Hiatus by [livejournal.com profile] wings128 for <user site="livejournal.com" user="clefl

Mar. 21st, 2015 08:47 am
[identity profile] springflingmod.livejournal.com posting in [community profile] spn_springfling
Title: Hiatus
Pairing: Dean and Sam
Rating: PG
Warnings: Vague spoilers for 10.14

Sam woke to the sounds of decades-old systems whirring to life and the last pieces of a plan clicking into place. First some coffee, and bacon. This definitely called for bacon. Dean would go for it and Sam could always work off the calories later.

He sat up using only his abs, long fingers mussing his hair as his feet untangled themselves from the only blanket still clinging to his sheets, instead of puddled on the floor. With any luck Dean’d sleep for a while yet.

Half an hour later and Sam was showered, shaved, and dressed in well-worn but clean denim, white cotton - no hide-the-blood-blue, today - and blue plaid. Sam tucked damp hair behind his ear and loaded two duffels, a full cooler of food, and his laptop bag into the Impala’s trunk. The heavy clunk of cool metal would, for Sam, forever signal a life on the road. The sharp smell of melting black top on humid summer air as it rushed through open windows, seventies rock blaring out the speakers, and Dean by his side. Only this trip wouldn’t be like those others. There’d be no sleeping in crappy motels for weeks on end, no greasy diner food. No King of Hell. No First Blade.

Sam folded and laid out layer after layer of blankets across the back seat, each one smoothed of its wrinkles before the next was added. Two pillows, puffed and inviting in their white slips, stacked at the passenger end. He’d done all he could think of. Sam stretched his arms above his head, long back twisting at his narrow waist. Sighed with the pleasure of it and rolled his shoulders too. There was a lot of driving in his future before he could do that again.

~*~

Dean lay fully-dressed in the middle of his perfectly made up bed, the purpling bruises and faint crease between his brows giving away the burden Sam’s brother carried, even in sleep.

Sam felt the pull in his thighs and the bulge in his biceps as he took his brother into his arms; knees and nape fitting to crook of elbow as if they belonged there. Dean didn’t wake as Sam carried him through the bunker’s cool corridors to the garage; a child in arms, precious cargo in need of protection.

Sam huffed a laugh at what Dean’s face would be like when he woke. Gruff and bashful beneath freckled cheeks, eyes not meeting Sam’s, until they did. Sam felt warm all over with the image. Dean had always been there for him, except - well, those paled in the grand scheme. All of it came down to now.

This was Sam’s chance. He tucked the last blanket under Dean’s arm to stop it falling off the seat, and closed the door as quietly as he could before folding himself behind the wheel.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the simple turn of a key, he thought with a glance at the map on the seat beside him, and clicked the remote. The garage doors swung slowly open, revealed the access ramp with its twin rows of running lights encouraging them forward. Sam shifted the Impala into first and pressed down on the gas.

~*~

“Sammy?” Dean croaked but didn’t move, the Impala’s open road purr lulling him under again before he could wake fully.

Sam eyed his brother in the rear view mirror; nothing more than dark blonde tuffs, the curve of one high cheekbone on white softness, and a mound of blankets. But it was all Sam had ever needed. Was all he’d ever need.

“I’ve got you Dean.” Sam whispered over his shoulder, before turning his attention back to the crisp blue sky and the black ribbon taking them exactly where they needed to go. “I’ve got you.”

~*~

There was a cramp clawing its way up his left calf. He was hot; sweating through day-old cotton and plaid. Light was turning his eyelids a shade of red that made no sense. And what was that? Gulls?!

Dean rolled, flung out a hand to keep from landing in the foot well, a tangle of blankets and biker boots. What the fuck?! “Saaam!”

“Easy Dean,” Dean’s sweat turned icy in relief, his heart leaping out his chest to meet the huge hand pressing back. “Easy, I’m here.”

“Where the hell, is here?!” Dean grumbled, exhaustion swimming up to claim him as he struggled to get upright.

