Fic Snippet: SPN.
written 3 October 2011 - SPN; a witch turns Dean into a woman. That's pretty much all that happens. Part of what may eventually be a longer work. Not especially well-written.
But neither of them were listening to a word he was saying.
Sam stopped talking abruptly as soon as he noticed their inattention, looking between Dean and Castiel. Okay, he thought, it wasn’t just that they weren’t paying attention - something was wrong. Things were suddenly tense, and not the usual I’m-denying-I’m-attracted-to-you tense - more of a the shit is about to hit the fan tense. Sam stepped forward, giving them a smile, bracketing them each with a hand at their back. “Guys,” he said, watching as Dean’s face tightened. “Is everything okay?”
“This isn’t Cas,” Dean said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“What do you mean?” Castiel asked, trying to look stern and confused, but only managing to look really, really nervous. And that wasn’t normal at all. Neither was the sudden hitch in his breath. Sam generally took Dean’s theories with a grain of salt, but when it came to Cas, Dean was unquestionably the authority.
Sam took a step closer to Dean. “Yeah,” he said, “there’s something... different about you, Cas. You okay, man?”
“That’s not Cas,” Dean said again, sounding angrier. “I don’t know who or what you are,” he said to Cas - or the Cas-thing, Sam still wasn’t sure - “but it’s not Cas.”
“I don’t... Um, is that... Jimmy?” Sam asked, grasping at straws. He really had no idea why Jimmy Novak would pretend to be Cas instead of just get the hell away from them, but he wasn’t coming up with too many other explanations.
This time the confusion was more genuine. “Who’s Jimmy?” Cas asked.
Sam’s eyes widened and Dean gave him an annoyed I-told-you-so look. “Who are you?” Sam asked. “And what’d you do with Cas?”
“What do you mean? It’s me,” he said, starting to edge away from them. “Cas.”
“Stop jerking us around,” Dean said, walking up into the imposter’s personal space. “What the hell’d you do with Cas? How’d you get enough power to get rid of an angel?”
“An angel?” the guy said incredulously. “Angels aren’t - “ He cut off, realizing that he’d probably just given himself away. “Shit,” he muttered. He looked around the bar for half a second before turning on his heel and running off as fast as he could.
“Damn it,” Dean said, pursing his lips. He nodded at Sam to follow him and then started off after fake-Cas.
“Dean...,” Sam said to himself, watching as his brother ran through the crowd of people, darting through the door in pursuit of the Cas-thing. He knew that really he didn’t have a choice - of course he was going to follow Dean. He had never been the most emotionally stable person around and after Sam Cas was right up there on his list of people-I’ll-do-stupid-shit-for. “Dean,” he called. “Wait!”
The parking lot was a decent size, but it was also well lit, so Sam wasn’t really worried about losing them. He leapt over a guy curled up on the sidewalk next to the building, and followed Dean’s back between two rows of cars. “Dean,” he called again.
“Over here, Sam,” he answered, and as soon as Sam turned a corner there was Dean, coming up on a woman who looked to be in her late-twenties standing next to a lightpole. The man who’d been Castiel was standing hunched up behind her, starting to look less and less like Cas with every moment.
“Oh,” Sam said, coming to a halt beside his brother. “That’s... that’s not Cas.”
“You think?” Dean asked, voice heavy with sarcasm. He gave Sam a look between annoyance and disgust before turning his attention back to the two people in front of them. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. “And why were you pretending to be Cas?”
“Hey, don’t talk to him that way,” the woman said, stepping out with one leg to further shield the man behind her.
“Excuse me?” Dean asked. “I don’t know why you’re helping that son of a bitch, but if he did anything to Cas - “
“Who the hell is Cas?” she asked impatiently.
“He’s our friend,” Sam explained, butting in. “He’s the guy that...” He gestured to the skinny man cowering behind her. Even his clothes had changed. “He was impersonating Cas,” he said. “The... guy behind you was.”
“Oh.” She reached behind her and grabbed his arm, tugging him gently before the Winchesters.
The man smiled nervously and waved, his eyes on the ground. “Hi,” he said.
Dean’s patience was not going to last much longer, Sam could tell. “Where,” he asked deliberately, “is Cas?”
