HAPPY NEW YEAR!
So, this idea came to me because of two reasons. One: I finally got a chance to read House of Hades. It's only been sitting on my bookshelf since October. Reason 2: I'm suffering from Supernatural withdrawal. It shall be remedied soon, though, because I got the first two seasons for Christmas! That being said, this plot bunny ate my brain until I sat down and typed it up. I wrote this while I was waiting for the ball to drop, and then I couldn't post it.
This is in no way related to Empousai and Demigods.
Disclaimer: Riordan and Kripke own the characters. The idea and Rose are mind.
*spn*pjo*
Athena wasn't sure what had attracted her to the Robert Crown Law Library at Stanford University. It was finals week and, when she entered through the front doors, she didn't immediately see anyone. It was late, and most sane mortals had already returned to their dorms. So what had brought her here?
It was on the second floor that she found him, hunched over a table with books, papers, and notebooks strewn around him. A desk lamp was perched on one corner, creating a pool of light in the dark library. An empty water bottle was on the floor by his feet.
"Reading something interesting?" Athena asked. The mortal's head snapped up, and Athena didn't miss the way his hand jerked towards the waistband of his jeans before he stopped himself. Interesting.
Hazel green eyes seemed to assess her before he smiled slightly, showing dimples. "Not sure I'd call it interesting. Necessary for my degree, sure, but not interesting." his shoulders moved in a half shrug. "It's my last final and I want to get a decent grade."
Athena smiled in response. "Part of getting a decent grade is getting a decent night's rest, too. Do you know what time it is?"
The mortal yawned and glanced at his watch. "Huh. Last time I checked, it was seven thirty. Now it's quarter after twelve." He yawned again. "No wonder I'm so tired." He stood and started shoving stray papers into a folder and stacking textbooks and binders before dumping the lot of it unceremoniously into a large messenger-type bag.
When he turned back to her, Athena was struck by how tall he was. For a mortal, anyway. Athena's current form was tall by mortal women's standards, and he still towered over her.
"I'm Sam Winchester." He said, offering her a hand to shake. It was a mortal custom that had always baffled her, but she returned the gesture. His hands were strong and callused, his grip firm, but not crushing. Athena approved.
"Athena." She said, returning his smile.
Sam's eyebrows went up. "Athena, huh? You've got big shoes to fill." at her questioning look, Sam continued. "Your name. In Greek mythology, the goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. Her name's Athena."
Oh, if only he knew... Athena nodded. "I guess I do."
Sam edged around her, keeping his back to the wall. It made Athena wonder if he was a demigod. A son of Hermes or Apollo, maybe?
"It was nice to meet you, Athena, but I'm going back to my dorm. Have a good night." Sam said, walking away.
"Have a good night, Sam Winchester." Athena murmured.
*spn*pjo*
Curiosity drove her back to Stanford a second time. It was the next day, and Athena materialized outside the lecture hall where Sam was finishing his last exam. She had only been there a minute when Sam emerged into the afternoon sun.
"How was your test, Sam?" Athena asked, standing in front of him.
Sam frowned at her a moment before he broke out into a bright smile. "Athena! Hi! The test was better than I thought it would be. I think I did okay."
Athena nodded. "That's good. What are your plans now?"
"Celebrate." Sam said immediately. "Finals are over, and I'm going to make the most of it." he looked out at her from under his fringe of bangs. "Do you want to go get ice cream with me? There's a pretty good parlor about a block from here."
*spn*pjo*
It went on like that for the rest of the summer. Athena helped him move into a tiny three room apartment off campus for the summer, and Sam decided that he would just stay there while he attended Stanford for his junior and senior years.
They quickly became best friends, debating the finer points of history. Sam surprised Athena with his knowledge of architecture and monuments, so they spent a week discussing and debating the differences between Greek and Roman architecture before Sam admitted that he liked the Greek style better. Which was good, in Athena's opinion.
Sam got a job working at a garage as a mechanic.
"If Dean heard about this, he'd never let me hear the end of it." Sam told Athena over coffee one day.
"Why's that?" Athena asked, sipping her cappuccino.
"He's the mechanic of the family. He taught me everything."
"Then shouldn't he be proud of you?"
Sam's gaze moved to the cinnamon roll he'd been picking apart. "It's complicated."
It was through careful observation that Athena learned that Sam had an older brother, Dean, that Sam idolized, and a rocky relationship at best with his father.
