A/N: I'm sorry for the long delay, believe me it was not my choice. I'd explain but you probably wouldn't believe me anyway.
Wrath
"I'll have you spread-eagled on a wagon wheel"
-John Wayne
"Who can tell me what an Insecta Coleoptera Coccinellidae is?" The question rang out in the classroom falling on nineteen pairs of deaf ears. Ms. Jones had been working with her eighth graders for about two months trying to relate to them the many wonders of the Kingdom Animalia. She was met with glazed eyes and less-then-enthused answers from everyone….well, almost.
"A ladybug" said the familiar voice in the second row. She nodded a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth as she continued.
"Alright, what about a tamiasciurus hudsonicus?" She asked and the boy opened his mouth almost right away but she was too quick for him this time, "anyone besides Sam?" She asked her eyes searching the nineteen mouths in her room that hadn't spoken since September with a mixture of hope, and the knowledge that none of them had been paying attention. An awkward silence filled the room after her question, and she didn't miss the daggers that were shooting out of the bigger boy's eyes towards her best student. "Anyone? Anyone at all?" She asked eyebrows raised in expectation of the great wall of data she knew was out there in those faces….somewhere….probably….she hoped.
No one stirred and she was forced to reveal the answer herself, knowing that anyone who didn't already know the scientific name for the red squirrel wouldn't on tomorrow's test. The bell rang and the students filed out after about ten excruciating minutes of review. Sam skirted out of the room first, hoping to be long gone by the time that those not so well acquainted with the animal world caught up with him. No such luck. Two of the bigger boys, Andrew Sherwood, and Tom Hankley were on his tail in a flash. Sam used every dodging maneuver he had learned from his family to lose them in the crowd, and for awhile it seemed to work, but the bigger boys caught up to him by simply plowing through the crowd of people in the hallway like machines locked in on a target. They were just outside the middle school when Tom grabbed Sam by his collar.
"Hey, where you going, brainiac?" He asked and Andrew's lips curled into a malicious smile. Sam's eyes widened, he could out fight these guys in a heartbeat if he had a gun, a knife…hell, a stick would do, but unfortunately for him and his slight frame, nothing was available.
"Yeah, we've got some study questions for you, thought you might help us out….you know for the test tomorrow." Sam didn't say anything, he just stared them down with quicksilver in his eyes, hoping that his façade worked and they would back off.
"What?" Tom asked, "You won't shut up in class but out here with us you're keeping all of the answers to yourself?" Sam had a million little replies swimming around in his brain, all of which he knew would get the crap kicked out of him, so he remained silent.
"You know" Andrew started pinning him up against the broken bricks of the school's front, "you gettin' all of those awards and A's …you is the reason my moms thinks I'm stupid." Sam couldn't help it, you is the reason my moms thinks I'm stupid?
"Really, I is? Because you know, you seem like such a well rounded person" Sam said his voice dripping with sarcasm that was most likely mistaken for false flattery by the brutish boy. Andrew grinned at him, a grin that was a little lopsided and reminded Sam very much of the old man that lived in the apartment across from them who had about two teeth to his name. Andrew grabbed his shoulders roughly and pinned down his arms, easily overtaking the smaller boy, who wasn't really putting up a fight, and who even looked a little bored. Tom was the one who actually punched him in the stomach and the way Sam felt it he could have sworn that the son of a bitch took a running start. He fell to his knees the wind knocked out of him and starts spinning around his head. Andrew backed up and positioned his foot so he could get a good kick in the ribs in while Sam was down. Fortunately for Sam his foot never reached its target.
"Hey" an icy voice split the air around the bullies and they both turned in surprise, trying to hide their panic at being discovered by a teacher, or even the principal. They had oily excuses perched on their tongues for the authority figure, that they were sure would slip them out of this little problem. However, when they made eye contact with the speaker they knew that they had been seen by the worst possible person. Their words fell lamely back into their throats and all they could muster up was a faint choking noise as they backed away towards their fallen peer.
Sam couldn't see what was going on as he was currently trying to catch his breath face down in the grass, but he would know that voice anywhere.
