Title: Collision
Chapter: One
Summary: AU: After the birth of Dean and Jo's daughter, the present Winchester family baby sit some strangely familiar teens on Christmas Eve while their future counterparts endure a rather unorthodox family visit. Part of the "Lost and Found" series.
Rating: K+
Disclaimer: Supernatural was created by Eric Kripke. No disrespect is intended with this work of fan fiction.
Notes: This story comes after 'Into The Woods' and before 'Be Mine, Valentine'.
In the Present:
"Don't you think you might have gone overboard on the presents this year, Jo?" Gwen Campbell Winchester slapped some tape on another wrapped package and sighed, looking at the mound of presents they'd wrapped since the kids had been put to bed. It was nearly midnight and they were finally nearing the end.
They'd had a half hour break to hear all about Heather Holt's holiday plans and accept a new job from her. She was a former high school nemesis of Jo's, but they were pretty much on friendly terms. Gwen would say they were good friends, but Jo refused to use the word 'friend' in regard to Heather.
Heather was dating some literary agent in New York and had wanted them to do a background check on him, with their usual attention to anything supernatural in nature. After hanging up, they'd done a quick check on the name and breathed a sigh of relief when it wasn't Crowley's picture that came up. That was all they'd need right now, Heather dating Crowley.
Then there'd been the twenty minute holiday call from Garth, where he talked up some vacation he and his girlfriend were going on. He was still dating Becky Rosen and the two appeared to be blissfully happy. Gwen was glad because if Becky was ecstatic over her boyfriend, she wasn't obsessing about Sam. As much, anyway.
After that had been the call from Marissa, the fan who'd latched on to Jo at that convention they'd ended up attending. Gwen had an ongoing theory that Jo felt sorry for Marissa and that was the reason she tolerated her annoying habits. Marissa wanted Jo to attend the upcoming convention and do a skit of some kind with her during the costume contest. Jo had declined, citing a heavy workload and motherhood in general.
Sam and Dean were busy watching a Die Hard marathon and drinking eggnog that had more "extra flavoring" than eggnog. Dean had filled a platter of cookies from Ellen's recent Christmas cookie baking spree (twelve kinds of cookies) and was eating those while Sam ate popcorn. Gwen wished she was down there with them instead of trying to help Jo get everything wrapped.
Jo scrunched her nose up, rolled out a length of ribbon and cut it with her scissors. "I don't go overboard. That's my mother's thing. I will never, ever be like that."
"Yeah, but…." She gestured at the pile.
"I just didn't want Jack to feel neglected since we have Allie now and I know she's getting a butt load of presents from mom." Jo added plain ribbon, several bows, and curling ribbon to the package before labeling it. "Okay, I think we're done with the kids' presents. Hand me those bags over to your right."
Leaning down, Gwen attempted to pick one up and ended up dragging it over to Jo instead. It was the same with the others. "What's in these, bricks?"
She peered into the big bag. "A new tool set for Dean with all the fancy gadgets he could ever want. I got him a drill that will go through concrete and has a bunch of attachments. Then there's the ammo I thought I'd wrap up. I couldn't find a gift bag big enough for some of it, so I thought I'd do his usual wrapping trick and wrap them in several different boxes, each getting bigger, until he thinks he's getting a large appliance."
"Don't forget to completely cover one box in duck tape. Two layers of tape. Then hide his pocket knife before we start opening. Let's see how he likes breaking a nail." Gwen had once been the recipient of one of his deviously wrapped gifts.
"Sam said he'd help wrap this stuff up later, so I'll just wrap the bullets now. I got your present and Sam's wrapped a few days ago while you were out. Mind carrying these down for me while I finish?"
It didn't take Jo long to finish wrapping and, as Gwen finally went to bed, she had the feeling that this nice calm Christmas wasn't going to last. But how was it going to go wrong? Castiel had the angels celebrating the holiday themselves (a full ten days of parties, talks on the subject of Christmas, and various demonstrations, culminating in one big heaven-wide office party Christmas Day), Balthazar and Atropos were in Greece causing trouble, and Teddy the Trickster and Sophie were doing some ritual to celebrate her pregnancy (a strange thing that lasted five days involving the horns from a bull, laurel leaves, oysters, and Lachesis, the middle Fate). Who was left?
