250 word fanfic palette ficlet: dean/gadreel, circus, epistolary story
There's a new tamer working with them. They say his name’s Dean, and he's the best. Gadreel holds his head high and growls his hatred.
The lights are so bright when he’s out on the wire, he can hardly see where he’s supposed to step. So he jumps, and waits.
A broken wing. It’s the worst injury he’s ever sustained, and he knows it will keep him from performing. Will they put him down? Probably.
Dean smiles cautiously and talks to him. No one ever talks to him. They lock him up, they poke. They don’t talk. But Dean does.
Gadreel doesn’t understand Dean’s kindness. He soothes the pain in the broken wing, sets the bone, and keeps talking. Why is he being so kind?
When Dean opens the door to his enclosure, Gadreel finds himself sitting straighter. For once, though, it isn’t meant to intimidate. He’s happy Dean’s here.
After several months Gadreel finally pieces it together. Dean and Sam are related. Sam used to work here, then he set half the circus free.
Dean knows when Gadreel has figured it out, and all he does is smile. His secret is safe. Gadreel can’t talk, and he never would.
The shouts of the workers is nothing compared to the screams of the “monsters” as they flee. Gadreel remains and risks recapture. He needs Dean.
They find one another by the woods, but they’ve been surrounded. Gadreel relaxes for the first time in years, grabs Dean, and takes perfect flight.