"What the hell are you doing to my brother?" Dean Winchester's eyes were inflamed and Andrew and Tom found themselves frantically searching for any way out. The Winchester brothers had been at school in Franklin for a semester and a half and already Dean was a legend. He drove faster, played harder, and fought better then any boy in the high school. He had a charm and a smile that could get him out of any situation, and he could, and probably did, have any girl he wanted (which is another good reason for him to fight so well). No one ever saw him studying but he managed to pulled through with B's which seemed to confound even his teachers. And a whole slew of minor crimes in the school had been credited to him, with him never confirming or denying any of it, and never getting caught. Now Sam hadn't stood out as much as his older brother, being smaller and a much better student, he probably never got below a 98 in his life and the two bullies had either failed to notice the Winchester connection, or overlooked it as a coincidence; that was a major mistake.
By this point Sam had gotten to his feet and was halfway through the sentence, Dean, it's alright when both boys were flung to the ground in one fluid motion. Dean had twisted both of their right arms behind their backs and was met with a chorus of disgusting crunches that signaled the breaking of bone.
"You okay Sammy?" Dean asked not looking up from his preythe anger still obvious in his voice as he squeezed the boy's wrists tighter in an iron grip.
"Yeah, it's okay Dean, you can let them go….I'm fine, they were just…." Sam's voice faltered as he tried to defend his assailants for some unknown reason.
"Dude, we didn't know he was your brother….we're sorry" Tom choked out, his voice finally returning to him. The rage in Dean's features did not subside as the miasma of anger clouded more heavily around his head, and he squeezed harder garnering a yelp of pain from Andrew who had until then been mute.
"Dean!" Sam nearly yelled grabbing his brother by the shoulder, "don't kill them." And the seriousness with which Sam uttered that phrase made both bullies' eyes bulge out of their skulls.
"Yeah man, don't kill us…we're sorry." Sam had no doubt in what his brother would do if he thought that Sam was in danger, and he didn't want Dean to have a criminal record on his account. A fire still burned behind Dean's eyes and if it weren't for Sam, well those bullies might never have walked again. Instead, Dean let them up and they both jumped to their feet and ran, clutching matching broken wrists. Watching them go the fire was extinguished in Dean's eyes and his attention was focused on his little brother once more.
"Did they hurt you?" He asked grabbing both of Sam's shoulders and looking him in the eye. Sam shrugged him off,
"Not as much as you hurt them" he said and Dean finally cracked a smile,
"C'mon" he said ushering Sam to the sidewalk and starting off towards their apartment building. They walked in silence for a bit until Sam looked up at his older brother with a smirk on his face.
"You know you'll probably get suspended, or something" he said and Dean shrugged,
"Probably" he said,
"Dad's gonna love that" he added and Dean bit his bottom lip,
"He'll understand." Sam nodded knowing that their father would probably be proud of Dean for protecting him, even if it did mean getting suspended.Silence drifted over them again andthe more Sam thought about it themore clouded his eyes appeared.
"I've never seen you like that before" he said quietly.
"Like what?" Dean asked throwing his brother a skeptical look,
"So…angry" Sam replied and once again Dean shrugged like breaking the wrists of two eighth graders was a daily occurrence,
"They were trying to hurt you" he said calmly no hint of the brotherly affection that Sam knew was there made it into his voice. "And it's my job to make sure nothing hurts you whether it is some nasty eighth graders or your run of the mill poltergeist." Sam actually laughed at that, letting the fact that his brother had just recited a sentence from The John Winchester Manual for a Dutiful Son go.
"Only in my family are bullies rare and poltergeists run of the mill." Sam finally said settling for the more innocuous subject of Winchester weirdness. Dean smiled and pushed his little brother teasingly.
"Yeah well, I'm getting some excellent training to be in the secret service, or a bouncer, or something, you know, in case the fraud business dries up" Dean said shaking his head, the remaining fury flying out of him, to his great relief. Sam grinned and studied his feet,
"You know you're not always going to be there to beat the crap out of whatever is after me" he said, his tone was light but Dean didn't miss the meaning.
"Alright, next time those assholes try to pull one over on you, I'll let you handle it all by yourself princess." Sam laughed as the images of Tom and Andrew's scared faces were painted across his vision,
"Something tells me that that was the last time they'll try to mess with me." Dean smiled as they rounded the corner and nodded,
"Well then, I've done my job."
