A/N: Well here I am with another fic, not the S10 fic yet that I promised (still in the works) but a Halloween fic. This is a bit late but the plot bunny actually struck right after Halloween when something similar happened to me. This takes place pre-series. Sam is 5 and Dean is 9. This is the first Wee-chester fic I have ever written except when the boys are young in flashbacks in my other fics so I hope I did the boys justice. Hope you enjoy and please take the time to drop a note if you can :)
When Pumpkins Gleam
When pumpkins gleam
May luck be yours on Halloween...
Sam Winchester was pretty sure this was the best Jack O'Lantern he ever saw and he was one hundred percent positive that Dean was the best big brother ever.
He stopped carving for a moment, leaned back in his chair and admired his work. Yes, it was perfect.
ooooo
Dean sat mere inches away from his 5 year old brother, watching him like a hawk . His brother was using sharp objects and that scared him. What scared him more though was the idea that someday, Sam would have to use sharp objects to defend himself and what chilled him to his very bones, was that someday someone might point a sharp object at his baby brother.
Despite his trepidations, he couldn't help but smile. Sam looked so serious, his tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth while he carved. These were the moments he knew how much Sam had really been denied in his young life. Halloween was just another day on the calendar for them, not a night of frolic and fun, of dressing up in costume, and collecting candy.
Their father always said he hated Halloween because on this night, you could never tell who the true monsters were. So instead of preparing their costumes for the night, he and Sam had gone for a walk while their dad was busy. They had passed a pumpkin stand and Sam had tugged on his arm so hard that he wondered how someone so tiny had so much strength.
"Can I get one, please?" Sam asked.
"No, Sam. We don't need it. We don't celebrate Halloween, remember?"
"But you never told me why we don't Dean. You just said, 'we don't and that's that,'" Sam said, imitating Dean's voice and crossing his arms over his chest just the way Dean did.
Dean couldn't help but laugh.
"Please! I can carve a scary face on it," Sam begged.
Dean stood there in silence, looking over the pumpkins, contemplating whether or not he should just give in. It was just a pumpkin. What harm could it do?
"Okay, Sam. We'll get one," Dean acquiesced.
"Yes!" Sam cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "Can I pick it out?"
"Sure," Dean said.
Sam had spent nearly an hour inspecting each pumpkin, so long that Dean had grown impatient.
"Too bumpy," Sam complained.
"Yeah like your head," Dean said, laughing.
Finally he settled on one. It was not too small and not too big, the perfect orange hue and wasn't full of bruises like the other pumpkins.
"Isn't it huge?" Sam asked Dean as Dean helped carry it to the checkout stand.
"It's pretty big alright," Dean said, lying. It honestly wasn't that big but compared to Sam who was small for his age, he guessed it was pretty large.
"That will be six dollars," the cashier said.
"Six bucks? But that's a ripoff," Dean scoffed. He needed to still buy Sam the carving kit and if he paid that much, he wouldn't be able to get it for him. So it was time to put his bargaining skills into action.
The cashier practically glared over his bluntness but Dean softened.
"That's a lot of money for us, sir. My brother really wants this pumpkin."
"I'm sorry but that's the price. Perhaps you could look at our damaged pile?"
No way was Sam getting a damaged pumpkin. He had enough damaged goods in his life to need that.
"How about three dollars?"
"I don't bargain. I'm sorry," the man said, standing firm.
Sam pouted.
"Well my brother is going to be so disappointed. It's his first pumpkin," Dean said, winking at Sam.
"Please Dean," Sam said, picking up on his cue. He jutted out his lip and unleashed some massive puppy dog eye power. "You promised."
Dean saw the man instantly caving in and he couldn't be more proud. There was no way anyone could resist those peepers. Dean was pretty sure those eyes would save the world someday.
"Four bucks," the man said, at last.
"Deal," Dean said.
After their purchase, they went to a small department store and picked up a carving kit. It contained "child safe" knives as they called it "with adult supervision", as well as a light to put in the pumpkin. Dean was grateful because he didn't want fire anywhere near his brother. He'd have to do for the "adult.'
Once they returned home, Sam again inspected the pumpkin from all angles, unsure of what kind of face to draw.
"How about we draw yours Sam? It's pretty ugly," Dean joked.
"Dean, this is serious!" Sam said, sternly, rolling his eyes.
Dean had to hold in his laugh.
Finally they settled on some downturned eyes with a jagged mouth that they drew on paper first. Dean then helped Sam clean out the pumpkin which filled him with the giggles as he handled the slimy insides.
