Whoot! I watched the Supernatural Christmas ep, so now I feel I have a slightly better understanding of wee Dean character-wise. XD Such a great ep. CUTE I digress. I wanna finish this by 11. Which is...like 49mins away. XD Edit: Well, I woke up early on accident and finished it this morning! And it's got some nice length! And short author notes! XDD Whee! NOW OFF TO WORK ;-; XD~
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Weird.
Really. Freaking. Weird.
There just wasn't a much better way to describe how it was to see his older brother riding shotgun as a kid, and knowing that he was.
"Um...you're kinda creeping me out, Sam." Dean's voice broke through his thoughts and he realized that in-between watching the road, he'd been staring at his little older brother.
"Sorry." he muttered as he turned his gaze on the road ahead, uncertain of what else to say. He was officially certain that it was Dean, not some occult trick [well, the cause was almost certainly occult] but he didn't think that it was a trick.
"Must be kinda weird for you." Dean noted, and Sam blinked in surprise before Dean shrugged. "Guess we both gotta deal with it for now. But it better not be a long time. It sucks being shorter than my little brother." he grumbled.
"Yeah, but that doesn't change even when you're older."
"I forgot! Crap!" Dean huffed a bit as he crossed his arms. "Lame."
Sam couldn't help but smile a bit even as his mind kept returning to the oddity of the situation. "Eh, it's not that bad...I don't mind it."
"Yeah, cause you're the one that's taller." Dean said with a faint glare before he looked away and Sam stifled a chuckle that he didn't doubt would only earn him more of his brother's ire.
The drive continued in the same vein until they reached a small clothing outlet. That had been a fun 'adventure'. Part of the time was spent trying to convince Dean that he didn't need to be stealing clothes, and the other part was just a hassle unto itself with Dean being about as interested in clothes shopping as he was in geometry. Which was to say, not at all.
"I am never taking you shopping again. Anywhere. Ever." Sam muttered as he walked alongside the now 'properly' dressed Dean.
Dean tugged at the sleeves of his denim jacket with a faint frown. He'd wanted an ACDC shirt and a cut-off vest, but Sam had gotten him mostly plain things that he felt didn't suit him at all. But it wasn't a biggie, since he'd stolen the ACDC shirt and planned on wearing it shortly. "Even dress like an old man." he muttered.
"What was that?"
"I said' what's for lunch'?" Dean replied with a faint smirk and a now thoroughly unamused Sam shook his head.
What made it weirder was that he was able to fall into sync with the little Dean. It wasn't unfamiliar, after all, he'd spend plenty of time with his big brother in their youth. The whole thing wasn't right...but it wasn't wrong either. The biggest thing was the approach though. Dean treated Sam just like he always had, [save for the old jokes], but Sam had changed in more than just body. It was hard not to be tempted to treat Dean like...well, a child. And as he'd discovered several times already, that did not sit well with Dean. There was a strange balance needed and he couldn't quite get the hang of it.
And there was the incident with the faceless man to consider. He had used powers. Azazel was dead, the major demonic crisis had been diverted, he'd been to Hell and back...literally...what did it mean that he had used such powers? What if he relapsed? What if he hurt Dean, or someone else for that matter?
"Hey, Sammy...you okay?"
Sam blinked and looked down at Dean who looked back in turn with concern. He set his hand on Dean's head and ruffled the other's hair gently, and Dean allowed it although he only looked more concerned. "Yeah, just a little tired."
Dean frowned faintly at that response but didn't contest it, just kept close to Sam protectively, much to his amusement and fondness as they walked. But truth be told, he was keeping Dean close too and for much the same reasons.
Not too long after that, he found himself seated across from his brother in a sandwich shop near the college.
"Tell me more about the job."
"What?"
Dean made an impatient gesture. "The job. Girls disappearing, right? And there's some ice...?"
"Students went missing from Quiet Oaks College...all girls, all with some sort of frost or ice residue left at the scene."
"Possessed snowman, maybe?"
"Possessed snowman? Really?"
"It could be!" Dean protested defensively. "Not like you have any better ideas." he muttered.
"But, Dean...a snowman?"
Dean's defensive scowl was interrupted as their food arrived. "All right!" Dean began to dig into his burger and fries with relish, and Sam gave him a mildly disgusted look.
"You know, you can taste your food once in a while." Sam lifted a brow.
Dean stopped mid-chew before he swallowed hard to regard Sam with a sort of frown. "You got a problem with me eating?"
"Just noticing you were inhaling it...so no problem."
Dean shifted in his seat uncomfortably and seemed a bit put out. "It's not like we get to eat at nice places a lot." he muttered. Their diet consisted mainly of gas-station food and the like. Dean stabbed a fry into some ketchup and swirled it around but didn't eat it. "Sorry for being hungry." he added in a mutter that wasn't quite under his breath.