*spn*pjo*
Athena had been friends with Sam for the better part of two months when she found the shotgun. When she asked about it, Sam had shrugged.
"My dad was a Marine. He gave it to me for my birthday." He had studied her for a moment before he asked: "Do you want to learn to shoot?"
Athena considered for only a second before accepting. She never turned down a chance to learn new skills, after all.
Instead of taking her to a firing range, like she thought he would, Sam took Athena out to an empty field and set cans up on a rotting stone wall. At her questioning look, Sam shrugged.
"This is how I learned," he said by way of explanation. Then he proceeded to shoot all the cans off the wall with the double barrel shotgun that he had pulled out of his car's trunk.
After he reset the cans, Sam offered Athena the shotgun, butt first. The recoil of the first shot slammed the gun back into her shoulder, which, in turn, slammed Athena back into Sam's broad chest. Sam caught her before Athena could fall, and she felt his chuckle rumble in his chest against her back.
"Sorry. I should have warned you about that." Sam said. His voice was apologetic, but the amusement dancing in his eyes and pulling up the corners of his mouth said otherwise.
Her second shot was better. It still went wide of the can Athena was aiming for, but she was ready for the recoil, so her feet stayed planted on the ground. Her third hit its mark. With a metallic ping, the coke can Athena was aiming for blew backward off the wall, and, despite her being a goddess, she couldn't contain her wide grin at her success. Sam's smile in return was brilliant. He was just as excited as Athena was.
They stayed out in the field until the sun went down; shooting cans and making glass beer bottles explode. Sam entertained Athena with his memory of a Fourth of July celebration with Dean, when the Winchester brothers burned down an old hay field with the fireworks the boys had made. Sam's smile at the memory told Athena just how precious his memories of his brother were.
They stopped for dinner at a small diner on their way back to Palo Alto, and Sam surprised Athena again when he ordered a bacon cheeseburger instead of his usual chef's salad. When she commented, Sam shrugged.
"Dean used to eat things like this."
They both crashed on Sam's couch, falling asleep halfway through Die Hard, and Athena woke up with her head pillowed on a sleeping Sam's shoulder, his arm around her and a blanket drawn awkwardly across the two of them.
Sam's eyes opened when he felt her shift, and they both got up. Sam swayed slightly when he first gained his feet. Scrubbing a hand over his face, Sam stretched and groaned. Athena heard his back pop loudly.
"Do you like waffles?"
"Sure." Athena accepted and trailed after Sam into his tiny kitchen.
Half an hour later, bacon was popping and sizzling in a frying pan and a waffle iron was on the counter. Sam was digging through his refrigerator. He emerged a minute later with whipped cream and strawberries.
When the waffle iron dinged, Sam tipped the finished waffle out onto a plate. He covered the pastry with strawberries, and then he smothered the entire thing with a generous helping of whipped cream. A couple pieces of bacon were placed on the side and Sam set the plate in front of Athena.
"The breakfast of the gods." Sam announced, turning back to the waffle iron, oblivious to Athena's stare.
*spn*pjo*
It was the beginning of August when Athena decided Sam was just as intriguing as Fredrick Chase, the father one of her daughters, Annabeth. Sam was a smart mortal, and capable of protecting himself. Athena didn't usually visit men so young, but she made an exception for Sam Winchester.
Athena hadn't missed the various knives and other weapons hidden around Sam's apartment. She also noticed salt lines across windows and doors. Which lead her to the conclusion that Sam knew about the supernatural. So either he could take her status as a goddess really, really well, or really, really badly. Athena decided to worry about it later.
It was late July when Athena met Sam at the garage he worked at. He had told her that he was rebuilding an engine, and did she want to learn about them? AC/DC blared over the speakers, and Sam surprised Athena when he sang along, albeit quietly, to Highway to Hell. Sam looked up and met her eyes.
"What?"
Athena shrugged. "I didn't know you liked AC/DC."
"I don't. But when your older brother only has six cassette tapes and never lets you change the music, you memorize them pretty quickly."
It was little comments like that taught Athena the most about Sam's family. She could have just tapped his memories, but Sam, as secretive as he was, had nothing on Athena. He never pried about her family, so, in turn, Athena didn't pry about his.
Before long, the end of August was staring them both in the face, and Athena had a decision to make. Sam had never pushed her for anything, and Athena knew that he was content to have her as a friend. He liked having her as a verbal sparring partner and intellectual equal. The decision wasn't really one at all.
*spn*pjo*
They were eating Greek takeout in Sam's apartment when Athena set her fork down. "I have to go home, Sam."
