Not a 9-5 (Supernatural)
Title: Not a 9-5
Fandom: Supernatural
Prompt: Routines
Medium: Fanfiction
Size/length: 2973
Summary: Sam’s out of the Cage and he’s home now. Dean didn’t realise how bad things were going to be.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: Lisa/Dean
Content Notes: References to previous torture.
AO3
4:13 A.M.
Sam wakes him up. He’s squirming again and his breath is coming in little frenzied pants.
“Hey, hey. Sammy.” Dean sits up and turns on the lamp on his bedside table. “Sammy.” He touches Sam gently, just his fingertips on his brother’s wrist.
“Dean?!” Sam’s voice is loud.
“Sam?” Lisa’s awake now, groggy, but Dean’s eyes are adjusting to the light and he can see her sit up and then she turns on her own light.
“It’s okay Sam.” Dean says, his voice low and his throat thick from sleeping.
Sam’s clinging to him a moment later and that’s okay. Sometimes Sam has nightmares and curls up in the closet, refusing to look or touch anyone. Those are the ones that worry Dean. But these nightmares, where Sam just wants to snuggle? They’re like the ones he had when he was little. Dean can handle those.
“Hey Sam. Sam I am.” Dean wraps his arms around his brother, returning the embrace. Lisa’s nudging closer now. Her legs press against Dean’s thigh and he can feel Sam’s shirt move as she rubs his back.
Sam’s quieting down now, the shaking is slower and he’s caught his breath.
“Want to talk about something?” Dean asks, Sam’s pressed so tightly to him that he can feel his heart beating against his chest. He’s not sure who’s beat it is, or if they’re the same.
“No.” Sam says and his voice is lower now. He’s relaxing again.
“Sleep?” Lisa asks and she’s running a hand through his hair now, gentle, careful strokes, like petting a skittish cat.
Sam nods and the three of them settle back down, stretching out and relaxing as Sam falls back asleep.
7 A.M.
The alarm clock wakes Dean up. He’s up in a second, turning it off. Sometimes Sam doesn’t like the buzzer and sometimes the radio makes him scream, so they keep it quiet and don’t let it go.
Dean puts on socks and jeans and heads down the hall half dressed to bang on Ben’s bedroom door. “Time to get up Ben. Put some bread in the toaster for the rest of us.” He says, waiting until Ben’s staggering out towards the bathroom before heading back to his bedroom.
By now Lisa’s brushed her hair up into a ponytail and today she’s staying home with Sam so she’s wearing jeans and a hoodie.
“I’ll get him up, you finish getting ready.” She says, nodding at Sam, still snuggled into the covers of the king-sized bed.
Dean dresses quickly and heads into the bathroom to shave, one ear open for Sam the whole time. If it’s a bad day Sam won’t want Lisa and he’ll have to juggle his schedule around again. But he doesn’t hear anything bad and by the time he’s back in the bedroom, Sam’s got his clothes picked out and Lisa’s hurrying down the stairs to pack a lunch for Ben.
“Shower time?” Dean asks, taking the hand that Sam reaches out to him.
“Yeah.” Sam yawns and follows him to the bathroom. “Are you at home today?”
“Lisa’s going to be with you today.” Dean tells him, turning on the shower and taking Sam’s clean clothes. He tests the water, Sam needs it to be the right temperature, he doesn’t do too well when it’s too hot.
“Lisa was here yesterday.” Sam says, stripping down and climbing into the shower.
Dean’s never sure if Sam is complaining or just stating a fact when he says things like that. “Is that okay? I can stay home if you’d like me to.” Dean says. “You have to ask though.”
“No. It’s okay.” Sam’s washing his hair now, eyes tightly closed. He doesn’t like it when the shampoo gets in his eyes. “I like Lisa.”
“Good. I like Lisa too.” Dean says and he hands Sam a towel when he gets out of the shower. “Come here.”
He still has to shave Sam. They tried to do a beard, but the feeling of the hair on his face was too much for Sam and his hands still shake too much to hold the razor. They’re getting better. He brushes his own teeth now.
“What’s for breakfast?” Sam asks as they walk down the stairs.
Dean wiggles his hand until Sam lets go. He pulls out a chair for his brother and grabs the piece of toast that Ben hands him.
“There’s toast, grapefruit or eggs.” Lisa says, she’s eating toast too.
“I’ll have toast please.” Sam says. He can eat toast by himself and Dean has noticed that he’s the only person that’s allowed to feed Sam. It’s always finger food when Lisa stays home.
“Here.” Lisa’s cut the toast for him and it’s lightly buttered, the way he likes it.
