FIC: Reap What You Sow One: Three Days (AB/SPN)

[mhalachai]

Reap What You Sow One: Three Days
A Supernatural/Anita Blake crossover
by mhalachaiswords

Summary: John Winchester made a deal with the Devil, but Death doesn't play by the same rulebook.
Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to the CW and Kripke. Anita Blake belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton. No profit has been made from this fic, and the only benefit to me is personal satisfaction and the creative process of mixing things together.
Rating: Overall, R for swearing and violence. PG this part.
Characters: AB: Edward, Donna and Becca Parnell. SPN: John Winchester, with more to be added later.
Words: 1,975
Spoilers: Contain spoilers for season two for Supernatural, especially 2x08, Crossroads. While this story takes place before that episode, there are issues that came up in the show that were just to precious for me to pass up. Obsidian Butterfly for AB.
Note: I have decided that John gave the gun to the demon at 10:18 am, and was pronounced dead at 10:41 am, Missouri time.

~~~~~~

The next few minutes were a painful blur. Doctors and nurses rushed into the room, fluttered around John. He fleetingly heard the words "miracle" and "impossible" as they poked at him, and he wanted to punch them. Whatever was happening had nothing to do with miracles.

The world coalesced into a single bright point of pain, scraping in his throat, and suddenly John could breathe on his own. Each breath was loud and painful. Broken ribs? John wondered as he stared up at the white ceiling. The pain was localized on the front of his chest, instead of the sides. If his ribs were broken near his sternum, he was in deep shit. But the pain deeper than just broken ribs. It felt almost like a burn, and that was something John didn't understand.

John tried to sit up, but straps held him in place. He swallowed the sudden panic at being held immobile. The adrenaline rushing through his body pushed him past the fuzziness in his head, pushed him all the way to full alertness. He had to find out how badly he was hurt. He had to find out what he was doing here, and not in the hell he had been promised. He had to find out what was happening with his boys.

Dean and Sam.

Were his boys still alive? Were they safe? They had to be. John couldn't even imagine a world in which his boys were dead. He'd made a deal, damning himself in the process, and he'd do it again in a heartbeat.

He could feel his heart beating hard in his bruised chest.

"Mr. Parnell?" A voice next to his ear. "Peter. You need to stop struggling. You were badly hurt and you risk hurting yourself if you keep fighting."

John swallowed, ignoring the pain. "Who..." was all he could get out before a cough threatened and John shut his mouth. He'd been hit with a coughing fit on top of broken ribs before, and he didn't want to experience it again.

"I'm Dr. Stevens," the voice said. John rolled his eyes to the side to see the man. "I'm the doctor in charge of your case. Do you know what happened to you?"

John started to say no, but memories that were not his own began to flit around in his head.

~~~~

"Becca! Come on, we're going to be late for trick-or-treating and Mom's going to kill us!"

Becca looked up from the muddy bank by the pond. "Just a minute, Peter! I need another water strider!"

Peter shook his head. There were so many other things he could be doing, instead of accompanying his little sister to the park so she could get samples of insects for her science class. What kind of third grade science class collected bugs on Halloween, anyway?

The friend Peter'd had to bail on had suggested Peter just let Becca go on her own. The look on Peter's face had been enough to shut the kid up good. That happened more often than Peter wanted to admit, these days.

He might bitch about the chore, but Peter wasn't going to let anything happen to Becca, ever again. He'd already failed her once.

"Hurry up, will you?" Peter shouted. He slumped against the swing set in the empty playground. "You know how Mom's head starts spinning if we are late."

Becca sat up. "Is Ted taking me trick-or-treating?" she asked, her eyes lighting up.

"I dunno. Get your ass in gear, will you?"

Becca glared, her expression so unlike Mom, so much like the father she never knew. Whenever Peter saw that expression on Becca, all he could think about was his father, ripped to shreds by that werewolf, and of standing tall with the too-large shotgun in his hands. "You swore!"

"Becca!"

"I'm going!" Becca got to her feet, carefully balancing the heavy jar in both hands. "Don't leave!"

Peter watched his little sister walk around the side of the pond. She walked tall for nine, but she didn't walk like a child, hadn't since she was six years old. The three broken fingers on her hand had healed perfectly, but some days, Becca didn't use that hand at all. Peter saw these things, and he said nothing.

Fuck. He didn't want to think about this shit, not now. His therapy sessions were bad enough, with his psychiatrist always wanting to know how Peter was feeling, how he was dealing. Peter always lied and told the man what he wanted to hear. He never said he was dealing by learning to shoot every gun in Ted's arsenal, to throw knives with deadly accuracy, to do everything he could to be able to protect his family.

