Written for the 2012 Supernatural Reversebang Challenge. Art prompt by chosenfire28
Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and WB. This is just fan fiction
The Amazons stared in total horror at the baby.
"What is it?" Lydia tried to see the problem. She had heard the newborn cry, so she was alive.
The women gave her the child, not already covered in a blanket.
Lydia stared at the child.
How was this possible? This wasn't supposed to happen.
The child was a boy.
She looked up to Madeline, confused.
The leader of their group didn't react outwardly, but her clip board was shaking a bit.
"This is... unexpected. I will research in our history if this has happened before and how to proceed.
In the mean time we will continue with the birthings"
Lydia could hear everything going on around her, the other women having abandoned the boy to her. What was she supposed to do now, look after the child till they had an answer?
Lydia stared at the tiny child.
She didn't know what she should do, she wasn't prepared for this.
It was supposed to be a girl.
She wasn't the first Amazon to bear a boy. There were cases, perhaps one case in two or three generations, human generations. They didn't know the reason for this.
The leader of her group, Madeline had looked up what happened in such rare cases.
"This abomination is human. It is the duty of the mother to decide what happens to it."
That made it her problem.
A part of her just wanted to kill it and be done with it. That was the expected behavior and a part of her really enjoyed the clean ending.
Another part of her mocked that she had done everything right; she had done what was expected of her.
She found a good genetic donor, insured a pregnancy and went through the birth like every other Amazon before her.
If Harmonia gave such exemptions,then she would allow him to live.
He may be just male and not an Amazon but he was still a creature of Harmonia.
Then came the next problem.
She wouldn't kill him, but she had no desire for a child, not that anybody would allow it.
An orphanage perhaps, she could hardly call Dean and tell him to take his new child with him.
She would just take him home for the night and decide on a course of action in the morning.
Dean didn't know what he had expected when he had come back to Lydia's to ask for the flask.
It hadn't been Lydia looking totally out of her depth. Behind her Dean could see that she was packing, ready to move out of the house.
"Dean."
She was surprised to see him.
"Yeah, hi. I'm here for the flask. Did you find it?"
She looked back at her things and then to the item in question which was at the other side of the room next to the crib with the baby.
Yes, she had found it. "Yes, come in."
Dean followed her and stopped for a second seeing the child.
"You're babysitting? She is cute." Dean grabbed the flask now that he could see where it was.
Lydia didn't correct his assumption to the gender. The boy was clad in the pink onesie she had bought for a girl.
"No, it's mine."
Not that she wanted it.
Dean looked around in surprise. He knew he hadn't seen anything that indicated that she had a child. As a connoisseur of women he knew what he had to look out for and while children weren't something that disqualified a woman for him they were a factor he checked.
Depending on the age they could start to scream for their mother or come into the room at an embarrassing moment. Or there were women who searched for potential daddies. It was always better to be careful.
Lydia decided to tell him.
What more could he do than tell her she was insane. And if she needed she could always kill him. She would leave this place one way or the other. The birth of the boy was considered a bad omen for her tribe, they would move on as fast as they could.
"And it's yours."
Dean stared at her, stared in her eyes.
As a professional liar he could tell that she wasn't lying. This was the truth.
Okay, he didn't know any supernatural reason for getting a child that fast but he knew that this was his.
This explained Lydia's sudden desire to move away.
And her lack of reaction made clear that she wasn't that shocked. Not like a civilian.
The most likely answer was that Lydia wasn't as human as she seemed.
Damn. Wasn't that Sam's gig?
Of course it could be witchcraft but he hadn't seen anything that showed that.
"What are you?"
Lydia stopped for a moment and inspected Dean's face.
The question was surprising. And Dean obviously believed her.
She thought back to their night and remembered the tattoo on his chest.
She hadn't really thought about it before but it looked like the variation of a symbol she had seen before.
"You are a hunter,"
She took a step back but that was it.
Well, it explained a lot.
This was the opportunity not only to get rid of the boy; she could screw Dean over for putting her in this situation.
