Summary: Sam tries to convince Dean that yes, teddy bears DO scare away the monsters. And through the exasperating routine of bedtime, Dean manages to convince him that there's something Sammy has that works much better than stuffed toys.
A/N: Weechesters! :D I love them. It fills me with a warm and happy feeling, not unlike the one gummy worms give me. That, coupled with a realization that I haven't written anything in...forever, finally led to the completion of this at *checks* 12:30 am. Voila!
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural, though if I did, I'd somehow make Sammy's teddy bear show up and see him go all puppy-dog-melting-of-cuteness again.
Big Bro Knows Best
"There's no room, Sammy!"
Ten-year-old Dean Winchester was having the time of his life trying to get his little brother to sleep, and now to put his stupid teddy bear somewhere else. Sarcasm greatly intended. It didn't help that they both were expecting their father to come home – well, the motel room that they were calling home this spring break – sometime in the night. But knowing he wouldn't be all too happy if he found his young sons still up when he returned, Dean had tried hard for the past hour or so to convince Sammy to get some sleep.
It had started with the obvious pouting which, though Dean wouldn't admit it, always managed to make him give in once the full force of the puppy-dog eyes kicked in. So, ten more minutes to stay up for Sammy it was.
When that time passed, it was more stalling.
"I'm hungry."
"We already had dinner, Sammy," Dean said automatically. "Go to bed."
"But I'm hungry again," Sam whined slightly, edging towards the mini-fridge the room had while hugging a slightly used stuffed bear to his chest.
Dean had chosen at that moment to think up some of the curses he'd heard his dad use – sparingly around his kids, but they slipped out all the same. Giving in, he poured Sammy some cereal.
Three cups of water later, and then a pee break because of course Sam couldn't hold all that fluid he'd forced himself to drink in, and even another trip to the fridge that had Dean dragging Sam forcefully to bed, they were almost settled down. Then Sam's teddy bear was discovered missing.
"Wait!" Sam had cried right before going under the covers, making Dean have an urge to bash his head against the wall at how close he'd been... "Where's Winnie?"
Dean looked at him blankly. "What's a Winnie?"
Sam shot him the most withering look a five-year old could manage. "My teddy bear, Dean!"
"You named your bear Winnie?"
"Dean!" Sam whined, actually looking close to tears. "After Winnie the Pooh, you meanie. I lost him!"
His older brother just looked at him with undisguised incredulity. "The room's like 20 feet across, Sam, how do you lose anything?"
A little furrow of anger appeared in Sam's brow, and his mouth formed a pout. "Well, I can't sleep without him," he declared, and Dean groaned.
"C'mon Sam, it's one night! We'll look for him in the morning."
"No!"
Dean glared at him, but the brat looked undaunted. If he could whine for a stuffed piece of crap in the face of John Winchester at his breaking point, his big brother's stare didn't scare him in the least.
The bear had been added to their little family about a week ago, and after introducing it to their sparse belongings and giving the thing a tour of the Impala, Sam had simply brought it with him everywhere. Where before he was happily curling up next to Dean at night, he now chose the bear to accompany him, like everywhere else, to bed.
Dean hated the thing.
It was unnecessary and took up room, and just plain creepy. It was a bundle of fur with beady black eyes, never blinking and he just knew they stared at him once the lights were out. Not like it could actually do anything if a monster attacked, he thought with disgust. He was ten and even he knew how to shoot a ghost with rock salt.
It had nothing to do with jealousy, he would insist to himself. Sam could have play with toys like other kids, not just his big brother. And so what if the thing had its own seat at the table? Not like Dean cared...
They found it in the refrigerator. Dean, ready to rip its head off by now, didn't even bother asking how the heck Sam had managed to leave his teddy bear in the freakin' fridge.
Which led them to the point they were at now, with 'Winnie' laying between the two brothers on the unusually tiny twin bed and frankly annoying the crap out of Dean as he was at one point almost shoved off the bed with the combination of Sam's nighttime squirming and the bear's size.
However, as soon as Dean tried to tug the object that was causing him so much misery at one in the morning, Sammy's grip tightened and he lifted his head, shaking off sleep and ready to pout.
Sammy blinked up at with a glare from under an mop of untidy brown hair, askew from his rude awakening.
"No."
Dean scowled back. He'd had enough.
"Why do you even need the stupid bear, Sam? It just takes up room!"
"He's not stupid!" Sam cried. "He protects me!"
Dean shook his head in annoyance. "From what?"
Sam looked around warily before declaring in a stage whisper, "The monsters, De!"
His older brother blinked in surprise. "Who told you that?" Dean asked. After all the work their dad and Dean did to ensure Sam knew nothing about the supernatural world, there was no way the ideas were still Sam's head.
