(no subject)

[justrunsasaloon]

Who: Mama BearEllen and you!
Where: The land of dreeeeeams
When: Days 83-88
Warnings: Canonical death, destruction, demons… it’s Supernatural, so be warned

1. There’s propane tanks wired together. Pails of rock salt and nails are next to them. At the counter, two figures are huddled together, bloody, sweaty, with tear lines on their face. A blonde head rests against the shoulder of the older woman. Jo’s body is warm next to her. Their hands clasp around the switch together.

Then, there’s nothing but stillness. “Honey?” Her voice cracks. Her lips quiver when there’s no answer. She looks straight ahead and doesn’t blink. “Jo –“ The sob breaks free and her hand tightens on Jo’s. “It’s okay; it’s okay.” She sobs out. It is. It’s going to be okay. Ellen leans over and kisses Jo on the head. Her baby girl. “That’s my good girl.” She whispers.

She leans her head back and swallows the tears. A warm breath stirs her head and she glances out of the corner of her eye. “You can go straight back to hell, you ugly bitch!”

2. The pickup truck roars down the road, the windows open, headed for someplace unknown. Scenery whizzes past. Ellen is younger and looking at a map. Her hair is up in a ponytail, and her bare feet are on the dash. The nails are bright pink.

She’s munching on some fries. The other man is tall, lean. There’s a tattoo on his forearm that is simply her name and a heart. He tries to steal her fries. Ellen moves them out of the way without looking.

“Ellen.”

“Bill.”

The man, his green eyes laughing, huffs out a sigh. “I’m hungry.”

“Sure does suck.” She throws a fry at him and goes back to studying the map, marking something on it before stuffing a couple fries in her mouth. Then she starts laughing as he leans over and mouths her neck while still keeping his eyes on the road. “ACK! Drive! Drive, Bill! Eyes on the road!” She laughs, squirming away from him against the door. “Here, you big baby.” She offers her fries, laughing.

“Thank you.” He grins and pops a few into his mouth.

3. The roadhouse is empty and quiet. Ellen sits at a table. There are chairs on the other tables. The bar is clean, sparkling glasses shining from the towel they’re drying on. The jukebox is turned off. The fans overhead squeak softly.

In front of her is a picture of a blond man with green eyes, his arm around her and a pretty blonde baby girl in his other. There’s a bottle of whiskey in front of her and an empty tumbler.

Ellen’s eyes well with tears and then they fall down her cheeks, streaking through the dust from finishing up the evening cleaning. The door gently swings in the wind behind John Winchester as he left. She can’t quite feel yet.

A sob breaks free and Ellen’s fingers brush over the photograph. Her head falls forward onto her arm and she sobs to the floor, screaming out her husband’s name. She curls in on herself and just cries. She can’t breathe properly and the tears spatter her arm, the floor, her legs. She doesn’t care.

A warm hand lands on her shoulder and she jerks, falling off the chair. She stares upwards.

“Ellen, honey? What happened? Is it Joanna Beth? Where is she? What’s wrong?”

She surges up and grabs him, burying her face in his shoulder. “Bill… Bill, you’re okay. You’re okay.”

He cradles her to him. “Of course.” His head drops to drop a kiss on her shoulder. “What happened? Where’s Jo?”

“She’s fine. She’s… she’s with Felicia. I thought you were… John said that –“

He cups her face. “Of course I’m fine. It was just a demon. What did Winchester say?” He looks like his temper is sparking.

Ellen just shakes her head. “Nothing. It’s okay. Let’s go get Jo.”

Comments

2 - let me know if this doesn't work!

[blackmagus]

She's only been in the United States a handful of times, and the area is nondescript enough that she can't possibly place where she and Jazz are. A forest of some kind. Cool, temperate, pleasant. There aren't any sounds of airships overhead, or the rumbling of hover cars. The asphalt underneath her booted feet is the kind she remembers from going to the country as a child, manufactured back before technology was built into it.

Fortescue's so caught up in her marvel she almost doesn't notice the ground vehicle heading her way. Jazz dashes to the side of the road, mewling at her, and she quickly follows suit before she's in danger of being run over.

