#and Dean ? dean is a being CLOAKED in shame. there Are so many layers of shame to him there’s shame ABOUT the shame it’s a mess

[scrollingkingfisher]

A Foxy Problem

In general, Gabriel avoided hunters. Pranking humans wasn’t so fun when there was a chance that it might end with a stake in your back, even for an older, more cunning kitsune like he was. However, sometimes he had to make an exception to the rule. John Winchester was that exception.

Or, Gabriel tries to get a little revenge, and ends up with more than he bargained for.

My September entry for the Gabriel Monthly Challenge! The prompt I used was ‘He could hear him banging around in the kitchen, probably making a mess’

@gabriel-monthly-challenge, @archangel-with-a-shotgun, @lacqueluster, @ashiewesker, @revwinchester

AO3

Words;  2474   

Rating;  Gen- all the fluff

Tags;  Kitsune, Creature Gabriel (Supernatural), Accidental Baby Acquisition, Child Neglect, John Winchester's A+ Parenting

In general, Gabriel avoided hunters.

They weren’t worth the hassle. Pranking humans wasn’t so fun when there was a chance that it might end with a stake in your back, even for an older, more cunning kitsune like he was. He wasn’t going to give them the opportunity to pin all nine of his tails to their wall, even if some of the more sanctimonious ones were just begging for a lesson in humility.

However, sometimes he had to make an exception to the rule. John Winchester was that exception.

Gabriel had been more than willing to leave the man be. He hadn’t even been tricking the hunter. He’d been minding his own business, pulling a prank on three of the local douchebags when Winchester had showed up in town and started harassing him.

And okay, so sometimes he took his pranks a little too far on the harmful side of things. And sometimes they went wrong. And there was that time when he accidentally pranked that lady's twin sister. That didn't mean he was inherently evil!

But apparently that didn't mean anything to John-frickin-Winchester. Because before he knew it the guy was tailing him across town, and seeing as he could teleport, that was no mean feat. Within a day and a half the hunter had found his two temporary dens. Not his main one yet, thankfully, that had too many layers of protection. But still, that was getting uncomfortably close. John Winchester deserved to be taught a lesson not to mess with things that didn't concern him.

Which was how Gabriel found himself lurking in the shadows outside the motel room where Winchester was saying. His info said that he had a kid as well (Gabriel wondered how raising a five-year-old fit into the hunting lifestyle), but the tyke should be at school at this time. He raised his sharp snout into the air; nope, no one in. Perfect.  

Looking at the motel, it seemed even more run down than what hunters usually went for. And that was saying something. He sniffed experimentally and grimaced at the odour of mould, rust and neglect that lingered around the place, even more potent in his fox form than it would have been in his human one. But nevertheless, it was time for Winchester’s day of reckoning. He would rue ever setting eyes on Gabriel.

The wards were almost too easy to get through. One little nudge and they snapped like wet paper towels, letting him sneak through the door, invisible to passers by.

Gabriel slunk silently into the room, his paws making less noise than a mouse as he padded gently across the faded carpet. The curtains were drawn, and the low light made the room look even gloomier than it was already, but Gabriel’s sharp night vision let him pick out the details. He glanced over the unmade beds, the guns, the wall covered in newspaper and string, the rest of the hunter’s paraphernalia littered across the room. He wrinkled his sensitive nose at the smell of cheap whisky and gunpowder.

What should he do first? Should he start with the full-out chaos, or something more subtle? He could always switch around all those map pins, that would throw him off the scent for a while. Gabriel licked his sharp canines and contemplated, one foot raised delicately.

Just as he was thinking, he heard a rustle. He whipped around, all his tails bristling out in aggressive display, a snarl already on his face. His eyes locked on his target, his magic tensed and ready to land a deadly blow, and then he froze.

On the floor, between the two beds, there was a baby.

Round hazel eyes were watching him curiously, without a hint of fear. The fine, wavy brown hair on his head was matted into a cows lick over his forehead. The boy could only have been a year old. At the sight of Gabriel, his chubby face split into a beaming grin, displaying a mouth full of pearly milk teeth.

