favors owed - SN fic - PG

[tigriswolf]

 

Title: favors owed

Chapter: I

Fandom: “Supernatural”

Disclaimer: not my characters; just for fun.

Warnings: spoilers for everything aired; AU before “Bad Day at Black Rock”

Parings: technically, none

Rating: PG

Wordcount: 1050

Point of view: third

Dedication: smilla02for being awesomely awesome!

 

            Sam always knew no one could live forever. He didn’t have those years in adolescence where he thought himself immortal or invincible—he always knew better, the truth painted across him and Dean and Dad in blood.

            He always knew he’d die one day, probably after Dad and Dean, probably scared and hurting, probably alone. He left the hunt to escape that fate—and then was dragged back, angry and vengeful, the stench of fire all that remained of his hope.

            He knew he wouldn’t live forever, and then he died in Dean’s arms, cold and numb, fighting to stay awake. He died with the one person left in the world that he loved—and he woke alone, dark knowledge settling in his gut.

            No one lives forever, but after waking from death, Sam’s learned he can’t die. Either something in Dean’s deal went horribly wrong or terribly right, and Sam doesn’t know. But he doesn’t bleed. He can hurt and ache, fleeting pain soon gone without even an echo, but his blood never leaves his veins.

            Maybe The Demon won, after all. He’ll outlive Dean, for sure. Even if they break the deal, Dean will die. And Sam… he won’t.

            He wants to ask Dean if he meant this, but Sam can’t force the words. Can’t show what a freak he really is. He hasn’t had a vision since Mom and Dad’s killer died—but he hasn’t bled since he woke from death, either.

            And he doesn’t know what that means, but he has a damned good guess, and that outcome isn’t pretty.

            He wants to hate Dean. What’s dead should stay dead—did that slip Dean’s mind? Did he forget how it feels to know someone traded themselves to Hell for all eternity for you?

            But he doesn’t, can’t blame Dean. He remembers well those days before Nebraska, before Dad. If he’d known then what he does now…

            It isn’t really fair that he’s the only Winchester who has yet to make a deal.

            Whatever’s wrong with him—or right—surely, if he’s sweet enough, he can have it done to Dean, too.

            He must have something a demon could want, if old Yellow-Eyes was anything to go by. And he’s always been good with words.

            So one night, Sam leaves Dean to his women, to having fun and celebrating life, that dark knowledge churning in his gut and whispering of everything that can’t be right. He goes to the crossroad they’d passed on their way into town and waits.

            No one lives forever.

            “What do you want, Samuel Winchester?” the demon asks, from behind him; he turns to see it wearing a statuesque blond.

            “I want Dean to be like me,” he responds, straightening to his full height.

            “Impure and tainted, unable to bleed and die?” it laughs. “You sure, sweetie?”

            “So you did do it on purpose.” He glares. “Why?”

            It smiles, revealing bone-white teeth. “He didn’t specify how he wanted you back, little brother. Just alive.” It shrugs. “I owed Yellow-Eyes a thing or two. But now…” It steps forward. “Dean took care of that debt for me. Left me free as a robin red-breast. So I’ll give you what you want, Sam, no payment required. And, just to have it so you owe me a favor, boy, I’ll release Dean’s soul and keep the two’a you young forever.”

            Sam feels relief sweeping him, tempered by wariness: it’s too good to be true. “Demons don’t do things like that.”

            It smiles again, finally stepping into his space. Its host wears the same perfume Jess used to—he pulls back, but it follows, gripping his arm. “I don’t like having debts, Sammy. But I love people owing me. It’s a simple thing to understand for a smart boy like you: I do to Dean what I did to you, making him immortal, and I don’t come claim his soul in a year. He’ll live until you decide he can’t anymore. Only you will be able to make him bleed—and what doesn’t bleed doesn’t die.”

            Sam stares at it, trying to see the demon in the woman’s hazel eyes. “And what about me?” he asks. “How can I die?”

            It laughs and says simply, “You can’t.”

            He shakes his head. “No one lives forever.”

            It reaches up, host’s hand cupping his cheek. “Do we have a deal?”

