SPN fic: Against a Child's Sunrise
Genre: gen, preseries
Characters: Mary, Dean
Rating: PG
Word Count: 475
Summary: Comment!fic written over at spnwriterlounge for the prompt - Mary tells Dean about the angels watching over him.
Against a Child's Sunrise
It was bedtime, and Dean was clinging to her neck and wailing like a klaxon in her ear. "Five more minutes. Five more minutes!"
"Hush, babe," she murmured. The words weren't as important as the tone, low enough to be firm and soothing at once. "Shh, sweet thing. You'll wake up Sammy." Nightlight on, overhead off. Mary sank into the rocking chair across from his bed, and she let him ride out the tantrum in her arms. "Shhh. Listen, babe."
"Fi' more minutes," he sniffled.
"Listen," she said, wiping angry tears from his cheek. And then she took a deep breath, and she picked up the thin thread of a favorite song. "Angel come down from heaven yesterday, she stayed with me just long enough to rescue me." It was a wavering sound, maybe a little off-key, but it softened the petulant jump of Dean's shoulders. "And she tell me a story yesterday about the love between the moon and the deep blue sea..."
Her boy hiccuped a few times, and the motion set the notes fluttering in her throat: "I said, fly on, my sweet angel, fly on through the sky."
John leaned his head in, and Mary glanced up warningly. "Fly on, my sweet angel, and tomorrow I will be by your side." John nodded and disappeared. He moved quietly for such a sturdy man; he was one of three people who had ever managed to sneak up on Mary more than once.
He'd done it yesterday, and she'd nearly broken his nose. "Whoa, baby, it's just me," he'd said, catching her fist before it connected. "You sure you're okay lately?"
She hadn't been. April had spent itself too quickly in fickle thunderstorms and dreams of yellow eyes. Her father's face was with her always, and her mother's voice sang hunters' lullabies in her nightmares. The demon had said ten years, and someone else had looked on with betrayal in his beautiful eyes. If God had turned his face away, then Mary would stand unforgiven and pay what she owed.
"Dean, honey," she murmured, looking down into her boy's half-closed eyes. "You know you were named for angels."
"Mmm," was all he had to say. The screaming fit had left him ragdoll-limp.
"It's true. And they're watching over you, baby. Always, they're watching over you."
There was a god in heaven, and there was mercy here on earth. Mary trusted the blinding eyes that watched her three men, and she trusted that God wouldn't let them pay for her sins.
Dean breathed slow, noisy breaths through his nose. It was safe to put him in bed now - he would sleep through the night. Mary could kiss Sam's sleeping head in his crib, and she could lay awake in her own bed and hum Jimi Hendrix like she wasn't afraid at all.
Characters: Mary, Dean
Rating: PG
Word Count: 475
Summary: Comment!fic written over at spnwriterlounge for the prompt - Mary tells Dean about the angels watching over him.
Against a Child's Sunrise
It was bedtime, and Dean was clinging to her neck and wailing like a klaxon in her ear. "Five more minutes. Five more minutes!"
"Hush, babe," she murmured. The words weren't as important as the tone, low enough to be firm and soothing at once. "Shh, sweet thing. You'll wake up Sammy." Nightlight on, overhead off. Mary sank into the rocking chair across from his bed, and she let him ride out the tantrum in her arms. "Shhh. Listen, babe."
"Fi' more minutes," he sniffled.
"Listen," she said, wiping angry tears from his cheek. And then she took a deep breath, and she picked up the thin thread of a favorite song. "Angel come down from heaven yesterday, she stayed with me just long enough to rescue me." It was a wavering sound, maybe a little off-key, but it softened the petulant jump of Dean's shoulders. "And she tell me a story yesterday about the love between the moon and the deep blue sea..."
Her boy hiccuped a few times, and the motion set the notes fluttering in her throat: "I said, fly on, my sweet angel, fly on through the sky."
John leaned his head in, and Mary glanced up warningly. "Fly on, my sweet angel, and tomorrow I will be by your side." John nodded and disappeared. He moved quietly for such a sturdy man; he was one of three people who had ever managed to sneak up on Mary more than once.
He'd done it yesterday, and she'd nearly broken his nose. "Whoa, baby, it's just me," he'd said, catching her fist before it connected. "You sure you're okay lately?"
She hadn't been. April had spent itself too quickly in fickle thunderstorms and dreams of yellow eyes. Her father's face was with her always, and her mother's voice sang hunters' lullabies in her nightmares. The demon had said ten years, and someone else had looked on with betrayal in his beautiful eyes. If God had turned his face away, then Mary would stand unforgiven and pay what she owed.
"Dean, honey," she murmured, looking down into her boy's half-closed eyes. "You know you were named for angels."
"Mmm," was all he had to say. The screaming fit had left him ragdoll-limp.
"It's true. And they're watching over you, baby. Always, they're watching over you."
There was a god in heaven, and there was mercy here on earth. Mary trusted the blinding eyes that watched her three men, and she trusted that God wouldn't let them pay for her sins.
Dean breathed slow, noisy breaths through his nose. It was safe to put him in bed now - he would sleep through the night. Mary could kiss Sam's sleeping head in his crib, and she could lay awake in her own bed and hum Jimi Hendrix like she wasn't afraid at all.