SPN Fic: Fifth Grade Wonder Girl (3/3)
Title: The Chronicles of Kate A. Lindqvist, Fifth Grade Wonder Girl (Part 3/3)
Rating: PG
Pairings/Characters: Gen. kid!Dean, wee!Sam, and original characters
Summary: Dean had never had a friend before, except for Sammy of course. Third Person POV of a fifth grade Dean.
Warnings/Spoilers: There might be a mild swear word or two
Word Count: 2500 (this section), 7500 (complete story)
Disclaimer: Supernatural and its characters are the property of its creators and the CW network. No profit is being made from this story and no copyright infringement is intended.
Author’s Note: Thanks a bunch to my beta kokoda2007! The earlier parts can be found here: Part One and here: Part Two
The Chronicles of Kate A. Lindqvist, Fifth Grade Wonder Girl
Part 3
The last time I saw Dean Winchester was Thursday, May 25th. I know it was May 25th because people remember the days they lose their best friends. I’m getting ahead of myself, though, because it was May 22nd that should have clued me in.
Sammy and Dean weren’t on the bus that morning, but that in itself wasn’t a worry, they did tend to miss the bus a lot. We were having a late-spring cold spell and the rain was bordering on sleet. I couldn’t concentrate in class and kept looking out the window and wondered if Dean’s dad was home to give them a ride because I knew more often than not he wasn’t and they had to walk.
At quarter to eleven the classroom door swung open and Dean stomped in, threw his backpack near the hooks and slumped down into his chair, head down and hair dripping. He was obviously pissed off and Mrs. Chen had the good sense not to stop the lesson and ask him about it.
He crossed his arms trying to be tough but I think it was also to keep him from shivering. He was only wearing a soaking wet sweatshirt and his face and hands were bright red from the cold.
I tried to lighten the mood and whispered, “some weather, huh? It sucks you had to walk.”
“Whatever.”
After a couple of minutes the classroom door opened again and a crying Sammy came in, his curly wet hair pressed flat against his head. He was wearing his thick coat so at least Dean had remembered to bundle him up. Sam stood bewildered for a second looking at all the unfamiliar faces before Dean stood up and said “what’s wrong, Sammy?” Sam came running to his brother and jumped into his arms.
“Dean!” Sam was crying loudly now that he was with his brother.
Dean held tightly to Sammy whose legs were dangling a foot off of the ground. Dean stroked the back of Sam’s head and Sam nuzzled his face into Dean’s shoulder.
A frantic-looking Mrs. Charles, Sam’s teacher, came into class next. “There you are, Sam! You can’t run off and worry us like that.”
Every kid in class was entranced by the scene. Heck, it’s not everyday something exciting happens. This wasn’t just some random excitement for me though, this was Sammy and Dean and I hated that I couldn’t think of anything to do to help.
“Let me stay here with you, Dean!” came Sam’s muffled voice.
Dean’s arms gripped Sam tighter. He glared at Sam’s teacher and said “What did you do?” His voice was so harsh it scared me.
“Wha-? I don’t know, I asked him to take his coat off and he just flipped out!” It sounded as if Dean had scared Mrs. Charles too.
Dean relaxed a bit and turned his attention back to Sam. “Why didn’t you want to take your coat off, buddy?” He put Sammy down so the kid could answer properly.
Sam sniffled and glanced at his teacher. “It’s my coat and I wanted to keep it.” He started whining louder and stomped his feet when he saw Dean didn’t understand his predicament. “I don’t have to hang up my coat if I don’t want to because it’s mine! We just moved here and it’s not fair! We should be able to stay here if we wanna and I can wear my coat if I wanna!”
During Sam’s tirade Principal Bran came in and spoke softly to Mrs. Charles and sent her back to class. He stood patiently at the door for Sam to finish yelling. Some of the kids in the class had started giggling and I wanted to slug them.
“Sam, just hold on a second!” Dean said to Sam to get him to stop his outburst and it worked enough that Sam buried his head in Dean’s torso and his yelling became a mumbled whine.
“Mr. Winchester, perhaps you can bring your brother out to the hall and we can chat about this so your class can get on with their lesson?”
Sam just clung to Dean and as Dean walked them to the door I heard Sam say, “Tell him we want to stay here, Dean! He’ll listen to you.”
