Title: Now I Know My ABC's
Author: Disasteriffic Kaz
Info: A hurt/comfort romp through the alphabet, one letter at a time from A to Z. Each chapter is a stand-alone one shot. There is hurt, comfort, angst, humor, feels and all around fun.
Author's Note: This one is set post 2x11 'Playthings'. :D I had a little fun here.
Beta'd by the always awesome JaniceC678 :D– Friend and Muse's co-conspirator.
**Follow me on Facebook as "Disasteriffic Kaz" for frequent fic updates or just to chat!
~Reviews are Love~
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I is for Inebriation -
Dean hiked up the trail into Green Mountain National Forest looking at the colorful trees around them with their yellow and orange leaves glowing in the early afternoon sun and scowled. Hiking in Vermont in September wasn't his idea of a good time, even less so with a little brother who was fixated on knowing their father had told Dean to kill him if he had to. He could hear Sam's long stride through the leaves on the trail behind him and swore he could hear the depression coming from each step.
"Dean." Sam lengthened his stride and caught up to his brother. He readjusted the straps of his pack and looked over, frowning at the dark look on Dean's face. "Dude, what?"
"What?"
"I asked you first." Sam raised his brows. "You look like someone ran over your dog."
"No, I look like I'm hiking through the damn forest after a damn tree faerie with my little brother who annoys the crap outta me." Dean smirked over at Sam and gave him a shove so Sam staggered into the trees lining the narrow trail.
Sam rolled his eyes and didn't rise to the bait. "It's not a faerie, not exactly. More like a dryad." He frowned and thought, going over the research in his head. "Or maybe a hamadrugad. You know the roman myth?"
"Nope." Dean hitched his pack higher and followed the turn of the path as it wound higher up the mountain. "I don't read dusty old books in dead languages for fun."
Sam chuckled. "Whatever, man. The radande isn't a faerie. If it were, iron would kill it and we could just shoot it."
Dean sighed. "Would have been too easy. I still say we just find its damn tree and torch the thing."
Sam strode up behind his brother and slapped a hand up the back of Dean's head. "We're not starting a forest fire just to kill the radande!"
Dean smirked. "Not like I could if I wanted to since you wouldn't let me bring the flamethrower."
"I know you," Sam retorted and he did. He knew if his big brother had brought his favorite, homemade flame thrower, they would have been trying to outrun a small forest fire before they were through, and he didn't want that on his conscience.
"You sure we're even after a ramada?"
Sam snorted a laugh. "Radande. And, yeah, sure as I can be. I mean, all the witnesses said the same thing- that they saw a skinny man with brown skin wearing bark and leaves who attacked them when they got too close to the grove near the lake. So, either it's some cracked-up Wall Street tycoon who's gone native or a radande. Bobby agrees with me."
"Yeah. Yeah." Dean actually had complete faith in his little brother's research skills, and Bobby's as well. He just liked the giving the kid a hard time. And it had the added benefit of distracting Sam from whatever dark place his thoughts had been in. He watched Sam slap a long branch out of his way with his casted, right arm and snorted. "Dude, you're gonna break it even worse."
Sam held the cast up, turning it, and shrugged. "Can't be any worse than taking that swim." The water had softened the cast, allowing him to twist his wrist in a direction he shouldn't have as they'd left the Pierpont Inn and thrown him into a whole new world of pain. His new cast was less than a week old, and he hoped it would survive better than the last.
"How much farther?" Dean asked and pulled the compass out of his pocket to check their bearing.
"We should start cutting through the forest just up ahead, I think." Sam gestured, waving the white cast toward the trail ahead of them. "If we head in below the ridge, we should come out near the lake and skip a half-day's hike on this trail going around."
"Perfect." Dean checked their bearing and then cut off the trail and into the thick stand of trees. "Less time we have to spend out here, the better. I hate camping."
