To Be Thankful
Summary: A part of my 'Not My Sammy' series. It's been a little less than a month since finding Sam and it Dean's first Thanksgiving with his brother. See how the brother's are coping, see what Dean's plans for the future are and will Bobby defeat the horrid demonic Thanksgiving turkey?
Disclaimer: I don't own the boys or anything involved, just having some fun. No real harm comes to anything but maybe a demonic turkey.
Warnings/Ratings/Pairings: No warnings, no spoilers really except for past events maybe. Rating is T for some minor language since when can Dean go an entire story without saying one bad word? No pairings.
A/N: This is almost a month after the last story in my 'Not My Sammy' series. This is just a little holiday piece that should have been up before Thanksgiving but got delayed.
SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN
Deans's POV:
If anyone would've asked me a few months ago what I'd be doing this Thanksgiving I would've said trying to cope through another crappy holiday with Lisa, Ben, and their people.
Oh, don't get me wrong. Lisa and Ben were great last year. I mean, they had a guy basically crippled emotionally and raging with grief show up on their door. They both tried their best to make Thanksgiving and then Christmas good for me but I just wasn't into it. I just couldn't get into it.
I mean, what the hell did I have to be thankful for? Bobby walking again? Check, but I know that's gonna come back to bite us in the ass in nine years. Cas getting his Angel mojo back? Check, though Cas changed in ways that I'm not sure are good. The world not ending? Check, but that was good for everyone else since my world had ended.
My world had ended the moment my little brother locked himself in a damn hole in the ground with two raging psycho Angels and saved mankind from the freakin' Apocalypse.
Y'see, Sammy was my world. He had been since the moment he was born and without him I sure as hell didn't have anything to be thankful for. I'm pretty sure that I passed the Big 3 as Ben liked to call them in a drunk blur of rage, grief, and burning desire to find a way to get Sam outta that damn cage.
"Boy, you better get outta my kitchen and stop snatchin' junk before I tan your hide and banish you back upstairs before that brother of yours does!"
I still regret going along with Bobby's plan this year to do a full blown Thanksgiving spread but when he's pointing out that at least this year we have something to be thankful for and he's waving a machete at the same time, hey, I gave in real quick. Call me insane but I'm not stupid.
Something to be thankful for this year. A few months ago I wouldn't have said that but now…"Damn. Try to get something to eat and Bobby starts throwing knives. I was tempted to say 'Cristo' to make sure it was really Bobby in there but figured he really would try out his threat."
Turning, I watch as my only real reason to ever be thankful walks into Bobby's library/den and practically throws himself down on the sofa by the window since that's the only spot he's been allowed in since I agreed that he didn't have to stay in bed all the time. He's in full typical bitch-face and it still thrills me to see that on his face.
"I told ya to avoid the kitchen while Bobby's having full out war with that demonic turkey he got, Sammy," I remark casually, seeing the normal eye roll. "You should've tried holy water and Cristo on the bird, not Bobby."
It's been about a month since Sammy came back. The real Sammy that is since I refuse to even grace the period of time when that damn shapeshifter was using my brother's form with acknowledgement anymore.
I still remember the night I found my little brother in that warehouse in Lawrence. The shape he was in both physically and emotionally after he endured captivity for over a year at that thing's hands.
It took awhile for both of us to heal after that. Sam's physically healed though he'll always carry the scar on his back from that one wound and I still catch him limping now and then depending on the weather or how tired he is.
He still hasn't put back on the weight or muscle that he had before he faced Lucifer even thought he kid's appetite has been picking back up.
"Here, catch," I toss him something from the blue store bag that I'd kept with me after my run to the store this morning.
Sammy had been eating anything and everything that Bobby and I put in front of him the past couple of days and while he still prefers greens and healthy crap (where did I go wrong with this kid growing up?) he has been indulging in chips and regular junk food as well. Hell, I even got him to eat a double bacon cheeseburger night before last and I thought Bobby would faint.
Today though I opted for lite and healthy. Not just for Sam but because Bobby would kill me if I let him ruin his dinner…assuming there is a dinner considering the noises coming from the kitchen.
"Thanks, Dean," he caught the apple easily and I knew that it wasn't physically that I still had to worry about him. It was emotionally that was still a huge concern.
He still had nightmares but hell, after what he'd been through the past few years I'm gonna guess that he'll be havin' those for awhile yet so I usually just wait for them to hit since I've had plenty of practice reading Sam's nightmares so I can head 'em off.