She went to sleep trying to figure out just how their plans would be disrupted, because they were always disrupted one way or another. It wouldn't be a Winchester holiday without it.
In the Future:
"I don't think this is a good idea, Sean."
"Be quiet, Allie, and let me think."
Jack Winchester, oldest child of Dean and Jo, cast a doubtful glance at the battered book Sean was studying. "I don't know, man, I think Allie may be right on this one."
"I think we have everything." Sean finished setting up and cast a glance at the closed door.
"I have a bad feeling about this." Allie crossed her arms. "Where did you say you found this book?"
"It was in the attic," Sean replied in a distracted tone. "It was in a trunk with a bunch of other books like it and an old jacket."
"You mean in the locked attic you have to take everything out of the linen closet to get into?" Jack scratched a finger along his temple. "And then pick the lock that uncle Sam rotates every couple months with a different type?"
"That's the one," Sean replied. "It was one of those choose your own combination ones and dad shouldn't have used mom's birthday. It was the first one I tried."
"Maybe we shouldn't do this." The irony of Jack himself saying that wasn't lost on him. He was usually the one pushing to do things like this.
Sean looked up. "It's just a summoning. Look, both your folks got to know their dads and my mom never did. This'll call his spirit down and recreate his body so he's corporeal and she'll get to meet him and talk to him like he's real and not only a spirit. She'll be able to hug him if she wants. I'm telling you, it's the perfect Christmas gift."
"Except the part where your dad kicks your ass about it and Allie and I get in trouble too because we helped you."
"Whoever wrote this book and the others really seemed to know his or her stuff. It'll be fine."
Sean's definition of 'fine' appeared to differ greatly from Jack's. "Uh-huh."
"You're so whacked." Allie rolled her eyes.
"Please, Jack. You're really good at Latin."
With reluctance, Jack took the book. He was good at pronunciation, not actually understanding it. Besides, he, too, had a bad feeling about this. Dad always said mysterious books were a bad thing, especially when they'd been hidden. Considering the attic had a lock on it, the book could definitely be considered hidden.
And now Sean was doing puppy dog eyes.
"Okay, fine. But if this goes sideways, it's on you…."
John Winchester found himself standing in the snow before a two story house. It was bitterly cold and he hugged himself. His breath puffed in the cold air and he reflected a moment on how he could be breathing when he knew he was dead. The last thing he remembered was reminiscing with Mary in their own little corner of what he assumed was heaven. She'd enjoyed hearing all about Sam and Dean's childhoods.
Why was he here and how did he have a body?
There were lights on every corner of the house, bathing the yard in pale light and illuminating what looked like some sort of obstacle course.
He returned his attention to the house. Against the curtain of one upstairs window, he saw a shadow. Lights were on on both levels and someone had strung Christmas lights along the porch roof. One strand hung down loose, swaying a little in the icy breeze.
From slightly behind him came a voice, one he recognized, though it had been years since he'd heard it. "Hey, John. Any idea where we are?"
"Bill?"
It was Bill Harvelle who came to stand directly beside him. He nodded. "Yup. It's me."
"Back from the dead."
"Apparently."
"Me, too." Surely this wasn't something Dean and Sam had done? They shook hands and John said the one thing he'd been wanting to tell Bill since his death. "I'm sorry. For getting you killed, I mean." Bill's death had been heavy on his mind for a long time.
Bill shrugged. "It's how our lives are and it wasn't your fault. We both made mistakes that trip. You get the hellspawn we were after?"
"Eventually."
"Good." Bill took a few steps to one side, then back. "Any idea what year it is?"
"Not a one, but it's getting too cold to stand here much longer."
From behind them came the sound of footsteps crunching through the snow. A third man approached, one John didn't know. He was tall and dark haired.
Bill appeared to recognize him, grinning and holding out his hand for the other man to take. "Aaron! You, too? Now I'm really curious what's going on."
"Hi, Bill." Aaron jerked his head John's way. "Who's this?"
"Aaron Bennett, John Winchester. Aaron's a buddy of mine from a long time back. John here got into the life after his wife died. He's dead, too."
With a nod, Aaron said, "So we were all dead?" A thoughtful gleam slid into his eyes. "Why are we alive again now?"
"Just what we were wondering." John gestured at the house. "Best guess is it has something to do with whoever is in that house."
"Let's check it out." Aaron started towards the driveways.