"You don't say?" Sam chuckled and grinned at the dark look Dean sent him. He was hoping they wouldn't have to camp in the forest overnight either. Any love he'd once had for camping had fled after their near disastrous wendigo hunt a year ago. Sam would never forget the paralyzing terror he'd felt when he knew the creature had taken Dean.
"Dude, pay attention." Dean had stopped to check a log across their path for snakes before climbing over it, and Sam walked into his back.
"Sorry."
"Uh huh." Dean didn't ask him what had him distracted. He wasn't ready for another conversation where his little brother made him promise to kill him. He glared at the log as he climbed over it because that shit was never going to happen, no matter what Sam did. His little brother just needed to accept that and move on. "Hole on the other side here. Don't fall in."
Sam crouched on top of the log and jumped, landing agilely beyond the hole and beside his brother. He smirked at the surprise on Dean's face and took off down the path in the lead. "You coming?"
"Show off." Dean shook his head with a laugh. He reached out, grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him to a stop as the forest suddenly went quiet around them. Dean drew his gun, seeing Sam do the same. It wouldn't kill the creature, but it might buy them some time.
"The radande?" Sam asked softly.
Dean shrugged. "Maybe. Forest doesn't go quiet like that for nothin'. Stay sharp." He stepped out in front of Sam and took the lead again.
Sam listened carefully as they walked but couldn't hear any sounds other than their footsteps and the wind in the trees. The valley curved slightly, cutting between two spurs of the mountain range, and Sam shivered as the sun was temporarily blocked. "Peru Peak Lake is on the other side of this."
Dean nodded. His nerves were singing with tension. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was watching them and waiting. Waiting for what, he didn't know, but the feeling was there and he wasn't going to ignore it. It took them a half hour to cross the valley. They were hot and sticky in spite of the chill in the shade, and Dean had to shade his eyes as the sun greeted them, sparkling and glaring off a small lake ahead of them. He could hear water running over a waterfall nearby and moved back a few steps so the trees were shading him again.
"Wow. That is beautiful," Sam said reverently as he moved up beside his brother and looked out on the hidden little lake. "I'm surprised more people don't know this is up here."
Dean snorted. "Most people are smart enough to stay on the damn trails and not go wandering where something nasty can take a bite out of them. Come on."
Sam ducked his head, watching the ground at his feet for a few moments as his eyes adjusted to the sudden bright light of the sun above them. Once they were, he turned his gaze to the area around Peru Peak Lake. The trees were older and taller than other areas of the forest, likely because that particular area was wilderness; it was old growth and protected. "Its tree has to be around here somewhere, probably nearby."
"Yeah, but where?" Dean moved down to the water's edge and scanned the shoreline. The trees in most places grew right up alongside it, the roots rippling and twisting out into the water in others. "This valley ain't exactly small."
"We'll just have to go looking, but I'd bet it's somewhere near the shore." Sam waved a hand at the sparkling water. "The people who hiked in here, they probably didn't go far from this when they were attacked." He looked over at Dean. "Want to split up? You go that way, I'll go this way, and we'll meet on the other side."
Dean shook his head. "Oh, hell no. This thing's fast like a freak if the witness accounts are anything to go by. We're sticking together."
Sam shrugged and smirked. "Fine. It was just a suggestion."
"Yeah, well, it was a crap suggestion. Come on." Dean looked left and right and started off to his left, figuring one direction was as good as another at that point.
"It's still quiet." Sam moved closer to the trees to keep his boots out of the lake and braced himself on a trunk. "I think it's watching us."
"Pretty sure it has been since we came into the valley." Dean kept his gun ready and his eyes turned into the trees as they moved, trusting Sam to watch the lake. "Hope that means we're close to its damn tree."
"If we are, it'll try to stop us soon." Sam cursed as his right foot slid off a rock and into the water. He shivered and shook it out, ignoring the smirk on his brother's face. "Lake must be fed by runoff from higher up. It's friggin' cold."
