Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Bobby Singer, Daniel Elkins, John Winchester, Dean Winchester or Sammy Winchester. I also do not own anything to do with the mythology. No money was made and no characters were hurt in the following story.
Spoiler Alert: Slight reference to Dream A Little Dream.
Author's Notes: This was meant to be a flashback for Tornado Alley but could be posted as a stand alone.
This is a wee!winchester story featuring Dean Winchester and Bobby Singer. Keep in mind that this is "based" on mythology. I found a couple of different versions (one with water, another with a scorpion, etc.) of the story out on the web so the version that I eventually used for this story may not be totally accurate. But this one worked the best for me.
Also this has been betad but I did some massive changes after getting it back. And after all the edits I'm sure I've not caught all the errors but I got as much as I could. In any case I hope you enjoy and let me know what you think.
Orion
By Infinite Shadow
Bobby walked through his house barely able to keep his eyes open and worn through to his very soul. Several hours of research and even the strongest coffee he brewed couldn't keep him going.
He moved by rote, his eyes half closed, checking doors, windows and turning off lights as he went past on his way to bed. It was almost three in the morning and he'd had an extremely full day. Well every day was a full day when the little tykes came to stay.
John had arrived without warning almost four weeks ago with his children in tow. Sammy had been his usual smiling, energetic, adorable self while Dean was quiet and withdrawn. The five year old had got quieter and fretful when Daniel arrived a few days later. The boy may have been young but he was far from stupid. Child hadn't greeted Daniel at all just turned to his father and asked in a very soft voice how long he'd be gone. After that he barely spoke unless it was to his baby brother.
Realistically Bobby knew the five year old was talking more than when he'd originally met the tyke. After Daniel arrived the boy had politely answered questions, done as asked and looked after Sammy. No unending chatter like most children, but always overly aware of everything around him.
It was when Dean didn't think he was being watched that bothered Bobby. If Sammy was playing contentedly next to his brother and Bobby wasn't in the room Dean's attention would wander and he'd stare aimlessly out the window. It was in those moments that Bobby saw the worry, fear and exhaustion on the little boy's face. It bothered him more than he'd admit to, but in truth he really didn't know how to help.
Bobby shook his head as he turned off the dining room lights, then he kitchen lights and turned towards the hallway.
It had taken some time and a whole lot of sly if not gentle poking and prodding to get the kid to open up to him. When Dean finally did all he would say was that he missed his mom and he wasn't sure his dad was coming back. Then he turned his attention back to his little brother and pretty much shut out Bobby for the rest of that day.
It was the next night he'd found out Dean had been climbing into the crib every night to sleep next to Sammy. While Bobby didn't mind, and Dean had reassured the older man that it was fine, it hadn't looked all that comfortable. So after very little consideration Bobby had taken the oblong contraption out of the room. Then just before putting the kids to bed he'd lined up the backs of chairs against the side of the bed to ensure the baby didn't roll out of bed.
Not that he really considered that a possibility, not with Dean around. Kid had this sense about his baby brother that seemed almost eerie or psychic at times.
Bobby yawned and glanced towards the living room window as a slight breeze outside made the shadows dance slowly back and fourth on the walls. Pausing to watch his thoughts moved back to Daniel and John. His exhausted mind tried to recall what they'd gone after. Selkie? Kitsune?
He grunted softly in the dark as it took far too much energy. Didn't much matter what they'd gone after, what mattered was they were late. They'd been due back two weeks ago, but the hunt hadn't gone well. Their prey still eluded them and while they had been in contact and insisted they were fine, they sounded haggard and exhausted.
He shook his head at his wandering thoughts and continued down the hall towards the bedrooms. Only one thing left to check before he could collapse into bed for a few hours before getting up and being with his two favourite kids.
The house was silent and even in his half asleep mode his hunter instincts kicked in as he heard soft shifting of material and groaning of old floorboards. He sighed wearily as he turned and looked into the room currently occupied by Dean and little Sammy. He wasn't surprised to find Dean sitting on the window bench staring almost mournfully out the bedroom window up at the stars.
Quietly he walked into the room and was glad he'd removed the crib earlier that day making it much easier to move about the room. He misjudged in the darkness and stubbed his toe against one of the wooden legs of the chair. Son of a …
Taking a breath against the pain his little toe, he focused on the little one sitting on the window seat being oddly lit by the moonlight.
He was part way in the room when Dean finally glanced over and then returned his attention back to the star lit sky.
"Can't sleep buddy?" Bobby asked softly careful to keep his voice low to not wake Sammy.
Dean gave him a half hearted shrug and continued to stare upwards.
Bobby gave a soft sigh before settling himself next to the boy on the bench seat.
"Is Dad ok?" Dean asked in a whisper.
"You know he is," Bobby replied. "You just talked to him a few days ago."