Peter rubbed his eyes. He was so tired. He'd had yet another crazy dream last night, of people burning, dying, of evil. It had been happening for a year now, these dreams. Sometimes it was the burning dream, with a series of blondes burning on the ceiling. Other times, it was people dying in strange situations, and there was nothing Peter could do about it.

He didn't tell anyone about the dreams. Not his shrink, not his mother. Especially not Ted, his mother's fiancé.

Peter's stomach rumbled. He pushed off the bench, picking up his and Becca's backpacks. "Come on, kid, time to..."

Peter's voice trailed off as he scanned the area. Becca had vanished.

"Becca?" Peter dropped the backpacks, already running towards the pond. All he could think was, something had grabbed Becca and he hadn't been paying enough attention to protect her. "Becca!"

Something was in the water of the pond, thrashing, just below the surface. Something was dragging Becca down, and she was fighting.

Peter dove into the water. With a few desperate strokes, he grabbed a handful of his sister's shirt and pulled as hard as he could. Something slimy brushed over Peter's hands, and he kicked as hard as he could. Becca came free, and Peter wrapped his arms around her and kicked for the surface.

They broke the water, gasping for air. Becca was crying as Peter started swimming for the closest bank. "P-Peter, something grabbed me!"

"Yeah." Peter concentrated on swimming while holding a dead-weight nine-year-old. "I've got you, you're safe."

They reached the branches overhanging the water. The wood was fragile and old, and Peter knew it wouldn't be enough to hold both Becca and himself. Without a second thought, Peter heaved Becca up onto the branches, as something under the water brushed past his leg.

"Becca, you're going to be safe, I promise," Peter said. The something below the water grabbed his leg. "Stay here and stay safe!"

Becca's wide, scared eyes were the last thing he saw before he was pulled underwater.

