Send in the Clowns
Title: Send in the Clowns
Author: Disasteriffic Kaz
Info: TeenChesters Fic. Sam 13/Dean 17 An innocent evening at a carnival takes a scary turn for Sam. Scared!Sam awesome!Dean ONE shot.
Author's note: This one got written simply because the site here wouldn't let me log on to post chapters for two days and I needed something to do so, Sammy and Clowns. Heh. Still four and a half hours to go here until Plucky Pennywhistle's Episode tonight! Have to distract myself somehow. XD
Do please Review once you've read. :D Every comment and vote of support helps keep me writing. Not to mention if I've pooched anything, someone can always tell me. :P
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"No, Sam." John Winchester said firmly and tried not to see the intense puppy dog look his youngest son was giving him.
"But Dad, it's just a little carnival." Sam had known this was going to be an argument. His father was far too protective sometimes. "We helped set it up today. The school let us go to Plucky's parking lot to help. Please Dad? Just for a little while? Dean can come with me." Sam wasn't particularly fond of Plucky Pennywhistle's Magical Menagerie; Dean would often ditch him there for hours while gambling or on a hot date, but the chance to see the carnival was worth it.
Dean groaned. He was planning on taking a girl from his class to the carnival and tickling her behind the rides. If he had to shadow Sam he'd never get the chance. One look at the distressed expression on his little brother's face though and he caved.
"Dad, really. It'll be fine." Dean ruffled Sam's shaggy hair into an afro with a grin. "I can keep an eye on the squirt."
"Hey." Sam shoved Dean's hand off. "I'm thirteen now. I'm not a squirt."
"You can't hit me in the head yet without jumping." Dean sat with a satisfied smirk. "You're a squirt."
"Boys." John rubbed a hand over his face. "You know I don't like carnivals. Too many transients I can't keep track of." He sighed when both his sons gave him pleading looks. "Oh for…fine. You can go but Dean? You do not let your brother out of your sight. Not for a second."
"Yes, sir." Dean smiled, inwardly lamenting the death of his naughty plans.
"I'm gonna be out with Caleb tonight. He thinks he found the lair of our Sorcerer." John waved a hand at the concern on Dean's face. "You're better out of this one, son. Caleb only has two protective amulets. Without one, this guy will have no problem screwing with your head. Go on you two." John walked past, dropping a hand onto the shoulder of each of his sons as he passed. He knew sometimes it must feel to Sam as though his father was sucking all the fun out of life but the truth was it scared him every time they were out of his sight. Who could blame him for that? Especially with a mad Sorcerer in town scaring people to death with conjured Thought Forms.
"Is it really ok, Dean?" Sam asked softly. "I should have asked you first, I'm sorry."
"Hey it's fine." Dean smiled. "Someone's gotta protect you from the bearded lady."
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Dean and Sam walked the few blocks to the carnival. It wasn't a freezing night and better that than their Dad dropping them. Dean was still a little miffed Dad had swiped the keys and the car. He had his license and was developing a serious dislike for walking anywhere these days. "There it is." Dean said and slapped Sam's back as the lights and sounds of the carnival came into view.
"Awesome!" Sam could get that look on his face that said he still had an innocent kid in there, even after learning the monsters were real and training with his brother and Dad every day. Dean cherished that look, knowing all too soon something would happen to chase it away forever. He planned on protecting it as long as he could.
"What do you wanna do first?" Dean asked as they neared the ticket booth and he pulled out the cash he'd made playing pool last night.
"There's a little roller coaster back there." Sam pointed excitedly and Dean could see cars screaming along at the back of the carnival, near the Plucky's. "I wanna ride it. Dave said I was too chicken but he's the one who's a chicken." Sam scoffed. "Like I'd be scared of a stupid ride."
Dean smirked and did his best to hide it. Sam was doing his best 'Dean badass' impression without realizing it. "Sounds like Dave's the one who's yellow." Dean agreed with his brother and handed him the stack of tickets he bought. "Go on, Sammy." Sam gave him a happy grin and danced ahead toward the little coaster with a laugh.
Brightly dressed carnies and clowns wandered among the townsfolk carrying balloons and stuffed animals and cotton candy. Dean grabbed two sticks of the spun candy on impulse and jogged to catch up with Sam as he waited at the head of the line for the next turn on the coaster.
"Here you go, tiger." Dean grinned and handed one to him.
"Dude!" Sam took it and took a huge bite, turning his nose blue.