Sam sighed like he had expected something like this to happen. "When?" He asked quietly, even as his eyes screamed why?
"Tomorrow." Athena told him. She had held off this conversation for so long, delaying the inevitable. "I have to resume my duties with my family."
Sam blinked. "So soon." He murmured. "This is goodbye, then?"
Athena smiled sadly. "Yes. You have classes starting soon, and I'm needed at home. It's for the best."
Sam blew out a sigh and pushed back from the table, food forgotten. "Do you need a ride somewhere?"
Athena shook her head. "No."
The rest of the night, Sam seemed determined to disregard Athena's earlier news, and she went along with it. They popped popcorn and drank beer (ignoring the fact that Sam was only twenty), and just enjoyed the other's company for the night.
Sam fell asleep sprawled out on the couch with his feet hanging off the end, and Athena covered him with a blanket- the same one that had covered the both of them when they had fallen asleep on the couch that one night.
"Goodbye, Sam Winchester. You have the blessing of Athena." Athena said, brushing her lips across Sam's forehead.
Then Athena vanished.
*spn*pjo*
Sam Winchester woke to the distressed hiccupping of an infant.
Wait... an infant? What?
Sam was fairly certain he would know if he had a baby. He had only had one beer, so he was almost confident that this wasn't some crazy product of a bender. So...
Pushing himself off the couch, Sam approached the cradle that had somehow appeared in the middle of his living room. He knew without a doubt that it hadn't been there when he fell asleep.
The hiccupping turned into sobs, and Sam bent and picked up the baby girl before she could start wailing her displeasure. He paced the room with her, patting her back awkwardly, and feeling incredibly out of place. Sam had next to no experience with children, and it showed. The sobbing turned into distressed fussing before the baby fell asleep against Sam's shoulder. He gently transferred her to the couch.
Dragging a hand through his hair, Sam muttered, "I really hope this is some bizarre dream, but I'm beginning to doubt it."
Sam sat down on the floor with his back against the couch before pulling the golden cradle closer and peering in. There was an envelope inside. Sam recognized Athena's writing where it was addressed to him. A glint of metal brought his attention back to the bottom of the cradle, and Sam felt his jaw drop. A bronze knife in a plain leather sheath was wedged against the side. The blade was easily six inches long. When Sam touched it, the whole thing turned into a bronze necklace with an owl pendant.
"Damn." Sam muttered, staring, before turning back to the letter.
Sam ripped the envelope open and pulled two pieces of paper out. The first was a birth certificate. The first thing Sam checked was the child's name, and his heart gave two painful thumps when he read it.
Rose Mary Winchester.
"No way." Sam stared between the certificate and the lightly snoring baby at the other end of the couch. He and Athena hadn't done anything. Yeah, they'd fallen asleep together a couple of times, but nothing had ever happened. That wasn't even considering the fact Sam hadn't known Athena long enough to have a baby that looked about two months old. Still in shock, Sam unfolded the second paper. Athena's familiar writing greeted him.
Sam-
One of the first things you said to me was that I had big shoes to fill because my name is Athena. You have no idea how right you were. I am the Greek goddess Athena.
Rose is our daughter. She's a child of my mind, so normal rules don't apply. She's a halfblood, or demigod, half god, and half mortal, but she mustn't know, not until it's absolutely necessary for her to know.
The knife is magic, as I'm sure you've already found out. It only harms monsters and demigods. When Rose is old enough, I want you to give it to her and teach her how to use it. I'm aware of your past as a Hunter, and I want you to teach Rose to defend herself. Her life as a demigod will be dangerous, and any skills you can teach her will help keep her alive.
I'm sorry that I couldn't explain this to you in person, but I was needed on Mount Olympus. If you ever need my help, or have questions, pray to me. I'll do my best to answer.
Take care of her, Sam.
Athena
Sam dragged his hands through his hair again and looked at the still sleeping Rose. "A demigod, huh?" Sam gently pulled her into his arms. "I'll take care of you, baby girl."
*spn*pjo*
I'm not sure how AU I'm gonna take this. This is going to be written in a series of oneshots, mostly following Rose as she grows up a Winchester. If you have any suggestions or ideas, I'd love to hear them.
On a kind-of-but-not-really-related side note, Empousai and Demigods is finished. I'm leaving it as a oneshot, but if anyone would like to write a spinoff, they're more than welcome to. Just PM me before you post, please.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!
-CommChatter