Large, doe-like eyes that held the slightest sliver of green stared at the stucco white ceiling above. It was at this glorious moment, just a few minutes before she was forced to wake and carry out the day that she loved the most. It seemed strange...hell, if it were any other girl, it would be damn strange. But for Savannah Winchester, it was her normal in a life filled with so many things that were anything but.
A loud knocking on the door shook her from her thoughts. It was John, her father, telling her to get up and wake the others. Then he was gone as quickly as he came, and the same, sad thought crossed her mind like it did every morning. When will their father talk to them like their father instead of a sergeant that ordered them around like they were his army? And every time, a resolute-sounding voice answered her unspoken question. When they find and kill the demon that murdered their mother.
Rising from her small cot, Savannah tugged her oversized shirt down her thighs and swept her long, brown hair up into a loose pony-tail. She stretched a little, only for a second, though. After all, there'd be time for that later, but if she had any hope of not feeling the full, unwavering soreness from her intense work out the night prior with John, she knew there wasn't enough stretching in the world that wouldn't help. When she walked over to the door and opened it, she saw Sammy standing there, teddy-bear in hand and looking despondent. Savannah frowned, bending down to the youngest Winchester and grabbed his hand to hold in hers. "What's wrong, baby?" She asked softly, searching his watery eyes for an explanation. "Why are you crying?"
Sam hiccuped, trying to get the words out but failing. Finally, he gave up, and threw his arms around her shoulders, hugging her close as the tears streamed down his face. Savannah furrowed her brows in utter confusion but didn't hesitate in embracing him, pulling him even tighter to her body, if that were possible. She then picked him up and he responded by wrapping his short legs around her mid-section as she carried them to the bed, shushing him all the way. "Shh, baby, it's okay. Vannah's here..." She soothed, using Sammy's favorite nickname for her. It was pretty much the only way he could say her name at his young age of seven, and she accepted it with open arms.
"Now tell Vannah what's wrong. Can you do that?" She wouldn't push him, but she needed to know what was wrong so she could fix it. That's what she did as the older sister, and she'd grown into the role quite comfortably. It was a good thing, too, because it would be a cold day in Hell when their father solved any of the family drama. He was too fixated on one that happened over a decade ago, seemingly forgetting that he wasn't the only one who lost Mary. Sammy, who had calmed some after being held and, later on, stroked on the back by Savannah, mustered up the courage to look his older sister in the eye. He spoke one word, which would get him in a lot of trouble later on.
"Dean."
That was all Savannah needed to know as she stormed out of the room, livid, and swearing under her breath. While there wasn't anything she hated more than to see her younger brothers unhappy, she wouldn't hesitate in making one feel that way if one of them caused the other's misery. And right now, Dean Winchester was in a hell of a lot of trouble.
"Dean," Savannah knocked on the door sharply, attempting to remain calm and in control at first. But when she was met with silence, she banged harder, even adding a purposeful kick at the end."Dean! If you don't answer the door this second, I'll-"
"What?" Dean challenged, having finally opened the door. "You'll what? You've already done everything you said you would do so what have you come up with lately? Might want to get more creative, too. Your punishments are pretty lame..." Savannah glared at the eleven year old boy, taking in his barely clothed appearance. She saw where muscles were forming and for a second it scared her to realize how strong he would soon become as a result of their hunting lifestyle. How defined.
"Well?" He raised a single eyebrow lazily, crossing his arms over his ever-broadening chest. "I'm waiting." Savannah cleared her throat, snapping out of her strange thoughts and assuming her authoritative role. "First of all, shut up. Shut your damn mouth until I say otherwise, capiche?" Dean raised both his eyebrows now, taken aback. He didn't much like taking orders, especially from a girl, which was how he now saw his older sister these days instead of the epic older figure he once did - but he also didn't want to completely piss her off. He liked pushing boundaries, especially with her, but he wasn't stupid. He'd have his chance, but for now he was going to do what she said.
"Second," she went on, eyes still trained sharply on his. "I want you to look apologetic and march your ass into my room and tell Sammy you're sorry for whatever idiotic thing you did now. I don't care what you did, I just want you to say sorry to him and mean it, or so help me God I'll know and you won't see the light of day for another month. Got it? Nod yes if you do." He nodded, if somewhat reluctantly. "Good. Now get in there and do as you're told." Dean didn't move from his spot, only staring at Savannah expectantly, a slight smirk tugging at his lips. She rolled her eyes, sighing. "What are you waiting for, Dean?"