The man didn’t answer.
“Jeremy,” the woman said, rubbing his back through the thin cotton shirt he wore, “you didn’t do anything to him, did you?”
“No,” he said. He met Dean’s eyes for a second before looking away again. “He’s back at the hotel, waiting for you in your room.”
“How the hell do you know our room number? You been following us?”
“No!” the guy said, looking embarrassed. “I was the guy who... who checked you in. So I just told him that you... that you wanted him to wait for you. I figured he’d just stay there and go to sleep or something and I could go meet you guys at the bar.”
“But... but why?” Sam asked. The guy seemed far more penitent than dangerous. “What do you want?”
He didn’t answer and after a moment the woman snorted softly. “He just thought you guys were cool, okay?” She wrapped her arm around him. He leaned in closer. “He wanted to hang out with you for a little while.”
“Couldn’t he have just... asked?” Sam coughed at the woman’s withering look.
“He’s shy,” she explained. “And he’s not comfortable with how he looks. I know it’s a little unorthodox, but ”
“So... what? He’s a shifter?”
“No,” she said. “It’s just... glamour. It’s more of an illusion than an actual change.”
“Okay,” Dean said. “So is he a witch?”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “But I am.”
“Damn it,” Dean said. “Another witch? Really?”
“Hey,” she said. “Can it, asshole. You think I’m happy about you being here? Whatever you are? Look, just go away and leave my brother and me alone. He’s sorry - right, Jeremy?”
“Sorry,” he said, ducking his head. “And I promise your friend is fine. I didn’t do anything to him, I promise.” He tried to smile at Dean, but Dean’s expression remained hard, and the smile fell off.
“Christ,” Dean muttering, rubbing his jaw. “You know what? Fine. Fine we’ll just - “
“Wait,” Sam said. He took a cautious step forward. “How did... How did we get that power?”
“A spell. I did it,” she said.
“Wait. You put a spell on your own brother?”
“Yes,” she said, giving Dean a dark, angry look. “Do you have a problem with that? You don’t know us; you don’t know what he was going through. So get off your high horse and leave us the hell alone.”
“Whatever,” Dean said, turning around. “Crazy bitch.”
Sam wasn’t sure what happened next because everything happened really quickly, and everything was really loud. The woman lunged forward and Dean, reciting something, throwing something, and it struck Sam suddenly that she was casting a spell, and that Dean was in trouble, but he reached over and his brother was gone.
There was, instead, a woman wearing clothes very similar to Dean’s in his place. And that didn’t bode well at all.
She stood up, wiping her hands on on her jeans. “What the hell?” she said, “what happened to me?”
“I turned you into a woman.”
Well oh, Sam thought, okay. That explained things.
“What the fuck,” lady-Dean said. She... or he, Sam thought, though he wasn’t sure, because Dean was still a guy even if he didn’t outwardly look it, looked frantically at his own body, grabbing his new breasts. “What the hell? Why did you do this to me?”
The witch - and they really should get an actual name for her soon, Sam thought - shrugged. “Teach you a little humility.”
“No,” Dean said, walking up to her. He was shorter than she was now, and even though Dean still looked strong, he was a lot less intimidating now. “No, you change me back. Change me back right now.”
“No,” she said. “Figure out how to do it on your own; I’m done with you.”
“Hey.” She turned back towards her brother, but Dean clapped a firm hand on one shoulder. “You’re not done until - “
“Oh no,” she said, whirling around and jerking out of his grip. She hit Dean in the jaw hard enough to make him reel back a little. “No. You’ll back the hell off right now before I do something a lot worse than just turning you into a woman.”
“Oh yeah?” Dean sneered. “Like what?”
Sam shook his head. “Dean. Really?”
He looked at Sam and shrugged. “What?”
It was incredibly disconcerting to see someone he knew was his brother, the same expressions, the same inflections in the - admittedly much higher - voice, looking so different. “You’re going to actively encourage her to curse you?”
“Is he always this obnoxious?” the witch asked, “or is he just having a good night?”
Sam shot her a look - just because she was right didn’t give her an excuse to talk about Dean that way.
