Chapter 5

The next morning, Sam woke slowly from a deep sleep and lay in his bed. He had put Dean in his bed last night to sleep and he had taken the twin closest to the door. Sam figured since he was the adult now, he should be the one at the door to protect his brother. Dean had always been his protector his entire life and now he was able to do the same. Sam drew in some slow breaths and wiped his face before yawning and looking over at the other bed. He blinked quickly and looked again to see the bed empty and unmade.

"Dean?" Sam called out as he sat up in bed and swung his legs to the side feeling the cold wooden floor under his feet. He got up and slipped on light sweats before walking into the hall to look in the bathroom seeing it was empty too. Sam tried not to panic as he headed for the stairs and rushed down them. "Dean," Sam called again, checking the front door to see it was still locked securely. He looked in Bobby's office and under the desk but still couldn't find Dean. He looked around the living room before heading into the kitchen thinking maybe Dean went outside to find Rufus to play with him. The backdoor was still locked, and the laundry room was empty.

Then Sam noticed the basement door was ajar and knew Dean had gone down there and there was no telling what him might be getting into. The basement was not child proofed like Bobby did his office, putting things up out of reach of Dean's curious hands. Sam opened the door all the way and went down the steps. After a quick glance, Sam saw the door to the panic room was open and headed that way. Sam stepped into the panic room to find Dean standing in the middle of the room and as he turned, he saw the glint of a gun in his small hands.

"Dean! Put that down!" Sam yelled at him as he took a step toward him.

Dean jumped in surprise and the gun slipped from his hands to fall onto the cement floor and discharged, the sound echoing around the room. He watched in horror as Sam stumbled over his feet and fell sideways not able to break his fall as he hit the floor.

It seemed everything moved in slow motion as Sam watched Dean lose his grip on the gun and it fell to the floor. As the loud echo bounced off the walls, Sam tried to move and stumbled as he felt a sharp, stinging in his bicep before his head collided with the floor almost knocking him out. He was stunned and couldn't get his body to cooperate as his head swam and blackness wanted to pull him under. He could hear a young voice calling to him and felt small hands on his face but couldn't respond to him.

When Sam's mind finally cleared enough that he could get his eyes open, he couldn't see because his vision was blurry. He felt something soft under his head and moved his hand to feel the side of his head finding a pump knot and winced as he touched it. He was lucky he didn't feel any blood, just a tender spot. When he could finally see, he saw Dean kneeling beside him with a look of panic and worry on his face.

"Sam, I'm sorry," Dean whispered as tears filled his eyes and started to drip down his face. He was rocking gently back and forth as he hugged his body with his arms.

"It's okay," Sam said weakly, deciding to lay there for another minute so the lightheadedness could pass. He glanced down and saw a blanket draped over his body and knew his head was on a pillow. It took him a moment to put two and two together knowing Dean had done that. He reached a trembling hand out and pulled Dean down to lay half on his chest so he could comfort him. "It was an accident buddy, I'm not mad at you." Sam rubbed his back as he felt Dean's body tremble as he hugged him. "Let me lay here a minute and we'll get up and go upstairs."

"Okay," Dean sobbed softly.

Sam felt a burning on his bicep and looked at it to see the bullet has grazed his arm, but it wasn't serious. It wouldn't even need stitches, just cleaned, cream put in it, and a pad taped over it. He had a pounding headache from his head hitting the cement floor but didn't think he was concussed. Some extra strength Tylenol and resting for a bit should help.

"Okay, Dean, let's get up," Sam told him helping Dean sit up before he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position. The room spun for a moment, making Sam feel slightly sick until he took some slow, even breaths and waited for it to pass. He saw the gun was still lying in the floor where it had fallen and decided that could be dealt with later. Sam scooted back far enough to use the wall to help him stand on wobbly legs. "Go on Dean, I'm right behind you."

Dean grunted with a snort and instead moved to Sam's side to try and help support him as he put an arm around his waist. Sam couldn't help but smile at him and allowed him to help him from the room. Sam paused long enough to lock the panic room door so Dean couldn't get back in there. They hobbled up the stairs, with Sam tightly gripping the railing to keep from falling.

Once they got into the kitchen, Sam walked to the cabinet and rummaged around inside until he found a bottle of Tylenol. He shook three out and filled a glass with water so he could take the pills. Sam went to the fridge freezer and pulled a bag of frozen peas out before sitting at the table. He pressed the bag to the knot on his head and closed his eyes while letting the coldness numb his pain.

"Why don't you get a juice box and a yogurt out of the fridge to tide you over, Dean?" he told his brother who was standing there looking at him with worried eyes. "I'll fix us some breakfast in a few minutes when my meds kick in."

"Okay," Dean replied doing as Sam asked. He found a spoon and climbed onto the cushion in the chair to sit by Sam. He let Sam open his yogurt for him and started eating it, as he kept glancing sideways at Sam. He didn't seem upset or mad at him for what happened with the gun.

"After we eat, we'll go feed Rufus and be sure there's no damage done from the storm last night," Sam offered hoping to lift Dean's spirits and show him he wasn't mad at him. After his head eased, he would doctor his arm since it wasn't bleeding. It was like the bullet had cauterized the graze as it skimmed his skin.

