The clash of thunder woke Dean up. He heard Sam stirring in the next bed over. In between hunts, the Winchester brothers were staying at a motel in the middle of Illinois. The room suddenly lit up as lightning brightened up the black night briefly. Dean shifted, and then turned over. He got uncomfortable quick and went back to his back. He doubted he'd ever get back to sleep now. With his imminent death approaching all too fast, sleep was the last thing on Dean's mind.
It was easy for the young hunter to sense that his younger brother had woken up. Dean had a feeling Sam wouldn't be able to get back to sleep now, either. Sammy had always hated thunder storms…
Springfield, South Carolina, 21 years ago
Sam woke with a start as thunder clapped and echoed throughout the night. The thunder was loud, and scary. The little boy's natural reaction to his fear was to pull the blankets over his head, so he did. Through the cotton blanket Sam could see the bright flash of lightning, which was quickly followed by thunder. Sam took a deep breath, and anxiously uncovered his head. It was OK, he told himself, just bad weather… But more thunder had Sam looking to the bed next to his.
Big brother Dean was fast asleep, the weather not affecting the boy at all. Sam bit his bottom lip and moaned. Why couldn't Dean be awake to tell him it was all OK? Sam sighed and sunk farther down into the big bed.
The Winchester family was in South Carolina for tonight. Dean told him it was for Daddy's work, and that they wouldn't be staying long, but that was all Sam knew. Well he knew that, and that he hated being cooped up in the motel room the family was staying in for so long. Sam moved around a bit and just as he started to drift back into sleep, lightning appeared and thunder screamed through the air. Sam whimpered. Unable to take it anymore he looked over at his brother, his safety net.
"Dean!" the four-year-old squeaked. Dean was awake immediately.
"What is it, Sammy?" Dean mumbled through his tiredness. But the thunder that had Sam screaming gave it away. Sam was scared of the storm. "It's just weather, Sam."
"I know, but I'm scared, Dean. I can't sleep," Sam moaned.
Dean pulled down some of his covers, "Come on."
Sam happily scurried over to Dean's bed and crawled in next to him. He nudged into Dean. "Thanks Dean."
"Yeah, yeah, now go to sleep," the eight-year-old ordered, but he didn't really mind. As long as Sam was OK and happy, so was Dean.
Present
The brothers remained silent as the storm raged on. At this point, both were staring at the ceiling in silence.
It was Sam who broke it, "I hate thunder storms."
Dean looked at his little brother, "I know, Sammy."
