A Very Prompty Christmas Day 3: Ribbon
When Dean entered the kitchen the next morning, he found another door on the advent calendar was open.
This time it was a window to the left of the front door: inside the cubby sat a spool of thread. Carefully, Dean wedged his fingers into the tiny space and managed to get hold of it, taking it out and dropping it into the palm of his hand. Not thread, he realised, examining it closely. Ribbon, like the kind of ribbon used to decorate presents. It was wide and a deep, rich green.
Dean tucked the spool back into its little hidey-hole and poured himself a cup of coffee. It was too early to contemplate the meaning of the creepy advent calendar. First, coffee. Then, take Miracle for his morning walk. Only then would Dean be able to focus on anything.
He vaguely hoped that he wasnât going to get attacked by any rogue ribbon today.
He enjoyed taking Miracle for walks. Miracle enjoyed the exercise, diving into snow drifts and chasing after the odd squirrel or rabbit that dared to show its face, always racing back to Deanâs side before barreling off again, and Dean enjoyed the solitude. The woods surrounding the Bunker were quiet, far enough from the town centre that Dean didnât have to worry about coming across other people, but the knowledge that they were there, that there were people down in the town and people waiting for him in the Bunker comforted him. The illusion of being the only person around was nice, especially when your space was often unavoidably full, but Dean didnât want a repeat of the reality.
He stomped through the snow after Miracle, occasionally picking up a stick and lobbing it over the dogâs head, watching as Miracle bounded after it, and sighed.
A crack echoed through the cold air, the sound as loud as a gunshot, and Dean reacted instinctively, hand flying to the small of his back, pulling out the gun that he had automatically shoved there before leaving the Bunker and taking aim, scanning the woods. There came a crashing sound, and Dean whipped around in the direction he thought the sound had come from, gun steady in his hands, only to see a large snow-covered branch on the ground, the thin twigs still bouncing up and down in reaction to their fall.
âShit,â Dean swore, laughing at himself. The branch had broken under the weight of the snow piled on top of it. That was all.
âIâm getting too old for this, Miracle,â he called to the dog, tucking the gun away. Â When there was no immediate response, no fluffy ears appearing from behind the bank of Snow that Miracle was hiding behind, no blur of fur racing towards him, Dean frowned.
âMiracle?â he called. âHere, boy!â
âMIRACLE?â Dean yelled, startling a flock of birds out of the tree they had settled in after the falling branch had scared them. âMIRACLE!â
He turned in a circle, eyes scanning the woods desperately. No, no, this couldnât be happening, he couldnât loseâŠ
But Miracle didnât return.
-------------------------------------
âHeâll be fine, Dean,â Sam said reassuringly. âWeâll find him.â
âHe hasnât been here that long, he wonât know the way home,â Dean fretted anxiously. âAnd the road, he doesnât have any road sense, what itââ
âI sent a group out to look for him,â Sam said soothingly. âAnd Iâll go into town myself, put out the word in case anyone sees him. Donât worry, Dean.â He reached out and laid a hand on Deanâs shoulder, and Dean shrugged him off, pushing to his feet and stalking out to the library, ignoring Samâs anxious âDean!â and headed resolutely to the garage.
He had to find Miracle. It was his fault the dog was gone, he was supposed to take care of him, and he hadnât even noticed he was gone. Heâd been right under Deanâs nose and Dean hadnât seen him, hadnât cared enough to pay attention, if only heâd pulled his head out of his ass long enoughâ
Dean spent the rest of the day driving around the surrounds of Lebanon, calling Miracleâs name out the window of the Impala. He hailed every car he saw, pulled up to every person and asked them if theyâd seen Miracle, gave out one of his non-emergency numbers and made them promise to call him if they saw anything. Maybe he shouldâve made flyers to give out, too, Dean though. Shit, he didnât even have a photo of Miracle. What kind of person doesnât even have a decent photo of their dog? He shouldâve taken a photo, shouldâve taken so many photos, his wallet should have been filled with photos of Miracle, and Sam and Mom and Jack andâŠ.
When Deanâs vision started to blur, he pulled the Impala off the road and put her into park, punching at the steering wheel in frustration.
âDammit, Cas,â he choked, his voice breaking.
Because it wasnât about the fucking dog at all, was it? The dog was just the final straw on a giant fucking pile of everyone that Dean had lost. Mom, Dad, Sam, Bobby, Cas, Charlie, Cas (again), Mom (again), JackâŠeveryone that Dean had loved and had to say goodbye to. Heâd barely been able to drag himself up off the dungeon floor after Cas hadâŠand now Miracle. The bestest boy in the whole world who needed a home and someone to take care of him and who wouldnât let Dean out of his sight and watched over Dean while he slept and while the dog would never, could never replaceâŠanybody, he gave Dean a reason to get up in the morning, a structure to his day.
