Four Minute Warning
(AKA, my idea for the very last scene of Supernatural)
Warning: Various season spoilers
September, 1996
John Winchester stood in the middle of a decrepit warehouse, staring at the archangel in front of him. Gabriel smirked at the hunter.
"So, what do you think?" He asked. "Don't you just love the beautiful mess you and your boys got into?"
"How…what the hell?" John asked. "What did I just see? What did you do to me?"
"I just showed you the future." Gabriel said. "Honest truth, complete with all the dirty details." John shook his head.
"And why should I believe you? You claim to be an angel but they don't exist. I should just shoot you right now." John raised his shotgun towards Gabriel, intent to shoot. Gabriel just laughed.
"That won't hurt me and it'll just make the boys run in here." Gabriel said. "I know they're sitting out there. Dean's sitting on the hood, flipping through a skin mag, complaining about the rock offerings on the radio. Sam's sprawled out in the backseat, reading a book that he doesn't think you know he has. Dean stole it for him from a library a few towns back." John stared at Gabriel. "Fine. Want more proof?" Gabriel snapped his fingers to show off his large wings. John took a step back, eyes wide.
Mirroring his own son's reaction to meeting the first angel he ever would.
"But…"
"Angels don't exist. You already said that." Gabriel said, his wings vanishing. "But we do. We're everywhere. And I'm one of the few who doesn't want what I showed you to happy."
"Why did you show me that?" John asked. "My death. My boys. Caleb, Jim, Bobby, Ellen…" He closed his eyes for a second. "Why?"
"Because I'm giving you a chance." Gabriel said. John looked at him confused.
"A chance?" John asked. Gabriel nodded.
"Not all the angels and demons want to see an epic showdown between Michael and Lucifer. And as you saw, it doesn't really turn out well for Sam and Adam." Gabriel walked around, watching John. "I showed you everything so that you can make a difference."
"How?" John asked. "If what I saw is right and it's written in the stars…"
"You can change other things though. Because, they will always end up where they did, but you can make it easier for them." Gabriel stared John straight in the eye. "Start with letting people help you. Your friends, they don't want you to do this alone. And look where it gets them. Jim, Caleb, and Josh? Killed by a demon. Bobby? Shot in the head. Ellen and her daughter Jo? Blown up after being attacked by hell hounds. But you can change that."
John looked at the door he had come in. Outside that door were his boys. Dean, his little soldier who would stop at nothing to keep his brother safe. Sam, his baby boy with a heart of gold and an attitude a football field long. He had seen them go to hell and back. He had seen them burn and bleed, love people and lose them, be punished for doing the good thing while the bad guys got away with it. They saved people at the loss of part of themselves.
"They saved so many people without me." John said, looking away.
"But they died, over and over again. Their souls are so shredded and blood stained from all their sacrifices." Gabriel pointed out. "John, if you and your boys keep down this path, they won't just lose you, they'll lose themselves." John looked at him. "Sam's going to college. No matter what. He's going to meet Jessica Moore, no matter what. Try being supportive, maybe lead him to UCLA instead of Stanford. Or even Berkley. He'll still meet her, but those demons that are waiting for him at Stanford won't be there. Push Dean to go off with Cassie Robinson. Or when he meets Lisa Braden, the yoga instructor in Indiana, tell him to call her about three months after they meet so you can meet your possible grandson. Tell Bobby to quit being a pansy ass and either ask Ellen or Sheriff Mills out on a date. There's lots you can go John. You just have to try."
John nodded and turned toward the door. He stepped out into the light. A little ways away, in the abandoned parking lot, he could see his boys. Sam was into Stephen King at the moment, so Dean had swiped him a couple books. As well as some adult reading for himself. He could hear Dean whining about how the station didn't even play AC/DC and if he heard another Jefferson Starship song again, he was going on a killing spree. Dean was sitting on the hood, leaning up against the windshield. Sam was in the backseat, feet hanging out the window and hoodie as a pillow. They looked like normal teenagers, but in reality, they were a seventeen year old who would grow up with the weight of the world on his shoulders and undiagnosed anxiety, and a recent fourteen year old with demon blood forced into his veins and had been abused more than anyone he had ever met.
And it was all his fault.
With a sigh, John headed towards the car. Dean noticed and hopped off, slapping Sam's shoe as he did. Sam set up and slid out of the car, standing straight not only to pop his back, but to be at attention for John. Him and Dean threw their stolen reading material in Sam's backpack, not wanting John to say anything about non hunting reading.
"What happened in there sir?" Dean asked. John waved him off.
"Dead end." He said, tossing his shotgun into the trunk.
"What now?" Sam asked.
"We've got work to do." He said, slamming the trunk. He climbed into the car, his boys looking at each other before Dean headed towards the passenger seat and Sam took up his sanctuary in the backseat. John turned up the radio as the boys got situated.
Carry on my wayward son
John looked over at Dean, glimpses of the man he would become flashing through his mind. Right now, his smile was bright, he was ready to drink, bust heads, and get laid. But the man he would become, while brave, was broken and said. His smile didn't reach his eyes near as much as it should have. Dominos would fall in line that would lead from him selling his soul to save his brother to becoming a demon. Right now was Metallica t-shirts and stolen beers. But soon enough, it would be flannel shirts stained with blood and bottles of Jack Daniels to dull the pain.
There'll be peace when you are done
In the rearview mirror was Sammy. He hadn't hit a growth spurt yet, so he was still smaller than Dean. But John knew he'd be tall, though he try to make himself small. The tainted blood in his veins wasn't his fault, and every action he did, he did because he thought it was the right thing to do. He knew this teenager that would mope when they would move, who would read books and throw them away or hide them at Bobby's, who would never turn away from a hurt animal, would become something out of his control because his father was such a stubborn asshole.
Lay your weary head to rest
Angels and demons playing both sides. A vampire who was more trustworthy than many hunters John had met. A fiery red head with a computer and a problem with authority. A prophet of the lord who should've been studying for finals instead of the end of the world. An old drunk with a trucker hat and rusty social skills. Children who had been tainted by the demon and now were adults. These were just some of the people who helped them when their own parents couldn't. Their parents had failed them. The world had failed them.
John decided right then and there, he wouldn't let those mistakes happen.
Don't you cry no more.