Title: When The Night Falls On You
Author: itsonlyme
Rating: M (Language, Supernatural Elements, Violence)
Genres: Supernatural, Horror, Drama
Warnings: AU, Season One Spoilers
Summary: A call to arms from an old friend brings John, Dean, and Sam in contact with a demonic force and some new allies.
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, nor do I own anything that doesn't seem like it is mine. I own only the characters that are obviously of my own invention.
1985: The Dark Of Night
The doors of the club swung open with a resounding bang, and Daniel O'Malley looked up from the bills in front of him to see who was causing such a racket while seeking shelter from the sweltering August night. A smile crossed his lips as he recognized the face of the man who was walking toward him with one son in his arms and another son holding his hand.
"Well, I'll be damned," Daniel said as they reached the bar and the man sat the younger boy on the bar. "What business would the esteemed John Winchester have that brings him to the door of my fine establishment?"
John smiled, one of the few smiles he had left in him that wasn't reserved for his sons. "Seeing an old friend isn't reason enough?" he said. He had served with Daniel in the military and become quite close to the jolly man and his growing brood. However, like many things, the friendship fell by the wayside shortly after Mary's death. Occasionally, John cussed himself out for letting contact with Daniel drop. After all, Daniel and his wife Catherine were second set of godparents to Sam and Dean.
"It's reason enough here, my friend," Daniel said with a smile. "Please, take a seat and have some food. You and the boys are probably starving."
Little Sam Winchester's eyes lit up at the mere mention of food. "Hungry," he said. "Hungry, Daddy!" His brother Dean nodded his agreement to his father.
"I'm hungry too, Dad," he said. The sound of his brother's voice caught Sam's attention, and he immediately reached for him. John put Sam down on the floor, where he immediately grabbed Dean's hand and stood behind him. Dean looked at his brother as best he could, puzzled by the sudden shyness his brother was exhibiting.
"What's wrong, Sammy?" Dean asked. Sam pointed at a boy about Dean's age who was approaching them with two younger boys in tow. Dean smiled. "It's ok, Sammy. They won't hurt you."
The three boys stood in front of them. The oldest one smiled at Dean, while one of his brothers stood next to him and the other attached himself like glue to his oldest brother's leg and stuck his hand in his mouth. The one standing next to the oldest boy waved at Sam, who stuck his head out from behind Dean to look at the kids.
"Hi," the oldest boy said, putting his hand out for Dean to shake. "My name's Christian. This is my brother James, and the little guy on my leg is my youngest brother Tommy. What's your name?"
Dean shook Christian's hand. "My name's Dean, and the little guy behind me is my brother Sammy, but only I get to call him that. Everyone else gets to call him Sam."
"Hi Sam," Christian said. He looked at Dean, sizing him up before speaking again. "How old are you, Dean?"
"I'm 6 ½ and Sammy's 2 ½," Dean replied. "How old are you?"
"I'm 8," Christian said with pride. "James is 5, and Tommy just turned 2." Tommy looked at Sam, who had poked his head out from behind Dean, and waved at him with the hand that wasn't in his mouth. Sam waved back at Tommy, who smiled and removed his hand from his mouth and himself from Christian's leg. He toddled cautiously over to Sam and said, "Play?"
Sam nodded. "Play!" he repeated with a smiled. He tugged on the leg of John's pants and said "Play!" again, but John was in conversation with Daniel and not paying attention. Sam turned back to Tommy, and was surprised to see a lady come over and pick Tommy up.
"Ah, my little man," the woman said to Tommy. "Have you found yourself a friend?" Tommy nodded and pointed at Sam, saying "Play!" over and over again. The woman looked down and saw Sam and Dean looking up at her. She set Tommy back on the ground, and tugged on John's sleeve.
"John, I do believe your son is trying to ask you a question," she said, winking at the boys. John turned to the woman and smiled again.