Let him decide what to do with the boy. Perhaps the hunter would kill him for descending from non-human stock, perhaps not.
"I'm an Amazon. The child is human. He wasn't supposed to be human. Or male."
She managed to inflect her tone of voice on "male" the same way one would say "cockroach".
Dean didn't have any direct knowledge of Amazons other than popular myths and old episodes of Xena but he had the feeling that the baby, his baby, wouldn't be welcome among her kind.
And he was human?
His mouth reacted before his brain could stop him. "I'll take him."
Funny. He never thought he would fall for the potential Daddy twist.
Sam didn't even look up when he heard his brother coming back.
"Did you get the flask?"
They would need ages to sort through Bobby's boxes, how the man had found anything was one of the big questions in the universe.
"Yeah, I got it."
Dean sounded strange and Sam looked up. He hadn't expected to see his brother cradling a baby in his arms.
"Sam, this is my son."
The younger hunter couldn't believe what he was hearing. His brother had just gone out to get his memento.
Of course there was the possibility that Dean impregnated some girl somewhere, despite his religious belief of safer sex, but how would she have found him?
Sam tried to order his thoughts but his only reaction was a "Hngh".
"These monsters we were searching for? They were Amazon's. Apparently they need humans for... procreation. And then the genetic donor in question is killed.
Three guesses who I shacked up with?"
Sigh.
Something like that could only happen to his brother.
Sam tried to remember what he knew of Amazons and was left with two words: women and warriors.
Wait, did Dean say "son"?
He eyed the baby in its pink onesie.
"I think it's great that you don't try to press him into gender-specific norms."
Dean needed a second to understand what his brother was talking about.
"Funny."
"So can we expect a horde of angry Amazons coming after you?"
A sigh. "They are long gone. Male babies are a bad omen. And before you ask, he is human."
It wouldn't have been the first thing Sam would have asked but it was good to know.
"So, what do we do now?"
His brother looked to their meager belongings.
"We find the next WalMart."
Sam held the baby, unsure if he was doing it right. A part of him remembered holding a baby before, the Shapeshifter baby Bobby-John but this didn't feel familiar at all.
Dean was busy comparing the ingredients of baby milk powder and Sam felt he should do his part in finding the things they needed for him.
Just seeing the selection of bottle warmers was daunting, how could anybody make a choice?
He didn't know how long he stared stupidly at the selection before a hand reached out next to his head and grabbed one of the warmers.
Dean put it with the rest of their purchases and looked over his list to see if he had forgotten anything.
"How did you decide which one was the best? Why this one and not that one?"
Dean stared at Sam as if he was a bit slow.
"It has an adapter for vehicle input. Are you alright?"
Oh yeah, that would be useful.
Sam held the tiny baby clumsily in his large hands. Dean seemed to understand the problem and went through the things in his shopping cart.
Sammy wanted to laugh when his brother pulled a baby sling out and put it on, holding his arms out to take the baby.
"You're joking. This flimsy thing won't be able to hold him."
"This flimsy thing was built to hold him. Come on, give him to me. That way we both have both of our hands free.
Sam gave him the child and looked on as Dean put him in the sling.
The baby didn't look uncomfortable at all, and yes, it gave both of them the option of free hands and the direct control of the kid.
There was a new flash of surprise that Dean was such a natural in this situation but perhaps he shouldn't be surprised.
Dean had played the part of parent before he reached elementary school age.
Sam saw something else and showed it triumphantly to Dean.
A stroller that doubled as a baby car seat when you stripped it down. Perfect for them.
Sam looked over all their purchases and totaled it in his head.
They hadn't had the time to make the money or go through a credit card application with a name the leviathans didn't know, so Dean got the credit card they used for this with a five finger discount. Sure, Sam felt bad for it but at least the guy Dean had swiped it from wouldn't miss it with the way he advertised his wealth.
It wasn't as if they hadn't needed the money.
"You know, we can't keep calling him Kid."
"You want to call him after Dad? Or perhaps your middle name?"