Memories of their childhood flashed to him, and something occurred to him that hadn't before. Could Dean's ferocious appetite as an adult have something to do with the fact that he'd lived off of gas and motel food for so long? Sam supposed he'd been pretty happy to start eating better, but he'd had too much on his mind to really care about something like that. But Dean, stuck with Dad and out hunting...he probably didn't have a lot of things to take his mind off the job...except for eating...sleeping...and girls. He'd never thought of it that way before. "Forget I said anything, I was just kidding."
"Didn't sound like it." Dean muttered sullenly as he drowned his fry and let it rest in a sloppy, red grave.
Sam sighed. What was he supposed to say? "Well, I was. So would you please just eat?"
Dean paused before he began to eat again and a similar relish overcame his expression despite himself.
Sam watched his brother, again without meaning to, it was just hard not to. He'd tried to be like his big brother for most of his life, he knew the other better than anyone. But watching him now as a kid, while being an adult himself, he was seeing more about the other than he'd realized.
"So we got any leads?" Dean asked through a mouthful of burger. But there was a faint grin on his face that Sam suspected had to do with the fact that Dean was excited about being on a hunt. It was his first. At least, in his present state.
"Like I said before...the teacher is our best bet. The girl that disappeared ten years ago was the first victim, and the last for a decade. If we find out more about her, we might find out more about our case."
Dean finished his burger and quickly gulped down his fries before he washed it down with his soda and met Sam's gaze. "You got somethin' to say?"
"Huh? No.."
"You keep starin' at me. I get that it's different for you, I mean...it is for me too. But you're freaking me out."
"Sorry." he said, a bit sheepishly. "Seeing my big brother as a kid again...yeah, I guess 'different' is a good start."
Dean eyed him a moment before he toyed with his straw as he asked his next question. "How'd I do it? Kill the thing that killed Mom."
Silence descended on the table a moment before Sam replied. "I told you, Dean, the colt. You shot him."
"But...just like that? What happened?"
"...We, you, Bobby, another hunter, and I...got in a fight in a graveyard and you were able to shoot him."
Dean considered that information before his brow furrowed. "Where was Dad?"
"What?"
"Dad wouldn't miss that fight...where was he?"
Sam stiffened as he realized what he'd inadvertantly admitted, and Dean seemed sharper than he remembered. "He was there too. But he got knocked away trying to protect us, that's when you got the gun and were able to shoot." Which wasn't a lie, it just implied a different sort of truth.
"Oh."
"He was really proud of you, Dean." Sam said softly, and he saw Dean perk up instantly.
"He said that?" Dean was almost eager.
Not in so many words that he knew of, but... "Yeah."
Dean seemed thrilled and he leaned back with a satisfied look on his face. "I am way too awesome."
Sam rolled his eyes as he finished his burger. "Keep telling yourself that, bro."
Dean stuck his tongue out in reply before he rose from the table as Sam did and headed out with him after Sam had paid. "Hey, Sam...?"
"Yeah?" Sam paused to look down at his brother as they reached the Impala.
"Are you..." he hesitated.
"What?" Sam prompted as he set a hand on Dean's shoulder to reassure him.
Dean only seemed more uncomfortable as he slid away a bit and looked up at Sam. "Are you...glad that we're hunters?"
"What do you mean?" he wasn't quite sure what the other was getting at.
"...Forget it." Dean said, once again trying to dismiss a subject he'd started as he climbed into the Impala and buckled himself in. Sam followed but he didn't start the car.
"Dean...it's like I told you...we've saved a lot of people..."
"I know! So forget it! It was a dumb question!" Dean snapped as he turned to look out the window pointedly.
Sam watched his brother with a frown before he spoke softly. "There was always one thing that I was really glad about becoming a hunter for."
"What's that?" Dean muttered ill-temperedly.
"Getting to hunt with my big brother."
Dean's eyes widened slightly as his head jerked towards Sam as if to gauge his seriousness, and Sam tilted his head long enough to give his brother a solemn look before he focused back on the road. "That's..." he bit his lower lip and then finished with a faint smirk. "You're such a girl, Sammy."
Sam sighed but smiled faintly anyway. "And you're a brat."
"Hey!"
Sam chuckled as the engine roared to life and he took off for Quiet Oaks College.
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WHOOT! Alright. Fluff should be done for now, next chapter we'll be visiting Angela Adams! Muwahaha! By the by, can anyone tell me if Bela is alive and what the status of her relationship with the bros is? And Ellen and Jo are quite dead, right? _ My internet's wonky right now so I can't look and I gotta head to work, but it'll help me to know these things later. *plots stories at work* XD I'm on season three! Almost done with it. Ish. Then three more seasons and I'll be all caught up! XD And that's when I'll touch on things like Cas. I could probably...try. But I don't want to screw anything up. So I'll wait. XD Thanks for the reviews and such peoples! They made me do little happy dances and such. XD~