Dean looked up with interest for a moment before dropping his gaze and looking at his juice. It still bothered him that he couldn't remember anything prior to waking up in that bed in a motel room and Sam was there too. He couldn't understand why his clothes were too big for him or how he even got there. Everything was a blank like his mind has been scrubbed clean. He knew his name was Dean and that was about all he did know. Dean was sure Sam was trying to help him and take care of him.

"Dean, what happened with the gun, you need to be careful and not mess with things. You could have hurt yourself very badly. Promise me you won't do anything like that again," Sam chastised him as gently as he could. "Do you understand?"

"Yes," Dean whispered, keeping his head down ashamed of what had happened. "I promise."

"Good, now we can move on from this incident. What if I fix us some oatmeal with fresh fruit for breakfast? Would you prefer strawberries or bananas cut up in your oatmeal?"

"Can I have both?" Dean asked cautiously.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"Thanks," Dean said.

"Just give me a few more minutes and I think I'll be good to go," Sam assured him. "See, my arm barely bled and all I need to do is clean the graze and bandage it."

"I can help," Dean offered finally looking up at him with perfect puppy dog eyes that almost made Sam laugh but he caught himself and coughed lightly to cover it. He guessed he got that look honestly.

"Thanks Dean, I appreciate that," Sam told him. "Why don't we head upstairs and change clothes and you can help me."

"You can lean on me." Dean slipped from the chair to move to Sam's side.

Sam pushed up holding on to the table for a moment to get his balance. He tossed the peas back into the freezer and walked slowly toward the stairs trying to hide the pain he was in from Dean as he gripped his shoulder. He knew Dean was feeling bad enough over what happened and didn't want him to feel any worse.

Once upstairs, Sam went into the bathroom and got out the first aid kit and a bottle of peroxide. He pulled his T-shirt sleeve out of the way before pouring the peroxide over the graze and grimaced as it bubbled. He did it again until the bubbling stopped and used a hand towel to dry around it.

"Sit," Dean told him, giving him a gentle push toward the commode. He used his stool to stand on to wash his hands before moving to Sam's side. Dean took the antibiotic cream and squirted a little on his small fingers so he could smear it over the graze. When he was done, he opened a pad, placed it over the injury, and took the tape Sam offered him to tape it in place. "Feel better?"

"Yeah Dean, thanks for the help," Sam replied wondering if the ingrained need to take care him was still inside Dean. He smiled at Dean seeing the satisfied look on his face. "Let's get some clothes on and I'll get some oatmeal cooking so we can have breakfast."

"Can I play with Rufus again today?" Dean asked stepping back to allow Sam to stand.

"If he wants to. Sometimes he can be lazy."

The brothers changed clothes and headed downstairs and into the kitchen. Sam got the oatmeal going and washed and cut the fruit as a topping. They ate their oatmeal and put their bowls in the sink to soak before heading out the back door.

Sam grabbed a pair of sunglasses from a drawer since his head was still hurting, hoping they would help with the brightness of the sun outside. He watched Dean run into the yard and call for Rufus as he ran through puddles randomly scattered throughout the yard.

"Dean, watch the pu…" Sam called to him and saw it was no use to tell him to dodge the puddles. He found every one of them and laughed as Rufus ran out to greet him, knocking Dean down and loving on him. Dean squealed in a high-pitched voice as Rufus licked his face. Sam saw Dean was getting muddy but wasn't going to fuss at him. He was happy Dean was being a kid, something he didn't get to do in real life. "Come on you two," Sam laughed as he walked past them heading for Rufus's doghouse. Bobby kept dog food in a storage building by the doghouse and opened it to go inside. He scooped food out of the bag and took it to the dog bowl to fill it. Sam gave Rufus some fresh water and petted him when he came over to eat.

"Did you leave any dirt in the yard?" Sam laughed at Dean as he tried to brush the mud and dirt from his shorts and shirt.

"Yeah," Dean smiled as he watched Rufus eat.

"Want to take a walk?" Sam asked Dean to get a quick head shake yes. "Well, alright then, let's go." Sam held out his hand for Dean to take before walking toward the back of the yard to the back gate. He let them out and started walking around the empty field toward the forest.

The air was fresh and clean smelling after the storm last night and Sam was enjoying being outside. Dean skipped along beside him, happy and content.

"If we're quiet, we might seem some animals in the woods here," Sam informed him.

"What?"

"I don't know, maybe deer, squirrels, rabbits, opossum, who knows," Sam replied as they stepped into the edge of the forest. "You need to stay with me Dean and don't run off. I don't need you getting lost in these woods."

"Okay, I will," Dean nodded sincerely. Dean's head swiveled and he stretched his neck trying to see everything at one time. He looked through the trees hoping to spot an animal hiding nearby. He let go of Sam's hand and walked ahead of him, squatting here and there to look at plants or mushrooms or pick up a rock that caught his eyes. He shoved a couple into his pocket before continuing their walk. He didn't see Sam take his cell out and take a few pictures of him as he explored the woods.

It amazed Sam at how innocent Dean was with not knowing about what was really out there in the shadows. He started thinking about how Dean had shielded him from the supernatural for as long as he could when they were growing up. He wanted him to have a childhood that wasn't filled with monsters. His heart swelled with pride when he realized how much Dean loved him and always looked out for him and protected him from the bad of the world. Somehow, he was going to pay him back for what he had given him.

A/N: Dean gets into some mischief and Sam almost gets seriously hurt, but he's not mad at Dean. Sam is finding there's more to taking care of a young kid than he thought. Thank you for coming along for the ride. I do like reviews/comments. NC