Raising Winchesters

Chapter 11

To say that John was unhappy with Dean refusing to talk to him on the phone was a massive understatement. The man didn't tolerate insolence or disrespect from his sons and they both knew it. Especially Dean.

It wasn't normal for Dean to act in such a way, so John knew that the boy was truly upset. And he understood why Dean was upset, too, but that didn't excuse his behavior. A part of him knew that he wasn't being fair… that he wasn't being a good father, but Sam and Dean had to learn that his job was more important than the sentimentality of any commercialized holiday.

By the time he returned to Bobby's house, it was three days past Christmas. He tried to make it back in time, but the hunt was trickier than he had planned on. The two hunters that were working with him offered to finish the job so he could get back before Christmas, but John wasn't willing to leave without finishing. It was his hunt and he was the one responsible for making sure the job was done appropriately.

But, the second it was done, he jumped in the Impala, leaving the other two hunters to clean up the mess they'd made. He drove as fast and as long as he could, taking every short cut he could take, and stopping only long enough to go to the bathroom and drink some coffee. Even so, it took him a day and half of solid driving to get there, meaning that he was exhausted, hungry, and cranky when he finally arrived.

The first thing he noticed when he pulled up to Bobby's house was Sam playing out in the small yard all by himself. Looking around, he was surprised that there was no sign of Dean anywhere. Anger shot through him at the thought of Sam being so unprotected and he quickly turned the car off and stepped out.

"Daddy!" Sam, who had stopped running around when he heard the sound of the Impala pulling up, immediately ran over to the car. "You're home!"

It didn't escape John's notice that his youngest son called wherever they were staying at the moment home. He wasn't sure how that was supposed to make him feel, actually. A part of him was happy that Sam was able to adapt pretty easily to the frequent upheavals that constituted his life, but another part felt sad and a little guilty that Sam had no idea what the word home actually meant. John knew that he was solely responsible for that.

"Hey, Sammy," he said as he picked the boy up and clutched him tightly.

"You missed Christmas, Daddy! Wait 'til you see what Santa brought me! It's so cool! And Dean got something really cool, too."

"Where is Dean?" John asked as he looked around the yard.

Sam looked around, too, and shifted in John's arms. In an attempt to change the subject, Sam continued talking about Christmas. "Did Santa bring you something, Daddy? I bet you were good all year like me and Dean were."

John started walking towards the house, eager to not only get Sam inside where it was warmer, but to also figure out why Bobby and Dean were letting Sam out by himself. When he walked in, the first thing he saw was Dean sitting on the couch, staring at the still lit up Christmas tree. He looked around, but saw no sign of Bobby anywhere.

Dean's wide eyes jerked up from the tree as soon as he heard the sounds of John's footsteps coming towards him. They widened even further when he noticed that the man was carrying his little brother. "Dad, you're home," he said simply.

"Where's Bobby?" John asked.

"He had to go out to the salvage yard to look for a part. He left me in charge."

"Did he now?"

"Yes, sir. He said he'd only be gone about half an hour and that I could handle things here."

"And did you? Handle things here?"

"Yes, sir," Dean answered, wondering why his dad was acting funny and talking in such short sentences.

"If you were handling things here, why was Sammy playing outside all by himself?" John's face was turning redder by the second, something that neither boys failed to notice. Sam started shifting restlessly in his father's arms again, prompting John to set him down on his feet as he waited for Dean to answer. When it didn't look like the boy was going to, John continued. "Dean? I asked you a question. Why weren't you watching out for your brother?"

"I-I was, Dad," Dean stuttered as he tried to make sense of what was going on.

"How the hell can you watch out for him when he's out there and you're in here?!" John thundered angrily as he pointed towards the door.

Dean sent a frantic look over to Sam, who looked like he was just about to burst into tears. He had no idea that Sam was outside playing, because he had been asleep upstairs in their room just half an hour before. Sam had wanted to go play outside earlier, but Dean wasn't in the mood to be out in the cold. Sam had been upset when he told him he couldn't go outside and Dean watched as the boy ran upstairs and slammed the bedroom door behind him. When he checked on him fifteen minutes later, Sam was curled up on the bed, sound asleep.

