ever seen a goblin to compare it with?”
Sam offered him his most annoyed bitched face and slammed the door to his own washer shut, before whirling away from his brother, now empty duffel still in hand. Dean ended up slamming right into his brother’s back when he’d stalked after him, glancing over his shoulder to see his Cas was following after them, not noticing the way Sam was a statue in front of the store front glass.
“Dude, what the hell?”
Sam pointed stupidly outside, Dean and Cas leaning in opposite directions to peer around him. Two teenagers, a boy and a girl, were happily dancing and singing in sync, apparently on their first date, desperately in love, everything in life was rainbows, sunshine, and fucking kittens, oh and they were going to be together FOREVER.
Dean considered trying to drown himself in one of the washing machines.
“Demons,” he stated, matter-of-factly. “They must be possessed by demons. C’mon Sam, we need to go kill them. We’re duty bound to slit their throats.”
Sam rolled his eyes and sighed in a very put upon manner. “Dean, what do you see?”
“Two annoying, idiot twits. Further proof of the decline in quality in the gene pool. A future in which case humanity is wiped out not by Lucifer, but by our own hand, because hey, the children are our future.” There was no way to put more sarcasm into that last part.
“They’re singing about their first date and being in love, Dean,” Sam pointed out as though he had all the patience in the world. “Singing. Unintentionally. Today.”
A grave expression crossed Dean’s features. “That jackhole. It didn’t end at midnight. How is that fair? You can’t change the rules mid-game.”
“We still do not know what is the cause of this phenomena,” reminded Cas.
Sam turned around to face them, Dean standing with his arms folded and glare focused out the window, his mouth wilted down at the corners as he considered this new piece of information in the case.
“The trigger has to be emotionally linked. Think of a memory or something that holds a lot of feelings for you: good or bad, probably something you wouldn’t just up and talk about.”
Cas looked at him pointedly. “I hardly think any memory I have will cause me to burst into song. I think humans are the only target of this curse.” He regarded Dean. “I should think your time in Hell would evoke a strong emotional response.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “Okay first of all, I am the person least likely to burst into song unless I’m singing to the radio, okay?”
Sam scoffed, hands on his hips. “You’re lying to an angel, Dean. You sing all the time. If you aren’t singing, you’re humming. You sing in the shower. You hum when you work on the car. You don’t even realize you’re doing it most of the time. Of any of us, you’re the one most likely to sing.”
“Not about Hell. What? You expected me to break into a round of ‘Nightmare’ by Avenged Sevenfold? Sorry, not happening. I’m willing to talk about that, I just don’t because it’s pretty basic what happened and everyone here knows. After thirty years on the rack, I caved and became one of the same. Extreme circumstances derived of the instinct to survive. I wasn’t me anymore after thirty years, I was a ravenous dog who’d forgotten where it came from. I’ve got regrets, but I have no shame over what happened. It may have been at my hand, but that didn’t make it my fault.”
Pulling a face, Dean pivoted to look at Castiel, the angel tilting his head as though expecting the hunter’s words. “Seriously, though. You have to have things that evoke a strong emotional response, Spock. Angels aren’t impervious to curses, your vessel is human, so I say you might have some level of tolerance, but are still susceptible. What’s something that evokes a strong reaction from you? Some memory, happy or sad.”
The angel’s blue gaze flicked about unseeingly, ss though visually searching his memories. “I cannot think of one off hand, not so suddenly to attempt triggering the curse just in order to see if that is, in fact, the trigger.”
“What about the day Cas saved you from hell?” offered Sam. “When he showed up in Hell to pluck you out?”
It was a really good thing that no one else but them was in the Laundromat in the middle of the day like this.
The elder Winchester shrugged. “I was torturing somebody. In the process of cutting their gums away from their teeth so that they wouldn’t have any. I’d already pulled out their fingernails and cut out their eyelids so they couldn’t close their eyes.” He said it simply, business like.