There were four cars parked in the driveway and ruts along one side of the drive, indicating that area was routinely used as a turnaround. As they drew closer to the open garage door, John squinted. "Hold up." It looked like the Impala sitting in it.
What remained of her, rather. In the light from the corner of the house and at the garage door, he saw that she was well-worn and very old. A work area was set up nearby. The house, in his opinion, had to be either Dean or Sam's. He was almost afraid to go up the steps and see.
"John?" Bill cocked his head.
"Expect anything, Bill. When I died, this car was Dean's and it wasn't nearly this old."
At the front door, John was the one to knock. He steeled himself as he heard a feminine voice saying to 'hold on a sec'. It opened to reveal a pretty blond woman who was many years older than he remembered her being. John smiled. It was something of a relief to see Jo here. "Hi, Jo. Dean or Sam here?"
Her gaze swept the three of them and he was impressed by how smoothly she swept up the shotgun beside the door and leveled it at them. She'd reached for it as soon as her gaze had slid across the three of them. "Dean! Sam!" She focused on John's left, where Aaron stood, her eyes widening slightly. "Gwen!"
Bill and Aaron pressed closer and he heard them whispering to each other.
"Jo? My daughter was named Jo. She was blond, too. Could it be…."
"Mine was named Gwen. Family name."
Dean, Sam, and a woman appeared from the right, both men older than John remembered. Just how much time had passed? He could see a bit of gray in Dean's stubble and a sprinkling of gray in Sam's hair. Just how much time had passed since his death?
"Mia," Aaron said, stepping back and giving John some room. Bill also moved back.
"Dad?" Dean exchanged a glance with Sam. "And Bill and Aaron."
"You know me? How?" Aaron's question was curious.
Reaching for a basket, Sam pulled out a flask. "Drinks for all, then we'll get the rest of the tests out of the way. You check out -"
"-you come in," Dean finished for him.
Jo kept the gun pointed at them, careful to keep from pointing it at Dean or Sam.
"You look like Ellen right now," John remarked before taking a sip from the flask. "She pointed a gun at me like that a few times."
She didn't reply, though her lips pursed. He hadn't expected her to say anything.
Gwen looked up at the ceiling. "Castiel, could you come down for a bit? We have a situation."
Who was Castiel and why was she asking for him by staring at the ceiling?
When they'd all cleared a battery of tests, some John wasn't even familiar with, John, Aaron, and Bill were allowed to enter the house.
"Jack, Sean, and Allie get your butts down here now," Sam's bellow rang about the room, his tone brooking no disobedience.
Three teenagers came down the stairs and John figured out the relationships in the household. Jack and Allie looked like Dean and Jo while Sean was the spitting image of Sam as a teen right down to the gangly look. Sam had gone through a long gangly phase with each big growth spurt. All three had guilty expressions.
"What did you three do?" Dean crossed his arms.
"Answer your father, Jack." Jo set the shotgun aside. "We need to know now so we can clean up."
"Sean?" Gwen leaned against the couch and crossed her ankles. "Come on. Out with it. Jack's the ringleader, but you do the running and fetching."
Dean's glance slid to the young blond girl. "Allison Elizabeth, you'd better start talking." When the three remained silent, he added, "Who's ready to start losing privileges? Phones first."
"It was just a spell," Sean said. "I thought -"
A man appeared with a dark haired woman. He pointed at Jack and Allie. "Now, Abby! He's coming!"
She put an arm about the two and disappeared with them.
"Cas? What's going on?" Dean reached for Cas, but he pulled back.
"There's no time, Dean. They need to be extracted before he gets here."
"Who? Before who gets here?"
"Jael will be here as soon as possible. He'll answer your questions until I can return." Grasping Sean, and with an annoyed expression, he too faded from view.
"Extract them?" Sam moved to a case on the wall, dialed the combination on the lock and opened it, pulling out guns and handing them to Dean and Gwen. "Do you remember the days when we didn't spend half our time cleaning up the situations our kids get into?"
"Barely," Gwen replied.
"I sort of do…." Jo squinted and shrugged.
"Do you remember when we swore our kids would be nothing like us," Dean asked with a wry expression.
Jo snorted. "I told you that was a pipe dream. You're the one wanted a little girl just like me. How's that working out for you, sweetheart?"
Beside John, Bill stifled a laugh.
