A Million Things Left to Learn
Sam sat at his desk wondering what the hell had gone wrong. This whole teaching thing had started out pretty great. Really, but Ben had been acting really weird all week. He was avoiding him in the halls and only gave monosyllabic answers when asked a direct question in class. Sam just didn’t get it. Ben had been ecstatic when Sam had told him about being offered a job subbing Latin at Noblesville High School.
The first week had gone really well, too. Sam brought Ben lunch from the café down the street and they’d say his when Ben went to Biology. Then, at the start of the second week, Ben had started giving Sam the cold shoulder. He didn’t wave or say hi in the halls. He didn’t come by begging Sam to grab him a monster so he could make it through another boring history lecture. He just shut himself off. That was when Sam noticed the rest of the students becoming much less responsive as well. It was freaking him out a little.
Now, it was Friday. Ben was in his last class of the day and he and his classmates were due to start class in just a minute. As that thought crossed his mind, the bell rang signaling the end of Sam’s conference period and the start of eighth.
Sam scanned the crowd of students mentally checking off each student’s name as they took their respective seats. However, even as the tardy bell dinged, there was still no sign of Ben. Sam felt his anger flash again. That was the third time this week that Ben had showed up late to his class, and not once did he give any kind of explanation. Still, Sam didn’t want to overreact, so he checked the system and, apparently, Ben had been in every single one of his other classes (and on time too!). Sam took a deep breath before asking the class at large.
“Has anyone seen Ben?” One boy in the front row, Josh, looked like he was about to answer, but at the same time that Josh’s mouth opened, so did the door and in strode none other than Ben Braeden himself.
Sam narrowed his eyes at his nephew. The boy was smirking as he strutted into the room and took his seat at the back. “You’re late, Ben.” Sam said as the boy plopped down. Ben lifted his head and shrugged.
“Yeah, sorry. I was walking Michelle to class.” Ben replied flippantly.
Sam could feel himself Bristle at Ben’s tone. Who the hell did Ben think he was talking to? “That doesn’t explain why you were late, Ben.” Sam growled.
Ben took notice then. He finally looked at his uncle. Sam was wearing what his dad would classify as a ‘bitchface’ of epic proportions. His brow was scrunched and his lips were in a thin line all the way across his face. He didn’t know why Sam was pissed exactly, but there was no reason for him to take it out on Ben. “It kinda does, dude. She has bio this period. Science is on the other side of campus.”
Sam took a very, very big breath and let it out slowly. Apparently, nephews were put on this earth to anger decent people. “We need to talk outside, now.” Sam managed to grind out between gritted teeth before walking over to the door and opening it, gesturing for Ben to go through.
Ben felt his own face fall. Sam was being so overdramatic about this. So he was late, sue him. “Jeez. Chill out, Sammy. I was late. It’s not a big deal.”
Sam lost all patience with that last statement. He didn’t know why Ben was acting like this but he sure as hell wasn’t going to just stand by and let it happen. He closed the distance between him and Ben in less than three strides. He then proceeded to pull the boy out of his seat by his arm and lean in close enough to whisper menacingly.
“Do not speak to me that way Benjamin Isaac. We need to talk and if you want to do this in here in front of everyone, that’s up to you, but I suggest you follow me outside into the hallway and have a rational conversation. Do you understand?”
Ben’s temper had risen with each passing word and he could feel his face heating up with embarrassment. How dare he! Sam had no right to treat him that way in front of his friends. Ben made a show of yanking his arm out of Sam’s reach and yelled back. “Back off!”
Sam had had enough. He reached for Ben again this time turning the boy and landing a solid swat to his backside. Ben winced and tried to pull away but Sam was through being mister nice guy. If Ben wanted to cause a scene, fine. Sam would cause a scene. He pulled Ben closer and landed another ten swats to the boy’s backside before turning him back around to face him.
“I want you in that hallway in the next ten seconds Benjamin. Do you understand me?” Sam barked. Ben nodded trying desperately to avoid looking at any of his classmates. He was absolutely mortified. When Sam finally released his arm, Ben bolted out the door and into the hallway. He felt a tear slide down his face and he wiped it away angrily. Before starting to count in his head in order to try and calm down.
Sam looked around at the shocked faces of his students. No one said a word as his eyes raked over the class. “Open your books and start on page 394. Translate the first page and write a paragraph on the common use of those phrases in ancient Greece. If I can hear you outside, you’re too loud.” Sam said before going out into the hallway. Ben was waiting by the wall eyes downcast and face red. Sam approached him cautiously putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Ben shrugged it off not looking at his uncle.
“Are you gonna tell me what happened in there?” Sam asked softly. Ben turned his head sharply and glared at Sam.
“Yeah, you overreacted and started beating my ass in front of my friends. I have to see these people every day. Why would you do that?”
Sam quirked an eyebrow when Ben’s voice began to climb above a whisper but his own anger was still brewing and he had absolutely no sympathy at this point. “Because you were being rude and disrespectful and you knew it. I don’t know why you seem to think that just because I’m substituting for your class that that makes all of your parents’ rules null and void but you’re wrong. You wouldn’t talk to your mom or dad that way and there’s no way in hell you’re talking to me like that either.”
Ben looked down a little embarrassed. He knew his dad probably wouldn’t have waited as long as Sam to take him to task but that didn’t make this any better and it didn’t make him any less angry that it happened in front of his friends. “Okay. I’m sorry I went overboard on the attitude thing, but did you have to do it in front of everyone?”
“I gave you a chance to come outside first. You didn’t take it.” Sam looked up at the clock on the wall. There was only twenty minutes left of class and he’d be damned if he was going to let ben’s attitude mess with his job. “Do you think you can behave yourself until the end of the day?” Sam asked quietly. Ben nodded. “Good. Then, go back inside and we’ll talk about this after school.”
