jadesfire: Bright yellow flower (SPN - mine is an evil laugh)
[personal profile] jadesfire
This was initially inspired by this kissing meme, which [livejournal.com profile] aoibhe linked to. However, after reading the other comment-fics there (something for everyone! I might even see if I can write something that acutally works for it...), I'm fairly sure this is not the fic they're looking for.

But since I wrote it and got it beta'd and everything, I'm posting it here anyway.

Title: Let There Be Light
Words: 789
Rating: PG
Characters: Mary/John
Spoilers: Episode tag to 4x03 "In The Beginning"
Notes: Huge thanks to [livejournal.com profile] pwcorgigirl and [livejournal.com profile] rustydog for the lightning-fast beta.

Summary: Everything comes back to John in a rush, and not much of it is good.



When John wakes up, the rush of sensation is almost too much for him, and he squeezes his eyes shut, trying to ride out the memories of feelings, the echo of pain that he can't quite remember. His legs feel cold, but his arms and shoulders are warm, held in a close embrace, his cheek pressed to something soft. Everything feels weirdly calm, and it takes him a moment to realize that the steady thump he can hear is not his own heartbeat.

Slowly, he blinks his eyes open, instinctively taking care in moving his head, although he's still not quite sure why. Mary is looking away from him, her hair a pale glow in the dim light from the street lamps. Her breathing is rough, labored, and her heart is beating too rapidly in John's ear. When he tries to speak, his throat is too dry to get a sound out, but she turns quickly, a loose strand of her hair brushing against his cheek.

"John?"

There's no time to focus on her face, even if he could get the blurring out of his eyes, because she's already leaning down to kiss him, her hands cradling his cheeks. The gesture should be comforting, the warm familiarity of her touch, her lips, but John shudders despite himself. Mary's lips are wet, were wet before he kissed her, and the way she's holding him is possessive enough to scare him. There's something in the way she's kissing him, fear and passion in a heady mix that's doing nothing for his confusion, and at least a little of that desperate relief that he sensed in her earlier. It's how she kissed him when he picked her up from her parents' house, happy to see him in a way that said more about the place she was leaving behind than wherever it was they were going.

He's lifted a hand to her arm, holding her as she presses her forehead to his, and he can feel her trembling.

"Mary?"

She leans back a little, still holding his head in her hands, and he tries to get his arms under him, to hold his own weight because he's starting to get seriously freaked out here. It's only once she helps him sit up, when he sees the body of Samuel Winchester, that the first of the memories hits him, knocking the wind out of him and landing him flat on his back again.

"I'm sorry, John," Mary whispers. "I can explain. Everything. I just…" She turns away, her hair falling across her face and hiding her from him again. "We just need to go. Right now."

"Okay." It's obviously not what she was expecting him to say, because she whips her head around so quickly it makes John dizzy. Struggling to his feet, John waits for the world to stop spinning before answering the question in her eyes. "You're going to tell me what happened here," he says hoarsely, holding onto her arm only partly for balance. "Tell me everything, Mary. I need to know." His neck aches, and he remembers Mr. Campbell's strong hands on his face, remembers the look in his eyes and that all-too-familiar gesture. It wasn't one John ever expected to encounter on civvy street.

He knows he was dead.

Mary's looking up at him, her eyes wide as she nods, just once, and for once, John has no idea what she's thinking. Carefully, he uses his grip on her arm to pull her close, leaning on her a little more. She's crying again, clinging to him a little, and he really wants to stop the world for a while to comfort her, but they need to do something with her father's body, and he should probably call the police or something, and someone's bound to drive past at some point, even out here, and he needs answers and he needs them soon. But his head is reeling still, and thirty seconds isn't going to hurt, surely, so John just stands there for a moment, holding her tightly, pressing kisses to her hair. He's trying not to think about how she kissed him before, the distraction of her body against his, because he can't afford to lose himself again. Not yet.

When she's done sobbing for now, Mary looks up at him again. He still can't read her, can't see anything but stubborn determination in her eyes.

"I still want to take you away." He says it without thinking, and isn't really surprised when she shakes her head. Dropping her gaze, she glances over her shoulder at the body still lying in the road.

"No," she says simply. "Take me home."

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 03:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
Oh oh oh!!!! Excellent!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 03:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
Thank you! *beams*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rivers-bend.livejournal.com
I love it! Love all the tactile detail, and how it feels like we're getting the slow realization along with John.

I was just looking for this over there (after you mentioned it earlier) when you posted here. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*g* I looked over the other ficlets and decided this didn't really go with them.

Thanks! One of the things I'm liking about SPN is that it's pushing my out of my usual comfort zones, and I'm definitely enjoying it :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rivers-bend.livejournal.com
It is a rather schmoopy meme, though there is enough angst-love in fandom that I think this would still be appreciated over there :)

Yay for being pushed out of your comfort zones! I've been trying to do things that do that. It's good for me!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
It's also too long for a single comment, so I'll probably leave it here for now :) I'm not quite ready to venture into the main comms yet...

[livejournal.com profile] miss_zedem started kicking me out of my comfort zone about a year ago, and every time I find a new one, she kicks me out of that, too! It's definitely good for me :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anniehow.livejournal.com
Oh, poor kids. Glad you're dipping your toes!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
\o/ Thanks :D

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 09:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
I can't tell you how fantastically happy it makes me that you're writing SPN. *cheers wildly*

Yikes. I overlooked the first reference to Mary's dad's full name when I proofed this. It's not Winchester. A thousand pardons.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*beams* Thank you! And for the help.

I KNOW! I didn't spot it either! Rusty picked it up, fortunately :D Don't worry about it! *grin*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 11:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] avon-09.livejournal.com
*hugs you tight* for writing such excellent spn.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 12:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*grin* Thank you!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 03:22 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] donutsweeper.livejournal.com
Oh oh oh!!!! Excellent!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 03:31 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
Thank you! *beams*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rivers-bend.livejournal.com
I love it! Love all the tactile detail, and how it feels like we're getting the slow realization along with John.

I was just looking for this over there (after you mentioned it earlier) when you posted here. :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:26 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*g* I looked over the other ficlets and decided this didn't really go with them.

Thanks! One of the things I'm liking about SPN is that it's pushing my out of my usual comfort zones, and I'm definitely enjoying it :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] rivers-bend.livejournal.com
It is a rather schmoopy meme, though there is enough angst-love in fandom that I think this would still be appreciated over there :)

Yay for being pushed out of your comfort zones! I've been trying to do things that do that. It's good for me!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:08 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
It's also too long for a single comment, so I'll probably leave it here for now :) I'm not quite ready to venture into the main comms yet...

[livejournal.com profile] miss_zedem started kicking me out of my comfort zone about a year ago, and every time I find a new one, she kicks me out of that, too! It's definitely good for me :)

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 04:29 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] anniehow.livejournal.com
Oh, poor kids. Glad you're dipping your toes!

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
\o/ Thanks :D

(no subject)

Date: 2009-03-31 09:06 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
I can't tell you how fantastically happy it makes me that you're writing SPN. *cheers wildly*

Yikes. I overlooked the first reference to Mary's dad's full name when I proofed this. It's not Winchester. A thousand pardons.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 08:09 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*beams* Thank you! And for the help.

I KNOW! I didn't spot it either! Rusty picked it up, fortunately :D Don't worry about it! *grin*

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 11:42 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] avon-09.livejournal.com
*hugs you tight* for writing such excellent spn.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-04-01 12:47 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jadesfire2808.livejournal.com
*grin* Thank you!