That was when Bobby told him he needed to go look for a car part and that he'd be right back. Dean had returned to sitting in front of the Christmas tree, staring up at the Angel that perched up on top, thankful for the chance to relax for a change. But, now it seemed that Sam had woken up and decided to go outside to play on his own. Dean had no idea how he'd missed the sound of his little brother coming downstairs or the opening and closing of the door without him hearing anything. And he had no idea how to handle the situation they were now in.

He was really angry at Sam for sneaking out the way he did, but he didn't want to see him get in trouble with their dad. Dean hated it when John punished his brother and would do anything to keep it from happening. Regardless of the fact that Sam snuck out, it was still his job to keep an eye on him. And he had apparently failed at that. Sending Sam a quick look that said '"let me handle this," Dean finally answered his father.

"I, uh… I just came inside for a second, Dad. To, uh…. to get a drink. I was going right back outside."

"Then why were you sitting in here, staring up at that damn tree?"

Dean looked over at Sam, whose face was now covered in tears. "I just sat down for a second, Dad. That's all."

"You didn't even hear me drive up, Dean. What if I'd been someone else? I could have grabbed Sam and ran with him."

Dean knew that no matter what he said, he was in a world of trouble, so he just stayed quiet. Of course, that quiet didn't last too long, because seconds later, John was ordering him upstairs to his room. Dean turned to go, not surprised to hear Sam following him. But, they had only gone a few steps when John's voice thundered again.

"Sam, stay down here."

The two boys shared a look before Dean continued up the stairs and Sam went to sit on the couch. Once he was in his room, Dean sat down on the bed, trying to prepare himself for the wrath he was about to face. He hadn't seen his dad so mad in a long time and he was suddenly feeling rather sorry for himself.

John made sure that Sam had something to occupy himself with and gave him strict instructions to stay in the living room before he headed upstairs to deal with his oldest. Before opening the door to the room Sam and Dean shared, John stopped and took in several deep breaths. If he were being honest, he knew he was too angry to be dealing with Dean, so he tried to calm himself down before entering.

After a few minutes of deep breathing, John opened the door to the room and stepped in. Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, looking miserable, and John felt his resolve weaken a bit. All it took to strengthen it again, though, was to think about what could have happened to Sam.

He was having a hard time believing that Dean would put his brother in danger like that and the more he thought about it, the angrier he became. Dean's sole job was to always look out for Sam and he trusted the boy to do the job right. He couldn't help but think that maybe his trust was misplaced. Or was it just that he wasn't man enough to admit that maybe he had no right to place that responsibility on the shoulders of such a young boy in the first place?

Gearing himself up for the task ahead, he walked into the small room and pulled the chair out from underneath the small desk by the window. He moved it into the middle of the room, dropping it right in front of where Dean was sitting. Dean was eyeing him nervously.

After a long pause, in which John took in the slumped shoulders and shallow breathing of the boy in front of him, he finally spoke. "What the hell were you thinking, Dean? What the hell's gotten into you lately?"

Dean shrugged his shoulders, even though he knew that was never an acceptable answer in the eyes of his father. When John cleared his throat in annoyance, he frantically searched for a real answer. "I don't know, sir." The second those words came out of his mouth, he groaned, knowing that wasn't an acceptable answer, either.

"Dean, you know better than to answer that way. When I ask you a question, I expect an answer."

Dean knew that he was in trouble no matter what he said, so his sole purpose was to keep his brother out of trouble. "I guess I was just tired, Dad. I just needed a few minutes to myself." He watched as his father's face grew redder.

"You needed a few minutes….."

"Yes, sir."

"Dean, you know what's out there. You know about the monsters and the evil things that are lurking everywhere, just waiting for someone to let their guard down enough for them to move in. You know this stuff, son. And yet you left your little brother out there all alone? To fend for himself?"

"It was just a few minutes, Dad."