Ben looked up cautiously. “Are you… are you gonna tell my dad?” Ben asked hesitantly.
Sam looked at him closely noted the boy’s hesitancy, but Sam had learned his lesson about lying and keeping things from his brother, especially things about Ben. “Yeah, we’re gonna tell him.” Ben looked back at him pleadingly for a moment before giving in and nodding his head once and going back inside. This was going to be the longest twenty minutes of Sam’s life.
When they reentered the classroom, all eyes shot to them and the quiet whispering stopped immediately. Ben could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he made his way to his desk. Sam cleared his throat when he was back at the front of the class.“Right, so who can translate the first phrase?” Sam asked the room. It was deathly silent for a moment. “No one?” Just when Sam was about to call on someone, a girl in the third row raised her hand. “Mariana?” The class fell back into some semblance of order after that, but Ben couldn’t help the anxiety that built throughout that whole time. He knew he was in trouble. There was no doubt in his mind about what his future held, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
When the final bell rang, Sam assigned that night’s reading and dismissed everyone. Ben waited after class for Sam to finish explaining the make-up work to a girl in his fifth period. Then, it was just the two of them. Sam looked at him for a moment before motioning him forward.
“Go get your things out of your locker, and meet me at my car in ten, okay?”
Ben nodded and headed out the door. Sam watched him go and hated how defeated the kid looked. It had been a long time since Sam had felt bad about swatting him, but damn that guilt was clawing at him now. Maybe he’d overreacted, maybe he shouldn’t have swatted at him, but damn if the kid didn’t push his buttons sometimes.
He found his phone and scrolled through the contacts before landing on Dean’s number. What was he going to tell his brother? Sorry, but your kid forgot how to act and now somebody needs to punish him and I really don’t want it to be me. Yeah, sounded like a great plan. Still, he hit the call button and found himself chewing on his bottom lip while waiting for Dean to pick up.
“Winchester.” His brother’s voice filled his ear and Sam felt himself relaxing, even if it was by a minuscule degree.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Sammy? What’s up?”
“Well,” how exactly was he supposed to explain this?
“Sammy? Everything okay?”
“Not really.” Sam sighed.
“What? Why? What happened?”
“Nobody’s hurt or anything, Dean. Calm down, dude.”
Sam could imagine the tension leaving his brother as he heard him sigh on the other end. “You can’t just say shit like that, Sam. You’ll give a guy a heart attack. If no one’s hurt why isn’t everything okay?”
“It’s Ben.”
“What’d he do?” Sam smiled slightly. Of course Dean knew the kid was in trouble. Like father like son, after all. “He’d better not be giving you a hard time over that stupid cell phone crap.:
That got Sam’s attention.
“What cell phone crap?”
“He came home last Friday complaining about how you took up some kid’s phone and that was the kid’s third strike and he had to wait ‘til the end of the year to get it back if he didn’t wanna pay a fine. Now the kid’s pissed at you and won’t talk to Ben. You know bullshit high school stuff. I told him to ride it out, it’d get better, but apparently I didn’t make myself very clear, huh?”
Sam couldn’t help but chuckle. It was just some stupid grudge match. Then, he felt a little guilty, because he remembered how much that shit sucked. Still, at least Ben wasn’t getting into drugs or something.
Dean’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “So, you gonna tell me what happened?” His voice had hardened a little; there was a demand in there that Sam recognized and it kind of hurt that Dean didn’t trust him to tell him.
“Of course I’m gonna tell you, Dean. He’s your son.”
“Right, I know that Sammy, just…yeah.”
Five seconds of awkward silence later, Sam started spilling the whole story. By the end of it, Dean was more than slightly irritated. Ben knew better. He knew what that kind of behavior would get him with himself or Lisa, and Dean just couldn’t believe his kid would act that way, especially to his Uncle Sam. Ben practically worshipped him. Sam had been more big brother than uncle for the most part Dean knew Sam adored Ben too. That’s why he didn’t get how Ben could just treat Sammy that way. He did, however, know that he wasn’t going to put up with it. He hated having to punish him, but sometimes it needed to be done.
“Okay, go ahead and take him home and I’ll deal with it tonight.” There was no response. “Sammy?”
“Dean, I… I think, maybe, I should be the one to punish him.” Sam was surprised at himself. Where did that come from? It seemed to throw Dean for a loop, too. Sam,his Sammy was offering to beat his nephew’s ass. That was more than a little unexpected.
“Really?” Dean asked, unsure.
“Well, yeah; I think so. I mean, he broke my rules in my class, you know. I don’t think he thinks of me as any kind of an authority figure and as much as I’ve loved that, I’m not sure that’s the best way to keep going.”
“This, coming from the man who threw a fit every time I put you over my knee because it was ‘damaging to the psyche’?” Sam chuckled on his end.
“Most of that was bullshit and you know it. I just… I think that I need to do this. I don’t really like the idea, but what if something like this happens again? Am I just supposed to threaten to send him home every time he misbehaves?”
“I get it, Sammy. Really, I do. If you think you can handle this, do it. Personally, I think that if you’d’ve spanked him with the whole jail thing, you may not have had this problem now. So, do what you need to do. I’ll see you both at dinner tonight, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks man.”
“Call me if you need back-up.”
“’Kay.”
With that, Sam hung up and headed to his car. Ben was already there, waiting. Sam unlocked the car and Ben crawled in without looking at his uncle, slamming the door and slouching against it. Sam took a deep breath. He didn’t want to kill the kid, after all.
