The idea for this chapter came from me watching "Most Shocking", believe it or not XD

This take place between the season 1 eps "Scarecrow" and "Faith"

I do not own Supernatural or any character :P Such a shame *lesigh*

Supernatural: (C) Eric Kripke! 8D *bows down to his epicness*

Sam felt a weight on his chest later that night. He sleepily opened his eyes and peered at the clock. 3 am. He then looked down. His adjusting vision let him make out a tiny, black ball of fur curled up on his chest. It seemed Clare had different ideas for sleeping arrangements. It was then when Sam realized that he had more company next to him. Dean was pressed up against his side, an arm draped over his stomach as he snoozed softly. Sam smiled and watched his brother sleep. But his brow furrowed when he noticed Dean's eyes were moving rapidly under his eyelids, that his eyebrows were scrunched together, as if he was in pain, and that he was whimpering.

Sam quickly sat up, awaking Clare. She leaped off his chest with an annoyed 'mrow'. Sam placed a placid hand on Dean's quivering shoulder.

"Dean, wake up, buddy." Sam said, trying to keep the worry down to a minimum. He shook Dean gently. But Dean seemed to remain trapped in dream world. Sam started panicking. "Dean!" he cried more urgently. "Wake up, please! Dean!"

"N-no..." Dean mumbled in his sleep. Tears streaked from his eyes, which worried Sam even more. He groaned painfully.

Just then, Dean awoke with a gasp and sat up, looking around fearfully. He started crying.

"Sammy?"

"I'm right here, buddy." Sam wrapped his arms around Dean's trembling body. "You okay?"

"N-no..." Dean hiccupped. More tears gushed from his eyes. Sam used the corner of the sheet to wipe them away as he held Dean closer.

Clare sensed Dean's distress and crawled onto his lap, purring and rubbing herself against his chest and stomach. Dean looked at her with glazed eyes and stroked her back. Her backside rose up each time his hand passed over it. Dean's mouth twitched slightly, a tell-tale sign to Sam that he was trying hard not to smile.

Sam smiled and tickled Dean's side. "I saw that, you little sneak. C'mon, smile!" He tickled Dean, who groaned, and hid his face under the blanket. Sam frowned and lay beside his brother. He rubbed the boy's back through the covers.

"You wanna talk about what you dreamt about, kiddo?" he asked carefully, not wanting to push his little brother into telling him the truth until he was ready.

Dean's voice was muffled by the blanket.

"I didn't hear you, Dean," Sam tugged at the blanket, trying to remove it, but Dean's tiny hand had a vice grip on it. Sam sighed and resolved to lie beside his distraught sibling, rubbing a comforting hand over his covered back and whispered reassuring mantras to him till Dean fell back asleep. Sam uncovered his head so he wouldn't suffocate and draped a protective arm over Dean's form and pulled him close to his body, falling asleep like that, while Clare had decided to curl up above Dean's head. Sam would try and get Dean to talk to him tomorrow. He hated seeing his brother in distress.

SPNSPNSPN

Sam awoke the next morning to find Dean sitting at the foot of the bed, playing with Clare and watching TV. He had a bright smile on his face and was giggling as he watched Clare tumble about, trying to catch the waving string Dean held. Sam yawned and sat up, smiling at the scene before him. Apparently, last night's ordeal was long forgotten by the young boy, but not by Sam. But he didn't want to bring it up, not when Dean looked so content at the moment. Sam decided he would try again later.

"Hey Dean," he spoke up, regretting it as both Clare and Dean jumped half foot in the air and nearly fell off the edge of the bed together.

"Sammy! You scareded me," he exclaimed, putting a hand on his chest. Clare meowed in agreement.

Sam chuckled. "Sorry, kiddo." He reached over and ruffled Dean's hair then stroked Clare's hair, which elicitated a happy purr from her throat.

"What we gonna do today, Sammy?" Dean asked as Sam got out of bed and stretched.

Sam finished and looked down at him thoughtfully. He hadn't really given it much thought. Since the first week was wasted with Dean trying to help him get over his cold, he had just a week to try to do the fun things with him that they never had the chance to do before, but his well of ideas was dried up. And that worried him, since he knew John would be back once this week was finished. "I dunno, kiddo. What do u wanna do?"

"I dunno, that why I's asking you!"

Sam laughed and shook his head fondly. Clare meowed and reached out with a tiny paw, tapping the back of Sam's hand with it. She repeated the action till Sam realized what she was doing. Clare hadn't had anything to eat yet. And now she was mewing for food. He then knew what he and Dean could do that day.

He picked up Clare and cradled her to his chest. She mewed hungrily and rubbed her head against his chest. "How about we go to PetCo to get Clare some food and toys?"

Dean gasped and nodded so fast, Sam was afraid he was gonna give himself whiplash. "Yeah! Can we gets her a moosey?"

"You mean...a mouse?" Sam said, trying not laugh.

"That what I say," Dean replied innocently.

"Whatever, silly. Let's get you dressed then we can go."

"Can we bring Cware with us, pweeze?"

"Of course, we can. Now come on."

Sam set Clare down on the bed, where she sat down immediately, patiently watching as her owners moved about, gathering their day clothes and changing into them. She was then picked up by Sam and carried outside. She was handed to Dean after he was settled into his car-seat.

Ten minutes later, the Impala pulled away from the hotel and onto the highway.

SPNSPNSPN

"Ooh! Sammy! Wook!" Dean exclaimed as soon as they passed through the doors of PetCo. He immediately saw the large, glass cylinder case that housed five slumbering ferrets and ran towards it.

