Watch Out For Sammy
Chapter 26
Something Wicked
The next few days were exhausting for everyone. John Winchester wasn't the type of man to just lay around on a couch for days on end, regardless of whether or not he had been near death just days before, and he was bound and determined to get back to being active.
Of course, Bobby wasn't having anything to do with that foolishness. He hovered over John like a mother hen, making sure the man ate, drank, and rested enough. He made sure he took his medication and changed his dressings, regardless of how much he fought him on it. He also made sure to keep John away from his liquor cabinet. And boy, wasn't that a battle!
When he wasn't busy taking care of John, Bobby had his hands full with Sam and Dean. And that was almost even harder work. Almost. The boys were excited to have their dad back, even though he was still in no shape to entertain them, and it was hard for them to understand that. In fact, John's temper was so short, because of his frustration with being laid up and the amount of pain he was in, that Bobby often found him yelling at his sons for every little offense.
Dean had learned to read his father's moods, for the most part, but Sam was still too young to pick up on the various temperaments of John Winchester. And that led to a lot of tears.
Of course, John wasn't proud of the way he was acting, but he also wasn't strong enough at the moment to control his emotions. He hadn't ever felt so weak or so helpless in his life and it was a feeling he truly despised. John Winchester hated being weak.
Four days after John finally woke up, Bobby had to go into town to pick up some much needed supplies. He offered to take the boys with him, but both Sam and Dean wanted to stay with their father. John reassured Bobby that he was fine and that he could more than handle his boys. Before he left, though, Bobby pulled the two youngest Winchesters aside for a talk.
"Listen up, boys," he said as he sat them down at the kitchen table. Sam and Dean looked up at him expectantly. "I'm leaving, but I'll be back in a few hours. Dean? I expect you to keep an eye on things while I'm gone, okay? Make sure your Daddy doesn't do anything stupid. And Sammy, listen to your brother."
"Why do I always have to listen to Dean?" Sam whined. "It's not fair, Uncle Bobby. Dean doesn't ever have to listen to me."
"That's cause I'm the oldest, Samantha. You have to listen to me."
Dean's words immediately set Sam off and before Bobby knew it, the kitchen was filled with two arguing kids who were yelling at each other at the top of their lungs. Bobby tried to get them to stop yelling, but neither boy was listening to him. Just as he was about to start yelling himself, a very disgruntled John walked into the kitchen.
"What the hell is going on?! Dean! Sam! Knock it off, boys!"
Dean and Sam both stopped mid-yell, surprised to see their father standing in the doorway. Sam immediately started crying and Dean found himself staring down at the table.
"Daddy, Dean's being mean to me," Sam cried as he ran to his father. Bobby tried to stop him before he jumped on John, but he was too late.
John let out an "oof" when Sam connected with his stomach. Dean rushed forward and grabbed Sam, trying to pull him away before their father got angry.
"Let me go, Dean!" Sam yelled as he struggled to get away from his brother. "I want Daddy!"
"Sammy, you gotta be careful. Dad's still hurt, remember?"
Sam's flailing arm hit Dean in the jaw, causing him to let out an "oof" of his own. But, once the words registered in Sam's mind, he stopped struggling. Dean held onto him, just in case.
"Are you okay, Dad?" Dean asked, looking at the man suspiciously when he realized he was rubbing his belly.
"I'm fine, Dean. Now, what's going on in here? You boys know better than to fight like that, don't you?"
"Yes, sir," Dean immediately answered. Looking over at Sam, he realized that his little brother looked scared, thinking that they were probably in trouble with their dad. "It's my fault, Dad. I was teasing Sam and called him Samantha."
John's face darkened. "We've talked about this before, Dean. You know you're not supposed to tease your brother like that."
"Yes, sir," Dean answered.
"And you know how I feel about having to repeat things to you over and over again."
"Yes, sir," Dean answered again, his heart sinking at the thought of disappointing his father.
"Well, then…. See that we don't have to have this conversation again. Understand?"
"Yes, sir…."
"What do you got to eat, Bobby? I'm starving."
Bobby glared at his friend, not missing the way the man's breaths were still a little short and his face had a permanent grimace. "You should still be in bed, John. You shouldn't be up moving around so much."
"I can't sit still any longer. My ass is starting to fuse with the couch."