"Yup. I'm an awesome big brother." Dean said with a satisfied smile and waved Sam ahead as the cars pulled up and the attendant waved them on. His little brother fearlessly ran to the front and slid in, waving for Dean to hurry up.
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"Caleb, are you sure about this?" John asked softly as the two men eased through the woods toward the abandoned house Caleb had settled on. Not a light shone behind the boarded up windows and the night was silent.
"Gotta be here." Caleb nodded his dark head, running a hand through his buzzed hair. "Every trail I could find and trust me man, there weren't many, they all lead here." He settled against a tree at the edge of the yard and studied the house. "Where'd you leave the boys tonight?"
John sighed. "Sam got a bug in his head about that stupid carnival in town." He smirked. "Dean's babysitting him."
"Oh man." Caleb shook his head. "He had a hot date tonight." He chuckled at the disgusted look on John's face. "Bet he wasn't happy."
"Sammy volunteered him." John shook his head, smiling and then sobered. "Ok, let's do this." He checked the medallion around his neck, watching Caleb do the same. Together, they stepped out into the overgrown lawn and moved stealthily across toward the house. No alarms went up, no lights, no sounds and John scowled. He looked over to Caleb with it clear on his face; he didn't like this.
Caleb shrugged and raised his gun, moving up to the porch at the front. The door was lodged partway open, twisted off its hinges and overgrown with ivy. John reached a hand out and tapped Caleb's back. He pointed to the side of the house when Caleb turned. There was an external cellar door and unlike the rest of the house, it wasn't nearly as dilapidated and even from here, John could see the new lock on its door. Caleb raised his brows and came back down, following John and watched his back while the eldest Winchester bent to the lock and quickly picked it open.
"Why's it always gotta be the damn cellar?" Caleb mouthed and made John smirk as he eased one leaf of the doors open. The hinges were oiled, lending weight to this being the lair of their Sorcerer. John listened, hearing nothing. He tapped his chest and pointed down, the pointed at Caleb who nodded. He'd be backup. He gave John a ten count and then followed him down into the darkness.
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"Dean Winchester!"
Dean cringed at the voice and took a deep breath before turning to find Sarah standing behind him, hands on her hips. "Hey, Sarah."
"Don't you 'hey Sarah' me, Dean!" She stalked to him, blonde hair flying in the night air and blue eyes flashing. She barely took notice of Sam standing at his brothers' side. "We had a date and you didn't show. Are you ditching me?"
"Hey, hey no of course not!" Dean raised his hands, placating. Damn she was even hot when she was mad. "It's just…uh…"
"He got roped into taking me." Sam spoke up and smiled winningly up at her.
"Aw that's so sweet." Sarah said, giving melting eyes to Dean. She slid over to Dean and wrapped her arms around his neck. "It's too bad." She leaned in, letting him smell her perfume and spoke softly. "I had some ideas for tonight you know."
Dean's mouth went dry as he felt the girl melt into his chest and slid his hands around her little waist with a happy sigh. She definitely knew how to get a rise out of him. "Uh…" Dean nudged Sarah back a little and looked down at his little brother. "Hey, Sammy. Look, you think you could give me like, you know, ten minutes?"
"Twenty." Sarah whispered wetly in his ear, making him close his eyes for a second.
"Sammy?" Dean pleaded with his eyes at the little brother who was now making a disgusted face. "Dude, please?"
"Fine. I can occupy myself." Sam waved at the carnival and Dean frowned.
"You're gonna wait inside Plucky's, Sam." Dean said firmly. "Dad would kill me if I left you out here by yourself."
"Aww, Dean." Sam whined but Dean shook his head.
"Nope. Inside." He pointed to the gaudy restaurant and smiled at Sarah. "I'll be right back." He took Sam's shoulder and got him started walking. "I promise, Sammy. Twenty minutes and I'll be back but you gotta stay inside. No way Dad won't kill me if I leave you out here on your own and you know it."
Sam sighed and hung his head, letting Dean guide him to the doors that stood open for the carnival. "Ok but this place is lame you know that? Food sucks." Sam groaned. Dean handed him a handful cash, watching while he stuffed it in a pocket.
"Aw food's not that bad, Sammy." Dean assured him, though he'd never eaten there and waited while he went inside before turning back to the waiting Sarah with a huge grin. He did a happy two step over to her and got her in his arms before leading her away.
