Fic: The Hedgehog Rescue Epilogue
The Hedgehog Rescue Epilogue
By PaBurke
Summary/Challenge: Dean went to Hell and was hauled out of Perdition only to be turned into a 4/5-year-old version of himself. Also has to be sick. Bobby’s here to save the day. This ties up some loose ends.
Disclaimer: So not mine
Rating: teen-ish
spnspnawesomebobbyspnspn
The ride home from Illinois was actually pretty quiet. Dean mostly slept. He needed the sleep since it was interrupted so often. Every time Dean woke with a nightmare, Bobby would pull to the side of the road and give him time to get his shit together. Dean would do push-ups or sit-ups, or if the landscape was something accommodating, run as fast and as far as he could. It was the classic adult-Dean method of not dealing with trauma.
Bobby wondered -not for the first time- how much of adult-Dean remained in this child’s body. His food preferences hadn’t changed. Dean turned up his nose at carrot sticks and devoured a bag of Doritos. Bobby was smart enough not to hand Dean the bag of peanut M&M’s until after he had witnessed the child consuming at least ten carrots and half an apple.
Dinner at a diner was hamburgers, of course. It would have been hypocritical of Bobby to order Dean a salad when he wasn’t going to eat one himself. Dean stared wistfully at Bobby’s coffee but didn’t balk at the orange juice set in front of him. Bobby paid the tab when Dean about fell asleep on top of his heavily-ketchuped fries. Dean was too tired to do more than murmur a wordless complaint when Bobby picked him up and hitched him up on one hip. Dean just settled his head against Bobby’s shoulder and relaxed even further. The waitress was really helpful as Bobby had to reach around his burden for his wallet. She even gave him a travel cup full of coffee -just the way he liked it- unsolicited.
Bobby maneuvered the two of them to the Charger and Dean into the backseat. He made the boy swallow another dose of the cough syrup and covered him with the emergency blanket Bobby found in the trunk. Bobby made sure the boy was buckled in and relatively comfortable. Then the waitress -God bless her soul- came running out of the diner. In his exhaustion, Dean had accidently forgotten Sammy the Hedgehog inside. Bobby thanked her profusely, knowing that if the absence had been discovered a hundred miles down the road -likely the point in time when Dean would have another nightmare- Bobby would have promptly turned around the car to retrieve the stuffed animal. With the real Sam MIA, the hedgehog partially covered a gaping hole in Dean’s chest. Bobby tucked the hedgehog under the blanket with Dean, stretched one more time and climbed into the driver’s seat. They still had a long way to go.
One hundred and fifty miles later, Dean had another nightmare. So while Bobby was carefully not watching the boy cry and sniffle and try to settle himself, he felt relief that the sleep terrors were occurring with less regularity. That and the fact that he had the hedgehog right there for Dean to cuddle. Bobby leaned against his car and watched Dean wander aimlessly around the ditch on the side of the road. He watched as a couple of semis blew past and considered life. He had no idea what the future held but it was going to be interesting. The Chinese curse type of interesting, since it concerned the Winchesters.
“There is much upheaval in heaven.”
Bobby nearly jumped out of his skin at the words. He turned defensively to face the same, trench-coated stranger as before. “Why are you here?”
“Dean is my responsibility.” That phrase could be taken in so many ways.
“Who are you?” Find out all you can, Singer. You need this background for research. Even lies can be clues.
“I am Castiel.”
Bobby waited a beat. The name meant nothing. So he tried again. “What are you?”
“I am an angel of the Lord.”
Several curse words waited at the tip of Bobby’s tongue, but he decided not to say them. The male before him looked too confused and unsure to be a heavenly creature. “Why Dean?”
“I grabbed hold of him and raised him from Perdition.”
Bobby was wondering about the shoulder that both Dean and this Castiel character had held. He resolved to peek at it as soon as possible. If this creature really had dragged Dean out of Hell -that’s not even touching the ‘Angel of the Lord’ bit- things were a hell of a lot more complicated that just Dean being five years old. As if that weren’t enough. “Why are you offerin’ up information? To me?” From experience, Bobby knew that truth had to be found, not given.
“Dean’s mind cannot comprehend the full truth, but someone must be made aware. You have assumed Earthly responsibility. Angels are behaving…” Castiel trailed off as if he didn’t know the English word.
“Oddly?” Bobby filled in. He didn’t know of anything odder than an angel popping out to chat with a human.
“Rebelliously,” Castiel whispered. It was as if the angel didn’t quite believe it possible. He looked almost as lost as Dean in that moment. “But they…” He paused. “They angered at my inquiries. My inquiries are not inappropriate.”
“So why get mad?” Bobby filled in. He wanted to mention Lucifer but knew it wasn’t his place to lecture an angel about heavenly history as it was recorded on earth.