Dean laughed, but Sam suddenly looked serious, glaring at his father. "Daddy, you're not s'posed to say that word, remember?"
Bobby and Dean both laughed at the way Sam stood in front of John, his hands on his hips and his face set in a scowl. John just stared at the little boy, not knowing what to say to him. Eventually, he moved his gaze over to the Bobby and Dean, who were still laughing at the stand-off.
"Yeah, Dad….you're not supposed to say that word," Dean teased.
John turned back to Sam. "You're right, Sam. I'm sorry for letting that one slip out." He was just about to sit down at the table when Dean spoke up again.
"I think Dad needs to be punished, don't you, Sammy? For misbehaving?"
"Yeah," Sam answered with big grin. "You're in time-out, Daddy. For a hundred minutes."
John spit out the drink he had just taken. "A hundred minutes? Where did you come up with that number?"
"Miss Whitley makes us stay in time out for as long as we are old," Sam explained patiently. "When I didn't turn in my homework, I had to stay in time-out for seven minutes!"
Bobby and Dean burst out laughing again at the look on John's face. "Sam, I'm not a hundred years old, kid," he explained with a grin.
"Really? You're older than a hundred?"
"NO! I'm only thirty-six, Sam."
"Oh," Sam answered. "Well, then you're in time-out for thirty-six minutes."
John looked over at Bobby and Dean, hoping that one of them would rescue him from the situation he was in. Dean finally took pity on his old man.
"Wait a minute, Sammy….you mean you actually didn't turn in your homework and got put in time-out? You? Sam Winchester?"
Now it was Bobby and John that were laughing loudly at the look on Sam's face. "It was your fault, Dean! You spilled scabetti-ohs all over it, remember?"
"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. Sorry you got time-out for that, Sammy."
Before Sam could say anything else, John interrupted. "Okay, that's enough talk about time-outs. I'm starving."
Bobby made his way over to the refrigerator as Sam and Dean sat down at the table next to their father.
"I guess my errands will have to wait a while. So, how about I make us up some cheeseburgers?" he asked as he looked at the three Winchesters sitting at his table.
"Yes!" Dean yelled immediately. "Can I have bacon on mine? And extra cheese?"
"Me, too, Bobby," John added. "And I definitely need a beer."
"Dean wants a beer, too, Uncle Bobby. He really likes them!" Sam looked over at his brother with a huge grin on his face. "Don't you, Dean?"
"Sam, I told you not to talk about that anymore, remember?" Dean whispered loudly, as Bobby threw a shocked look over at John.
"Sorry, Dean. I forgot."
"When did Dean figure out he likes beer?" Bobby asked.
"It's a long story, Bobby. And I'm too hungry to go into it right now. But it's been taken care of, so don't worry about it."
"If you say so, Winchester."
"I say so."
The next week went along pretty smoothly for a change. Sam and Dean were able to keep themselves out of trouble, so once John was up and moving around better, he decided to make good on his promise of doing something fun with them if they behaved. He knew he wasn't up to a lot of activity, so he tried to find something that both Sam and Dean would enjoy and that he himself could tolerate physically and mentally.
It was early in the morning, but both boys were already awake and sitting at the table eating cereal. John was sipping on a cup of fresh coffee, savoring the taste of the brew and the sounds of his sons chatting. Sam was telling Dean all about the latest episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy he had watched. John laughed at the bored look on Dean's face, but was proud of the boy for being so patient with his little brother.
He waited patiently for Sam to stop talking so he could tell the boys what he had planned, but Sam wouldn't stop. The boy was obviously really excited about the show. Eventually, though, Sam paused to take a deep breath and John jumped in.
"Boys, remember what I said before I left? That if you behaved we'd do something fun?"
Both boys dropped their eyes to the table and John immediately wondered if Bobby had forgotten to tell him something. "Dean? Do you remember when I told you that?"
"Yes, sir."
"Bobby didn't report any misbehavior, so I guess that means you were well-behaved. Is that right?"
Sam spoke up before Dean could. "We tried to best-behave, Daddy. We helped Uncle Bobby and we went to bed when he told us to. Didn't we, Dean?"
"Yeah, we did…."
"Dean even ate his vegables, Daddy!"
"He did?" John looked over at Dean who had a slight blush on his face. "Well, it sounds like you guys really were on your best behavior. I guess that means I need to hold up my end of the bargain."