"There's no such thing as 'just a few minutes,' Dean. Your job is to take care of your brother. Your job is to make sure he's safe. You don't get to take a few minutes for yourself. Not if it means that Sam is left unprotected."

John noticed the look of indignation that shot across Dean's face and his anger flared. "What? You think that's not fair? Is that it? You think it's not fair that you have to watch out for your brother? Sam's just a baby, Dean. He can't protect himself. He doesn't know what's out there. He relies on us to keep him safe."

Dean wanted to ask whose job it was to keep him safe. He wanted to ask why he had to be the one to protect Sam when it was usually a father's job to do that. But he didn't. He knew better than to ask that. He also knew that what John was doing was important. He knew it. And he tried his best to keep Sam safe. He really did. But, sometimes it was just too much. Sometimes, he just couldn't do it. And yes, sometimes he thought it was unfair.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, not knowing what else to say. He knew it wasn't enough and he knew he was about to be punished, but he didn't know what else to do. He thought it was weird, though, that he felt more accepting of the fact that he was about to be punished when he wasn't really the one at fault. Maybe because in a way, he was just doing what he was supposed to be doing….. protecting Sammy.

"I don't know what's going on with you, Dean, but it needs to stop. You're not holding up your end of the deal, son. And your attitude hasn't been the greatest, either. Don't think I forgot about our conversation last week. I told Sam to put you back on the phone and he said you didn't want to talk to me, that you had walked away. That's not your choice, boy. You don't get to decide when and if you want to talk to me, understand?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'm not just talking to hear my own voice, Dean. When I say something, you listen. When I tell you to do something, you do it. I give orders, you follow orders. That's how it works in this family. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir."

"Okay, then. What's the last order I give to you before I leave for a job?"

Dean looked miserably up to his dad. "Watch out for Sammy," he answered.

"And did you follow that order today?"

"No, sir."

"And what happens when you don't follow orders, Dean? What are the consequences of insubordination?"

"You punish me."

"Yes, I punish you. I don't like having to do that, Dean, but you need discipline to be a good soldier. It's my job to provide that for you."

Dean wanted to argue that he wasn't just a soldier, but he didn't. He liked being a soldier in the fight against evil. What he didn't like was being thought of as only a soldier. He wanted his dad to think of him as more than that sometimes, but he knew that was a lot to ask for.

"I know, Dad."

"Let's get this over with, then. Come here, son."

Dean stood up and walked over to his dad. He wanted to beg his dad not to spank him, but he didn't. Instead, he allowed himself to be guided over the man's knee, thinking the whole time that at least it wasn't Sammy getting spanked.

Bobby was surprised when he saw the sleek, black Chevy in front of the house, wondering how it was he didn't hear the motor. He had been on the very far side of the salvage yard, so he was pretty far away from the house. But, it still surprised him that he didn't hear anything.

Stepping into the house, he immediately noticed Sam sitting on the couch, his elbows wrapped around his legs and his face buried in his knees. The next thing he noticed was the sound of what could only be someone getting a spanking coming from upstairs. He could hear loud smacking sounds followed by yelps and "ows" that echoed noisily. Wondering how it was possible that Dean had already gotten into some trouble with his father, Bobby called for some answers from Sam.

"What's going on, Sam? Why is Dean getting punished?"

Sam looked up at him with his enormous puppy-dog eyes, making Bobby's heart skip a beat. "Daddy's mad, Uncle Bobby."

Bobby couldn't stop himself from rolling his eyes at the obviousness of that comment, but he knew he shouldn't expect anything different from the boy. He was just a baby, after all.

"What did Dean do? I've only been gone for forty minutes, so how did the boy already get himself into trouble?" He was surprised when Sam suddenly started crying. "Hey, kid….it's okay."

"Nuh uh…. Daddy's spanking Dean, Uncle Bobby!"

"I know, Sam. I can hear it for myself. But, why is your daddy spanking Dean?"

"Cuz I went outside…."

Bobby couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Your daddy's punishing Dean because you went outside? Since when is Dean not allowed to take you outside, Sam?"

Sam started crying even harder. "I went outside by myself, Uncle Bobby. I didn't mean to."