“‘Ox! ‘Ox!”

The toddler pulled himself up on the nearest bed and tottered forwards unsteadily towards where Gabriel was still watching, dumbstruck. The kid made it most of the way towards him but then he tripped over the toes of his onesie, tiny arms windmilling. Before Gabriel could even think about it his tails had whipped around to cushion the kid’s fall. He frowned down at his wayward appendages in confusion as they curled around the boy like a red-gold fluffy cloak.

Not seeming the least put off the toddler squealed happily, grabbing hold of one thick tail. Gabriel winced. Carefully, he extricated himself from the grasp of tiny fingers before transforming back into his human form in a flurry of fur.

“Okay, kiddo, no more of that.”

He bent down, pulling the boy up to his eye level by the armpits, much to his squeals of delight. Gabriel smiled back, helpless. The kid’s laughter was infectious.

There was something bothering him, though. This was definitely John Winchester’s room. There was no way it could have been anyone else’s. He had double checked. He had known about the first kid, Don or something? Dean? Dean, that was it. So how had he not known about the second son?

He shook his head. Okay, Gabriel, focus. Put down the baby. Get back to work. He had a hunter to inconvenience.

But as soon as he put the kid down, those huge eyes filled with tears and the kid let out a wail of misery that could have put a banshee to shame. Gabriel scooped the kid up again, desperately shushing as he tried to get the little brat to quiet down. He couldn’t have the neighbours trying to break in to see what the noise was.

He took a better look at the gloomy room as he walked up and down, gently bouncing the kid. The more he saw, the more the bad feeling he had about this whole situation grew. The odour to rot and mound lay heavy under the other hunter smells, as well as- now he was closer- the unmistakable odour of a filled diaper.

What kind of monster left the kid in a decrepit motel all day, no food, no water, sitting in his own filth? There was no doubt, this was neglect. And it looked as though this was hardly a one-off issue either. The room was full of things that were more than hazardous to a human toddler. There were knives on the table, for god’s sake.

This was so far past wrong. Gabriel thought for a second, looking down. The kid yawned widely, tangling chubby fingers in his jacket, and he felt his heart swell warm and solid as a glowing coal lodged in his chest. He couldn't leave the poor little tyke here.

He could call human social services. Unfortunately, he hadn't heard great things about them. The ankle biter would probably be dumped in some crappy group home somewhere. His older brother, too. And it was unlikely they’d let them stay together. Or…

There was another option.

“Okay, buddy, you’re coming with me,” Gabriel murmured quietly, hoisting the sleeping kid more securely onto his hip. Kidnapping wasn't usually his gig, but this was less of a kidnapping and more of a rescue.

Quickly, before he could change his mind, he strode over to the door. He peeked out. There was a couple unpacking their car in the lot, a cleaner two doors down. As casually as he could, Gabriel strolled across the blacktop and into the woods on the other side. Nobody even glanced his way.

.o0o.

A trip to supermarket sorted the diaper issue, and baby food, and everything else that wasn't on Gabriel's usual shopping list. It was a slightly surreal experience, stealing from the baby aisle rather than the one holding all the candy. After that, it had taken him over three hours to baby-proof his den. Why did babies feel the need to stick their fingers into plug sockets? It was like kids were trying to die or something.

The problem, he contemplated while watching the toddler happily ricochet off his furniture, was what to do about the other one. If he was going to do a good job here he should really get the both of them. Collect the whole set of baby Winchesters.

“What do you say, kiddo? Shall we rescue your brother from that hellhole?”

“Aaaaahhhhhh!” Said the kid, beaming and holding up a bouncy ball for him to inspect before running off to another room. Gabriel grinned after him.

“Just what I was thinking.”

Besides, he persuaded himself as he hacked the street cameras, the more kids he rescued now the fewer there would be trying to pin his tails to the wall in fifteen years’ time. Yeah. That was totally why he was doing this.

