"Sam, get the door will ya?"

Dean heard a muffled shout from inside the motel room but nobody came to the door. Mentally he sighed, he knew what was going on. Sam was in one of her moods. She was fast getting to her teens but her usual rebelliousness had increased tenfold the past week.

"Sam, door."

This time all he got for his trouble was silence. A small part of him was worried something had happened to her, but the other part of him noted the still locked motel door with no signs of forced entry and knew his little sister was just being stubborn. Most likely, she was still angry about last night and what that was about he didn't understand.

She knew dad was unpredictable about when he would be back, he had said another week but there was no way he could have let her go for a sleepover. If John Winchester came back early and found Dean was letting Sam stay alone overnight at a stranger's house the apocalypse would look lightweight compared to the wrath they would have to endure. Never mind that there was still a werewolf on the loose and Dean wasn't letting Sam out his sight. So, Sam throwing a fit about the whole thing, bursting into tears and locking herself in the bathroom for half the night had been a great deal more than the disappointed silence he had expected.

Dean struggled to balance the bag of groceries in one arm as he fished for the motel keys in his pocket. He swore as he dropped the bag of candy he had splurged on and the chocolates spilled onto the ground falling between the metal grating. That made him more pissed, the money they had was the last few dollars bill John had left them and a combination of the money the corner store lady had given him for cleaning up her shop after school. They had just enough for a few days more of food and Sam's bitchiness meant her cheer-up candy and his treat (if he was honest) was now lying spilled in the snow.

The key clicked and Dean pushed the door open, grateful for the warmth of the stale motel room. "Sam what the hell is your problem?" The two bed room was empty but the bathroom door was locked and Dean was almost 100% sure Sam had taken refuge there. No doubt she was pouting because he hadn't let her go outside while he was at work today. She still hadn't responded though and a worried thought niggled at his mind. He rounded the rumpled bed farthest from the door and that was when he noticed a small reddish trail of what looked like blood leading towards the bathroom.

"Shit." He muttered the word pulling out the gun his father had insisted he keep from the waistband of his jeans. His mind was already going through horrible scenarios, someone could have snuck in while he was gone…maybe Sam had opened the door thinking it was Dean and maybe they had come in and….he swallowed as he noticed the rumpled bed and tried not to let his fears get ahead of him.

"Sam." He called out again, edging towards the door prepared to kick it open.

"I-I-I'm- in here."

He relaxed slightly as Sam answered. She was alive that was good but her voice sounded high pitched and broken like she was crying. He tried the door and as expected, it was locked.

"Open the door."

"No."

"Sam, open the door you're freaking me out here." He tried the knob again and then made a split second decision. The cheap motel latch gave way to the full force of his foot and he immediately righted himself not sure what to expect.

Sam was in the bathroom alone, but that did nothing to alleviate Dean's worry. Instead he hastily tucked the Taurus back in his jeans and ran into the bathroom. Sam was curled up by the bathtub sobbing, dressed in nothing but shorts and a tank top worst of all her clothes were stained with blood and more spatters dotted the bathroom door.

"What the fuck?" Dean kneeled next to her, his eyes quickly cataloging her for injuries. "What happened?"

Sam looked up at him and he saw her eyes were red rimmed from crying. "I'm dying." She burst into more tears as she said that and wrapped her hands tightly around her abdomen.

Dean was close to panicking now, then he noticed where the blood was coming from, her shorts were soaked mostly. If somebody had gotten into the motel room while he was gone and got to Sam…

He forced his voice to be calm and brushed her hair back. "Calm down kiddo, tell me what happened."

"M-m-my stomach hurt when—I—I—woke up, so I—came in here." Sam gulped, tears still streaming down her face. "And then I started bleeding—I'm dying Dean."

Dean felt a weight settle off his chest as something clicked, nobody had attacked his sister, what she was experiencing was something every girl did around her age. Though arguably with a mother to explain it all, most probably didn't think they were dying. He opened his mouth to explain but Sam was already rushing on, hiccupping as she tried to speak.

"I tried to call Dad but he wouldn't answer, so I left a message . And then the phone went out, and—"

"Sam you're not dying."

She stopped mid sentence and just stared at him Her eyes were hopeful but disbelieving.

"Really?" She sat up a little straighter, and a blush rose to her cheeks. "But I'm bleeding from –you know."

Dean felt his own face turned red, and mentally cursed his father. No doubt John Winchester had checked his messages and decided that leaving his daughter panicking to save himself from having to actually parent and explain awkward stuff was a good trade off.

"No you're fine. This just means you've gotten older." Dean paused then added. "You remember health class in school? Didn't they talk about –uh, periods and stuff?"

Sam's eyes widened and he saw the gears practically clicking in her head. Understanding dawned on her face. "Oh…okay." A blush was rising even higher on her cheeks; she avoided his eyes as she stood up. "Uh, Dean could you…"

Dean caught the hint and straightened up also, recognizing the embarrassment for what it was, lately Sam was if nothing else a drama queen and it usually came back to bite her in the ass. Still, rather than ribbing her this time he tactfully turned away, closing the door behind him, he called through the thin fake wood door "Clean up and get dressed then we'll go get some stuff."

He waited impatiently outside the door. Most teenage boys his age would have been making out with their girlfriends, sneaking beers after school, and skipping school. Instead he was stuck, working hours after school just so they didn't have to eat peanut butter sandwiches every night and taking his kid sister to the ladies hygiene aisle. The injustice of it all occurred to Dean but his anger and resentment wasn't directed towards his sister. Ever since Sammy was four he had taken care of her, but some part of him did resent the man who valued revenge over his kids in every instance.