Dean sighed and shock his head. "I think we can scratch everything biblical. No need to tempt anything out there.
He should have his own name. Something that belongs just to him."
San nodded thoughtfully. Perhaps it was a good idea to forget every name of biblical origin. And considering the way nearly everybody around them died they shouldn't settle him with a name that reminded them of blood and gore.
Sam tapped against the laptop.
"Then you should look something up."
Dean looked over to the tiny human sleeping on his bed, surrounded by pillows so he couldn't fall of the bed.
"Alec."
Dean hadn't even thought about it, he had known what he wanted to call him.
It reminded Sam that his brother enjoyed being surrounded by children and was a natural father. Perhaps it wasn't so surprising that Dean not only had wanted children of his own, he even had picked out names.
"Alec Winchester. Sounds good."
Dean went to the baby and picked him up, the baby kept sleeping.
He held his nose to the tiny head and inhaled, a besotted smile on his face.
"What are you doing?"
"Just, you know, smelled the baby. I don't know why but they smell great."
Aha.
Baby smell.
He eyed his brother mockingly.
Sam held his nose against Alec's tiny head and breathed in..
The delicious aroma of new baby wafted through his nose and every anxiety about Lucifer and his hallucinations went away.
Dean had been right.
Sam sorted the newborn into the sling and smiled. Even with Alec just around him in the sling he got the very light smell of small baby. It calmed him down like nothing else, even his hallucinations of Lucifer didn't have a chance against it.
The small weight and warmth against him helped as well, gave him an anchor in reality.
Who would have thought?
Dean pushed the bundled up baby in the stroller next to the table and sat down.
Sure, Alec was too young to be here in Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie, he couldn't really play yet.
Still, being here with a baby was still better than if he had come alone. That was even stranger. And looked pervy.
Perhaps he would manage to bring the little one up without traumatizing him into being afraid of clowns. Not like his total fail with Sam. On the other hand, perhaps he shouldn't have allowed Sam to see the movie It when he was 8 years old.
The only one adult Sam was more afraid of than Ronald MacDonald was Tim Curry because of that movie.
Alec looked around and showed an interest beyond his age.
Sam had found out that due to his Amazon heritage Alec would age faster than a normal child but nowhere near the rate his female relatives had.
According to myth an Amazon aged in days. There wasn't much information about boys born to Amazons, they were rare and it was even less likely that they were allowed to live. But there had been a few cases where the boys were allowed to live to see what would happen and they had aged at double the rate of a regular human to adulthood.
Dean was both relieved and sorry about that fact. He had raised Sam and a part of him acknowledged that he had enjoyed it in some way while still being a child himself.
He now got the chance again even if he wouldn't get the whole experience in length and because both his father John and Bobby wouldn't be there to see it. At the same time the accelerated growth would be a lot safer for everybody involved. Dean didn't want his child to have the same childhood as him and Sam.
It did help that contrary to John with two children they were two adults with one child. They wouldn't need as much help when just one of them could look after Alec.
He saw the child of somebody working there with his mother. The boy didn't look happy to be here either and the mother was clearly tired.
He pushed the stroller over to the kid. A little talk with him couldn't hurt.
Sam sat at the library and watched the librarian from a distance.
He hated this case.
Why had the demon come back and why was it behaving so strangely?
Alec sat in his stroller, cooing softly and blinking big eyes with long eyelashes at his uncle.
When he had come in with him the people around him hadn't looked to fond of the idea but Alec was not only very quiet, he was the happiest baby Sam had ever seen before.
If he came after Dean and his brother had been like that before the fire... the world was even more unfair than Sam thought.
For a moment a hallucination of Lucifer crept near but the solid presence and happy smiles of his nephew brought him back.
He concentrated on the hunt and his specific job. His alibi books before him were about children's development. It was always a good thing to be prepared for everything.
He knew he wasn't really well at the moment and that Dean worried about him.
He indulged himself and smelled his nephews head. He gave the happily cooing child a wide smile. Perhaps he wasn't 100 percent but at the moment he didn't care.
