Rule 11: No matter what big brother says, never just stand there and watch him fight the monster alone.

Set after Season 2, Episode 4 (Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things)

"Dean," Sam said as his brother packed the Impala, "I am not comfortable with this."

"Neither am I, Sammy," the older brother replied humourlessly.

"You know what I mean," the younger hunter complained, "I don't like you going after this thing by yourself."

"I won't be by myself," Dean argued, "You'll be with me."

Sam scowled, "Yeah, watching."

"No, Sam, that's where you're wrong," his brother replied, "You're not just watching, you're watching my back."

The older Winchester slammed the Impala's trunk shut and began walking around to the driver's side.

"Dean," Sam said as he went to the passenger's side, speaking to his brother from over the classic Chevy, "I really think I should do this. Remember the last time we killed a Rawhead?"

Dean grimaced and opened the door, climbing into the car, "Yeah, Sammy, I remember. But what are you going to do? You basically have only one arm right now."

Sam, sitting down in the passenger's seat, sighed, "I just don't feel good about this. I wish you'd let me take the risks this time."

"Well," Dean said as he turned the key in the engine and the Impala roared to life, "That's what you get for breaking your wrist."

"What's that?" Sam muttered sourly.

"Benched," Dean replied and turned on the stereo, classic rock music blaring from the speakers.

W

Sam followed Dean into the abandoned recreation center, the scent of chlorine and mold strong in the dilapidated building.

Although the center had long been left to rot, its windows boarded up, sunlight shone weakly through the cracks in the plywood, allowing the Winchesters a dim view of the interior.

Both hunters moved as quietly as possible, muscles coiled to spring at a moments notice. Rawheads, though not necessarily dangerous to adults as their favourite food was children, could still be a threat to an unwary hunter because their sharp teeth and claws could slice through their flesh just as readily as that of a kid's.

"Do you smell that?" Dean asked, wrinkling his nose.

Sam stopped and sniffed the air, trying to discern what his brother was smelling over the pungent aroma of mold and tang of old chlorine. Then, there it was, faint, but most definitely there, the sweet, earthy tones of rotting meat.

The younger Winchester looked at his sibling for a moment and Dean slipped past him, taking the lead, moving towards the area of the rec center where the pool was.

Dean reached out and pushed the door to the change rooms open, stepping inside and pulling a penlight from his pocket. Sam followed close behind him, his heartbeat beginning to pick up.

As they moved past the lockers and showers, the older Winchester paused and smirked.

"Hey, Sammy, I've never been in the women's' change room before."

The younger hunter rolled his eyes but said nothing.

Dean clicked off the penlight in his hand, pulling out a Taser instead, as the approached the open doorway that led to the pool itself.

The brothers stopped just inside the doorway, hidden by shadows, and peered across the pool area, searching for their quarry.

Sam, by virtue of his height, spied the Rawhead first. Crouched in the bottom of the empty pool, it appeared to be chewing on the femur bone of one of its young victims. The hunter felt nauseous just watching the monster. Tall, though not as tall as Sam, the Rawhead had long, stringy blond hair, deathly pale skin streaked with grime, and, if it looked up, the hunter would be able to see its near-white eyes. Its teeth were sharp, its hands and feet ending in claws instead of nails, it seemed like an almost perfect predator.

Without waiting for Dean to make his move, Sam slipped out of the doorway and walked quickly but casually along the edge of the pool, eyes pinned to the monster crouched below him.

"Sam!" he heard his brother hiss but the young man ignored him. He knew what he was doing.

"Hey asshole!" Sam shouted. The Rawhead's face lifted instantly, pale eyes going to him right away, "Why don't you try eating someone your own size?"

The creature let out an inhuman snarl of anger and began scrabbling towards him.

From the corner of his eye, Sam saw Dean dash out from the doorway and jump down into the bottom of the pool with the Rawhead.

There was a thin film of scummy water on the bottom of the pool, which was exactly what the hunter needed to kill the monster.

