FIC: Family (1/3) HIMYM/Supernatural crossover
Family
May 1998
James watched as his younger brother scrabbled in the dirt, covering the hole in the ground with his bare hands. His dirty-blonde hair hung in a curtain over his face, hiding the tortured expression, the vacant blue eyes. James was glad of that. He couldn't bear to see his brother in such pain, but at least Barney was still alive.
Nothing had worked after Shannon had left, not alcohol, not getting him laid (even though Rhonda wasn't exactly the hottest chick there ever was), not even good brotherly advice. All that had led to a frantic trip to the emergency room and a couple of hours of nail-biting waiting while Barney had his stomach pumped. James thought he'd always remember his Mom's face, as pale as he'd ever seen her, and her hushed, angry words on hearing that her youngest son had overdosed on sleeping pills.
"You look after your brother, Jimmy Stinson, you hear me? Don't you let this ever happen again!"
So here they were, at this crossroads, with Barney so far gone that he didn't even have the energy to ask James how he knew about this stuff. Hell, James didn't even know himself if he knew what he was doing himself. He just remembered Mom's friend Alma-May, from fifteen years back, telling him all about the hoodoo and the deals a smart kid could make with the spirit world.
At first, James was pretty sure it hadn't worked. He'd never really expected it to work. He was counting on conning Barney somehow, making him believe the deal was done somehow. James had even approached a few of the guys from work to talk about setting up an elaborate play, lights and mirrors, to convince his brother that his life was going to get better. Mind over matter… the placebo effect. James had been willing to try anything at this point.
Anything to stop Barney from attempting to take his own life again.
Barney stood and brushed the dirt from the knees of his jeans, hanging his head despondently. James took a step forward to reach him but suddenly it was like he was moving through treacle.
Suddenly there was a woman there with them, on the deserted highway, in the middle of the night.
A really hot, smoking hot, woman.
"Hello Barnaby Stinson," she said, extending her hand. "Boy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Er, hi?" Barney answered shyly. He turned around to look at James, his eyes wide with shock, and mouthed "What the hell?"
"Hell… interesting…" The woman said. James blinked, and there she was, standing directly between the two brothers, without actually moving an inch. "Let's cut to the chase, boys. You want something from me, I want something from you. We here to do a deal?"
James nodded encouragingly at Barney.
"Will you help me?" Barney croaked, his eyes brimming with tears. "Please?"
The woman smiled, a strange, dead smile, and her eyes flashed with a burning red fire. James felt a cold weight settle in his stomach. Alma-May used to speak of the benevolent spirits who were there to protect and guide people through the trials and tribulations of the world. However, she sometimes also spoke, with darkly-veiled hints, of another kind of spirit.
"I'll help you," She said, smiling. "I'll give you ten years of the most incredible life you can imagine right now. I'll give you the time of your life."
"And what does he have to give you in return?" James asked, suspiciously.
"His…" She smiled. "His life. His soul. After ten years, he belongs to me…"
"Barney- don't-" James tried to reach out, realizing his terrible mistake, suddenly cursing Alma-May's memory and the foolish thoughts that had brought him here, to this spot. But he couldn't speak, he couldn't move. The spirit stretched out her hand, made a fist in mid-air and James began to choke.
"Stop it!" Barney pleaded. "Don't hurt him!"
"Do you want my help?" The woman turned on James's younger brother.
"Don't hurt James!"
"Do you want my help?" The woman repeated, her tone strident, demanding.
"Yes! I want it to stop!" Tears were rolling down Barney's cheeks. "I never want to feel this way over a woman again. I just want to not care. I want this to all stop!"
The woman's fingers extended and James took a huge, shuddering breath, his throat no longer constricted.
"Is that all?" The woman laughed a musical laugh. To James, the sound was creepy and maybe a little evil. "For ten years, not to care about women?"
Barney looked over to James again, and his brother could see the panic in his eyes.
"I don't know…" Barney stuttered. "What do I ask for, world peace? End global hunger? Tyranny? How much do I get for my soul?"
James laughed, he couldn't help it. Even now, with his very life and soul on the line, his little brother was a hippy freak. It was ridiculous! Impossible! This couldn't be happening. "For crap's sake lady, just make him awesome," he blurted.
"Done…" The woman said, reached forward, and grabbed Barney around the neck. She pulled him in for a kiss and for a moment it seemed as though she were pulling his brother's soul out right there and then. There was an odd shimmer in the air between them, and then the woman disappeared. She literally vanished.
"Oh my god…" James said, stumbling forward and almost falling on his ass.