Aaron stepped towards Gwen. "You look -"
"I know. Just like Mia. Freakish. When we're through whatever this crisis is they caused, we'll tell you all about it, okay, but until then, back the hell up."
"Sure." Holding up his hands, he backed up to stand with John and Bill again.
"Anything you want us to do, Dean?" John waited for Dean's reply.
"Don't get killed again before we can catch-up?"
"Can't guarantee it."
There was a strange sensation in the room, as if all the air had been sucked out of the room and as suddenly puffed back in with a 'pop'.
Three women came through the door into what looked like the kitchen. The oldest of the three was in a suit, the youngest in 'business casual', and the middle woman was in a flowing skirt and peasant blouse.
"Clotho, what's going on." Jo asked.
Clotho? Where had John heard that name before?
"Clotho the Fate?" Aaron stepped to the wall and leaned back against it, arms crossed. "Of the three Fates in myth?"
The suited woman gave him a sharp look, cocked a brow, then adjusted her glasses as she and the others two made a circle around Dean. "Trouble, Jo. That's what's going on." Her attention returned to Aaron. "Quite a lot of trouble, if you ask me."
What were the Fates doing here? And when had Dean, Sam, and Jo become friendly with them? There seemed to be quite a lot they needed to catch up on.
"We sort of got that," Sam replied. "Who's coming? Cas said -"
"Hello, Dean." Another man appeared at the far end of the room. The man was tall and lean, yet something about him indicated a powerful physical presence. He was dark haired and dark eyed, a wild, alien air about him, as if he was a wild animal in human form. His clothes had a medieval appearance. "Long time. Did you think I'd forgotten you?"
"I'd hoped," he murmured, chin lifting a fraction.
"It's not often a firstborn son escapes me. I was terribly disappointed. You found your way back. And now you have a son, a firstborn, and he's the right age to train up properly for my guard. Where is Jack?" He glanced about the room. "I've been speaking to him through his dreams, giving him notice of his contract with me."
"Contract? There is no contract."
"I beg to differ. You were taken and you escaped. You didn't serve out your time, so someone must. He's a good age."
The Fates moved closer to Dean, the eldest spreading her arms wide as though her stance would stop the man's advance.
"Come now, Clotho. Didn't you see this in the threads of their lives? Surely you did. You see everything from start to finish, those threads that can change ever so slightly."
Her lips pressed tight together. "You're not supposed to be here."
"You're the cause of Jack's nightmares the past year." Dean leaned around Clotho.
Jo joined the Fates, linking her arms with Clotho and the middle Fate. Dean stepped behind Jo, resting a hand on her waist. Defiance slid across Jo's face. "You can't have my son or my husband."
"We'll see about that. Perhaps I'll take your lovely daughter to be a maid for my Queen."
There was the clearing of a throat. At the back of the room, standing with an almost bored air, was another man, also thin and tall, though his sense of power was more than physical. "I have prior claim to the souls of the Winchester family, Oberon. All of them."
Oberon? The fairy king? John wiggled a finger in one ear, certain he'd heard wrong. Had to be some kind of demon, because fairies existing as well as everything else John knew of was just too outrageous to think of. He glanced at Bill.
Bill glanced back, shrugged, and returned his gaze to the scene before them.
"Really, Death," Oberon replied without looking away from Dean. "Tell me…where were you when I snatched Dean up years ago? Weren't so concerned about the Winchester souls then, were you?"
Death strode forward. "Titania chooses her own attendants as I recall. Do you not remember long ago when you presumed to choose some for her? My reapers had quite a day in your realm mopping up your mess. Leave this family alone. They're mine and mine alone."
"Or what?"
"I am Death. Eventually, I meet all living creatures, even those in your realm. How safe is your family from my reach?"
Now Oberon looked at Death. "It's one boy."
"I've waited too long for any of their souls to let even one of them go."
Oberon's lips contorted into a snarl.
A thin smile pulled at Death's lips a second before the fairy king attacked. The two disappeared from view.
"Damn it," Clotho muttered. All three Fates were suddenly gone.
John blinked. "Your house always this busy, Dean?"
Bill cleared his throat. "That was…interesting."
Aaron pushed off from the wall and moved to stand beside Bill. "Never a dull moment around here. Someone care to give us dead guys some info?"
Everyone stared at him.
He shrugged. "What? We're here. We might as well do something. I used to be pretty good at coming up with solutions." He grinned.