It totally freaked him out that Sam had been able to move him, and drive him to…here, without Dean even crackin’ an eyelid.

“It’s not the edge of the map,” Sam grinned, eyes squinting as they roved the thin cobalt line of the horizon, “but you can see it from here.”

Dean made it out of his baby, leaned heavily against her panelling and shrugged out of both jacket and plaid together; cool breeze playing in the golden hairs on his arms. Sam was there; had stepped close, pressed his Sasquatch of a body into Dean’s flank. Heavy, and solid, and everything Dean needed but had never been able to ask for.

The ocean lapped at the sand; a conversation the two of them had been having since the beginning of anything, would likely continue having until the end of forever. White-bellied Gulls squawked; swooped on the eddies of a salt-scented breeze that played in the hair of the two brothers.

“How’d you know?” Dean murmured, tilting his chin to catch more of everything; Sam’s fruity shampoo, his own stale sweat, the roar and crash of the ocean.

He was stripping, elbowing Sam in the ribs in his panic to be bare, to be free; not noticing Sam hadn’t answered.

Dean hit the water at a run. Its enveloping waves a blissful icy caress; Sam’s ground-eating thuds filling his ears as he dived below frothing crests. Surfacing beyond the break in an explosion of liquid crystal, sunlight caught in the sparkle of wide green eyes.

“I’ll always know.” Sam gasped as a wall of water sluiced him in the face, Dean’s bark of laugher so foreign, and yet, so familiar – like a face in a cracked and faded photograph - something to be cherished.

Sam lunged in retaliation, feet slipping into a hollow, head plunging beneath the surface. But Dean was there. His strong hand on Sam’s arm, just like it’d always been.

“I gotcha kid.”

And he did. Sam could feel Dean against him, grip shifting to Sam’s nape; shaking him, fingertips pressing at the base of his skull. The water held them, Sam slumped into Dean; relief too utterly complete to define, or express.

“I’ve got you too, Dean.”

The mark had quieted, for the moment, soothed by distance, he guessed. A delicate pink scar instead of an angry red brand he couldn’t ignore. Dean knew, like the ocean the two of them floated in, the mark had the power to surge up; destroy all in its path.

“Yeah Sammy, you have.” Dean whispered the lie so it didn’t reach his brother.

Sam turned as if he’d heard anyway, kaleidoscope eyes reflecting blue, and full with a young brother’s mischief. “Race you!”

Dean growled, caught the tail of the wave Sam was riding onshore.

“Three outta five.” He spluttered, kneeling in the shallows of the undertow.

“It’s the ocean, Dean.” Sam grinned, puffed up with his win. “We can go as many times as we want!”

“Well then, Sammy,” Dean grinned, all white teeth, laugh lines, and five years younger. He rubbed his hand through his hair, leaving a muss of soft spikes behind. “Whatcha waitin’ for?!”

Sam barked a laugh, its sound snatched away by the wind, and watched Dean hurdle the incoming wavelets before diving under. He’d give him a head start. After all, Sam was younger, and fuelled by green smoothies – not bacon cheeseburgers and snickers bars.

Date: 2015-03-21 04:35 pm (UTC)
frozen_delight: (sam & dean)
From: [personal profile] frozen_delight
I'm always in favour of fics where Sam takes care of Dean, and this one was beautiful. I love how Sam drove them to the sea, and how Dean slept through most of it. That I have a bit of a carried!Dean kink didn't hurt either. :)

Date: 2015-03-31 07:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
I'm rather fond of carried!Dean, too.
Thank you so much for reading, I'm thrilled you enjoyed it :)

Date: 2015-03-21 05:04 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] quickreaver.livejournal.com
The sharp smell of melting black top on humid summer air as it rushed through open windows, seventies rock blaring out the speakers, and Dean by his side. Gorgeous line! And a really sweet, peaceful slice of rare life for these guys.

Date: 2015-03-31 07:16 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
*GRINS* That's one of my favourite lines too!
Thanks for reading :)

Date: 2015-03-21 05:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] marciaelena.livejournal.com
Ah, this is lovely. Some respite among all of their worries, the sea keeping them afloat despite the weight of everything.