Her screams followed him down.

~~~~

"Water," John croaked. What the hell was happening to him? Why did he have these memories?

"Yes, Peter, that's right. Your sister Becca fell into the pond at the park. You pulled her out, but then you got caught on something and were held under the water."

Right. Caught on some water creature's claws. John was under no delusions of what had pulled Peter down into the water. But what the hell was a Kappa, a Japanese water demon, doing in New Mexico?

Wait.

Everyone was calling him Peter. John was remembering things from Peter's perspective. Did that mean that...

Christ, no!

"Peter, you've been on life support since we brought you in. Your heart stopped several times and you weren't breathing on your own. You were under the water for so long..." The doctor's voice trailed off. "We started monitoring your brain activity since you came in. There were no higher brain functions until 9:18 this morning. That's three days."

John's eyes drifted back to the ceiling.

"There's a possibility that you've suffered some brain damage, from being under the water so long." The doctor shuffled something. "We're going to need to keep you here to make sure that you don't suffer a relapse."

A relapse from what? John wondered. Being dead? He would never be able to understand how people ignored what was in front of their faces. Peter Parnell had been dragged under water by some evil son of a bitch, hadn't had any brain activity for three days. Hell, he hadn't been breathing in that time. Peter had been dead.

Was still dead.

"I'm going to go talk to your mother and we'll be right back." The doctor's footsteps echoed out of the room. A few nurses remained, but John could tune them out.

Was this hell? Being shoved into a dead kid's body? Peter had sacrificed himself to save his sister, and his reward was being kicked out of his body to make room for some damned soul?

At least now Peter could rest.

A horrible chill ran down John's spine. Peter had been having dreams of people burning on the ceiling. Searching these foreign memories, John realized that Peter had been dreaming of possessions, of evil, of the Demon.

John closed his eyes on one of the remembered dreams. Mary, his precious Mary, burning.

Please God, don't let this boy be like Sammy.

John's thoughts were interrupted as someone else entered the room. "Peter?"

Peter's memories supplied John with the identity of the woman. "Mom?" John said, hating himself. The woman had a right to know her son was dead, had died a hero in saving his sister.

Donna Parnell crossed the room and stopped by the bed. Her eyes were red with continued crying. As if she'd just lost a son. "Oh, Peter."

Donna started crying again, and leaned into the man at her side. It took John a few seconds to glance at the man. When he realized who was standing there, he almost tore through the restraints.

Edward.

The man didn't have a last name. He didn't need one. Every Hunter knew Edward, and avoided him at all costs. The man was a sociopath, killing humans as often as he did evil creatures. He'd been the best hitman in the U.S. once, but in the past six years he hadn't been killing as many humans, moving onto evil because of the challenge. He didn't care what he was killing, most days, as long as it was hard to kill.

He'd even allied himself with that necromancer bitch in St. Louis.

Peter's memories told him that the man was calling himself Ted Forrester, had been engaged to Peter's mother for three years, took Becca to ballet class and taught Peter to shoot every gun in his collection.

Now Edward was staring down at Peter with a concerned face and cold, suspicious eyes.

Becca shuffled up to the bed, a space between her and her mother. The little girl's eyes were dry and so old. "Peter?"

John noted how Donna didn't reach out for Becca, and hated the woman. "Hey, kid." John made himself smile, even though it hurt like a bitch. "You okay?"

Becca nodded. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't be," John said immediately. He wished he could sit up, wished Donna would act like the adult here, wished Edward would stop staring at him. "It's what big brothers do."

It's what Dean would do for Sam, John thought. Loss threatened to overwhelm him, as he realized exactly what he had done. He'd damned himself to save his boys, and he would never see his sons, his children, again.

But they were alive and safe, just like Becca was safe. John was alive, after a fashion, and where there was life there was hope for vengeance.

John had promised to kill the Demon that had killed Mary, and now, it seemed, he had a second lease on life to do it.

He wasn't going to fail again.

to be continued

Monster footnote: Kappa

Comments

unrelated

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

i have a question. i'm rereading inevitable and i don't recall why nathaniel was staring so intently at harry when he first saw him sleeping on the couch. maybe i'll get the answer as i keep going, but does anyone remember why?

[inimicallyyours.livejournal.com]

Ohhhh...interesting premise. I like the AB world, although lately...well. But Edward, I love Edward. This is going to be fun. Can't wait for the next part.

Also, scarily enough, why is it that I can see Dean as Edward, if he lost both Sam and John and all he had left was the hunt?

[dhark-charlotte.livejournal.com]

Completely brilliant! You have seamlessly merged the two worlds so far and I have to say my heart started pounding at this:

When he realized who was standing there, he almost tore through the restraints.

Edward.

The man didn't have a last name. He didn't need one. Every Hunter knew Edward, and avoided him at all costs. The man was a sociopath, killing humans as often as he did evil creatures. He'd been the best hitman in the U.S. once, but in the past six years he hadn't been killing as many humans, moving onto evil because of the challenge. He didn't care what he was killing, most days, as long as it was hard to kill.

Yah! *shivers*

[kira-snugz.livejournal.com]

oooooh awesome. totally made my day.

Re: unrelated

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

That can be answered by this ficlette:

http://mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com/139308.html

Re: unrelated

[watcher457.livejournal.com]

that's what i thought. thanks, mhal.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

We all love Edward. He's great. Crazy and scary as Death, but great.