Dean looked up in surprise. "Really?"
"Yeah. So, why don't you two get upstairs and get ready. Dean, make sure Sam brushes his teeth good. And you, too."
"Yes, sir," Dean said as he jumped up from the table. "Let's go, Sammy."
Sam jumped down from his chair and quickly followed Dean, who was already running up the stairs.
"Hey! No running in the house!" John yelled.
He heard the boys immediately stop running, followed by a "sorry, Dad" that came from his eldest. Settling back into his chair, he waited for them to come back downstairs. It wasn't long before he heard them plodding back down the stairs.
"We're ready, Dad," Dean said as he entered he kitchen. "I made sure Sam brushed his teeth really, really good."
"Let me see, Sammy," John said as he motioned for Sam to come to him.
Sam quickly made his way over to his dad and climbed up in his lap, his mouth stretched open to show off his teeth. "Dean helped me get the back ones, Daddy. He said I wasn't doing it good enough."
"Well, it looks like you both did a good job," John said proudly, not missing the smile that crossed Dean's face. "So, now that your teeth are so white I could find them in the dark, what do you say we get out of here?"
"What about Uncle Bobby?" Dean asked.
"He's staying here to do some research. And someone has to man the phones."
"Where are we going, Daddy?" Sam asked as he bounced on his feet.
"It's a surprise, Sammy. You'll have to wait and see."
Without another word, John ushered the boys out to the Impala.
John wondered why it seemed it was impossible for him to show his boys at least one good day. It seemed like every time he tried to do something special- something normal- with them, something happened to ruin it. And wouldn't you know that this time it would be a monster that ruined everything.
Since it was still wintertime, John found a place that he thought the boys would really enjoy that would also keep them inside and warm. The boys had never been to an indoor fun center before, and as far as he could tell, it had enough of a variety to satisfy both Sam and Dean.
There was an indoor shooting range and bumper car ride that Dean would love and there was also a section in the corner where the kids could do science experiments and other stuff that Sam would like. There were games to play and rides to ride and unfortunately, a spirit to mess everything up.
John's first clue should have been the fact that the place was mostly empty, with only a handful of other parents and kids. Bobby told him that this was the place to go during the cold South Dakota winters, yet it didn't appear to be that way.
Sam and Dean didn't care, though. The minute they walked through the doors, they were off and running, burning up some long pent-up energy. John was almost completely healed, but he still found it harder than usual to keep up with his sons.
Eventually, he corralled them for lunch, forcing an over-excited Dean to sit down at the table while he tried to contain an even more excited seven year old.
"You boys need to take a break," John said as he placed Sam down in a chair next to Dean. "You haven't stopped running around since we got here."
"But I wanna ride on the carousel, Daddy," Sam whined, causing Dean to roll his eyes.
"The carousel is for babies, Sammy. I'm not getting on that thing."
"It is not!" Sam yelled. "And I did the bumper cars with you four times, Dean!"
"Yeah, but you like the bumper cars, too, Sammy!"
"Daddy, tell Dean he has to go on the carousel with me," Sam pleaded.
By this time, John was starting to get a headache and began to wonder how much more he could take. "Okay, boys….stay right here while I go order us some food. Dean, watch out for Sammy."
"I know, Dad," Dean groaned, causing John to give him a look.
"I'll be right back."
John stepped over to the counter to place their order, all the while keeping an eye on his sons. He turned away from them for a few seconds to check out the menu, but his attention was quickly brought back to them when he heard Sam start crying. Rushing back to the table, he was surprised by what he saw.
"What happened?" he asked when he noticed a large red mark on Sam's arm.
"Dean pinched me," Sam cried, holding out his arm for his dad to see. "It hurts, Daddy!"
"No, I didn't," Dean tried to defend himself. "Honest!"
"He did, too, Daddy. I put my head down on the table and then he pinched me. See?"
"Why would you do that, Dean?" John growled angrily.
"I didn't! I swear!"
John picked the still crying Sam up and grabbed Dean by the back of his neck, leading him towards the bathroom. Dean struggled to keep up. Once they were inside the bathroom, John sat Sam down on the edge of the sink and turned on the cold water. Wetting down a paper towel, he held it to the reddened skin, hoping to soothe it a little. "There you go, Sammy. Is that better?"
"A little," Sam sniffled. "It still hurts though."
