Play Dead [NC17, Het, Wincest] Dean/Layla, Dean/Sam, Bobby/Bela, Ellen/OMC, Sam/Jo

[sophiebriand.livejournal.com]

Art by yanjara

Title: Play Dead
Author: Susannah Eanes
Ratings/Warnings: NC-17, Het, Wincest. Angst. Violence (like on the show). Fighting. Boykissing, etc.. Possessed objects. And general mayhem.
Characters/Pairings: Sam/Dean, Bobby/Bela, Ellen/OMC, Dean/Layla, Sam/Jo, Ruby, other demons; also, in flashback - John, Mary, YED.

Spoilers: Up through the end of S-3, heavy speculation into S-4.
Disclaimers: As if.
Length: 27,722 words (Five Chapters total)
Timeframe: A missing episode set between 3.13 and 3.14.

Synopsis: Dean and Sam, on a case involving demonically possessed musical instruments, collude with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo on the trail of the demons. Layla assists. Bela gets in the way. They learn that all demons are certainly NOT human and that Ruby is a liar. Meanwhile, Sam and Dean are fighting over a way to break Dean’s deal without killing Sam. They discover the demonic objects are tied intrinsically to Azazel, and there may be no way to exorcise them without great cost to someone they all love - perhaps even death. There are flashback sequences in which we see some of what Mary knew, and one of the reasons why Dean's eyes bled in Bloody Mary.

Amazing Art by yanjara. Complete Art Post Here. Art is placed in the text of the story; clicking on each one will bring up a larger version.
Special thanks to: erinrua, darkmerrick, blacklid, oncidium, and lila_blue, beta goddesses, all of whom over the past year had something to do with the shaping of this story. Special thanks to Jensen and Jared, Jim, Samantha, Alona, Lauren and Katie, for being awesome. Eric, Sera and Ben, for all the ideas and ambivalence - so much scope for the imagination. And to Bookie, Jamie, MT and AJ, for cheerleading. Finally - Beautiful artwork by yanjara. Thank you, BB. I am forever in your debt and am frankly completely undone by what you did with the story.
Music: Soundtrack for Play Dead at last.fm. (Thanks to Lila & Bookie for your help with this!)

AN: Written for spn_j2_bigbang's 2009 Challenge. Although this is a stand-alone piece, there are themes and references to canon and occasional things from other stories I've written. The Sam/Jo theme picks up directly from their interaction in Gravedigger/Grace is Gone. Also, Layla is a selkie in this story as I love her so much I came up with a plausible way that she may not have died but was transformed into a supernatural being. Her talents come in handy. If you want to read more about her history in my world, see Into the Great Wide Open and Full Moon Fever. And finally, Communion belongs in this 'verse as well, as a missing episode (that could never be aired on any network) falling between 3.09 and 3.10. In it Sam tries to save Dean by enacting a ritual on Ash Wednesday in an old church in South Carolina. Good times.

Sheesh. Quit reading already and get to the story...


Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five

Cross-posted to Dreamwidth, dean_layla, jo_sam, and un_love_you.
A .pdf of the entire story in one neat, portable fully-illustrated document is here for you to download and save or print for your convenience.