He opened his mouth to speak and Savannah had half a mind to stop him but realized she didn't want to prolong this lecture if she could. "How exactly do you expect me to 'apologize' if I can't speak? Huh?" Ignoring the way he said 'apologize', as if he weren't really going to, Savannah narrowed her eyes, her patience lessening by the second. "Do you enjoy being a smart ass, Dean Winchester? Huh? Because it may seem fun now, but I promise you it won't be so fun when I have you over my knees spanking you so hard you won't be able to sit for a week!" Dean grinned, liking the idea a little more than he should. "Really? 'Cause that kind of sounds like a reason for me to be more of a smart ass..."
Savannah stared at him blankly, her anger and irritation disappearing for a moment. Dean found that he liked that. Yes, the idea of her forgetting his punishment was appealing, but the fact that he was able to leave his older sister, who was much wiser and experienced, speechless, was the very icing on the cake. This affirmed every reason for why he liked to push her, make her mad. He wanted to see how far she'd go, maybe even make it to the point that she stopped seeing him as the annoying little brother and more as one of the guys her age. He didn't know what after that, he just knew he wanted to be one of them. He'd watched all the years they grew up how she was around them. Flirty, confident in a girly way, and he could've sworn she'd changed the way she laughed and talked. He supposed she did it for them, because that was what they liked in a girl. And damn it, he wanted to be the kind of guy who could do that to her, too. Even better, he wanted to be the only one who did.
"Go apologize to Sammy, now," Savannah spoke lowly in a deadly tone of voice. The kind that wasn't to be reckoned with, only obeyed. Dean dropped his smirk, watching her for another second before leaving but not without a petulant kick to the doorway on the way out. He wanted to stick around and see what would happen but he also wanted to keep his life.
As Savannah watched the middle sibling walk off, she wondering what the hell just happened. Dean had said something in a manner that was a little beyond his eleven years of age. In fact, it was something that she'd expect more from some of the boys she hung around; that was, when she did go to school. It was dirty, and so unlike the Dean she was used to. Sure, he could be smug and a little snarky at times - and Lord knows how he liked pushing her buttons - but he'd never taken it this far and in this way. She briefly wondered if he'd been talking to her male friends behind her back. Now thatwas something that was very much a Dean-like thing to do.
The ride to Sunnydale Elementry had been a short one, John having chosen the closest motel to it. "Bye, Sammy!" Savannah said, waiting for him to lean over and kiss her like always. She smiled when he did, seeing a small smile appear on his face, too. It seemed the fight was long forgotten. "Bye bye." He said, pulling his backpack on with much effort and moving to push the back door of the Impala open. "Dean, help your brother," Savannah said simply, seeing him struggle. Her tone said she didn't expect any back talk, and with a dramatic roll of his eyes, Dean complied. "Thanks, Dean," Sammy said, surprising Savannah but making her eyes alight with pride at his maturity. For only being seven years old, Sammy sure was polite. What she didn't see, however, was youngest sticking his tongue out at his older brother as she was changing the station on the radio.
"Hey!" Sam exclaimed suddenly, and Savannah snapped her eyes back to the two, seeing their tense stances. She glared back at Dean, whose hand was in the air as if he'd pushed Sammy. "Damn it, Dean! Can't you ever play nice? Sammy's had a hard enough day as it is because of you, I might add, and now you have to go and make it worse! You're unbelievable!" Dean looked back and forth between Sammy and Savannah, not knowing what to say or do. "I didn't do anything!" He finally sputtered out, eyes turning from shock to anger in a millisecond. "It was your precious little Sammy that's the bad guy here! I'm innocent!" Savannah clenched her jaw and closed her eyes for a second, taking in deep, calming breaths to ponder how best to sort out the situation.