"What do you mean you didn't mean to?" Bobby asked.

"I just wanted to play, but Dean said I couldn't. He was being a meanie."

"Sam, are you telling me that you snuck outside because Dean told you that you couldn't go out there?"

"Yeah. And now Daddy's mad at Dean because I was out there and he was in here."

Bobby was still confused, but he was starting to piece it all together. "Damn it! Dean didn't tell your Daddy that he didn't know you were outside, did he? So, you're Dad came back, found you outside by yourself, found your brother in here, and assumed that Dean just wasn't watching out for you. And your fool brother didn't stand up for himself because he didn't want you to get in trouble, right?"

Bobby wasn't really expecting Sam to answer. He knew the boy was scared and really didn't understand everything that Dean was doing for him, but he hoped that one day he would, that Sam would one day realize how lucky he was to have Dean as a big brother. Without dwelling on the confounded situation any longer, Bobby turned to the stairs. "Stay here, Sam. I'll be back in a few."

Without waiting for an answer, he made his way up to John and Dean.

John was just about to wrap things up when the door suddenly flew open to reveal a very angry looking Bobby. His raised hand paused in the air and suddenly the room was just filled with the sounds of Dean crying.

"John, hold up…" Bobby said as he stepped in the room.

"Back off, Singer. This is between me and my boy here."

Dean had stopped struggling at the sound of Bobby's voice and he lay limply over John's knees, thankful for the reprieve.

"John, we need to talk."

"I'm almost done here, Bobby. Then we'll talk."

"We need to talk now, John. You're done."

"I'll be the judge of that," John growled as his grip on Dean tightened.

Bobby sighed in frustration as he ran his hand over his face. "John, please…. This wasn't Dean's fault."

"What are you talking about?" John asked.

"Let Dean up and I'll tell you."

John loosened his grip on Dean and helped the boy to stand. Dean quickly wiped his face in the sleeve of his shirt as he looked between the two men. John looked up at Bobby expectantly.

"You didn't get the whole story, here, John."

Dean suddenly realized what was happening. "Uncle Bobby, please…" he begged.

Now John was looking even more confused as he watched the silent communication going on between his friend and his son. "What the hell is going on here?"

Bobby gave Dean an apologetic look before answering. "Dean didn't know that Sam was outside, John. Sam snuck out on his own."

"What? What makes you think that?"

"I came in to find Sam crying his eyes out and you up here with Dean. Sam told me what happened."

John looked over at Dean who had a panicked look on his face. "Is that true, Dean?"

"Dad…."

"Damn it, Dean. Tell me the truth. Did you know that Sam was outside by himself?"

"No, sir. But, Dad…. I should've been watching him better. If I had, he wouldn't have been able to sneak out. It's my fault."

"Where did you think he was, Dean?"

"I thought he was up here. I told him that he couldn't go outside and he got upset. He came up here because he was mad at me and he fell asleep. So, I went back downstairs. But, I should have stayed up here with him, Dad. It's my fault."

"Dean…."

"You can't punish him, Dad. Please."

Bobby and John shared a look and Bobby turned and left the room, heading back down to Sam. John stood up and paced the small room, running his fingers through his hair and his hands over his face. He was much too tired to be dealing with this, but he knew he had to.

"Dean, why did you lie about this? You know how I feel about lying."

"I-I didn't want Sam to be punished."

"Why? Are you afraid I'm going to hurt him?"

"He's just a kid, Dad. He's really little and he doesn't understand."

"He understands more than you think, son. Sammy's smart. He knows he's not supposed to sneak out like that. And if he knows that, then he knows he'll get punished if he gets caught."

"But…."

"Dean, you can't protect Sam from things like this. He has to learn that there are consequences to his actions and choices. If you keep taking the blame for him, he won't learn these things."

"I should've been watching him better," Dean argued.

"You were watching him just fine. You thought he was asleep upstairs. He's the one that was being sneaky."

There was a long silence where Dean was trying his best to figure out how to keep his dad from spanking Sam and John was trying to figure out how best to deal with Sam's misbehavior and Dean's subsequent lying.