Something to focus on so he didnât think aboutâŠother things.
But once again, heâd let someone heâŠcared about slip through his fingers.
Dean wasnât sure how long heâd sat in the car, alternatively crying and cursing, swearing he was sorry, pleading for Cas to forgive him, begging for Miracle to come back, but by the time he had run out of steam and tears, the woods around him were dark, he was shivering from the cold and the screen of his phone was filled with missed call notifications.
Scrubbing at his cheeks with the heels of his hands, Dean took a deep breath and started the Impala up, carefully turning her around and steering her back towards the Bunker.
Baby carefully tucked away in the garage, Dean slowly made his way up the stairs and along the long hallways towards his room. He knew he should head to the War Room, find Sam and check in, but he looked a mess and wanted to splash some water on his face before he had to face other people. But one of the younger refugeesâTodd? Tom?âwas walking down the hall and before Dean could duck into the bathroom called out an excited âDean!â so loudly that Dean knew he would have no chance of pretending he hadnât seen or heard him.
âHey, Deanâs back!â Tim called over his shoulder, hurrying forward to grab Dean by the arm. âCâmon, weâve been waiting for you, you gotta see this!â
Confused, and a little amused at Tadâs audacity to grab him, Dean allowed the young man to drag Dean towards the War Room, where he could hear excited voices chattering andâwas that a bark?
Dean broke into a run, skidding slightly as he turned sharply at the door to the War Room and then came to a shocked halt.
Sitting up on the Map Table, a jaunty green ribbon tied around his neck, was Miracle, fur fluffed like heâd just been washed and blow dried, tail sweeping back and forth behind him with happiness at all the attention.
âMiracle,â Dean croaked, falling to his knees as the dog barked and leapt off the table, racing across the floor and launching himself into Deanâs arms.
âOh, boy, I missed you! Where were you? Missed you so much, you stupid dog, donât you ever run away like that again, you hear me?â Dean buried his face into the fur of Miracleâs neck, hugging the wriggling dog tightly, not fighting the tears that started flowing again.
He looked up at the touch of a hand on his shoulder and saw Sam crouched down next to him. âWhere was he?â Dean demanded, and Sam shook his head.
âNo idea. One of the teams came back and found him sitting at Bunker door with the ribbon around his neck. No note, nobody with him. But thereâs this.â
Sam tugged at the ribbon, lifting it up to show Dean the brown leather collar that had been fastened around Miracleâs neck. Hanging from the collar was a silver tag, and when Dean reached for the tag and flipped it over, he found that it had been inscribed, My name is Miracle! If you find me, please call Dean Campbell 555-0165.
âHe didnât have a collar, oh my God, Sam, we didnât get him a collar,â Dean realised, and pulled the dog back against his chest. Miracle wriggled in his arms and licked at Deanâs face.
âHe has one now,â Sam said, stating the fucking obvious.
âItâs cats that have nine lives, not dogs,â Dean murmured to Miracle. âOne of these days youâre gonna run out of luck.â
Miracle whined in agreement.
âOkay. You hungry? You want some food? Yeah? Food?â Dean said letting go of Miracle, who danced at the mention of the âfoodâ, and stood up. âCâmon, boy, letâs get you some food.â
The sharpness in Samâs voice stopped him in his tracks, and Dean sighed and turned to face his brother. âYeah, I know.â
âWhere were you?â Sam asked, sounding upset. âDean, you canât do that, you canât just disappear and---and not answer your phone andââ
Dean took a closer look at Sam, and then closed the distance between them, wrapping his brother in a tight hug. Because everyone that Dean had lost? Sam had lost them too, and more, and Dean shouldâve thought about that before he disappeared without a trace.
âIâm sorry, Sammy,â he muttered, and felt Samâs chest hitch as though he was holding back tears of his own. âI justâŠI couldnât just leave him out there, I had to find him, had toââ
âI know,â Sam said, his voice choked up.
An impatient bark from Miracleâthe word âfoodâ had been said and yet no food had been forthcoming, Dean guessedâbroke them apart, and Dean chuckled.
âYeah, yeah, câmon then,â he told Miracle, heading for  the door.
Dean looked through the door at Sam, still standing where Dean had left him.
âYou good?â Sam asked, face screwed up in worry.
Dean looked down at the expectant Miracle at his feet, jaunty green ribbon gleaming in the artificial light, and back up to Sam.
âI will be,â he said, and led Miracle towards the kitchen.
Come back tomorrow for Day Four: Shopping
Day One: Advent Calendar
Day Two: Tinsel