It was short-lived, however, as she heard a few cars back honking at her. She sighed, knowing this was yet another fight between the two Winchester boys that she'd have to post-pone. "Dean, you have two seconds to apologize to Sammy again. And it better be good." Dean huffed loudly, crossing his arms over his chest in protest. Just when Savannah thought she was going to need to give him some more encouragement, he did as he was asked. "I'm sorry, Sammy, for the inconvenience I may or may not have put you through. There, you damn happy?!" Savannah bit her tongue to stop from screaming that they wouldn't be done here anytime soon until he gave his younger brother a proper apology but the orchestra of honking behind her was growing ever larger. "This isn't over," she said, looking pointedly at Dean before turning her attention back to Sam. "Sammy, I'm sorry about this and I promise that you'll get a real apology from your brother later today along with God knows what else I can come up with by then. Have a nice day, now. I love you."
With that, Savannah drove off, leaving the youngest Winchester feeling pretty damn good about himself. He'd just gotten one over on Dean - the Dean who was so accustomed to having the last laugh. Who cared if it was only after what Dean had done earlier this morning. He was damn proud.
Savannah stayed in park at the middle school fifteen minutes after she'd dropped Dean off, having not been able to drive away after seeing the dejected look on his young, beautiful face. It was heartbreaking, and if felt something awful to know that she'd caused it. Sighing for the upteenth time, she finally pulled the ignition into 'drive' and pulled out of the curb with less ease than usual, casting one last sorrowful glance toward the school before leaving. What she didn't see because of the tinted windows, was Dean watching from afar, taking in her sad expression. Good, he thought to himself. He wanted her to feel bad after how she'd made him feel. And for a minute he felt guilty over feeling such a thing, but it went away pretty quickly after that.
Instead of going to the library to do some research on the case John was working in town like she should have been, Savannah dropped by a record store with the hope that she'd find something that Dean would like. Music was something the younger Winchester had shown a great deal of interest in, especially if it featured electric guitars in its verses. This hadn't gone unnoticed by his older sister; despite it appearing as though she didn't much care for what he liked or disliked. Locking the much beloved Chevy Impala behind her, Savannah marched up to the entrance of the vintage store and went inside, being blast by a strong current of air conditioning. They were in Southern Florida at the moment, not far from Miami, and so this was very much appreciated.
She'd barely begun looking through the rows and rows of old records and tapes before someone came up to help her. He looked only a year or two older than she at sixteen, and was sporting a black Metallica shirt that hugged his defined chest. Savannah may not have appreciated heavy metal, but she certainly appreciated that shirt on his chest. She grinned slyly. "Anything I can help you with?" The guy asked with a grin of his own, his eyes briefly drifting up and down her frame before returning to meet her gaze. He was easy, as most teenage boys were, and she wanted more than anything to indulge herself in him but she knew she couldn't. The well-being of her brothers - namely Dean, was what was most important right now. Her libido would have to take the backseat for the time being. "You sure can. I'm looking for the perfect song for an eleven year old boy. Cheap would be nice, too, but I kind of screwed up so I'll take whatever you've got..."
"That bad, huh?" The guy asked, laughing, as he lead her down an aisle. Savannah wanted to laugh with him, but found she couldn't. "Bad." Was all she said, and the guy stopped laughing, sensing this was not a laughing matter. He wished it was, though. He imagined she had a really pretty smile and laugh when she allowed herself to. "Well," he said, his eyebrows furrowing ever so slightly in determination. I think heavy metal might be too much too soon, but what about some good ol' classic rock?" Savannah nodded, knowing that was right up Dean's alley. "Well, let's see." he shuffled through a row of albums. "We've got a good selection here. Some Lynyrd Skynyrd, Asia, Credence Clearwater, Kansas..." Savannah lifted her hand and grasped his forearm.
"That's the one!" She exclaimed, eyes bright and smile wide. It featured several songs, the most popular being 'Carry on Wayward Son'. He grinned down at her, and she just realized now how much taller than her he was. Then again, that wasn't that hard. Savannah stood at five foot five. It wouldn't be long before her brother's caught up. "Well alright alright," he said in a slight southern accent. He knew she'd have a million dollar smile. "I'll be over there, checking you out. Need a bag?" Savannah shook her head, hair swaying a lightly. "Not necessary." He nodded, smiling as he turned to leave. Savannah watched him go, eyes lingering on his turned back. Damn him if he didn't have one of the best upper bodies she's ever seen. She didn't know why, but there was just something about a well-built torso that turned her on like nothing else. Sighing wistfully, she reluctantly followed him over to the cash register.
Hopefully, John was planning on staying in town for a little while longer, because if he was, music guy was the first stop she'd be making after she patched things up with Dean.