Well, at least the one he had now was having a good time. Gabriel could hear him banging around in the kitchen, probably making a mess with the play-dough he’d given him to keep him entertained. Getting hold of his brother, however, was going to be more difficult.

.o0o.

Gabriel went back to the motel that evening, leaving the kid tuckered out at home. With a flick of his tails he was invisible, carefully tucking himself under the windowsill to listen in on the conversation going on in the room.

“But Dad, what about Sammy?” The voice was young, high; definitely Dean. So the kid’s name was Sammy, huh?

An irate sigh, then a gruff voice said, “Dean, I've told you already. Your brother’s the one lead I have on this thing. We need to use him to draw it out.”

Gabriel's whiskers quivered with indignation. What kind of being would just give up on his kits like that? The boy had only been gone hours! Any other parent would have been combing the place for him, but apparently Winchester had stopped low enough to use his own brats as bait.

“But dad, what if he kills him?”

“He’ll be fine, but we have to use our heads about this, Dean. That's your brother’s best chance. Anyway, kitsunes don't hurt kids.”

Yeah, thought Gabriel, but what if I did? Not that he ever would, of course. The midget already had Gabriel wrapped around his little finger. But Winchester senior obviously thought it was a risk worth taking that Gabriel was definitely a kitsune and not some other type of baby-eating shapeshifter. He supposed that waiting for him to emerge was the most logical thing to do in the situation, but that was the thing. Humans weren't meant to be logical, not when their young were involved. It gave him chills to hear John talking about his own son so dispassionately.

“We’re hunting the creature my way, Dean, and that's final. It's not just Sammy’s life on the line, remember? You wouldn't want anyone else to die, would you?”

Dean muttered something else, but Gabriel had heard enough. If John Winchester cared that little about his second kid, then he couldn’t care that much about Dean either. He sat back on his hind paws and waited.

Sure enough, Dean emerged from the room not too much later, change jingling in his hand and a stressed frown on his face. Gabriel quickly manifested his human form next to the can machine.

“Psst, kid. Dean.”

Dean tensed, his skinny shoulders hunching as he turned. Gabriel saw him reaching for the back of his waistband, and really, what kind of parent have their five-year-old a knife? Not that it would do anything to Gabriel.

“How do you know my name?” Already suspicious. Good- that would serve him well in their world.

“I'm someone who wants to help.”

He saw a flash of fear on the boy’s face. He bit his lip, eyes darting nervously. “You're not gonna tell the other people about us, are you?”

Social services, Gabriel guessed. So he wasn't the first to have noticed.

Gabriel decided to drop the act. At least this would make things simpler. “No, I'm not.” He relaxed his human form a little, letting his ears grow pointed and tufted. The shadows of his tails swished behind him, stirring the air with their half-condensed shadows.

The boy’s eyes went wide, then his frown grew deeper as he pulled the knife out. “You're that kitsune dad’s been hunting.”

Gabriel whistled, holding his hands up. “You’re a smart one, aren’t you?” Dean just glared at him harder. “Look, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you or your brother. Kitsune, remember? I don't hurt kids. But your dad isn't fit to look after a goldfish, never mind two children. But I bet you know that already, don't you? It's been you who's been looking after him, isn't it?”

The kid puffed out his skinny chest. “I can take care of Sammy!”

“I bet you can, Deano. Not arguing that. But you shouldn't have to. And what's Sammy gonna do now that you have to be at school all day, huh?”

Dean was quiet, biting his lip.

Gabriel could feel John’s life force moving around in the motel room. It was only a matter of time before he came to see why it was taking the kid so long to buy a can of pop. He had to settle this fast. “Here's the deal, Dean. You can go back to your dad, I won't stop you. But Sammy can't stay here, he's coming with me. Or, you can come with me too. What do you say?”

Gabriel could literally see the thoughts floating around the boy’s head, wisps of don’t wanna and but Sammy. Finally, he came to a decision.

“I'm coming with you.” Then he fixed Gabriel with a glare so dark that he almost felt threatened. “But if you hurt Sammy, I’m gonna gank you.” The kid would have been one hell of a terrifying hunter.