"Watch this Dean," Sam said, as he faked a sneeze and revealed the pumpkin guts in his hands.
Dean laughed harder than he really wanted to but it was good to see Sam having that much fun for once.
Then he helped Sam carefully draw the face in marker on the pumpkin and get it started. Sam wanted to take the reins then and shooed him off. Dean sat across from him at the table, watching carefully. The knives still seemed pretty sharp to him even if they were pretty flimsy. However, finally it was finished and Sam's fingers were intact.
"Quick Dean, get the batteries!" Sam exclaimed, wanting to see how it looked lit.
Dean grabbed some from one of their spare flashlights. He'd have to remember to replace them later or his dad would have a fit.
They placed the light inside the pumpkin and Sam ran to the lightswitch.
"3…2…1." Sam counted down, as if he was lighting up the Rockefeller Christmas tree. Then he shut them off and the pumpkin shone forth.
Dean had to admit it wasn't bad.
"Wow," Sam said, his eyes growing wide. "Pretty creepy."
"Sure, it scares me to death," Dean said, sarcastically.
"Well it's not as creepy as you," Sam shot back, sticking out his tongue. "Got you back. That's for calling me a bumpy head and ugly."
Dean was impressed. Lately his brother was pretty good at the comebacks.
"Can we put it outside now?" Sam asked.
"Outside?"
"Yeah near our door, for Halloween. My teacher said we dress up in costumes on Halloween to scare off the evil spirits."
Dean scoffed. That was ridiculous. Everyone knew you put a salt line in front of the door and used rock salt and a rifle.
"Since we don't have costumes, we can use the pumpkin," Sam continued.
"Okay, okay," Dean said, giving in.
They placed it right outside of their hotel room door and they both settled in to watch The Great Pumpkin on TV, sharing a bag of candy between them that Dean had managed to purchase as well.
"I don't like how mean they are to Charlie Brown," Sam declared. "So what if his costume isn't the best one. He tried. He doesn't deserve rocks."
Sam was engrossed in the show but Dean was pretty sure he heard some other kids running back and forth outside. He got up from the bed and peeked outside the window but no one was there.
Sam yawned loudly which made Dean turn away from the window and signaled to him that Sam was ready for bed.
"Thanks Dean," Sam said, as Dean tucked him in, "This was the best Halloween ever!" He exclaimed before wrapping his arms around Dean's neck tightly and crawling under the covers.
Dean was taken aback at how something so simple as carving a pumpkin and eating a bag of mini Kit Kats had brought so much joy. Finally he drifted off to sleep, the hint of a smile still plastered on his face.
ooooo
"Dean, Dean! It's gone!" Sam shrieked.
Dean jumped up in alarm at the shouts of his little brother. What was going on?
Dean looked at Sam blearily, who was standing next to the side of his bed, hair disheveled, looking traumatized.
"What?" Dean asked, confused.
"My pumpkin! I went to check it and it's not there!"
"You went outside alone," Dean scolded, becoming more awake. "What did I say Sammy?"
"You said to never under any circumstance go outside the door unless you are with me."
"Damn straight," Dean said. "So why did you?"
"I just wanted to check it," Sam practically whispered, putting his head down guiltily.
"Well don't worry about it Sam. The hotel manager probably threw it away or something."
"No, Dean. We have to go find it!" Sam insisted.
"We are not going trash picking for the pumpkin," Dean said, adamantly.
However, the next thing he knew, he was getting dressed, grabbing his brother's hand and heading out the door. He had no idea how they were supposed to find it. What were they going to do, print up fliers for "Lost Pumpkin?"
They combed the parking lot of the hotel when they finally did come upon it. It was in pieces but still recognizable as Sam's because one carved eye was still visible. Dean also saw some boys his age, some older across the parking lot carrying on and laughing. He wondered if it was them that he had heard the night before running around.
Sam kneeled on the ground and picked up the pieces of his smashed pumpkin, as if picking up the pieces of his shattered heart, and instantly tears began to streak down his face.
"It's okay Sam. Halloween is over anyway. It was probably those boys thinking it was funny. Let's go."
However, Sam ignored him, his hands balling up into tiny fists. Dean turned away then, expecting Sam to follow him. However, Sam was off and running towards the boys.
"Sammy!" Dean yelled after him.
However, Sam was fast and he knew he would reach them before he did.
"Lose something," one of the boys snickered when Sam approached.
"Did you break my pumpkin?" Sam asked.
"No I didn't break it. First I kicked in its stupid face and then I smashed it on the ground until there was nothing left but pumpkin pie."
