Bad Timing (SPN, w/ Rowena, Sam, Dean & Cas)

[Sophie<3]

Hi everyone! *waves*

I feel like I haven't posted in a long time. And it's been a while since I last posted a SPN story, so I'm a little nervous.

And people, be aware!

SEASON 10 SPOILERS SEASON 10 SPOILERS SEASON 10 SPOILERS SEASON 10 SPOILERS

I fell back in love with SPN pretty much with the introduction of Rowena. And after finishing Season 10, I really wanted to write a little something with her reacting to a sick Sam. But PLEASE be aware that it's VERY spoilery!! Since it's basically set during one of the last episodes!

I still hope that there are enough SPN fans on here, who have finished Season 10, also love Rowena and will enjoy this. ^ _ ^

Now, let's get on with it.

Title: Bad Timing

Sickie: Sam

Warnings: MAJOR SPOILERS! And language.

Author's Note: Why, oh why, do I always make attempts at writing a character who is only a little sick, you know, a small headcold, nothing bad, and then accidently turn it into near-pneumonia feverish hell? Sorry, Sammy...

In the Wichesters' lives, there weren't exactly good times for getting sick. Instead, there were bad times and horrible times. And times that were even worse.

When Sam woke up with a stuffy nose, a painfully sore throat and a dull headache, he decided that 'right now' fell into the third category.

There was Dean, slowly but surely surrendering all he was to the mark. Unfortunately, there seemed to be an inverse relationship between his will to fight the power of it and his will to tear out the throats of absolutely everyone around him, monster or not. The apologies he was making for his kills were, frankly, becoming more and more ridiculous. Just like his wish to 'go down swinging', as he liked to put it, or eventually be put down by Sam and Cas. As if that was even an option.

Then, there was Rowena, one of the most dangerous witches alive, currently chained to the wall in a dungeon where Sam himself had put her. And, even worse, apparently not getting on well with the translation of the Book of the Damned.

There was Cas, trying to be helpful, as always, but not being able to do much besides giving Sam meaningful looks and criticizing him about leaving Dean in the dark.

And there was Sam himself, feeling like crap on toast just when he needed to be on top of his game.

He gathered the strength to sit up in bed, paused, turned his head back towards his pillow and sneezed a harsh double. “Hehh'ESHh! Hhh'RREshhH!”

The involuntary sniffle that followed this eruption produced a liquidy sound. Sam cringed, wiped his nose and got out of bed. After all, he had shit to do. Important shit.

He contemplated hiding his illness from Dean, but this plan was smashed to pieces the second Dean looked up from his breakfast plate.

“Woah, Sammy. Did you get hit by a truck or something?”
He looked somewhere between curious, concerned, and amused.

Sam made a face at him, then covered his mouth when a sudden bout of coughing broke out of him.

Dean took another bite of his toast and joked, talking around it: “Do I need to call the CDC? Put you in isolation?”

“Very funny”, Sam replied with a raspy voice. “It's just a cold, Dean.”

“Yeah, well, it's one hell of a cold, then. Honestly, you look like...”

“Absolute shit, I know.”

Dean shrugged and took another bite. “Not what I was gonna say, but it works, too.” Then, he gestured towards the opposite chair. “Want eggs? Or toast?”

Sam sat down, but shook his head at the same time. “Not... hungry.” His voice trailed off towards the end and he quickly brought up his arm. “Hhh'MMP'tchh! Heh'IKSh! Hehh'AshhhHh!”

“Bless you!”, Dean said around another big bite of buttered toast. “And you should really eat something.”
When he saw the look on his brother's face, he added: “Come on! Those eggs are good! I made those!”

With a weak smile, Sam loaded some of them onto the plate Dean had laid out for him, and noted that his big brother looked satisfied. Next, he realized that this goddamn cold might actually – who would have thought - work to his advantage. He desperately wanted to talk to Rowena again, and he needed Dean out of the way to do that.

“So”, he asked, after trying the scrambled eggs, which were, in fact, surprisingly okay. “What's the plan for today?”

Lately, Dean had been working cases obsessively, convinced that it was his duty to do as much good as he could before he inevitably turned bad again, convinced that he could channel the rage caused by the mark into something productive. Which was why Sam wasn't surprised when he immediately had something to offer: “We have a case. Two high school girls down in Texas. Died, with their eyes and their fingernails missing. Can't be sure yet, but it looked witchy to me. What do you think?”