Fifteen minutes later they were bundled in coats and leaving the motel. Sammy walked along side him, he could tell by the paleness of her face and the way she was biting her lips that the cramps she had hadn't subsided even with the ibuprofen he had insisted she take.

He felt out of his depth, he could gut a werewolf without breaking a sweat, figure out a series of killings pointing to a ghost and shoot a bull eyes at 600 yards but to help the one person most important to him he really didn't know what to do.

They got to the nearest store, a tiny family grocery, which was mercifully still open even though the snow was picking up and darkness was coming soon. Dean stood in women's aisle staring at the rows of products and feeling even more confused. There were so many brands, absorbencies, shapes and types of each product, but to his dismay, not one of them clearly showed what to buy for a barely 11 year old girl.

"So what do I need?" Dean glanced down to find Sam peering up at him, obviously confident that her big brother had all the answers.

Dean was so screwed. "Um, they've got like pads, and tampons…I think there's something called cups too that some girls use." He ran a hand through his hair, then uncertainly grabbed a box off the shelf and glanced at the label. Large extra absorbency scented Maxi Pads.

"How do you know all this?" Sam's curious question startled Dean out his reverie. He placed the box of pads back on the shelf somehow sure that they weren't what he needed.

"I've had a few girlfriends." Which meant that all he knew was based on hastily rushed out excuses why he couldn't get to third base and overheard whispered conversations. Not a lot to go on.

"Excuse me? Do you two need help?" Dean twisted around at the unexpected voice to find an older woman had snuck up on them, before Dean could answer she continued on. "The store's about to close soon, but I couldn't help noticing you seemed to be having some trouble."

Sam took the opportunity to duck behind him and Dean felt like he wanted to sink into the floor, but the woman was still standing there and somebody needed to say something. "My sister needs some of this stuff and…uh, it's her first time so, I uh…"

The woman took over from there, obviously his discomfiture was noticeable, her helpful expression morphed to a sympathetic one. "You're her brother?"

"Yeah, my name's Dean." He felt like he needed to explain himself. "Our Dad's…at work and it's just us three so…"

He didn't need to explain more, the woman, whose name was Sara, was already moving towards where Sam had taken refuge. "And what's your name dear?"

Sam's voice piped up after a moment and he felt her pull away from him as she started talking to the store employee. Dean gratefully moved away as they walked down the aisle and the woman started explaining stuff to Sam.

The trip about twenty minutes, by then Dean had loaded the shopping basket he was carrying with some odds and ends and Sam had emerged with her own shopping basket. She seemed more confident and Dean glanced at the stuff taking note of what she had so next grocery run he would know what to stock up on.

The walk back to the hotel was silent. Dean unlocked the door and then left Sam to her own devices as she barricaded herself in the bathroom with one of the store bags of female products.

He may not have known what to buy for some stuff but having a few girlfriends made him knowledgeable about other things. While Sam had busied herself with Sara, the grocery employee he had splurged on a pint of Sam's favorite ice cream, a hot water bottle, some chocolate and a microwave pizza. In his experience during these times, women appreciated stuff like that.

He was just putting the finishing touches on everything when he heard crying. Hesitantly he ventured towards the bathroom. "Sammy you okay in there?"

"Yeah…" She sounded anything but okay.

He hesitated then asked. "You need anything?"

"No." She was still crying and he didn't have any idea why. The sound of her sobbing tearing at him and not for the first time it occurred to him how hard their life must be for Sam. Not only did she move back and forth every few weeks, but she also lived without a mother and more often than not a father too, plus a hunter's life was no life for a young girl.

Abruptly Sammy's voice drifted out. "Dean, I hate this." The door opened to reveal Sam perched on the sink her knees drawn up to her chin.

Dean stood there awkwardly, but Sam was already rushing on. "I hate all this, I don't want it!" Her whole face was wet with tears and she looked just plain miserable. "Sara, said it means I'm a woman but I don't want to be one. " She swiped the tears at her face furiously. "Dad's gonna be mad at me for bothering him on a job for nothing , and he's gonna be mad we spent extra money. Plus now I have this every month, I don't want it Dean!. Why can't I be like you."

Sam was bawling now, sobbing too hard to say anymore. Dean didn't know what to say so he pulled Sam into a hug which she resisted at first before collapsing into his arms and pressing her face against his shirt. Dean waited until she had quieted down, then pulled away so Sam could see him.

"First of all, if Dad gets mad he can kiss my ass."

"Dean!" Sam looked shocked at Dean's proclamation.

"Second, you're fine like you are Sammy. I wouldn't trade my geeky little sister for anything."

"Really?...you wouldn't like it better if you had a brother instead?"

Dean paused thinking about that, Sam as a boy—it wasn't an image he could visualize. Instead he reached out ruffling Sam's hair and said. "Nope…now, let's go eat before the pizza gets cold."

Immediately her face brightened a little as she slipped off the sink. "There's vegetables on it right?"

"You're the only 11 year old I know who wants vegetables on a pizza."

"Dean, vegetables are needed for a balanced…"

"Shut it dork, there's vegetables…" but the words were said without venom.

Fifteen minutes later they were both settled on a bed, Sam's head resting on his arm as she nibbled at a slice of pizza and the TV was showing some grainy ABC movie.

Dean reached for another slice of pizza and continued watching the gunfight, mentally cataloguing all the mistakes the protagonist was making. "Dean?"

He glanced down to find Sam peering at him. "Hmm?"

"Thanks."

"No problem, kiddo, …anything for my pain in the ass little sister."

The elbow he got in his ribs as response was worth it for the smile on Sam's face.

Prompt from Tumblr: A fem!sam fic where he's 11 and Dean is 15. Sammy gets her first period while John is out on a hunt, and she doesn't know what to do. Her only option: ask Dean.