Cas nodded. “When I broke through into that level of Hell, Dean looked up in surprise, his black eyes glaring at first, then seeming to realize what was happening. The scalpel dropped from his fingers and he thrust a hand into the air for me to grab, the black fading from his eyes in that one moment.”
The hunter was nodding. “That memory was the only one it took me months to recall.”
“A lot happened, it’s no wonder.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Okay, well, what about something you don’t really talk about?” The taller male wracked his brain for something he hadn’t heard either of them talk about, yet figured they probably needed to, and yeah, coming up with something under pressure like that was a lot harder than had it not mattered. An event came to him, and he snapped his fingers, face lighting up as he pointed to them. “Oh! Oh, what about that time when Dean was going to say ‘yes’ to Michael? The two of you had a big fight, right?”
Both of them stiffened uneasily, casting quick sidelong glances at the other. Dean swallowed thickly and shifted his weight. Yeah this was clearly not something they wanted to talk about. And probably hadn’t since it the day it happened.
“Uh, yeah, that’s not exactly worth singing about, and I highly doubt there’s a song for it.” Neither of them were meeting anyone’s gaze now. “And it’s not a fun memory or anything.”
Oh no, they were onto something here and Sam damn well knew it. Not wanting to talk about it was a good thing in this instance, it meant there were things that hadn’t been dealt with or acknowledged. Granted, it would be better if they could get a happier memory, like when Sam was thinking about things between him and Ruby, but this was also something the two of them would need to deal with.
He folded his arms and tilted his head, feigning genuine curiosity, which wasn’t terribly hard, since he’d always kinda wondered what took place that day when Cas brought back Dean bloodied and beaten, unable to stand under his own power.
“Well what did happen? I mean, you’re okay now, right? And it’s over, but it was kind of a turning point I feel I missed something on. What happened exactly?”
The Laundromat shimmered, music starting up just as the room melted away into a cramped alley, the three of them standing at the mouth of it. There was a wood fence, crates and pallets stacked against brick walls, and steam rising from manholes in the cement. Dean immediately tensed, turning to look at Cas; the angel’s face dark with fury.
Without warning, he grabbed Dean by the front of his jacket, turned and threw him into the alley, the human slamming hard against the fence and staring at the angel stalking towards him.
Get out your guns
Battles begun
Are you a saint or a sinner
If love’s a fight
Then I shall die
With my heart on trigger
He grabbed Dean angrily again, throwing him with no measure of care against the adjacent brick wall, knocking over pallets and breaking crates, the hunter scrambling to try and regain his footing, hands up as if to placate the incensed angel.
They say before you start a war,
You better know what you’re fighting for
Well baby, you are all that I adore,
If love is what you need, a soldier I will be
Cas continued to unrepentedly knock Dean around like he were nothing more than a rag doll, sometimes throwing him clean off his feet, sending him sailing through the air with a sweep of his arm, backhanding the hunter across the face. The angel was singing what Sam thought under any other circumstances would be a love song, but with so much uncontained anger instead. Cas was even pining Dean against the wall to fling the words of the song into the hunter’s face, accusing the human of his actions.
I’m an angel with a shotgun,
Fighting til the war’s won,
I don’t care if Heaven won’t take me back.
I’ll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe.
Don’t you know you’re everything I have?
…and I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight.
Torn, Cas whirled from Dean, regarding the sky above as though it held answers to his words, then giving up.
Sometimes to win, you’ve got to sin,
Don’t mean I’m not a believer.
…and major Tom, will sing along.
Yeah, they still say I’m a dreamer.
He turned back to Dean, flinging his words like weapons, the hunter visibly cringing as though he’d been struck again, looking equally pained by what Cas was apparently feeling, that he was the cause of it.
They say before you start a war,
You better know what you’re fighting for
Well baby, you are all that I adore,
If love is what you need, a soldier I will be
I’m an angel with a shotgun,
Fighting til the war’s won,
I don’t care if Heaven won’t take me back.
I’ll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe.
Don’t you know you’re everything I have?
…and I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight.