Dean had come to find the healer because Sam was still not alright. Yes, it had been bad, but his brother had always bounced back, before. But now he couldn't help him.
He stared at his old friend.
What had happened to the angel, he didn't recognize this blank person before him.
Emmanuel. That name didn't fit him at all.
On the other hand he now understood how complicated it was to find a name for somebody - a real name and not something you changed after the credit card wasn't good anymore.
And married? Really? What strange nutcase married somebody without knowing them?
Clearly that Daphne chick had to have some serious problems.
Dean was just happy that he left Sam and Alec behind to look up this strange healer. But then, it was a good choice. Sam was able to sleep when he had Alec, he was more relaxed and had more control of his hallucinations. He wasn't really sane on the accepted Winchester level but he was slowly getting better. He didn't want to endanger them more than necessary.
Seeing him like this, without his memories, made him feel a twinge of pity for his old friend.
He wasn't completely over the fact that Cas broke Sam's wall, but with Sam slowly learning to control it Dean's anger was more a light simmering in the background. As long as it wasn't fueled further Dean would ignore it.
The question was what he should do about Castiel.
The angel had to know who he was and what he had done, in his current situation he endangered himself and everybody around him without even knowing. And despite what he had done, Dean didn't want to hurt him.
And the truth about his past would hurt
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
At least him rescuing Daphne from the demons made "Emmanuel" trust him enough to come back with him to Sam and Alec.
Sam was functioning but he was still not completely well and they could really use help with the leviathan problem.
He learned quickly that this was not their only problem.
Dean met Meg in a convenience store, just him, Meg and other demons on Crowley's side. She was interested in Cas.
Too interested.
"Rumors are really starting to fly about this Emmanuel fellow. My curiosity sure got revved up."
That was really nothing Dean wanted to talk about.
"Just tell me what you want, Meg."
"Imagine my surprise when I track him down, and he's snuggled up with you. And he's the spitting image of poor, dead Castiel. So, Dean, what's poor, dead Castiel doing in that junker out there?"
"Christmas carolling."
"Fun. But how's he alive? Last I heard, he played God, went poof."
"I don't know. And neither does he, so you got to keep it shut."
He really didn't know. Not that it mattered one way or another.
"Oh, I do?"
"He doesn't know he's Cas."
"I know. Been watching you for hours. So here's the deal. You might remember Crowley and me were frosty back in the day? Well, times haven't changed."
Good.
"Good."
"That hurts my feelings. I've been good to you, Dean."
Her memories were obviously a bit shaky there.
"No, you've been good to you, sweetheart."
"Look. Right now rumors of this wandering healer are strictly low-level. But body count's getting high enough to change that. Folks start poking, they sniff angel dust."
"Yeah, they start falling all over each other trying to tell Crowley."
"Now picture Crowley with his hands on harmless little amnesia-Cas. Don't get me wrong. I'm gonna burn that smarmy dick. My time's coming. But right about now, my army-of-one situation is not cutting it. It's cold out here, there's a price on my ass, and I need friends."
Yes, he wasn't with Cas but he didn't deserve Crowley coming after him.
"Yeah. I get that. But I ain't it."
"That's where you're wrong, Dean. 'Cause I'm here to help you, and that makes us friends."
"Help, huh? You mean see if you can't turn harmless little Cas out there into an angel-sized weapon?"
"Like you're taking him carolling. And by the way, you really want to keep going with no backup? Hey, I don't trust you, either. But I could really use Emmanuel. And he trusts you. So for now, it's in everyone's best interests to hold hands and cross the street together, okay?"
He wanted the demon nowhere near his helpless son, his still wall-damaged brother or his amnesiac angel but he didn't really have a choice here.
"We go straight to Sam. No detours."
Meeting more demons on their way to the motel triggered Cas' memories, the only good thing out of the whole scenario.
The last few steps before they got to Sam Dean thought he should say something about Alec.
But then, what could he really say?
