Family Ties -- Supernatural

II - long lost family

Smoke swam through the air like tendrils of ivy, curling around the wind. It camouflaged into the night as it rose into the atmosphere. The air was thick as embers floated up into the sky, glowing like a firefly. They sprouted from the fire like the sun, releasing a blazing light into the darkness. They stretched out like a spider, scuttling up into the night air, floating up and up until they began to fall, like they had been strung to a balloon that had popped under the pressure. What lay beneath them, however, was so much worse than the heavy atmosphere that hung above them. The embers swung to the ground, letting the wind grasp them and shake them through the air. They landed on the ground in a soft whisper, letting out a quiet yet pained sizzle as they were snuffed out into nothing.

A few feet away, a fire roared, and the body of John Winchester was being swept up in the flames. The blanket that covered his face rustled in the wind slightly as it was consumed along with the body that lay within it. The tower of wood on which he balanced kept on burning until the early hours of the morning. Smoke tumbled through the air until there was nothing left to burn but ash and dust.

Orla and Bobby had not stayed out all night. They had stayed with the elder Winchesters, Orla clutching Bobby’s hand as they watched the blaze rise and fall in an unsteady rhythm. Orla had watched through the flames as Dean cried. The scar on his face wasn’t quite healed and she couldn’t see the tears through the haze of the heat but she knew they were there. From the way his eyebrows were creased together, to the way he kept his hands firmly in his pockets. She knew the tears were there, just like she knew that beneath the fabric of his jacket he was clenching his fists to try and get himself to stop. But he couldn’t, the tears flowed and Orla knew that there was nothing she could do except hold Bobby’s hand and be there as the flames stretched into the sky.

Bobby had reluctantly pulled her away just before midnight. He claimed that she needed sleep, but it was obvious that the death had affected him too and he could only stand by at John’s makeshift funeral for so long. They didn’t say anything to the other two as they left, they just turned and walked back to the house. Orla didn’t sleep, she laid beneath her covers and watched as the shadow of the fire penetrated through the gap in her curtains. Sam followed her and Bobby into the house an hour later, he plodded up the stairs with heavy steps. He hesitated by her door before going to the guest bedroom beside hers. She never heard Dean come back in.

-

Orla must have dozed off at some point during the night, because she woke to the smell of bacon. After dragging herself out of bed and down the stairs, she saw Bobby in the kitchen juggling with several pans and plates.

“Hey.” She mumbled, trudging past him to the fridge. Bobby grumbled slightly in reply, but no coherent words actually came out of his mouth. She opened it and grabbed the carton of orange juice. She unscrewed the lid and took a sip but the acidity made her face screw up. Through her squinting eyes, she saw Bobby raise a judgemental eyebrow in her direction. “What?” She asked, unscrewing her face.

“Nothing.” Bobby sighed, shaking his head slightly and turning back to the sizzling bacon on the stove. He shuffled the pieces around a little, causing an explosion of sound. The smell of the meal he was cooking was slowly melting its way through Orla’s bones, and making her mouth water. The exhaustion from the last few days had crept in and was now almost overwhelming but the fine smell of breakfast was forcing her to stay awake so she could consume it. They stayed in a contented silence as they worked around each other, with Orla collecting cutlery and plates for the table, while Bobby battled with the eggs and bacon. It took a few more minutes for the food to be ready and crispy just the way that Dean liked it but once it was Bobby set two plates of food down on the table, with another two waiting in the counter behind them, should the boys ever venture downstairs.