“I’ll be home around five thirty.” Dean says, exchanging quick kisses with Lisa. “Does Ben have a ride home?”
“Ben?” Lisa glances over at her son.
“Yeah. I’ve got it covered.” Ben’s washing his plate in the sink. The kid’s really stepped up since Sam came to stay.
“Great. Let’s hit the road.” Dean grabs his car keys from the hook next to the garage.
“Lunch.” Lisa passes him a paper bag. “Have a good day.”
“Yeah. Call me if anything happens.” Dean says and then he’s off to the garage, Ben’s already in the car. Time to go.
8:15 A. M.
He’s on time today, thankfully. The manager, Charlie, he’s been really understanding about Dean’s situation. But you can only expect someone to be understanding for so long and Dean’s always glad when he doesn’t have to push it.
“Morning.” Charlie’s at his desk, working on something.
“Hey.” Dean puts his lunch at one of the communal desks. The rest of the employees spend most of their time out in the workshop, but there’s paperwork that has to be done after every job and he’s starting to fall behind on his.
“How’s your brother?” Charlie’s leaning on his desk now, sipping at coffee that smells sweet enough to rot Dean’s teeth from just breathing it in.
Dean shrugs. He’s told them that his brother was in Iraq and he’s home now. But part of him is still there, you know? And they kind of get it, or they’re too worried about offending Dean and the other veteran guy to say anything.
“He has good days and bad days.” Dean boots up the computer and squints at his last work order. He really should try and write a little neater. Probably make his life easier.
“Not much today.” Charlie puts a couple of papers on his desk. “A guy left his junker, wants someone to take a look at it, when you’ve got a chance.”
“Sure.” Dean glances at the papers. Nothing here takes very long. It’s all easy stuff, oil and tire changes, replacing a battery once and a while. Stuff he’s been doing for years. But the pay is decent and he doesn’t mind working with cars and getting his hands dirty. Besides, Charlie didn’t look too closely at his past and that was really the only requirement for a job.
11:43 A.M.
Dean’s just finishing up with an oil change when Charlie pages him to the office. He wipes the grease from his hands and heads into the office.
“Yeah?”
“Your wife called.” Charlie nods to the phone on the desk Dean used that morning. “Said you need to call her back as soon as you can.”
“Damn, okay.” Dean gives his hands one last wipe on his jeans and sits down. There’s really only one reason Lisa would call, Sam.
“Hello?” Lisa’s voice sounds strained, but he can’t hear Sam screaming in the background and that’s something.
“It’s me Lisa. What’s happening? Is Sam okay?” Dean glances at Charlie, but his boss is studiously ignoring him.
“I don’t know what I did Dean. I’m sorry.”
Dean almost groans, he really didn’t want it to be one of those days. “Okay, it’ll be okay. What happened? Do I need to come home?”
“Maybe. Give me a minute.” She must have leaned away from the phone because her next words are distant, “Sam? Dean’s on the phone. Do you want to talk to him?”
Sam must have been close by because a second later his voice is in Dean’s ear and it’s really loud. “Dean?”
“Yah, you okay Sam?” Dean asks, wishing that he could be at home.
“When are you coming home?” Sam asks.
“A couple hours Sam. I’ll be home at five thirty.” Dean says and almost groans again. Now he better be home at five thirty, Sam will be expecting him and he doesn’t like it when people are late. It makes him worry.
“Okay.” Sam’s voice sounds very small, and since he’s still way too loud, Dean’s not sure how that’s possible.
“Tell me what you’re going to do until I come home.” Dean says and boots up the computer. He’s got a couple more work orders to submit anyways. Might as well do them now.
“Um, I’m going to have lunch. And then read a book.” Sam pauses for a moment. “Then I’m going to take a nap. Because I’m tired, but I have to wait until after lunch.”
“Right.” Dean says. Sam sleeps a lot now. Or maybe he doesn’t. Dean’s still not sure how much he sleeps at night.
“Then Ben will come home and he’ll have homework. I’ll watch TV and have a snack. Lisa’s making me apple slices for a snack.”
“Okay.” Dean’s just saying filler words now.
“I’ll help set the table and then you’ll be home.” Sam finishes off.
“Sounds good.” Dean smiles into the phone. “I’ll see in at five thirty.” He hangs up after Sam says goodbye back.
“Everything fine?” Charlie asks after a moment. “You need to take off?”
“Nope, everyone’s okay today.” Dean scribbles his signature on a bill for replacing brake lights. The amount of paperwork here is stupid, they’re fixing cars, everything doesn’t need to be recorded. But he’s not going to complain.