Castiel nodded once. “I have concluded that Dean must be hidden while I investigate further.”
Bobby blinked. “Are you telling me to take Dean and run?” He was only a foster father; if he disappeared with Dean, the police would chase. That was on top of the supernatural that might covet a Winchester child.
“That is unnecessary. Dean,” he called. “Come.”
Dean approached as warily as an abused puppy. He stopped at Bobby’s side and pressed his body tight against Bobby’s leg.
Castiel knelt in front of the child. “This will cause pain,” he stated.
Dean, being the contrary creature that he was, decided that it was acceptable and stepped within Castiel’s reach. Castiel’s hand glowed and entered in to Dean’s chest. Dean gasped, but before Bobby could pull him away, Castiel was finished.
Bobby did yank Dean back now. He decided to ignore Dean’s pride and lifted him up into the protection of his arms. It was the correct choice; small hands pulled close instead of pushed away. “What did you do?” he demanded.
“I etched Enochian onto his ribs. Now, neither angels nor demons shall locate him.”
That sounded short-sighted to Bobby. Unless Castiel really wasn’t an angel. “What about you?”
Castiel stood and stepped away. “I will find you at your residence, Robert. Soon.” Castiel took another step back and, with the sound of powerful wings, vanished.
“I’ll be back,” Bobby grumbled Terminator-like.
Dean offered a watery chuckle.
“So what do you think?” Bobby asked the child in his arms. “To the junkyard?”
Dean nodded before Bobby could offer a second option. Bobby carried Dean to the car.
“Boy, you don’t do things half-way.”
Dean shrugged and submitted to Bobby putting him in the car and fussin’. He really was tired and sick. Bobby was worried about how Dean wasn’t kicking the cold and showing evidence of his contrary self. The illness might be more serious than a cold. The hunter double-checked that the hedgehog was on Dean’s lap before settling into the driver’s seat and turning the key in the Charger’s ignition.
“I’m thinking that we get chest x-rays done when I take you in to the doc for your cold,” Bobby announced. The surest way to judge Castiel would be to verify his words. And Bobby had known the pediatrician Doctor Dave forever and Dave knew enough about the supernatural to not talk about anything weird. Bobby glanced in the rearview mirror. Dean nodded once to agree with Bobby’s proposed course of action. They would retreat to the safety of the junkyard, do a hell of a lot of research and keep away from as much supernatural as possible.
“Well, I guess we got ourselves a plan.”
spnspnawesomebobbyspnspn
By PaBurke
Summary/Challenge: Dean went to Hell and was hauled out of Perdition only to be turned into a 4/5-year-old version of himself. Also has to be sick. Bobby’s here to save the day. This ties up some loose ends.
Disclaimer: So not mine
Rating: teen-ish
spnspnawesomebobbyspnspn
The ride home from Illinois was actually pretty quiet. Dean mostly slept. He needed the sleep since it was interrupted so often. Every time Dean woke with a nightmare, Bobby would pull to the side of the road and give him time to get his shit together. Dean would do push-ups or sit-ups, or if the landscape was something accommodating, run as fast and as far as he could. It was the classic adult-Dean method of not dealing with trauma.
Bobby wondered -not for the first time- how much of adult-Dean remained in this child’s body. His food preferences hadn’t changed. Dean turned up his nose at carrot sticks and devoured a bag of Doritos. Bobby was smart enough not to hand Dean the bag of peanut M&M’s until after he had witnessed the child consuming at least ten carrots and half an apple.
Dinner at a diner was hamburgers, of course. It would have been hypocritical of Bobby to order Dean a salad when he wasn’t going to eat one himself. Dean stared wistfully at Bobby’s coffee but didn’t balk at the orange juice set in front of him. Bobby paid the tab when Dean about fell asleep on top of his heavily-ketchuped fries. Dean was too tired to do more than murmur a wordless complaint when Bobby picked him up and hitched him up on one hip. Dean just settled his head against Bobby’s shoulder and relaxed even further. The waitress was really helpful as Bobby had to reach around his burden for his wallet. She even gave him a travel cup full of coffee -just the way he liked it- unsolicited.
Bobby maneuvered the two of them to the Charger and Dean into the backseat. He made the boy swallow another dose of the cough syrup and covered him with the emergency blanket Bobby found in the trunk. Bobby made sure the boy was buckled in and relatively comfortable. Then the waitress -God bless her soul- came running out of the diner. In his exhaustion, Dean had accidently forgotten Sammy the Hedgehog inside. Bobby thanked her profusely, knowing that if the absence had been discovered a hundred miles down the road -likely the point in time when Dean would have another nightmare- Bobby would have promptly turned around the car to retrieve the stuffed animal. With the real Sam MIA, the hedgehog partially covered a gaping hole in Dean’s chest. Bobby tucked the hedgehog under the blanket with Dean, stretched one more time and climbed into the driver’s seat. They still had a long way to go.