Date: 2015-03-31 07:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you. ♥
I'm so glad you picked up on that comparison :)

Date: 2015-03-21 05:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] amypond45.livejournal.com
Wonderful stuff! Love imagining them floating in the ocean, free and finally getting a little break together. Thank you!

Date: 2015-03-31 07:18 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you BB! It was such fun to write. So glad you enjoyed reading it :)
After all the dark angst, I thought a ray or two of sunshine and inner quiet would be appreciated by all. ♥

Date: 2015-03-21 11:33 pm (UTC)
sillie: (BigBang2010AmriaDean)
From: [personal profile] sillie
This was wonderful. I love fics were Sam takes care of Dean, and this def. hit the spot. <3

Date: 2015-03-31 07:20 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you for reading, hun. I'm so glad you enjoyed it :)
It's often the other way round, and it was fun to switch it around. ♥

Date: 2015-03-22 09:11 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] somersault-j.livejournal.com
You know what I loved best in here? The little details!

The heavy clunk of cool metal would, for Sam, forever signal a life on the road.

A journey of a thousand miles begins with the simple turn of a key,...

...cool breeze playing in the golden hairs on his arms.


And then this '“Yeah Sammy, you have.” Dean whispered the lie so it didn’t reach his brother.!! So damn heartbreaking! I loved this :)

Date: 2015-03-31 07:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
I rather fond of my "little details", lol! :D
I'm thrilled you loved reading my little ficlet, hun. ♥

Date: 2015-03-22 07:43 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] tifaching.livejournal.com
I was so afraid at the start that there was something else going on here and that Dean was not actually asleep, but in a slumber far more permanent. When he said Sam's name I was very relieved.

I love when Sam takes care of Dean. Very nicely done.

Date: 2015-03-31 07:27 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
\o/ !!♥
I was really really really hoping someone's imagination would head that way. In the ep itself I did wonder when Dean went to bed that something would be amiss when Sam came to check on him. I was also aiming for a memory reference to the end of 9.23 and the walk Sam made from garage to bedroom.

Thank you for reading, I'm thrilled you enjoyed it.

Date: 2015-03-23 07:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] milly-gal.livejournal.com
The details in this are what dragged me in, those tiny things that some authors don't always reference or I can't *feel* them in a fic. this is gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous! Edit: I meant to say, I could *feel* the lap of water here, as if I was submerged in that ocean with the boys!
Edited Date: 2015-03-23 07:54 am (UTC)

Date: 2015-03-31 07:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
I'm thrilled that you could "feel" everything in this snippet, hun. Nothing like feeling you've been dropped into the world laid out for you upon the page :)

Date: 2015-03-31 07:56 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] milly-gal.livejournal.com
*attackhugs* Can I just take a moment to do the hippy dance of smug...I *knew* this was you!! Gorgeous work honey, absolutely gorgeous!

Date: 2015-03-31 08:00 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Hippy dance as much as you like hun :D
Thanks BB!♥

Date: 2015-03-23 07:08 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] firesign10.livejournal.com
So lovely!!!!

Date: 2015-03-31 07:28 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you! :D

Date: 2015-03-24 12:32 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] zara-zee.livejournal.com
I, too, was a bit nervous that Dean's slumber was of the forever type and was relieved when he spoke! Lovely details, and a very poignant attempt by Sam at some normality.

Date: 2015-03-31 07:30 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
It makes me give an eeevil fangirl grin to read that your mind took you down that path ;)
I'm happy you enjoyed the reading.♥

Date: 2015-03-24 01:48 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] cleflink.livejournal.com
Authoranon this is lovely! And I am thoroughly saddened that I have been away without computer access for the past few days because a) I have kept you waiting and b) I could have had this gorgeous thing in my life that much sooner.

