Previously on Chapter 3: Post Shower Trouble…
… Thus, it took longer than anticipated, but Sam finally got him pinned down onto the floor.
This chapter is inspired by
1) Episode 9x15: #THINMAN (when Sam and Dean were reminiscing about how Sam (dressed up as Batman) had "jumped off the shed" and broke his arm after Dean (dressed up as Superman) "jumped first" and
2) A YouTube video of a J2 panel where Jared was dressed up as Superman and Jensen as Batman (can't remember which con was that)
Chapter 4
Batman & Superman
"I can't get up!" Dean complained after struggling for a fruitless moment.
"Yea, that's kind of the point..." Sam muttered. "If I let you up, do you promise to stop?" Sam asked in a normal volume while sitting comfortably on top of Dean, who is trapped securely underneath him, belly to the ground.
"No! I can carry you! I'm strong!" Dean insisted.
"Ya, I know! But just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should do it," Sam explained the flaw in his logic, but young Dean has no interest in reason.
"Let-me-go-let-me-go-let-me-go...!" Dean demanded noisily, kicking his feet as he goes.
"Say you'll stop and I'll free you right away!" Sam raised his voice over Dean's holler, but Dean simply chants away, stubbornly refusing to back down.
"Sam, why not just let him be?" Mary stepped in at this point.
"What, let him carry me and swings me around?" Sam frowned at her suggestion.
Mary let out a quick sigh and she bends down beside Dean.
"Dean, will you do mummy a favour and let this go?" Mary asked. Dean lifted his head and glance up at Mary, and then he shakes his head.
"No. I'm strong," Dean repeated.
"We know, honey. We know you're really, really strong, we've already seen that in the kitchen. So, you don't have to carry Sam anymore, ok?" Mary requested.
Dean's expression fell by a little.
"I can carry mummy and Sammy. I am strong now, I can protect you!" Dean said, loud and clear.
Mary fell silent, and when she looks up to meet Sam's softened eyes, she knew that he understood too. Dean wasn't just trying to prove that he is stronger than them; he was trying to prove, to them and to himself, that he is strong enough to protect them - his mother and his little brother. He is strong enough to keep his family together; to keep them from leaving ever again…
"Dean..." Mary strokes the side of his head, "How about this - I'll let you carry Sammy, but you can't.. shake him or run around with him," Mary glances at Sam before continuing, to which Sam gives a small nod of approval, showing that he is willing to go along with this. "Just pick him up and then put him down right after. Ok?" Mary proposed.
"Ok!" Dean agreed buoyantly.
Sam finally releases Dean, who scrambles to his feet. He fought the urge to fight or flight when Dean bounces towards him grinning radiantly, and he freezes in awkward stillness as Dean stumbles into his personal space; then he bends down, wraps his arms around; and heaves.
"Mum! Look!" Dean thrilled elatedly.
Mary places one hand on Sam's back to keep him steady while she praises: "Wow! My Dean is so strong."
"Ok... ok, let me down," Sam said briskly.
"Sammy is heavier than mum," Dean remarked after releasing him, and he continues to ask: "Mum, did the angels make a mistake? Sammy was so small last time but now he's heavier than mum and taller than mum and me, and maybe even dad!"
"Well, you were this little yourself," Mary leans her hand against her hip, "but look at you now, so big and strong..."
"Like Batman and Superman?" Dean immediately associated his two favourite characters with Mary's description.
"Exactly. My little superhero," Mary cooed at her little boy.
"Woo!~" Dean cheered exuberantly as he ran the length of the corridor and back.
"Sammy, Sammy! Let's play!" Dean held on to his hand as he jumps up and down.
"Wh..? What do you want to play?" Sam asked cautiously.
"Batman and Superman!" Dean blurted matter-of-factly.
"Oh," Sam replied, as he vaguely recalls from his short-lived childhood days, that Dean and he used to dress up as the two superheroes, running and jumping around all over the place.
"I have a really cool Superman cape and a Batman mask and -... Oh. They were in our house..." Dean suddenly remembered that all his toys had been destroyed in the fire. Both Sam and Mary tense up in response as they wait with bated breath for Dean's reaction.
Dean looks up at Mary, who peers back at him sympathetically, ready to offer her condolences. Dean goes towards her, and she half-raises her arms for an anticipated embrace. However, to their surprise, Dean stops right in front of Mary and picks up the towel on her arm. He then throws it over Sam's shoulder, tying a knot to secure it around his neck.
