19. Gray
"Come on Sammy, it's time for bed," Dean Winchester called. When he didn't get an answer he called again. His call was answered by a loud crack of thunder. A moment later Dean found himself standing in the dark, trying to find his way to his brother, whose scream seemed to echo in his mind. "Where are you, Sammy?"
"In our room," he heard the frightened voice call. He felt his way over to the room, and with the help of the light from outside he could see a body in the form of a ball that was his five year old brother, sitting on the floor with a jacket over his head.
"What's the matter?" Dean asked sitting next to the terrified child. There was another blinding light from the window accompanied by a loud bang, and Dean saw Sam jump. "It's okay, Sam."
Sam took the jacket off of his head when he felt his brother sit beside him. "I don't like it, Dean," he said, scooting closer to his brother.
"It's just a storm," Dean pointed out.
"People can get hurt in storms."
Dean was surprised by how much his brother actually knew, and amused my his unnecessary fear. "I won't let anything happen to you, okay?"
"What about you?" Sam asked.
"Me either. I'll keep us both safe. I promise." What Dean was saying seemed to calm his sibling down. "Why don't you go to bed?"
"No," the younger boy insisted.
Dean tried to hold back a laugh as he said, "What if I go with you?"
Sam hesitated as he thought about it for a minute, "Okay." Sam got up and made his way to the bed. There was another flash of lightning and Sam ran and dove under the blankets.
Dean smiled and laid down next to him. "It's okay, Sam."
"You sure?" The five year old asked, peaking his eyes out to look at his protector.
"Positive," Dean stated with confidence..
Sam went back under the covers and leaned his head on his brother's shoulder. Dean smiled and began to hum. It was the same song that his dad used to sing to him when he was Sammy's age, and he hoped that it would have the same calming effect on him as it had for Dean in the past.
Whether it was the song or just shear exhaustion, Sam was asleep within minutes. Dean, not wanting to disturb his brother, grabbed some blankets and he too was asleep before the storm ended.
* * *
It was late when John Winchester finally got home from his hunt, and for once, it had been fairly easy, and he was glad to be back sooner than he had expected. He went in, changed into some dry clothes, and then went to go check on his boys.
He turned on the light and smiled. He saw Sam, a small lump under the blankets, and Dean, with his arm around him, both sleeping soundly. Although he didn't know for sure, he assumed that Sam had gotten scared, the boy still didn't like thunderstorms.
At that point Dean opened his eyes. "Dad?" He asked groggily.
"It's me Dean, go back to sleep." Dean nodded and obeyed. A minute later John could hear his soft snoring.
John turned the light off and headed out into the living room. He looked outside and saw that the storm had finally subsided, only a few drops falling from the sky now. He turned on the T.V. and laid down on the couch, watching until he fell asleep, hoping the dreary, gray weather would be gone tomorrow so that he could hopefully do something with his boys, maybe baseball, Dean liked baseball and now it seemed whatever Dean liked Sam liked. The last images were of him, Sam, and Dean, all tossing a football to each other and laughing, enjoying the weather and the company of family.