One hundred and fifty miles later, Dean had another nightmare. So while Bobby was carefully not watching the boy cry and sniffle and try to settle himself, he felt relief that the sleep terrors were occurring with less regularity. That and the fact that he had the hedgehog right there for Dean to cuddle. Bobby leaned against his car and watched Dean wander aimlessly around the ditch on the side of the road. He watched as a couple of semis blew past and considered life. He had no idea what the future held but it was going to be interesting. The Chinese curse type of interesting, since it concerned the Winchesters.
“There is much upheaval in heaven.”
Bobby nearly jumped out of his skin at the words. He turned defensively to face the same, trench-coated stranger as before. “Why are you here?”
“Dean is my responsibility.” That phrase could be taken in so many ways.
“Who are you?” Find out all you can, Singer. You need this background for research. Even lies can be clues.
“I am Castiel.”
Bobby waited a beat. The name meant nothing. So he tried again. “What are you?”
“I am an angel of the Lord.”
Several curse words waited at the tip of Bobby’s tongue, but he decided not to say them. The male before him looked too confused and unsure to be a heavenly creature. “Why Dean?”
“I grabbed hold of him and raised him from Perdition.”
Bobby was wondering about the shoulder that both Dean and this Castiel character had held. He resolved to peek at it as soon as possible. If this creature really had dragged Dean out of Hell -that’s not even touching the ‘Angel of the Lord’ bit- things were a hell of a lot more complicated that just Dean being five years old. As if that weren’t enough. “Why are you offerin’ up information? To me?” From experience, Bobby knew that truth had to be found, not given.
“Dean’s mind cannot comprehend the full truth, but someone must be made aware. You have assumed Earthly responsibility. Angels are behaving…” Castiel trailed off as if he didn’t know the English word.
“Oddly?” Bobby filled in. He didn’t know of anything odder than an angel popping out to chat with a human.
“Rebelliously,” Castiel whispered. It was as if the angel didn’t quite believe it possible. He looked almost as lost as Dean in that moment. “But they…” He paused. “They angered at my inquiries. My inquiries are not inappropriate.”
“So why get mad?” Bobby filled in. He wanted to mention Lucifer but knew it wasn’t his place to lecture an angel about heavenly history as it was recorded on earth.
Castiel nodded once. “I have concluded that Dean must be hidden while I investigate further.”
Bobby blinked. “Are you telling me to take Dean and run?” He was only a foster father; if he disappeared with Dean, the police would chase. That was on top of the supernatural that might covet a Winchester child.
“That is unnecessary. Dean,” he called. “Come.”
Dean approached as warily as an abused puppy. He stopped at Bobby’s side and pressed his body tight against Bobby’s leg.
Castiel knelt in front of the child. “This will cause pain,” he stated.
Dean, being the contrary creature that he was, decided that it was acceptable and stepped within Castiel’s reach. Castiel’s hand glowed and entered in to Dean’s chest. Dean gasped, but before Bobby could pull him away, Castiel was finished.
Bobby did yank Dean back now. He decided to ignore Dean’s pride and lifted him up into the protection of his arms. It was the correct choice; small hands pulled close instead of pushed away. “What did you do?” he demanded.
“I etched Enochian onto his ribs. Now, neither angels nor demons shall locate him.”
That sounded short-sighted to Bobby. Unless Castiel really wasn’t an angel. “What about you?”
Castiel stood and stepped away. “I will find you at your residence, Robert. Soon.” Castiel took another step back and, with the sound of powerful wings, vanished.
“I’ll be back,” Bobby grumbled Terminator-like.
Dean offered a watery chuckle.
“So what do you think?” Bobby asked the child in his arms. “To the junkyard?”
Dean nodded before Bobby could offer a second option. Bobby carried Dean to the car.
“Boy, you don’t do things half-way.”
Dean shrugged and submitted to Bobby putting him in the car and fussin’. He really was tired and sick. Bobby was worried about how Dean wasn’t kicking the cold and showing evidence of his contrary self. The illness might be more serious than a cold. The hunter double-checked that the hedgehog was on Dean’s lap before settling into the driver’s seat and turning the key in the Charger’s ignition.
“I’m thinking that we get chest x-rays done when I take you in to the doc for your cold,” Bobby announced. The surest way to judge Castiel would be to verify his words. And Bobby had known the pediatrician Doctor Dave forever and Dave knew enough about the supernatural to not talk about anything weird. Bobby glanced in the rearview mirror. Dean nodded once to agree with Bobby’s proposed course of action. They would retreat to the safety of the junkyard, do a hell of a lot of research and keep away from as much supernatural as possible.
“Well, I guess we got ourselves a plan.”
spnspnawesomebobbyspnspn