"He's late," Dean said.
"You knew he was going to be gone for a while," he reminded gently.
Dean shrugged. "Yeah but he's late."
"What makes you think he's late?"
"It's been more than a week," Dean replied his face finally lowering from where he stared at the stars to glance at Bobby before staring out into the dark yard.
"They got a little delayed but they'll be back," Bobby said and hoped he spoke the truth.
Dean didn't respond. One week was seven days. Seven days felt like a lifetime without his father around and he knew it had been longer than that.
Bobby heard a quiet sigh come from the boy and knew it was the worry that was keeping him up. Time to change the subject. "So what'cha staring at?" He asked curious at what had caught the little one's attention.
"Just stars," Dean replied and moved to get down.
Bobby gently put a hand on Dean's shoulder to keep him where he was. The boy would just toss and turn eventually waking his little brother if he went to bed now. "Any ones in particular?" He asked and a glance outside showed him all he needed to know.
"Just a couple in a line."
"Well now. That constellation is called Orion. He is the hunter of the winter sky," Bobby said.
Dean's brow scrunched up slightly as he considered his uncle's words. "Like Dad?"
"Yup. Just like your daddy."
Dean's brow scrunched even further and he chewed lightly on his lower lip. "How'd he get all the way up there?"
"Well now that's quite the story and I do believe you told me just yesterday that you were far too old for them," Bobby gently teased relieved that Dean was talking openly and hoped he'd continue.
Dean sifted slightly to look up at Bobby. "It was a stupid story about a boy and girl who ran away and got eaten by some old lady."
Bobby nodded. "Yeah you're right. You are far too old for that kind of nonsense."
Dean nodded, feeling his point was made and stared out at the twinkling line of stars. "He's so far away. I bet he was bad and they killed him."
Bobby grimaced slightly. When Dean had been talking it had been about bad men and killing since he'd arrived. "No, they're just stars. I know how they got there though. Do you want to know?"
Dean nodded slightly. "Yes Uncle Bobby," he said overly politely.
With a slight grin at the boy's badly hid sass Bobby shifted slightly so he too could look outside at the stars. "A long time ago."
Dean sighed heavily and rolled his eyes.
"What?" Bobby asked.
"Sound like one of Sammy's stories to me. Once upon a time, a long time ago, blah blah blah."
Bobby outright smiled before he gently cuffed the back of the boy's head.
"Hey," Dean protested softly but a grin teased his lips.
"Now shuddap so I can tell you the story," Bobby said as he rested his hand on Dean's shoulder for a moment.
"Ok," Dean said softly and yawned before he leaned back and rested against his uncle.
Bobby reached forward around Dean and pressed his finger against the glass three times. An approximation of where Orion's belt lay in the night sky. Slowly without saying a word, and knowing the five year old was watching his every move, Bobby continued pressing his finger to the pane of glass making more dots. When all the smudges were in place he drew a line between them. The result was something that looked like two small boxes.
"What's that?" Dean asked transfixed by the fingerprints on the window.
"That is the constellation of Orion," Bobby answered.
When Dean didn't say anything Bobby continued. "Orion was a hunter a very long time ago. Way before your daddy's grandfather, his grandfather and his grandfathers before him."
"Wow. He's really old," Dean murmured.
"He's out of a time where there was no TV or video games. Stories were the way they passed down history and legends to family and friends."
"No," Dean said as he seemed to hunch in on himself, and tried to move closer to Bobby at the same time. "Old man. Bad man. Wendy."
"Wendy?" Bobby repeated and looked back at the spots on the window.
Not being able to press back father Dean turned his body closer to Bobby and tried to hide his head under Bobby's arm.
The older man stared at the window for a moment and then tilted his head slightly. He put a comforting arm over the boy's shoulders as he realized what the connected dots could look like. "Dean have you been looking at your daddy's book?"
"He was talking to pastor Jim on the phone about Wendy and he kept pointing at the pictures," Dean admitted softly as his fingers absently played with the cuffs on his pyjama top.
"That's a beast called a Wendigo and they do not live anywhere near here," Bobby said. "This is Orion. A hunter. Protector. Good man."
"He doesn't eat peoples flesh?" Dean whispered as he hilted his head back and looked up at Bobby with wide eyes.
"No son," Bobby said softly. "No he doesn't."
"But he hunts?" Dean asked reaching out to follow the line with his own smaller finger that Bobby had made earlier.
"He did. He hunted animals like Lepus the rabbit," Bobby said and touched the window pane again adding the rabbit's general location in the sky. "And Taurus the bull."
"Was he a good shot?" Dean asked.
"Yes he was an excellent shot."
"Bet he was lonely," Dean said with a sigh.