Sam didn't quite understand why the boys would talk about it like that. Only Dean was allowed to make jokes about the pumpkin, but not them.
"Now if you don't want the same to happen to you, you better get out of here."
"Sam come on!" Dean called, finally catching up. What did I say?"
"Yeah you better go listen to him over there if you know what's good for you," one of the boy's friends said.
"No!" Sam shouted, standing firm. "You broke my pumpkin! Say sorry," Sam said, pointing a finger at him.
Dean couldn't believe how fearless Sam was, but he was fearful that one of the boys might hurt him. His fears came to fruition when one of the older ones shoved Sam to the ground.
Sam just sat there, not allowing any tears to fall, pulling gravel out of his palm.
Dean stood there too until a sudden overwhelming surge of anger shot through him, releasing him like a slingshot. Instantly he was on top of the boy, landing punches.
"You'd do that to my brother? He's just a little kid!" Dean screamed.
The boy's friends looked on in shock at Dean's fighting skills. The boy was probably close to twice his size but he could barely defend himself. Suddenly Dean felt a tap on his shoulder, and someone pulling him back. It was Sam.
"Dean, please stop. Stop!" Sam begged him. He was crying now and Dean wasn't sure if it was because of his behavior or because of his scrapes and cuts.
"Let's go home," Sam sniffled.
Dean jumped off of the kid, who swiped at his bloody nose. He got up then and took off running with his friends out of the hotel parking lot.
Sam was inconsolable on the walk home and Dean ended up picking his little brother up. His pants had bloodstains on the knees and his palms were bloody as well.
"Come on Sam. We need to clean you up," Dean said, sitting his brother on the bathroom counter once they got back to their room.
Dean fetched the first aid kit, while Sam continued to sob.
"Does it hurt? Are you hurt anywhere else?" Dean asked concerned, over Sam's outburst.
"I just got some cuts. They hurt a little. You scared me Dean," Sam said, sniffling.
"Well you scared me too, running off like that."
He had an inkling that there was more to Sam's tears than just the physical wounds. He'd never seen Dean in hunter mode. In fact, Dean wasn't sure he'd seen himself fly off the handle in such a way either, with a person no less but when it came to Sam, he was realizing that he'd never let anyone hurt his brother, ever.
He used a washcloth and carefully cleaned Sam's palms of any debris. Then he put some antibiotic cream on them with some bandaids.
Sam was stoic through the whole thing although Dean bet that it stung.
"Okay let's roll up your pant legs.'
"Why Dean?" Sam said, suddenly interrupting him.
"We have to clean out the cuts on your knees. You have holes in your pants too. Dad is going to be so mad."
"Why?" Sam asked again.
"Because you know how dad is," Dean said, cleaning at the scrapes on Sam's knees. They weren't too bad, his jeans adding a layer of protection.
"No, I mean why did the boys do that Dean? Why did they break my pumpkin?"
"Because they thought it was fun I guess."
"Fun to hurt my pumpkin?"
"Your pumpkin doesn't have feelings, Sam. It didn't get hurt."
"Well I did," Sam sniffled, again.
"Why, Dean?" Sam asked again.
"Because some people are mean?"
"Why are they so mean, Dean?"
Dean stood there, gazing into his brother's tearful eyes and realized he didn't have an easy answer.
"Because they aren't like you, Sammy," he said, at last. "They aren't kind like you. Always be the way you are, Sam. Don't be like them."
"I won't," Sam said, confidently.
Dean finished bandaging Sam's knees and carried him piggy back to the couch.
"Can we get another pumpkin, Dean?" Sam asked, once he was settled.
"Nope, never," Dean said, seriously. "Don't question it either."
Sam looked like he was going to protest but then he knew when his big brother wasn't backing down. Dean knew now that pumpkins could be dangerous and he wasn't taking chances. Sam knew that the pumpkin had made him sad and Dean upset so he wasn't going to push it.
"Can we watch The Great Pumpkin again Dean? I want to see if Linus finally sees the Great Pumpkin this time."
"The ending is not going to change. Linus will never see him."
"You never know," Sam argued while Dean rolled his eyes.
Dean popped in the video anyway because he knew it made Sam happy and making Sam smile was his priority and that would never change either.
The End
End Note: I got the idea for this fic after some pumpkins I put outside for Halloween were smashed a couple days after. I had left them out for Thanksgiving and the remainder of fall but some mean spirited people decided to smash them. However, I guess this has a silver lining as it meant a new story. Thanks for reading.