I’m an angel with a shot gun,
Fighting til the war’s won,
I don’t care if Heaven won’t take me back.
I’ll throw away my faith, babe, just to keep you safe.
Don’t you know you’re everything I have?
…and I, wanna live, not just survive, tonight.
Having worked out the majority of his anger, Castiel’s posture softened, approaching the crumpled Dean, who watched him expectantly and warily. Taking a breath, Cas offered out his hand to the hunter, which Dean regarded uncertainly, then clasped in his own, allowing the angel to help him to his feet.
…and I’m gonna hide, hide, hide my wings tonight.
They say before you start a war,
You better know what you’re fighting for
Well baby, you are all that I adore,
If love is what you need, a soldier I will be
The pair of them returned to Sam, the music dying off and alley disappearing, neither of them looking at each other and Sam feeling very much like a dog for forcing them to face something that had clearly been so painful for the both of them, a wound they hadn’t really ever let heal, had simply ignored and never talked about. Now the bandage had been ripped off, exposing wounds just as red and raw as they had been.
The younger Winchester opened his mouth, perhaps to break the awkward tension stifling the air now, maybe to apologize for having pushed them, for being an insensitive ass and not minding his own freaking business, but Dean cut him off, whirling around to face the angel at his side.
“Cas, I’m sorry,” he blurted. The angel looked at him in surprise. “I know I said it before, but I really, really am, and that doesn’t make it better, but man, I was at a complete loss for what else to do. And yeah, I needed the sense knocked back into me, but I never meant to throw all your sacrifices back in your face like that. I wasn’t trying to be cruel, I just…”
The smaller man shook his head. “No, Dean. I should apologize as well. I know you would never intentionally turn against me, I fully understand you felt cornered and without any other options. A mere man should not be expected to hold the weight of the world on his shoulders. That is asking far too much. It was expected you would break, it is why they applied so much pressure, so that you eventually would, not accounting that I would be there to keep you from doing just that.” He swallowed thickly and looked away. “I apologize for my treatment of you when I should have been more understanding of your position and perspective. Sometimes I forget you are only a human stuck in the here and now. What was a new and uncertain battle for me, was something you were already long since weary from.”
Dean shifted, trying to catch Cas’ eye, waiting until they’d locked gazes before venturing, “So… we’re good? We’re okay?”
A small sad smile crossed the angel’s expression. “Always, Dean.”
A brilliant grin lit up the hunter’s face, the green of his eyes seeming even brighter than normal at that assurance. Cas returned the look with a fond smile of his own, closed lipped, but affectionate all the same.
Hands shoved in his pockets, carefully examining the toes of his shoes, Sam cleared his throat lightly, glancing up sheepishly and apologetically at both of them, wincing when their smiles faltered.
Breaking out in a toothy grin, Dean shoved his empty duffel at his brother. “Yeah, you better feel like a kicked dog, man. Just for that little stunt, you get to do the rest of the laundry all by yourself.” The bag caught Sam right in the face. “C’mon, Cas. I’m hungry. You?”
The taller Winchester pivoted, scrambling after them as they left him behind without a backwards glance, the little bell chiming above the door in their exit. Sam smiled at their backs, listening as the two friends quipped and bickered good-naturedly back and forth.
At the diner, they continued on just as happily, both seemingly having forgiven Sam for his earlier trespass and including him in their talks and laughter and Dean’s over the top jokes that actually caused Castiel to choke on his drink with laughter.
“And I’m telling you, Sam,” insisted Dean as he accepted the slice of pie he’d ordered from the waitress, and slid it between himself and Cas, passing over a fork to the angel so he could share the hunter’s dessert. The waitress had purposefully brought them an extra large slice when she realized it was meant for two. Sam didn’t think Dean got the implications of that. His brother continued, “We’re dealing with gremlins here.”
From his side of the booth, Sam rolled his eyes. “It was a Goblin, Dean. Give it up.”
