We're not calling it Babe 3/?
Chapter 3
Dean woke up to the smell of coffee and the sight of his brother hastily packing away his phone.
"Are you taking pictures of me while I'm sleeping?" He asked, not awake enough yet to actually care.
"No?"
"You're creepier than Cas." Dean rubbed his face with his left hand to chase away the last traces of sleep but then froze when his brain caught up with the reason why he didn't use his right hand.
Dean groaned but didn't lift his head to confirm what he was feeling at his right side. Instead he closed his eyes with a defeated sigh.
"He's wedged between my side and my arm, isn't he?"
"Yep."
"And his head is on my shoulder." It wasn't really a question, he felt the weight and the warmth of the little body against his side and on his shoulder.
"Yep."
"This never happened." Dean opened his eyes to glare at his brother but didn't move otherwise. The little guy was still sleeping.
"I have pictures." Sam grinned at him. And I'm willing to use them, hung unspoken in the air.
"I'm going to kill you."
Sam's grin just grew wider but he had the sense to retreat to the table, giving Dean and the little pig some room.
"Got us breakfast." He announced over the rustling of paper bags.
"Coffee?" Dean asked and tried to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice.
Sam rolled his eyes at him but handed him a cup and a bagel. Dean had to scoot up to a more or less sitting position if he didn't want to spill the coffee all over himself and his little bed guest, and for a moment it looked like he managed that without waking the little pig.
He was half-way through his coffee and was feeling way more awake by then, when the body at his side became restless and started to wiggle. Seconds later he had tiny feet on his chest and a snout close enough to his face to give him cross-eyes.
The piglet made a whiny noise.
"You got something for him, too?" Dean asked. He put his bagel on his chest and reached out to scratch the piglet behind the ear. It closed its eyes in pleasure and let out a little hum.
"Oatmeal for now." Sam answered, pointing with an half-eaten bagel at a still wrapped container. "And fruit salad for later."
"You and your healthy food." Dean muttered but didn't comment on the "later" part. As long as they didn't talk about it, they could pretend there were no major decisions to make.
However, the pig was hungry and Dean was distracted and there was this delicious bagel right in front of its nose.
He really shouldn't be surprised, he thought, when he found the pig chomping on his breakfast when he finally looked at it. Dean sighed.
"That was my bagel." He said but dropped the rest of it on the mattress for the pig who dove right back in.
At the table Sam cracked up laughing. Dean glared at him but couldn't help a little laugh himself.
"There's still the oatmeal if you want it." Sam offered, wiping his eyes with a napkin.
Dean glared at him which drove him into another laughing fit. So Dean turned his attention back to the piglet, he had the feeling he would find a more mature conversation there.
By now the pig had finished the bagel and was now eying the cup in Dean's hand.
"No." He said firmly and hurried to get his coffee out of reach. "That's mine."
Ignoring his still snickering brother Dean got out of bed and made his way over to the bathroom, leaving his coffee in the relative safety of his brother.
"Keep an eye on him, would you?" Dean asked over his shoulder but by then Sam was already half-way through the room while the piglet watched them with interest from its position on the bed. At least he didn't try to follow Dean.
He hurried through his morning routine and when he came back dressed and freshly shaven he found his brother and the piglet on his bed with Sam feeding him pieces of fruit.
Dean stopped in the doorway, watching them. Last night the piglet had shied away from Sam but now it looked like he was his new best friend.
"He likes you." Dean said softly, a knot loosening in his chest he hadn't know had been there. If his brother and the pig didn't go along … Dean swallowed thickly and tried to not think about how he'd thrown Cas out on Gadreel's demand.
"Not as much as he likes you." Sam answered without even looking in his direction. His eyes were fixed on the little animal in front of him. "You're like his mother now."
"I'm not a mother." Dean huffed but couldn't help the warm and fuzzy feeling in his chest.
Sam didn't comment on that and just fed the piglet another bit from the fruit salad.
"However." He came over and instantly Sam and the fruit were forgotten. The piglet scrambled to get to the other side of the bed, closer to Dean. "I should take him for a walk." He scooped the little guy up who made a happy noise and buried his snout in his armpit.
"Don't want him to pee in your shoes or something."
"You would cheer him on if he did that."
Dean didn't deny that.
The piglet wasn't hobbling as badly as the day before but Dean was pretty sure he still could catch it if it ran away but he tied a rope as an improvised leash around its middle anyway. With his own leg still hurting he wasn't up for running any time soon. And he would pop anther painkiller as soon as he was sure Sam wasn't looking.