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"This is not good." Caleb groaned, looking around the cellar. Their Sorcerer was nowhere to be found but they had definitely found his lair. There was an altar against the back wall covered in demonic writing, bowls of blood, what looked like the legs of a few chickens and various other things he couldn't identify. John was pouring through a beaten up desk of papers trying to divine where the bastard had gone.
"It's a solstice." John grumbled, flipping papers aside as he read them. "No way does he take the night off tonight."
"Yeah he's up to something." Caleb walked over to the wall behind John, looking at the tapestry that hung there. Some sort of ancient Rune language, Ogham by the look of it, crawled up it in lines with several arcane symbols painted in blood in the center. He frowned, looking at how it hung, slightly askew and stepped to the side, peeking behind it. "Oh shit."
"What?" John turned and watched as Caleb grabbed the tapestry in both hands and pulled. It came away from the wall easily and behind it were a dozen or more photographs of the carnival being set up earlier that day. "Oh god." John breathed as the bottom fell out of his stomach. "I let the boys go there. Caleb!" John turned without another word and ran from the cellar, Caleb close at his heels; both men now sure just where the Sorcerer would be feeding tonight.
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Sam sat dejectedly outside the ball pit and listened to the sound of people having fun outside. Inside, Plucky Pennywhistle's was nearly empty, no one having any interest being inside with all the rides and games outside.
"Sucks." Sam muttered and kicked a few balls across the pit and into the plexi-glass wall. Even the people who worked there were either outside or standing in the door watching on the other side of the building. He did kind of feel bad for making Dean come with him when he'd had plans but he didn't see any reason he had to hide inside like a little kid for twenty lousy minutes. He stood, deciding he could at least run outside for more cotton candy safely.
Sam took a couple steps and stopped, feeling something odd in the air around him. "Hello?" He asked of the empty room. He got no answer but couldn't shake the feeling of being watched. A chuckle at his back made him turn and he gasped. A tall clown stood behind him, Plucky Pennywhistle but angry, red eyes glared out of its' white face at Sam. He backed away nervously. The clown had not been there a moment before.
He bumped into something and spun on a gasp to find a second clown waiting for him. It lunged a red gloved hand out and took Sam by the throat, raising him from the floor while it smiled row after row of razor sharp teeth at him. He gasped and tried to call for help.
"De…" Was all Sam could get out as his feet left the floor. He struggled for air, scratching at the hand around his neck. He was thrown suddenly into the ball pit and landed with an oomph, sinking below and out of sight. He fought for the surface, heaving great gulps of air in and out and scrambled for the edge of the pit. "N…no." Sam panted as the clowns reappeared in the pit beside him. He jumped the last few feet, scrabbling his hands on the edge and pulled himself out as one of them grabbed his foot. Sam kicked hard, felt the hand slide off and he rolled in a panic away from the pit.
"Help!" Sam shouted. "Somebody help!" He ran, looking over his shoulder and couldn't tell which clowns were real and which were the mannequins. It made his skin crawl. He fell into a table, lurching back to his feet only to knock over another as a clown face appeared before him, hissing. "NO!" Sam shouted again and dodged away, tears escaping as terror clawed at him. He was alone, Dean left him and he was alone and they were coming!
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Dean broke from the heated kiss with Sarah, grinning down at the flushed face in his hands. He checked his watch surreptitiously and realized he'd been gone for over a half hour and frowned. He dropped his head to her forehead and groaned.
"Damn I gotta go, babe." Dean told her sadly, catching her startled eyes when she looked up. "I told him twenty. Been way more than that."
She pouted up at him, tracing a hand along his chest. "Oh come on. He can take care of himself. You're his brother, not his mom for crying out loud."
Dean tensed at the tone in her voice and the comment, not liking either one little bit. "He's my responsibility and I shouldn't have left him."
"He's a lame little kid." Sarah giggled and failed to notice the darkening of Dean's green eyes or the way they narrowed at her. "Just leave him for a while."
Dean took her shoulders and purposefully set her away from him, firmly. "Lame?" He stepped back with a shake of his head.
"Where are you going?" Sarah asked angrily and flinched backward when Dean glared at her.
"To go get my lame little brother who I shouldn't have left in the first place." He looked her up and down with disdain. "Not for you." He turned and left her sputtering behind him. Dean strode off his anger, heading around the roller coaster and back to the restaurant. Anyone who could look at Sammy and think he was lame, well…he shook his head. Just went to prove she wasn't as smart as he'd thought she was.
