A/N: Hey guys! This just started out as a one-shot, but I've decided to just divide it into two parts, but I'll still post it on the same day. So here you go :) You guys know the drill, so stay awesome!
This day sucked for ten-year-old Dean Winchester. All he wanted to do was go with his dad and take down the poltergeist that's been terrorizing a local library at a small town in Arizona, but here he was, stuck doing mundane things like preparing for school.
It would've been okay with him being left with Uncle Bobby and all the cars in his salvage yard, but his dad had insisted they enroll at the public school since it was already mid-November and his baby brother Sammy was six. His dad had told him that he was going to check out a possible vampire infestation just near the poltergeist case once he's wrapped that up, and after that he'll see to the other possible cases near Arizona. That meant constant moving, and it will be hard for their education.
But Dean didn't really care about school. He already knew how to read and write. He even knew how to add, subtract, multiply and divide. Bobby had taught hime everything he'll need in the career he was going to pursue when he grows up.
As young as he was, Dean Winchester had already decided that he wants to become a hunter and save people and hunt things and become a superhero like his dad. Of course, that also meant that he could easily protect his little brother if he became a hunter. And so, his mind was made up.
"Do I really need to go to school, Uncle Bobby?" he whined for the hundredth time.
The old hunter couldn't help heaving a weary sigh. John's eldest son has been asking the same question for the last twenty four hours and his patience was already wearing thin despite the fact that he adored, almost doted, on the two Winchester boys.
Dean, the older of the two, very expressively communicated his contempt at having been made to do one of the things he hated the most: going to school and pretending to be a normal kid like all the others.
Sam, on the other hand, was cheerfully fixing the meager belongings he owned into the new backpack he got from his older brother for his birthday a few weeks back. He was very much excited to try something new and meeting other kids his age that his face almost split from how wide he was grinning.
An idea then struck Bobby. "Fine, you don't have to go," he told Dean impassively.
The boy's eyes widened in delight. "Really!?" he exclaimed, glad that his constant pestering had gotten him somewhere.
"Yeah," Bobby answered, then turned his attention to the toddler who was strapping his pack on his back. "Okay then, Sammy, I guess it's just you going to school today."
The little guy's smile faltered. He had been looking forward to this day for ages, and he really wanted to go try being a kindergarten, but he suddenly grew apprehensive when Bobby said that Dean wasn't going. If his big brother wasn't going to school, then that means he wouldn't too. The only reason he felt safe leaving the house was because he knew that Dean would protect him, but if he wasn't going to school with him, then what would happen to little Sammy?
"If Dean's not going, I'm not going too," he announced firmly, though he was on the verge of tears as his tiny heart almost broke like he had received a very bad news.
At the look on his baby brother's face, Dean just knew that he didn't have a choice after all. If he stayed at home and Sam went to school all alone, who would make sure he was alright there? Who would make sure the bullies didn't bother him? But then his brother had said that he wouldn't go without his big brother anyhow, and he knew how much Sammy had been anticipating his first day at a real school. With a sigh and a glare at Bobby, realizing that he had fallen into the old hunter's trap, he told his little brother, "Nope, I'm going. I just remembered something I needed to check out anyway. We can pass by it on the way home."
Sam's face brightened at that. "Thanks, Dean!" he yelled out, giving his brother a giant hug and a sloppy kiss on the cheek. "You're the best big brother ever!"
He ran off to go get his shoes so he can tie them himself just like the way Dean taught him. He wanted to please his brother so much and make him proud. He vowed to himself then that he was gonna do his best in school so Dean could be proud of him as his little brother.
~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~
The clocked ticked by as slow as it could just to annoy the crap out of Dean. That was something he was very certain of. The clock was doing it on purpose because it hated Dean.
His day had taken a turn for the worse. Aside from being the new kid, his homeroom teacher seemed set on making him miserable. She constantly called his attention even when he wasn't doing anything wrong. Plus, she asked him all questions he didn't know about. Hell, even the nerdiest of his classmates didn't know the answers she was looking for. This is exactly why he hated school so much. The teachers did nothing but try to prove to themselves that he was stupid. That thought almost made him swear, something his dad had told him not to do in front of adults.
Mercifully, the bell rang a full minute later and he was free. He was the first one out of their classroom, but the other students from the other classes were starting to pour out of the building. Dean was supposed to meet Sammy by the playground and so that's where he immediately went.
The sight that greeted him very nearly drove Dean crazy with anger.
His little brother whom he has taken care of for most of the little squirt's life was sitting on the dirt, crying and telling something to the other three boys in front of him. He tried to stand up but they just pushed him back down and sneered at him. Dean made a beeline to where they were.
"What the hell do you think you're doing!?" he bellowed. His voice came out deeper than normal and it froze the three little kids' faces into one of shock and horror at being caught doing something they weren't supposed to. Sammy made a move to wipe the tears off his face and brush the dirt from his clothes both at the same time, awfully relieved that his big brother was now here. His number one protector was here, and no one can hurt him anymore.
Dean desperately wanted to pound the kids to pulp at what they did to his brother. All these years, he did everything in his limited power for his baby brother to be comfortable and well taken care of at all times and he made sure that he never got hurt, never even once tried laying a hand on his brother no matter how pissed at him he got. And here these spoiled brats were, doing just what Dean had promised will never happen, not while he was alive to protect his brother.
In his anger, he nudged one of the kids in the slightest to get them to back off and away from Sammy. The little dude was fat enough not to have fallen so easily, but the pudgy kid let Dean's actions take the better of him. He fell on his fat ass and faked crying and screaming and saying that "it hurt" over and over again.
Sensing trouble, Dean picked his little brother up. He had stopped crying now that Dean was close, but he still hugged his brother fiercely, almost as if he expected him to be torn away from him.