The ride was mostly silent until they drove right past Ben’s house and further down the street toward Sam’s garage apartment. “Where are we going?” Ben huffed out as he turned to stare at his uncle.
“My house.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk about what happened today.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually gonna take me to your house so you can lecture mebefore dad tears my ass up. That’s completely unfair.”
“Nope, you’re dad’s not going to punish you.”
“You’re making my mom do it? Dude, that’s just cruel!”
“You’re mom’s not the one punishing you either, Ben. This is between me and you.”
Ben sat frozen for a minute before he started shaking his head. “Hell no! You’re not serious.”
“Watch your mouth, Ben, and yeah. I'm dead serious.”
“You can’t, though. You’re not my dad, Sam. You don’t have any right!”
Sam cringed slightly at that one. It sure felt that way, but he knew he couldn’t back out now. “You’re right, Ben. I’m not your dad, but I do have his permission to handle this however I see fit.” He resisted the urge to tack on ‘so there’ at the end. That certainly wouldn’t help his case any. Ben’s wide eyed stare stayed on him for another moment before the boy huffed and turned to glare out the window for the last minute and a half of the drive.
When they arrived at Sam’s house, Sam got out, but Ben remained stubbornly in his seat. “Don’t do this, Ben. Just come inside and let’s get this over with. Your mom’s making frittatas for dinner and they’re not nearly as good cold.” Sam said with a slight smile.
Ben only glared and Sam opened the door for him and ‘helped’ him out of the car. Ben walked beside Sam his arm in his uncle’s grasp and followed him up the stairs and into the front door. He’d spent tons of time in the last few years at this place with Sam. It’d been like getting a sibling and a Dad all together. Now, though, he entered with caution. Sam wasn’t really going to spank him, right? Sam was his friend, his brother for all intents and purposes. Even as he thought it, the grip on his arm told a different story.
Sam led him to the couch and had him sit before joining him and angling his body toward him. “Do you wanna tell me what’s been going on the last few days?” Ben just shrugged. There was hesitancy in the gesture Sam wasn’t used to seeing. “Come on, Ben. I need to know what’s up or I can’t fix it.” He saw Ben’s jaw tighten and felt his own weariness rise. He didn’t want to do this any more than Ben wanted him to, but that didn’t change the fact that he needed to.
“Fine,” Sam finally ground out when Ben made it very clear that he wasn’t talking. “We can just skip the talking part. Stand up.” That got the boy’s attention. Ben turned wide eyes on him and stared in horror. “Ben, you’ve been given two options; talk now or wait until after the spanking.”
Ben swallowed once before finally, finally talking. “You took up Mike Rizzoli’s phone.”
“Okay, why did that make you act the way you did in class today?”
“Because! Mike was mad at you, and, you know, he’s my friend. So, I couldn’t justnot be mad at you too. I know it’s stupid, but there’s a pecking order and I’m not exactly at the top, so I had to.”
“You had to?”
“Yeah?”
“Is that a question?”
“No. I guess it just sounds kinda stupid like that.” Ben mumbled his eyes darting up to look at Sam’s face. Sam chuckled slightly.
“Yeah, it does, but you’re sixteen, dude. You’re entitled to a little stupidity on occasion.”
Ben smiled up at him. “Does that mean I get a reprieve?”
“Not a chance.” Sam smiled at him sadly.
“Let’s get this over with, shall we? Stand up.” Ben got that panicked look in his eye again and shook his head. “Ben, don’t make me do this the hard way, please. Just stand up, so we can get through this.”
“Sam, damn it, I’m sixteen! If…if you think I, you know, need this, then let my dad do it, just, please, don’t.” His words had gotten quieter as the convoluted sentence went on, but Sam was already shaking his head.
“No, Ben. You broke my rules. You gotta pay the piper, and, today, I’m it.”
“Sam, please.”
“No, Ben. We’re not discussing this any further. You can either stand up and pull your jeans down yourself, or I’ll do it for you. It’s up to you, choose quickly.” Ben Just shook his head and Sam sighed before pulling the boy bodily over his knee in one fell swoop.
Ben began struggling immediately, but Sam held on but couldn’t get the pants down while the boy moved. He didn’t know how Dean had done it, but apparently it took practice. He landed three heavy-handed swats to the boy’s backside and Ben stilled. Then, he pulled the pants down his legs and below his knees.
Right, Dean lectured, he should lecture, right? He landed a swat in the middle of Ben’s ass and paused, unsure. Right, more than one. He knew that, totally. He started laying down swat after swat and waited until he could feel his nephew begin to squirm over his lap before speaking.
“Just because your dad’s not around doesn’t mean you get to act however you want. I’m an adult too and what I say should make a difference especially while I’m your teacher, got me?”
“Yes, sir,” Ben replied automatically and Sam paused for a moment. Sir? Ben just called him sir. He shook his head to clear it and began spanking again, aiming for the sit spots.
“I know that it’s not always easy to fit in, and I know how hard it is to not just do what everyone else is doing even if it’s wrong, but learning how to do that is part of growing up. Next time something like this happens, you talk to me about it. Got that?”
Sam nodded to himself and aimed the last fifteen swats at the lower ass and thighs. Ben cried out with almost every slap, and Sam felt his heart ache for him. He’d been in his position enough times to know how that felt. Jeez, he was terrible. He stopped then, letting Ben have a minute to collect himself before the kid pulled himself up off of Sam’s lap.
Ben refused to look up as he wiped the stupid, treacherous tears from his face. He felt Sam shift slightly and the next thing he knew, he was clutching Sam and apologizing like he was ten years old or something.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Sam. Really, really, really sorry. It was stupid and it’s not happening again, I swear.” He felt Sam chuckle looked up sheepishly. “What?”