[justrunsasaloon]

Ellen hums along with the radio in the cab of the truck. Then she braces herself, hearing Bill swear and jerk the wheel to the side. "BILL!" She grabs onto the door and his leg, while the truck stutters to a stop. "What the hell?" She asks.

He jerks his thumb over his shoulder at the pair standing along the road. Ellen sighs and gets out. She walks over to the pair of them. Her dream-self morphs from the young woman she'd been into the woman in the Cape now. She tucks her hands into her coat pockets, able to feel her gun there.

"You're not supposed to be here." It's a challenge, and a sigh. She knows that this isn't how the dream goes.

[blackmagus]

Oh. Yes. That makes sense, rather than some dream about a history documentary that she'd scrolled past on the telenet. Still, Fortescue can't help but look disconcerted as Ellen approaches her. Especially when she changes. Things very rarely change in dreams right in front of her, and it's usually disturbing when they do.

"Yes, I... I'm not exactly sure how I got here," she has to admit. Better to stick with the truth for now.

[justrunsasaloon]

Ellen cocks her head to the side. Behind her, Bill is digging through the bed of the truck, asking about chalk and salt and a blowtorch. He also pulls a few things out, so they can make bombs.

Ellen doesn't know this woman, but she's taken the place of the woman that had....

"Me either. You're not a victim and you're not a Wendigo."

[blackmagus]

"I hope not," Fortescue replies, with a touch of wryness and a vaguely unsteady smile. "Are Wendigos common out here?"

She gestures to the forest, rather than as a general question, as Jazz pokes his head out from between her legs to blink curiously at Ellen. He's regarding Bill a lot more suspiciously.

[justrunsasaloon]

"Patterns say there's one here. Campers disappearing, weird things being heard. Same thing happened twenty years ago. We're here to handle it." She calls over her shoulder to Bill and tells him to stop fussing, the propane is behind the seat in the cab.

Bill mutters something and goes to find it.

"You gonna be alright?"

[blackmagus]

"I suppose that depends on your definition. But I can handle myself," she assures the hunter.

Her surroundings are more unnerving than the idea of a wendigo, though she doesn't know much about them. This is a dream — if Ellen drives back off, will Fortescue wake up? Will her surroundings fade? Or will be remain here as long as she sleeps?

"Can I help?"

[justrunsasaloon]

Bill finally wanders over. He's a tall wiry man, wearing a leather jacket and a ball cap pulled down over his eyes. He's got a heavy pack and hands a second to Ellen. "She...?"

"No." Ellen shakes her head. "She didn't see the thing. Won't be hard to track it though." She turns back to Fortescue. "You know how to handle a flamethrower?"

Might as well play the dream out... see what happens.

[blackmagus]

Fortescue opens her mouth to say I am a flamethrower and then, cautiously, decides to throttle back. Some people haven't been so good to her about wielding magic, or have been unnerved. It's not fair to do that in a stranger's dream. But she does know how to operate the mechanical kind, even if it's probably a little more crude than the kind she's used to. She nods.

"Certainly. Is that how you kill them?"

3 - Sorry I'm so late! Let me know if this needs changing!

[lightgunhustler]

It's been years since the roadhouse burned down, but even so, it feels the same as it always has. Familiar, cozy, home. Even though it's been three years since she set foot in the place, it will always be home. It even smells the same -- like she hasn't been gone more than a few minutes. Nothing has changed.

Except for the sight of Ellen bent over a chair, crying in such a way that the word itself seems too tame for what Jo is actually seeing. It's heartwrenching, seeing her mother in so much pain, and at first, she doesn't understand why.

Not until Bill shows up.

Like the roadhouse, he hasn't changed. He's exactly as Jo remembers him, leather jacket and all. His memory has grown distant over the years, but she's never forgotten what he looks like. That, she kept. She finds herself frozen, staring as the scene unfolds, but when Ellen suggests fetching her, she forces herself to move forward, staring at the pair of them, unblinking.

She never thought she'd see them side-by-side like this again.

"No. I'm here." Her voice is quiet, reserved, as though it's bordering on the edge of tears and she's fighting hard to keep them from falling. "... Mama. Daddy. Is it really you?"

Never too late!