Gabriel shrugged. “Fair enough. Alright, hold tight, kid.”

He grabbed the boy by the shoulder and snapped his fingers, warping the world until they touched down in his den.

Dean immediately staggered away from him, disorientated. Sammy looked up, chocolate spread smeared over his entire body, and let out an excited shriek.

“De’!”

“Sammy!”

Dean rushed forwards to his brother, hugging him with skinny arms. Gabriel couldn't help grinning at them. Human children were adorable. Already he could feel himself becoming attached to them. It had been too long since Gabriel had had kits.

Dean didn't trust him yet of course; he hadn't expected him to. Trust had to be earned. That would come eventually. First things first, he’d have to move the entrance to his den. He couldn't have John Winchester finding them.

He was going to raise these two right.

#my fic #spn #Gabriel #Sam Winchester #Dean Winchester #John Winchester #Kitsune AU #accidental baby acquisition #gabriel monthly challenge

[tinkdw]

Chuck and Amara - the ultimate Destiel expositions

Ok so I can’t help but think of Austin Powers and Basil Exposition while writing this whole post cos thats where I learned the term as a 10 year old….

Anyway! 

After writing quite a few pieces on Mary as a catalyst for the emotional growth of Sam and Dean I thought about Amara which in turn made me think about Chuck and then came an absolute lightbulb moment (for me). Chuck has already been shown as the narrator and expositional over-voice in Swan Song and alongside this and how I view nearly all Amara’s dialogue in season 11 my brain went to….

Chuck has always been important to Cas’s story obviously and it’s clear that Mary is important to Dean (and Sam’s) story. Going back I’ve noticed so many exposition moments for the bond between Dean and Cas and I realised when noting them down that Chuck often exposes Cas’s side of the story and Amara Dean’s. By exposition moments I mean something that’s not between the two of them but a parallel or an interaction with a different character that exposes their feelings towards the other. This is key on screen because you can’t know what’s going on inside a character’s mind like you can in a book, this has to come another way so you get expositions or self-aware moments like Dean’s praying/longing scene or interactions with other characters like Metatron’s multiple scenes with Cas.

With hindsight I feel like Chuck is a character exposition of Cas’s feelings for Dean and Amara a character exposition of Dean’s feelings for Cas. 

Below the cut : How I believe Chuck & Amara reveal Destiel exists in S11.

Rewatching season 11, knowing Amara is herself the catalyst for Mary’s return this makes me even more certain that Amara is our exposition narrative of Dean’s feelings for Cas and Chuck just fits overall due to Cas’s angelic / humanity arc and as a parallel as Cas’s father like Mary is Dean’s mother.

1. Amara as an exposition of Dean’s feelings for Cas.

Once Amara has met Dean she immediately feels his reticence. Lbr most of this is absolutely the fact that she’s trying to control him, he sees her as evil and well, she’s attempting to end the world! So it’s not without reason. However…she (and therefore the viewer too) also notices quite a few other moments where something else seems to be going on with Dean. Perhaps the term could be ‘pining’… 

1. Amara is a key component of Cas’s downwards mental spiral through Ambriel and her own words and actions, especially in 11x10. The words expendable and weak are used and Amara tells us that Castiel reeks of fear and self-loathing. This is only starting to be resolved in 12x10 and 12x12, a whole year later when Dean (and Sam but mainly Dean) makes it absolutely clear that he is a valued member of their family and cared for. Amara is absolutely key here in this whole arc, which is still not complete.

2. Love hurts. Ok so this isn’t actually Amara but for the purposes of exposition and the narrative it totally works, especially in an episode all about love and given that she actually SAYS “who I am doesn’t matter” it’s clear that the information she’s giving us is what is important. I know others have written loads about this so I won’t dwell too long. Let’s just say subtext abounds. 

 Amara: I understand Dean. 

 Dean: Is that right? 

 Amara: the longing in your heart, I feel it too. 

 Dean: Well that’s touching. Consider that you don’t have a heart. Qareen. 

 Amara: Who I am doesn’t matter. The real question is who are you? 

