Rewriting History
Summary: Jamie wasn't happy that her favorite book series would never be finished, so she decided to write her own ending. Unfortunately for her, sharing the story writing with the kid Jesse she was babysitting for over the summer break probably wasn't such a good idea, but how was she supposed to know the kid was the antichrist? Castiel would agree that this was a terrible idea if only he knew what the hell was going on. Set between season 3 and 4 with characters borrowed from seasons 4 and 5. Warning: Somehow both Angsty and teetering on the edge of Crack!Fic.
Author's notes: A thank you to leosmom for reading this and letting me know it might not be so bad after all.
Disclaimer: Supernatural and all of its characters are not mine. Especially not Sam and Dean. I hope the powers in charge there don't mind me playing with them a bit. Or subjecting them to Jamie, because she's entirely my fault.
Chapter 1: What the Hell?
This was taking much too long. They should have extracted him by now. Despite the difficulties and despite the fact that this was not their realm, they were angels with the power of heaven on their side. Theoretically they should be stronger than the demons. Much stronger. It just didn't make sense that they had failed so many times with at least one close call that could've spelled disaster. Something felt wrong about the situation. Castiel could feel it with all of his being, but it wasn't his place to question it. The leader of the garrison told him this was where he had to be, just in case, so this is where he was. Watching and waiting.
Sadly, in many ways, and one very important one in particular, it was already much too late. Only three days late, if one was going by mortal time, but that was a year too late in this realm. It was amazing that Dean Winchester had held out as long as he had. From the moments he had been able to see, Castiel wouldn't have blamed him for breaking much sooner. Sighing heavily, or whatever the angel equivalent of that would be, Castiel decided that something would have to be done to remedy the damage to Dean's psyche, or he would be of little use to them. And now, even more than ever, it was important that Dean be able to do what was needed.
Castiel could see the object of his mission again now, the glimpses almost frustrating in the way they taunted him. How it almost seemed that he could reach out and grasp Dean if he tried, and then he did try. Again. And once again his essence met resistance and was repelled. But still he could see. Watch as Dean again listened to the demon Alastair's taunts, almost seemed for a moment like he would resist, be defiant again, but then would catch himself and turn to the task of tormenting another damned soul. Castiel braced himself for the screams, because for some reason he could never turn away. It must be, he'd mused, almost like a human holding his breath, waiting for an impact, but much longer and more intense. Except this time nothing happened. That was because right before him, the vision still there, except now showing the damned soul's face lined with momentary relief and Alastair looking around in confusion, Dean Winchester had suddenly disappeared.
A week earlier…
Another long evening seemed to be in store, so Jamie was glad she'd brought her laptop computer. At least this meant she could write to pass the time if necessary. She found writing to be enjoyable, and she really didn't mind staying up. Especially since she was getting paid for it to boot.
It wasn't like she could sleep anyway even if she wanted to, because if she did, Jesse might get out of bed and do something to himself. She'd already learned that he was great at finding things to amuse himself that had the potential to lead to trouble, and he was a smart kid in many ways but naïve enough in others that he could get in some real trouble if she wasn't at least paying some sort of attention. And here he was again, getting out of bed. Jamie had great hearing, so Jesse's child-like attempts to sneak out of bed, accompanied by the usual child-like cluelessness as to exactly how much noise he was making weren't exactly escaping her notice. She sighed at first, but then couldn't help smiling. It was still summer after all. Jesse could always sleep in tomorrow, and his parents would likely appreciate that, since they would most likely come in late or even next-day early from their business meeting with work likely ahead again tomorrow.
Besides, Jamie liked Jesse. Despite having completed her first two semesters of college, the experience hadn't really been as she'd expected. It wasn't all fraternity and sorority parties and fitting in, and she didn't really feel that much more confident and mature. And no one really understood her and her strange tastes in books and entertainment, especially her fascination with the Supernatural book series. But Jesse enjoyed the stories – kid edited of course for some things - and he had quite a vivid imagination. He enjoyed hearing her tell the stories as much as watching most things on television, and there actually wasn't all that much on during the summer which would interest a kid anyway. There must be a few stories she hadn't told him yet about the adventures of Sam and Dean. After a moment of silence, the floorboards creaked again. "Hey Jesse, you can come on out. I know you're up."
"But I was being so quiet," Jesse complained.
"I know. And if I'd had the TV on, I'm sure you would've snuck right by me. But now that it seems you're awake, how about a story?"
"A Sam and Dean story?" He looked hopeful. How could she resist that?
"Oh, alright," she teased. "Where did we leave off? Have I told you the one about the Mystery Spot in Florida yet?"
"What's a mystery spot?" He settled on the couch next to her and cuddled himself into the pillows, preparing to be there a while.