[justrunsasaloon]

"Baby girl!" Bill lets go of Ellen and walks over to pick her up and swing her around. "When'd you get prettier than me huh? Your Mama hiding it from me?" He grins, dropping a kiss on the top of her head. "Whatcha say we bribe Mama into making us some of that chili of hers?"

The whisper is loud enough for Ellen to hear and she laughs, shaking her head. "Not until you clean that road dust off of you. I don't want it spoiling my food." Ellen admonishes. She slides herself under one of his arms. She looks at Jo.

It's in her eyes. She knows this isn't real. She knows that this is a dream, that it's something that could never happen, that this was a lie. She knows it, but she doesn't want Jo to miss it; she doesn't want to lose it herself.

[lightgunhustler]

And for just a moment, it's just as she remembers. The way it always was when he came back from a job. Taking her up in his arms, the smell of that old leather jacket, the smell of dust and gun powder and oil. She can't bring herself to say anything at first, putting her arms around his neck and letting him hold onto it.

He feels real, but she knows it's not. She meets Ellen's eyes as her mother slips under his arm. They both know this isn't real. It's impossible. But that doesn't mean she doesn't want to hold onto it.

"Maybe let him skip the shower," she says softly, her voice mostly steady but with the faintest tremble that threatens tears, "Just this once."

Who knew how much time they had together.

[justrunsasaloon]

Ellen doesn't want it to go. She doesn't want to lose something she'd hoped and dreamed for for so long.

Her eyes go up to Bill. He's smiling at the pair of them and directing them out of the Roadhouse. His arms are around their shoulders.

"Alright, just this once. But you two can share dishes tonight." She offers the compromise.

Bill laughs and kisses Ellen's temple. "Jo, you work your magic on your Mama while I was gone? You gettin' soft, El?"

"Not for you, you rascal." She barely holds back the choked sob. She remembers this so much. His laugh, his smell, the utter peace she felt when he was around.

She hates dreams so much right now.

[lightgunhustler]

"Get soft? Her?"

It doesn't matter that it's not real. Seeing them together like that, hearing her father's voice again -- she can't help but crack a smile, even if it is a little on the hesitant side.

"That'll happen the day after never. But I think I could stand sharin' dishes with him." She dares to slide an arm around his waist as they walk, she and Ellen both finding themselves ushered out of the bar and towards home, but she doesn't want to be rushed. It'll be over before they know it.

She leans forward a little to peer over at Ellen, her eyes questioning. She's not sure how this is happening, but there's no denying that it is, and they're both fully aware of it, too.

[justrunsasaloon]

Ellen doesn't know what happens. One moment, they're walking out of the roadhouse, and the next, they're in the small apartment at the back, where Jo grew up, and where they'd stayed after Bill had died.

She doesn't like losing time. The table's set for three, dinner's on the stove, and Bill is talking about the demon he and Winchester took down, telling stories to his baby girl as if this was just another hunt.

But Ellen's too cynical. She knows something is wrong. She reaches for a book, and can't understand a single word written there. She can suss out a translation in 5 languages, but this is just gibberish.

She frowns and puts it back. When can't you read?

She walks into the kitchen. "Joanna Beth, come give me a hand for a second."

Bill shoos her off. "Don't break her good mood. Maybe she'll let us stay up late." He winks.

Ellen snorts and looks at Jo when she comes in. "I think it's a dream. I can't read a damn thing."

[lightgunhustler]

It's difficult for her to tear herself away from her father's stories. It was always her favorite part of him coming home. Sitting down at the table and talking for hours about all the things he'd done while he'd been away, and when he was finished he would take them both up in his arms and tell them that none of it even compared to coming home to them, and they were a family again, until the next job. Her gaze follows Ellen towards the door, and she reluctantly moves to get out of her chair, pausing long enough to flash her father a tight smile.

"I'll keep her in good spirits. Don't you worry."

That wink is almost enough to freeze her in place, but she forces herself to follow Ellen into the next room. She knows something is all kinds of wrong, they both do, and apparently now it's time to talk about it.