If the pig understood the concept of a walk or if it was just coincidence Dean couldn't tell but when they reached the bushes a few steps from their motel room at the corner of the building, he took care of business.
"Good boy." Dean praised him.
While the pig was happily exploring the bushes, Dean used the moment to check something on his phone. He knew he should talk to Sam about this but so far they had been good with not talking about it and Dean didn't want to ruin this with reasons and logic.
"Hey." A voice startled him out of his thoughts. "You. No animals allowed."
Dean turned around to the manager heading his way. He grabbed the leash tighter but the piglet was already hiding behind his leg and he felt it trembling even through the denim of his jeans.
That alone spiked his anger. This man was scaring the little guy.
Dean felt the Mark on his arm, hot and burning, flooding his body with adrenalin and the urge to rip the man's throat out. He took a deep breath and tried to calm himself down. Which the man used to get right in his face.
"You can't bring your dog …" The man started but then had a closer look at the animal on the other end of the leash. "Your pig or whatever. No animals means no animals, mister."
Dean smelled stale cigarettes and old sweat coming in waves at him and he tightened his grip on the rope until he felt it biting into the skin of his palm.
"Sure." Dean said and the word came out calm. Way too calm for his liking. Shit. He took a little step back, brining some distance between himself and the manager. "We were about to leave anyway."
The man didn't seem to listen. He ranted about hygiene standards and extra costs for cleaning which even in his current state Dean found hypocritical but he didn't point out the questionable strains on his sheets or the stain on the carpet which he was almost certain was dried blood.
"I said we are about to leave." Dean cut into the endless stream of words but the man didn't seem to care.
With the bushes behind him, the building on one side and a car parking on his other side, the man was blocking his only way out. Dean couldn't just walk away. His only way out was through this man.
"Don't think you can fool me, that's not even a domesticated pig." The manager pointed with his finger at the little piglet, invading Dean's space even farther. "I should call PETA or the police. It's illegal to keep a wild animal as a pet."
"Sir." Dean tried again. If this man didn't back off, now, he'd no idea what he would do. The Mark was burning red under his sleeve, he didn't need to see it to know that little fact.
Just when he felt his self-control slipping, the door to the office at the other end of the parking lot opened and a woman stepped out.
"Karl! Phone!" She yelled and stomped back inside.
The Manager - Karl - gave Dean one last glare and a "Check-out's at eleven. Make sure to be gone by then." before he turned on his heel and hurried away.
Dean just stood there for another minute, leash in his trembling hand, before the pig butted his head in his shin to get him moving. He hadn't even noticed that the pig wasn't behind him anymore.
"Yeah, okay." Dean muttered absently and let the pig guide him back to their room.
If Sam noticed how ragged he was, he didn't show. Maybe he was too distracted by the piglet who ran right into his waiting arms for some cuddles. And maybe more fruit.
"Ran into the manager." Dean said and by now he was composed enough to make it sound casual. "We're lucky he got distracted before he would charge us extra or call the cops."
Now Sam looked up from his crouched position to give him an "Are you okay?" look. Dean just turned around and started packing.
"Sam, keys." They had packed everything in the trunk and by now Dean felt the stiffness in his leg loosening but the pain increasing and the way Sam looked at him he knew it.
"You sure you're up for driving?" Sam asked, weighting the keys in his hand. "If it were your left leg …"
"We can take turns." Dean offered. He didn't feel like driving, every step he took send lances of pain up to his groin and he didn't even want to think about operating the pedals like this but he had a stop to make and for sure he didn't want to discuss this with Sam now. Better to just drive where he wanted to go by himself. After that Sam could take over the wheel, Dean was fine with that.
Sam gave him one last look but then handed the keys over.
"Just tell me when you need a break."
"Sure."
They had made a nest for the piglet in the foot room on the passenger's side out of Dean's worn shirts which smelled like Dean and a bit like the piglet's mother. The little guy accepted it without fuss and didn't seem to mind lying between Sam's feet. He was asleep before they left the town.
Dean had memorized the way to the place he wanted to go to earlier so he took the turns without hesitation and could only hope that Sam didn't notice the little detour. Officially they were heading back to the bunker.
They didn't speak until Dean parked the car in front of a store. He turned the engine off and peered out of the window to read the sign over the door, deliberately not looking at Sam.
The sign told him that he would find everything a pet could ask for inside.
"He needs some stuff." Dean said still without looking at Sam. Instead he looked down at the little pig sleeping in a pile of his shirts between Sam's feet.
Sam cleared his throat and fished something out of his pocket. "I made a list."
Chapter 4
Masterpost