Supernatural Fic: Epistolary

[xaara]

I'm not sure what this is. I'm in the middle of writing a fairly complex, very dark fic, and it just...happened.

ETA: I need to get into the habit of replying to the stuff I read here on LJ. Because I'm not really a lurker--I just...haven't been replying lately, even to the most amazing fic. Self, consider this a note.

Title: Epistolary
Author: xaara
Rating: PG, gen
Timeline: Pre-series to just before the pilot
Summary: One morning, he wakes to find a strange clawed footprint in the front yard and a line of salt across the outside of his windowsill.

Epistolary

You know, Sam writes on a receipt he digs from his pocket, this isn’t exactly an inconspicuous car.

He slips the note beneath a windshield wiper and shakes his head, takes the stairs to his room two at a time.

The next day, the car is gone, but a piece of paper, folded in half, awaits him in his mailbox. Not trying to be inconspicuous, it reads. Too much effort.

Sam never sees the car again, except when he’s not looking. It only appears in his peripheral vision: reflected in a store window or parked around the corner. Behind an SUV or through the gaps between a chain of freight cars or sometimes, when he’s tired, across the surface of his coffee.

One morning, he wakes to find a strange clawed footprint in the front yard and a line of salt across the outside of his windowsill. He leaves a note tucked between the window and the frame: Cut it out.

That afternoon the response: No.

But weeks and months pass, and he thinks that maybe it’s over. Nothing new, no salt blowing in across his just-swept floor, no pentagrams carved into the paint outside his window. No slippery impressions of a black car in the corner of his eye.

He takes his first breath of relief, and loses his job. Sorry, his boss says. We’re closing this branch. Gonna open a new one, other side of town. I really hate to have to let you go.

Sam smiles and nods and shakes hands all around and thinks, Fuck you too.

Two months later, he comparison shops instant soup and wonders how the hell he’s going to keep his half-room of the apartment. Considers breaking into tears on a streetcorner, see if that’d raise him a few hundred bucks. Considers going to the first minimum-wage shit job he got in college and begging his way back in. Considers throwing himself off a bridge.

You idiot, the note says. It’s wrapped around almost five hundred dollars in cash. You need something, just ask. Nicely.

Sam stares at the money for almost an hour, then uses it the next day to pay his rent. Later, when he’s back on his feet, he leaves the same amount in an envelope on his windowsill. Thanks.

He can almost hear the smile in the reply. No prob, bro.

Hey, Sam, Jessica says. So I was walking to class today and I saw this amazing car--old Chevy. Black. It was, like, straight out of a movie.

Sam wraps an arm around her waist. Cool, he says.

(i love her), he writes. He’s not sure where to leave the note, so he folds it and leaves it on his doorstep. It’s gone the next morning. He waits for weeks. Nothing.

I hate Halloween, he tells her. It’s such bullshit.

Come on, Sam, she says. Just this once. It’s just a party. We’ll go and get wasted and be home before one.

He thinks he’s trying to roll his eyes but then all five feet and eleven inches of her are pressed up against him, along him, atop him, and he can’t remember.

He wakes and rolls over to make sure she’s still there, then rises and splashes cold water on his face to chase off the remnants of the dream-flashover that destroys his life, night after night, searing him awake. He’s just barely back asleep when there’s a sound from the front room. A click, then another. Someone trying to break in.

His feet meet the floor before his mind processes the information. Not much of a deal, probably just a burglar. Just a person.

He’s seen worse. He creeps into the living room on silent tiptoe and waits.

Comments

[tsuki-no-bara.livejournal.com]

i love this! with the notes! ^_^ dean's voice is so clear even on paper. and you know he swung by stanford when he could to make sure his baby brother was doing ok....

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Oh, he so totally swung by Stanford. He's such an incorrigible big brother.

Thanks. :)

[revelininsanity.livejournal.com]

Oh. I have been away from your LJ too long. Oh my. *Bursts into tears*

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thanks for stopping in.

And have we already met? Because if we have, that'd be cool, but I'm totally blanking. :P

[iamstealthyone.livejournal.com]

Aww, this was nice. I loved the notes they kept leaving for each other. That was too sweet.

Thanks for a good read!

[xaara.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. ;) Thank you for commenting.