"Dean, don't run!" Sam called after him. He stood behind Dean and looked down at the ferrets, wrinkling his nose at the musky odor emanating from the case. He wasn't really fond of the critters, but Dean seemed to love them for some reason.

"They sweeping, Sammy." Dean whispered, afraid he'd wake them.

"Yeah, I can see that, Dean," Sam whispered back. He felt Clare shift in his arms. He looked down at her and noted that she was staring hungrily at one of the ferrets; her tongue repeatedly appearing to lick her mouth. She made tiny trilling sounds. Sam laughed.

"You really want one of them, don't you?"

Clare looked up at him and meowed in response before returning her attention back to the ferrets.

Sam shook his head fondly and took hold of Dean's hand, pulling him away from the case and down towards the aisle where the cat food was kept.

"Ooh! Let's get this one!" Dean said, breaking away from Sam and running towards one of the stacked giant bags of cat food. He tried to pick it up, to no avail.

"It's okay, buddy. That's the wrong size and brand, anyways," Sam said, ruffling his little brother's hair. He led him further down the aisle and scanned the products. "Ah ha," he announced, picking up a small bag of 9Lives Kitten Food along with a bag of FreshStep Cat Litter. Sam next picked up a cat box and allowed Dean to choose some toys for Clare himself.

"You's thinks she will like this, Sammy?" Dean asked, holding up a catnip mouse. It jingled with each tiny movement. Clare's head snapped up at the sound and her eyes became transfixed on the toy.

"I think that's a yes." Sam smiled and scratched Clare behind the ears. He took the toy and placed it in the litter pan. After Dean chose a few more toys and Sam had picked out a nice cat bed (he didn't want the cat fur to arouse the maid's suspicions that they had been secretly keeping a cat in their room once they had left), they headed towards the check-out counter where the sales-lady immediately gushed over both Clare and Dean; their combined charm over the scale. Fortunately, Sam got a discount because of them.

"Even as a child, Dean still knows how to charm the girls," Sam smiled, looking down at his brother with deep admiration.

A few minutes later, they were out of PetCo and back in the Impala. As he drove, Sam noticed that the gas tank on the car was getting pretty low and that he needed to stop to get gas soon, or he'd end up pushing the Impala all the way back. And he really didn't want to when it was a hot, July day. Sam knew that filling up that gas guzzler that was basically his brother's pride and joy would be expensive. It usually was, but since Dean wasn't around to take care of his baby, Sam was going to have to, even if it meant dwindling away their small bit of remaining cash to keep her fed. So, at the next gas-station, Sam pulled up to the pump, rolling down the front and back windows a bit, and shut off the car.

"Sammy! May me and Cware come with you?" Dean pleaded, fixing Sam with his irresistible puppy eyes-the ones that Sam had taught him to use.

Sam smiled and nodded. "You can, Dean. But Clare has to stay here," he explained gently.

"Awww, why?" Dean whined.

"Because, places like these don't allow animals inside them," Sam replied, gently tweaking Dean's nose, making him giggle. "I'll leave the window cracked so fresh air can get inside for her to breathe. She'll be alright for five minutes."

Dean looked down at Clare, who was dozing comfortably in her new bed as she had been since Sam had placed it in the back seat next to Dean's car-seat. He reached over and patted her head, making her utter a soft "mrrr?" and shift a bit, but not wake up.

"We be wight back, Cware. Stay here, pweeze," Dean instructed the kitten. Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head, holding back a snicker.

"C'mon, Dean. We'll fill Impy up and get some snacks, how's that?"

"Impy get snack as well?" Dean asked as Sam got out and opened the back door to get him out of his seat.

"Dean, Impy doesn't eat what we do," Sam replied, picking Dean up and closing the door. He made sure Clare was doing okay before heading to the gas pump.

"Then what she eat?" Dean wondered.

"She eats gas," Sam answered lamely. He didn't know how else to put it. He pushed the button for the kind of gas he wanted before unhitching the nozzle and taking it around to the back of the Impala, where her gas tank was located. He stuck it in and pumped the level till he could hear gas being siphoned into the tank.

"And she wikes it?" Dean said.

"She loves it," Sam nodded, heading back to the pumps to watch so that he didn't end up paying for more gas than he intended.

"Good!" Dean exclaimed, beaming genially. "I wike when Impy happy! She happy, then me is happy."

"And when you're happy, then I'm happy," Sam added, kissing Dean's cheek and hugging him affectionately. And it was the honest truth.

Once the Impala was full, Sam removed the nozzle and placed it back into its holder. He then entered the convenience store, setting Dean onto the ground.

"You go pick out whatever kind of candy you want, I'll pay for the gas," Sam said, ruffling Dean's hair.

Dean smiled and took off towards the candy aisle. Sam watched him go with a warm heart before he got into line.

If Sam knew what was about to happen next, he would never have had stopped at this gas station and just kept on driving with a low tank. But unfortunately, his psychic premonitions weren't working today. As soon as it was his turn, three large, burly men in black clothing and ski masks burst into the store, each wielding a deadly firearm. Everyone in the store started at the sudden intrusion and immediately became board stiff upon seeing the weapons being waved around threateningly.

"Everybody freeze," the lead robber boomed. "If any of you make any sudden movements, I won't hesitate to blow your brains out!"

Sam felt his heart drop to his stomach. He wished he would've kept on driving.

Dundundun! The dreaded cliffhanger makes its ugly appearance! Mwahaha!

And everytime I go to PetCo, I immediately check out the ferrets and cats :P They're just soooo cute X333

TBC ^^...