The Final Word - Supernatural, Keeper!Verse, Puppy Challenge - from wandereringray
Fandom: Supernatural - from amara_m's Keeper!verse
Title: The Final Word
Characters: The Winchesters, with a special appearance by the man in the red suit.
Word Count: 1,351
Summary: Dana Winchester has tried every trick she knows of to get that puppy she wants, and nothing has worked. So now she's going for the big guns. Who else would you turn to on Christmas Eve?
Disclaimers, A/N: Obviously not mine. *laughs* In fact I'm writing about a set of fictional characters who aren't mind from an alternate verse that's SO not mine. SPN belongs to Kripke and the TV folks, the Keeper!Verse belongs to the lovely and talented amara_m.
Based off of a short piece by shotofjack and the subsequent challenge on how to get young Dana Winchester a puppy.
Thanks to amara_m for the beta work! *smooches*
Christmas was special.
Dana Winchester knew a lot of things. Some things that were totally normal, like how to add and subtract fractions. And some things a ten year-old probably shouldn't.
She knew that there were bad things in the dark. That holy water really was holy and that ordinary table salt could keep the bad things at bay.
She knew that Dad loved Uncle Sammy. That sometimes Papa Winchester and Uncle Sammy got into loud fights but they always made up. She knew that she was the center of their little world.
And she knew that she couldn't let it go to her head. Because there were bad things in the dark, waiting for her. And she had to be prepared for what was coming.
But Christmas ... it was special. Because Daddy said so, because it always had been. Christmas was songs and lights. It was trees covered in bright, sparkly ornaments. It was hot chocolate and peppermint.
Christmas was love. It was joy. It was peace.
There was no fighting at Christmas, she'd made sure of that.
Dana wrapped her arms around her knees and watched the snow fall down. It was close to midnight and everything was quiet outside. Almost too quiet.
She wanted to hear the jingling of bells, the hooves on the rooftop as Santa's sleigh landed. Dana desperately wanted to sneak down the stairs of this new home to the living room and sit in front of the fireplace just to see.
But Uncle Sammy would catch her, and if she got in trouble on Christmas Eve then this entire year would have been for nothing.
He had to be real. If there were such bad things in the world, didn't it stand to reason that there were good things too?
She'd known the jolly old man at the mall wasn't really Santa. He was a helper, someone who took the messages and passed them along. She knew because she'd seen him on the street corner earlier that day, and again on the TV that evening. There wasn't any way that Santa could be in so many places all at once.
It made sense. He was a busy man. It only made sense that he'd have people to help him. Kind of the same way Dad and Uncle Sam helped out Papa Winchester with the hunts.
Dana froze, all thought wiped from her head as her ears caught ... something. Had it been bells? Quiet as a mouse she slid from her bed to the window. She stood at the window, the cold seeping through the glass and turning her nose red. Her breath fogged up the panes so she had to use the sleeve of her nightgown to wipe a perfect circle in it.
The clock in the hallway chimed and Dana's eyes went wide, her heart beating in time with the bells.
It was Christmas. Surely he'd be here. Surely he'd bring it.
She scurried back to bed.
She'd asked last year. Over and over and over again until Dad threatened to tape her mouth shut and Uncle Sam begged her to cut him a break.
Even Papa Winchester hadn't dared to defy Dad on this one. He'd really put his foot down and Dana could only guess as to his reasons.
So she'd turned to Santa. Every chance. Every letter.
But Christmas came and went - and it hadn't been under the tree.
She hadn't cried. Had wanted to, but everyone else had been so happy, and then there was the rule. No tears on Christmas. No fights on Christmas.
Christmas was sacred. Even if you didn't get what you wanted with all your heart and soul.
When she'd thought about it later she'd come to the conclusion it must have been that fight with stupid Toby Murphy that had ruined everything. Well that and a few other things, she conceded.
Those blunders had put Miss Dana Winchester firmly onto the Naughty list.
Well, Miss Dana Winchester wasn't stupid. Her daddy and uncle had raised her better than that. So she resolved that very night that she'd do her best the following year.
She'd worked hard at school. At home. Did everything without complaint ... okay without too many complaints. For a while there her father had thought she'd been possessed, at least until Uncle Sam had disabused him of the notion.
She's even swallowed her pride and let stupid Toby and his bully pals play their games. She'd walked away, more times than she could count, telling herself that they were dumb and would have run screaming in terror if they knew even half the things she did.
Dana had been good. For the whole year. She hadn't even asked Santa for anything new. Just a whispered, "what I asked for last year," and a hopeful smile to the Santa helper at the mall.
It was silent out there, and Dana fell asleep to the sound of her own breathing. She didn't wake, didn't even stir as the faint sound of jingling echoed from above.
