Hang the Moon (Gen, PG)
Title: Hang the Moon
Rating: PG
Category: Gen oneshot
Word Count: 1302
Characters: Sam & Dean
Spoilers: Up to 6.07
Warnings: Mild gore
Summary: It’s the end, and Dean makes a deal.
Author’s Notes: Title taken from the idiom “think someone hung the moon and the stars” where a person perceives another as being perfect.
Disclaimer: The following characters and situations are used without permission of the creators, owners, and further affiliates of the television show, Supernatural, to whom they rightly belong. I claim only what is mine, and I make no money off what is theirs.
- - - - -
This is how it ends.
Dean’s voice, strong when it should be weak, when it should be wavering and frightened, because there should be so much unknown to this agreement he’s making. But, this deal, it’s about Sam, and when it comes to Sam, Dean’s always been strong and unafraid.
This is how it ends.
It begins with so much more and so much less.
It begins with Lucifer inside Sam’s head and then Sam back inside his own, trapping Lucifer, taking him and tying him fast in places that can’t be categorized by neurons and gray matter, lobes and sections. With Michael, brother and angel and son, and into the hole they all go. Lucifer, Michael, and Sam. Three men in a tub, turn them out, knaves all three. And the fourth man, Dean, isn’t with them. Dean’s left alone. But he goes on. He goes back to Lisa and to Ben. Because he’s always kept his promises to Sam.
It begins with Ruby’s death and Lilith’s spilled blood. Sam’s fault, so much of it Sam’s fault. The boy who can kill demons with an outstretched hand and the power of his mind. That’s how the legend with the hunters go. Making Sam out to be a monster. Nobody but Dean knows that Sam’s outstretched hand once reached for him as a child who was too short and nobody but Dean knows that the power of Sam’s mind once ranked him in the top ten of every school they traveled to. Even then-and perhaps because of knowing all this-Dean is pulling Sam out of the church when Lucifer breaks free. Because it’s always been about keeping Sam safe.
It begins with Dean’s death and his forty years in Hell. Down in the Pit, they torture him and they make him bleed and beg and burn. If he had half a moment to exist without pain, he might think about how the hellhounds dragged him from the table in front of Sam and shredded him down to bone. He might think about how that pain was nothing compared to knowing that Sam had to bear witness to all of that. Thinking about the guilt that Sam would undoubtedly feel once Dean was gone. Because he’s always worried more about what Sam might think and feel than what he, as Dean, thinks and feels for himself.
It begins with Sam’s death and Dean’s deal. He isn’t given ten years, isn’t given five. He gets one. One year, and it’s enough. It’s enough to bring Sam back, and it’s enough to hold Sam one more time. No, not like when he was little and he ran from the burning house with Sam in his arms, never knowing, never guessing that those flames would follow him for life. Holding Sam is different now because Sam’s a man and Dean’s a man, and they’re older than they’ve ever been, but they’re also alive. Because keeping Sam close has always been what Dean wanted.
It begins with Dean in the backseat, bleeding to death, and Dad berating Sam. Just like old times. At least now Sam can see over the steering wheel. First time he drove was when he was twelve and Dean was in the backseat, bleeding to death, and Dad was berating Sam. Now Sam’s a big boy, and he can drive, and when Dad starts asking, wanting to know why Sam didn’t kill the demon, didn’t shoot Dad when he had the chance because this demon, this hunt, it comes before Dad. It comes before everything. Then, right then, Sam looks back and Dean looks up, and in the rearview mirror, they meet eyes. And suddenly, everything seems to make sense and priorities-belonging-are found. Because in the end, it is Sam and Dean above all.
It begins with this: Sam and Dean.
It ends with this: Sam and Dean.
So much less than what it all looks like on the outside. So much simpler.
It’s the end when Dean keeps his voice strong when it should be weak. It’s the end when Dean makes the deal.
Sam can’t have his soul back. It’s gone, lost in Crowley’s blood, and where demons go when they die, no one seems to know. Without Crowley, there is no more soul for Sam. Crowley was the only one who held that key.
But, they’ve been given another chance. The angel in front of them says he’s got a trick up his sleeve, even if the sleeves are still stained with the blood from Crowley. Maybe the angel isn’t just an angel, Dean thinks. It says it’s the gatekeeper to Purgatory, but Dean thinks that maybe it’s God at last, finally coming down from the big, sparkly hiding place in the sky. But, Dean doesn’t put faith in this idea. The angel tells Dean what can be done, and it’s a once in a lifetime offer, and take it or leave it, but it’s your decision to make.
