A/N: Hello one and all. The sun is shining, birds are singing, and we're not allowed to go outside and enjoy any of it. So, I thought it was high time that I pulled my head out of the sinking sand pit that is teacher's college and return to my beloved world of Supernatural FanFiction. I'm not gonna lie, the last few weeks have been rough. Teaching for four weeks at one hundred percent was a lot to manage, add on top of that strike action, snow days, and this virus, and it was basically the practicum from Hell. But, I got through it, and now I get to return to all of you, if you'd all take me back, that is.
Many thanks to bagelcat1, BonanzaRocks, shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod, waitingforAslan (x5), and Colby's girl for the amazing reviews. I would go back and reread them after a tough evaluation, and they automatically made my day that much brighter.
This chapter is tagged to episode 10x20, Angel Heart. I deeply hope it was worth the wait.
Disclaimer: Nothing recognizable belongs to me.
One Hell of a Babysitter
The second Dean had turned his back, Claire slipped out after Castiel and Sam.
"Hey, wait a minute!" Claire watched as the angel wearing her father tensed up and the gigantic hunter turned around, hands already half-raised as though to placate her. "Relax, Jolly Green, I'm not looking for a fight. I just don't need a babysitter, especially one who killed my friend and who I tried to put a hit out on."
"Wait, what?" Sam queried, shooting a quick look over at Castiel, who looked befuddled and taken aback.
"Oh…he never…I mean…well, point is that I don't need a babysitter. So, take your psycho brother with you? Please?"
"Claire…" Castiel groaned. "Dean is in a very fragile state right now. You have seen first-hand what his anger due to the Mark can achieve. We need to keep him away from any potential triggers. Therefore, he has to stay with you."
"Okay, but what if I went with you instead? Leave me in the car, I don't care. Just don't leave me with him!"
"Claire…" Sam leaned over and whispered something to Castiel, who slowly backed away to the car. "Look, I get it. You don't want to be alone with Dean. That's understandable. But, even if you don't need a babysitter, Dean's a damn good one. Plus, having to keep himself in line because he's got you around…"
"Wait…hold on," Claire interrupted. "You mean you want me babysitting him? Oh, that's rich!"
Sam rolled his eyes. "Please, just…stay with him. Keep him out of trouble. Don't do anything to piss him off."
"Yeah, sure," Claire scoffed as she turned on her heel and made her way back into the motel room, already dreading her time with the douchey hunter.
"Mini-golf? Really?" Claire moaned as Dean pulled the (stolen) car into a parking spot.
"What do you have against mini golf?"
"It's a little kid's game!"
"Ah c'mon, Sam and I used to come and play this all the time! Plus, you know, there's nothing better than sorting out your anger issues by hitting tiny plastic balls with mini golf clubs," Dean shrugged as he levered himself out of the car and turned towards the brightly coloured, gaudy as hell mini golf course.
"You mean there was a time when Sam wasn't, you know…" Claire raised her hand as high as she could above her head, causing Dean to bark out a laugh.
"If you can believe it, Sam used to be the skinniest, tiniest kid in his class."
"No B.S.?" Claire looked at him with a raised eyebrow.
"No B.S.," Dean shared, grinning at her. "Sometime in the middle of summer when he was about to go into the 11th grade, all of a sudden…" Dean raised his hand high and flexed his muscles, making himself look taller and bigger. "Kid hit a hell of a growth spurt. He was such a pain in the ass to live with that summer too. Not only was he making my life a living hell with all the short-ass jokes, but he was in so much pain because his body was suddenly twice its normal size, and, even now, Sammy doesn't take pain very well."
Dean smiled at the mini golf attendant and passed over his credit card to pay for a round as Claire stood there, staring at the flashing lights and over the top décor. It was hard to remember how mad she was at Dean when he was acting like this. Sweet and kind and goofy. Nothing like the stone-cold killer she knew him to be from previous encounters.
She was startled out of her thoughts by a cold touch on her elbow, causing her to recoil.
"Hey, easy!" Dean murmured as he held out the cold steel mini golf club. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you."
"You didn't," Claire scoffed. Dean nodded his head knowingly and followed the grumpy teenager onto the green of the first hole. "So, what about your dad? Wasn't he there to, you know, tell Sam to shut up and stop complaining?"
"Dad was…uh…" Dean trailed off as he focused on lining up his first shot, holding up the club and trying to line up the lime green ball with the hole that was hidden just behind a palm tree. "Dad was hunting a coven of witches that summer, I think…" Dean tapped the ball, and they both watched as the ball bounced off the palm tree, off the rubber siding of the barrier and into the hole. "Haha!" he held up a hand for a high five, but Claire only rolled her eyes. "Yeah, Dad was hunting all summer. So, it was just me and angsty teenage Sammy, all on our lonesome. I could escape to go to work, but when the growing pains got real bad I would call out and stay with him."
"Seriously?" Claire glared at him as she lined up her own shot. "Why?"
Dean shrugged as he watched Claire sink her red ball in two putts. "Wasn't his fault that he was hurtin' so bad. Besides, misery loves company, right?"
"So, you made yourself miserable just to keep your brother company?"
Dean shrugged again as they trooped over to the second hole, a Sphinx with the hole hidden somewhere between the statue's front legs.
"It wasn't so bad. The mechanic's shop where I was working for the summer didn't have AC, but the motel did, so it wasn't totally self-sacrificing."
"Uh-huh," Claire looked at him with that same stare Sam and Cas sometimes had on their faces when they didn't believe a word that was coming out of his mouth.
"Hey, you wanna play or you wanna talk?" Dean putted the ball and it bounced between the Sphinx's front legs before sinking neatly into the hole. "You're up."
Castiel watched from his spot beside Sam as Dean and Claire bid farewell to each other.
"That turned out…surprisingly well."
Sam fixed him with a disbelieving stare. "You think your host body's wife dying to save her daughter is things turning out well?"
Cas rolled his eyes at his friend. "No. Of course not. This was not, as you would say, a win. However, Dean and Claire did not, in fact, kill each other, which is. A win, I mean."
Sam smirked and chuckled under his breath. Cas was obviously still underestimating his brother. Dean had a lot of issues, now especially, but he would never hurt an innocent girl. Keeping the fact that she had tried to get Dean assassinated was proof of that because Dean knew exactly how Sam would react to that bit of information. Dean was…Dean. Great with kids, great with hunting, great with strung out baby brothers who would literally curl up into a ball of anxiety if it weren't for the big brother standing there, offering a hand up.
"It's like I told Claire, Cas…Dean's one hell of a babysitter."
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed. I'm hoping (but don't quote me on this) that I'll be able to start updating more than once a week with this quarantine/social distancing/don't go outside whatever you do thing happening. I promise weekly updates on Tuesdays now that we are back to our regularly scheduled programming, but don't be surprised if you see me pop up more than once in a week. Cheers all! Stay safe!
