Title: Access Denied
Summary: Without Dean's permission, nothing gets to Sammy. Nothing. Pre-series short, mostly outsider POV and a dog, of course.
Note: Reading some pre-series fic today at college (while I not-so-subtly missed lessons) and decided I wanted to write something small. First pre-series story. Kind of sucky but enjoy anyway.
They were waiting outside the store for their dad, who had promised to pick them up in an hour.
It had been two hours.
And there was still no sign of the black car.
Dean sighed and rubbed Sam's arm, the little 10 year old next to him shivering every now and again in the cool autumn weather.
The 14 year old hating that their dad had not got them coats and had left them standing still and getting cold for so long.
As they waited, they attracted the attention of an elderly man and his dog who was sitting on a bench just outside the store.
Eventually, after watching the kids for quarter of the second hour they had been waiting, the man got up and moved towards them.
He wasn't expecting the reaction he got.
The second he stood, the older kid he could see looked around to find the disturbance of the darkening winter day.
Dean immediately saw that it was just someone getting up, and turned back to watching the still-empty road, listening intently for signs from behind him.
The man paused as he waited for the boy to stop being alert.
It didn't happen.
So he just carried on, approaching slowly the two kids, his elderly flat coated retriever walking calmly by his side.
This time Dean sensed that they were being actually approached, and turned both himself and his brother around so they could face whoever this was.
The elderly man started, surprised as he was suddenly faced with a glaring teenager who put himself fully in front of the other little boy, eyeing the man with complete suspicion.
Trying to disregard the hostility, the man tried for a smile.
"You boys alright? You been waitin' here a while, son."
The last statement was addressed mainly to the older boy, as he had practically all but stood directly in front of the 10 year old.
The man realised why.
His dog, in all friendliness, had paced forward a little to sniff the youngest of the two, hoping for a pat.
Dean, seeing this and not allowing it, had stood directly in the dog's way to his little brother. Yes, it was a dog, and Sammy loved dogs, but it wasn't known and therefore wasn't safe.
And his little brother was off limits to anything unchecked.
The dog whined a little, unsure, then backed himself up to his master, looking away slightly. Submissive.
Message understood from a dominant leader.
The elderly man watched this is slightly fearful fascination and waited for the teenager's answer.
"Nah, we're good. Leave us alone.
The reply was delivered for one purpose only: to warn the intruder off.
To punctuate his statement, the boy turned again, half putting his back to the man and his dog, but still enough in his sights to defend himself from any attack.
Sam was slightly confused, but obeyed Dean's watch and continued looking out for the black car that probably wasn't going to come soon.
Slightly stunned, the man nodded, more to himself, thoughtfully, and walked away from the boys, dog in heel.
It was a strange pair of children to come across on a darkening winter's night, and the experience had left the elderly man thinking about what kind of life those boys led.
That night he stroked a hand through his dog's silky fur as he sat by his warm fireplace and shuddered a little in sudden discomfort and fear.
And he decided that he didn't want to know.