"It's ok Sammy... See, this can be your cape!" Dean improvised on the spot. "You look great, Sammy!" He beamed up at him.
How did Dean end up being the one comforting Sam when it was his toys that were destroyed in that fire?!
"Thanks," Sam said, despite feeling slightly uncomfortable with a damp towel sticking onto him.
"Ok, we can start now!" Dean said eagerly.
"Er, how do you want to roll?" Sam asked.
"Roll?" Dean looked confused for a moment, then his expression clears and he said: "We can roll too if you want!" And he lowers himself to the ground and made to perform a forward roll. Literally.
"No, no, no!" "Dean, no..." Sam and Mary rush forward to stop him.
"I meant, how do you want to play," Sam clarified to the confused Dean.
"Oh," Dean finally understood. "Why are you smiling, mum?" He cocked his head to the side.
Sam glances at Mary and indeed, her lips are pressed into a thin line and she appears to be holding in her laughter - with difficulty. A rerun of the past few minute playback inside Sam's head and he broke into a smile like Mary's.
"Because I'm happy. To be here with you," Mary replied with one of the truths.
"Me too! We will always be together!" Dean declared. Then, he turns his attention back to Sam.
"You want to be Batman or Superman?" He asked.
"Whatever... Batman then," Sam decided, going along with his dark coloured towel-cape.
"Alright, Batman. Let's go!" Dean punches one fist to the air and "flies" away.
"Wait.. go.. where?" Sam ran after him blindly while Mary trailed behind them both.
Two corridors down, Dean sees Sam running beside him and he stops, giving Sam a judgmental look from head to toe.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked.
"Following you?" Sam had question marks all over his head. Then he notices Dean's flying pose. "Oh," he said, and half-raises his right fist in the air.
However, instead of being appeased, Dean gives a small sigh and said knowledgeably: "Sammy, Batman can't fly."
"… Right. Of course, ha, Batman can't fly. I knew that..." Sam replied awkwardly as he swiftly retrieves his fist that was in the air. And indeed, he, of all people should know, having broken his arm once due to this very ignorance.
Dean resumes his "flying" but stops once again as he frowns at Sam.
"What?" Sam exclaimed.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked again.
"Running? Batman can't fly, remember?" Sam replied.
"Yes, but Batman got Batmobile," Dean told him.
"Oh... right..." Sam replied and then muttered a "Why so serious?" under his breath before putting his hands on an invisible wheel.
"Nice one, Batman. I see you've turned on the invisible mode for Batmobile!" Dean enthused before zooming away and Sam let out a snort of amusement before he follows suit. It is just like the pie-feeding and the "pick-me-up" before, Sam couldn't stand to turn down Dean's energy and enthusiasm.
Dean leads the way aimlessly, running through the corridors. And then he stops in front of the bunker's dungeon.
"This is it, Batman!" He said before busting through the door.
"We're here to fight for truth, justice, and the American way!" Dean announces to the empty dungeon. Then, he begins swinging his fist, punching at the air. "Take this, you big bad thief!" He shouted.
"Batman, there's one getting away! Use your Batarangs!" Dean had one hand grabbing at his invisible opponent and another pointing at the wall.
Mary caught up with them just then and she stopped at the door of the dungeon, watching them from outside.
"Batman, your Batarangs quick!" Dean cried urgently when Sam just stood there uselessly.
"Batarangs..." Sam repeated and he pretends to pull one out from his back pocket. "Here," he held it out to Dean, who looks back at him with an open frown.
"What are you waiting for? Throw it!" Dean exclaimed.
Sam deliberated for a moment, feeling rather self-conscious about throwing a non-existent Batarang at a non-existent "big bad thief", moreover with Mary watching him at the side.
"Sammy?" Dean dropped his arms and turned around to look at Sam. "You don't know how to be Batman, do you?" He guessed.
"Uh, I..."
"It's ok, I'll teach you," Dean said soothingly.
"We can pick some weapons from over there..." Dean gestured to the various torture equipment scattered across the table in the dungeon.
"No!" Sam cried as he grips onto Dean tightly before he can move any closer to those dangerous tools.
"We don't need those. Let's go outside," Sam decided and yanked Dean out of the dungeon in a jiffy.
Not a Batman or Superman fan over here so had to do a bit of research for this chapter but yup it was worth the trouble~
chosey, Rowena will make her first appearance in Chapter 6:)
Writer's Random Rant: Why is it that when I press [shift] [2], the symbol doesn't appear? Haizz...›‹
Coming Soon… Chapter 5: Big Little Brother