"Dean, I need you to trust me, okay? I know you're worried for your brother, but there's no reason to be. He'll be punished and he'll be fine. Okay?"

"Okay," Dean reluctantly agreed.

"Now, we need to talk about your lying to me and this penchant you have for covering up for your brother. It has to stop, do you hear me?"

"Yes, sir."

"I mean it, Dean. I won't tolerate you lying to me. And Sam needs to learn to take responsibility for his choices. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." Dean paused and then looked up at his dad. "Are you, um… are you going to punish me for lying to you?"

John looked down at his son. "I should, but since I already spanked you for something that you didn't do, we'll call it even. But, don't do it again."

Dean allowed his dad to pull him into his side. "I'm sorry, Dad."

"I know. Now, let me go deal with your brother and then the two of you can show me what Santa brought you for Christmas. Sam said it was cool, but I'm betting that my presents are even better."

"You brought us presents?" Dean asked.

"Of course, I did." John pulled Dean in even closer. "I didn't want to miss Christmas, Dean. Just so you know."

And Dean did know.

Bobby tried to distract Dean while John was dealing with Sam, but it didn't work very well. Mostly because Sam was really vocal when he was being punished. Luckily, Dean only heard four smacks being delivered to his brother's backside and he was relieved when just minutes later, John came back downstairs with a subdued Sam on his hip.

Sam was always quiet in the immediate aftermath of a punishment, but Dean knew how to liven him up. After John settled the boy on the couch, Dean sat down next to him. "Hey, Sammy, guess what? Dad brought us presents."

He smiled at the way Sam's eyes lit up at the news. Sam wiped his runny nose on his shirt sleeve as he looked seriously at his brother. "Dean? I'm sorry you got in trouble. Daddy said that it was my fault and that I wasn't being a very good little brother."

"It's okay, Sammy. I'm the one that lied, remember? I said it was my fault."

"But, Daddy said I should've been aponsible."

Dean laughed at Sam's mispronunciation. "It's responsible, Sammy. Not aponsible."

"Yeah, that's what Daddy said I should've been."

Dean, Bobby, and John all laughed. Seconds later, Sam joined in and soon things were back to a relative normal. Sam and Dean showed their dad what Santa had left for them and Dean made it a point to let John and Bobby know, without alerting Sam, that he knew Santa wasn't real. John pulled out two weirdly wrapped packages and gave them to his sons. Bobby thought he looked a little nervous as they opened them and he figured that the man just really wanted his boys to like what he had picked out. Luckily, they both loved their gifts. Sammy immediately started playing with the metal puzzles, his face scrunched up in concentration. And Dean was flipping the knife around, surprising both hunters with the finesse and skill he was showing. John made him promise that he wouldn't play with the knife without adult supervision. Then John promised that he would teach Dean the proper knife handling techniques as soon as possible.

Eventually, Sam and Dean were tucked up in bed for the night. John and Bobby had already been by to say goodnight and Dean had just finished reading Sam a story. Just as he was about to doze off, Dean heard Sam say his name.

"Dean? What was that word that dad said I should've been?"

"Responsible," Dean answered with a yawn. He was just about to doze off when he heard Sammy again.

"Dean?"

"C'mon, Sammy. Go to sleep…."

"Okay, but I just wanna ask one more question…."

"Fine," Dean sighed.

"Dean? What does re….responsible mean?"

Dean couldn't help but laugh before he explained the meaning of the word as best as he could to his little brother.

Author's note: Well, this chapter kind of took itself in its own direction, lol. It really didn't turn out how I planned, but that's the fun of writing, if you ask me. Sometimes, these characters take on a life of their own and a writer just has to go with it.

Thanks so much for reading and reviewing. And for sticking with this story. I've got a few more (hopefully) exciting ideas for it, so hang in there. And just in case you're interested….I've posted a two chapter Valentine's story called A Very Supernatural Valentine's Day and a one-shot called With Everything I Had (based off of episode 10x09) recently. Check it out, if you're so inclined.