"Yeah," Jo says softly once they're alone, not wanting Bill to overhear them. "I've had dreams like this. Not exactly, but -- but close. Shouldn't be possible for us to be sharing the same dream, though, right?" Her experiences in Cape Kore have been limited, so far. She has no idea what's really possible here, to be honest.

[justrunsasaloon]

"Can't read a damned thing." Ellen leans on the sink. She isn't even sure what to think about this. Ellen wants to just grab Jo and Bill and sink into the sensations and let it be. But they aren't right and they could be damned dangerous - djinn are just a single type of nasty that uses dreams against humans.

"Shouldn't be, but who the hell knows? It's nothing a djinn could do as far as I've ever heard." But Ellen knows that there's a lot she doesn't know.

"You gonna be servin' pie or not, tonight, darlin'?"

"I'll send Jo in with it in a minute. Hold ya damned horses." The old banter strikes a new pang in her heart. She'd only ever wanted Jo to have this. "Go on. Take it to him. We'll see where this goes." She whispers, not sure she wants to know.

3

[servingmichael]

Raphael doesn't really care why he is sitting in the Roadhouse. But he is, on a table, dressed in shadow and watching. It's curious he thinks - this isn't really his field, more looking Joanna, but he's been wandering and he does like dreams. Given how this place has messed with his abilities, he doesn't know if they will notice him or not.

[justrunsasaloon]

Bill's laugh against her throat brings back all the old memories. "Alright. Always willing to go see my baby girl."

Ellen smiles and kisses his cheek. "You smell like miles of bad road. Go get cleaned up and I'll call Felicia to bring her home." She turns to start cleaning up. "Go on."

Bill rolls his eyes in fond exasperation and pats her butt on the way out. The door swings shut on him and she puts up the final chair, turning out the lights to the roadhouse. Worn fingers caress the warm wood of the bar. Ellen takes a minute and collapse against it, tears on her face.

"Damn you, Winchester." She mutters, stalking out of the roadhouse.

[servingmichael]

"Maybe people say that. Something about not being able to trust a man obsessed." Thanks to them. "But he does mean well." John was still a member of Michael's Vessel line, and in his mind, better suited than Dean.

Raphael is simply there, as if he had always been.

[justrunsasaloon]

She whips around, glaring at him. "Means well? He burned Bill's body, came back, got the boys and then told me in front of them so that I wouldn't shoot him." Ellen snaps out. She still hates John for that.

"Get out. I know what you are, you feathered bastard. Leave me with what could have been."

Ellen isn't normally one to yell at Angels, but this is different. This hurts too much and someone has to take the brunt of it.

[servingmichael]

"I didn't say what he did was forgivable. I said it wasn't malicious, especially back then." Later, with a decade hunting under his belt, Raphael was a harsher judge of John's actions. But not in the beginning.

"And I'm not trying to take it from you. I could nudge it a little. You'd never know it was a dream." Djinn weren't the only masters of dream worlds - Raphael just wouldn't kill her in the process.

[justrunsasaloon]

"John Winchester ruined them boys. He turned them into hunters when he didn't have to and made them both scared of and unafraid of the entire world. They would've been better staying with me."

She'd offered. She loved them boys, even back then. At least with her, they would have had a better upbringing.

"And leave it alone. This ain't the first time I've dreamed this. Won't be the last. Sometimes, it's nice, even if it is a dream."

The scene flickers around them and she whips around, watching the crystal blocks appearing and disappearing around them. "What the hell? What are you doing?"

[servingmichael]

"John did what Michael set him up to do. Had they been with you, you never would have been able to keep Sam safe from Azazel's followers, for starters. There's a lot to this you don't know, and it isn't any of your business, no matter what you think of what we did." Or how long they had been at it.

Raphael glances around, unconcerned. "Not my doing."

[justrunsasaloon]

"I would have done a damn sight better than dragging them all over the damned country running from something that no one understood least of all John Winchester." She snaps. In her heart, that's the way it should have been: The boys and Jo with her at the Roadhouse; John out on the road, hell bent on his damned revenge.

"And I'm the closest damn thing those boys had to a mama, since theirs died. Don't tell me what is and isn't my business." She grinds her teeth. "Family don't stop at blood." And they were and are her family.

Damn she loves them boys.