And when Barney turned towards him, there was something new in his eyes. Something dark. If James didn't know better, he'd have sworn that for a moment, the whites of his brother's eyes were blotted out completely, leaving a sheen of shark-like, midnight black.
*--*--*
Ten years later
James loved his younger brother, but the guy was infuriating.
For a year, he'd been begging Barney to take him seriously, trying to remind him of that night ten years ago, of the curse that Barney had taken on willingly. For that final month he'd become even more frantic, calling Barney every day and begging him to fly over to stay with him and Tom. He'd used every trick in the book. If Barney died, his son, Sam, would grow up without an uncle. His friends would mourn him.
If Barney died, James would carry the guilt inside him forever.
But, with a few months to go something had happened that had distracted Barney completely from the problem of his immortal soul.
Barney had slept with Robin.
James could have seen that one coming a mile away. That's what you got when you put a guy with no conscience towards women together with a super hot friend of the female variety. You got sex. Yeah, like that wasn't going to happen sooner or later.
When Ted turned on his brother, James had conversations with Barney that were terrifyingly reminiscent of the Shannon situation so many years ago. Barney calling him in tears. Barney getting blind drunk and suicidal. Barney's voice dulling into that monotone that chilled James to the bone. It was as though all the good done by the spirit of the crossroads had been unpicked in one night.
Barney may be immune to being hurt by women, but nothing in the contract ever said he was protected against being hurt by another guy. And James, more than anyone else he thought Barney knew, understood the deep bond between men that had nothing to do with romantic love. The Greeks understood it, and modern day man had reduced it to jock horseplay or into trite rituals such as Barney's own bro-code.
But the devotion of true friends ran deep, and James understood and was scared for his brother. He felt as though somehow the world had turned full circle, bringing them both back to the place they stood ten years ago.
It took all James's strength to sit up at night with Barney, trying to convince him not to turn his gun on himself. The fact that Barney had a gun ("for work… please!" was all the explanation James had gotten) was scary enough.
James wondered if Barney didn't believe that he was really going to lose his soul in May, or if he just didn't care, of if maybe they'd both imagined that night. It was so long ago, so surreal, it felt like a dream.
Then one day, one lunch time, just as he was leaving the house to go back to work after checking up on Sam, James got the call.
Barney had been hit by a bus.
It was exactly ten years to the day from their deal with the devil. And James would have done anything to take it back.
*--*--*
To be continued...
May 1998
James watched as his younger brother scrabbled in the dirt, covering the hole in the ground with his bare hands. His dirty-blonde hair hung in a curtain over his face, hiding the tortured expression, the vacant blue eyes. James was glad of that. He couldn't bear to see his brother in such pain, but at least Barney was still alive.
Nothing had worked after Shannon had left, not alcohol, not getting him laid (even though Rhonda wasn't exactly the hottest chick there ever was), not even good brotherly advice. All that had led to a frantic trip to the emergency room and a couple of hours of nail-biting waiting while Barney had his stomach pumped. James thought he'd always remember his Mom's face, as pale as he'd ever seen her, and her hushed, angry words on hearing that her youngest son had overdosed on sleeping pills.
"You look after your brother, Jimmy Stinson, you hear me? Don't you let this ever happen again!"
So here they were, at this crossroads, with Barney so far gone that he didn't even have the energy to ask James how he knew about this stuff. Hell, James didn't even know himself if he knew what he was doing himself. He just remembered Mom's friend Alma-May, from fifteen years back, telling him all about the hoodoo and the deals a smart kid could make with the spirit world.
At first, James was pretty sure it hadn't worked. He'd never really expected it to work. He was counting on conning Barney somehow, making him believe the deal was done somehow. James had even approached a few of the guys from work to talk about setting up an elaborate play, lights and mirrors, to convince his brother that his life was going to get better. Mind over matter… the placebo effect. James had been willing to try anything at this point.
Anything to stop Barney from attempting to take his own life again.
Barney stood and brushed the dirt from the knees of his jeans, hanging his head despondently. James took a step forward to reach him but suddenly it was like he was moving through treacle.
Suddenly there was a woman there with them, on the deserted highway, in the middle of the night.
A really hot, smoking hot, woman.
"Hello Barnaby Stinson," she said, extending her hand. "Boy, it's a pleasure to finally meet you."
"Er, hi?" Barney answered shyly. He turned around to look at James, his eyes wide with shock, and mouthed "What the hell?"
"Hell… interesting…" The woman said. James blinked, and there she was, standing directly between the two brothers, without actually moving an inch. "Let's cut to the chase, boys. You want something from me, I want something from you. We here to do a deal?"
James nodded encouragingly at Barney.
