My first ever SPN fic. Comments and con crit. very welcome. :)

Title: Heir of the dog
Author: [livejournal.com profile] starrylizard
Fandom: Supernatural
Rating/characters: Gen, Teen, pre-series, John, young Dean and baby Sam
Notes: Written for the "From Ashes..." Supernatural fic-a-thon, in which I got the song-prompt of Nazareth – Hair of the Dog.
Thanks to [livejournal.com profile] celtic_sky for the amazingly fast beta.
Summary: He’d only been gone a few moments, but everything was about to change




He swore he’d only been gone for a few moments.

“Dean,” Sammy burbled, stroking the black puppy in delight. The dog was at that stage where it was all lanky limbs, sleek puppy fur and big doleful green eyes. John didn’t know much about dogs, but this one looked like some sort of Labrador cross-breed, and it was sitting in their motel room chewing calmly on one of Sammy’s discarded socks.

“Sammy, where’s Dean?” John tried again.

“Dean,” Sam insisted, one hand smacking the dog’s nose, pudgy baby fingers coming precariously close to sharp doggy teeth and making John wince. The dog sat patiently through the mistreatment though, licking the baby hands, seemingly un-phased by the toddler’s attentions.

John paced the last few steps to his son’s side, leaning down to grab him under the arm pits and then swing him up above his head like Superman. Sammy squealed in delight, hands reaching out to smack his Dad in the face as John blew raspberries against the little palms, before swinging him down to settle against his side.

Sam immediately set about fussing, twisting about in his Dad’s arms, arms reaching out toward the puppy that was still sitting on the floor. “Dea, Dea, Dea, Dea,” he squealed.

Large green puppy eyes stared up at them, puppy tail wagging, puppy head tilting to one side in a gesture that seemed to be cautiously hopeful.

“Shoo. Go on. Go home, boy!” John ordered the dog, making a definite pointing gesture toward the door.

The little dog backed up outside the door a little way and then stretched back, front legs splayed out in front in a display of flexibility as he yipped excitedly at what he thought was a new game.

John followed the dog outside, still gripping Sammy in his arms as he called out: “Dean? Dean, where are you, son?”

His voice faltered a little, and he had to clear his throat, before he continued to call out, walking the length of the motel and its rooms, before returning to their room again to search the small bathroom and glance under the beds. Sammy was getting more agitated as he stormed from one place to the next, annoyed at being held so tightly in his father’s arms, and the stupid dog was still following them.

John didn’t even want to think about the suspicion building in the back of his mind but when he finally stopped - sitting down hard on the motel bed and releasing the squirming Sam to crawl around on the floor, trying to think out his next move through the panic that was ready to overwhelm him – the dog was still there.

“Dean?” he asked, wincing as he said it. The dog looked up at the name, gave a small yip and bounded on awkward puppy legs to sit at John’s feet.

“Dean, is that you? We’ll figure this out. It’ll be alright.” The puppy - Dean - tilted his head and stared up out of big eyes – green like Dean’s. He reached down and scratched the pup behind the neck, sadly. “We’ll figure this out.”

“Dad. Hey, Dad. Do you like him? The man said we could keep him, but I told him you wouldn’t let us and he said we could play with him anyway. He likes Sammy, Dad. See?

“Hey, Dad? Is something wrong? Are you okay? I only left him for a minute, Dad. Sammy was hungry.”

John was frozen, staring at his boy, at Dean, standing there silhouetted in the light of the open door. He took in Dean’s innocent face, framed by mussed hair and in definite need of a cut. His hand-me-down clothes were rumpled from boyish activities, and he clutched a packet of BBQ chips tightly in one hand.

Dean’s head tilted to one side, expression turning to worry as his Dad just sat there, unmoving. “Dad?”

Then John was moving, swift strides bringing him to Dean’s side as he knelt down, wrapping his arms around his son, clutching him too tightly.

“Dad?” John could hear the surprise in Dean’s young voice, though he didn’t complain. One small hand came up to pat John gently just below the shoulder. “It’s okay, Dad. It’s okay,” he whispered.