“This is America!” his brother exclaimed, then dropped his voice to a hiss, “There aren’t goblins this side of the pond. Maybe a few sightings in the Northeast, stragglers who made it here by accident, but definitely not residents of this country.”
“Oh, so you think gremlins are more likely instead? Really?”
Dean held up a finger. “They’ve been in this country for generations. A unit of soldiers in the air force during WWII even had a gremlin as their mascot, claiming that the creatures were always making sure they stayed in the air when they should have come screaming out of it.” He grinned at Cas when the angel made a happy noise around a mouthful of pie. “It’s good, right? I knew you’d love it. Make sure to get ice cream and pie in your next bite- you’ll blaspheme.”
He did as Dean instructed, the corner of his mouth turned up as he bobbed his head. When the angel released a throaty groan of enjoyment, Sam watched as Dean’s gaze glazed over, pupils seeming to dilate at the sound. Snorting, Sam shook his head, returning his attention to his plate of curly fries.
Why were they the only two completely oblivious to the fact they were practically married? All they needed now was for the two of them to burst into a duet singing their undying devotion to each other, because seriously: appropriate.
And once they had, Sam, well being the good brother that he was, would make certain to never let his brother live it down. Ever.
They were outside in the parking lot, the setting sun filling the sky with an array of color and casting long shadows. Sam was about to head back to the Laundromat while Dean and Cas would go do research to find out for sure if they were dealing with gremlins or goblins, when Cas had stiffened obviously, all traces of his earlier relaxed demeanor lost and tension thrumming through every nerve ending.
Dean and Sam were both suddenly at alert.
“What?” questioned Dean at the angel’s side. “What’s wrong?”
The angel blinked, gaze drifting to Dean as though just seeing him for the first time. “I… have received summons.” He seemed to shake himself, as though clearing his thoughts. “I must return to Heaven. I may have new orders.”
Reflexively, Dean snagged the angel’s sleeve, not allowing him time to disappear immediately. “Whoa, whoa. Summons? Orders? When will you be back? Will you need our help? You’ve got backup if you want it.” He faltered. “Will you be back?”
Cas hadn’t received a summons in all the time they’d known him. He’d been in contact with his siblings and superiors, sure, but he’d never received something so official sounding. Official sounding was ominous to Winchester ears.
Castiel discreetly disengaged himself from the hunter at his side. “I’m sure they will allow me to return… eventually, if not immediately.”
He gave Dean a smile Sam recognized as an angelic attempt to appear reassuring, awkward and clunky like they didn’t know quite how to empathize enough to be reassuring, except this time it was Cas forcing a smile for the sake of someone else when he didn’t know how.
“Good-bye, Dean.”
The angel was gone as Dean opened his mouth, perhaps to return the good-bye. Perhaps to argue. Either way, the hunter was left regarding empty air with a gut-wrenching expression of loss and bone-deep concern.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, Sam shuffled his feet awkwardly, not liking Cas’ forced return to heaven anymore than his brother did. The severed connection bugged him like some intense wrong. If Cas wasn’t on Earth, there was no way for them to offer whatever little aid they could provide, to make certain the angel was never left without someone watching his back for him. Without them there, it felt like they were leaving him exposed to enemy forces, and that didn’t sit right with either of them.
There’s a shop down the street
Where they sell plastic rings
For a quarter a piece, I swear it
Yeah, I know that it’s cheap
Not like gold in your dreams,
But I hope that you’ll still wear it
Sam looked up with a start when the piano music started, watching as Dean slumped back to sit against the hood of someone’s car, singing softly, gaze distant and dejected. His younger brother was further amazed as a shimmering image of Cas seemed to pour out of the sky, trickling down to solidify into a slightly translucent form right in front of Dean, the hunter taking his hands in his, smoothing his thumbs over the backs of the angel’s hands as he sang beseechingly and sad.