It's more the little things that he doesn't seem to notice that he does that tend to worry me. When we first got him back I couldn't be out of his line of sight without him panicking. Now, it's a little better but I've started to notice that he gets edgy if he can't see me or doesn't know where I'm at for long periods. Then there his need to be close without being aware of it. Not like he was those first few days but he still needs to be able to reach out a hand or something and find me.
I'm not sure if he realizes that he's doing this or not and I act like it's totally normally because if that's what he still needs in order to feel safe then that's fine with me.
I hear him shift on the sofa so that he's closer to where I'm standing and I automatically move just enough so that his shoulder can touch my arm as I hold out another apple and hope that Bobby gets something done soon before I have to break into the chocolate stash I bought.
"Dean?" I can hear the uneasy tone and know that means Sammy's been thinking too much which has never been good for us.
"Yeah?" glancing down, I can see Sam's chewing his bottom lip again. It's a childhood habit that I had a hell of a time breaking him of back then and now he's starting it again. "What's up, Sammy?" I ask easily, wincing as a thud came from the kitchen and Bobby's snarling in Latin was heard.
Sam's moved fully so that he can watch me so I can already tell this is serious, something that I've tried to avoid being recently. "Are you thinking of when you might…go back?"
"Go back?" it takes me a couple minutes and a pointed look from Sam to fully understand the question. "Oh, you mean go back to Lisa's," I see him nod then drop his eyes even as his fingers start to shift on my leather jacket where I'd tosses it on the sofa earlier which was a sure sign that he was worried.
"I know you and her have been tense since the whole vampire thing you told me about but I guess that you could explain it to her and she always seemed reasonable so maybe she'd…" Sam was trying to ignore his own feelings and fears and still give me what he thought I wanted. Yep, typical Sammy.
Turning from the window, I nudge him a little until he shifts enough that I can sit next to him and I move the jacket closer to him since I know that even though he's better, Sam still reaches for either my amulet or my jacket when he's either tired or nervous.
"To tell ya the truth, I was thinking of heading that way after Thanksgiving," I admitted carefully, watching him from the corner of my eye to see if there was a reaction and I didn't have to wait long to see it.
Ever since this whole thing with Lucifer, escaping the cage and then being held by that damn shifter happened, Sam's ability to hide his emotions has sucked. I mean, it's not like he was ever very good at it but toward the end he'd gotten better at keeping his fears and emotions closed off from me. Now, he hadn't regained that skill and it was like reading my baby brother like a book when he got emotional.
I could see him struggling to cover it but I caught the widening of those damn puppy dog eyes of his and he started to pull back further on the sofa but clutched my jacket to him like a blanket.
"Oh, well, um…that's…great, De'n," he stumbled on the words and shortened my name. Yep, the idea that I was going back to Lisa's freaked the kid out. "I guess I'll…hang out with Bobby until…I mean…until I figure out where…I should go."
"Sam," I had to wait until he'd stopped mumbling, another habit I needed to break him of again, before I laid a hand on his knee and felt him jump. "Sammy, yeah, you are staying with Bobby," I told him, shaking my head as I swore his face drooped even more. "It shouldn't take me any longer than a couple days to go get the rest of my stuff from Lisa's place and be back here in time to drive Bobby nuts over Christmas."
Counting down in my head, I get to five before my little brother's head jerks around to mine and I read the surprise in his eyes. Moving slowly since I learned that I still needed to be careful with making sudden movements around Sammy. "I'm not leavin' you, Sammy. I just need to go grab some stuff and tie off loose ends then I'll be back," I explain, gently gripping his neck like I have been doing in reassurance. "You get to stay here and let Bobby allow you to do all the stuff that your awesome big brother still won't."
"You're not…I just thought that you'd…" Sam seemed startled and it reminds me of when he was a kid and the simplest thing I could do to make him happy was just to spend time with him.
"Sammy, I salted and burned a garden gnome and we won't discuss what I did to the lawn mower one time so no. I'm not going back to being a normal guy with a 9-5 job driving a pick-up," I assure him firmly, still shuddering over the whole gnome thing when I tugged him close enough to put him in a mock choke hold. "You, little brother, are stuck with me and once I'm sure you're good enough to go then we are going back on the road to kick the ass of some very evil sons of bitches. Got it, geek?"
Laughing, Sam squirms for a minute until he can get enough leverage to shove a hand over my face like he used to when we were kids and wrestling in the back seat of the Impala. "Yeah, but Bobby might kick us out before then," he twisted just when I decided to find the one spot I knew was his weakness. "Dean! Damn it, you know I hate being…"
As I wondered how long I could tickle/torture the kid before Bobby came out, a sudden loud noise from the kitchen had us both settling down and looking at one another.
"Was that a shotgun?" Sam asked me, eyes wide.