“If you really want to see what I can do... I’ll be happy to show you.”
But neither of them were listening to a word he was saying.
Sam stopped talking abruptly as soon as he noticed their inattention, looking between Dean and Castiel. Okay, he thought, it wasn’t just that they weren’t paying attention - something was wrong. Things were suddenly tense, and not the usual I’m-denying-I’m-attracted-to-you tense - more of a the shit is about to hit the fan tense. Sam stepped forward, giving them a smile, bracketing them each with a hand at their back. “Guys,” he said, watching as Dean’s face tightened. “Is everything okay?”
“This isn’t Cas,” Dean said, crossing his arms over his chest.
“What do you mean?” Castiel asked, trying to look stern and confused, but only managing to look really, really nervous. And that wasn’t normal at all. Neither was the sudden hitch in his breath. Sam generally took Dean’s theories with a grain of salt, but when it came to Cas, Dean was unquestionably the authority.
Sam took a step closer to Dean. “Yeah,” he said, “there’s something... different about you, Cas. You okay, man?”
“That’s not Cas,” Dean said again, sounding angrier. “I don’t know who or what you are,” he said to Cas - or the Cas-thing, Sam still wasn’t sure - “but it’s not Cas.”
“I don’t... Um, is that... Jimmy?” Sam asked, grasping at straws. He really had no idea why Jimmy Novak would pretend to be Cas instead of just get the hell away from them, but he wasn’t coming up with too many other explanations.
This time the confusion was more genuine. “Who’s Jimmy?” Cas asked.
Sam’s eyes widened and Dean gave him an annoyed I-told-you-so look. “Who are you?” Sam asked. “And what’d you do with Cas?”
“What do you mean? It’s me,” he said, starting to edge away from them. “Cas.”
“Stop jerking us around,” Dean said, walking up into the imposter’s personal space. “What the hell’d you do with Cas? How’d you get enough power to get rid of an angel?”
“An angel?” the guy said incredulously. “Angels aren’t - “ He cut off, realizing that he’d probably just given himself away. “Shit,” he muttered. He looked around the bar for half a second before turning on his heel and running off as fast as he could.
“Damn it,” Dean said, pursing his lips. He nodded at Sam to follow him and then started off after fake-Cas.
“Dean...,” Sam said to himself, watching as his brother ran through the crowd of people, darting through the door in pursuit of the Cas-thing. He knew that really he didn’t have a choice - of course he was going to follow Dean. He had never been the most emotionally stable person around and after Sam Cas was right up there on his list of people-I’ll-do-stupid-shit-for. “Dean,” he called. “Wait!”
The parking lot was a decent size, but it was also well lit, so Sam wasn’t really worried about losing them. He leapt over a guy curled up on the sidewalk next to the building, and followed Dean’s back between two rows of cars. “Dean,” he called again.
“Over here, Sam,” he answered, and as soon as Sam turned a corner there was Dean, coming up on a woman who looked to be in her late-twenties standing next to a lightpole. The man who’d been Castiel was standing hunched up behind her, starting to look less and less like Cas with every moment.
“Oh,” Sam said, coming to a halt beside his brother. “That’s... that’s not Cas.”
“You think?” Dean asked, voice heavy with sarcasm. He gave Sam a look between annoyance and disgust before turning his attention back to the two people in front of them. “Who the hell are you?” he asked. “And why were you pretending to be Cas?”
“Hey, don’t talk to him that way,” the woman said, stepping out with one leg to further shield the man behind her.
“Excuse me?” Dean asked. “I don’t know why you’re helping that son of a bitch, but if he did anything to Cas - “
“Who the hell is Cas?” she asked impatiently.
“He’s our friend,” Sam explained, butting in. “He’s the guy that...” He gestured to the skinny man cowering behind her. Even his clothes had changed. “He was impersonating Cas,” he said. “The... guy behind you was.”
“Oh.” She reached behind her and grabbed his arm, tugging him gently before the Winchesters.
The man smiled nervously and waved, his eyes on the ground. “Hi,” he said.
Dean’s patience was not going to last much longer, Sam could tell. “Where,” he asked deliberately, “is Cas?”
The man didn’t answer.
