Obedience

A.N.-This is my version of why Dean does everything John says and how he became Daddy's little soldier.

John Winchester looked down at his eldest son. "I'm going into town, Dean, look after your brother until I come back." Dean nodded,

"Okay Dad, I will." John gave one of his rare smiles,

"I know you will." With this he patted Dean on the head and as he walked towards the front door of the run down cabin that had been their home for most of the past week, he said, "You're nine now, You're not a child anymore."

Dean puffed his chest out, trying to imitate the way his father walked as he followed him to the door. At the door they heard a "Daddy!" Dean turned to see this little brother Sammy sprinting as fast as his little legs could carry him, towards their father, then wrapping his arms around their father's legs. He looked up, "Where are you going daddy?"

"Into town. You do what your brother says, okay. He's in charge." John replied. "Because he's older?" Sammy asked in a whisper, as if it were a secret. Their father nodded. "Because he's older." He replied. Sammy seemed satisfied with this explanation and nodded. "Okay Daddy."

"Good boy." John replied, pulling himself gently from Sammy's grip and walking out the door. He was almost to the car when he called back, "And stay out of those caves, Dean!"

Dean's face fell, he had been looking forward to exploring the caves nearby, but his father said they weren't safe. He sighed and put an arm around Sammy's shoulders as they watched their father drive away.

"Dean…" Sammy said softly.

"Yeah, Sammy?"

"I'm hungry."

"Okay, come on. I'll find you something to eat."

Dean led Sammy into the kitchen and opened the cupboard doors- nothing. "Uh, okay…" he sighed, then picked up his bag from the table. "Sammy, you like gummi bears, right?" His brother nodded eagerly. "Good." Dean replied, pulling out a small plastic bag half full of Gummi bears and handed it to his little brother. "Here you go." He said. Sammy beamed, "Thank you, Dean." He said, sitting down and sorting through all the Gummi bears, eating all the red ones first. Dean smiled as he watched his brother happily push all the orange Gummi bears to one side, and hoped his father would remember to bring some food home.

"Hey Sammy…?" Dean said when his brother was halfway through the Gummi bears. Sammy looked up, a Gummi bear halfway to his mouth, "Yeah Dean?"

"Do you want to play hide and seek?"

"Really? Yes!" Sammy cried happily, scooping the rest of the Gummi bears back into the plastic bag and putting it in his pocket. "You're in!" Sammy said, looking up at Dean and grinning.

"Okay, I'll be in." Dean replied, "You run outside and hide, I'll count to a hundred in here."

"A hundred?" Sammy asked eyes wide, "You know a hundred?"

"Yeah, it's easy, I'll teach you tomorrow." Dean said, Sammy grinned and hugged his brother around the waist, before running out the door to hide.

Dean walked over to the kitchen drawer and opened it; he reached in and pulled out a handgun. If their father said those caves were unsafe, there was bound to be something in there. Dean couldn't resist a chance to explore, but that didn't mean that he was going to go in there with no way to protect little Sammy. Besides, he wasn't a child anymore, his father had said so, he could handle whatever was in there.

Dean loaded the gun with silver bullets and hurried outside to search for his brother. "Got you Sammy!" Dean said, finding him crouched behind a tree. Sammy leapt to his feet giggling, then, when he realized it was his turn to be in, his face fell. Dean smiled, he knew his brother hated being in. He remembered, about a year ago, it had been Sammy's turn to find Dean. Dean had found a really good hiding place, between two bushes and had sat there for about half an hour before he had gotten tired of waiting. He had crawled out of his hiding place and gone in search of Sammy. He had found his little brother sitting on the grass crying because he could not find Dean. Ever since, Sammy had hated being in.

"Tell you what, Sammy." Dean said "I'll be in again, but we gotta play in the caves."

"But… Daddy said not to go in there, Dean" Sammy said uncertainly as he looked up at his big brother.

"He also said to do what I say, didn't he?" Sammy nodded slowly "Well…" Dean continued "I say it's okay, and…" he pulled out the gun "I can deal with whatever baddie that might be in there."

"Um…" Sammy stammered.

"I won't let anything happen to you Sammy." Dean told him. "I promise."

"Well…okay…" Sammy said slowly.

"Hey." Dean said, putting a hand on his brother's shoulder "You trust me, don't you?"

"Yes." Sammy replied.

"Well, then, what are we waiting for?" Dean asked, smiling as he led his brother up to the cave.

"You wait here and count a hundred." Sammy told Dean before running of into the cave. Dean counted slowly, and then walked into the cave, pulling out his pocket torch. He shone the beam around wishing he had given it to Sammy, and hoping his brother wouldn't hurt himself by tripping over an unseen rock. Dean searched for about fifteen minutes, looking around at the walls and floor. The caves were made of a strange rock, a sort of grayish black in colour and full of holes. There were also vines and roots all through the walls, roof and ground of the rock, and through the holes, the caves were riddled with them. Dean decided that the caves reminded him of honeycomb. –he couldn't remember the last time he'd had honeycomb…

It was then, he heard a squeal from up ahead, followed by a large crashing sound. Dean ran as fast as he could towards the sound, calling his little brother "SAMMY!" he yelled, rounding a corner "SAMMY WHERE ARE YOU?"