***
Dana woke and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a tiny frown. What was ... that? She bolted upright as the sounds of shouting filtered from downstairs and raced from her room to the top of the stairs. "No fighting on Christmas." She whispered, but no one heard her.
"Damn it, Sam, I'd said no!"
"Dean, it wasn't me!"
"Dad, I said-"
"Hey, son, don't even try to pin this on me."
She could see all three of them in the living room. Dad was yelling, Papa Winchester had his hands up in the air, and Uncle Sam was standing by the Christmas tree with a perplexed look on his face and a ...
Her eyes went wide.
"Puppy!"
Dana slip-slid down the stairs as the puppy barked and wriggled until Sam let her down so she could bound across the living room.
Little girl and puppy collided and tears flooded Dana's eyes as she wrapped her arms around the puppy's neck. She didn't bother to block Sam out of the joy in her head.
Mine! Santamine! Thank you Santa! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
Sam started to laugh, dodging Dean's swing with upraised hands. "Seriously, not me. It was Santa."
"No fighting, Daddy." Dana dislodged herself from the puppy long enough to give her father an imperious glare. He opened his mouth to protest and then sighed as he sank down onto the stairway next to her. "Santa." She looked up at him, watched his anger melt under the joy on her face. "It was Santa who brought her."
There was a startled laugh from Papa Winchester and more laughter from Sam as he came to sit down next to Dean. "Looks like you were overruled by the big man, himself, Dean."
"Are you telling me that Santa actually..." Dean stopped and shook his head.
"Daddy, don't be silly, of course Santa exists."
"I-"
"Dean." Papa Winchester pulled a rolled up piece of paper off the mantle by the empty plate and cup. It was tied with a gold ribbon. "It's for Dana." He said after he'd unrolled it and stared at it for a moment, then he read it out loud.
Dear Dana -
I apologize for the lateness of this gift. You see, I had a puppy all picked out for you, but at the last minute got wind of another little girl who desperately needed a puppy and I knew that being the kind child you are you wouldn't mind at all waiting an extra year for yours. So here it is. You take good care of her.
Santa Claus
P.S. Just so your father, uncle and grandfather don't think I've forgotten them, make sure they look under the tree for their gifts.
Dana beamed up at her father, the puppy now curled happily in her lap. "You can't argue with Santa." She said with wide eyes.
Her dad sighed. "I don't suppose I can. You sure fought dirty there, Dana." Then he grinned and scooped her up into a hug, puppy and all. "Worthy of a Winchester."
"What can I say? I learned from the best."
Title: The Final Word
Characters: The Winchesters, with a special appearance by the man in the red suit.
Word Count: 1,351
Summary: Dana Winchester has tried every trick she knows of to get that puppy she wants, and nothing has worked. So now she's going for the big guns. Who else would you turn to on Christmas Eve?
Disclaimers, A/N: Obviously not mine. *laughs* In fact I'm writing about a set of fictional characters who aren't mind from an alternate verse that's SO not mine. SPN belongs to Kripke and the TV folks, the Keeper!Verse belongs to the lovely and talented amara_m.
Based off of a short piece by shotofjack and the subsequent challenge on how to get young Dana Winchester a puppy.
Thanks to amara_m for the beta work! *smooches*
Christmas was special.
Dana Winchester knew a lot of things. Some things that were totally normal, like how to add and subtract fractions. And some things a ten year-old probably shouldn't.
She knew that there were bad things in the dark. That holy water really was holy and that ordinary table salt could keep the bad things at bay.
She knew that Dad loved Uncle Sammy. That sometimes Papa Winchester and Uncle Sammy got into loud fights but they always made up. She knew that she was the center of their little world.
And she knew that she couldn't let it go to her head. Because there were bad things in the dark, waiting for her. And she had to be prepared for what was coming.
But Christmas ... it was special. Because Daddy said so, because it always had been. Christmas was songs and lights. It was trees covered in bright, sparkly ornaments. It was hot chocolate and peppermint.
Christmas was love. It was joy. It was peace.
There was no fighting at Christmas, she'd made sure of that.
Dana wrapped her arms around her knees and watched the snow fall down. It was close to midnight and everything was quiet outside. Almost too quiet.
She wanted to hear the jingling of bells, the hooves on the rooftop as Santa's sleigh landed. Dana desperately wanted to sneak down the stairs of this new home to the living room and sit in front of the fireplace just to see.
But Uncle Sammy would catch her, and if she got in trouble on Christmas Eve then this entire year would have been for nothing.
He had to be real. If there were such bad things in the world, didn't it stand to reason that there were good things too?
She'd known the jolly old man at the mall wasn't really Santa. He was a helper, someone who took the messages and passed them along. She knew because she'd seen him on the street corner earlier that day, and again on the TV that evening. There wasn't any way that Santa could be in so many places all at once.
