Words: 1082

Author: oureleventhhour

Prompt: L for Lost

Characters: Sam, Dean, and Ben

AU: I'll Take Care of You

Summary: Aftermath of Ben seeing Sam's latest flashback.

Takes place the summer after L for Letter

Dean knew sooner or later Ben would witness one of Sam's breakdowns, it would be stupid to think the kid would go the rest of his life not seeing one. He just never expected it to be that bad.

Sam was currently locked in the bedroom he and Dean shared, claiming to be tired even though it was barely eleven in the morning. Ben had walked down into the kitchen when he heard Sam screaming his head off and sobbing uncontrollably. The oldest Winchester was glad the only verbal sounds coming from Sam hadn't been words while the younger man re-lived his time in the Cage. And, of course, Ben had pretty much panicked and froze right at the entrance of the kitchen. Dean hadn't realized the kid was there until after Sam finally came out of it almost twenty minutes later.

Now he was a bit torn as to who he should go and comfort.

Ben, who was probably traumatized, was sitting in the backyard listening to his iPod, which Dean and Sam had bought him for his birthday. He saw something no kid should have to see. What was probably the worst part was Ben knew. He knew Sam had been to Hell and Dean too for that matter. Ben had asked repeatedly why Sam had this...Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, as the doctors all called it. The teen knew Sam and Dean hadn't been in any wars and that they fought monsters so he made that connection, but he was always curious as to what had messed up Sam so much. Finally, with Sam's permission, Dean told Ben.

"He went to Hell. Literally. That's all you need to know, Ben."

"H-Hell? Like-"

"Yeah. Demons, fire, torture, and all that jazz. Go do your homework or something."

And then there was Sam. The kid-yes, kid, because no matter how old Sam got Dean would always refer to him as his baby brother-had had a terrible, horrible flashback. It was so bad he hadn't said anything. Words were almost always common with Sam's flashbacks, so when all he did was cry and scream Dean knew it was a bad one.

Dean heard the back door shut and realized Ben had come in. He listened as the teen walked up the stairs and to his room. Rubbing a hand over his face, Dean made a decision. The man went to the room he shared with his brother and let himself in, finding Sam lying on his bed staring at the ceiling.

"Sammy?" he called out softly so he wouldn't startle him.

Sam jumped anyway and looked at the door where his big brother was standing, "Hey,"

"Hey." Dean made his way over to Sam's bed and sat on the edge. If he stretched his legs out as far as he could and then added about eleven inches he would be able to reach his own bed. It obviously wasn't a big room, especially with two beds and a dresser in between them. It was pretty decorated, though. Car photos and a couple posters of some very pretty women from a magazine littered Dean's 'side' of the room. The wall that Sam's bed was against contained a couple shelves drilled into the wall, which were of course holding several books. They were all Sam's favorites and whichever book he was currently reading. "You good?"

The younger ex-hunter snorted, "Peachy."

"Come on man-"

"How freaked out is he?"

"He's handling it better than you are, you're being a teenage girl dude. Sure, he's a little freaked but you don't necessarily see people re-live a crappy time of their life everyday."

Sam turned over on the bed so he was facing the wall and bent his knees slightly. Dean wondered if Sam was going to curl into a ball like he did when they were kids and was upset but realized his massive form would not allow him to become smaller than six foot.

"He probably thinks I'm a freak." Sam sounded so lost Dean felt his heart break a little.

"Hey, Ben doesn't think that. What happened earlier, that's gonna take a little time to get used to. I'm not gonna lie and tell you that tomorrow he won't be skittish or anything, but he's a tough kid Sammy."

When Sam didn't reply Dean sighed and reached over to pat his brother on the back before getting up and leaving the room. As he shut the door behind him Dean glanced at Ben's closed door. He walked over to the room and entered, not bothering to knock. Ben had learned quickly when Dean first came to live with him and his mom that Dean didn't waste time knocking. If Ben, or Sam for that matter, was being torn to pieces by some supernatural baddie then time was of the essence and knocking just wasted very valuable time.

"What's up?" Ben asked from his position on the floor in front of the window. Dean leaned against the doorframe and didn't answer for a minute.

"You doing okay Ben?"

"Fine."

"Sam's flashbacks aren't usually that bad, I promise. Guess we have to stop watching scary movies, huh?"

A small smile covered Ben's face. The teen, Dean knew, had always found it a little funny how Dean still treated Sam like a little kid. There were times where Dean still reminded Sam and Ben to go brush their teeth, receiving an annoyed groan from Ben and a middle finger from Sam. "Maybe it was Victoria's chicken sandwich that scared him."

Dean laughed quietly and nodded. Victoria Milton worked at a coffee shop across the street from the garage Dean worked at. From the first time she met Sam when he was visiting Dean at work she had some sort of crush on the ex-hunter. She began sending books home with Dean for Sam to read, which then made Sam have to return them later since Dean refused to do 'his dirty work'. Now she had taken it upon herself to bake for them.

"Which reminds me," Dean said, "I gotta go make some lunch for the teenage girl I call my brother. Want anything?"

"Grilled cheese would be nice."

Dean smirked, "You've got two legs and you know where the kitchen is, get up and make it yourself."

"Nice, Dean, nice." Ben smiled, rolling his eyes.

Dean could tell Ben wasn't fully comfortable with Sam's recent episode, but like he'd told Sam Ben was a tough kid.

Not all of the stories are going to have Ben in them, they'll either take place before Ben came along, he'll be casually mentioned in passing, or Ben won't be mentioned because he has nothing to do with the update.