"Dean?" A tiny voice from just ahead. Dean slowed down.

"SAMMY?"

"Dean…I'm down here." His brother's voice came from just in front of him. Dean shone the tiny beam of light about a meter ahead of him and let out a small gasp. A large section of the ground had given way, and in its place was a large, black, gaping hole.

"DEAN!" Sammy yelled. Dean cringed at the fear in his brother's voice, the fear turned pleading as his brother whimpered "Help me…"

Dean inched forward to the edge and looked over. "Sammy…" he breathed, spotting his little brother about three meters down, he had managed to grab hold of one of the larger roots in the rock and was now dangling helplessly in nothingness. Dean shone the torch past his brother, down into the hole to see how far the bottom was. There was nothing, the hole went deep into the Earth. Dean bit his lip, he could hear Sammy crying quietly as he struggled to hold on to the root. "Okay Sammy." He said firmly "Just grab on to the next root and climb up, it'll be okay."

"I can't Dean." Sammy sobbed with a sniffle "I'll fall."

"Okay Sammy" Dean said, taking his jacket off. "Hold on, I'm coming." He placed the torch on the ground, next to the hole, so that he'd be able to see the top, and slowly lowered himself over the edge, using the many roots to climb down to his brother. When Dean reached him, it was obvious that Sammy was weakening. "Sammy, climb onto my back, I'll carry you up." He said. Sammy didn't need to be told twice. He immediately took hold of Dean and wrapped his arms around his neck and his legs around his waist. Dean ignored the fact that his brother was strangling him, Sammy was obviously scared. He slowly began climbing back up to the top, testing each root to make sure it would be able to hold the weight of both boys.

When Dean reached the top he stopped. "Okay Sammy, You go first." He said, Sammy sniffed and crawled over Dean, up, back into the main cave. Once his brother as safe again, Dean pulled himself up out of the hole. Dean threw himself over to his little brother who stood nearby crying. "Sammy!" he demanded, grabbing his little brother by the shoulders then forcing his face up to look at him. "Sammy, are you okay? Are you hurt? Where does it hurt?"

Sammy continued to cry, but managed to get out "I dropped my Gummi bears, Dean"

Dean tried not to laugh, and threw his arms around his little brother, hugging him tightly. "It's okay." He told him "I'll get you some more." Sammy nodded and held Dean's hand tightly as his brother picked up his jacket and torch and led them towards the entrance of the cave and back to the cabin.

Dean knew he was in trouble as soon as they reached the cabin and saw that their father's car was back. He looked down at Sammy covered in dirt and light scratches. At that moment John half walked, half ran over to them. "Dean! What did I tell you?" He demanded, lifting Sammy from the ground and carrying him inside. Dean followed silently, walking into the kitchen behind his father, who had sat Sammy on the table.

A few minutes later John had wiped all the dirt off Sammy and had cleansed the worst of his scratches. "Go play outside Sammy." John told him gently. "I need to talk with Dean." Sammy looked warily from his father to his big brother who stood silently by the door. He slowly nodded and jumped off the table, hugging Dean around the waist as he passed him on his way outside. Dean patted Sammy on the head for a moment until his father motioned him forward.

Slowly Dean walked forward, sitting in the chair his father pointed at. "Where's the gun, Dean?" John asked softly. Dean pulled the gun out and placed it on the table. John looked at it for a moment then up at his son. "Why did you disobey me?"

Dean looked at the table, not looking up at his father. "I wanted to explore the caves…" he said softly.

"I told you they were not safe." John continued in a calm voice. "And you still took your brother in there?"

"That's why I took the gun!" Dean said, looking up. "So I could protect Sammy from the thing in there!" John stared at his son for a moment before kneeling before him.

"Dean, there are more dangers than the supernatural." He said firmly. "Those caves aren't safe, not because something lives in there but because they are unstable, full of holes!"

"I know that now." Dean said softly.

"You should have listened to me!" John scolded, getting to his feet. "Sam could have gotten hurt!"

"I'm sorry." Dean said, trying to hold back tears that threatened to overwhelm him. It would not do to let his father see him cry. "I didn't mean for Sammy to get hurt. You said I'm not a child anymore, so I thought that I would be able to protect him, I thought it would be okay."

John turned on him "It is your job to protect your brother Dean. Do you want something to happen to him?" Dean shook his head violently. And John continued "Well then from now on Dean, you do exactly as I say, no questions asked. Do you understand?"

Dean bowed his head, "Yes sir."

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