It made sense. He was a busy man. It only made sense that he'd have people to help him. Kind of the same way Dad and Uncle Sam helped out Papa Winchester with the hunts.
Dana froze, all thought wiped from her head as her ears caught ... something. Had it been bells? Quiet as a mouse she slid from her bed to the window. She stood at the window, the cold seeping through the glass and turning her nose red. Her breath fogged up the panes so she had to use the sleeve of her nightgown to wipe a perfect circle in it.
The clock in the hallway chimed and Dana's eyes went wide, her heart beating in time with the bells.
It was Christmas. Surely he'd be here. Surely he'd bring it.
She scurried back to bed.
She'd asked last year. Over and over and over again until Dad threatened to tape her mouth shut and Uncle Sam begged her to cut him a break.
Even Papa Winchester hadn't dared to defy Dad on this one. He'd really put his foot down and Dana could only guess as to his reasons.
So she'd turned to Santa. Every chance. Every letter.
But Christmas came and went - and it hadn't been under the tree.
She hadn't cried. Had wanted to, but everyone else had been so happy, and then there was the rule. No tears on Christmas. No fights on Christmas.
Christmas was sacred. Even if you didn't get what you wanted with all your heart and soul.
When she'd thought about it later she'd come to the conclusion it must have been that fight with stupid Toby Murphy that had ruined everything. Well that and a few other things, she conceded.
Those blunders had put Miss Dana Winchester firmly onto the Naughty list.
Well, Miss Dana Winchester wasn't stupid. Her daddy and uncle had raised her better than that. So she resolved that very night that she'd do her best the following year.
She'd worked hard at school. At home. Did everything without complaint ... okay without too many complaints. For a while there her father had thought she'd been possessed, at least until Uncle Sam had disabused him of the notion.
She's even swallowed her pride and let stupid Toby and his bully pals play their games. She'd walked away, more times than she could count, telling herself that they were dumb and would have run screaming in terror if they knew even half the things she did.
Dana had been good. For the whole year. She hadn't even asked Santa for anything new. Just a whispered, "what I asked for last year," and a hopeful smile to the Santa helper at the mall.
It was silent out there, and Dana fell asleep to the sound of her own breathing. She didn't wake, didn't even stir as the faint sound of jingling echoed from above.
***
Dana woke and rubbed the sleep from her eyes with a tiny frown. What was ... that? She bolted upright as the sounds of shouting filtered from downstairs and raced from her room to the top of the stairs. "No fighting on Christmas." She whispered, but no one heard her.
"Damn it, Sam, I'd said no!"
"Dean, it wasn't me!"
"Dad, I said-"
"Hey, son, don't even try to pin this on me."
She could see all three of them in the living room. Dad was yelling, Papa Winchester had his hands up in the air, and Uncle Sam was standing by the Christmas tree with a perplexed look on his face and a ...
Her eyes went wide.
"Puppy!"
Dana slip-slid down the stairs as the puppy barked and wriggled until Sam let her down so she could bound across the living room.
Little girl and puppy collided and tears flooded Dana's eyes as she wrapped her arms around the puppy's neck. She didn't bother to block Sam out of the joy in her head.
Mine! Santamine! Thank you Santa! Thankyouthankyouthankyou!
Sam started to laugh, dodging Dean's swing with upraised hands. "Seriously, not me. It was Santa."
"No fighting, Daddy." Dana dislodged herself from the puppy long enough to give her father an imperious glare. He opened his mouth to protest and then sighed as he sank down onto the stairway next to her. "Santa." She looked up at him, watched his anger melt under the joy on her face. "It was Santa who brought her."
There was a startled laugh from Papa Winchester and more laughter from Sam as he came to sit down next to Dean. "Looks like you were overruled by the big man, himself, Dean."
"Are you telling me that Santa actually..." Dean stopped and shook his head.
"Daddy, don't be silly, of course Santa exists."
"I-"
"Dean." Papa Winchester pulled a rolled up piece of paper off the mantle by the empty plate and cup. It was tied with a gold ribbon. "It's for Dana." He said after he'd unrolled it and stared at it for a moment, then he read it out loud.
Dear Dana -
I apologize for the lateness of this gift. You see, I had a puppy all picked out for you, but at the last minute got wind of another little girl who desperately needed a puppy and I knew that being the kind child you are you wouldn't mind at all waiting an extra year for yours. So here it is. You take good care of her.
Santa Claus
P.S. Just so your father, uncle and grandfather don't think I've forgotten them, make sure they look under the tree for their gifts.
Dana beamed up at her father, the puppy now curled happily in her lap. "You can't argue with Santa." She said with wide eyes.
Her dad sighed. "I don't suppose I can. You sure fought dirty there, Dana." Then he grinned and scooped her up into a hug, puppy and all. "Worthy of a Winchester."
"What can I say? I learned from the best."