[tabaqui]

Oh, i love that. That should be canon, for sure.
You idiot, the note says. It’s wrapped around almost five hundred dollars in cash. You need something, just ask. Nicely.

Perfect.
:)

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thanks so much. :) I'm glad you enjoyed it.

[geminigrl11.livejournal.com]

Oh, how fabulous!! Love the concept; love the exceution even more!! Thank you!!!!

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thank you. :)

[whisp.livejournal.com]

What a great idea for a fic! I just love the idea of Dean checking up on his brother, and knowing him well enough to know when he needs money for rent. :) Very nicely done.

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I have a soft spot for lurky!Dean, especially because he must've been by Stanford at least once or twice.

Thanks for commenting.

[obaona.livejournal.com]

THat was really - not quite sweet, but close. ;) Which is a hard thing to manage, because Sam and Dean? Not the caring, sharing types, but they do love each other, and you really conveyed that. :)

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Heh, I'm really glad you said "not quite sweet, but close," because that's exactly the sort of gut reaction I have to the show most of the time. (Aww, look at the boys trying to be all I Am Man while they love each other so hopelessly much.) ;)

Thanks.

[innie_darling]

I very much liked the idea behind this piece, but this is my favorite bit: sometimes, when he’s tired, across the surface of his coffee.

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It's always nice to hear which turns of phrase worked out. :)

[marinarusalka.livejournal.com]

This is great. I love how much of Dean's personality comes through in just a few scrawled notes.

[xaara.livejournal.com]

He has an amazingly strong personality--I actually have a lot of trouble writing from his POV because of that. It tends to overpower the story and make off with the spotlight. :P

Thanks for the reply.

[phantomas.livejournal.com]

Their affection/love/caring for each others really shines through. I wish it'd been this way *sniff*

thank you :)

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thank you for taking the time to read and respond.

[memoriesconsume.livejournal.com]

awe! see, i love it when they're all brotherly. it makes my heart glad. beautiful little ficlet. i really enjoyed it. thanks!

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) I'm glad you enjoyed reading.

[pixel-0.livejournal.com]

Aw! I really liked this. It's not overly mushy, but still keeps the Sam and Dean brother relationship going. Something about him writing the "I love her" note and no response made me a little bit sad, but at the same point happy that Sam "admitted" it to Dean. Great job. :)

[xaara.livejournal.com]

Thanks. :) They're in this sort of state of near-miss a lot of the time, and it's a fun dynamic to play with.

[lark_ascends]

Oh, niiiice.

[ggreenapple.livejournal.com]

nice :)

[iamzulma.livejournal.com]

ah, i'm quite late to the game, but this just makes me so HAPPY. dean keeping tabs on sam at stanford, and the notes! ha, just adorable. :))

[lyonie17.livejournal.com]

Delicious. Your execution is fantastic, I love their voices, and the NOTES.
*savors*

Thanks for sharing.

[logovo.livejournal.com]

Thank you, I enjoyed your story :)

[impertinence.livejournal.com]

NOTES. ♥ I couldn't stop going "aww, BOYS", the whole time.

[luzdeestrellas.livejournal.com]

Oh, boys! This is absolutely lovely. I love how much their personalities (especially Dean's) shine through from the notes.

[not-sally.livejournal.com]

This is so amazing, such perfect them.
Loved the fact Dean didn't answer the 'I love her' note, though it breaks my heart.
Wonderful fic.

[cadenzamuse.livejournal.com]

Here for the second time (via crack_impala this time)...it's still great. Right to the point, and aww, Dean in writing. So very family-y.

[grand-sophy.livejournal.com]

It would be easy to be haunted by the Impala, wouldn't it? Dark, huge, powerful, mysterious. How nice for Sam that every glimpse was a caress, not a shudder. Love the terseness of the notes.

[angharadd.livejournal.com]

I Love how Dean is always there for Sammy, even after he left. Heart-breaking & sweet.
Thank you for sharing!

[harrigan.livejournal.com]

I love how fanfic writers can hold true to Dean's not having talked to Sam for a couple years before the pilot, and yet ... and yet ...

This works perfectly!

[gottalovev.livejournal.com]

that was totally amazing, I loved it :)

[nomelon.livejournal.com]

I loved this. It was a strange little fic, with nary a mention of Dean, but it still gave a whole lot of Winchester solidarity. And poor Sam, the things that are to come... Thank you. I enjoyed this.