            He thinks for one long moment: this is what he wanted, isn’t it, when he came out here, when he summoned the bitch that brought him back.

            “Yes,” he says softly. “You do to him what you did to me and we have a deal.”

            It pulls his head down and caresses his lips with its host’s. “You Winchesters,” it whispers into his mouth. “Oh, I could make an eternity of just watching you.” It pulls away, licking the woman’s lips. “You taste like hope, Sam,” it laughs. “Sweet little boy.”

            It turns, walks away. “Go back to your brother,” it calls without looking back. “You have forever, now. Best to get started.”

            Sam hopes fervently he didn’t just make the greatest mistake of his life, and then he leaves, hurries back to the car he stole, speeds to the motel room.

            No one lives forever—what doesn’t bleed doesn’t die. What has he done? What the fuck did he just do? Dean’ll kick his ass.

            If it worked, it’s worth it.

            Sam waits in the room, pacing, worrying himself into a frenzy. Dean comes back at dawn, smelling like cheap perfume and liquor, hair mussed, lipstick on his face and neck. He looks exactly the same as when Sam left, like nothing is changed.

            But everything has.

            Dean takes one glance at him and straightens. “What’s wrong, Sammy?” he demands.

            Sam cracks, laughing and crying, and gasps between sobs, “You’re free.” Dean catches him when his legs collapse and he buries his face in Dean’s shirt, trying to curl up in big brother’s embrace again, but it doesn’t work. He’s too grown now.

            He repeats, “You’re free, Dean.”

            “Sammy,” Dean whispers, “what’d you do? Please, tell me you didn’t—” He doesn’t finish and Sam says through his tears, “You’re like me now.”

            And Sam, meeting Dean’s horrified gaze, still isn’t sure just what the hell that means.

 

 
Chapter II

Comments

[just-ruth.livejournal.com]

Now, that's a scary thought.

[lunardreamed.livejournal.com]

Oh creepy! I think eternity is probably the worst punishment for someone like Dean, though being with Sam would make it a little better.

[oc-pixie.livejournal.com]

Ooooo, creepy!!!!

[fleshflutter.livejournal.com]

Oooh that's nicely ambiguous and very chilling. :)

[smilla02.livejournal.com]

This is just the right shade of dark I love. Chilling and scary. But am I a bad person because I'm happy they'll be together forever?
Thank you, love!

[iamstealthyone.livejournal.com]

Nicely done. I like the tension and desperation and bit of creepiness you wove through this. Nifty idea to make Sam immortal, and oh, boys, to think of what will happen when Dean realizes what Sam's done.

[tigriswolf]

*hee*

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[tigriswolf]

Thank _you_ for the eyeball in a jar! It makes me smile.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[dwarfankylosaur.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is so beautifully creepy.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[feline-fury1.livejournal.com]

You. Is. EVIL.

(That's it. I got nuthin' else. Oh yeah, I liked this a lot!)

[unbreakableburr.livejournal.com]

Oh that's terrifying. I could see it happening just like that too. Damn.

[tigriswolf]

*glee*

[tigriswolf]

Thank you for reading!

[unbreakableburr.livejournal.com]

You're welcome!

[sadelyrate.livejournal.com]

Dean catches him when his legs collapse and he buries his face in Dean’s shirt, trying to curl up in big brother’s embrace again, but it doesn’t work. He’s too grown now.
You see, I have this thing about adult!Sam curling up, and then there's Dean whispering...
*shiver*
It's so easy to see this it's the farthest thing from funny.

I adore this, make no mistake, but... *shiver* Dear deities of all shapes and sizes... not like this. Though methinks Kripke & co. are going to hurt us even worse...
*gnaws lips in anticipation*

*hugs you for comfort*

[tigriswolf]

*clings back*

[(Anonymous)]

That's really dark. I can't see Dean coping well with immortality, he's not that kind of person. Was this in any way inspired by Captain Jack Harkness' situation in Torchwood? His is a fascinating curse.

[tigriswolf]

I don't know anything about that show, so nope.

Thank you for reading!

