Yesterday once more

Disclaimer: I offered Kripke my shiny penny for them but he said no : (

A/N Okay, so these are gonna be a series of oneshots showing the boys at various ages preseries. They won't be in chronological order because that would show faaar too much organisation. I'll try to get a bit of everything in there.

All suggestions for a shot are very welcome, just put them in a review or message me. x

Rating: K+

Genre: Fluff and sap.

Dean: 14 Sam: 10

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooxoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Paradise City

"Sammy! Stay at the shallow end!"

"But Deeeeean! I can swim really well now – you taught me! I know I can handle the deep end!"

"Dad's orders"

Dean ignored Sammy's continued whining and leant back in the tattered sunlounger, soaking up his surroundings. In their life they didn't get many moments like these, and he wanted to make sure he made the most of it. They were just outside their current motel, not that he could really tell the difference between them anymore, in what could be classed as a garden if you had about four of your five major senses missing, squinted really hard and didn't move around too much. Dean didn't care. It was enough for him.

When they'd first walked to their room he'd been a bit distracted with the big hole in his side from their last hunt, which he was still trying to hide from Dad at the time, to even notice the disused old pool idly sitting slap-bang opposite their door. But Sammy had. Two hours of jumping up and down, stamping feet and puppy dog eyes had established that yes, there was a pool, and yes, Sammy wanted to go in.

Sam's little tirade was interrupted only briefly by the discovery of Dean's wound, and the ensuing angry yelling accompanied by careful bandaging – an impressive feat which John Winchester seemed to have perfected. However, as soon as Dean was deemed "fine by Winchester standards" Sammy's look of worry quickly morphed back into 'annoying little brother' mode, and Dean was tempted to stab himself in the arm with a nearby pencil to reverse it again. He lasted another 20 minutes.

So now here he was, sitting in a chair with more rust than metal, watching his brother bob back and forth. It was a cool day so the pool must have been cold at best, not to mention the suspicious colour of the water, and yet Sam was laughing and splashing away like he was at freakin' Disney Land. He was actually enjoying himself, and the sad thing was, so was Dean. Of course a pack of angry Hellhounds on heat couldn't get him to admit that to Sammy.

"Dean! Come and play with me!"

"Aw... C'mon man. You know I can't. Dad says I'm not allowed to stretch my injury."

"But what if you only-"

"Sammy! No buts! I can't alright? So would you just drop it already?"

Sam sighed before throwing a half-hearted "fine" in Dean's direction.

Oh, great, thought Dean. Sorry for getting myself gouged by a bitch of a harpy. I obviously did it on purpose, because I love the tingly sensation of my inner organs being rearranged so much. He rolled his eyes before returning to what he was actually supposed to be doing out there, studying a Guide to Celtic Mythology book. Of course the fact that his eyes kept finding their way back to his little brother every five seconds didn't make his research all that easy. He was reading the same line for the twentieth time when he noticed a few damp spots appearing on the page in front of him, and he looked up into the face of a very wet and drippy Sammy.

"Hey bro, finally got bored of your algae convention over there huh?"

"It would have been more fun if you'd got in too" he said petulantly, a pout evident in his young features.

"For the last time Sammy, I – Hey aren't you cold? It's freezin' out here dude and you're just in your boxers, and you're wet"

Big brother instincts kicked in instantly and he leant forward anxiously, eyes automatically sweeping over his little brother's body for any signs of coldness. After a few seconds of careful searching he relaxed back into his chair, obviously satisfied with his findings. Sam stood, patiently waiting for Dean to finish his little over-protective activity, before delivering his carefully thought-out reply with a smug smile.

"If it was freezing out here, and I'm wet, then I would be covered in ice. Stupid."

Any lingering concern of Dean's melted away as he gave Sam a small scowl and playful punch on the arm.

"Where did you learn to be such a smart-ass?" he asked as he twisted around to collect up his stuff to take inside.

"From you!" was Sammy's immediate reply.

"Oh yeah, I'm sure Dad's gonna love that." Dean mumbled to himself as he picked up all the junk he'd managed to spread around himself.

"Oomph!" everything he'd managed to balance in his hands at that point fell to the floor as a bony pile of little brother fell on his stomach. He looked down to see Sammy making himself quite comfortable in the folds of his shirt, as skinny legs scrabbled to get a good footing on his jeans. He raised his eyebrows in a classic "What the Hell" gesture, but Sammy simply shrugged and said "You're warm," as if this totally explained why he'd just decided to do a cat impression, complete with nuzzling into the crook of his neck.

"Oh is that right?" Dean asked amusedly.

"Yep"

Dean protested a few moments more before wrapping his arms around the small boy who was grasping at him like he was a treasured teddy bear.

"Just to make sure you don't fall off or something" he grumbled

"Oh is that right?"

"Yep"

They lay like that for a while. Sammy curled up on top of him, taking in the calming smell of his brother, and Dean simply holding him, his breath gently tickling the mop of hair just below his chin. Maybe they would have stayed there for longer, forever if they could, but a subtle shiver ran down Sam's spine, so small most people wouldn't have noticed. However, most weren't people being used as a couch at that point in time.

"We should head inside before you do turn to ice. Plus, you got me all wet now, and I don't have any life ambitions to become a Popsicle either." He shoved his little brother off him with a careless motion that made Sam completely forget the affection Dean had just shown, a fact that wasn't accidental.

"Ow! Dean! That hurt!" Yep, everything was back to normal again. "I could have fallen out of the chair! I'll tell Dad! He'll want – what are you doing?" Sam asked curiously as Dean pulled off his favourite (and a little damp) band tee.

"Trying to stop my idiot brother from catching hypothermia." was all the answer he got before the full force of Black Sabbath hit him in the chest. Dean just smirked as Sam made an 'Oh' face, and started dutifully pulling the shirt on. Unfortunately, Sam was dividing his attention between putting on the tee and trying to balance on the edge of the chair, and he'd never really been a multi-tasker. Somehow he managed to end up underneath the sunlounger with the shirt twisted half-way round and his head stuck in one of the arm holes.

"What are we gonna do with you huh?" Dean chuckled, smirk firmly in place, as he yanked Sam to a standing position and pulled the tee down until his brother's messy head popped out the top. He was met with a full-on Sammy smile, a sight to behold, all shining white teeth shown in a neat row, dark eyes sparkling, and lightly freckled skin pulled tightly across the bridge of his nose. Dean paused for a moment, just looking at his brother, taking a mental picture of his absolute happiness and storing it away with all other things bright and golden that he saved for rainy days.

Dean cleared his throat "What're you doin' just standing there grinning like a dork? C'mon. If you've had enough fun doing you're failed Houdini impression, help me pick up this stuff so we can shag-ass back to the motel room."

And from that very room the silent watcher who'd seen the whole thing moved away from the window with a shake of his head and a muttered "my boys".

A/N Good, bad or the downright fugly? The little button is calling to you . . .