"Catherine, I think I'd know when either of my sons is trying to ask me a question," he said. Sam tugged the leg of John's pants again and said "PLAY!" quite loudly, earning laughter from the adults. John chuckled at his son's insistence and said, "Yes, Sam, you can play. But you need to stay with your brother, and you also have to eat something."
"They can eat with us, if they want," James said in a tiny voice as he stared up at the tall man talking to his mom and dad. "They can play with us and then have dinner with us too. We don't mind."
John nodded at the boy and grinned, easing James' fear and earning a smile in return. "Sounds good to me. Go on, boys, and remember to behave." Dean took Sam's hand, and they were herded into a room just off the bar, Catherine directing traffic behind them and her three sons.
John and Daniel watched them leave the room, then continued the conversation they had been having. "So, you and Catherine decided to add another son to the family," he said, referring to Tommy. "I thought that the two of you were going to try for another girl and then stop at five. Speaking of daughters, I noticed that yours wasn't in the little hunting party that just came and went."
Daniel grinned broadly. "Lillian is probably already in the back room, most likely playing with Gracie."
"Gracie?" John said with surprise.
"Did I mention that we did get another girl and stop at five?" Daniel said, laughing loudly at the shocked expression on John's face.
"Another daughter and a pirate queen, no less," John said, quite familiar with the lineage of Daniel's family. "The little one's got some mighty big shoes to fill, Danny."
"If she's anything like her namesake, she won't have any trouble."
"Or her father," John laughed. "I remember quite well how headstrong you were during Basic. Quite frankly, you were headstrong and stubborn the entire time we were in together…"
Daniel glared with mock anger at John, his eyes eventually softening into the twinkling green that they were naturally. "How about that dinner, and maybe a drink?"
"A drink sounds just fine," John said. "But don't get me too drunk, Daniel. This is just a stop-over for a few hours. I still need to drive out of here."
The little girl rocked back and forth in the rocking chair, her arms around a tiny baby wrapped in a pink blanket. "Rock-a-bye baby, in the tree top. When the wind blows, the cradle will rock. When the bough breaks, the cradle will fall, and Sissy will catch you, cradle and all," she sang to the baby. The baby stared up at her sister and smiled a baby smile.
"That's right, Gracie," Lillian said, snuggling her baby sister close to her. "Sissy's here, and she's gonna take care of you while Mommy gets our goofy brothers for dinner." The door opened, and into the room traipsed Lillian's brothers, followed by two boys she had never seen before and her mother.
"Lillian, we've got some friends for dinner," Catherine said, walking over to her daughters and smoothing Lillian's hair. "And how is our little Gracie doing?"
Sam looked at the baby quizzically, and walked over to get a closer look. He leaned over, and Lillian obligingly scooted forward in the rocking chair so he could get a better look. "Baby?" he asked her, pointing at Grace. Grace reached up and curled her little fist around Sam's finger. "Got me!" he said with a laugh.
"Yep Sammy, that's a baby," Dean said, ruffling his brother's hair. He looked at Lillian. "Is it a girl or a boy?"
"It's a girl," she said. "Her name's Grace, but we call her Gracie. She's only two months old. I'm Lillian. James is my twin." She looked at Sam, who was waving his finger around with Grace's fist still attached to it. "You can tickle her chin if you want," she said. From her position at the stove, Catherine smiled.
Sam moved his free hand to Grace's face and tickled her gently under the chin. Grace laughed in her little baby way at the feel of the tickling, and Sam looked at her, then his brother, in astonishment. "Baby laugh, Dean!" Sam said. "Baby laugh!"
The children assembled all laughed, and played with the baby until Catherine turned from her place at the stove and called them all to dinner.
A/N: First story for the Supernatural fandom. Reviews are greatly appreciated, and so is constructive criticism. Flames? Not so much. But if you absolutely feel that a flame is necessary, go ahead. I've always been a pretty big fan of free speech.