“Nothing, just that you sound like me.”
“How’s that?”
“I used to make the same unattainable promises. You’re gonna screw up. It’s a fact of life. Just do me a favor, okay?”
“What?”
“Let’s make this the first and last time we have to do this okay?”
“God, I hope so.” Ben said smirking as he pulled back. “Now, did you say something about Mom’s frittata?” Sam beamed down at him.
“Yeah, let’s head over to your house and see when it’ll be ready.”
“You up for a round of battleship?”
Sam nodded as they stood and he grabbed his keys. Ben paused. “What?”
“Do, uh, do you mind if we maybe… walked to my house?” Sam smiled a little but nodded.
They arrived at Ben’s house ten minutes later and Lisa greeted them from the living room where she was reading another murder mystery. “Take your shoes off. I just shampooed the carpet and I’m not getting dirty shoe marks all over it.” Sam rolled his eyes and gave Ben a knowing look.
They had to walk through the living room to get to the Den where the games were, and Lisa looked up from her book as they came through. “How was school?” Ben looked to Sam, and Sam just shrugged.
“You mind if we talk about it later? I was kinda hoping to beat Ben at stratego.” Lisa looked at them both suspiciously, but nodded.
“Fine, but I want both of your help with the pie. I’m making blackberry and there’s a lot of prep work.”
“Yes, ma’am.” They answered together.
When Dean arrived, he went to check in on Sam and ben. His boys had migrated to Ben’s room where they were facing off in Mortal Kombat, and Dean couldn’t help but smile at them. Apparently, Sammy’s new adult status hadn’t changed much. He wondered if Sam had decided not to go through with it until he announced that dinner was ready and ben sat up with a wince.
Dinner was delicious (Lisa couldn’t cook much but frittatas were a specialty of hers) and Dean loved seeing Sam and Ben interacting normally again. Life seemed to be back to normal and, oddly enough, that was how Dean liked it.
The first week had gone really well, too. Sam brought Ben lunch from the café down the street and they’d say his when Ben went to Biology. Then, at the start of the second week, Ben had started giving Sam the cold shoulder. He didn’t wave or say hi in the halls. He didn’t come by begging Sam to grab him a monster so he could make it through another boring history lecture. He just shut himself off. That was when Sam noticed the rest of the students becoming much less responsive as well. It was freaking him out a little.
Now, it was Friday. Ben was in his last class of the day and he and his classmates were due to start class in just a minute. As that thought crossed his mind, the bell rang signaling the end of Sam’s conference period and the start of eighth.
Sam scanned the crowd of students mentally checking off each student’s name as they took their respective seats. However, even as the tardy bell dinged, there was still no sign of Ben. Sam felt his anger flash again. That was the third time this week that Ben had showed up late to his class, and not once did he give any kind of explanation. Still, Sam didn’t want to overreact, so he checked the system and, apparently, Ben had been in every single one of his other classes (and on time too!). Sam took a deep breath before asking the class at large.
“Has anyone seen Ben?” One boy in the front row, Josh, looked like he was about to answer, but at the same time that Josh’s mouth opened, so did the door and in strode none other than Ben Braeden himself.
Sam narrowed his eyes at his nephew. The boy was smirking as he strutted into the room and took his seat at the back. “You’re late, Ben.” Sam said as the boy plopped down. Ben lifted his head and shrugged.
“Yeah, sorry. I was walking Michelle to class.” Ben replied flippantly.
Sam could feel himself Bristle at Ben’s tone. Who the hell did Ben think he was talking to? “That doesn’t explain why you were late, Ben.” Sam growled.
Ben took notice then. He finally looked at his uncle. Sam was wearing what his dad would classify as a ‘bitchface’ of epic proportions. His brow was scrunched and his lips were in a thin line all the way across his face. He didn’t know why Sam was pissed exactly, but there was no reason for him to take it out on Ben. “It kinda does, dude. She has bio this period. Science is on the other side of campus.”
Sam took a very, very big breath and let it out slowly. Apparently, nephews were put on this earth to anger decent people. “We need to talk outside, now.” Sam managed to grind out between gritted teeth before walking over to the door and opening it, gesturing for Ben to go through.
Ben felt his own face fall. Sam was being so overdramatic about this. So he was late, sue him. “Jeez. Chill out, Sammy. I was late. It’s not a big deal.”
Sam lost all patience with that last statement. He didn’t know why Ben was acting like this but he sure as hell wasn’t going to just stand by and let it happen. He closed the distance between him and Ben in less than three strides. He then proceeded to pull the boy out of his seat by his arm and lean in close enough to whisper menacingly.
“Do not speak to me that way Benjamin Isaac. We need to talk and if you want to do this in here in front of everyone, that’s up to you, but I suggest you follow me outside into the hallway and have a rational conversation. Do you understand?”
Ben’s temper had risen with each passing word and he could feel his face heating up with embarrassment. How dare he! Sam had no right to treat him that way in front of his friends. Ben made a show of yanking his arm out of Sam’s reach and yelled back. “Back off!”
Sam had had enough. He reached for Ben again this time turning the boy and landing a solid swat to his backside. Ben winced and tried to pull away but Sam was through being mister nice guy. If Ben wanted to cause a scene, fine. Sam would cause a scene. He pulled Ben closer and landed another ten swats to the boy’s backside before turning him back around to face him.
“I want you in that hallway in the next ten seconds Benjamin. Do you understand me?” Sam barked. Ben nodded trying desperately to avoid looking at any of his classmates. He was absolutely mortified. When Sam finally released his arm, Ben bolted out the door and into the hallway. He felt a tear slide down his face and he wiped it away angrily. Before starting to count in his head in order to try and calm down.