Yeah, though ink may stay my skin
And my jeans may all be ripped
I’m not perfect, but I swear I’m perfect for you
And there’s no guarantee
That this’ll be easy
It’s not a miracle you need,
Believe me
Well, I’m no angel,
I’m just me
But I will love you endlessly
Wings aren’t what you need
You need me
Dean rose, appearing to look out over the town and regard the sky for help, before looking back at Castiel, that same pleading on his face.
There’s a house on the hill
With a view of the town
And I know how you adore it
So I’ll work every day
Through the sun and the rain
Until I can afford it
You’re friends think I’m crazy
But they can only see
I’m not perfect
But I swear I’m perfect for you
And there’s no guarantee
That this’ll be easy
It’s not a miracle you need,
Believe me
Well, I’m no angel,
I’m just me
But I will love you endlessly
Wings aren’t what you need
You need me
You need me, you need me
Yeah, though ink may stay my skin
And my jeans may all be ripped
I’m not perfect, but I swear I’m perfect for you
Dean turned, seemingly torn between convincing the sky and the angel beside him watching with a serene and adoring expression, tinged in sadness.
And there’s no guarantee
That this’ll be easy
It’s not a miracle you need,
Believe me
Well, I’m no angel,
I’m just me
But I will love you endlessly
Wings aren’t what you need
You need me
You need me, you need me
Dean settled back against the car again, singing softer, one hand coming up to cup the angel’s cheek, the angel dissipating from sight with every word.
There’s a shop down the street
Where they sell plastic rings
For a quarter a piece, I swear it
Yeah, I know that it’s cheap
Not like gold in your dreams,
But I hope that you’ll still wear it
Sam was blinking back tears, a knot thick in his throat as he watched the way his brother’s face crumpled, eyes clamping shut, before turning his head and shoving away from the car. Dean thrusts his hands in his pockets and trekked off with slumped shoulders without a word, and Sam didn’t have the heart to go after him.
Instead, he watched until his brother disappeared around the corner, wiping a hand over his jaw and scoffing in disbelief, hating the people handing out orders upstairs more than ever. Anyone who pulled Cas from earth was on Sam’s shit list, and he didn’t know how, but he was planning to personally mount a campaign against Heaven to allow Castiel to have complete choice to decide where he was stationed, angel had damn well earned it, helped save the world, didn’t he?
There was a light sniff to his left, causing Sam to turn his head in surprise, almost jumping back at the sight of Gabriel standing there with teary eyes, running the back of a knuckle under each eye as he continued to watch where Dean had disappeared before turning to face Sam with a determined expression.
“Okay, after that? I don’t care what anyone says, we are getting those two together.” He looked back. “Way to break my heart, Winchester. Geez.”
TBC
*Songs are by band called The Cab, and are "Angel With a Shotgun" and "Endlessly".
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FLAIL!
Date: 2012-09-27 07:46 am (UTC)Also, yayy, got my Season 7 today, am off to watch! And listen to J2 commentary, I'm so excited. I have the whole season on my laptop anyway, I always get a season pass on Itunes so I can download episodes immediately. But having the gag reel and all that, those are the things i live for!
Ha, saw your entries today about the sweets, are you turning into Gabriel? LOL. And yes, that was my request, so, so what?! Sigh, no responses yet, but I chuckled at you. You know me too well! ;)
hows everything else? I need to get some team members for Gishwhes. Did you say you would do it w me? i can't remember damn it! I have serawinchester, lynwen, jessm, ivydeross so far. I think I wanna name it Impalatastics!
love ya girl, big smooches and musical numbers for you!
Re: FLAIL!
Date: 2012-09-27 01:04 pm (UTC)I'm currently making my way through season seven as well since I missed the first half when it originally aired. *sadness* Season Seven is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better than Season six was. Season six is unmentionable and unmemorable save for a few episodes.
I'm on a different team already, sorry. The girl that introduced me to GISHWHES (and she was actually on the team that won last year) invited me to join her team.
Hopefully the next chapter won't take as long to do as this one, incorporating music is VERY time consuming and HARD. Next chapter has background music more than musical numbers, but they are appropriate. ^_^