vanillafluffy: (JW shadows)
[personal profile] vanillafluffy
Title: Summertime Blues
Authored by: [livejournal.com profile] vanillafluffy
Pairing: John/OFC (Nancy McGill)
Rating/Work-safeness: PG
Approximate word count: 500
Disclaimer: I own only the neurons and electrons it was composed with.
Summary: [livejournal.com profile] jdsgirlbev posted a song prompt, and this is what it inspired. This is pre-series and ties in with The Girl from Cassadaga and The End of an Era.

Summertime Blues


It was a hot afternoon
the last day of June
and the sun was a demon...


The music drifts out the kitchen window, tinny from Nancy's little radio. John Winchester is sitting on the back porch swing, pen in hand. He pauses, looking up from the notes he's making in his journal. God, he hasn't heard that one since---longer than he wants to think about. He remembers holding Linda Sue close as they danced to it at their high school prom. Now, he's old enough that his eldest son's senior prom was just a couple months ago...he shakes his head. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to do the math.

He's left Dean to keep an eye on Sam---whose school got out a few days after Dean's did---and gone to take care of a job in Bunnell, Florida...which coincidentally happens to be an easy drive from his on-again, off-again girlfriend Nancy. She's always pleased to see him, scratches his itch for domesticity without stirring up his guilt for needing it...well, there's some guilt. The boys don't know about...any of this. He's kept Nancy a secret for..five years now? Six? She's told John more than once that he's welcome to bring them along, but he knows that's not a good idea. This isn't the same as parking them with Bobby or Jim.

Yeah, they're less than an hour from the beach, they could have their own rooms in the big old house, but it's too easy to picture them bonding with Nancy, and then things would change. The boys would probably want to stay here, full-time, and if that happened, they'd lose their edge. The argument would be three against one, and he'd be the odd man out, so he tells her what he always tells her, "Maybe next time" and wonders if she believes him. It's what he has to do, to keep his boys safe.

Nancy is nearby in her garden, the sunny acre of ground just north of the old house, her shirt a patch of pink amid the green rows. John tries to avoid examing his feelings for her. As long as she isn't possessive---and she's avoided that particular pitfall---he's comfortable with her. Her so-called psychic abilities annoyed him at first---the more time he spends as a hunter, the less leeway he gives the unknown---but she keeps the New Age foo-fairy schtick to a minimum and she's saved his ass with it a few times. So he comes by once or twice a year to visit, enjoys her home cooking---Nancy is one helluva good cook---gets his ashes hauled and moves on...because unfortunately, the sun isn't the only demon out there.

***




Previously in the John-Nancy 'verse....
http://vanillafluffy.livejournal.com/135447.html The Girl From Cassadaga
http://vanillafluffy.livejournal.com/138894.html The End of an Era


Comments are shiny.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 07:09 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jdsgirlbev.livejournal.com
JOHN AND NANCY!!!! OMG! OMG!
Ok...now to read it!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 08:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
That enthusiasm makes me happy, even without the review!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 07:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jdsgirlbev.livejournal.com
Ah...so bittersweet.

Thank you.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 08:51 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Yeah, that's our boy....

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 08:27 pm (UTC)
ext_5650: Six of my favourite characters (Default)
From: [identity profile] phantomas.livejournal.com
Love the quiet, intimate and a little desolate tone of the narration, John's thoughts being always ferociously controlled, no matter what John feels...this oasis of peace is so very precious to him. I like to think that he had something like this at some point :)

Thanks :)

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-23 08:56 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Thanks. In this situation, I see John as rationalizing his relationship: the boys have each other, but he's their commanding officer, so to speak, meaning he doesn't feel like he can relax his demeanor around them or they won't take him seriously. Glad you enjoyed it!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-24 02:07 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com
It's what he has to do, to keep his boys safe. That's John's whole reason for being right there.

I love the vivid images here, of John thinking about his own youth and Nancy in her garden, and how even this safe harbor is one where John can't rest for long..

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-24 02:41 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Glad you liked it. I'm thinking a lot about John and Nancy; I never did finish that quest of hers. (And the enthusiasm that's greeted this ficlet has certainly been encouraging!) Good to know I still have an audience!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-24 03:47 am (UTC)
fufaraw: mist drift upslope (John)
From: [personal profile] fufaraw
OMG, Nancy! Sooo good to see her again. B

Although I just want to smack John. I see his reasoning, but damn, if he's going to deny his sons the ease and comfort of someone's home, then he damn well shouldn't do it sitting in the shade of her lawn. Dammit.

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-24 04:21 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Thanks for the Nancy!love. She's partially based on my favorite aunt from childhood, and the squees I've gotten are giving me warm fuzzies.

Heh...yeah, John is rationalizing his ass off, isn't he? Silly man. And it's why Dean denies it when he and Nancy DO cross paths, because he doesn't think his dad had any secrets.

Glad you enjoyed it, thanks so much for commenting!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-24 07:17 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gwendolyngrace.livejournal.com
Lovely use of the prompt!

I think I've read your other "Nancy" fics, but somehow it's not coming back to me.

I totally agree, though, that John would have an occasional need for some companionship (and not just sex) and he would have done a lot to protect the boys from getting the wrong idea, as well as backing away from anyone who tried to make it permanent.

It's interesting that he chooses to keep them on the road with him, though, to keep their "edge." I guess by this point, since he also knows it's a demon that killed Mary, he has transitioned completely into the hard-ass DI who didn't want to let Sam leave. Makes sense.

But it's hard to see a John who has given up on giving them even a slice of Normal.

Oops, that was meta. Nice job!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-25 05:40 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
Nuthin' wrong with a little meta!

Glad you enjoyed it!

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-28 02:13 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starhawk2005.livejournal.com
Nice to see Nancy again. *waves* :)

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-28 03:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] vanillafluffy.livejournal.com
She may resurface soon...I think I've finally come up with a way to explain some plot points that were bothering me. Granted, in a fandom like this, angels aren't exactly a stretch, but I really didn't want events to come off as too convenient or deus ex machinae....

(no subject)

Date: 2008-07-28 06:21 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] starhawk2005.livejournal.com
*nods* Yeah, after all the buildup, descending into bad!fic territory would be a real shame.

Profile

vanillafluffy: (Default)
vanillafluffy

September 2023

S M T W T F S
     12
3456789
10111213141516
17181920212223
24252627282930

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags