But when the man turned around to face her, Rose felt her eyes bug out of her head. Her jaw went slack and her heart pounded in her ears. She knew him. She knew this man - this strong and stubborn man. And she knew why Crowley had him taken off the rack.
The man had nearly the same reaction when he saw the proclaimed Queen. Was it really her? Was it just another trick? Another sick form of torture? Was any of this real?
"Rosie?"
"Dad?"
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
In which Rose and John get caught up
(Written to: Finding the Director by Jeff Williams from Red vs Blue Season 10)
Listenonrepeat: /?v=OjManTRsyeo#27%3A_Finding_the_Director_-_RvB_Season_10_OST_(By_Jeff_Williams)
Neither Winchester spoke. They were both still processing. Was this real? How could it be?
The first thing Rose croaked out was a cry for her husband, who wasted no time in entering the room.
"Everything alright, Flower?" He asked, his voice trickling with worry. Rose barely moved her gaze from her father now standing across the room from her.
"He's the one you took off the rack?" Rose muttered.
"Yes, love." Crowley would have simply nodded, but she wouldn't have seen him.
"Am I dreaming?" She asked.
"No."
Rose swallowed hard. "Gimme a minute."
Then she fled into the hall. Crowley slowly followed her, latching the door behind him. Rose paced for a moment before resting a palm on her forehead and leaning against the wall.
"Should I not have done that?" Crowley asked.
Rose licked her lips in thought, then gnawed on her cheek before shaking her head. "It's fine I just need a minute. I wasn't expecting that is all."
Crowley respected that. She gave her a moment to collect her thoughts and to even her breathing. However, a moment quickly turned into five moments. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, easily breaking her from her trance.
Rose looked over at her husband, then nodded. "Yeah. Okay. I got this."
With one last deep breath, Rose reentered the cell. John Winchester was instantly on his feet and staring at his daughter - or hallucination.
"Rose...is that really you?" He asked carefully.
Rose bit her lip and nodded. "Yeah, Dad. It's me. This isn't an illusion."
"How do I know for sure?"
"Dean showed me your journal. Those pages you wrote about me…" Rose trailed off and sighed. It was possible any demon could know John's every thought if they were torturing him. She had prove it was her. "I remember that frog. I was seven. We were in Delaware. I don't know what you were hunting, but there was a carnival. Sammy was afraid of running into a clown, so Dean stayed with him in the motel, and we went to the carnival - just the two of us.
"We were walking down the line of carnival games and when I wanted to play some, you told me how they were all rigged - explained it down to the last detail. But then I saw this giant stuffed frog. He must've been half my size and the fluffiest thing I had ever seen. I didn't ask you about it because I knew I had no chance of winning it. But you took my hand and marched over to the balloon darts anyway. You told off the guy running the booth and you pulled out your gun and shot the balloons instead of using their darts. The guy was so scared you'd shoot him that he gave you the frog.
"When we got back to the motel, Dean and Sammy kept teasing me about having a stuffed animal and I got so upset that all I could do was hide in the bathtub with my frog. You told them off and said if they wanted their own toys they could march their lazy asses down to the carnival and win one for themselves." Rose smiled at the memory. It felt like forever ago.
"I loved that frog. Took it everywhere I went. Until….until that one night...I was so mad - I left that frog in that motel. I wish I hadn't…" Rose let her eyelids press together. She felt her eyes beginning to sting. Her emotions were churning so much that she was beginning to feel physically sick.
"Do you really think I left a single motel room without checking every corner? You three were kids. You left stuff behind all the time."John replied softly, his lips tugging up gently. He hadn't forgotten that frog - or that night. Rose wore that poor frog ragged. The moment he saw her in the back of the Impala without it, he knew she was livid with him. Even as a kid she was headstrong.
Rose let her glazed-over eyes settle on her father. "What do you mean?"
"I mean I kept your frog. Left it with your brothers." John tried to smile, but the sadness in his eyes negated that effort.
"You...you kept it?" Rose expression mirrored that of her father's.
"Of course I kept it. It was the last bit of your childhood. I knew you once you found out….there would be none of it left. I-"
"But you told Dean and Sam."
"That was different. You're my little princess, Rosie."
Rose swallowed hard. Words that had been churning inside of her for almost 20 years now were about to spill out - and she felt like she had absolutely no control over it. "I didn't want to be a princess, Dad. I've always been a fighter - ever since I was a kid. I grew up with two brothers. The only reason I got to sleep on a bed at night is because I fought for it and won - and they knew how to fight!"
"I know, but I never wanted that life for you -"
"Why? Because I'm a girl?" Rose spat, her fists curling and her jaw tensed.
"It was never about that and you know it!" John shouted right back.
"No, Dad, it was. If you were waiting until a certain age to tell us, I would've known when Sam did. If you were waiting until I knew how to defend myself, that would've happened when I was six! If you were waiting until I had the brain cells to understand, I would've known years before you finally told me! You didn't even bother telling me that there were things I just didn't know - no, you had to go and lie about it! Lie to me for 13 years of my life! I had trust issues for years after that!"
John would have spoken up, but he had had centuries more to think about this conversation than Rose did. He knew that she needed to say everything that was on her mind, then she would be able to listen to what he had to say.
"Just because I'm a girl doesn't mean I can't handle things! I mean look at me! I'm the Queen of Hell! I'm a better hunter than half the hunter population! I've cleared out vamp nests on my own! I've killed so many demons, I can't even begin to count them! Hell, I'm married to one! Being a girl has nothing to do with strength and ability! And news flash, Dad: Mom was a hunter and a damn good one too!"