4:55 P.M.
He opened the junker up an hour ago and it didn’t take too long to find the problem. A couple of leaky fluid lines, and the brake cables were almost rusted through. The owner was supposed to be there twenty-five minutes ago and Dean’s starting to get antsy.
“Something wrong?” Dave’s covered in grease now, something went wrong with one of the new guys and he stepped in to help at the long second.
“Idiot’s late.” Dean grumbles and glances at the bill. It’s hefty, but cheaper than a new car and the guy did tell Dave to do whatever they needed to, so he’s not really worried. Dave chases people down for cash, not his job to worry about it.
“You need to go?” Dave asks, taking the bill.
“Yeah.” Dean glances at the clock. His shift isn’t over for another five minutes, but he needs to leave at five to be home for five thirty.
“Go clean up.” Dave waves hand. “I’ll take care of this. Have a good weekend.”
Dean nods. He hates this. Hates being the special guy, the one that has to get home. Even if he has something to go home to now.
5:31 P.M.
Dean pulls into the driveway, parking as fast as he could. He’s never hit every red light coming home before, apparently today was just that day.
“Dean!” Ben’s on the front porch in a second.
“I’m coming, I’m coming.” Dean runs across the front lawn and up into the house.
“Dean?” Sam’s sitting in the entrance way staring down at the clock that usually hangs in the kitchen.
“Hey Sam.” Dean closes the door behind him and unlaced his boots. He’ll have to go out and put the car in the garage later.
“Ready for supper?” Lisa calls from the kitchen and he can hear the strain in her voice.
“Yeah. Come on Sam.”
8 P.M.
They sit together on the couch, Dean and Ben on either end with Sam and Lisa snuggled in the middle. There’s only a handful of programs that Sam can watch without remembering Hell, so they watch Bob the Builder and Thomas the Tank Engine on DVD.
“I hate this.” Sam whispers into Dean’s ear, his head resting on his older brother’s shoulder.
“What do you hate?” Dean asks, because Sam hates a lot of things. Usually it’s angels or Lucifer or pain.
“I want to be me again.” Sam says. He sits up straighter. “I want to watch the news.”
“Yeah?” Dean grabs the remote from the coffee table. “Let’s give it a try.” He turns down the volume and switches from the DVD player input to the local news channel.
They’re showing footage of a fire and Dean turns off the TV a second later, but Sam’s already buried his head in Lisa’s arms and he’s shaking again.
Ben gets off the couch. He always leaves when Sam’s like this. Dean doesn’t blame him.
“Sam.” Dean and Lisa say together.
“Can I go to bed now?” Sam asks, his voice shaking to match his body.
“If you want to.” Lisa says.
“I hate kids TV.” Sam whispers into her shirt. “I want something with a plot. Harry Potter. Let’s watch Harry Potter tomorrow. But not the second one.”
“Okay.” Dean rubs his brother’s back. “We’ll get Harry Potter.” He shrugs when Lisa glances at him. Sam’s been reading the books, so the movies shouldn’t be that bad.
9 P.M.
Sam’s not usually ready to go to bed this early, but the news thing shook him, so Dean doesn’t complain when Sam takes him by the hand and brings him upstairs to change into his pyjamas. It’s Sam’s choice. That’s what Dean and Lisa decided, Sam’s an adult and he can make choices for himself.
“You want sleeping pills tonight?” Dean asks, watching Sam brush his teeth.
Sam nods and swallows the toothpaste. They got him special stuff, without fluoride, the spitting was too hard. Sam kept saying that he could see his teeth in the sink and Dean didn’t want to hear that again.
The sleeping pills came from a doctor friend of Bobby’s. He made a house call when they were visiting in South Dakota and prescribed some stuff to help. Most of it has been useless, but Dean appreciates the thought. And when they go back to hunting, it will be nice to have a supply of strong painkillers and sometimes the sleeping pills do help.
“You have to swallow this.” Dean reminds his brother, handing Sam a pill and a glass of water. Sam bit down on one of the pills once, and everybody had hated that.
But tonight Sam swallows and follows Dean back to their bedroom and crawls under the covers. Dean climbs in next to him. He only needs to stay until Sam’s asleep. Once he’s sleeping, Sam’s okay by himself, until he wakes up.
“Good night.” Sam whispers and closes his eyes.
“Sweet dreams.” Dean whispers back and starts rubbing gentle circles on Sam’s back. He’s tired too and he closes his eyes. He can go to bed early tonight, Sam will be up at the same time tomorrow. 7 A.M., even if it’s a Saturday. And if he’s lucky, tomorrow will be a good day.