Walking away as briskly as he could so that he can take Sam to where Bobby promised to be waiting before facing his punishments, he almost made it when another male voice called out to him, "Hey, Lose-chester!"
Dean stopped dead in his tracks, gritting his teeth to rein in his temper. He set his little brother down and whispered to him, "You know where Uncle Bobby is, right, Sammy?" The little kid nodded. "I need you to go there now, sport. I'll have to deal with this first." Knowing that Sam would argue, he mustered his most authoritative voice before speaking again. "That's an order from your big brother, Sam."
Nodding his head in understanding, Sam ran as hastily as he could to Uncle Bobby's truck, sensing the danger that was fast approaching his big brother. In all his rush, he tripped on a rock and came tumbling down. He skinned his elbows, but he ignored the pain, got up and started running again.
"Uncle Bobby! Uncle Bobby! Uncle Bobby!" he cried.
"Sam?" Bobby answered, peering at the bundle of clothes and floppy hair drawing near him.
"Dean's in trouble! He was trying to protect from bullies but there was a bigger guy and he didn't look friendly! We gotta go, Uncle Bobby!" he rattled on, tugging at Bobby's hand. "Dean's in trouble!" he repeated more urgently.
"Okay, kiddo. We're going."
"Faster!" Sam cried, already ahead of Bobby.
Making his old joints move, he trailed after the little boy.
~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~SPN~
"What do you need?" Dean tried playing innocent.
"Why'd you push my brother?" the boy who had called his attention stomped his way closer.
"I didn't. He was bullying my brother and I just wanted him to go away," Dean explained calmly.
"That's not what he told me."
"Well, you're brother's a bully and a liar."
"Jason is not a liar." The older boy named Mark gritted his teeth.
Dean sighed. He was so not in the mood for an argument right now, much less a fight. "Look, kid. I'm not looking for a fight okay? So whaddya say we just go our separate ways in peace. Don't wanna hurt your fine packaging now, do we?"
"Who're you calling 'kid'?" hMarke grumbled, pushing at Dean.
Closing his eyes to keep his temper in check, Dean whispered in a dangerously low tone. ""Stop that."
"What, baby Lose-chester doesn't want to be pushed? Huh? Don't like that?" Towering a good one foot over Dean, the boy pushed at Dean three more times. He pushed at the kid's forehead in a gesture of belittling.
Mark barely saw it. Dean was hunched over to tackle him to the ground in a heartbeat. The little kid got good well placed punches and kicks while his were weak and feeble before he recovered his bearings and pushed the guy to a tree with all the strength of a growing fifteen year old teenager just to get him away from him. Kid was strong, he told himself, looking at the prone form of the boy slumped near the tree. Just as he was starting to panic that he had killed the ten-year-old, he began to shift and stand up.
"DEAN!" Sam called out, spying on his brother face down near a tree. A few feet away from his brother was another big boy immobile with shock. "You hurt Dean! You hurt him!" Sammy sped towards the guy and pounded his little fists at him. "You hurt my brother!" he started crying again.
"Gerroff me!" Mark shoved the youngest Winchester from him. He landed on left arm the wrong way.
Sam felt intense pain before hearing the sickening crack of his arm. It made him cry even more, asking for his brother in between sobs.
Bobby had a hard time keeping up with Sam. He limped along, cursing the ghost that had given him a big bruise. When Bobby heard Sam yell in alarm, he threw caution to the wind and used his injured leg. Pain shot up his leg, but he was quick to ignore it. The boys needed him right now.
"Sam!" Bobby called out, seeing the six-year-old sitting on the dirt of the playground, cradling his arm to his chest.
At the sight of a grown-up, Mark picked up his own brother and escaped the scene as fast as he could. He knew it was no use, since all the other kids in the playground had witnessed his stand-off with that new boy Dean. But he needed to get away for now to think up of an excuse.
Dean heard Sammy's cries for him, and he desperately wanted to go check up on his baby brother but every little move brought him a fresh wave of agony. He could barely lift his eyes. One step at a time, Winchester. Sam needs you, so you gotta get your ass off the ground. "Son of a bitch!" he swore loudly as he pushed himself to his feet. There was a throbbing in his head, but he didn't mind it. He scampered to Sam's side slowly where he met Bobby trying to comfort Sam enough to bring him to the car. Then he saw why.
His brother's arm was twisted in a very unnatural angle. Dean's first thought was that that fatso's brother—Mark was it?—is gonna pay heftily for this! "De," Sam whimpered.
"I'm here, baby bro. I'm here," he assured him. "Let's get you to a hospital, okay?"
Sam nodded, his eyes getting heavy already. Dean picked him up again, much to the protest of his battered body. He winced—he couldn't help it—and Bobby obviously noticed the reaction. Thankfully, he didn't comment. Dean was really not in the mood for more arguments.
The drive to the hospital was an uneventful one. Dean valiantly kept awake through it all, and even as his brother was given sedatives as the doctor set his bones and Sam fell into a medication-induced slumber, he never left his baby brother's side, guilt clawing mercilessly at his heart. If I was strong enough not to pass out like a wimp, he wouldn't be through so much pain. Then and there he promised to himself that this will not happen again. His precious little brother will not be hurt just because he was too weak. He's not getting hurt, not on my watch.
"Dean," Bobby greeted as he entered the private room. "We need to get you checked too, boy."
"Later," Dean waved him off. "Kid's gonna freak out if he wakes up and I'm not beside him.
The hunter knew enough not to assert his point anymore. If there was something he learned quickly about the older boy, it was that he never backed down where Sam was concerned. Stupid little kid.
"At least get yerself get checked out later, y'hear?
"Loud and clear, Bobby."
TBC