They’re soul mates, he and Sam. This they’ve known for a long while. They’ve been to Hell and back. Been to Heaven too.
Dean’s not a book geek like Sam, but he knows enough to remember that upon a time, way back to Greek mythology, it was said that humans were born with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. But Zeus, the great god back then, was afraid of their power and split them in half so they would spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half. The twin soul. The soul mate.
Dean believes in it because he believes in vampires and ghosts, werewolves and swamp monsters. He’s seen Lucifer and Michael. Shaken hands with angels and demons. He’ll believe in the story of the humans with four arms and then some. He’ll believe that his soul and Sam’s were once the same. He’ll agree to make that soul the same once again.
“Split it,” he says at last.
The angel-if it can be called one as such-asks if he is sure. Sam is unconscious, maybe bleeding on the inside, but Dean figures that if Sam were awake, he’d object. Even soulless, Sam would recognize that this isn’t wise. It isn’t healthy, and it will probably come back and get them some day. But, this isn’t that day. This is today, and this will be the end if Dean has anything to say about it.
Dean knows what he’s agreed to. Split his soul and it’ll be half for him and half for Sam so that Sam can be Sam again and Sam can feel again and be alive and be whole again. Then again, Dean figures, if they really are soul mates, then they’ve had the same soul all along, haven’t they?
“Are you sure?” the angel asks again.
Dean nods. “Do it.”
“Very well.”
Dean closes his eyes. Breathes in. There is light and heat and pain, and then.
Then.
Then he is opening his eyes and the room is empty except for him and Sam. He rushes to Sam, kneels down beside him as he stirs and wakes, looking up at Dean.
“Sammy?” Dean asks, hand tight on Sam’s shoulder. Waiting. Wondering. Hoping.
“Dean,” Sam says. His voice isn’t strong like Dean’s was. It’s weak and wobbling. He sounds as though he’s ready to break apart. “Dean,” Sam says again, and he raises a hand to his chest. “I…” He narrows his eyes and looks up at Dean. “You?” Can’t ask the impossible question. Doesn’t even begin to know how to put it all into human words.
Dean nods. “You and me against the world, okay?”
“You and me,” Sam echoes, and he smiles, the light coming alive in his eyes at long last.
End
Rating: PG
Category: Gen oneshot
Word Count: 1302
Characters: Sam & Dean
Spoilers: Up to 6.07
Warnings: Mild gore
Summary: It’s the end, and Dean makes a deal.
Author’s Notes: Title taken from the idiom “think someone hung the moon and the stars” where a person perceives another as being perfect.
Disclaimer: The following characters and situations are used without permission of the creators, owners, and further affiliates of the television show, Supernatural, to whom they rightly belong. I claim only what is mine, and I make no money off what is theirs.
- - - - -
This is how it ends.
Dean’s voice, strong when it should be weak, when it should be wavering and frightened, because there should be so much unknown to this agreement he’s making. But, this deal, it’s about Sam, and when it comes to Sam, Dean’s always been strong and unafraid.
This is how it ends.
It begins with so much more and so much less.
It begins with Lucifer inside Sam’s head and then Sam back inside his own, trapping Lucifer, taking him and tying him fast in places that can’t be categorized by neurons and gray matter, lobes and sections. With Michael, brother and angel and son, and into the hole they all go. Lucifer, Michael, and Sam. Three men in a tub, turn them out, knaves all three. And the fourth man, Dean, isn’t with them. Dean’s left alone. But he goes on. He goes back to Lisa and to Ben. Because he’s always kept his promises to Sam.
It begins with Ruby’s death and Lilith’s spilled blood. Sam’s fault, so much of it Sam’s fault. The boy who can kill demons with an outstretched hand and the power of his mind. That’s how the legend with the hunters go. Making Sam out to be a monster. Nobody but Dean knows that Sam’s outstretched hand once reached for him as a child who was too short and nobody but Dean knows that the power of Sam’s mind once ranked him in the top ten of every school they traveled to. Even then-and perhaps because of knowing all this-Dean is pulling Sam out of the church when Lucifer breaks free. Because it’s always been about keeping Sam safe.
It begins with Dean’s death and his forty years in Hell. Down in the Pit, they torture him and they make him bleed and beg and burn. If he had half a moment to exist without pain, he might think about how the hellhounds dragged him from the table in front of Sam and shredded him down to bone. He might think about how that pain was nothing compared to knowing that Sam had to bear witness to all of that. Thinking about the guilt that Sam would undoubtedly feel once Dean was gone. Because he’s always worried more about what Sam might think and feel than what he, as Dean, thinks and feels for himself.
