choosing to change - SN/His Dark Materials - PG
Title: choosing to change
Fandom: His Dark Materials/“Supernatural”
Disclaimer: The Winchester boys aren’t mine. just for fun.
Warnings: slightly AU; spoilers for season four; attempted pedophilia
Pairings: none
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 265
Point of view: third
Notes: for creeno
When Sam was eight, Gariel stayed an asp for three months. She was petite and black-brown and bit a man that tried to touch him in the private-place-for-no-one-but-him. The man’s daemon, a barn owl, screeched and swooped down at her.
Dean’s daemon, a tiger that day, lunged at the man from out of nowhere, but he was dead before he hit the ground from Gariel’s venom. Dean grabbed Sam, putting himself between his brother and the corpse, and Rhiannon twined around Gariel as a black mamba.
Gariel stayed an asp to protect Sam and Dean never left Sam alone anywhere after that.
o0o
When Dean was fifteen, Rhiannon stayed a panther. Gariel spent a few weeks as an ocelot before changing into a falcon.
John smiled, Astren his golden eagle on his shoulder, and called Dean a man.
o0o
When Dean was twenty-two, Sam and Gariel left for Stanford. Gariel was still cycling through shapes, unable to settle; Dean and Rhiannon went for a run and didn’t come back to the room for two days.
When Dean was twenty-three, Sam left him a voicemail: She’s a viper.
o0o
When Dean was twenty-six, he went home. Sam stared at him, Gariel curled gently around his arm, Jessica by his side. Her Yorkie daemon quietly snarled at Rhiannon, who lifted her lip to show her fangs.
Dean said please. Sam gave him two days.
o0o
When Dean was twenty-eight, Sammy and Gariel died. Rhiannon curled into a ball making small noises and Dean held his brother's body, unable to think beyond nonononono.
The choice was easy.
o0o
When Dean was twenty-nine, he spent four months in Hell. He crawled out of his grave and Rhiannon met him, shivering and shuddering, emaciated and covered in dust.
She led the way to Gariel and Sammy.