Sam looked around at the shocked faces of his students. No one said a word as his eyes raked over the class. “Open your books and start on page 394. Translate the first page and write a paragraph on the common use of those phrases in ancient Greece. If I can hear you outside, you’re too loud.” Sam said before going out into the hallway. Ben was waiting by the wall eyes downcast and face red. Sam approached him cautiously putting a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Ben shrugged it off not looking at his uncle.
“Are you gonna tell me what happened in there?” Sam asked softly. Ben turned his head sharply and glared at Sam.
“Yeah, you overreacted and started beating my ass in front of my friends. I have to see these people every day. Why would you do that?”
Sam quirked an eyebrow when Ben’s voice began to climb above a whisper but his own anger was still brewing and he had absolutely no sympathy at this point. “Because you were being rude and disrespectful and you knew it. I don’t know why you seem to think that just because I’m substituting for your class that that makes all of your parents’ rules null and void but you’re wrong. You wouldn’t talk to your mom or dad that way and there’s no way in hell you’re talking to me like that either.”
Ben looked down a little embarrassed. He knew his dad probably wouldn’t have waited as long as Sam to take him to task but that didn’t make this any better and it didn’t make him any less angry that it happened in front of his friends. “Okay. I’m sorry I went overboard on the attitude thing, but did you have to do it in front of everyone?”
“I gave you a chance to come outside first. You didn’t take it.” Sam looked up at the clock on the wall. There was only twenty minutes left of class and he’d be damned if he was going to let ben’s attitude mess with his job. “Do you think you can behave yourself until the end of the day?” Sam asked quietly. Ben nodded. “Good. Then, go back inside and we’ll talk about this after school.”
Ben looked up cautiously. “Are you… are you gonna tell my dad?” Ben asked hesitantly.
Sam looked at him closely noted the boy’s hesitancy, but Sam had learned his lesson about lying and keeping things from his brother, especially things about Ben. “Yeah, we’re gonna tell him.” Ben looked back at him pleadingly for a moment before giving in and nodding his head once and going back inside. This was going to be the longest twenty minutes of Sam’s life.
When they reentered the classroom, all eyes shot to them and the quiet whispering stopped immediately. Ben could feel the heat rising in his cheeks as he made his way to his desk. Sam cleared his throat when he was back at the front of the class.“Right, so who can translate the first phrase?” Sam asked the room. It was deathly silent for a moment. “No one?” Just when Sam was about to call on someone, a girl in the third row raised her hand. “Mariana?” The class fell back into some semblance of order after that, but Ben couldn’t help the anxiety that built throughout that whole time. He knew he was in trouble. There was no doubt in his mind about what his future held, but that didn’t mean he had to like it.
When the final bell rang, Sam assigned that night’s reading and dismissed everyone. Ben waited after class for Sam to finish explaining the make-up work to a girl in his fifth period. Then, it was just the two of them. Sam looked at him for a moment before motioning him forward.
“Go get your things out of your locker, and meet me at my car in ten, okay?”
Ben nodded and headed out the door. Sam watched him go and hated how defeated the kid looked. It had been a long time since Sam had felt bad about swatting him, but damn that guilt was clawing at him now. Maybe he’d overreacted, maybe he shouldn’t have swatted at him, but damn if the kid didn’t push his buttons sometimes.
He found his phone and scrolled through the contacts before landing on Dean’s number. What was he going to tell his brother? Sorry, but your kid forgot how to act and now somebody needs to punish him and I really don’t want it to be me. Yeah, sounded like a great plan. Still, he hit the call button and found himself chewing on his bottom lip while waiting for Dean to pick up.
“Winchester.” His brother’s voice filled his ear and Sam felt himself relaxing, even if it was by a minuscule degree.
“Hey, it’s me.”
“Sammy? What’s up?”
“Well,” how exactly was he supposed to explain this?
“Sammy? Everything okay?”
“Not really.” Sam sighed.
“What? Why? What happened?”
“Nobody’s hurt or anything, Dean. Calm down, dude.”
Sam could imagine the tension leaving his brother as he heard him sigh on the other end. “You can’t just say shit like that, Sam. You’ll give a guy a heart attack. If no one’s hurt why isn’t everything okay?”
“It’s Ben.”
“What’d he do?” Sam smiled slightly. Of course Dean knew the kid was in trouble. Like father like son, after all. “He’d better not be giving you a hard time over that stupid cell phone crap.:
That got Sam’s attention.
“What cell phone crap?”
“He came home last Friday complaining about how you took up some kid’s phone and that was the kid’s third strike and he had to wait ‘til the end of the year to get it back if he didn’t wanna pay a fine. Now the kid’s pissed at you and won’t talk to Ben. You know bullshit high school stuff. I told him to ride it out, it’d get better, but apparently I didn’t make myself very clear, huh?”
Sam couldn’t help but chuckle. It was just some stupid grudge match. Then, he felt a little guilty, because he remembered how much that shit sucked. Still, at least Ben wasn’t getting into drugs or something.
Dean’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “So, you gonna tell me what happened?” His voice had hardened a little; there was a demand in there that Sam recognized and it kind of hurt that Dean didn’t trust him to tell him.
“Of course I’m gonna tell you, Dean. He’s your son.”
“Right, I know that Sammy, just…yeah.”
Five seconds of awkward silence later, Sam started spilling the whole story. By the end of it, Dean was more than slightly irritated. Ben knew better. He knew what that kind of behavior would get him with himself or Lisa, and Dean just couldn’t believe his kid would act that way, especially to his Uncle Sam. Ben practically worshipped him. Sam had been more big brother than uncle for the most part Dean knew Sam adored Ben too. That’s why he didn’t get how Ben could just treat Sammy that way. He did, however, know that he wasn’t going to put up with it. He hated having to punish him, but sometimes it needed to be done.