Sam looked at him seriously. "Luke from school."
Stupid Luke.
Stopping himself from immediately voicing his thoughts, Dean paused for a few seconds. Here was his chance to get Sammy to look to him for protection, not a stuffed toy – and it definitely wasn't because he was jealous of a fake bear, he just wanted to make sure his brother was safe... - and to get rid of the annoying fluff sack that had infiltrated their lives.
Dean sat on the bed reserved for John and leaned forward towards Sammy, as though to tell him a secret. Sam stared back curiously.
"Y'know Sam," Dean started seriously, "teddy bears don't do a very good job of keeping away scary things."
Sam frowned and looked like he was going to protest, so Dean hurried, "After all, it's not like they can move, right?"
Sam hesitated, unsure now that such logic was being thrown in his face.
"But," Dean dropped his voice, "there are other things that work a lot better."
"Like what?" Sam finally asked, his voice quiet to match Dean's, the bear hanging loosely from one hand as he focused his attention on his big brother, much to Dean's delight.
Dean held a dramatic pause for a moment. "Monsters are afraid of big brothers, Sammy," Dean whispered conspiratorially.
Sam's wide eyes stared trustingly back. That was something Luke hadn't mentioned.
"Weally, De?" Sam whispered.
Dean nodded, struggling to hold back a smile at his little brother's, well, littleness. But that was why he was in charge, he supposed, while their dad was gone on yet another hunt. John wasn't as adept at soothing Sammy's fears as Dean, or even the teddy bear, was. But Dean, in all his ten year old glory, was certain that he was not going to be outdone by a stuffed bear.
"And y'know, Sammy," Dean continued, not quite strong enough to carry Sam to bed as he stood but still tucking him close to his side as they headed towards it, "you've got the scariest big bro in the world."
Sam craned his neck up at him. "You are kinda scary, Deanie," Sam said, eyes seemingly innocent.
Dean snorted in response and jabbed his little brother in the sides, eliciting a squeal of laughter. Swiftly, he continued the attack, at some point tossing the teddy to the other side of the room with smug satisfaction.
Dean – a million. Bear – zero. Hah.
Dean stopped a minute later, when they were both out of breath and Sam finally showed how tired he really was. The younger boy scooted over closer to the wall, blinking at Dean expectantly with droopy eyes, causing his older brother to grin.
Dean crawled into bed beside Sammy, leaving the other bed for John when he came back.
His frustration from earlier in the night completely melted away by now, Dean too managed to fall asleep.
John entered the room later that night - or early in the morning really. Exhausted, he glanced at the twin lumps on one of the beds to reassure himself and, after checking the salt lines, moved to collapse on his own. Something furry and soft gave under his foot and he stepped away startled. It looked like that bear he'd bought after giving in to Sammy's infamous puppy dog eyes.
Curious about its location, he headed to look more closely at the bed his sons were in, stopping in surprise and a little amusement at the sight.
Sam was on the side closest to the wall, Dean's body supposed to be a shield between the younger brother and the door. But at some point Sammy had crawled almost on top of the eldest, arms wrapped widely around Dean's torso in a way that mimicked how he'd been holding his teddy bear for the past few nights.
Dean, for his part, lay breathing steadily under Sammy's hug, a picture of calm on his face even as Sam's affections led him closer to the edge of the bed.
John ran a hand through his hair in wonder. His boys... He didn't think either of them knew what one would do without the other. The eldest Winchester didn't know about himself either.
Stepping closer, he gently adjusted the pair so they weren't half-hanging in the air so much, briefly running a hand through each head of hair in turn, before lying in his own bed.
Predictably, the next morning they headed out in search of a new hunt. The teddy bear stayed behind, half-hidden under one twin bed, and long forgotten in the wake of Dean's presence.
A/N: Hehe, so, I got this from a really cool drawing I saw: there was this creepy monster thing that kind of looked like the things that chase you on Temple Run, and it was leaning over a little kid's sleeping body, but in the way was this teeny teddy bear standing up with a sword and protective look on its face, and I thought it was adorable :)
But when I thought of Sammy I replaced the bear with Dean-o and wrote in slow but sure increments ^_^
What now, Izzy? I'm catching up (not really...)! 'twas weird how we posted on the same day though :O That's agent iz hyper everybody, the freakin' angsty-minded dudette in all things Supernatual :P She's funny, really, but something about the show gets to the deeply hidden therapist part of her mind *pats her head* She's wonderful at it anyway x)
Sho, yeah. 'tis all. Second SPN fic! *is rightfully proud* I'll get to more in no time, filled with brethren bromancing :) Review!
-Dodo