TITLE: Gifts

RATING: K

SUMMARY: Sam and Dean have very unique ways of giving gifts to each other.

WORDS: 1254

NOTES: First off, I apologize for not updating for so long, but life intervened so hard, I haven't been able to do anything but deal with it. One major problem being that my computer just decided to up and delete all my files without notifying me *sigh*. But, I'm done with this one and I have another one on the way (no idea when it'll be done). I got around to writing this for the International Fanworks Day over on ao3. Which really makes me happy because I wasn't sure I could get a Supernatural one done for it, and I really wanted my entry to be Supernatural. I really like the concept of this one. Enjoy!

"You can't be serious."

Sam stared at the list of clues he had in his hand. When he'd agreed to train with Dean like they used to, he hadn't expected this. 'This' being a trail of clues left all over the bunker to Dean's location. It was a thing they'd done when they were younger: Sam'd wanted to play hide-and-seek and Dean had had to teach Sam tracking. And so, they'd developed this whatever-it-was; one of them waited at some place and the other followed a trail of clues left behind to the one's location. Sam never realized how good he had it when they lived in motels. Dean had left him a list because his clues were in ridiculous places all over the bunker and they just led deeper and deeper in. Sam sighed and got tracking.

About an hour later, a really tired Sam got to the last room on the list. There he found a map leading from his current position to Dean's. He gaped at it, surprised the bunker went that deep. With a snort at what Dean would say to that realization, he started following the directions given to him.

"You better not be leading me to a dead end, dude."

Ten minutes of walking unexplored passages – and wondering when Dean had the time to scope out this place – later, Sam arrived at a room he'd never seen before. Slightly excited, he turned the knob and stepped in.

"Surprise, Sammy." Dean smiled at him from a comfy chair he was sitting on. "Took you long enough. I thought you'd never get here."

Sam ignored him for the moment, too busy stopping his eyeballs from falling out as he took in the enormous library he was standing in. The library was three storeys high and went as far as the eye could see and then even deeper in.

Sam turned to Dean, blinking at him. "How… did you find this place?"

Dean shrugged. "Was looking for the storeroom, got lost. Ended up here." Suddenly, Dean grinned at him. "I knew you'd like it."

Sam rolled his eyes fondly at his brother's remark. And couldn't help comparing the way Dean's kid-like grin was similar to the face-splitting one on his own face. Couldn't help wonder if he resembled the little kid Dean remembered looking after.

Sam cleared his throat. "Thanks, Dean."

Dean's smile softened. "Ah, you're welcome. But I don't know what you're thanking me for. All I did was get lost-" He cut himself off, eyes narrowing in suspicion.

Sam laughed. "Man, you figured me out. And here I thought I was being covert."

Dean punched him the shoulder and went out, muttering under his breath, but Sam saw the small, sincere smile he had on his face.

He gave the room one last look, carefully folded the map he still had in his hand, put it in his pocket and followed his brother, his own smile fixed on his face.

"…I'm serious, Sam. I don't want you to get me anything, okay?"

Sam frowned. "Dean-"

"No, Sam. Really. Just… I dunno, pick a movie, we'll watch it together. Okay?"

"Yes, Dean."

"I wanna play hide-and-seek. Actual hide-and-seek, Dean. Not that thing you did last month."

Dean's eyebrows shot up. "…why?"

"Because," Sam replied simply and then gave Dean his best puppy-dog eyes.

Dean sighed. "Fine, fine, I'll play. Jeez, put those away, Sam."

Sam brightened. "Great! I'll hide." With that, he ran off, leaving a surprised Dean behind.

Sam had a plan and it was necessary that he be the one who hid. And while Dean wouldn't begrudge Sam that, he didn't want to risk it. He left a trail he knew Dean would look for as he ran. It was something he'd done since he was tiny: at first, when they just played the game as it was, Sam didn't want Dean to take too long to find him, as he didn't want to stay anywhere without Dean. As he grew up, he just kept doing it, because he thought it was fun to see Dean's mixture of fond, amused and exasperated when he finally 'found' Sam. Smiling, Sam sat, waiting for Dean to show up.

"...49... 80... 97... 100! I'm coming, Sam. I don't care if you ain't ready." Dean sighed, as he realized Sam had left him yet another easy-to-follow trail, smiled, rolled his eyes and followed it. Apparently Sam had found himself time to do a little exploring; his trail led a lot deeper into the bunker than Dean's had.

Dean walked for a while, humming to himself, keeping an eye out for Sam's clues. Dean idly wondered why Sam always left him a trail, he'd never figured out why. And then the trail abruptly ended in front of a door. Dean opened the door and got blinded by a bright light reflecting off several surfaces.

Several surfaces… "What the…"

Dean's vision cleared and he saw the room he was in was a garage. A big garage, with a considerable number of vintage cars in it. Dean's eyes widened and his face filled with excitement and happiness as he took in the cars. Mustangs, Impalas, pretty much everything he could think of. With a huge smile, he looked at Sam who was sitting in the nearest car with the door open, facing Dean.

"Do you like it?" Sam asked, smiling.

"Yeah, Sammy." A small, happy smile touched Dean's lips.

"Happy Birthday, Dean." Sam's smile dimmed a little as he saw Dean's face light up with comprehension and then with childish glee and realized Dean had forgotten it was his birthday. Suddenly, Dean frowned as he remembered. "Sam, I told you-"

"I know what you said, Dean," Sam quickly explained. "You said I couldn't get you anything. You never said I couldn't give you something."

Dean looked like he wanted to argue, opened his mouth to do just that, then closed it, sighed and gave Sam a soft smile, relaying his message. 'I love you.'

Sam gave him a smile right back, conveying 'message received. Me too, Dean.'

END

Author's note: I was writing the idea for this story when I was supposed to be studying for my exams. I kinda like how it turned out. I'd love to know what you thought of it.