a single soul dwelling in two bodies - SN fic - PG
Title: a single soul dwelling in two bodies
Fandom: “Supernatural”
Disclaimer: if you recognize them? they’re not mine. title from Aristotle.
Warnings: pre-series
Pairings: OFC/OMC
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 980
Point of view: third
Notes: for
dreamlittleyo, inspired by this.
“Sasha! Nicky!” Danielle yells when she gets home. She’s later than usual and neither answered the phone when she called.
“Kids!” she yells again, tossing her purse on the couch, heart galloping.
“Up here, Mom!” Sasha yells back.
Danielle’s chest loosens in relief. She’ll ground them both for a month, scaring her like that, especially with the Davidson boy still missing.
She stalks up the stairs, temper rising with every step. A month’s grounding and spinach casserole for dinner every night, no matter what Adam says. He doesn’t like it, he can cook his own supper.
The kids are in Nicky’s room, huddled in the middle of the floor. Seeing that they’re safe takes away part of her anger. Maybe not spinach-tuna instead.
Sasha smiles at her. “Hey, Mom,” she says. “How was work?”
Nicky looks over his shoulder. “Can we keep them, Mom?” he asks. “Please?”
Not the first time he’s come home with something, but Sasha’s never been involved before.
“Keep what?” Danielle steps into the room and they each hold up a kitten.
Well, hell.
The kittens are tiny, far too young to be away from their mother-not that Danielle knows anything about cats. She’s never been interested in animals. They’re fluffy and curious, investigating the den with single-minded purpose. Sasha and Nicky are captivated.
One kitten is slightly larger, the orange-and-white. He follows the smaller black-and-white one around, getting between him and anything that could be dangerous.
Of course, Danielle had swiftly straightened up the den before letting the kids bring the kittens down, moving everything breakable and sharp out of reach. Now she watches her babies watch their foundlings, trying to harden her heart.
They can’t keep the kittens. The kids are still too young, too irresponsible-Sasha is barely ten, Nicky only seven. Neither she nor Adam are home enough to take care of them. They don’t have the time and they don’t have the money.
The orange knocks his brother over, meowing. The black mewls, batting at him with tiny, kitten-sharp claws. They wrestle, toppling tail over ears, and Danielle leaves the room so that she won’t fall even more in love.
She has never wanted a pet. And they can’t keep these kittens.
Danielle agrees to let the kittens stay overnight. Sasha names the orange Paprika, while Nicky calls the black Orion. Adam tells Danielle they can make it work; after all, the kittens are just little things. How hard could it be?
Danielle wants to smack him and says he’s taking them to the vet tomorrow-and leaving them there.
Just after two in the morning, howling wakes Danielle. Deep, lonely howling that sounds very close.
“What the hell?” Adam mutters.
Danielle slips out of bed and pads downstairs to the laundry room, where they’d locked the kittens.
Both of them are crying, piercing whimpers that hurt her heart.
“Oh, babies,” she sighs. They’re entirely too young to be away from their mama.
The howling devolves to sharp barks, just outside her house. She goes to the window-there’s a large dog in her backyard, sniffing around. In the scant illumination from the streetlight, he’s no more than a shadow.
She leaves him to it, going back to the kittens. They’re still crying. She’s never wanted a pet, never needed some animal to give her affection and love. Adam and the kids are more than enough to deal with.
Danielle forces herself upstairs and crawls next to Adam, burrowing into him. They can’t keep the kittens.
Danielle doesn’t wake till after Adam’s gone to work. It’s her day to drive the kids to school, so she goes to make sure they’re up.
They are, in the backyard with the kittens and a large dog.
Danielle freezes, terror shooting through her. Her babies with a strange, giant dog-he could rip out their throats, disembowel them, tear them to pieces before she could scream-
Orion pulls himself up onto the dog’s back and Nicky giggles, lifting Orion to the dog’s head.
“Sasha Caroline Gregor!” Danielle screams. “What are you doing?”
Sasha jumps to her feet, whirling to face Danielle. “Mom!” she gasps. “He’s friendly!”
Danielle stalks forward, terror giving way to rage. “Get in the house, now! Both of you!”
Nicky scrambles up. “Mom!” he whines, but she’s beyond fury.
“Get in the house,” she says again, low and vicious.
Sasha grabs her brother’s sleeve and pulls him after her. “But Orion!” Nicky yells. Sasha doesn’t answer.
Orion slides off the dog’s head and Paprika moves in front of him, between Danielle and the black. The dog slowly rises to his feet, stepping over them, till they’re beneath his belly.
She sucks in a breath as he just gazes at her, eyes dark and serene. “They’re yours?” she asks softly.
Of course, the dog doesn’t answer. He watches her back away, into the house, shutting and locking the door. Then he gently closes his mouth around Orion and carries him away, Paprika tumbling behind him.
Nicky doesn’t speak to her for three days. On Friday, Danielle takes him and Sasha to her sister’s house and says, “Aunt Caroline’s cat just gave birth. She’s agreed to let you pick a kitten out, for us to bring home when they’re weaned.”
“Both of us?” Sasha asks.
Danielle shakes her head. “You have to agree on a kitten.”
Nicky perks up. “For real?” He looks at her with assessing eyes. “We get to keep one?”
She nods.
On Sunday, Zach Davidson is found in the abandoned mill just outside of town, bruised and frightened but alive and talking about monsters.
Monday morning, not that she realizes it’s important or noteworthy, a growling black car passes her on the way to work. In the backseat, for a scant second, she sees two boys.
Sasha and Nicky finally choose a petite tortoiseshell queen; they let Danielle name her Isabel.