"So no skinny dipping." Dean chuckled. They rounded a curve of the lake and reached a point where the trees grew right out to the edge and into the water. The sound of a small waterfall was louder just inside the trees, and there was a small stream feeding in between the roots. Dean looked back at his brother and saw Sam's eyes widen a second before something slammed into his back. Dean shouted as he was thrown forward and out over the water. He sucked in a breath and then splashed into the lake. The water was freezing, and the breath he'd taken exploded out from his lungs in a cloud of bubbles.
Dean floundered for a moment, then righted himself. His feet easily found the bottom and he stood up in a rush. He blinked water out of his eyes furiously and turned to aim in at the shore. "Sam!" he yelled and then watched his brother rise up from the water a few feet away. "You see it?"
Sam nodded and held his own gun up. "Yeah." He coughed and spit lake water. "Just for a second. I thought it was part of the tree and then it moved!"
"Great. Camouflage." Dean groaned and his whole body shuddered in reaction to the freezing water. "Gotta get outta here. Come on."
"S'colder than I thought." Sam waded through the water to the shore with Dean beside him. They climbed out cautiously with their guns aimed at the trees and a newfound respect for the creature that could be only feet away and unseen. His teeth chattered as his boots squelched up through the mud and onto drier ground. "Least we didn't lose our packs." Dean looked at his brother's and shook his head. "Both water-logged." His own felt ten pounds heavier on his back. "Come on. The trees thin up there a bit. Should have room to strip these off and drain the water out of them before we go find this bitch's home tree."
Sam moved quickly, wanting to be in a better spot to see the radande coming for them and preferably away from a spot where it could send them for a swim again. He shook his head and ran a hand through his hair, shoving the sopping strands back off his face. The shivering was having an effect on his gun hand, and he fought to steady it against his shaking.
"Can't see the bastard." Dean had to use both hands to steady his gun. "How big was it?"
Sam shook his head. "Four, maybe five feet?" He rubbed his left hand over his chest ruefully. "Packed a hell of a punch." He reached the open area and quickly shed his pack to the ground with a wet splat.
"Here." Dean let his fall to the ground as well beside his brother. "Get the water out of them. I'm gonna find some firewood."
"Be careful." Sam opened his own pack and then Dean's and started pulling the contents out - blankets, spare shirts, and the first aid kit that was all thankfully in a waterproof bag. That was a lesson their dad had drilled into them a long time ago, to always make sure things you needed dry, stayed dry no matter what. He emptied both packs and grabbed them. Sam stood, upending them to pour lake water out onto the ground and swayed.
"Whoa," Sam dropped Dean's pack and slapped a hand up to his spinning head. He looked around and the world was wavering slightly. It felt a bit like being drunk. Dean jogged back into view and he too was wavering and... bendy. Sam snorted a laugh and staggered a step. "Dude, you... you look funny."
"Huh?" Dean stopped beside his brother and dropped a load of dry wood to the ground. He looked at him curiously while Sam began to honest-to-god snicker. "What's wrong with you?"
Sam shook his head and dropped back to his knees beside the packs. "Uh... nothing." He scrubbed both hands over his face and couldn't stop a giggle. He coughed to cover it up and shook his head again. "I'm good."
Dean watched Sam and then knelt to grab his right arm. "Shit." He held up Sam's cast and sighed. "Well, this one's gonna be toast too. Be careful with it until we can get it replaced." He frowned when Sam snickered and pulled his arm back. "Sam... are you drunk?"
"Huh?" Sam snorted a laugh and pointed at his brother. "Your face's drunk."
"The hell?" Dean reached out to catch hold of Sam's head and missed. His vision swam suddenly and his hand went wide knocking his knuckles into his brother's chin instead, and Dean found himself laughing while Sam held his jaw.
Sam stared at Dean, amused and confused and a little concerned that he felt drunk and high and had no idea WHY he felt that way. "Hey. Hey, Dean? Are we bombed?"