Sam felt his heart leap into his throat as Dean ran right up behind the Rawhead and began to lower the Taser in his hand. Pressing his thumb down on the button, the device crackled to life, a single line of lightning racing from prong to prong.

Dean was just a bit too slow and the Rawhead turned face the older hunter, growling with rage. Lifting a hand, the creature backhanded Dean and the hunter went sprawling, the Taser flying out of his hand to hit the side of the pool and land in the brackish water, useless.

Now no longer interested in Sam, the Rawhead, growling and slavering, turned to Dean who was disoriented from the blow and slowly picking himself up off the bottom of the pool.

"Shit," Sam muttered and ran around the side of the pool, eyes pinned to the Taser.

Jumping down into the pool, Sam was running towards the weapon before he could even gather his bearing, staggering forward but managing to snag the Taser as he did so. Moving forward, he placed himself between his brother and the Rawhead, pressing the button on the device and bringing it to life again.

"Get out of the pool, Dean," Sam said calmly, not taking his eyes off the monster in front of him.

The Rawhead watched as the elder Winchester backed away, making his way to the ladder on the far side of the pool and using it to climb out.

"You move and I'll fry us both," Sam warned, having no idea if the Rawhead understood at all.

"You can quit being a hero now, Sammy," Dean's voice called to him from the edge of the pool and the younger brother began to back away, gaze focused on the Rawhead, thumb cramping from pressing the Taser's ON button so hard.

SPN

"C'mon, c'mon, get out of there," Dean muttered to himself as he watched his brother back away from the Rawhead with agonizing slowness.

Always prepared, Dean hadn't brought just one Taser, but two, the second one he had hidden in his jacket pocket, this one the kind that fired its electrocuting projectiles instead of having to be pressed up against the object one wanted to incapacitate. Now Dean held it out, pointed at the Rawhead but he hesitated to press the trigger; if Sam were still standing in the water at the bottom of the pool when the monster was shocked, he'd be barbequed as well.

Without warning, the Rawhead in question, perhaps seeing Sam's retreat as a sign of weakness, rushed forward and leaped on the younger hunter, bringing him to the ground.

"SAM!" Dean shouted his brother's name as the Rawhead onto of his sibling suddenly began to seize uncontrollably, its growl now turning to a scream of pain.

"SAMMY!" the older brother called out again as smoke began to rise from the monster and it suddenly stopped screaming and flailing around, collapsing on top of the hunter.

"Fuck," Dean swore and hurried to the edge of the pool and jumping in, "Sam! Sammy! Are you okay?"

For a moment there was no reply and then a small voice choked out.

"Get it off me."

The older Winchester broke out into a grin and rushed to his brother's aide, shoving the smoking carcass away from him and pulling him up.

"You hurt?" Dean asked, giving his brother a visual once-over.

Sam shook his head and couldn't help but smile.

"What's so funny?" Dean asked as he pulled the Taser out of his sibling's hand and turned him around so they could use the ladder to exit the pool.

"And you just wanted me to stand by and watch."

The older Winchester scowled at his brother and watched as Sam climbed up the ladder. Dean sighed and let himself smile too.

"Hey, Sammy," he called as he started climbing up as well.

"Yeah?" the younger hunter replied, frowning at the feeling of cold, dirty water all down his back.

"Thanks for not listening to me."

Author's Note:

Rule comes from HunterChic1807.

Thanks to reannablue, elliereynolds777, StyxxsOmega, Jenjoremy, SamDeanLover28, BranchSuper, jo1966, TheFantasticLadyMax, and Slytherin Studios for reviewing.

I apologize for the insanely long wait. I had major writer's block on this 'rule' and simply could not figure out what to write about.

A big thanks to mandancie for helping me with this chapter- if not for her, I'd still be scratching my head, wondering just what to write for it.

Please take a moment to leave a review and I'll try not to make the wait for the next rule so long.