I had thought Sam was referring to the principal, but in retrospect I realized he was talking about their dad who’d probably just told them they had to move again.
Sam got to stay in our class the rest of the school day and Dean must have given him a pretty good talking to because the little guy was actually pretty quiet for once. Dean coddled Sam all day, but towards everyone else, including me, he was a total grump. He also didn’t come over after school and he said their dad expected them home the whole week. I attributed the bad mood to the day’s bad start, but when the next day rolled around and Sammy was back in his own classroom and Dean was still acting totally weird, I suspected something else was up.
At lunch Dean sat away from where I was already sitting at our ordinary spot. We’d eaten together there every day for two months and I wasn’t about to let him do this without an explanation. I grabbed my tray and plopped right down across from him. He wouldn’t look at me.
“Spill it. What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.” He didn’t look particularly angry. In fact, those expressive eyes looked more guilty or hurt.
“Listen to me, Dean Winchester. I’m not going to just drop it and let my best friend be miserable.”
Dean’s fork stopped halfway to his mouth and he jerked his head up to look at me. I had no clue what his look was for. He looked as if I’d just told him that Sam had sprouted wings or something. No, not that exactly. There was a hint of fear in those green eyes.
He put down his fork and his hands were shaking. He glanced around and then looked me in the eye.
“What’s up with you?!” I said.
Dean said very quietly, “I’m your friend?”
Where did that come from? “Yeah, Dean. Do you see me hanging out with anyone else every day?”
“Oh yeah, of course.” Dean shook his head and smiled a little bit. “It’s just that…I’ve never really had a friend before. Except for Sammy of course.”
It wasn’t very often I was struck speechless. “Oh,” I said just to respond. What 11-year-old in the world hasn’t had a friend? Sure, there were kids who were socially awkward, but that was so not Dean.
-O-
Dean was really quiet the rest of the day, but found me on the playground before school the next morning. Mom had dropped us off that day so I hadn’t seen Dean on the bus.
“Hey, Kate.” He looked down at his feet where he was kicking a hole in the gravel.
“Oh, so you’re talking to me today, are you?”
“Yeah, listen--I’m sorry. I’ve been a jerk.”
“Totally. You’re one big jerk.” I wasn’t mad and this helped Dean relax.
“This week has really sucked and you have to understand that I never meant for you to feel bad. I never meant for us to be friends at all. I never wanted a friend.”
“And what’s so wrong with friends?”
“Just let me finish. I may not have wanted it to happen, but I’m glad it did. I’m glad you’re my friend.”
“See, friends aren’t too bad as a general rule. Don’t you think you’d like to have a few more?”
“No, I don’t.” Dean was dead serious.
“And your logic is…?”
Dean shifted his feet and quietly said, “No goodbyes.”
Oh. Dean had warned me a long time ago how they moved so often that one day he’d leave and not even say goodbye. I couldn’t help it, I felt so bad for my friend I did the unthinkable: I hugged Dean Winchester.
As soon as I wrapped my arms around him he stiffened. Then I rested my head on his shoulder and he relaxed in my embrace. I could feel that something inside him let go and he clung to me. I never expected this reaction from Dean, it was as if he needed this comfort, as if he hadn’t been hugged by anyone but Sammy in a very, very long time. I thought about how giving hugs to Sarah is not the same as a hug from Mom and I understood. Dean was still that lost little boy who lost his mother.
Several kids on the playground whistled and gave cat-calls. This was probably not the best location for spontaneous hugs.
On Thursday after school I waited outside for Mom to pick me up. Sarah was home sick that day and she and Mom were picking me up on the way to visit Grandma. They were going to be late because Sarah had a doctor’s appointment.
“Kate!” I turned around and saw Sammy running towards me.
“Hi, Sam!” I gave him a big hug and looked up at Dean who grinned at me. “Hi, Dean. You guys better hurry or you’ll miss the bus.”
Sam said, “Our Dad’s picking us up today, Kate! Hey hey Kate, Dean said Sarah is sick.” He wrinkled his nose. “Did she throw up all over you?”
“Uh…no.”
“One time I threw up all over Dean.” Sam put his hand over his mouth and giggled. “I had eaten a big bowl of-“
“Sammy, I have a couple of your Ninja Turtles in my bag. Why don’t go over there and play with them while we wait for Dad? He might’ve forgotten what time school gets out.”