"Give it a few minutes, kiddo. It'll feel better soon."
Setting Sam back on the ground, John turned his attention to Dean. "What were you thinking, Dean? You know better than to hurt your little brother like that. You're supposed to be watching out for him, remember?"
"I didn't do it, Dad."
"Don't lie to me, Dean. You were the only one around and I seriously doubt that Sam pinched himself."
"I swear I didn't do it!"
Without another word, John reached out and grabbed Dean by the arm, turning him to the side to deliver five harsh smacks to his backside. He was surprised when Dean burst into tears. The kid usually never outright cried when he was smacked, but John admitted that the smacks were a little harder than usual.
After giving Dean a few minutes to gather himself, John led them back outside to the table and told them to sit down. Dean sat gingerly in his seat, staring down at the table. Sam, who by this time had stopped crying, looked at his brother sadly.
Thirty minutes later, they were through eating. Or in Dean's case, through picking at his food. John was tempted to just take the boys and head back to Bobby's, but something convinced him to stay and try to salvage the day.
"Okay, boys… what do you want to do next?" he asked, hoping to cheer Dean up with the fact that they weren't leaving yet.
"I'll go on the bumper cars with you again, Dean," Sam offered hopefully.
"It's okay, Sammy. We don't have to."
"But, I want to. I like the bumper cars."
"I don't really feel like it," Dean answered. "How about if I take you on the carousel."
Sam's face fell, leaving John to come up with a plan. "What do you say we take a quick turn on the carousel and then we'll all go on the bumper cars."
Dean immediately looked up at his dad. "You wanna go on the bumper cars?" he asked.
"Yeah. I can't let the two of you have all the fun, can I?
John was relieved to see Dean's face light up a little.
Making their way over to the carousel with Sam yapping on and on about which horse he wanted to ride, John noticed something strange going on in the corner of the building where the science lab was. He stopped walking, causing both Dean and Sam to run into him.
"Stay right here, boys. I'll be right back."
John quickly stepped over to the commotion, stopping only once to make sure that Dean and Sam were staying put like he told them to. Once he made his way over to the corner, he walked up to one of the employees that had a strange look on his face.
"What's going on?" he asked loudly. "Did something happen?"
Looking around the employee, he noticed a young woman talking loudly to another employee. She was nearly hysterical, so John only heard a few words here and there.
"It….grabbed….. tried to….scratches…."
Seeing that both employees were nearly as freaked out as the young mother, John decided to step in. Pulling out a fake badge he usually carried in his pocket, he quickly introduced himself and asked what happened. After almost a full minute of trying to get the young woman to calm down, he was finally able to get some answers.
"My daughter was over there painting a picture when all of a sudden this woman appeared and tried to take her. I grabbed my daughter's arm and tried to pull her away from the woman, but she wouldn't let go. Casey started screaming and then the woman just disappeared. She completely disappeared."
"Is your daughter okay?" John asked, looking down at the little girl that was clinging desperately to her mother.
"She scratched her," the woman said as she pulled up one of the girl's sleeves to reveal a long, bloody scratch.
John gave one of the employees instructions to go get a wet towel and some bandaids. Once the guy left to follow those orders, John looked back to check on his sons. Both Sam and Dean were still standing in the place he had left them, watching everything unfold. Turning back to the woman, he asked her if she had any idea who the woman was.
"Did you know her? Had you seen her here earlier?
"No," she said as she held her daughter closer. "No, I hadn't seen her before."
"Can you describe her?"
"I don't know. She was old. Like at least thirty-five, I think."
John frowned at her, but didn't interrupt her.
"She was a little taller than me and she was wearing weird clothes."
"Why do you mean by weird," he asked.
"She had on this long skirt with an apron over it. And her hair was done up in this tight bun."
After a few more questions, John told the lady thank you and then asked one of the employees to get the manager on duty for him. A few minutes later, a nervous looking young man stepped out of an office and over to him.
"Hi, I'm Special Agent Hendrix with the FBI. You mind answering a few questions for me?"
"FBI?" the man asked nervously. "Why would the FBI be here?"
"I'm actually here with my two sons," John said as he pointed over to Sam and Dean. "When I heard the commotion, I thought maybe I could be of help. And once I heard the details of what happened, I realized that it might have something to do with a case I'm working on."