“Um... well, I... Hang on. Huhh'EShhh'eh! Heh'Ngg'TCh! Hehhh...” The final sneeze decided to retreat last second and instead, Sam was overcome by another round of coughing.

“Riiiight”, said Dean contemplatively. “There's that. I guess what I meant to say was: I have a case. You're not coming.”

This was exactly the reaction Sam had hoped for. With Dean out of the state, he'd have time for a long chat with Rowena and some more research on the book and the code. But, of course, he had appearances to keep up, so he put on a pout. “Dean! It's nothing, really! I'm fine! Don't always mother me like that!”

“Sam, you know damn well it's for your own good. I know you feel like crap, so don't try to deny it. Besides, I don't want you to spread your germs all over my baby on the drive.”

“You know, there's something called hygiene, Dean. Like, when you cover your sneezes and stuff. You probably haven't heard of it, but I personally tend to...”

Dean put up a finger. “Shut up and finish your eggs.” Then, he pushed back his chair and got up. “I'm getting my stuff for the hunt.”

“Alright, whatever”, Sam replied, with his best impression of a scowl.

Things went according to plan. Sam pretended to be pissed, Dean told him he was being childish and to rest up and not do anything stupid while he was gone. He offered to pick up some meds for him and when Sam mumbled something about being fine and just wanting to sleep, he finally took off.

Afterwards, Sam had to sit down for a second, realizing that going to bed would, in fact, be quite nice. But sadly, it was not an option. So he blew his dripping nose, cleared his throat and left to meet Rowena.

When he stepped into the dungeon, Sam wondered, briefly, if the witch ever slept. She must, he thought. She's basically just a human with special skills, isn't she? Also, he then remembered her snappish comment about beauty sleep. But every time he entered the dungeon she was up. And, as he realized with a short-lived but nonetheless powerful pang of guilt in his chest, with her hands tied like that, not to mention the hard stone floor, it would be nearly impossible to find a comfortable sleeping position.

“Samuel”, she greeted him in her usual sing-song, her lips curled into an almost smile. “Hello.”

“Hi”, he replied, then had to sniffle. Maybe he was imagining things, but Rowena seemed to twitch slightly as a response to that sound and her eyes widened the tiniest bit.

“How's Dean?”, she purred. “Is he getting... worse?”

“None of your business”, Sam snapped, more out of a reflex.

Rowena tutted at this. “Now that's no way to talk to a lady, is it, Samuel? Didn't your mother teach you to respect your elders? Besides, it most certainly is my business, considering that you brought me here to find a cure for your brother.”

“Yeah, well”, Sam shrugged and when he felt his voice fading, he tried to clear his throat as subtly as possible. “For that, you don't need any details on how he's doing, do you? It's bad, getting worse. That's all you need to know. So work faster, okay?”

At that, Rowena pursed her lips and shook her head disapprovingly, causing her red curls to bob back and forth. “Who do you take me for, boy? A horse? Whips and harsh words will not cause my work to progress more swiftly. I am an artist, after all, and these things...”

“Take time, I know!”, interrupted Sam. “But, honestly, Rowena, cut the crap! I already said I'd hold up my end of the bargain, didn't I? If you don't find a cure in time, though, I sure as hell won't! Because you'll be useless to me then and... and...”

Bad timing, again. What was supposed to me the most intense part of his little speech turned into the most pathetic one, when his voice trailed off and his breath began to hitch, as he was fighting the incoming round of sneezes... and losing. “Hhh'IKK'TchhU! Hh'ISHhh! Hnn...Hhh'ESHH'uhh! ITKK'ChhH!”

Rowena cocked her head and opened her mouth slightly, pretending to be surprised. “Dear heavens, Samuel! What an outburst!”

She emitted the tiniest giggle and Sam, half his face still hidden behind his arm, felt the sudden urge to grab her and shove her into a wall.

“Anyway”, he tried to start up again, but was betrayed by his body once more, when a final, unexpected sneeze came over him, which then turned into a new round of throaty coughing.

Rowena was shaking her head again, and then lowered it in an transparent attempt at mimicking sympathy. “Oh dear, oh dear”, she said, her voice sweeter than honey. “You don't seem well at all, Samuel.”

