Title: Destiny and Dean Winchester
Summary: Since when has Dean Winchester ever done what destiny decrees?
Spoilers: "Pilot", "Faith", "Devil's Trap", "In My Time of Dying", "All Hell Breaks Loose Part 2"
Pairings: Brief mentions of Dean/OFC
Rating: PG
Warnings: Character death, but not. Trust me, it has an unusually upbeat ending for me.
Category: Angst. AU, but not really. Deathfic, but not really. You'll see what I mean.
Word Count: 675
Disclaimer: Not mine; not getting paid; I'm just playing with them.
Author's Note: This had been languishing on my computer for months, and I finally decided to go ahead and finish it. So here ya go.
- - - -
When Dean Winchester was three years old, he was destined to die at the age of seventy-nine, at the natural end of a long life well-lived. He was destined to marry a beautiful brunette named Melanie and raise three children, two boys and a girl, all of whom would adore their dad even when they were too cool to show it.
He would work in (and eventually own) his dad's garage, invent all kinds of gadgets in his spare time, change diapers without complaining, and play lots of baseball in the back yard (with his daughter as well as his sons). He would love his little brother like crazy even if they didn't always understand each other, and Dean's three kids would grow up with Sam's two.
When Dean Winchester was three years old, he was destined to be a family man—loving, fiercely protective, the patriarch of a clan that by the time he died would include three children, eleven grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He was destined to grow old peacefully, the deepening crow's-feet around his eyes only adding to the power of his open smile.
He was destined to commit to one woman and to love her deeply, and to die with her at his side, whispering I love you and It's okay to let go.
- - - -
When Dean Winchester was four years old, he was destined to die at the age of twenty-seven. He was destined for a few seconds of bright, arcing pain, followed by three weeks of slow, pale decline and a cold blue death in an anonymous hotel room somewhere in the heartland. He was destined to die young, with the sound of his little brother's heart breaking echoing in his ears. His last thoughts would be to wonder why his dad never came.
When Dean Winchester was four years old, he was destined to fall in love once and never make the same mistake again. He was destined for years of bright, empty smiles and one-night stands because he knew better than to get too involved.
He was destined to die struggling to pull breath through cracked blue lips, his heart full of regret that he couldn't protect Sammy anymore.
- - - -
When Dean Winchester was twenty-seven years old, he was destined to die before his twenty-eighth birthday. He was destined to get shredded from the inside out by a demon wearing his father's face, his little-boy pleas for Dad to save him going unanswered until too late. Almost immediately after, still bleeding from the demon's invisible claws, he would get pummeled in a car accident. (He had long since realized that fate hated him.)
He was destined to make it to the hospital, only to succumb to an impressive combination of blood loss, internal injuries, and severe head trauma. He would die of cerebral edema after two days in a coma, leaving behind a devastated father and brother who couldn't live with each other without him to act as their buffer.
When Dean Winchester was twenty-seven, he was destined to finally give in and follow the Reaper, wishing only for one last chance to say goodbye.
- - - -
When Dean Winchester was twenty-eight years old, he was destined to die at a crossroad, his soul ripped from his body and straight into hell. He was destined to die beneath the shattering sound of thunder, blinking against driving rain from the last thunderstorm he'd ever see. He was destined to die alone, leaving an empty shell for Sam to find later.
He would leave behind a car, a shattered brother who'd wanted nothing more than to save him, a grizzled old hunter who loved him like the son he'd never had, and a long line of people stretching across the U.S. who were alive because of him. He would die trying to convince himself that he had no regrets...and then he'd exist for the rest of eternity in a prison made of bone and flesh and blood and fear.
But since when has Dean Winchester ever done what destiny decrees?
(finis)