"Sure wasn't the sound of the timer going off," I muttered, standing up easily and pulling him with me as we decided to go see what was going on but before we had reached the kitchen Bobby stepped out wiping his hands on an apron covered in…alright stuff that I really didn't want to know about. "Uh, Bobby, what was that?"
Looking back, the guy who was pretty much the only thing to a father Sam and I have straightened his ever present trucker cap, took off the apron and clapped a hand on both of our shoulders.
"I hear the diner in town is making a pretty good turkey dinner this year," he declared, trying to ease us away from the scene of whatever mess was left in the kitchen. "What say we skip this crap and head for town?"
Shifting a look to Sam to see that he was watching Bobby curiously, I bypassed the hand on my shoulder and got the to kitchen even as Bobby was trying to yank on my belt. "Bobby, what about…" I stopped.
I'd been hunting since I was a kid and I openly admit to seeing some nasty things in those years but nothing compared to Bobby's kitchen when I stepped inside…not even the night those zombies attacked the place.
"Damn," I breathed, feeling Sam at my back. "What in the hell happened to the turkey, Bobby?" I asked, realizing that the mess all over the room was in fact the remains of our Thanksgiving dinner. "I was joking about it being demonically possessed."
"Joke my fat Aunt Petunia," Bobby growled from the hall, glaring toward the offending room. "That damn bird wasn't human…"
Sam looked back, a small grin forming and I recognized the twinkle in his eyes. He was about to say something wise and normal…which would tick Bobby off. "Turkey's aren't human, Bobby. They're a form of…"
"I tried to stuff the son of a bitch and it started kicking so I…"
"Blasted it full of buckshot?" I offered helpfully and heard Sam snicker which made it hard for me to keep a straight face.
"After I tried to exorcise the damn bird, yeah," Bobby nodded, his growl turning towards us when he heard Sammy chuckling. "I'm puttin' in a damn Devil's trap in my kitchen too."
Well that did it for my solemn appearance and I cracked up, knowing that Sam would soon start laughing and that made my day. Hearing my little brother's laugh always made me happy and seeing him laughing at Bobby with a full Sammy-dimple smile was worth having to eat in the diner today.
"Next holiday, you two idjits are cooking!" Bobby snapped, grabbing his cleaner hat and jacket before stalking to the door. "Let's go before you start giving your brother that chocolate I know you bought."
Having to wait until I could see again, I felt Sam's hand on my arm and I saw his eyes. Fully light and without worry. Yeah, I had plenty to be thankful this year. I had my life, I had my car and more importantly, I had my little brother again.
"You good?" he asked, wiping his eyes but then nearly had them fall out when I tossed him my leather jacket to wear. "Dean? What's this?"
"We still need to get you new clothes, so until we do you can wear my jacket," I tell him, seeing him run his hands over the leather much like I had the first time Dad handed it to me to wear. "Family tradition, Sammy."
He seemed to understand what I was saying and offering since his hands shook while putting it on and I reached over to fix the collar and fasten it, keeping a hand on his shoulder. "So, are we good, little brother?" I ask and then wait.
Sam swallows hard as he seemed to this all in before finally nodding. "Yeah," he breathed. "We're good, Dean."
"Good, now let's go get some pie," I nudge him out the door but as I'm closing and locking it I hear him take a sharp breath before I see that Bobby's standing by the Impala. "What's up?"
"Dean, you didn't by any chance tell Castiel that people bring turkey to Thanksgiving dinner, did you?" Sam asked cautiously, stepping off the porch but his eyes were locked on our car.
Pausing, I thought back to my last talk with Cas. I'd invited him to pop down to Bobby's if he wanted to for the day and he asked what people brought to Thanksgiving dinner.
A frown was forming even as I stepped around my stunned brother to see the look of shock on Bobby's face and then I caught site of something moving inside the Impala. "Is that a turkey?" I demanded, praying I was wrong when I heard the snicker again and caught Sam covering his grin. "Is that a turkey in my car?"
"Note says that he had pressing business in Heaven but he dropped something off like you said," Bobby had on a straight face even though I know he'd bust a gut soon. "Guess you didn't mention that it should be dead already, right?"
Well, that set Sam off again and I decided what would be easier, holy oil or that blood spell because this time Cas was so going to get it. "Cas! Get your ass down here and get this bird outta my car!"
The End
A/N: A little longer than I planned. I have one other piece planned for this series which sees Dean going back to Lisa's place to get his stuff but what happens to Sam while he's gone and will either brother survive when their fears come back to haunt them?
Thanks for reading and again, sorry this one is going up past Thanksgiving. I was wrapped up in finishing "Live to Regret It" and didn't get to this one until today.