“Jeremy,” the woman said, rubbing his back through the thin cotton shirt he wore, “you didn’t do anything to him, did you?”
“No,” he said. He met Dean’s eyes for a second before looking away again. “He’s back at the hotel, waiting for you in your room.”
“How the hell do you know our room number? You been following us?”
“No!” the guy said, looking embarrassed. “I was the guy who... who checked you in. So I just told him that you... that you wanted him to wait for you. I figured he’d just stay there and go to sleep or something and I could go meet you guys at the bar.”
“But... but why?” Sam asked. The guy seemed far more penitent than dangerous. “What do you want?”
He didn’t answer and after a moment the woman snorted softly. “He just thought you guys were cool, okay?” She wrapped her arm around him. He leaned in closer. “He wanted to hang out with you for a little while.”
“Couldn’t he have just... asked?” Sam coughed at the woman’s withering look.
“He’s shy,” she explained. “And he’s not comfortable with how he looks. I know it’s a little unorthodox, but ”
“So... what? He’s a shifter?”
“No,” she said. “It’s just... glamour. It’s more of an illusion than an actual change.”
“Okay,” Dean said. “So is he a witch?”
“No,” she said, crossing her arms. “But I am.”
“Damn it,” Dean said. “Another witch? Really?”
“Hey,” she said. “Can it, asshole. You think I’m happy about you being here? Whatever you are? Look, just go away and leave my brother and me alone. He’s sorry - right, Jeremy?”
“Sorry,” he said, ducking his head. “And I promise your friend is fine. I didn’t do anything to him, I promise.” He tried to smile at Dean, but Dean’s expression remained hard, and the smile fell off.
“Christ,” Dean muttering, rubbing his jaw. “You know what? Fine. Fine we’ll just - “
“Wait,” Sam said. He took a cautious step forward. “How did... How did we get that power?”
“A spell. I did it,” she said.
“Wait. You put a spell on your own brother?”
“Yes,” she said, giving Dean a dark, angry look. “Do you have a problem with that? You don’t know us; you don’t know what he was going through. So get off your high horse and leave us the hell alone.”
“Whatever,” Dean said, turning around. “Crazy bitch.”
Sam wasn’t sure what happened next because everything happened really quickly, and everything was really loud. The woman lunged forward and Dean, reciting something, throwing something, and it struck Sam suddenly that she was casting a spell, and that Dean was in trouble, but he reached over and his brother was gone.
There was, instead, a woman wearing clothes very similar to Dean’s in his place. And that didn’t bode well at all.
She stood up, wiping her hands on on her jeans. “What the hell?” she said, “what happened to me?”
“I turned you into a woman.”
Well oh, Sam thought, okay. That explained things.
“What the fuck,” lady-Dean said. She... or he, Sam thought, though he wasn’t sure, because Dean was still a guy even if he didn’t outwardly look it, looked frantically at his own body, grabbing his new breasts. “What the hell? Why did you do this to me?”
The witch - and they really should get an actual name for her soon, Sam thought - shrugged. “Teach you a little humility.”
“No,” Dean said, walking up to her. He was shorter than she was now, and even though Dean still looked strong, he was a lot less intimidating now. “No, you change me back. Change me back right now.”
“No,” she said. “Figure out how to do it on your own; I’m done with you.”
“Hey.” She turned back towards her brother, but Dean clapped a firm hand on one shoulder. “You’re not done until - “
“Oh no,” she said, whirling around and jerking out of his grip. She hit Dean in the jaw hard enough to make him reel back a little. “No. You’ll back the hell off right now before I do something a lot worse than just turning you into a woman.”
“Oh yeah?” Dean sneered. “Like what?”
Sam shook his head. “Dean. Really?”
He looked at Sam and shrugged. “What?”
It was incredibly disconcerting to see someone he knew was his brother, the same expressions, the same inflections in the - admittedly much higher - voice, looking so different. “You’re going to actively encourage her to curse you?”
“Is he always this obnoxious?” the witch asked, “or is he just having a good night?”
Sam shot her a look - just because she was right didn’t give her an excuse to talk about Dean that way.
“If you really want to see what I can do... I’ll be happy to show you.”