LAS Challenge #2

[glasslogic]

Story Title: Of Watches and Witches (LAS Prompt #2 - Lost Moments)
Name: glasslogic
Pairing: none
Disclaimer: I have no rights to any of the copyrighted characters/material in this fic, and I make no profit from it.
Rating: G
Word Count: 997
Warnings/Spoilers: None - well, maybe a tiny one if you haven't seen anything past season 1.


This story is for the SPN Last Author Standing challenge, one prompt a week, one story per prompt, one author voted off each cycle until only one is left. Stories must be between 100 - 1000 words. No betas allowed, voting is completely blind.



This is my first experiment with this tense. I don't think I like it very much -- it gives fic a less polished feel to me. But I figured if I was going to try it, this was the place *shrugs*


~~~~~~~~


“Hey! You got a problem, you take it up with me,” Dean cuts the woman's rant off harshly. “It was my idea to use the watch; he did what I told him to. This was my fault.”

Sam looks alarmed as the witch shifts her attention to his brother. “Dean--“

“Shut-it, Sam.”

The woman has the full focus of her glare on Dean now, the pocket watch clenched in her white knuckled hand.

“We didn’t mean to smash it up - but look, we tried to get it fixed for you. What else do you want?”

“It doesn’t keep the right time anymore!” she screams at him. “My grandfather, all of his lifetime, his father before him... This watch is useless to store anything now!”

“Maybe you shouldn’t keep people in knick-knacks then.”

The witch’s face goes white with fury. “Maybe you should learn to have care with other people’s things. Every second this watch fails to keep, is a second you will lose too.”

“Now, wait a minut--“ Sam starts.

She turns on him, eyes filled with anger and deep hurt. Between heartbeats she’s gone.

“You didn’t have to do that!” Sam growls, worried about the witch’s words.

Dean rolls his eyes. “It was my idea. I said ‘chuck something at it’ and you grabbed the closest thing. Not our fault she keeps priceless heirlooms lying around where anyone can find them.”

“It was her bedroom!”

“And the gremlins are dead! This is why you should never work for freaking witches. Shit like this always happens.”

“Dad owed her a favor.”

His brother snorts his opinion of that. “Next time Dad owes someone a favor, they can take it up with him.”

“Dad’s dead, Dean.”

Dean gives Sam a look. “Then they should bring a shovel.”

~~~~~
The curse doesn’t seem to have any effect, but Sam watches his brother like a hawk. Despite Dean’s lack of cooperation, it gradually becomes obvious he is missing things. Fragments of conversation, where he left his keys, the cup-size of the waitress in the diner. Things that Dean should have known.

Would have known before.

Sam takes the problem to people who know more about curses than he does, and together with his observations, they come up with the likely explanation.

Dean’s nonchalant reaction drives him crazy.

“What do you want me to say, Sam? We busted the woman’s watch; the watch is losing seconds, so I’m losing seconds too. It’s just a couple every day. Big deal.”

Sam grinds his teeth. “It affects your entire life, Dean! You’ve lost these seconds for every day that you’ve lived! And what if the watch loses more time? What if it starts dropping minutes, or hours?!”

Dean shrugs. “Can’t find the witch, can’t lift the curse - I say we keep on moving. So what if I forget one time Dad showed me how to throw a knife? It’s not going to wipe out the other ten thousand times he did. As for the other... have to cross that bridge if we come to it.”

He sniffs around.

“Do you smell pie?”

~~~~~
They are outside of Biloxi with the sky the kind of glorious starry vault that always reminds Sam of the very best times in his childhood. With Dean. Always, always, with Dean.

His brother who is losing seconds of a too short life with every day that passes.

“Do you remember what I told you when we were trapped in that mine shaft in Kentucky a few months ago?”

“What mine shaft?” Dean asks absently, fiddling under the Impala’s hood.

Sam’s eyes widen in panic. Dean looks up in time to catch his expression and sounds tired when he responds. “I didn’t forget about the mine shaft, Sam. I’m losing seconds, not long, torturous hours. I just didn’t want to rehash what was probably one of the worst days of my life - you know?”

Sam nods, relieved. “But do you remember what I said?”

“Sam...”

“You’re the most important person in my life. You’ve always been the most important person in my life. I love you, man.” Sam rushes to finish. “I just ...didn’t want you to forget.”

Dean doesn’t answer. He bends back to finish whatever he is fiddling with, then wipe his hands off on his jeans and drops the lid with a bang. Sam watches him nervously. They’re Winchesters, and their family has never gone out for declarations of affection. Hell, they barely go out for hugs. But Sam hadn’t wanted Dean to die without making sure his brother understood how Sam saw their relationship. And having realized afterwards how stupid it was not to have made sure his brother also lived with the knowledge, Sam wants to make sure he remembers it now.

And he really doesn’t give a damn how much Dean mocks him for it.

Dean still hasn’t said anything when they slide into the car, but instead of turning the key after Sam’s door slams closed, Dean sits seemingly lost in thought.

Sam shifts and Dean looks over, pinning him in place with an unusually serious expression.

“Sam, you live in my back pocket. We spend almost all day, every day together. I wiped your nose when you were a tiny brat, and I’m still doing it now that you’re a ginormous one.” Sam starts to object and Dean shakes his head, cutting him off. “Do you really, honestly think I was in any danger of forgetting what you said? I don’t need your words, man, I live with you. I could lose every word you’ve ever said, and I would still know that.” He pauses, looking uncertain. “You know it goes both way, right?”

Sam nods, feeling his eyes prick with tears, but blinks them away knowing what Dean’s reaction to that would be.

“Good,” Dean says gruffly, turning the key and shifting the Impala into gear. “So we don’t have to discuss this again --right?”

“No.” Sam smiles. “We’re good.”

END

Comments

[spn-j2fan.livejournal.com]

I am in awe...two challenges in a row you have written one of my very favorite fics!

This was incredibly riveting. The thought of all Dean's losses adding up to such a huge total, well, hurt.

The examples were incredibly vivid and emotionally powerful, and the prose was smooth and beautiful in it's delivery.

It is hard to pack such a punch in less than a thousand words, but you managed it! :)

Sam's pain was moving, and Dean's response was perfect. I absolutely loved this story.

[glasslogic.livejournal.com]

I wrote this story out without doing a word count and I was so excited because it had everything I meant to include, sounded the way I had envisioned, and looked to be the correct length... then I ran word count and it was 1500 long. It made me sad *dryly* So I spent twice as long combing through it deleting a third word-by-word than it had taken me to write the damn thing in the first place *grins* I'm really pleased you enjoyed it, it sounds like despite the major trimming you read in it everything I was hoping to convey. Thank you!

From the author of "Lies, and the Dreams in Between"

[falling-dominos.livejournal.com]

I loved the 'Dean-voice' in this. And the tense thing was something I played with too in this challenge, and also I agree when reading mine the feel of present tense comes off as unpolished, but reading yours does not give me that feeling.

I also seem to think that present tense fits Dean much better than Sam. Since Dean as a character tends to live in the now, rather than yesterday or tomorrow.

Re: From the author of "Lies, and the Dreams in Between"

[glasslogic.livejournal.com]

It may just be the "ewww, I wrote this" syndrome that I am prone too *wryly* I bet when I get a chance to go take a look at yours it won't strike me as awkward either. I'm glad you liked Dean's voice! Tense as an aspect of personality is interesting, might be hard to write into the same story and preserve flow though *muses*

[prettysilent.livejournal.com]

this was very...touching,yup that's the word. and don't worry about the polished feel,this reads fine the way it is.