Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Title: Just Misery
Summary: Dean dreams of the life he and Sam deserve.
AN: Set sometime in the fourth season.
Sam is there, with Jessica and two young children. Sam looks as he did in college, tall and skinny with shaggy dark hair. Jessica is the same too, nothing but long legs and blonde hair and a pretty smile. They stand there in the neatly-trimmed yard with their hands wrapped around each others, both grinning broadly and looking as if nothing could take away their happiness.
The smaller of the two kids, a little girl, clings to her mother's sundress, a thumb shoved in her mouth and her dark curls twisting around her shoulders in the wind. She looks sleepy, as if she had just awoken from her nap, and clutches a battered teddy bear in her left hand. Her face is round and heart shaped, much like Jessica's, but the hair comes from her daddy. She is dressed in a traditional party dress, pink with white ribbons, and a similar bow is entwined in her hair.
The other child, a little boy, looks just like a younger version of Sam, tall for his age and a little shy. He stands near his parents, looking both curious and hesitant. His eyes are dark, and the fringe of his hair touches his brow. His clothes look new, a navy polo shirt with blue jeans, but they suit him well and make him appear older than he really is.
A Jack Russell terrier runs around their feet, barking happily and chasing a butterfly. Behind them, a large white Victorian house sits in the shadow of a dozen willow trees, pristine and perfect for a growing family. There is a typical family car sitting in the flower-bordered driveway, classy but ideal for traveling. The sun is shining brightly, reflecting off the hair of the four members of the Sam Winchester family, the sky a light blue and the clouds fluffy and similar to cotton.
Another car pulls into the driveway, a classic 1967 Chevy Impala, the condition of both interior and exterior nearly perfect. The engine cuts off and Dean steps out of the car while a brunette makes her way out of the passenger side. She moves to the rear end of the vehicle and lifts a small baby out of a blue car seat. The child has dark hair and green eyes, clothed in a striped romper and tiny little socks.
As the second Winchester family moves to greet the first, Sam's little girl squeals with delight when she sees her favorite uncle. Dean grins and lets out a loud laugh as she leaps into his arms. He presses a kiss on her nose and tells her she's growing like a weed. She giggles and tells him he's not.
Jessica and Dean's wife embrace and the baby boy is passed to Jess's arms with much enthusiasm. The infant coos happily as his stomach is tickled and the small terrier jumps and licks his feet.
The boy who looks too much like Sam stands awkwardly beside his father, beaming but looking out of place. Dean walks over to him, the curly haired daughter of Sam still in his arms, and ruffles his hair affectionately and asks if his daddy has taught him to throw a football yet. The answer is yes and Dean tells him they will play later. Dean sets the little girl down on the grass and watches her run into the house with her brother, his wife and Jessica following closely.
Even the dog has departed, and he and Sam are the only two left in the yard. Dean looks up at his brother and smiles. Sam does too. They embrace, and Sam tells him they need to go inside before all the cake has gone.
The inside of the white house is as spotless as the outside. A spiral staircase leads to the second floor, and the living room has a leather couch and a flat screen television. Potted plants adorn the sill of every window, and there is an unsullied smell of furniture polish coming from somewhere. A tabby cat snoozes on the doormat while the dog sniffs idly at every new shoe that has been left at the entrance.
Everyone sits in the kitchen for the birthday party of one happy four year old girl. After cake and ice-cream, she opens presents. There is a dollhouse from mommy and daddy, and a new bike from her aunt and uncle. Her brother bought her a new teddy bear, explaining that this one was for the sole purpose of keeping her old one company, not to replace it. She beams happily and hugs all of them.
Later, they're all outside again playing football. Dean approves of the way Sam taught his son to throw, but offers the boy a few pointers that will "definitely impress the chicks". At one point, Sam's daughter tackles both him and Dean to the ground simultaneously. She sits atop Sam's chest and laughs wildly, and the two brothers sprawled on the ground underneath her do the same. They laugh until their sides hurt, and pretty soon everyone joins in, rolling around in the grass with their faces bright with mirth. Even the baby understands what's so funny, and hollers loudly at everyone.
Grandma and Grandpa Winchester arrive only a few minutes later, interrupting their game and spurring everyone into another bough of welcome. John has a few more gray hairs than he did before, but his eyes are still warm and he's still built heavily and still wears that old leather jacket. Mary doesn't look a day over thirty and her golden curls descend past her shoulders and come to a stop on her breast. Her dress is patterned and her shoes are comfortable, and she wears a large smile at the sight of her two boys all grown up.
The children are eager to tell their grandparents what they've done this summer. Sam's kids both ramble about the water park, the vacation to the beach, the trip to Niagara Falls, and the weekend at the lake. Dean's son can do nothing but suck on his grandpa's finger, so Dean himself tells John how he had accompanied Sam's family to all of those places, and not once had anyone argued or complained about the lack of space provided in each hotel room or condo.
And that evening, as the nine of them sat around the den and watched The Sandlot, they each realized that nothing could be more perfect. Hunting did not exist in this world, unless you count the deer John shot at and missed last spring, and it played no part in unraveling the tight ropes that held their family together, because nothing could do that. They were inseparable, and everything was just perfect.
Dean did not awake with a start, but with a fuzzy opening of his eyelids. He blinked slowly, savoring the darkness in hopes the dream would return to him, but after a moment he realized that it had all been in his head. None of it was real, and none of it was possible.
John and Mary and Jessica were dead, and the four children and his brown haired wife did not exist. Sam did not hold the same lovable dorky persona everyone seemed to be so fond of, but instead was built with more muscle than he needed and veins coursing with demon blood. Dean wasn't all smiles and gentle teasing. He burdened the world on his shoulders and felt distrust and anger toward his little brother.
Demons and the likes of the underworld had torn his family apart, destroyed any means of a happy life. Sam died once and Dean went to Hell for him. It was nothing but a never-ending twist of fate, toying and taunting him with the life of thousands, and even the life of a brother he found hard to trust.
The giant white house and the Jack Russell terrier would never come into being, and neither he nor Sam would ever enjoy the comforts of having a wife and children. Their lives would never be guiltless and without pain or trouble, there would always be ghosts and demons and apocalypses to put a stop to. There would always be problems and they would never take a vacation to the beach. Never would there be a simple birthday party for a little girl or a harmless game of football with children half their size.
It was all imaginary and he would never understand why it had to be this way.
There would never be peace, just misery.
AN: First Supernatural fanfic and I know it's short and even a little pointless. But I wrote it in like five minutes and I really wanted to do something like this. I also did not give the kids names, or Dean's wife. I wanted only the characters we know to be recognized, and giving them names would have been too difficult anyway. But sorry if anything seemed surreal or out of character. I did my best. :)