"Will you help me?" Barney croaked, his eyes brimming with tears. "Please?"
The woman smiled, a strange, dead smile, and her eyes flashed with a burning red fire. James felt a cold weight settle in his stomach. Alma-May used to speak of the benevolent spirits who were there to protect and guide people through the trials and tribulations of the world. However, she sometimes also spoke, with darkly-veiled hints, of another kind of spirit.
"I'll help you," She said, smiling. "I'll give you ten years of the most incredible life you can imagine right now. I'll give you the time of your life."
"And what does he have to give you in return?" James asked, suspiciously.
"His…" She smiled. "His life. His soul. After ten years, he belongs to me…"
"Barney- don't-" James tried to reach out, realizing his terrible mistake, suddenly cursing Alma-May's memory and the foolish thoughts that had brought him here, to this spot. But he couldn't speak, he couldn't move. The spirit stretched out her hand, made a fist in mid-air and James began to choke.
"Stop it!" Barney pleaded. "Don't hurt him!"
"Do you want my help?" The woman turned on James's younger brother.
"Don't hurt James!"
"Do you want my help?" The woman repeated, her tone strident, demanding.
"Yes! I want it to stop!" Tears were rolling down Barney's cheeks. "I never want to feel this way over a woman again. I just want to not care. I want this to all stop!"
The woman's fingers extended and James took a huge, shuddering breath, his throat no longer constricted.
"Is that all?" The woman laughed a musical laugh. To James, the sound was creepy and maybe a little evil. "For ten years, not to care about women?"
Barney looked over to James again, and his brother could see the panic in his eyes.
"I don't know…" Barney stuttered. "What do I ask for, world peace? End global hunger? Tyranny? How much do I get for my soul?"
James laughed, he couldn't help it. Even now, with his very life and soul on the line, his little brother was a hippy freak. It was ridiculous! Impossible! This couldn't be happening. "For crap's sake lady, just make him awesome," he blurted.
"Done…" The woman said, reached forward, and grabbed Barney around the neck. She pulled him in for a kiss and for a moment it seemed as though she were pulling his brother's soul out right there and then. There was an odd shimmer in the air between them, and then the woman disappeared. She literally vanished.
"Oh my god…" James said, stumbling forward and almost falling on his ass.
And when Barney turned towards him, there was something new in his eyes. Something dark. If James didn't know better, he'd have sworn that for a moment, the whites of his brother's eyes were blotted out completely, leaving a sheen of shark-like, midnight black.
*--*--*
Ten years later
James loved his younger brother, but the guy was infuriating.
For a year, he'd been begging Barney to take him seriously, trying to remind him of that night ten years ago, of the curse that Barney had taken on willingly. For that final month he'd become even more frantic, calling Barney every day and begging him to fly over to stay with him and Tom. He'd used every trick in the book. If Barney died, his son, Sam, would grow up without an uncle. His friends would mourn him.
If Barney died, James would carry the guilt inside him forever.
But, with a few months to go something had happened that had distracted Barney completely from the problem of his immortal soul.
Barney had slept with Robin.
James could have seen that one coming a mile away. That's what you got when you put a guy with no conscience towards women together with a super hot friend of the female variety. You got sex. Yeah, like that wasn't going to happen sooner or later.
When Ted turned on his brother, James had conversations with Barney that were terrifyingly reminiscent of the Shannon situation so many years ago. Barney calling him in tears. Barney getting blind drunk and suicidal. Barney's voice dulling into that monotone that chilled James to the bone. It was as though all the good done by the spirit of the crossroads had been unpicked in one night.
Barney may be immune to being hurt by women, but nothing in the contract ever said he was protected against being hurt by another guy. And James, more than anyone else he thought Barney knew, understood the deep bond between men that had nothing to do with romantic love. The Greeks understood it, and modern day man had reduced it to jock horseplay or into trite rituals such as Barney's own bro-code.
But the devotion of true friends ran deep, and James understood and was scared for his brother. He felt as though somehow the world had turned full circle, bringing them both back to the place they stood ten years ago.
It took all James's strength to sit up at night with Barney, trying to convince him not to turn his gun on himself. The fact that Barney had a gun ("for work… please!" was all the explanation James had gotten) was scary enough.
James wondered if Barney didn't believe that he was really going to lose his soul in May, or if he just didn't care, of if maybe they'd both imagined that night. It was so long ago, so surreal, it felt like a dream.
Then one day, one lunch time, just as he was leaving the house to go back to work after checking up on Sam, James got the call.
Barney had been hit by a bus.
It was exactly ten years to the day from their deal with the devil. And James would have done anything to take it back.
*--*--*
To be continued...