I don't know if Dean would fall into that. I think that at this point in his life, if he were to lose Sam, he'd try and get himself killed while hunting. He cares too much at this point.

Take him back a few years, thought, like when he was 12, and take his family away then? Yeah, I can see him as a cold-blooded killer.

Re: unrelated

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Hey, I live to serve :D

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Actually, the whole story clicked for me when I realized how the Hunters would see Edward. People like John do what they do to keep people safe. Edward just likes the challenge of hunting.

Is that the Seth Green of Hawtness in your icon?

[dhark-charlotte.livejournal.com]

Oh yes! It is the very yummyness of Seth. I recently found a site that had some great pics. Trying my hand at icon creation. My Photoshop has an issue though. My crop tool doesn't show up. *pout*

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

yay! I like this idea, and it has such potential. Poor John, is all I can say.

[goldenrat84.livejournal.com]

John (as Peter) didn't wake up in an alternate universe? Does that mean John can find his 2 boys...
I can't believe you killed off Peter, I like him way better than John. *pout*
I gotta say I really, really can't wait for Ted's reaction.

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

...and where there was life there was hope for vengeance.

Hee! That little addition to the aphorism sums up John so very, very well. :)

Peter is sort of like a mini!John (minus obsession with vengeance), with the determination to protect his family no matter the cost. First the werewolf, then the situation during Obsidian Butterfly. At least John won't be working against muscle memory when he gets back on the weapon-slinging saddle...assuming he can get past Edward. And Peter having visions? Veeery interesting.

Spelling catch: Peter had sacrificed himself to save his sister, and his reward was being kicked out of his body to make room for some damned soul?

Must say, I really like the 10:18/10:41 thing - nice resonance!

I'm looking forward to seeing what Edward will do, with his suspicions apparently raised. I'm sure if John wasn't strapped down he'd've hightailed it out of there already, stubborn man that he is.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Nope, Peter's dead, but his memories live on in John.

You're right -- Ted's not going to be impressed with this turn of events. At all.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

That little addition at the end there sums up John's entire character. Ever since Mary died, his life has had two goals -- 1) protect his sons, and 2) kill the Celine Demon. He's not giving up yet.

At least John won't be working against muscle memory when he gets back on the weapon-slinging saddle

Indeed. He has an advantage now, too -- his body is 17, as opposed to 50 or 60 (or however old John was supposed to be).

...assuming he can get past Edward.

The necessary caveat.

And Peter having visions? Veeery interesting.
Yes. Very interesting. Espeically considering what kinds of fun, fun things I have planned for Peter/John and for certain other Winchesters who shall remain nameless.

Must say, I really like the 10:18/10:41 thing - nice resonance!

I figured it made a sort of sense -- John was pronounced at 10:41, but we don't know how long he was lying on the floor before Sam found him, and how long it took the emergency crew to start CPR.
10:18 is a nice little resurection bible verse for me to fiddle with :)

I'm looking forward to seeing what Edward will do, with his suspicions apparently raised
They're up and ready for action. Think of it -- three days is how long it takes a soul in the AB verse to totally vacate a body, three days for a vampire to rise. John's death was a total fluke at that time, but Edward's gonna be all "TF?"

Heee hee. I like this story more and more.

[inimicallyyours.livejournal.com]

(And what an amazing fic that would be!!!)

I don't know, Nilchance and Beanside wrote an amazing fic where Dean loses his memory and is very much Edward-lite.

[jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com]

Dear gods... that feeling in his chest? Yeah, I got that too. And wow, Peter a psykid? That's very neat, dovetails very nicely.

Now Edward was staring down at Peter with a concerned face and cold, suspicious eyes.

*meeps and runs as far and as fast as possible*

:)
Jaydeyn

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I think Dean has the ability to be a stone-cold killer (he kills bad nasties without a thought) but if he knew he had something to go back to, a family, then he might not fall over the edge. But if he lost that family, lost Sam, then I think he might be suicidal.

Dunno. Hopefully we'll never find out :)

[seadreamer.livejournal.com]

Whoa, very nice!! It'll be interesting to see how much of himself John can reveal to Edward. I'm thinking not so much, because while Edward had feelings for Peter, I can't see him having either empathy or sympathy for John. Sure he'd like a chance to get rid of the demon, just for the challenge, but after that, John would be on his own. *wonders if Edward would let the charade continue for Donna's sake, when/if he finds out about John* Hmmmm... Can't wait to see more.

[inimicallyyours.livejournal.com]

Heh, your keyboard to Kripke's ears!

[penyn-1600.livejournal.com]

Hell. Yes.

Does this mean that the Anita verse and the SPN verse are the same in this? Or is this a different universe but with parallels?

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

It's very hard to take the Big Bad seriously when you keep thinking of it as "Celine Demon"...

...three days is how long it takes a soul in the AB verse to totally vacate a body, three days for a vampire to rise.

I'd completely forgotten that! The 'miracle' is even more suspicious to Edward, then.

Were Peter's visions Celine-related because he's one of the Children of Interest to the Demon? Or was there a different reason?

Can't wait to see what fun you've got in store. :)

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Were Peter's visions Celine-related because he's one of the Children of Interest to the Demon?
We'll get to that in short order. But we will get to it. And it'll involve much guns fun.

Can't wait to see what fun you've got in store. :)

Chainsaws!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I figured that Peter needed even more angst in his life. Cuz, ya know. what he's had wasn't enough.