This was an awesome take on my prompt, oh my goodness. I loved that sense of escape, that, at least for a little bit, this is something that they can outrun. The playfulness of the ending made my heart feel light, even with the shadow of all the truths that they're not talking about. Your descriptions are beautiful, from a freshly washed Sam padding around the kitchen (mmm), to Dean sleeping curled up in the backseat, to the view that greets him when they get out of the car. Just, all of it.

I have a serious kink for Sam carrying Dean that goes sadly unfulfilled most of the time, so that was an absolutely delightful surprise. I adored their varying reactions to it: Sam being pleased that he can do this for Dean without disturbing him, and Dean freaking out that he didn't wake up. It's beautiful to see that, regardless of anything else, Dean still has that unconscious trust of Sam in his personal space. And it's always lovely to see Sam taking care of Dean (and Dean not complaining too much about it, for once).

Thank you so much! I couldn't have asked for a nicer gift!

Date: 2015-03-31 07:33 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Sweetheart, thank you so very very much for your wonderful comment. I shall blush for all the compliments within. ♥
\o/ You loved it! :D

Thank you for such a lovely prompt for my first time at springfling.
You're very welcome BB ♥

Date: 2015-03-24 04:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] madebyme-x.livejournal.com
A beautiful snapshot showing the brothers simply enjoying each others company.

I loved the quietness of this, and the everyday slice of life feel it had as they enjoyed their hiatus. You created a lovely sense of mystery too, I was worried that something dark was afoot, but I adored the journey you took us on, seeing them escape and be free in the ocean. The imagery you created was stunning and I enjoyed every word :)



Date: 2015-03-31 07:35 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
I'm thrilled that many readers picked up on the possibility of darkness regards Dean sleeping through :)
Thank you so much for reading, I'm happy you liked this moment out of time. ♥

Date: 2015-03-24 06:24 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] fiercelynormal.livejournal.com
Ah, Sam is so sweet and tender caring for Dean. Love it!

Date: 2015-03-31 07:36 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thrilled you enjoyed, hun, thanks for reading. :)

Date: 2015-03-25 09:05 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] ivory-angel99.livejournal.com
Fic where Sam takes care of his brother is literally my favorite thing in the world, especially in this season, and your writing here is a perfect example of why I love it so much. All my favorite things are in here too: Sam pulling Dean into his arms and carrying him to his baby, Sam driving them to the ocean, Dean waking up when they arrive and acting all panicked and outraged but also happy and relieved, Sam telling Dean he's got him. The two are truly brothers again in this and I really love you for that. Thank you so much for the beautiful read.

Date: 2015-03-31 07:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you for your lovely comment, BB! :)
It makes me truly happy to know that you enjoyed it so much. ♥

Date: 2015-03-27 07:39 pm (UTC)
ext_57687: (♥ actor | ja jib11 laughing! (ani))
From: [identity profile] big-heart-june.livejournal.com
Ohhhh MY HEART..you own it, lovely author!anon ♥ this made my heart grow 34893439 sizes! ♥

Date: 2015-03-31 07:38 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
*GRINS* Hi BB! It's me! *hugs you tight*
Thank you for reading my little ficlet. I'm thrilled you loved it so much! ♥

Date: 2015-03-31 07:43 am (UTC)
ext_57687: (♥ actor | ja jib11 laughing! (ani))
From: [identity profile] big-heart-june.livejournal.com
Oh you darling! I cannot tell you how thrilled I am too that YOU wrote this one! *holds out heart* ♥

Date: 2015-03-31 07:46 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
*blushes* Darling, you are such a tonic to a girl's soul. ♥

Date: 2015-03-31 07:39 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you, BB! ♥

Date: 2015-04-01 04:17 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] aerynsun5.livejournal.com
This was great. I have a thing about the boys at the beach, and having Sam take him there is just perfect. Really enjoyed this.

Date: 2015-04-01 10:37 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] wings128.livejournal.com
Thank you :)
The beach is the opposite of everything in their lives.
I loved writing this, so glad you enjoyed it too.

Date: 2015-05-24 11:01 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emmatheslayer.livejournal.com
This is adorable I truly love how cute this is awe Sammy loves Dean
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