“Okay, go ahead and take him home and I’ll deal with it tonight.” There was no response. “Sammy?”
“Dean, I… I think, maybe, I should be the one to punish him.” Sam was surprised at himself. Where did that come from? It seemed to throw Dean for a loop, too. Sam,his Sammy was offering to beat his nephew’s ass. That was more than a little unexpected.
“Really?” Dean asked, unsure.
“Well, yeah; I think so. I mean, he broke my rules in my class, you know. I don’t think he thinks of me as any kind of an authority figure and as much as I’ve loved that, I’m not sure that’s the best way to keep going.”
“This, coming from the man who threw a fit every time I put you over my knee because it was ‘damaging to the psyche’?” Sam chuckled on his end.
“Most of that was bullshit and you know it. I just… I think that I need to do this. I don’t really like the idea, but what if something like this happens again? Am I just supposed to threaten to send him home every time he misbehaves?”
“I get it, Sammy. Really, I do. If you think you can handle this, do it. Personally, I think that if you’d’ve spanked him with the whole jail thing, you may not have had this problem now. So, do what you need to do. I’ll see you both at dinner tonight, okay?”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks man.”
“Call me if you need back-up.”
“’Kay.”
With that, Sam hung up and headed to his car. Ben was already there, waiting. Sam unlocked the car and Ben crawled in without looking at his uncle, slamming the door and slouching against it. Sam took a deep breath. He didn’t want to kill the kid, after all.
The ride was mostly silent until they drove right past Ben’s house and further down the street toward Sam’s garage apartment. “Where are we going?” Ben huffed out as he turned to stare at his uncle.
“My house.”
“Why?”
“Because we need to talk about what happened today.”
“Don’t tell me you’re actually gonna take me to your house so you can lecture mebefore dad tears my ass up. That’s completely unfair.”
“Nope, you’re dad’s not going to punish you.”
“You’re making my mom do it? Dude, that’s just cruel!”
“You’re mom’s not the one punishing you either, Ben. This is between me and you.”
Ben sat frozen for a minute before he started shaking his head. “Hell no! You’re not serious.”
“Watch your mouth, Ben, and yeah. I'm dead serious.”
“You can’t, though. You’re not my dad, Sam. You don’t have any right!”
Sam cringed slightly at that one. It sure felt that way, but he knew he couldn’t back out now. “You’re right, Ben. I’m not your dad, but I do have his permission to handle this however I see fit.” He resisted the urge to tack on ‘so there’ at the end. That certainly wouldn’t help his case any. Ben’s wide eyed stare stayed on him for another moment before the boy huffed and turned to glare out the window for the last minute and a half of the drive.
When they arrived at Sam’s house, Sam got out, but Ben remained stubbornly in his seat. “Don’t do this, Ben. Just come inside and let’s get this over with. Your mom’s making frittatas for dinner and they’re not nearly as good cold.” Sam said with a slight smile.
Ben only glared and Sam opened the door for him and ‘helped’ him out of the car. Ben walked beside Sam his arm in his uncle’s grasp and followed him up the stairs and into the front door. He’d spent tons of time in the last few years at this place with Sam. It’d been like getting a sibling and a Dad all together. Now, though, he entered with caution. Sam wasn’t really going to spank him, right? Sam was his friend, his brother for all intents and purposes. Even as he thought it, the grip on his arm told a different story.
Sam led him to the couch and had him sit before joining him and angling his body toward him. “Do you wanna tell me what’s been going on the last few days?” Ben just shrugged. There was hesitancy in the gesture Sam wasn’t used to seeing. “Come on, Ben. I need to know what’s up or I can’t fix it.” He saw Ben’s jaw tighten and felt his own weariness rise. He didn’t want to do this any more than Ben wanted him to, but that didn’t change the fact that he needed to.
“Fine,” Sam finally ground out when Ben made it very clear that he wasn’t talking. “We can just skip the talking part. Stand up.” That got the boy’s attention. Ben turned wide eyes on him and stared in horror. “Ben, you’ve been given two options; talk now or wait until after the spanking.”
Ben swallowed once before finally, finally talking. “You took up Mike Rizzoli’s phone.”
“Okay, why did that make you act the way you did in class today?”
“Because! Mike was mad at you, and, you know, he’s my friend. So, I couldn’t justnot be mad at you too. I know it’s stupid, but there’s a pecking order and I’m not exactly at the top, so I had to.”
“You had to?”
“Yeah?”
“Is that a question?”
“No. I guess it just sounds kinda stupid like that.” Ben mumbled his eyes darting up to look at Sam’s face. Sam chuckled slightly.
“Yeah, it does, but you’re sixteen, dude. You’re entitled to a little stupidity on occasion.”
Ben smiled up at him. “Does that mean I get a reprieve?”
“Not a chance.” Sam smiled at him sadly.
“Let’s get this over with, shall we? Stand up.” Ben got that panicked look in his eye again and shook his head. “Ben, don’t make me do this the hard way, please. Just stand up, so we can get through this.”
“Sam, damn it, I’m sixteen! If…if you think I, you know, need this, then let my dad do it, just, please, don’t.” His words had gotten quieter as the convoluted sentence went on, but Sam was already shaking his head.
“No, Ben. You broke my rules. You gotta pay the piper, and, today, I’m it.”
“Sam, please.”