“Just don’t do that again, alright. Don’t leave your brother. I didn’t know where you were and I thought…”

John knew he was mumbling, caught himself before he voiced his fears, I thought you’d been turned into a dog and then laughed at the realisation of how crazy it sounded. He laughed his relief as he thought of how much this life had already changed him – that he’d believe his own son had been cursed into dog form, before checking to see if he was at the garage buying BBQ chips to share with his brother.

“Dad?”

“You just scared me, Dean. Don’t leave like that without telling me. Don’t you ever leave your brother alone, alright?”

“Okay, Dad.”

John let go, as Dean squirmed a little in his still too-tight grasp. “Do you like the puppy, Dad? The man said his name is Dean, just like mine, Dad.”

”Yeah, son. You don’t say.”

John watched, as his son beamed happily, whistling to the dog and playing with it and his baby brother both – innocently unaware of the many dangers around them – and John decided he needed to prepare Dean more than that, starting now. He needed to be tougher if he was ever to protect his family, keep them safe.

It was a relief to knock on the door, hand the puppy back to his owner a few rooms down from theirs, then pack up the car to leave. John turned to his oldest son, all of seven years young, small legs dangled, swinging limply over the edge of the passenger seat.

“I want you to listen to me closely, Dean. There are going to have to be some new rules, to protect you and your little brother, and I want you to follow them exactly.”

“Okay, Dad.”

“You say, Yes, Sir.”

“Yes, Sir.”

The Impala’s engine roared along the freeway, black road stretching before them same as always, but things were about to change.


Tags:
lark_ascends: Blue and purple dragonfly, green background (Default)

From: [personal profile] lark_ascends


*giggles madly*

Fantastic twist!!!! Awesome!!

(Your italics are broken towards the end, they're causing everything afterwards to be italics)

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thankye! :P
It was originally gonna be crack, and then... *blinky*
Just fixed the italics, and I forgot to thank Shannon too...

From: [identity profile] shay-renoylds.livejournal.com


*dances* That was lovely. I love wee!chester stories, myself, and this was beautiful.

And a great explanation of why Daddy Winchester became what he did. Great little character ficlit. And...I'm glad my inability to type gave you something to work with ^_^

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thank you and thanks for the prompt too. I've been hovering on the edge of SPN fandom for a few weeks now and this gave me the push to finally stumble on in.

I'm glad it worked alright for you. The words lovely and beautiful just set me to dancing along with you. *grins*

From: [identity profile] jasmasson.livejournal.com


I really liked this; nice twist (although I do love Dean or Sam as animals!) it was just right.

Also, love your hugging banner!

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thanks. Weirdly, this was supposed to be a cracky "Dean turns into a puppy fic," but that's not what I wrote. Glad you still enjoyed it with the twist. :)

Also, love your hugging banner!
Thanks, it's new. I wanted something with SPN and SGA in it and my sister sent me this delightful birthday card with that message on it and I just had to make it into a banner. :)

From: [identity profile] javajunkie13.livejournal.com


Hee! This was such a cool twist on the boys-turn-into-animals theme. And, oh, the end kind of makes me ache. Oh, boys. *cuddles them all*

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I'm new enough to the fandom, not to have read any boys-turn-into-animals fics, so I'm glad this is a new twist on the theme. :)
I'm also selfishly glad to have made you ache. Thanks for the feedback! :)

From: [identity profile] alias_chick.livejournal.com


Oh wow!! I loved the whole pretense of the story!! How John decides to change after a small, but significant, and probably pretty scary incident! As well, the puppy part was adorable, as well as pretty tricky!! Ha ha I loved it!! Thanks so much for the awesome read!! :)

From: [identity profile] alias_chick.livejournal.com


Heh, that it did!! And out of curiosity, do you have any other Supernatural fics you've written?

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


I'm flattered that you ask. That's my first SPN fic actually. I only discovered SPN about a month ago and watched every episode in a couple of weeks.

If you like Stargate Atlantis, I did write some odd little crossovers, and there's one SPN drabble. They're listed on my ficlist over here (http://starrylizard.livejournal.com/32793.html).

