Previously: Just when it looked like they might be monster chow, Sammy saved the day and killed the Purple People Eater. But now he has to face something every scarier: an angry Dad.

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They call the cops once the corpse is reduced to ashes.

"She was just playing with my boy," Dad tells the detective when he questions them in front of Emily's house. "Invited him inside. He found the parents dead like that, came and told me straight away. She must have been so traumatized by it she didn't tell anybody, poor little girl."

The detective makes a note of this. "We'll need to talk with your son," he tells Dad.

Dad frowns and places a hand on Sam's shoulder. "Of course, but do you need to do that now? It's late and he's pretty upset."

The officer looks down at Sam, who doesn't have to try very hard to act upset, and nods sympathetically. "We can do it tomorrow."

Sam listens numbly as Dad gives the detective a fake phone number and address to go along with his fake name. From where they are standing on the driveway he can see Emily sobbing in the back of a police cruiser at the curb, waiting for social services. It's the really messy kind of crying.

Dean looks at Emily too, then twirls a finger around his ear. "She's a nut job," he tells Sam. "Keeping the monster that ate her parents for a pet."

"I don't think her parents were very nice to her," Sam says.

Dean scoffs. "She's still crazy. That was freaking awesome, when you stabbed that thing in the eye."

Sam smiles a little. "Yeah." Then his smile fades. "Sorry I left you at McDonald's," he tells Dean softly.

Dean shrugs and looks away. "Yeah, well, you learned not to do it again, right?"

"Yeah," Sam agrees.

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When the detective finally lets them go and they climb into Dad's car, Sam knows he's in for it.

Dad grips the steering wheel for a minute, just staring out the windshield at the flashing lights of the cruisers parked in front of the girl's house.

"Dad?" Dean asks from the passenger seat.

"Not now, Dean," Dad growls. He takes a deep breath and turns to face Sam in the back seat.

"You have anything you wanna say to me, Sam?"

Sam stares mutely down at his hands.

Dad's simmering anger finally boils over. "Damn it, Sam, what did I say? When I'm gone, you stay with your brother."

Sam cringes away from Dad's anger. "Yes, sir," he mumbles.

"You could have been killed by that shifter. You can't just go after these things by yourself. You're only seven years old, Sam. "

Sam balls his hands into fists and glares up at Dad. "I'm not a baby anymore," he shouts back at Dad. "I can help!"

Dad looks up at the ceiling in frustration, then back at Sam. "Nobody's calling you a baby, Sam. Just…leave the monster hunting to the adults, okay? You'll be grown up soon enough."

Sam folds his arms over his chest and looks away, still hurt and angry.

Dad's quiet for a minute, just watching Sam. When he speaks again, he doesn't sound mad anymore, just serious. "Listen, never leave your brother, okay? You stay with your brother, and I know that you're safe."

Sam scowls. He's still being treated like a little kid.

Dad must know what Sam's thinking, because he says, "It's not because I think you're a baby, Sam, or that you need someone to talk care of you. You're brothers. You look out for each other. You keep each other safe. That's what brothers do. Okay?"

Sam thinks about this for a few seconds. He thinks about how Dean jumped onto the monster's back so that it wouldn't hurt him. Then he thinks about how he used his pocketknife to attack the monster so it wouldn't hurt Dean or Dad. When they were together, they protected each other. "Okay," Sam agrees softly. "Like a team."

"Yeah," Dad says. "Like a team." He turns back around and starts the car, then meets Sam's eyes in the rearview mirror.

"You hungry?" he asks Sam.

Sam realizes that he is absolutely starving. "Yes sir."

"Alright, we'll get out of town, then we'll stop for some dinner."

They drive past Emily's house, then past the McDonald's, and then they get on the freeway. After a few silent miles, Dad clicks on the radio. Dean makes a scoffing noise at the pop song that plays, and starts to fidget with the dial. Suddenly, everything feels so wonderfully familiar and safe that Sam starts to cry.

"You okay?" Dean asks. Sam looks up to see Dean turned around in his seat, watching him. Dean usually mocks tears, but tonight he only looks worried.

Sam wants to say yes, that he is crying because he knows he is okay, because he knows that they're all okay. But it is the messy kind of crying, and all he can do is nod.

"You're okay now, Sammy," Dean says. "As long as you're with us, you're safe."

Sam swipes at his tears with his sleeve and nods again. He knows, he knows.


Thanks for reading! Sorry about the inconsistent updates. Pretty please let me know what you think!