“No, Ben. We’re not discussing this any further. You can either stand up and pull your jeans down yourself, or I’ll do it for you. It’s up to you, choose quickly.” Ben Just shook his head and Sam sighed before pulling the boy bodily over his knee in one fell swoop.
Ben began struggling immediately, but Sam held on but couldn’t get the pants down while the boy moved. He didn’t know how Dean had done it, but apparently it took practice. He landed three heavy-handed swats to the boy’s backside and Ben stilled. Then, he pulled the pants down his legs and below his knees.
Right, Dean lectured, he should lecture, right? He landed a swat in the middle of Ben’s ass and paused, unsure. Right, more than one. He knew that, totally. He started laying down swat after swat and waited until he could feel his nephew begin to squirm over his lap before speaking.
“Just because your dad’s not around doesn’t mean you get to act however you want. I’m an adult too and what I say should make a difference especially while I’m your teacher, got me?”
“Yes, sir,” Ben replied automatically and Sam paused for a moment. Sir? Ben just called him sir. He shook his head to clear it and began spanking again, aiming for the sit spots.
“I know that it’s not always easy to fit in, and I know how hard it is to not just do what everyone else is doing even if it’s wrong, but learning how to do that is part of growing up. Next time something like this happens, you talk to me about it. Got that?”
Sam nodded to himself and aimed the last fifteen swats at the lower ass and thighs. Ben cried out with almost every slap, and Sam felt his heart ache for him. He’d been in his position enough times to know how that felt. Jeez, he was terrible. He stopped then, letting Ben have a minute to collect himself before the kid pulled himself up off of Sam’s lap.
Ben refused to look up as he wiped the stupid, treacherous tears from his face. He felt Sam shift slightly and the next thing he knew, he was clutching Sam and apologizing like he was ten years old or something.
“I’m sorry, Uncle Sam. Really, really, really sorry. It was stupid and it’s not happening again, I swear.” He felt Sam chuckle looked up sheepishly. “What?”
“Nothing, just that you sound like me.”
“How’s that?”
“I used to make the same unattainable promises. You’re gonna screw up. It’s a fact of life. Just do me a favor, okay?”
“What?”
“Let’s make this the first and last time we have to do this okay?”
“God, I hope so.” Ben said smirking as he pulled back. “Now, did you say something about Mom’s frittata?” Sam beamed down at him.
“Yeah, let’s head over to your house and see when it’ll be ready.”
“You up for a round of battleship?”
Sam nodded as they stood and he grabbed his keys. Ben paused. “What?”
“Do, uh, do you mind if we maybe… walked to my house?” Sam smiled a little but nodded.
They arrived at Ben’s house ten minutes later and Lisa greeted them from the living room where she was reading another murder mystery. “Take your shoes off. I just shampooed the carpet and I’m not getting dirty shoe marks all over it.” Sam rolled his eyes and gave Ben a knowing look.
They had to walk through the living room to get to the Den where the games were, and Lisa looked up from her book as they came through. “How was school?” Ben looked to Sam, and Sam just shrugged.
“You mind if we talk about it later? I was kinda hoping to beat Ben at stratego.” Lisa looked at them both suspiciously, but nodded.
“Fine, but I want both of your help with the pie. I’m making blackberry and there’s a lot of prep work.”
“Yes, ma’am.” They answered together.
When Dean arrived, he went to check in on Sam and ben. His boys had migrated to Ben’s room where they were facing off in Mortal Kombat, and Dean couldn’t help but smile at them. Apparently, Sammy’s new adult status hadn’t changed much. He wondered if Sam had decided not to go through with it until he announced that dinner was ready and ben sat up with a wince.
Dinner was delicious (Lisa couldn’t cook much but frittatas were a specialty of hers) and Dean loved seeing Sam and Ben interacting normally again. Life seemed to be back to normal and, oddly enough, that was how Dean liked it.
Twisted and Tangled
This was it; now or never. If he didn’t leave at this very moment he never would. Ben took a deep breath and looked nervously around his darkened room. Geez! He was such a baby. “Mom and Dean are on their honeymoon. Dean cannot and will not pop up out of nowhere. I can do this.” He repeated to himself for the third time that night. Finally, finally he plucked up just enough courage to crawl out from under his blankets and sheets fully clothed as he’d been when Sam had come upstairs to check on him two hours ago.
Dean always came in and ruffled his hair, checked on him, and talked before Ben went to sleep. Dean did not tuck him in, they just talked a little before bed, and, at thirteen, Ben most certainly did not miss those talks.
Ben moved quickly and quietly around the room. Sam was just down the hall in his parents’ bedroom and he doubted he’d be able to pull this off if he woke the guy up.
Luck appeared to be on his side tonight though. He hurriedly slipped out his bedroom window and down the drain pipe on the side of the house. Sometimes he swore someone had built the house for him to be able to escape. After successfully navigating the side of his house, and definitely not falling at all, he strolled down the road towards town. They lived just outside of the city limits and Ben gladly walked all three miles to Jimmy Rhodes’ house. He’d been invited almost two weeks ago to join his new friends for a little get together. At least, that’s how he’d explained it to his mom and Dean, but they had both adamantly refused once he’d let slip that Jimmy’s parents may or may not be there.
He’d been pissed, of course, until he’d done a little mental math and had figured out that his parents would still be on their honeymoon and his only supervision would be Sam. Sam was awesome, and Ben really liked him, he was almost as cool as Dean, but Ben was counting on the fact that Sam slept like a rock, and would never need to know.
Ben arrived at the party and was promptly greeted by the new girl, Candy, who’d moved in about two weeks ago bringing with her a new meaning for the word temptation. She was five curvy feet of hot, and every ounce of her attention was solely focused on one Ben Braeden for the evening. This night was going to be perfect!
