what shall come in future days - Supernatural ficlet, PG, gennish
Title: what shall come in future days
Fandom: Supernatural
Disclaimer: not my characters; title from Milton.
Warnings: character death; misuses of time travel
Pairings: mentions of John/Mary
Rating: PG
Wordcount: 535
Point of view: third
The world in 1992 is very bright. John Winchester already has a reputation in the hunting world, though there is much he has not yet learned.
Only angels can travel through time, and even they rarely do. It is dangerous and difficult, a last-ditch-effort when everything else has failed. It often backfires. Nearly impossible to pull off.
He must do this. Kill Lucifer’s vessel before he is a warrior, before Azazel’s final phase, before the boy is too powerful to be stopped. Kill him now, when he is nothing more than a child. Kill him before he damns the world with him.
In 1992, Dean and his little brother are walking down a street discussing superheroes. Dean says that Batman beats all, but Sam favors Green Lantern. When Dean asks which one, a new debate is sparked.
Dean is on-guard because he always is, but he is no match for a desperate archangel.
“Sammy!” he screams as his baby brother is held high above him by the Angel of the Sun.
Uriel places a hand to Sam’s small, fragile chest and burns him away before three large beats of his massive wings carry him out of sight.
On his knees, Dean’s gasps become sobs.
o0o
Twenty years later, Dean Winchester makes a deal with Alistair.
The angels are soundly defeated and even without Lucifer free, Creation still burns. Finally, when only a single angel is left, a scholarly type who only ever watched humanity from afar and fought for Heaven because he always did his duty, throws himself backwards through time. He lands in 1987 and catches his breath, wondering how to fix things when he doesn’t even know what went wrong in the first place.
Should he kill Dean Winchester? Annihilate the threat while he’s still a boy? Maybe that would be best.
So Castiel finds Dean, sleeping next to his baby brother, and quietly stops the boy’s heart.
o0o
Twenty years later, Sam Winchester leads Azazel’s army and frees Lucifer from his cage, welcomes the MorningStar into his body, and burns Creation until Heaven falls from the sky.
No angels remain to attempt changing anything, until Gabriel disguised as a trickster sneaks out of reality and meanders his way to 1980. He whispers in Mary Winchester’s ear and the lullabies she sings become protective rites. No angel or demon can find her son and everything is fine until she contracts laryngitis. For three weeks she doesn’t sing a note and when she resumes, her taste has moved on to the Beatles.
Azazel returns to complete their deal; Dean is safe for three more years, but Sam never is.
o0o
Twenty years later, Lilith feasts on Sam’s soul and sets her long-imprisoned lover free.
In a last-ditch-effort, with the last of his strength, Michael flings himself into 1990. He shoves everything he has left into a small amulet and hands it to the hunter who finds him dying on a cold South Dakota winter night.
“Give this to the Winchesters,” he commands with his final breath.
o0o
Twenty years later, when Anna tries to kill Sam by killing his mother, Michael stops her and resets the world.
Only angels can travel through time, and it never works.