“I'm grand, thanks”, Sam managed to say, then tried to shoot her a deadly glare when he had to cough again.

“Poor dear”, she whispered now and stretched out a perfectly manicured hand. Sam recoiled instantly and she retracted it slowly, then shrugged non-committally. “I could help you, you know. But that's up to you, I suppose.”

“Right”, Sam snorted. “How could you help me? Why would I even trust you? You're a witch! And I hate you!”

“How rude!”, Rowena rebuked with an offended little gasp. “And of course I could help you, silly boy! Curing mortal illnesses happens to be one of my specialties. Oh no, wait, it was inflicting illnesses, yes!” She laughed a small, cackling laugh, until she saw the look on Sam's face. “No, I didn't inflict this one on you, don't be silly! I would have gone for something more... dramatic. Something with blood. This nasty little cold of yours, you've caught without my helping, trust me. But that doesn't mean I can't take it away.”

Sam stared at her through streaming eyes. The possibility of getting rid of this thing quickly was becoming more appealing by the minute. He felt like he was deteriorating at an alarming rate.

Again, Rowena gave a small, feminine, one-shoulder shrug. “Why not? I mean, I'm working with you and I don't want to be exposed to these rude noises you make and all that nasty stuff. Besides, I need you at full strength to kill my son, don't I?”

Sam contemplated this for a moment. “You know that if you kill me, you'll never get out of here, right? Even worse, Cas will find out and you'll die a painful death!”

“Oh, no need to get graphic, Samuel. I'm well aware of my situation. And I thought we had a partnership! I'll cooperate gladly, as long as you promise to hold up your end of the deal!”

“Don't worry, killing Crowley will be my plehh... Hehh'IKChH! Pleasure.”

“Bless you, Samuel”, Rowena said, again displaying what somebody who didn't know her might have mistaken for symapthy.

Sam didn't bother to thank her. He simply couldn't bring himself to utter the words, but she didn't seem to mind, simply flashed him a smile as she pulled something out of her robe and held it out to him.

“I always carry a small bottle of this around with me”, she explained chattily. “Just rub three drops of this on your chest and you'll be good as new, lad.”

Slowly and warily, Sam reached out and took the small bottle, which appeared to be filled with an oily substance, out of her hand.

“What, witches get colds, too?”

“Ah, it's good for all sorts of illnesses, really. Beautiful recipe.” With a flick of her hair, she added: “It's my own invention, you know.”

Sam coughed, eyed the bottle one more time, then, mostly on the basis that he hadn't started bleeding from his eyes or anything like that yet, decided that it was safe to shove it into his pocket.

“Awesome. Now, how about you get back to finding that cure? Have you made any progress?”

“If you continue to rush me, that won't help one bit, you know”, she chirped.

Sam, again fighting the urge to smash her against the wall, started rubbing his aching temples instead.

“What do you need, then?”

“Peace and quiet, my deary. Peace and quiet.”

“Call me that again and I'll...”

“You'll what, Samuel?”

“I'll... Hhh'Ushh'eh!”

“Aw... Better hurry and treat yourself with my medicine. It'll do you good, I promise.”

“Well, in that case...”, Sam replied sarcastically, then turned around. “Next time I walk in here, I want to see some results, do you understand?”

“I hope you feel better!”, she called after him and it almost, almost sounded genuine. She was, Sam reminded himself, a good liar.

The hours went by and Sam found himself picking up the small bottle with the oil more and more often. It smelled of oranges and pines, not unpleasant at all. And Rowena had said that only three drops could end his misery, just like that...

But, he reminded himself, it would be stupid to take it. Beyond stupid. Rowena couldn't be trusted. He didn't want to get involved with her witchy stuff. It wouldn't end well.

Then again... he thought, in a low moment. Could it get any worse? He was already sweating and freezing and coughing and sneezing and blowing his nose constantly. His limbs felt like jello and his head felt like it was stuffed with cotton. He was trying to get something done, anything, but he kept having to sit down on the couch, breathing heavily through his mouth, because he got so dizzy.

So the oily stuff in the bottle was becoming more tempting by the minute... He picked it up again, opened it slowly, could detect the fruity, herby smell even with his heavily stuffed nose... then almost dropped the bottle when his phone rang.

“Oh God, Cas”, he croaked into it. “You scared the hell out of me.”

“I'm sorry, Sam.”

“No, it's fine. What's up?”