Jamie's face lit up. This was one of her favorite stories, full of humor and drama at the same time and just enough gore to interest a ten year old boy. She planned to tell it well, sparing no details. "Well, supposedly it's a place where the laws of physics have no meaning…"
It would be a long time before either of them even considered going to sleep.
oooooooooooooooooo
Castiel tried to contact his superiors, but no one was answering. The voices of his brothers and sisters instead were all jumbled and chaotic in his consciousness. That couldn't be good, because it meant that the most recent incursion wasn't going well. Though he'd have to abandon his post momentarily, Castiel decided he had to take the risk. There were no signs that the barrier separating him from Dean Winchester was weakening anyway, and he was likely needed elsewhere. His assessment turned out to be an understatement of large proportion. As he approached the current battle, the angel had never seen so many demons defending one area, and he couldn't quite fathom why, nor did he have the time to ponder it. Throwing himself into battle alongside his brothers and sisters, Castiel did what he could, knowing instinctively it wouldn't be enough.
The sound was deafening, and any damned souls in the vicinity covered their ears. Considering all the horrors they'd been through, that bore testament to how terrible this skirmish had become. Castiel couldn't think. He felt as if he would go insane. The stench of rendered demons and the cries of wounded angels surrounded him, and still more demons came. Could this be all to keep them from Dean Winchester? Could this many know of his importance?
Unheard in the midst of all the chaos had been a low rumbling, but as it continued to grow and as more demons arrived, there was now a physical shaking to accompany it. The vibration and noise grew, and it wasn't until the terrible crack and the loosening of a horrible stench of fire and brimstone that the angels had any idea what was happening.
Everything stopped for a moment. Demons and angels alike stared as an awful light shot from cracks in what looked like a huge stone cairn. Somehow it was both light and darkness at the same time, horrible and evil. Castiel curled in anguish at the feel of it, even though he wasn't that close. Lucifer, he thought. They should have known why there were so many demons here. They were drawn to him. The black, terrible light shot upwards now, heading out and away, incinerating both angels and demons alike in its path towards the surface. After a moment of confusion, Castiel heard the call, and the angels massed to stop the breaches as the battle once again raged on.
oooooooooooooooooo
As the angels worked on the crucial task of closing the cracks in Lucifer's prison, the dark light burst outwards onto the realm of earth above them, and the unworldly power caused the ground to explode in small craters in various locations throughout the plain states. One such incident went pretty much unnoticed, the black energy crashing through the ground in a secluded area a mile or so north of the small town of Alliance, Nebraska. Once on the surface, the dark light reformed into a thick foggy mass, as if hitting the air caused its energy to be snuffed out and only the smoky remains were left. But despite its appearance, the energy was still there. Curling upon itself, the fog reformed and moved en mass, as if it had a purpose. It slowly swirled forward through the nearby Carhenge monument. The thick mist momentarily clung to the painted gray skeletons of the piled cars as if the strange configuration of metal and rubber that formed the monument held some mystic power to attract it, but after a cursory examination, it moved forward again, slithering towards the town.
At first, tendrils of the fog branched out on their own, snaking out towards various buildings and homes of Alliance. They probed inside as if tasting, smelling, touching. One particular home soon attracted all of the attention, though, and the various fingers of smog reformed around that home, engulfing it like an amoeba before flowing inside. The boy inside the home slept soundly, unaware of the dark energy forming around him. He only moved fretfully for a moment as the black fog slipped inside as he drew a deep breath. When Jesse would wake later, he wouldn't even be aware of the power he now possessed.
oooooooooooooooooo
"And?" Jesse's mouth remained slightly open and he leaned forward, clutching the throw pillow with both hands.
"And… what?" Jamie asked slowly, but seeing Jesse's anticipation, she already regretted her lack of foresight. Of course the kid was going to want to know what happened next, but she'd been so caught up in telling the story, she hadn't considered what would happened when there was no more story to tell.
"Well, Sam's gotta get him out of hell, right? Dean just can't stay there. So what happens next?"
Jamie glanced at the clock on the wall, hoping somehow it would be late and give her an excuse to stall until next time. Maybe she could figure something out by then, distract him with another story, or maybe Jesse would just forget about it and move on to some other interest.
Jesse tracked her gaze, catching her eying the clock. He checked the time himself. "Oh, come on. I don't have to go to bed yet. It's still early." He turned imploring eyes back to her. "We have plenty of time for one more story. So, come on, what happens next?"
She sighed and decided she couldn't lie to him. "Jesse, there is no more. Carver Edlund didn't get to put out any more books."
"So when's the next one coming out? It'll be soon, right?"
Jamie thought that she probably should've lied, but she shook her head instead, knowing the kid would likely look on the internet anyway. She didn't want the kid to think she would lie to him. "There won't be any more books, Jesse. The publisher went bankrupt."
"But how are we gonna know what happened?" With his face full of concern and his mouth set in a frown, Jesse looked almost crushed. She had to do something. And then it came to her.
"We can write our own ending." Now that Jamie thought of it, the solution was so simple. She smiled broadly at the boy.
"We can?"
"Yeah. It's called fanfiction. We can even post it online if we want so other fans of the books could read it, too."
"That would be cool," Jesse said.
"It'll take a little work, because we'll have to make sure…"
"That's okay. Can we start now? At least with some ideas?"