He was in sight of the doors when he saw Sam burst out of them at a run. His little brother's head whipped back and forth and finally settled on Dean. Sam ran full out and thumped hard into Dean, making him grunt as shaking arms wrapped around his chest.
"Sammy?" Dean looked down, feeling tremors in Sam's arms and looked back at the door in confusion. "Hey, buddy. Calm down, you ok?"
Sam nodded against him. "Evil clowns, Dean." Sam said, muffled against his brother's jacket. "They were tryin' to get me."
Dean looked up at the ugly, giant clown face mounted above the door and snorted. "Dude, ok it's ugly but evil?" He patted Sam's back and rested a hand on his hair. "They're not trying to get you, Sammy."
"Did too." Sam argued.
"Dean! Sam!" John Winchester shouted when he saw his boys and sprinted the last few yards to them. "Are you ok?" He took them in, Sam attached to his older brother and face yet to appear and frowned.
"Yeah he just got a little freaked out by the creepy clowns." Dean pointed and smirked. "We're fine."
John nodded, relief washing through him. "Ok. Look, take Sammy inside and stay there. Sorcerer's here somewhere. Caleb and I need to find him." John clapped Dean on the shoulder and strode off to where Caleb waited anxiously.
"Boys ok?" Caleb asked, watching as the older brother tried to calm the younger.
"Yeah." John glanced around at all the rides and booths. "Where do you think?"
"You know, that Ferris wheel hasn't moved since we got here." Caleb nodded toward it. "Be a hell of a view from up there." John nodded and they set off for it.
"Ok, squirt, come on. Back inside." Dean turned Sam toward the building again and his usually docile little brother dug both feet into the ground, shaking his head.
"Uh uh. No, Dean. No!" Sam refused, panic swamping him. He pushed against the hands on his shoulders and wriggled until he could turn to wrap his arms around Dean again. "Not in there. Not with the clowns. Please, Dean, please?"
Dean looked down, mystified as tears glistened on Sam's cheeks, running from his terrified eyes. "Geez little dude, they're just clowns!" Dean sighed and nodded. "Ok. Look, we'll go home alright?" He knelt down to be on eye level with his still short brother and smiled. "I'm sorry I left you, Sammy. I shouldn't have done that."
Sam nodded and dropped his head to Dean's shoulder, arms around his neck. "Home."
"Ok, Sammy." Dean wrapped his arms around him and lifted him up with a grunt. Kid was getting heavier every day and he wouldn't be able to do this anymore soon. He fumbled his phone out of his pocket to call their Dad and tell him when a flash at the top of the Ferris Wheel caught his eye. There was a burst of light outlining three figures as they passed beneath it and Dean's eyes startled wide when he recognized his father's figure as one of them. A second flash and there were only two figures at the top. The great wheel began moving suddenly, creaking into motion and startled carnies at its' base shouted in surprise.
'Hey, you fixed it!" "Nice job!" "I didn't do nothin'. Started all by itself!" "Yeah right." There was laughter, more shouted conversations and Dean watched as the cars slowly rotated and smiled in confusion as his father and Caleb came into view, sitting comfortably and waiting to be let off. Caleb waved at him and grinned. The car stopped, the two men hopping off and ignoring the questions shouted at them as they made their way over to the boys.
"Dean, I thought I told you to take Sammy back inside?" John said severely as he came up beside them.
Dean shrugged. "He didn't wanna go back in. Said the clowns were creepin' him out so I was gonna take him home."
"Hey, little man." Caleb leaned down and waited for Sam to turn his face to him. "How you doin?"
"Hey Caleb." Sam managed a watery smile, head resting on his brother's shoulder. He felt safe finally and wasn't ready to give it up, even if it meant being teased for being little.
"Hey Dad, was that…?" Dean started and John nodded.
"Had to climb up and get the bastard." John said with a laugh and looked ruefully up at the wheel. "I think I don't like heights anymore."
"I don't like clowns anymore." Sam muttered from his spot in Dean's arms and turned his head back into his brothers' neck as the older men laughed. He thought of telling them what had happened but…Dean had laughed, not understanding and he wasn't sure he wanted to see his father and Caleb laugh at him too so instead, he breathed in the scent of leather and gun oil from Dean's jacket and let himself be lulled by the motion as Dean carried him and the men talked about the hunt on their way home.
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The End.