Sometimes this pesky computer cancels a word or letters without me noticing it. Sorry about that. I do try to be careful about not making stupid mistakes but I'm not always successful!
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Hurt Me Hurt My Brother.
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To the child huddled in the corner of the back seat, the encroaching twilight seemed even more frightening than the black of the night, for in the hazy dusk it seemed to Sam that among the trees which stretched away from the road-side, he could see moving shadowy figures.
He shivered and wound his arms tighter around his body. Why had Dean gone with Dad he wondered?
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Usually Dad's last words to Dean any time he stopped in the middle of the country-side like this were."Dean, look out for Sammy," and Dean would nod his head and pull Sam closer to him while Dad looked on approvingly.
This time though, Dad had called Dean out with him and Sam had knelt up and watched as John opened the trunk and took stuff out. He couldn't see what is was.
He had no idea what Dad kept in there but he knew it couldn't be anything nice 'cos any time he asked the answer was always the same; supplies and a rifle for hunting rabbits but Sam, although he was only six, was a bright kid and he knew that it was a lie or at least not the whole truth.
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However, this was the first time that he could remember being left on his own.
Just before Dean had slipped out of the back seat, he had hugged his little brother and told him not to worry; that he and Dad would be nearby in the woods and would be keeping an eye on him. Dean had pulled out child-sized pair of binoculars. "See Sammy," he said "With these I can see the car from the woods and I'm always going to be watching out for you."
"But Dean," Sam's childish voice objected, his brow furrowing."You never go with Dad. You always stay with me. Why are you going this time?"
Dean swallowed.
When Sammy looked up at him with those damn puppy eyes wide and moist with tears, all his defences hit rock-bottom.
"I..um.. Dad is going after this giant... hare that someone back in town told him lived in these woods and he wants to get it. The guy said that no-one had been able to catch it and Dad wants to show them that he can. You know how stubborn Dad can be when he gets an idea into his head!"
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Sam nodded. He did know. John Winchester never let anyone tell him what to do and he didn't budge an inch when he decided to act on something.
"But why do you have to go, too?" Sam insisted worriedly.
"When Dad spots it, I have to block it and stop it from getting away." Dean lied, his future talent for dissimulation coming to the fore even although he was only ten.
"But Dean, hares run really fast, how can you stop it?"
"I'm not going to, Sammy. I'm going to yell at it, so that it panics and Dad can shoot it, so don't worry if you hear shouting; it'll only be me!" He tried for a smile but only managed a fake pulling of the lips.
"Okay," Sam said quietly not convinced, but knowing that if Dad had decided that Dean should go with him, there was nothing he could do to stop him. Dad certainly wouldn't listen to him.
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Dean felt like a complete jerk.
He was torn between wanting to go with Dad and staying with Sam.
Dad had explained to him what was in the woods and it was no hare! It was a werewolf, and when John had said that it was time to come along and get his first taste of hunting, Dean had been more than thrilled but he hadn't considered that it would mean leaving Sammy on his own.
What had seemed a great adventure at the time no longer seemed as attractive.
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What would happen if he and Dad messed up and the werewolf escaped. It could come for Sam and his baby brother would be all alone, and helpless to defend himself. Dad had informed him on the lore and he knew what happened to their victims.
The thought of Sammy lying on the back seat in a pool of red blood with his throat bitten out made him want to puke and he held back the vomit by strong-will alone.
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He glanced through the side window and saw that John was waiting for him.
"It's okay Dean," Sam said quietly, looking up at him through ridiculously long bangs."I''ll be fine."
Sam's eyes stared into his and it was as if a silent communication passed between them.
Somehow Sam understood that Dean wasn't going to hunt a hare but something far more dangerous that he didn't want Sam to know about so as not to scare him.
"Sam," Dean whispered, the thought of leaving Sam on his own now starting to really panic him.
"Go, Dean, Dad's gonna be angry if you keep him waiting." Sam insisted, trying to be brave but his voice wavered.
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"Dean, Come on son. We gotta go now before it gets too dark to see." John's voice called from the road-side
"Don't worry , Sam. I'll be back before you even know I'm gone." Dean said, giving his little brother one last hug.
Sam huffed and averted his eyes. Even although he was only six, he didn't want Dean to think he was a cry-baby. He could do that after Dean had gone.
He didn't want to watch as Dean went away so he turned his body towards the opposite side of the car, letting the tears roll freely down his cheeks. He would stretch out on the seat and close his eyes until Dean got back. He felt as if a part of him had been chopped off when Dean had gone, and he cried until no more tears came.
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It seemed like hours had passed when Sam finally pulled himself up, wiping the back of his hand over his eyes. Dean had said he would soon be back but it was getting darker and darker and neither he nor Dad had shown up yet.
He knelt up and looked out the window but it was too scary and he huddled down in the corner waiting.
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"Sammy! Sammy! Open the door! Quick."
His father sounded strange; afraid. No that couldn't be. His Dad wasn't afraid of anything.
Then he understood why. Something had happened to Dean. He threw open the heavy door and his heart sank at the sight.
Dean was flat-out in John's arms, blood staining his clothes.
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"Dean, Dean," he yelled in panic, his heart beating like a drum.
"Scoot over Sam," his father ordered as he bundled the unconscious boy into the Impala. "I have to lie him down."
"What's wrong with Dean? Is he...dead... like mom?"
"No, Sam. He'll be okay but we've got to get out of here fast. You hold on to him. Make sure he doesn't fall of the seat. Hold this over his wound and press as hard. Can you do that , Sammy?"
The child looked up at his father with almost adult eyes and John was taken aback as Sam declared clearly. "I can do anything for Dean!"
John nodded uneasily. He didn't know why but he felt he had been witness to an important moment although he didn't have the time to dwell on it as he took his place behind the wheel and the Impala roared off.
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John was aware that he had royally botched up this time and he had to get his boys out of here before the surviving werewolves came after them. He had been careless in his research and instead of one, he and Dean had been confronted by four. They had been lucky to have gotten away with their lives.
One of them had latched on to his boy and it was only by good luck that John had got him back. He was wounded but nothing that John couldn't stitch up.
He chanced a glance through the rear-view mirror and caught Sam's gaze. His son's eyes were staring at him accusingly.
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Sam was aware that no hare could do this to anyone, no matter how big it was.
Dad had let Dean get hurt so Sam wouldn't trust John with him any more. He was only a kid but he would grow up one day and he would look after Dean just as Dean looked after him and if Dad continued let him get hurt they would run away together to a place where no-one could ever harm his big brother again.
He pressed down on the cloth as hard as his small hands could manage, Dean's blood spotting his skin and clothes. Dean wasn't going to die, not now, not ever, he swore silently to himself.
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