"Oh, I could tell you just how good you are at that, dad," Gwen said with a dark frown.
"Maybe we can help," John offered.
"Can't hurt. Can it?" Bill shot a hopeful glance Jo's way.
"Those sound an awful lot like famous last words." Dean sighed. "Gwen, you want to get some coffee going?"
Jo shook her head. "I think this calls for whiskey, not coffee." She looked around at each of them, then headed for the liquor cabinet in the corner. "Our dead dad's are standing in our living room. I think we could all use some fortification."
The appearance of yet another man in the room stalled her on her task. John sincerely hoped this wasn't a usual day in their house.
In the Present:
"You will sit and you will behave yourselves." Abigael pinched a tissue to her nose in an attempt to stop the bleeding. She'd never had a bloody nose before and Castiel hadn't warned her about this side effect when he'd told her to grab Jack and Allie and head back to this date. "If you don't, there'll be hell to pay when you get back home."
"Lean your head back," Jack told her in an earnest tone. "It'll help."
She didn't doubt it'd help. He'd reached for a tissue as soon as he'd seen the blood. At eighteen, he could be something of a know-it-all, though his attitude at times could be justified. He was an intelligent young man.
Beside him, his sister Allie snorted. "Like you've ever had a nosebleed, doofus." She was fourteen and seemed to think that made her grown up.
"I've had plenty," he protested, handing Abigael another tissue. "Here, Abby."
"That weren't from a fight?"
Casting a glance at both the stairs and at Sam and Gwen's room, she held up a hand. "Will you two please lower your voices?"
Where was Castiel? She'd counted on him appearing with her to help convince the Winchesters of this time to watch over their teen children. Two of them anyway. The two that usually caused the most trouble. Castiel must be right about causing trouble being a genetic trait in Winchester DNA. Jack was the ringleader, Sean followed him half the time (if it made sense to him to do so), and Allie trotted along right behind them, determined to do whatever they were. It drove Dean nuts that his sweet, girly daughter was quite a bit like his wife in that respect. Allie wanted to be a hunter.
Abigael had also counted on him talking to his past self and explaining the situation because there was no way the Castiel of this time hadn't gotten a notice about a time disturbance, especially around this house. He'd had all sorts of alarms set up surrounding the Winchester family even then.
"Why," Allie demanded with a flick of her blond hair. "It's not like we're kids that need watched."
Precisely what they were, though Jack didn't exactly count as a kid anymore.
"You are a kid," Jack reminded her.
"I'm fourteen," she corrected. "Hardly a kid."
A dizzy spell hit and Abigael dropped down hard into Dean's favorite chair. The lights on the tabletop Christmas tree seemed very bright and she closed her eyes a moment. She hated having to bring these two here, but out of all the options, this was the best because they knew with a certainty that Dean, Jo, Sam, and Gwen would take good care of them until they could be retrieved.
As soon as the rift between their world and the fairy world had been discovered, they'd made plans in case Oberon made some sort of move to take Dean or Jack or both. She'd consulted the Fates, who'd talked to Death, and Death had told them to definitely remove the children. He'd deal with Oberon and let them know when the children could be returned.
Though how was he going to do that? The fairy folk were a different breed of creature with different rules. She wasn't even entirely sure Death could stop him, despite his foot in that world. Oberon was pretty powerful. Then again, Death did meet them all in the end. Perhaps this was Oberon's time to die.
The door leading to the stairs opened. Jo stood there, a gun in her hands. "Abby? What's going on? Who are these kids?"
She raised a hand in greeting. "Hi, Jo."
Both Jack and Allie fell silent.
Jo glanced behind her, stepped down into the living room and closed the door to the stairs. "Explanation please?"
"I have a situation. I need you to watch two of my charges for a couple days."
"Watch."
"Baby sit." Allie gasped at the word, but didn't say anything and Abigael went on. "Please, Jo. You know I wouldn't ask unless I needed you."
"What about the other Guardians? Or Castiel?"
"It's not possible at present. This is Jay and Leigh. They won't give you any trouble."
Jack cleared his throat. "Um, Abby? How long -"
Abby could feel herself beginning to lose her grip on consciousness and left, locating Castiel and Sean. Nearly there, she lost control of her trajectory and slammed into another angel as consciousness finally slipped from her.