"Well not really. He had two faithful companions. Sirus," Bobby said recalling a name of a star in the Cannis Major constellation and then came up blank on any star names in the other. "And Cannis Minor."
"Dogs?" Dean ventured.
"Yup. They're here and here," Bobby said putting two more smudged finger prints on the window.
"Like your dogs?"
"Yeah, but he was also in love with a girl. Her name was Metrope and she was a princess," Bobby replied.
"I knew it," Dean said with a bit of a huff.
"Knew what?" Bobby asked.
"It's a story about a prince and princess," Dean said as he pursed his lips slightly and shook his head slowly.
"Not so much," Bobby said around a chuckle. "Can I continue?"
"Ok," Dean said but sounded wary.
"He begged the King for Metrope's hand in marriage but the King refused him over and over again. Heartbroken he started to drink and when he saw Metrope again he was drunk. Alcohol made him angry and he attacked her," Bobby said softly.
Dean nodded. "He hurt her. Like a bad man. Did he kill her? Yeah. I bet he killed her and then there was a fire."
Bobby sighed softly. Fire had been an overwhelming concern for Dean since the salvage yard man had met the little one. Gently he rubbed a hand up and down his arm to try and stop the slight shaking that had just started. "No Dean," he answered softly.
"Oh. She lived?" Dean asked sounding surprised.
"Yes but King Oenopion, father of Princess Metrope was angry that Orion hurt his daughter and wanted revenge. So he talked to an Oracle called Dionysis," Bobby was saying when Dean interrupted again.
"What's an Oracle?"
"An Oracle is kinda like someone who can see the future. Sometimes they're called a priestess and …"
"Like Pastor Jim," Dean said with an understanding nod.
"No. That's not right at all. It's a person people go to for help or advice," Bobby explained.
Dean's face scrunched up in confusion. "Don't people do that with Pastor Jim?"
Bobby looked down at him. Technically the kid was right but it didn't define an oracle correctly. "Do you want to hear the story or not?" He asked quietly exasperated.
"Yes."
"Good."
"But I still want to know what an Oracle is," Dean said.
"Fine an oracle is someone, not ordained like Pastor…"
"What's ordained?"
"Dean!"
"Fine. What did the King want?" Dean asked as he turned to look out the window again.
"Revenge."
Dean nodded. "Yeah."
Bobby cleared his throat. "The oracle sent Orion into a deep sleep. While he was out she took away his sight."
Dean nodded again. "That's good. But he just shoulda killed him."
"Dean," Bobby said as loudly as he dared with Sammy asleep behind them. "Killing people for revenge isn't the answer."
"But Dad does it. So do you and Pastor Jim and Mr. Elkins," the five year old said as he looked up in confusion at Bobby.
"No boy. We do not kill people," Bobby said and tried not to think of his late wife. "We kill things that are not human."
Dean looked away and thought about it for a moment before yawning again. "So Orion was blinded forever?"
"No. Eventually Orion woke up and he went to an oracle to help with his eye sight," Bobby answered.
"The same one?"
"Nope. Different one. This one told him to go east and let the sun rays touch his eyes. So he did and…"
"But why didn't he just wait for the sun to come up where he was?"
"Boy I didn't write this story. Can you just let me tell it?" Bobby said exhaustion creeping into his voice.
"Sorry Uncle Bobby. I'll be quiet," Dean said softly and worried his lower lip between his teeth.
Bobby ran a hand up and down Dean's arm to show that he really wasn't mad as he continued the story. "When he could see again he moved to Crete. That's where a goddess named Artemis saw him and fell in love with him. She was the goddess of the moon and she was so in love with Orion that she forgot to light the night sky."
"Are you sure?" Dean asked with a frown. "Some nights there's no moon. Dad says. . ."
Before Dean could finish what he was going to say Sammy sighed and turned over in his sleep. Immediately Dean was on his feet, all sleepiness gone as he checked on his little brother. Bobby followed him over and was relieved that the youngest one hadn't woken up. He got Dean into bed and sat next to him.
"They lived happily ever after?" Dean asked sounding sleepily hopeful.
"For a while."
Dean yawned and fought to keep his eyes open. "Did he hurt this lady too?"
"No. Orion died while swimming in the ocean. Heartbroken at the loss of him, Artemis placed Orion in the night sky," Bobby said softly as Dean's eyes slid closed. "Then she put his two dogs up with him so he wouldn't be lonely. She also put the rabbit and bull up there so he could continue to hunt. They're still up there in the to this day."
Dean's eyes opened half way. "Good story Uncle Bobby."
Bobby smiled down at him. "Go to sleep Dean."
With a sleepy sigh Dean turned onto his side and wrapped his arm around his little brother. "Night Uncle Bobby. Night Sammy," he whispered.
"See you boys in the morning," Bobby said softly before he tucked the blankets around them. Then he left the room and headed for bed.