 Dean: What do you mean who am I? 

 Amara: You’re a mystery. I can see inside your heart. Feel the love you feel. Except it’s cloaked in shame (pause).

Then she moves on. 

Amara: When it comes to this, you can’t help yourself, so why fight it. Just give in. 

 This whole scene I was just… ????? 

The term longing when the whole fandom went crazy over this regarding Cas in season 10. And the exposition Dean gives us about his bond with Amara in the same episode:

Dean: Something happens and I can’t explain it, but to call it desire or love…it’s not that.

So…. the love and longing the ‘love monster’ can feel in Dean’s heart… is canonically NOT towards Amara. 

Plus the end of this scene with Amara is such foreshadowing for the real Amara’s discourse during the ‘rescue’ scene (point 5)… they both know.

3. The attempting expelling of Lucifer.

Ok so theres a whole heap of other stuff going on here. Cas’s cute happy face upon realising he’s seen Dean briefly I just have to include for *reasons*

But regarding Amara’s expositional value here (and Lucifer’s too). They BOTH notice when Dean calls out for Cas… 

 4. Which leads to the longing scene. So again this is one sided, Cas is in the scene albeit comatose. But its through Dean’s longing that Amara can locate Dean (by directly touching his heart pffff). And here, she’s using it against him, holding Cas hostage and telling Dean this directly to lure him out. AND IT WORKS.

5. The rescue scene. “Where are your thoughts?” Dean is willing to put himself in harms way to save Lucifer / Cas. And then this gem:

What is she referring to exactly? She then offers him ‘bliss’, this isn’t what she’s talking about here, what he wants, but its compensation, a recompense because he can’t allow himself to have what he wants, its a way out.

6. By season end Amara has made it clear that she cares for Dean. It’s a large part of why she is redeemed in the end, Dean ‘humanity’ Winchester has taught her that she doesn’t really want to destroy the world. Writers referring back to Metatron’s most famous line here, and Metatron finally gets his ‘redemption moment’ *cough*, sorry but until this point Metatron has been the biggest exposition character to Cas’s feelings for Dean so….double layered call back? 

She also I believe understands how important Cas is to him, hence she expells Lucifer from Cas’s body rather than easily just annihilating Lucifer inside him. *Ok ok yes of course they can’t get rid of Cas and Lucifer for story purposes but my shipper goggles won’t allow me to just gloss over this one* ;)

7. So given what Amara textually tells us she knows about Dean, much of it hinges around ‘why doesn’t he let himself have it all, he’s holding back’ etc. She sees Dean’s picture of Mary and brings Mary back. This for me narratively speaks out that she is bringing Mary back not as a mother as such because she doesn’t really understand that concept! But what does she understand? That Dean is holding back from ‘something’ and she feels his mother could help with that… pffffff this is what I’ve been thinking all season 12, that Mary is the catalyst for his and Sam’s emotional growth, not just a ‘mother figure’. Now as her ‘mother figure’ role is being more and more deconstructed as is performing!Dean this is making more and more sense to me.

2. Chuck as an exposition of Cas’s feelings for Dean.

I’ve mentioned Metatron above and he is absolutely key in the exposition of Cas’s feelings but that’s been meta’d a lot so I won’t go into it, suffice to say I feel his part in season 11 and particularly with Amara are a great call back to this.

As a Dean mirror Chuck is really interesting but I’ve noticed a few times where his screen time really emphasises what’s going on between Cas and Dean.

This parallel from 4x18 (thanks @super-sootica!) and 11x23 shows the evolution of their relationship with a directly paralleled visual shot with Chuck’s expression in the background. 

source: @super-sootica.

At this point Castiel is still an Angel with a capital A and mainly a tool to the Winchesters, they don’t particularly like him and he doesn’t really see them as much more than a mission….yet. This scene in 4x18 is actually hilarious when rewatching with hindsight of years of relationship growth. 

“I could go with you…”

This is a startling contrast. Cas is willing to die with Dean for no benefit. 