Dean laughed and flopped over to his back with a wet splat as his jacket hit the ground, still water-logged. "I dunno, man, but it sure feels like it."
Sam sat back on his backside with a thump and shook his head. He stopped quickly as that seemed to make the world spin and waver more around him. "Um... this is dangerous, right?"
"Oh, hell yeah!" Dean said cheerfully. He rolled over and got to his knees, snickering. He closed his eyes and sat up. "Stop. Stop it." He opened his eyes and looked over at his brother, trying to remain serious. "We have to... we gotta..." Dean's attempt to be serious devolved into a coughing laugh. "Stop lookin' at me. Holy crap."
Sam grinned and then put his hands over his face. "Ok. Ok. We're... we're, uh..." He blew out a breath and fought to remember what they were up there to do. "We have to find a tree." That was hysterical for some reason, and he began laughing again.
Dean stood up unsteadily and looked out at the lake and then down at Sam. "Dude! Did we get... did the lake slip us a mickey?"
Sam had to laugh at that long and hard before he could answer. He was wiping tears from his eyes before he managed to speak. "The, uh... the lore said something about..." he laughed through his nose and shook his head. "... um, a welling spring? Maybe it's from the redundan... rodent... the thing's tree?"
"You said rodent." Dean chuckled and shook his arms out forcefully with a frustrated groan, knowing deep down, somewhere beyond the pleasantly buzzed part of his brain, that they were in trouble. "We gotta stop! Dude, we're gonna get ganked if we don't button this down!"
"S'shirt." Sam piped up helpfully and pointed to his flannel with a smirk. "Button down."
"No, that's not..." Dean turned his head away to try and avoid the laughter bubbling up. "Not... don't make me laugh. Dammit. DAMMIT!" he shouted and fell into a fit of laughter again. He got control of himself after several minutes and slapped the back of his brother's head. Well, he aimed for the back of Sam's head, but swiped his ear instead and threw his arms up. "Come on! We'll follow the water!"
Sam fumbled to pick up one of the axes. He nearly tossed it to his brother before rational thinking surfaced just long enough to tell him that was a bad idea. Instead, he picked up both and staggered drunkenly to his feet. "Here. Here." He pushed one of the axes to his brother with a grin. "Don't... don' fall and chop a leg off or, you know... your junk."
"What junk?" Dean looked at Sam in confusion while his little brother cackled. He wasn't coherent enough to move when he saw Sam's fist heading toward his crotch and the air punched out of his lungs with the heavy impact. He doubled over, clutching the axe between his legs, and wheezed for breath. "Not... not cool."
Sam had tears of laughter running down his face again, and he braced a hand on the back of his brother's shoulder. "I was aiming for... for your... not for that. Wow. Uh... sorry."
"Gonna be," Dean promised and slowly straightened. "Get off me." He shoved Sam's hand away and walked toward the stream feeding the lake, walking more bow-legged than normal. He shook out one foot and rolled his eyes at the cackle of laughter from behind him. "Come on!"
Sam swallowed enough of his laughter so that he could walk and followed Dean to the stream. They turned away from the lake and headed into the forest, toward the sound of the waterfall. It grew louder as they moved, though it was hard to hear over the continuous chuckles, snorts, giggles, and curses as they tripped and fell and staggered, banging into trees and bruising themselves as they went.
"Dude." Dean slapped a hand into Sam's chest, making his brother grunt. "It's like... it's like we mainlined the dentist's happy gas!"
"You 'member when you got your, uh... wisdom teeth out?" Sam asked and grinned, even as his shoulder slammed into a tree and bounced him away. "I said you didn' have any wisdom an'more. Any... you were dumb."
"Shuddup." Dean chuckled and pushed Sam into another tree with a grin. "Hey. Hey!" He pointed excitedly at a burbling fountain of water falling six feet over uneven rocks ahead of them. It was the source of the waterfall they'd been hearing. The water sparkled even though the sun couldn't reach it there. "S'gotta be it."