It begins with Sam’s death and Dean’s deal. He isn’t given ten years, isn’t given five. He gets one. One year, and it’s enough. It’s enough to bring Sam back, and it’s enough to hold Sam one more time. No, not like when he was little and he ran from the burning house with Sam in his arms, never knowing, never guessing that those flames would follow him for life. Holding Sam is different now because Sam’s a man and Dean’s a man, and they’re older than they’ve ever been, but they’re also alive. Because keeping Sam close has always been what Dean wanted.
It begins with Dean in the backseat, bleeding to death, and Dad berating Sam. Just like old times. At least now Sam can see over the steering wheel. First time he drove was when he was twelve and Dean was in the backseat, bleeding to death, and Dad was berating Sam. Now Sam’s a big boy, and he can drive, and when Dad starts asking, wanting to know why Sam didn’t kill the demon, didn’t shoot Dad when he had the chance because this demon, this hunt, it comes before Dad. It comes before everything. Then, right then, Sam looks back and Dean looks up, and in the rearview mirror, they meet eyes. And suddenly, everything seems to make sense and priorities-belonging-are found. Because in the end, it is Sam and Dean above all.
It begins with this: Sam and Dean.
It ends with this: Sam and Dean.
So much less than what it all looks like on the outside. So much simpler.
It’s the end when Dean keeps his voice strong when it should be weak. It’s the end when Dean makes the deal.
Sam can’t have his soul back. It’s gone, lost in Crowley’s blood, and where demons go when they die, no one seems to know. Without Crowley, there is no more soul for Sam. Crowley was the only one who held that key.
But, they’ve been given another chance. The angel in front of them says he’s got a trick up his sleeve, even if the sleeves are still stained with the blood from Crowley. Maybe the angel isn’t just an angel, Dean thinks. It says it’s the gatekeeper to Purgatory, but Dean thinks that maybe it’s God at last, finally coming down from the big, sparkly hiding place in the sky. But, Dean doesn’t put faith in this idea. The angel tells Dean what can be done, and it’s a once in a lifetime offer, and take it or leave it, but it’s your decision to make.
They’re soul mates, he and Sam. This they’ve known for a long while. They’ve been to Hell and back. Been to Heaven too.
Dean’s not a book geek like Sam, but he knows enough to remember that upon a time, way back to Greek mythology, it was said that humans were born with four arms, four legs, and a head with two faces. But Zeus, the great god back then, was afraid of their power and split them in half so they would spend the rest of their lives searching for their other half. The twin soul. The soul mate.
Dean believes in it because he believes in vampires and ghosts, werewolves and swamp monsters. He’s seen Lucifer and Michael. Shaken hands with angels and demons. He’ll believe in the story of the humans with four arms and then some. He’ll believe that his soul and Sam’s were once the same. He’ll agree to make that soul the same once again.
“Split it,” he says at last.
The angel-if it can be called one as such-asks if he is sure. Sam is unconscious, maybe bleeding on the inside, but Dean figures that if Sam were awake, he’d object. Even soulless, Sam would recognize that this isn’t wise. It isn’t healthy, and it will probably come back and get them some day. But, this isn’t that day. This is today, and this will be the end if Dean has anything to say about it.
Dean knows what he’s agreed to. Split his soul and it’ll be half for him and half for Sam so that Sam can be Sam again and Sam can feel again and be alive and be whole again. Then again, Dean figures, if they really are soul mates, then they’ve had the same soul all along, haven’t they?
“Are you sure?” the angel asks again.
Dean nods. “Do it.”
“Very well.”
Dean closes his eyes. Breathes in. There is light and heat and pain, and then.
Then.
Then he is opening his eyes and the room is empty except for him and Sam. He rushes to Sam, kneels down beside him as he stirs and wakes, looking up at Dean.
“Sammy?” Dean asks, hand tight on Sam’s shoulder. Waiting. Wondering. Hoping.
“Dean,” Sam says. His voice isn’t strong like Dean’s was. It’s weak and wobbling. He sounds as though he’s ready to break apart. “Dean,” Sam says again, and he raises a hand to his chest. “I…” He narrows his eyes and looks up at Dean. “You?” Can’t ask the impossible question. Doesn’t even begin to know how to put it all into human words.
Dean nods. “You and me against the world, okay?”
“You and me,” Sam echoes, and he smiles, the light coming alive in his eyes at long last.
End