John was taken aback. "She...what? How do you….?"
Rose huffed and closed her eyes, attempting to control the shaking rage she felt bubbling inside her. "It's...a really long and complicated story and I don't even know if you would believe it."
"How about-" John cleared his throat. "I tell you my story and why I didn't want to tell you about hunting, and you can tell me your story."
Rose took a deep breath. Her lips were pressed tightly together. Then she nodded. "Okay. But tell me one last thing: were you ever going to tell me?"
"Of course." John replied almost instantly.
"When?"
This time, he took longer to reply. "When I knew you wouldn't be afraid of the dark."
"Afraid of the dark? I've never been afraid of the dark." Rose scoffed. "Dean was the one who insisted that we needed a night light at every motel."
"Because he knew you didn't like the dark." John answered slowly. "He noticed how you fell asleep faster when a light was on. He watched you toss and turn when it was pitch black. You used to bury yourself in blankets even when your brothers were sweating - just to feel safer. You sorta grew out of it after a while….but I didn't want to take the chance that you would end up being afraid of everything if I told you."
Rose nodded while she inhaled, letting the deep breath expand her lungs and calm her nerves.
"Crowley." Rose called just loud enough for him to hear.
The door creaked open. "Everything alright?"
"Yeah. We're gonna talk for a while. I know you've got stuff to do. We'll be fine." Rose answered, not once tearing her gaze from her father.
"Alright, love. Call if you need me." And with that, Crowley headed back to his throne.
"You wanna go first or should I?" Rose asked, finding the courage to sit next to her father on the dinky little bed.
"Your story sounds far more interesting." John quipped, letting a smile curve his features.
"Alright. Well...after you died-"
Rose went on to tell her story. She started from the moment John died. She told him about how they killed Azazel, how she left for Chicago, how his sons started and ended the Apocalypse. She told him how she met Crowley and how they fell in love. She told him everything she could remember from what Sam and Dean told her.
And when she finished, John explained his side of the story - about how he didn't want his children to have the life they did, how once Sam was attacked, he knew he would have to tell Rose one day soon. He told her everything about how he got into hunting and why he did everything he did. He had vowed to protect his children and raise them right - and he did the best job he could in the circumstances. He was no father of the year, but the Winchester siblings had turned out pretty alright anyway.
Crowley sat on his throne flipping somewhat absentmindedly through papers. His mind couldn't help but wander to Rose. She was shaken - on the verge of fleeing Hell. Momentarily, he wasn't sure if he had done the right thing when he pulled John Winchester from the rack.
Rose would have to tell him later. He was smart, but he wasn't always attuned with others' emotions. That was a bit of a gray area for him. Anger and violence he understood well enough. Though the jumble of confusing emotions humans experienced day to day were something he was still struggling to understand and handle himself.
Flipping to the next page, he took a deep breath and tried to blink away his lack of focus.
Naturally, that was all shattered the moment he heard his mother's usual, clicking footsteps headed towards him.
Out of pure habit, when Rowena entered the room, the various demon staff scurried out of sight.
She looked around the room half-heartedly. "Oh? Where is that lovely daughter-in-law of mine this morning?"
"Taking care of some business." Crowley retorted, not even bothering to look up.
"On her own?"
"She's the Queen. She can do whatever she bloody wants." He flipped to the next page, wishing she would let him work in peace. Rowena, however, was far from finished with their little conversation. She made her way over to her son and peered at the paperwork before him.
"Picking out a new throne? It still seems in fair shape, though, don't you think?" Rowena asked, looking from the regal chair Crowley sat upon to the pile of papers in his hands.
"If you must know, I'm having one made for Rose." Crowley answered with a huff.
"Oh, I see." Rowena hummed to herself, choosing her words carefully. "Are you sure she's ready for one just yet?"
Crowley flicked the papers down with a small thud against his legs. He looked up at the redhead in exasperation. "And what is that supposed to mean?"
"You run Hell, do you not? So shouldn't you know everything that's happening with it? She was smuggling demons to the surface for who knows how long without your knowledge. It makes me wonder what else she might be hiding from you." Rowena ran a maternal hand across Crowley's short hair.
"It doesn't matter. She has the same say on matters as I do. She can do what she wants, and we'll figure it out. Don't concern yourself with our business." Crowley quickly dismissed the notion. He waved off his mother with a careless hand and resumed browsing through throne designs.
No matter how hard he tried to remain focused, his mind kept wandering. He did wonder what else Rose had done while she was a demon. It wasn't a topic Rose enjoyed remembering, so he never pushed it. Perhaps he needed to. Rowena (unfortunately) had a point: he was King and he needed to know everything pertaining to his domain. Rose was welcome to do what she liked, but Crowley needed to know.
Well, I hope you enjoyed the fluffy stuff while it lasted! I probably should have said that last chapter...I'm always iffy about writing John Winchester, so I hope he isn't too horribly out of character.
On a somewhat related note, I set up a fic blog on Tumblr yesterday! There isn't anything there just yet, but if you're interested, check out upwritingpastmidnight. And please feel free to request anything! Only half of what goes on Tumblr will be posted here, so if you want full access to every oneshot/drabble, don't be shy and give it a follow.
Anywho, still looking for songs so please send them my way.
As always, any requests/comments/questions/criticisms are welcome and appreciated. I do not own Supernatural, I only own Marian Rose Winchester and anything that isn't canon and/or widely accepted by the fandom.