"I think... think we're getting drunker." Sam sighed, though he couldn't stop smiling. "S'not good."
"You said snot." Dean giggled and slapped a hand over his mouth. "Don' make me laugh! I told you!"
"Sorry. Sorry." Sam shook his head. He wasn't sorry. He stopped, wobbling where he stood and looked around. "You see a tree?"
Dean burst out laughing and threw his arms wide. "Whish one, jackass?"
"Oh my, God," Sam said and covered his face with one hand while he laughed again. "Ok. Ok. It'll be, um, old. Oldest tree in the... jus' look for the gnarly one."
Dean snorted yet again. "Gnarly. Right. Tubular, dude."
"Jerk." Sam waved his hand at Dean and turned to search the area himself. His eyes moved over each tree, though they seemed to be swaying in his vision and then he looked up above the little waterfall and his eyes went wide. "Wha... whoa."
"Yeah. What?" Dean looked over at Sam and followed his brother's gaze. "Tha's a... s'gnarly tree." He snickered and shook himself. "Get... get a grip."
"S'gotta be it." Sam moved toward the waterfall with purpose. "We kill the tree..." he had to stop and laugh again. "Sorry. Sorry. Kill the... kill that and the rhodo... radande... should die. Oh, man." He looked for the easiest way to climb up to the tree, grabbed hold of some of the rocks with his left hand and yelped when something brown and dark hurtled at him from the top. It slammed into his chest and knocked Sam back to the ground before scurrying away with a hiss. "Found it!" Sam yelled and raised his casted right arm, holding the axe aloft.
Dean couldn't stop the laughter at seeing Sam knocked on his ass, though the voice in the back of his mind was screaming at him to do something. "Uh, you ok?"
Sam leaned up and propped himself on his elbows before looking blurrily around. "Wha' hi' me?"
"The tree dude. He's wily!" Dean proclaimed and went to Sam. He reached down and grabbed Sam's left hand, giving a hard tug to get him on his feet. "Come... c'mon. Get up. S'gonna be back."
"Yep." Sam rose to his feet and looked down at his chest. He laughed and pointed. "Dude. M'leaking."
"Whoa." Dean saw red staining his brother's wet shirts and snickered. "Izzat that ugly dog shirt under there?"
"Not anymore," Sam said sadly and prompted Dean into more laughter. "Like this shirt."
Dean spun and nearly wobbled off his feet when he heard something crash in the woods behind him. "Uh-oh. Go toasht the tree."
Sam chuckled and nodded. "Kay."
Dean let him go start climbing the little waterfall again and watched as a dark shadow flitted through the trees. "Come on, Jackash!" He scowled and ran his tongue over his teeth. "Ash. Ass. Shit!" He flinched back as the radande ran from the cover of the trees into the small clearing around the waterfall. Like the lore had said, its skin looked like the bark of a tree and leaves and even small twigs grew out of it in places, adding to its ability to camouflage. "Whoa, ugly!"
The radande looked past Dean to Sam, watching him climb. It growled loudly and made to rush past the man in chase pursuit of the other.
"Nope!" Dean yelled and swung out with his axe. It bit into the creature's shoulder, sending a chip of something flying off through the air, and the radande screamed. "Damn! Not so loud! Oof!" He grunted as the radande crashed into him and bore him back to the ground. Dean shoved his axe under the creature's jaw, pushing its head back and couldn't stop himself from laughing at the strange, angry face glaring down at him.
Sam reached the top of the waterfall and used the gnarled, old tree to get back to his feet. The bark was oddly warm under his hands, and he looked down at his small axe. "S'gonna take a while." He shrugged, resigned, and started swinging.
Dean heard the first hits of his brother's axe biting into wood, and the radande became crazed. It tried to free itself from Dean's grip, but the elder Winchester wrapped his arms around it and rolled, trying to pin it to the forest floor. "Shtop... stop... squirming!"