Jamie glanced at the clock, now hoping that it gave her time rather than an out, because this could actually be fun. She could write a story with Jesse, let him give input, and then maybe edit it later if they had artistic differences. Good thing she'd brought her laptop again this week, because that would make things easier to brainstorm and edit. She nodded at Jesse. "Okay. Why not? Just let me get my laptop running and we'll get started."
"I'll dig up some snacks," Jesse suggested and headed off to the kitchen.
"Bring me a diet soda too, please?" Jamie asked as she dug out her laptop and plugged it in. She didn't want to worry about batteries running out at an inopportune time. Smiling, she propped the laptop on her lap and took the soda that Jesse handed her. "So where shall we start?"
"Well, I guess we have to describe it. Hell that is."
"Okay," Jamie said a little warily. How was this going to work without it getting too intense for a mostly still a kid like Jesse? She didn't want to seem to be babying him though, so she'd nudge instead. "Well, Dean is very intense and active. He likes doing things, experiencing stuff."
"Yeah, yeah, so for Dean, Hell would be like all dark and boring and stuff." He nodded, as if imagining it. Jamie made some notes on her computer. "But that's not enough," Jesse said, his face scrunched up in thought. "What else does Dean hate?" He sat up straighter as he had a thought. "Girly music."
"Right. That's good," Jamie said. "Like that song he got stuck in his head, because Jo played it on the juke box. The REO Speedwagon song."
"Oh yeah! What was that?"
Jamie thought for a moment. "I Can't Fight This Feeling Anymore. Here…" She put her notes in the bar down below, and opened her browser. Fortunately there was wireless, and it didn't take long for Jamie to find a YouTube video of the song in question. She played it for Jesse.
Jesse snickered. "Oh, that's awful. He'd hate that, and it would play over and over and over again. Now we have to add something that'll really creep him out."
"Okay," Jamie said, wracking her brain, because she had to think of something believable, but not too awful. Jesse was still a kid after all, and even if kids his age were often into horror movies and gore, that didn't mean that she should contribute to it. "Well, Dean's seen all sorts of monsters and ghosts and such, so that wouldn't be very original, so what would be something that would creep Dean out and still be creative?" Then it came to her. Jamie sucked in a small breath and smiled. "I know. Remember early on in the stories, there was one creature that really creeped Dean out and that he'd always wanted to hunt…"
oooooooooooooooooo
Dean's blade came down on nothing, and just as he was registering that turn of events, he noticed the dark. And that everything was gone. No rack, no damned soul, no Alistair. Nothing. He panicked and lifted his head. "Wait! No! I only hesitated a moment." He spun around, trying to make out anything in the darkness. "I just wanted to look at the blade. Make sure it was sharp." No one answered. "Alastair? Alastair? Alastair!"
Putting a hand out in front of him, Dean groped his way through the dark until he found a stone wall. He could barely make it out even though the wall was right in front of him. He sat down against it to think and wait for his eyes to adjust. Things didn't get much better. The only light seemed to be from some scant torches way, way up on the stone wall; a stone wall that kept going up and up beyond those torches and appeared to surround him in a circular pattern. It reminded Dean of some ancient castle tower. Periodically, for what seemed hours, he would shout out to Alistair and finally to anyone or anything who might be listening. No response. Just him, alone, with his memories. Dean didn't want to be alone with his memories and thought he might go crazy. Again. Or maybe more crazy. He wasn't sure any more. He just knew that he couldn't stay here alone with his thoughts. Unfortunately, that seemed to be exactly what they had in store for him right now.
After what seemed a long, long time there was sound, thankfully snapping him out of his memories. The sound was familiar somehow, but a long ago familiar. Plaintive music was playing and then a voice singing "I can't fight this feeling any longer, but I'm too afraid to let it show…" He knew this, but couldn't quite remember how he knew it or when. It bugged him as he tried to figure out where he knew it from. After Dean heard it again and again and again, however, he more wondered why he'd known this song, because this was pretty awful. And now he just wanted it to stop. He knew it shouldn't be that bad, because he'd been through some horrific things in his time here in the pit, but for some reason this was still awful and there were feelings associated with it that he couldn't place which made it even worse than the awful it already was.
And just when Dean thought he'd start banging his head against the wall to make it stop, at least for a little while, he heard another sound. An insanely happy little laugh, or maybe it was more like a giggle. It was soft, but somehow Dean didn't find that comforting. He knew this too, but again the memory seemed long gone until his vision focused in the gloom and he saw what was making the sound: A giant, light-colored, fluffy bear thing. And it was so happy. Then it outstretched its arms and wobbled towards him, obviously intending to hug him. Even worse, it talked. "Hey, Dean. I've come to make your clothes all soft and snuggly and morningtime fresh."
"Okay, that's not freakin' possible," Dean complained as recognition dawned on his face. "But at least now I get to finally kill the son of a bitch. Oh, knife, knife…" He scrabbled around in the dark until he found where he'd laid the blade down and whipped it in front of himself as Snuggles, the giant Snuggle bear, got closer, still giggling and still intent on getting his hug.
To be continued
AN: Sam makes his appearance in the next installment, so you all know what that means… bring on the angst and emo stuff. I have faith you all can handle it.