[(Anonymous)]

Nice coincidence, then. Captain Jack Harkness was originally in Doctor Who for five episodes of Series One, and in his last he was killed by the Daleks and revived by Rose Tyler. He's now a main character in the spin-off Torchwood and has been rendered immortal by what Rose did.
I recommend watching Doctor Who and Torchwood some time, they're good programs. Not every episode is up to snuff, but they are enjoyable on the whole and have some complexities. Moreso, I recommend watching the new Battlestar Galactica. You may have heard of the fairly cheesey original, but the new series has no cheese. It's more of a drama series, with deep moral issues, mysteries, questions about what it means to be human, and a LOT of darkness, which is obviously your style. Neither side (humans or Cylons) is portrayed in black and white terms, and there are no ETs in sight. A lot of episodes, the best ones, are story-arc-driven, so if you decide to watch it would be best to start with the Miniseries.
You have plenty of time to decide about watching; it has the Miniseries, three seasons, a movie (Razor), and the fourth/final season is airing in April 2008.

[(Anonymous)]

I've noticed a few times on Livejournal that the owner responds to a new reply but not to a reply to their response (like my one just above this, with TV recommendations), so I wonder if you get some kind of message when there's a brand new reply and not when there's a reply to your response?

[tigriswolf]

I get an email about both.

I've tried both "Doctor Who" and "Battlestar Gallactica" but didn't like either enough to keep watching.

[(Anonymous)]

Oh, I'm sorry to hear that. Where did you start? There's some very good and dark and psychological stuff in BSG. But I guess everyone has their own tastes, I just thought I'd recommed something that matches yours. You could get caught up with it whenever you felt like it, say a year from now, it's just TV.
I'd also recommend the Jim Henson movie Labyrinth if you haven't seen it. Not dark, but a classic. Another movie by that company, MirrorMask, is darker and involves doubles.
I really like your fiction, drabbles and series, and look forward to reading more (and maybe catching up on some I haven't read yet). Hope you're doing well apart from lab.

[tigriswolf]

I love Labyrinth! Jareth rocks.

I started with the pilot of "Battlestar" and stopped when that chick who gueststared on "Supernatural" killed a baby. I really hate when kids die.

I got to the second ep of the most recent version of "Doctor Who" and just didn't have enough interest in any of the characters to keep watching.

Thank you so much! I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop the lab and start again with Biology next semester.

[(Anonymous)]

Jareth definitely rocks! I replay the ballroom scene over and over. There's a manga continuation called Return to Labyrinth. I've not read it but it sounds good, though, be warned, different from the movie. MirrorMask is also quite good in my opinion. The plot is that Helena Campbell, who wants to run away from her family's circus business and join real life, involuntarily switches places with her counterpart in another world, the Dark Princess. And her mother falls ill.
Number Six saw it as a merciful act. Let's not forget that dear Ben was also a misguided neck-snapper, though not of kids as far as we saw. That particular Six becomes a very sympathetic character later on in the series, and actually prevents another baby's neck from being snapped. I'm pretty sure the Miniseries has the only example of kids dying, that baby and also a girl on a ship that's blown up offscreen (she doesn't realize). There are things like religious mysteries, duplicates, false memories, and voices/personas in people's heads that I think would interest you. I don't want to spoil it too much.
I hope your plans Re: Biology work well. I had one truly awful lab class to suffer through, but I managed to get through with a C. My grade for the main course, which was much more fun, was better. My current lab is in Statistics & Computing, and it's actually enjoyable.

[tigriswolf]

I may give "Battlestar" another go at some point in the future, and I've added MirrorMask to my queue.

[(Anonymous)]

Glad to hear it on both counts. I especially think the part about the Battlestar Pegasus (which is also the subject of the movie, Razor) might interest you. Still best to watch in sequence.
Hope you have a great day.

[(Anonymous)]

I just remembered to tell you, the Miniseries DVD is available on its own or as part of the Season One boxed set. The Season One boxed set always includes the Miniseries (if I had known, I would have bought the set instead of first getting the Mini by itself).
Best wishes!