Hopefully I'll be writing more soon though. I've fallen hard for this show. :)

From: [identity profile] alias_chick.livejournal.com


Ha ha cool!! Lol.. this show is so addictive (at least what I found for myself..) And since you're ne, I officially welcome you to the fandom!! (heh.. like I have any official capacity.. *facepalm) :D

Alas, my TV provider messed up SG. They kept switching days/times, so I've seen random episodes, but not too many. *sigh...

Cool!! I really look forward to the ones you write in the future, then!! :)

From: [identity profile] derry667.livejournal.com


Awww! Nice! You did what you threatened but then you didn't. Nice twist.

And the image of John sitting there nervously trying to work out what to say to "Dean the dog" and then looking to see his son standing there, both made me giggle hysterically and killed me with cuteness (and I'm at work dammit!)

Do I even need to say that I loved it?

BTW - apparently McAlex is back in town. Any plans for this weekend?

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Yay! Thanks so much Derry. I must say I wasn't at all sure about this leaping into SPN fandom, but apparently it's working out okay! :)


(Yeup, I noticed McAlex is back. Give us a ring/email and we'll figure something out. This weekend is completely free so far.)

From: [identity profile] icarusancalion.livejournal.com


Oh no... I don't need another fandom. But I liked the fear, the believability, and the weird sensation where I bought -- 100% -- that Dean had been malignantly transformed into a dog.

Icarus

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thanks Icarus. I'm so glad this seems to work, that you bought it. It's really hard to tell when you're writing it and you know the twist that's coming. *big grin*

Thanks for reading. :)

From: [identity profile] iamstealthyone.livejournal.com


Nicely done. :) I was convinced the puppy was Dean, so that was a neat twist finding out it wasn't. Poor John, though!

Wee!Sam was too cute. :)

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thans so much for commenting! I'm glad the twist worked for you. :)

From: [identity profile] a-phoenixdragon.livejournal.com


Wow!! A funny and heratwrenching one!! You get the fear and panic of John's search, then the humpr when he finds out the dog ISN'T Dean - then that wrench again, when you realise THIS is how Dean learned, THIS is what made him who he is today...

Absolutely wonderful dear!

*Hugs*

From: [identity profile] defreule.livejournal.com


That was really cute, and that last scene broke my heart just a little. Poor Dean, his father suddenly going from Dad to Sir, just like that. So much emotional impact in such a short story! Really well done, thank you!



From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thank you so much! I'm really chuffed that I got at your emotions. *grins*

Cheers
SL

From: [identity profile] sardonicsmiley.livejournal.com


Wow. Talk about a sucker-punch. It's just-and then-with the-ughhhhh.

Excuse me while I go cuddle my puppy for comfort.

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Aww, I'm not entirely sorry the fic sucker-punched you, but I'm glad you have a puppy to cuddle. Thanks for the feedback! :)

From: [identity profile] kaethe.livejournal.com


Aww, that was sweet! I liked the shift in John's perspective; it was interesting to see, knowing what it would lead to in the future.

From: [identity profile] fanficmistress.livejournal.com


great story. It was so cute. The twist is great Dean not being the dog.

Jenna

From: [identity profile] chal.livejournal.com


Oh, I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Adorable twist, there, but then we have the beginnings of Dean becoming the little soldier instead of a proper child. ::sniffle:: Either way, I likes it.

I love the idea of John taking a step back and taking that momentary outside view of how crazy his situation is, just based on what has suddenly become perfectly plausible.

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


Thanks so much! I'm so glad you liked it and that you took the time to tell me so. :)

I love the idea of John taking a step back and taking that momentary outside view of how crazy his situation is
Thanks for that. I mean really, there aren't many fathers who would even consider that their kid had been turned into a dog in the firt place. :)

From: [identity profile] mistojen.livejournal.com


aww Lizzie I really liked this! *facepalm* ...I thought Dean was turned into a puppy, too, John; it's all good... *headdesk*

From: [identity profile] starrylizard.livejournal.com


You're welcome to take it. It's made by Katie ([livejournal.com profile] _wwsd_) who makes awesome icons and they're always for shares. She actually had a couple of posts with different breeds of doggies licking the screen if you can bother to search her LJ. :)
.

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