"Oh, okay. Well, I'm Nathan Turner. I'm the Manager on Duty today."
John quickly filled the young man in on what had happened and gave him the description of the strange lady. "Have you ever seen anyone that fit that description?"
"No, not that I can think of."
"Has there been any other strange occurrences here lately? Anything else weird like cold spots or temperature fluctuations?"
"It's the middle of winter," Nathan said stupidly. "It's cold outside."
"I'm talking about in here, Mr. Turner," John answered, trying desperately not to roll his eyes. "It seems pretty warm in here right now, so I'm assuming that you heat the place. Any temperature changes despite the heat?
"Well, some of our customers do complain that the corner where the science lab is gets cold sometimes. And the carousel sometimes starts on its own. The boss says it's just the wiring, but I don't know."
"Any lights flickering? Or weird smells?"
"This place always smells weird," Nathan laughed. "It's usually full of sweaty kids running around like crazy."
"Usually full of kids?" John asked. "It doesn't seem that full today."
"We're having a lull in business."
"Is that normal for this time of year?"
"No, usually this is one of our busiest times of year. It's so cold outside, so parents are trying to find ways to keep their kids entertained while also keeping them warm."
"Why do you think business has been so slow lately?"
"Well, it's probably because of the accidents."
John wasn't able to contain his eye roll this time. Getting information out of this young man was like pulling teeth…. Slow and painful.
"What accidents? Can you elaborate on that?"
"I'm not supposed to talk about it," Nathan said quietly.
John pulled out his badge again. "I think it would be in your best interest to cooperate, Mr. Turner."
"Okay, okay. About a month ago, there were several strange accidents that happened here. The first one happened to someone on our cleaning staff. He was here all alone one night, cleaning up after a big birthday party. Some of the kids thought it would be funny to spit spitballs up on the ceiling, so he was up on a ladder, trying to clean them off. Our weekend manager found him the next morning. He had fallen off the ladder and broke both of his legs in several different places. When he came around, he started yelling that some woman had pushed him off the ladder, but there wasn't anyone else here."
"And the other accident?"
"That one happened last week. A woman went into the bathroom and minutes later came out screaming. She had bloody scratches covering her face. She said that some woman came into the bathroom and attacked her. She said the door was locked, so she had no idea how the woman got into the bathroom. And when she tried to leave, the woman blocked her way. She said that one minute the woman was there, pulling on her and scratching at her, and the next minute she was gone. After that, I guess the story got around and our business dropped. The only customers we get now are out-of-towners that haven't heard the stories."
John was just about to thank the man when he looked over and saw Sam and Dean walking towards the carousel. Just before they got there, the carousel started going around, picking up speed with every second. Luckily, no one was on it. John quickly made his way over to his sons, scooping Sam up into his arms and pulling Dean into his side.
"Let's go, boys," he said, determined to get them to safety.
"Daddy, you said we could ride the carousel!" Sammy cried. "Look how fast it's going."
"We're leaving," John answered.
"Dad? Is everything okay? What happened over there?" Dean asked.
"Don't worry about it, Dean. Let's just get out of here."
Sam started crying at the thought that they were leaving and didn't stop, even as the Impala pulled away from the building. Dean tried his best to calm his little brother down, but nothing worked until John, whose patience by that time had completely run out, threatened to pull the car over and give his youngest "something to really cry about." Sam immediately stopped crying, trying his hardest to get his breathing under control, while Dean rubbed his back. John looked into the back seat, his heart sinking at the sight of his heartbroken sons, wondering why it was that they couldn't ever have just one good day.
Author's note: Well, John held up his end of the bargain, even though things didn't really go as planned. And apparently, good ol' Uncle Bobby decided not to tell the man about Dean's adventures in the shed. What a guy!
Thanks so much for reading, y'all. I truly appreciate you. Oh, and I want to give a shout out to those of you who faithfully review. It really means so much to me that you take the time to tell me what you think of my story. So, thanks spnfanfromeurope, Auphepet, VegasGranny, EmilyAnnMcGarrett-Winchester, TheKnittingTimeLady, Ullswater, Ginger713, femkesmedinga, fanofvamps, Ponygirlrunner25, MeldirielErulisse, ayosb2000, scootersmom, Kathy, and Michelle.
And, of course, just a lovely thanks to anyone who has left me a review.