The one where Dean is a little spider-like house spirit that took care of the Winchesters
The one where Dean is a little spider-like house spirit that took care of the Winchester home, but especially the child Sammy.
I don’t often dream of fictional characters, but this one was a Supernatural au one, so 1600+word explanation under the cut.
House spirit rules are not to be seen, and when you look like a spider it’s even more important, because usually humans have this thing against spiders. Mary was a bit superstitious and never killed any though, so Dean had plenty of helpers when things needed an extra leg or eight (which was certainly needed on his first big job, because fire damage loses a lot of things, and part of his magic is to find them and fix them). That meant that he wasn’t always so careful around the kid, and eventually they became kinda sorta friends.
As Sam grew up though, he began to think he was a little crazy, still talking to imaginary friends, but he remained kind and smart. And he never ever would kill a spider. When he left for Standford it wasn’t exactly on the best of terms with his dad, who always clutched his remaining child a little too close (but never said it that way, the idiot). So when he moved, he had a little guest who thought rules were a bit more like guidelines anyway.
Sam seemed to have the damnedest luck. Stuff would go missing and then mysteriously reappear right when it was needed. That assignment that he’d stupidly saved for last but fell asleep on halfway through (hey, it was only the once!…twice, because he did six classes a semester and worked on top of that, and he maybe sorta, might’ve met someone) would miraculously be done when he woke up with ink smudges on his face. He’d always have at least one clean shirt on the floor when the laundry room was packed and he panicked about what to wear to “have coffee”. There was more loose change around than he was sure he’d ever exchanged in his life. All the licorice pieces of candy would disappear if he left the pack overnight. (Which was fine with him, because licorice tasted like dirt anyway. He loved gummy candies, but always left the hated black pieces in the package.) And then there were the books. There were a lot of library books that he was sure he hadn’t taken out in his bag, or on his desk, or even under his bed that one time. Luckily, he never had to pay late fees and he got in some pleasure reading…with the added benefit of getting to chat with one of the the library assistants, Jess.
Of course, he didn’t know that this was because there was a nerdy little spirit in the university library that was the teeniest bit flattered by the attention of an unattached drifter house spirit. What could Dean say? He was bored in Sam’s tiny new residence. And it wasn’t like he could take care of the whole building. The floor though? That was fun sometimes. The kids Sam lived with were a riot, but now he had to be careful about being seen. So he tagged along with Sam’s laptop to the library, sue him. There was a spirit there with beautiful blue hindwings under his boring tan elytra (that he was flashed with when he took an unsafe tumble with a deceptively large tower of books, because Sam is a good kid, but he’s the size of a moose and has all the coordination of a retriever puppy). Cas [“Can I call ya Cas?”] also had a rather bangin’ abdomen (I…I’m sorry, that’s what Dean thought, do not judge me for spirit-insect/arachnid dream maybe-porn), and a sad lack of knowledge in the finer areas of popular entertainment.
This was easily rectified at first: trading movie nights in one of the projection rooms [freaking out the night janitor] and listening to a portable radio they find on a cart, for different books in the [tiny] fiction section and generally having a good time. Then Sam moved back to Kansas for the summer, as usual, but after that he didn’t return to the dorms. Instead, he got an apartment off-campus with Jess. While Dean was happy to have a bigger, less riotous home to whip into shape, he really missed the library and all the time with Castiel. It was much further away and harder to sneak with Sam now, because he’d be out of the apartment for much longer that he’d ever left the dorm. He wasn’t sure of Jess’ stance on “creepy crawlies” like him, which made things difficult when trying to stash The Empire Strikes Back in an already-full work bag. Once, he just said fuck it and crawled the whole way without the excuse of a movie or a book, which would have been hard for an actual spider, but immeasurably difficult for a spirit tied to specific places/people [“who won’t leave the place oh god they’re so loud I just want to see Cas who cares if it’s a weekend you should probably go to the library to work on that project anyway, why aren’t you getting my hints? you almost always do when I leave parts of the assignment laying around where I know you’ll see them, aaaaaand you’re not even looking are you? damnit Sam”].
They work it out though, and soon Dean is back to wheedling Cas to go outside the library with him. Maybe hitch with Jess or Sam. Cas is reluctant, because he’s tied to the place much more concretely, by one of the books they assume. Cas really does want to go with Dean and see other places outside the building so they begin a guessing game of which book it could be, but no luck. On the third month it becomes a moot point, since something terrible happens to Dean and Sam’s new home.
That’s the night of the fire.
It’s always fire. Dean hates it. Fire takes and destroys everything. But his boy’s finally happy and he’s not about to let something as stupid as leaving the oven on (when he wasn’t watching, why wasn’t he watching, that’s his job) ruin everything. He tries everything he normally would to wake Sam and Jess up, but it’s no use. Until he forces himself to take a humanish form and shake Sammy awake. Sam grabs Jess and they escape, but Dean’s intent on stopping the fire before it spreads to the other apartments even if it’s a huge drain on his power.
Castiel finds out about the fire from the night janitor, who gets a call while he’s [well, they’re. It’s been a tradition as long as Cas can remember for Cas to perch quietly and imperceptibly on his shoulder while] reading his favourite book. Cas knows that the janitor lives in the same building as Sam, and news of fire is never a good thing. He clings on to the man as he races to his car, and flies ahead when he’s stopped by the firefighters at the base of the building. He saw Sam and Jess outside with the other tenants. One is asking the firefighters about the child they saw. There is no sign of Dean outside, so he has to go in.
Inside the fire was contained. The firefighters had done their jobs. Cas didn’t know which apartment was Sam’s, so he called and called Dean’s name at each door. Behind some there were worrying noises, so he unlocked the doors. But all that there were were some hiding cats, a fancy rat in its cage, and one anxious dog who bolted out to his daddy. Castiel kept going, and through the most damaged door (blackened, soaked, and hanging by the twisted bottom hinge), he recognized Jess’ bag and the full dvd set of “TOS” (which Dean said was the best).
In the far room, Dean and his team are frantically fixing furniture, repairing homework, and haphazardly mending Sam’s shirts (which Jess would gladly have seen burned anyway), muttering about charring and water damage and how he should have been paying attention. He freezes when Cas lays a hand on his shoulder, then tugs him in close. When his eyes clear, Dean sees that Cas was a tallish man, a little nebbish, and hopelessly dressed. (Dean decides he might need to adjust his projection a little.) Cas doesn’t say anything, except to offer his help.
By the time Sam and Jess are allowed to return home, there is surprisingly little damage, despite seeing the flames and smoke everywhere. Barely anything of the neighbors’ is harmed, aside from a few scorchmarks on the wall. The laptop is beyond repair, but the back-up drives are perfectly fine, despite having been in the same place. Their textbooks (plentiful and expensive) have only waterstains. Most of the damage is in the kitchen, despite the flames where a new stove, curtains, cabinets, and foodstuffs will be needed.
It turns out that their neighbor is oddly forgiving and pretty handy, which more than makes up for his propensity for odd hours, loud sex, and yappy dogs. He even gives them an old illustrated edition of the Prose Edda as a “house-cooling” gift when they moved after graduation, which, despite some suspicious stains and the obvious wear, must have been worth a lot. And yeah Sam’s a bit of a folklorist in his “spare” time, but how did Gabe know?…It also looks like it may have been stolen, but it’s the thought that counts right?
~~~
Dean and Cas lived happily with Sam and Jess wherever they went after that. And if Sam sometimes seemed to talk to himself, and bits and bobs kept disappearing…well, they always left a bowl of licorice out and they never killed any spiders.