Sam swung over and over at the tree. Sometimes the axe would hit true, biting deeply into the wood, and others it would slide and bounce off. He cursed and staggered back a few steps one of those times when the blade bounced off the tree and slid along the outside of his thigh. "Whoo... oops." He snickered and went back to chopping. "Hang on, Dean!" The only thing making his job easier was the fact that whatever wood the tree was composed of, it was soft, much softer than Sam would have given it credit for, and when he swung the axe true, it bit into the trunk like a knife into butter.
"Dammit!" Dean rolled again and kicked the radande off him before its claws could reach his throat. It flew back several feet and skidding on the ground, standing just as Dean reached his own feet. He stumbled, nearly going down again and just managed to right himself before the radande made another run to reach Sam and his tree. "Nu-uh!" Dean leaped and tackled the creature. They rolled into the stream from the waterfall and sank. He came up sputtering with the radande held in his arms and spit water out over its head while it snarled and spat, struggling to be free of him.
Sam stepped back to survey his handiwork and grinned. The tree was noticeably tilting toward him over the gaping hole he had chipped into it. "Nice!" He staggered around to the other side of the tree and started cutting there. Chips of wood flew out with each swing, stinging sometimes as they grazed his face. "Almost. Hey, Dean!" He stopped and looked down, laughing when he saw his brother in the water, holding the radande to him in a bear hug with its back to his chest. "Almost got it!"
"Move your ass!" Dean shouted and tightened his grip on the creature. He shouted when claws dug briefly into his forearms and gave the thing a shake. "Knock... knock it off!"
Sam made quick work of his new target and stood back when he thought he'd gone deep enough. He set the axe on the ground, took a few more steps back and then ran at the tree. "BANZAI!" Sam shouted and slammed his shoulder into the radande's tree. It shifted, tilting further and he stumbled back, falling on his ass and rubbing his shoulder. "Ow."
"Banzai? Seriously?" Dean yelled up to his brother with a snort of laughter. "Stop screwin' around!"
Sam gave a laugh of his own, nodding his head and got back to his feet. "Bish is goin' down." He reared back and slammed his foot into the tree this time. There was a loud crack that filled the little clearing, and the tree swayed dangerously. "Uh... uh-oh." Sam watched the top of the tree move wildly while the trunk rolled above the damage he'd done. He'd hoped it would fall away from him, but it suddenly swayed back and started coming down toward him. There was another series of loud cracks, and Sam yelped fearfully and leaped off the top of the waterfall into the water below with his brother and the creature.
The tree fell where Sam had been standing. The trunk splintered and sheared off, leaving a ragged stump and came to rest in a shower of orange and gold leaves. The radande screamed suddenly, an eerie, piercing noise that rose up and up until it was nearly deafening.
Dean released the creature reflexively and watched it flounder away from him while he clapped his hands over his ears. The radande splashed out of the water and scampered up the rock face to its tree where it laid across the destroyed trunk and went still. Dean watched in surprise as the creature's body seemed to shrivel and slowly crumpled into a pile of blackened bark and leaves.
"Huh. That was kinda cool. Hey, Sammy!" Dean rolled over and caught Sam's shoulder, pulling him over and accidentally dunking his head under the water. He chuckled. "Sorry."
Sam spit water into Dean's face and grinned. "You see that? I totally lumbershacked... lumberjacked that tree."
"Yeah. With your little axe." Dean smirked and climbed to his feet. He dragged Sam up with him and got them both out of the water and back on dry land. He shook his head, letting water spray out and shivered as the cold finally registered. He felt a sudden wave of overwhelming dizziness and fell to his knees before he even realized. Dean managed to blink his eyes open after several moments and looked up to find Sam sitting beside him, looking just as dazed. "Holy crap." The drunken high feeling that had been clouding his head was gone as quickly as it had come. "Damn, I think I'm sober again."
