Dean was leaning back on his bed, sorting again through the pictures on his dresser. He had being doing that a lot lately, reminding himself that he had a family, that he was alive. He sighed, staring at a picture of him and Sam as very young children. Sam must have been what, two? He smiled at the memory, lowing the picture and glancing towards the door of his room. Then back at the picture, and back the doorway. "Sammy?" He asked incredulously. Sam toddled over, reaching chubby arms up to his brother "Dee! Up!"

No way. Dean thought. I'm hallucinating. Even as he thought this, he was reaching down and picking up the toddler, instinct taking over. "Hey, Sammy, what happened to you?" He inquired, settling Sam on his hip and bouncing gently. Sam reached over, patting his cheek gently. "I was at the libary, and Gab-i-al took me home! He gave me candy!" He burbled, sticking his bright blue tongue out for inspection. Dean stared at his little brother, absentmindedly poking his tongue back into his mouth. "Gabriel, huh?"

"yeah, an' Cassie was there too, but he wasn't happy, he looked all scary, like this" Sam made the most annoyed face a two year old could manage, pulling his eyebrows down to glower at Dean, who chuckled softly.

"what did they say to you, hm?"

"uuhh... Cassie said 'sorry, he got here first' an' then Gabey says 'don't worry, we'll go home an' Deanie will play with you' an' then he gave me a lollipop"

Dean groaned, dropping his face into his free hand, mumbling. "four years, that fucker disappears, and this is what he does when he gets back? why isn't he dead?" Sam squeaked in indignation, pouting

"don' want Gabey to die, Dean"

"Don't worry Sammy, he didn't. Obviously"

Dean had wandered out to the kitchen while Sam prattled on, and settled his baby brother on a chair. "Want something to eat, Sam?" Sam bounced on his chair, pulling himself up to stand on it, clutching the top of the chair tight in tiny fingers. "I wanna hot dog, Dee" Dean stepped over, scooping up his brother and sitting him down again with one hand "we don't stand on chairs, we sit like big boys"

Sam pouted, but stayed seated, kicking his little legs while Dean made some hot dogs, cutting Sam's into smaller pieces and letting them cool before carrying them to the table. "here we go, Sammy"

"thanks, Deanie" Sam dug into his hot dog, not bothering with the large fork Dean had put by his plate. He yelped and spit it back out as it became apparent that things right off the oven retained heat. Dean laughed, trying to remember the last time he had been so amused. "blow on it first, remember?" he reminded gently. Sam nodded, puffing out his cheeks to blow dramatically on his hotdog, and the rest of the meal passed without incident.

Once he had finished eating, and Sam had "helped" him clear the table, which consisted of dropping a cup full of water and then stomping in the puddle, and he had cleaned the ketchup off of Sam's face and removed his now soaking shoes, which had conveniently shrunk with him, Dean was ready to take a break. "Hey Sammy, wanna watch some tv, kiddo?" he asked, walking out to an office Charlie had helped him modify into a man cave, complete with a flat screen and surround sound. He took a moment to laugh again at the thought of what Charlie would say about his miniature brother. Dean supposed she would pamper him, Sam had that effect on people. That lead to slightly more depressing thoughts about how his dad had left them at a library or park and how people were always asking after the tot, and whispering about why he had been left with a six year old.

Dean shook those thoughts off quickly, sitting down on a couch and helping Sam scramble up. He picked up his laptop, putting on an show. Sam crawled into his lap, pointing excitedly "cartoons!"

"No, Sammy, it's anime and it's an ar- you know what? Yeah. Cartoons. You can't read, right?"

Sam shook his head, settling back against Dean's stomach.

Dean laughed, for what seemed like the third time in just a few minutes, flicking on the subtitles "then what were you doing in the library, silly?" An odd look flashed over Sams childish features " I... dunno, Dee, why was I..?" Dean shook his head, turning and putting his feet up on the couch, Sam solidly tucked against his abdomen. "don't worry about it"

Dean relaxed into the innocent activity, smiling whenever Sam would bounce and point at the tv, exclaiming excitedly about some inventive weapon or strange hair colour, seeming completely unperturbed by not being able to understand anything. Eventually Dean noticed Sam starting to yawn, tucking a thumb into his mouth. "Hey kiddo, is it nap time?"

"no! no naps!" he yawned again. Dean chuckled again, briefly wondering what had come over him. He stood up, scooping the protesting tot into his arms and throwing him over a shoulder, to a delighted squeal. "What about just story time?" he asked, carrying Sam upside down into the kitchen, warming up a glass of milk because that's what he did for Sam, no matter how long it had been before he last asked for one. Sam contemplated this for a moment, finally agreeing to "only story time, no sleeping".

Dean handed him his glass of warm milk, keeping a hand under it because the damn bunker didn't come equipped with plastic sippy cups, and took him into his room, casting a glance around at the lore books scattered over various surfaces. "what book are you gonna read, Dee?" came a small and sleepy voice from under his chin.

"I'm gonna tell you a new one, Sam. It's about a very strong and very brave boy named Sammy." Said little boy smiled, dropping the glass to rub at his eyes. Dean caught it without missing a beat, and set it down on a dresser, sliding himself onto his bed, sitting back against the headboard. "and this little boy had a very strong and super handsome older brother named Dean, and they loved eachother more than anything in the world-" Sam nodded along, leaning his head on Deans upper arm, eyes blinking slowly. "-and these brothers were superheroes, they worked every day, saving the world a little bit at a time. Sometimes things were tough, and sometimes the superheros didn't really know which side was right, and which side was wrong." He paused, looking down at the tiny form in his lap, who's eyes were shut. "but they did their best, and they always had eachother, and some friends, and everything turned out awesome. The end"

Sammy heaved a sigh, tucking his thumb back in his mouth. Dean stood up as smoothly as he could, holding his brother to his chest and bouncing him softly as he turned off the lights. He paced slowly back and forth in the now dark room, waiting until he heard the tiny snores that had always told him Sammy was safe asleep, and he laid him down slowly on the bed. Sam's eyes popped open the second Dean let go, bottom lip protruding and tears rising and threatening to spill. "Dee..."

"shh, shh, Sammy, I got you" Dean picked him up again and lay down on the bed, settling the child on his chest. That seemed to satisfy Sam, after he got his tiny hand curled around one of Dean's fingers. Dean pressed a gentle kiss to the top of Sam's head, mentally arguing with himself about enjoying his brothers suddenly innocent and much more importantly, happy state. Sam had gone all day without seeming at all weighed down with the weight of any of horrendous situations they had found themselves in over the past thirty-odd years. The odd gladness he felt at caring for his brother without him trying to push him away at all. He sighed, Sam a comforting weight on his chest, and shifted his head on the pillow, drifting off eventually, Sam's tiny hand in his a grounding point that let him sleep safe, nightmares held at bay.