In between we have Season 5 Castiel/Cas: desperately searching for God as he thinks he can solve their problems. 

Versus Season 11 Cas: When he does eventually meet him in 11x23 completely ignores God and puts his faith in DEAN back at the bunker “what do we do now?” is directed at DEAN not at Chuck. 

Then at the bar Cas ignores Chuck completely and his only question when the sun is ‘fixed’ is “And Dean?”. The contrast between his actions towards Chuck and Dean are what makes this even more obvious here that Dean is his primary concern.

I also like 5x01 when Chuck tells Sam and Dean that Cas is dead. The difference in the way the brothers deal with this is startling and is fantastically continued throughout the series. Again in season 11 specifically we are shown a true difference between their relationships, “it’s not an IT Sam its CAS!”. 

This contrast between how Cas used to have faith in his father and now does in Dean and the contrast between Sam and Dean’s feelings towards Cas really emphasise their feelings towards each other without them even having to interact. It’s the contrast that is key here.

These Chuck scenes in season 11 are great at exposing the evolution of Cas and his emotions since the last time we saw him.

So why is this relevant…

S11 ends with Dean USING HIS WORDS AND TALKING ABOUT FAMILY. About how Amara thought she knew what she wanted but actually she wanted something else. That this is what she NEEDED if not what she WANTED (*this is my whole Mary/brothers arc right here*).

He ‘saves’ Chuck (Cas parallel) from Amara (Mary parallel) and her misguided attempt to ‘kill’ Chuck in order to make the world a 'better’ place as what she wants for it is what she believes is best ie. as she’s been telling us and Dean all season 11, that it’s bliss and he should really want what she’s offering, she knows what’s best for him, kind of like a MOTHER might say, kind of exactly how Mary is justifying working with the BMOL, ridding the world of the supernatural FOR SAM AND DEAN, to give them a ‘better’ world.

And as an aside, through all this? Our narrative exposition that he is not under her spell pretty much every time we see them together after the first time at the angel smiting? The way they show us this is pretty much all through Cas. Dean calling for Cas, Dean asking 'what about Cas?’, Dean trying to expel Lucifer from Cas, Dean going to Amara as a diversion to save Lucifer/Cas, Amara PICKING UP ON DEAN’S LONGING FOR CAS AND USING IT. 

Oh and since 12x01 I can’t help but laugh and parallel Amara’s little shocked/computing look when she realises Dean called out for Cas despite her bond with him v Mary’s look during the reunion hug… cos this is the point where Amara really figures it out (as she then uses Cas to draw Dean out) …. 

source: @pondlifeforme

Yeah, other people noting Destiel is my fave. Meg, Balthazar, Crowley, pretty much any angel knows to get to Cas through Dean etc etc etc.

SO, LONG POST THANKS FOR GETTING TO THE END WITH ME!

I’m also picking up on how @elizabethrobertajones has pointed out that SPN often mirrors season openings with season endings and remembering Mary pulling a gun on Cas. Dean stepping in the way to to stop her from shooting.

Dean “whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa!” *inserts self in the way*…..

Which is totally where I see this season going towards the end (read 12x19 or later).

So while I’m very Destiel positive (obviously, as I can read it in SO MUCH subtext it seems to me that it’s no accident…. Although whether they follow through on it is another matter, IMO it’s endgame but I know nothing). I am also interested in this arc, this paralleling and mirroring with Cas and Mary and the whole supernatural/monster BMOL arc and how this will work out for Crowley and Cas and Dean ultimately as he is the one more on that side, what I’ve come to term “team grey area”.

But given Chuck and Amara are involved in the narration of their story and I think of them as the ultimate shippers cos you know, God and his sister ;) I’m not too worried for Cas. If anything it will just give us pain re: Mary’s story (though I really hope she doesn’t die and does redeem herself) and hopefully really establish Cas as family because “family doesn’t end in blood”.

Thanks to @godshipsit @castielsmoon and @super-sootica - please anyone do give your opinions, I love a debate :)

#destiel #supernatural meta #destiel meta #castiel #mary winchester #amara #chuck