Sam gave a rueful smile and held his left arm over his torso protectively while looking at the mangled cast on his right arm. "Yeah. Me too. I think I liked it better when I couldn't feel this. That hurts."
"Yeah." Dean held up his arms and shoved the wet fabric of his sleeves back. Long scratches from the radadne's claws crawled down both his forearms in parallel rows. "Cleaning these is gonna suck."
"Shit." Sam looked down as a new ache made itself known in his thigh and stared in surprise. "Uh, I think I axed my leg."
"What?" Dean turned swiftly to him and looked, seeing fresh blood welling from beneath a long cut in the thigh of Sam's jeans. "Shit, Sammy."
"Yeah."
"How bad's your chest?" Dean vaguely remembered the creature tagging his little brother.
"Don't think it's too bad. Just aches like a bitch." Sam sighed and shrugged. "First aid kit's back at the lake shore."
"We'll get patched up and hike back down." Dean looked at his watch, thankfully waterproof, and nodded. "Might even make it before dark. Come on." He stood and took Sam's left arm. "Easy. Here we go."
Sam allowed Dean to help him to his feet and worked to not hunch over the burning pain in his chest. "I hate chest wounds."
Dean nodded and tugged up Sam's shirts before he could argue. He got a decent look and felt a little better. "Don't think they're too deep, but you're still gonna need stitches in a few places." He snorted and held up his arms. "So am I."
"So, coyote attack?" Sam asked, holding up his right arm and the now thoroughly disfigured cast.
"Yeah, we're definitely hitting up the hospital." Dean smirked. "May as well let the professionals stitch up your guts."
Sam smiled and did lean over slightly to put some pressure on the wound in his thigh while they walked. "You stitch better than they do."
Dean grinned and enjoyed the warm little hit of pride that comment gave him. "We'll get us patched up and then maybe stop by the roadhouse."
Sam looked at Dean in surprise. "Did you get hit in the head while I was drunk? Dude, Ellen is pissed at us. She kind of scares me." He shook his head. "I know she's talking to us and everything, but she's still pissed about something."
Dean chuckled. "What do you suppose Ellen's problem was?"
"You mean other than almost getting her daughter killed on a job?"
"What?" Dean waved that away. "We saved her. She's gotta be honked off about something else."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Why don't you go ask her? I'll hang back with the first aid kit for after she gets done with you."
"Whatever. I could take her," Dean protested.
Sam outright laughed at that. "You couldn't take her daughter."
"Shuddup." Dean didn't need to be reminded of how Jo had kicked his ass the first time they'd met. They came out of the trees and Dean gave Sam a shove toward the pile of their wet gear. "Dude, go sit down. You're bleeding all over the place."
"You're scared of her too." Sam grinned and eased down to the ground, stretching his wounded leg out with a huff of pain.
"Ok, so maybe not the roadhouse. Maybe we could go to Bobby's." Dean knelt down and pulled the first aid kit out of its protective bag. "Get your shirts off," he said and tossed the bag of his brother's spare clothes over to him. "May as well get some dry clothes on for the walk down.
Sam tugged his shirts off and grimaced at the furrows clawed down his chest. He looked out at the little lake and smiled. "Birds are singing again."
"Softie," Dean teased. He took out the peroxide and quickly poured it over Sam's chest and then his leg, making his brother yelp. "You did good today, Sammy."
Sam smiled at that and took the gauze Dean handed him, dabbing it over the worst of the claw marks until the bleeding stopped. "We both did, even though we were so drunk we could barely stand up." He chuckled. "We're lucky to be alive."
"Yeah. I know." Dean bent over Sam's thigh and tried to hold on to the humor of the hunt, rather than dwelling on how close he'd come to losing him. He turned a lopsided grin to his brother. "Kind of want a beer now though."
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The End.
Next Chapter: J is for Jungle Gym