The angel took in the scene: Sam Winchester and a human baby. Surprising.
He focused on the most important part first: checking the mental state of Sam.
The wall was broken and he wouldn't be able to build a new one... but the human was slowly but steadily healing. Or at least adapting.
Cas knew that Sam adjusted because he felt he needed to, because both his brother and the child needed him with them.
He wouldn't have thought it possible but having shared responsibility for another helpless life had been the best thing that could have happened to Sam in this situation.
"I can't rebuild his wall, but he is healing, adapting. He needs more time but he is getting better in his own."
Dean sighed in relief and Sam looked grateful for the news.
He now knew he just needed to wait it out.
Cas inspected the tiny human being, big blue eyes meeting big blue eyes.
Alec showed interest in the heavenly being, cooing happily.
"Yes, these are my wings."
"He can see your wings?"
That surprised both Winchester brothers.
The angel didn't even look up. "All human babies can see the wings of vesseled angels without harm. They just lose the ability when they get older."
The boy smiled and little hands grabbed in Castiel's direction.
"I'm surprised by his origin. Of course you already secured the continuation of the Winchester vessel line, you didn't make it necessary to intervene there but we never suspected you would procreate with an Amazon."
"He already secured the continuation of the Winchester vessel line? You knew Dean had a child somewhere and never said something?"
Dean just looked baffled at Cas.
"Securing the vessels lines are an important angelic duty. Dean was most cooperating. Through his lifestyle choice he continued the line without angelic prompting." Somehow this didn't sound like just one child somewhere.
Sam knew that his brother had slept around a lot, but he was always big on safety, at least in that regard. Perhaps it was more a matter of mathematics.
Given the number of his one night stands and the fact that not even condoms were 100%... Who knew how many children Dean really had.
Come to think of it, the angels would probably know. Sam decided not to ask.
Dean was surprisingly quiet through this all. Not in the sense that he had known that before but that he was thinking about it.
"And Sam isn't encouraged because you want the Lucifer line to stop?"
Castiel sighed. He looked over to Sam.
"The Lucifer vessel line runs through Michael's vessel line.
More than that, it wouldn't matter.
Sam, because of the demon blood you are not capable of fathering children."
Both Sam and Dean looked ill at that. Both of them didn't really expect the joy of fatherhood giving their life but to be told that this was not even an option was something completely different.
Sam knew he would need time to get over that, to reconcile himself with it. At least he had Dean and Alec who gave him an opportunity to get as near as the experience as he would ever get.
Sam tucked the information away to cry about the unfairness of it all later.
He concentrated on another question Cas could have an answer to.
"Why is Alec a boy? They seem to be really rare."
Cas nodded. "This only happens when amazons procreate with somebody of a vessel-line. Amazons can't be vessels, so they are not Amazons."
Okay, that was good to know. It was also so much better then every other answer Sam came up with in his mind.
He had kept his wild theories away from Dean. His brother was already busy with following the plans of Dick Roman, looking after his mentally unhinged little brother and his surprising fatherhood. No need to burden him with even more.
Meg stared at the tiny human Cas was playing with.
"Somebody was busy, I see. So which one of you decided being on the run with a baby was more fun?"
She looked to Sam and Dean. Both had the same protective stance that told her how much pain she would be in if she even looked funny at the kid. And contrary to most others, Dean really could hurt her. Everybody who went through the school of Alistair was that good.
While there had been a few demons that were interested in babies, Lillith's taste for them was well known, for most demons they were just uninteresting.
Given their limitations they weren't good meatsuits and they didn't understand enough to be corrupted. Some used them as ritual sacrifice or as a prop for damning humans but Meg herself had never had the need for either.
It wasn't interesting to slit the throat of something who didn't understand it just to make a call home.
A quick scan of Alec's face gave her an idea to the likely father.
"Oh, Deano, you have a shitty timing."
Sadly enough she was right about that.
They were still on the run from both the demons and the leviathans and needed all the help they could get. A child was the last thing they needed.
But both of them couldn't regret it.