You might meep. But if anyone can stand up to Edward, it's going to be John.

Fun times!

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

In this story, the AB verse and the SPN verse are the same. I'm going to convinently ignore the vampire lore differences, as they won't affect where I'm going with the tale.

Glad you liked!

[ranlynn.livejournal.com]

Edward VS John Winchester? That idea just sends shivers down my spine. brrr!

[(Anonymous)]

This is going to be a good fic.

The way John looks at Edward (and Anita, I guess? Is that about the whole 'dating the undead' thing, I wonder?) is great. I can't wait to see mini-John and Edward butt heads.

-- Guile

[jaydeyn-sitari.livejournal.com]

LOL... good goddess, John Winchester with the body and hormones of a 17 year old. Standing up to Mr Scarier-than-thou. I cannot wait!

:D
Jaydeyn

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm not sure Edward has any feelings for Peter, but he's got the sense of responsability. It's going to be interesting, and I hope that I can make Edward's reactions ring true.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

Nothing good can come from John v. Edward. Maybe some rockets blasting. Land mines of doom. Big explosions. All in all, bad things :)

[deepfishy.livejournal.com]

*does the dance of joy*

[seadreamer.livejournal.com]

Really? Hmmm... well, we all know Edward is emotionally stunted, darling that he is. *lol* I think what I'm referring to is a sense of a student/teacher relationship. After the kidnapping, and seeing how Peter reacted, I think Edward was marginally proud of him. I think he'd protect him as someone he'd taken under his wing, whether he had any of what we'd recognize as emotional "caring" or not. ^_^ I can't see what you do next, and I have complete confidence in your ability to write Edward.

[sparrow015.livejournal.com]

Edward.

The man didn't have a last name. He didn't need one. Every Hunter knew Edward, and avoided him at all costs. The man was a sociopath, killing humans as often as he did evil creatures. He'd been the best hitman in the U.S. once, but in the past six years he hadn't been killing as many humans, moving onto evil because of the challenge. He didn't care what he was killing, most days, as long as it was hard to kill.

If John knowns that much about Edward, makes you wonder what Edward has heard about John. >:D

Also, with John having Peter's memories, makes you wonder how far John will go to protect Becca, 'cause in my own weird way of thinking, Becca is his sister now. XD

I can't wait to see how far you take this story. :D

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

If John knowns that much about Edward, makes you wonder what Edward has heard about John.

Lots. Lots amd much and insane amounts. Let's just say that whatever John thinks of Edward's lack of humanity, Edward isn't impressed with a man who lets something obsess him so.

Also, with John having Peter's memories, makes you wonder how far John will go to protect Becca, 'cause in my own weird way of thinking, Becca is his sister now.

Zing. Give the gal a prize. This will be a complicating factor in the whole scenario, making John's life even harder.

[windmiran.livejournal.com]

OMFG! You kill me. Well, you make my brain dwell on your incredibly awesome crossover fic instead of attending to my own life, which is basically the same thing. And chainsaws? What about flamethrowers? And Becca, ow. The comment about her not using her broken hand... how fiercely protective is John going to be over that, when everyone else clearly has fallen short of protecting her? I mean, he sacrificed his soul for his sons, and Becca needs so much more as a nine year old than his grown-sons do now. Cannot wait for a huge showdown between Edward and John, or whatever choice comments John may have for 'that necromancer bitch' which is the best short description of Anita I've seen in a while.

[houses7177.livejournal.com]

Guh. I loved Peter's memories, a train of thought I've often wondered about. How the kids really coped, what went on in their 'normal' lives. Just fascinating--and the kappa touch was deft.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

The train of thought wasn't something I was going to go at, but when I got to the point in the story, I realized that we needed to know what Peter had done, what he had sacrificed. It makes him more sympathetic, it makes us realize that John knows what Peter was like, that he would die for his family. More importantly, it is the start of something I'll get to in future chapters, that John will take on part of Peter's memories and emotions. Mostly for Becca. We don't know if John has any family besides his sons, but he would do anything for them, and I'm having that move to cover his new "sister" as well.

God, look at me ramble. Can you tell I'm at work?

[firefox1490.livejournal.com]

So cool. I've been wacthing Supernatural from the episode in which John died so this is so cool for me. I meann REALLY REALLY cool.

Anita Blake Fan Fiction

[(Anonymous)]

Just wanted to let you know that i am loving reading

Re: Anita Blake Fan Fiction

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're enjoying!

[sugar-bumbee.livejournal.com]

Hello,

I found this story through the SPNficfinders forum. I liked the premise of a reincarnated John so I started reading... I didn't realized that it was a crossover with something.

And am now wholly fascinated with "Edward" person. I mean seriously. He sounds awesome.

I'm always looking for new reading material, could you point me in the direction of Edward? *makes pleading eyes* Please? ;)

You've done an amazing job with this story! :D I love it.

[mhalachaiswords.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you found the story! The idea of pulling John into another world through reincarnation was too precious to pass up.

As for pure Edward, not many fics have got him right. I really do recommend reading the first books in the Anita Blake series, namely Guilty Pleasures (#1), Circus of the Damned (#3), and Obsidian Butterfly (#7). Those are the Edward books.

I'll ask around :)

[sugar-bumbee.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, thanks so much! I'm going to dive right it. :)

[seirya.livejournal.com]

You do realize that now I've read this fic again I must demand more. ^_^ It's just so good and so many wonderful possibilities and and and..... squee.