alexseanchai: Katsuki Yuuri wearing a blue jacket and his glasses and holding a poodle, in front of the asexual pride flag with a rainbow heart inset. (Default)
let me hear your voice tonight ([personal profile] alexseanchai) wrote2010-11-27 11:44 pm

Pocket Full of Posies

Title: Pocket Full of Posies
Rating: PG-13
Summary: The hell is Sam supposed to do with a baby, anyway? Set during 1x21 and 1x22 "Salvation" and "Devil's Trap". Written for [livejournal.com profile] au_bingo prompt "Alternate History: Canon event changed" as well as for [community profile] spn_bitesized.
Pairings: None.
Warnings: Character death.
Word Count: 510

Monica Holt's burning on the ceiling and Sam only barely has the presence of mind to run. Jess's killer is here, somewhere within gunshot—

Dean's already outside, the baby cradled in his arms. "Where's the dad?" he asks.

Sam doesn't know.

The dad never does come out, and Sam tells the police they're Monica's brothers, in town for the weekend. Sam's thinking about Jess already. It's easy to pretend emotion for the loss of his big sister. Dean doesn't say a word that isn't babble to Rosie, who knows something's wrong (sometimes she looks at you, and I swear, it's like she's reading your mind) and won't stop crying.

The safest place for Rosie is with Dean and Sam, since the demon has its hooks in her. Which means they need to take care of her as well as shooting anything that tries to get near her. Which means...Sam has no idea, and Dean's not much help either. One of the Holts' neighbors takes pity on them and runs to Walmart for diapers and formula and baby clothes.

Sam's phone rings while Dean's working out how to change a diaper. Sam answers: "Dad! We have a problem—"

"I'll say," says a too-familiar voice.

"Meg," Sam says flatly.

"You boys really screwed up this time."

"Where is he?" Sam asks, trying to sound calm.

"You're never gonna see your father again."

"I need to talk to him," Sam says. Meg laughs and hangs up. "Fuck."

Rosie burbles. "Language in front of the baby," Dean says. Sam can still hear the tension.

They're on the road in ten minutes. Sam's driving, and please God let Uncle Bobby know what to do with a demon-touched six-month-old, while Dean cuddles the baby.

Bobby, it turns out, knows exactly what to do with a demon-touched six-month-old: flat refuse to have anything to do with taking care of her. "Ain't got rid of you two yet, have I?" he points out reasonably.

Sam hates hunting alone, did it a few times at Stanford but it always felt three times as dangerous, but that's the only choice when they get to the apartment building Meg-the-girl identified right after they exorcised Meg-the-demon.

Suddenly Sam feels the intense need to apologize to his father.

There's two demons. Sam fights his way through them with ease. After the trouble he and Dean have had with demons when it was two on one in their favor, Sam can't help but think something's wrong. But Dad doesn't react to holy water the way demons do, isn't affected by salt or iron or the first several words of an exorcism, and Dean finally tells him to shut up, there's nothing wrong with Dad and Sam is disturbing Rosie.

Except of course there is.

Sam should have known, he thinks later. Rosie was upset. (She's such a good baby. I know, I mean, she never cries.) Rosie is a psychic kid and never cries and she was crying—

When John says to shoot, when John says Sam can't let the demon have Rosie, Sam pulls the trigger.