“I was just wondering how you were, Sam. And how's Rowena's work progressing? Oh, and is there anything wrong with the reception? Your voice sounds... different.”

“Um... Cas?” Sam sank back on the couch with a defeated sigh. “Could you just... come, maybe?”

“Sure.”

Sam had barely put down the phone, when Cas appeared out of nowhere and right in front of him.

He was startled, then smiled. “Hi.”

“Hello, Sam.” Cas scrutinized him, then frowned. “You look different, too.”

“I... well...” As if to help him show rather than tell, his nose twitched right that second and he quickly covered with his lower arm. “Heh'RE'shh!”

The angel drew his eyebrows together. “What is it, Sam?”

“I'm sick”, Sam admitted weakly. “I feel horrible.”

Castiel nodded solemnly. “What can I do?”

“Well... I...” Sam looked up with hope in his big, shiny eyes. “I was sort of hoping you could, um, cure me?”

“Oh, alright then.” Cas stepped forward, stood in front of Sam awkwardly for a moment, then put two fingers to his forehead. “Ah, yes”, he mumbled, and Sam, too tired to ask, just accepted it and waited, when suddenly, he was overcome by a strange, unfamiliar feeling. It was like a wave of cleansing water was rushing through all of his body, head to toe, and he could feel his lungs and sinuses clear and the sweat on his forehead disappear and his ears pop and...

“Cas! You did it! You healed me!”

Castiel responded with a small and humble smile. “Yes, Sam. I am still an angel, after all.”

“You're the best, Cas!”, Sam exclaimed and he meant it, too.

As for the bottle with Rowena's remedy... Sam had slipped it into his pocket without Cas noticing and that night, he put it into a drawer. For the future, he thought. After all, it might come in handy at some point. Rowena might have been honest about it. Just this once.

Maybe.

[Pyrus_Fangmon]

Oh oh oh!? :bounce:

Sophie strikes again!!! Your writing always makes me bounce with excitement! And this lovely piece proves it

[HPG]

Sophieeee! You make me so happy when you post! I loved it as always.

[Zuki]

This was so great! Poor Sammy and hurray for Cas coming to save the day. You wrote Rowena very well. I could hear her annoying voice the whole time

[Sophie<3]

You guys are great! I wasn't sure anybody was going to be interested in this...

Oh oh oh!? :bounce:

Sophie strikes again!!! Your writing always makes me bounce with excitement! And this lovely piece proves it

Thank you! That is such a nice compliment! I'm glad you liked it!

Sophieeee! You make me so happy when you post! I loved it as always.

Thank you so much! That's honestly so sweet of you! (:

This was so great! Poor Sammy and hurray for Cas coming to save the day. You wrote Rowena very well. I could hear her annoying voice the whole time

I'm so glad you liked it, Zuki! And writing Rowena was the whole poinr of this, so I'm happy you think I did well!

[27jj]

Ohhhh I love this!

[Anilkex]

Ahhh Rowena. Totally heard her voice and pictured her fake sympathetic looks. I especially liked the description of Sam beind healed. Great job!

[ajdesigns1]

Ahhh Rowena. Totally heard her voice and pictured her fake sympathetic looks. I especially liked the description of Sam beind healed. Great job!

I agree. Your Rowena was wonderful. Now if they could actually have this happen on the show I'd be one happy camper.

Any chance you're going to do more of this story????

[Sophie<3]

Ohhhh I love this!

Thanks! (And I love your signature! Honestly, so cute!)

Ahhh Rowena. Totally heard her voice and pictured her fake sympathetic looks. I especially liked the description of Sam beind healed. Great job!

Thank you! Yeah, that part was a bit of a challenge. I mean, how would it feel to be healed by Cas's angel mojo? But apparently I found a good way of describing it!

Ahhh Rowena. Totally heard her voice and pictured her fake sympathetic looks. I especially liked the description of Sam beind healed. Great job!

I agree. Your Rowena was wonderful. Now if they could actually have this happen on the show I'd be one happy camper.

Any chance you're going to do more of this story????

The whole point of this story was trying to write Rowena for the first time, so I'm super happy you guys liked it! And believe me, sick Sam and pseudo-concerned Rowena on the show? I'd be happy, too!

Um... I wasn't really planning on it. But I might write Rowena again in a different scenario? I'll think about it, okay?