“Did you bring Michelangelo?”
“I don’t know which one’s which! Just stop being so annoying, will you and go play?”
“Okay!” Sam sure was a good-natured little thing.
As soon as he left Dean smiled awkwardly at me and kept looking over to where Sammy was plopped down with the action figures. Dean was really nervous for some reason. “I didn’t expect to see you again,” Dean paused but quickly added, “after school, I mean.”
“I know, and we hardly had a chance to talk during class. If I didn’t know better I’d think you’ve been avoiding me.”
We sat in silence for a few minutes and then Dean said, “Kate?”
“Hmm?”
“When I move away, and someday I will…what do friends do when one moves away?”
“What do normal kids do or what will we do? Because we’re so not normal.”
Dean shrugged. “Normal kids.”
“Normal kids say goodbye to their friends.” I remembered that Dean had said he wouldn’t say goodbye and I said it to jab at him.
Dean put his head down and nodded. He felt guilty.
I felt a bit guilty myself for that comment so I tried to make him feel better as I continued. “Friends who live apart write letters to each other. Sometimes they talk on the phone if their parents are okay with it. I’m sure we’ll see each other again someday. Maybe we’ll go to the same college.”
Dean sighed. “And what happens when one friend gets busy and gets new friends and forgets about the other one? Don’t look at me like that, let me finish. When I leave we’re never going to see each other again and that’s all there is to it. There won’t be visits. There won’t be phone calls. Hell, we don’t usually even have a phone.”
“Dean, what are you say--?”
“I’m just trying to tell you it’s best for us to remember how much fun it was to be friends and cut it off there. We aren’t going to write to each other. If we don’t cut it off, if we try to stay friends, it’ll end badly. Either we feel bad that we're busy and not writing or we feel bad because we’re waiting for letters that aren’t coming. Just forget about me when I leave.”
“Where’s all this coming from all of a sudden, Dean? Is there something you need to tell me?”
“Hey, boys!” A really old black car had driven up and a man with a leather jacket was getting out of it.
“Daddy!” Sam ran over and jumped into his dad’s arms.
“Did you have a good day at school?” He tickled Sammy who squealed.
This was the enigmatic Mr. Winchester? He was scruffy and gruff, but not the mean dad I’d imagined. In fact, he reminded me a lot of Dean. An old, scruffy, leather-jacket version of my best friend.
“Dean, we need to get going. We’ve got a lot of work to do,” Mr. Winchester said.
“Yes, sir.” From Dean’s answer and his body language it was clear Dean respected his father a whole lot more than any teacher at school. Dean picked up the toys Sam had left on the grass and walked over to the car. On the way he stopped, looked at me in the eye and said, “thanks for everything.” His voice was very serious.
It felt like goodbye.
I whispered, “See you tomorrow” before Dean walked to the car, but in my gut I didn’t believe it.
“You got yourself a girlfriend, Dean?” Mr. Winchester didn’t necessarily say it loudly, but I could still hear him. I don’t know why it made me feel bad, but it did. Dean had never told his dad about me.
Dean looked terribly embarrassed.
“Nothing wrong with a little romance, son. You’re nearly a man, after all.”
Dean got in the car and slammed the door. As Mr. Winchester was putting Sammy into the backseat I heard Sam say, “I’ve got a girlfriend too, Dad!”
That was the last time I ever saw them. I was the first one to class Friday morning and Mrs. Chen told me that she’d received notice Dean had moved. It didn’t come as a surprise but I still burst into tears.
A few weeks later I got a package. Inside was a notebook and a letter. The letter was cute and so very Sam. I knew Sarah would appreciate it because she’d been upset when the boys left. I was sorry Dean hadn’t let Sam say goodbye in person, but I knew he’d had his reasons.
I knew right away that the notebook was from Dean. It was a comic book titled “The Chronicles of Kate A. Lindqvist, Wonder Girl.” The drawings and writing weren’t great, but it was 100% Dean. Wonder Girl was not only a caped crusader, she was also the first ever female president, though I believe Dean’s term was “chick president.” In one of the chronicles she even had the assistance of Batman and the Incredible Mop-head.
I smiled and wiped tears off my cheeks. “Goodbye to you too, my friend.”
End