And it was; that is until a couple of high schoolers showed up with liquor and weed. Ben didn’t really have a problem with alcohol, or pot, but there was small voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him to leave before something bad happened. He shrugged it off and continued giving Candy his undivided attention. He was pulled from his entertainment though, when flashing red and blue lights shone through the windows, and teenagers started running like a nest of rodents recently extracted from their den. It was chaos. People were running in all different directions and Ben was lost in the crowd. He pushed and shoved, trying desperately to fight his way to the back of the house looking for an escape. He could see the laundry room door and he was sure he’d seen a window in there. Ben pushed past three kids clawing their way towards the closet when he felt his arm grabbed in strong hold and he was falling. He landed hard on his knees, and felt his hands pulled behind his back and the stiff plastic ties around his wrists.
“You have the right to remain silent…” A deep voice called from behind his back. Dean is so gonna kill me. It was the only thing that he could think about as he headed out Jimmy’s front door and downtown to the police department. He was escorted to a holding cell with the fifty or so other kids that didn’t escape. He felt his hands shaking as Pete, their neighbor and Dean’s best friend since he moved back in that just so happened to be a cop. (Ben was sure there was some sort of irony in there but he was entirely too distracted to think of it.) Pete’s eyes scanned the cell but never landed directly on Ben and the young teen sent a silent prayer heavenward begging that the man didn’t notice him. It looked like luck may not have run off just yet as Pete walked past the cell.
It took twenty minutes for an officer to escort him from the cell and to a small room down the hall. Once he’d been led to one of the two chairs in the room, the officer gave him a long look. “All right kid, you’re not drunk. You’re not high, so we’re gonna give you a chance. You can call your parents, or you can go back to the cell and spend the night. It’s your choice, but you’re not gonna get a second chance.”
Ben thought for a moment. He really didn’t have a choice, but he couldn’t call his parents. They were in Paris on their honeymoon. “Can I call my uncle?” He asked hesitantly looking up at the man through his lashes.
The man gave a quick nod, and Ben let out a relieved sigh as the phone was pushed towards him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam was surrounded by flames rising twenty feet above his head and he could feel a slimy coating of unknown fluids surrounding his trembling form. There was a distant screaming echoing in his ears, and there was some sort of buzzing close to him. He couldn’t place the sound, until a familiar ringtone began playing. Wait, that wasn’t right, Hell didn’t have cell phones.
Sam’s eyes peeled open to and he caught sight of the lights on his phone and the lack of daylight told him it was entirely too early for this shit. Then, the panic set in. The only person that would call at this time of day was Dean, and that was only if something were really wrong. Shit.
He flipped his phone open, barely glancing at the strange number. “Dean?” He asked.
There was silence on the other end and for one moment, Sam swore his heart stopped. The scared trembling voice on the other end did nothing to ease his fears. “No, it’s Ben.”
Sam recognized the voice, but that didn’t make any sense. Ben was asleep in his bedroom where good thirteen year old boys are supposed to be at, Sam glanced at the clock, good God, two o’clock in the morning. Sam bolted from his bed and sped down the hall to look into Ben’s very empty bedroom.
“Sam?” Ben asked from the other end of the line.
“Where the hell are you?” The older man hissed.
“Um…jail.”
“Why are you in jail?”
“Well there was this party…”
“And?”
“The cops showed up. I just really need someone to come and get me. Please, Uncle Sam?” Sam didn’t know what to say. The kid just called him ‘uncle’. He’d never done that before. He was scared. It was obvious in the way his voice shook, and Sam was pretty sure at least half of that fear was focused solely on what Dean was going to do when he found out. Sam could sympathize. What was he gonna do, make the kid rot in jail? “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Fifteen minutes later found Sam walking in to the crowded police station, his eyes automatically searching out Ben. When he couldn’t see him, he walked up to the nearest unoccupied police officer. He still felt awkward around law enforcement even after nearly a year away from the hunt, but he plastered on his best concerned family member face, and spoke to the officer in the most soothing voice he could muster. “I’m here to pick up my nephew, Benjamin Braeden.”
“We can only release minors into the custody of their parents or legal guardians.” He said tersely.
“I’ve got temporary guardianship in case of emergencies until his parents are back from their honeymoon, so…” The officer nodded and led the way to a small desk in a sea of similar work areas in the building motioning to an older officer on his way. The officer joined them, and the younger officer gave him Ben’s name.
After Sam had been given the correct forms, the young officer went back to the chaos that was the police station and Sam waited for Ben. It didn’t take long for the older cop to show up with Ben in tow and the boy looked terrified. Sam felt bad for him. Sure, he was stupid for sneaking out, but they both knew Ben hadn’t been trying to find a wild teen party; it just wasn’t his thing.
The older officer, Carl if his nametag was correct, handed Ben over and took the clipboard. Ben tried to speak, but Sam cut him off with a look and a quick shake of his head. They’d talk about at home after Sam had been given a chance to calm down and let the panic leave his body.
When they arrived back at the house, Sam had calmed down a considerable amount and they both strode into the living room. Ben flopped himself into the nearest chair and looked up expectantly at Sam. Sam, for his part, had no idea what the hell he was supposed to say. Yeah, the kid had screwed up but it wasn’t like Sam hadn’t been in similar (and, if he was being completely honest with himself, worse) situations. He’d feel hypocritical yelling at the kid for having a little fun. God! How did Dean do this?
“’D you have fun?” He found himself asking, and he was pretty sure his tone was supposed to be scathing, but he just couldn’t put any real bite into it and Ben seemed to catch on to the lack of anger in. Ben clung to that calm like a drowning man to a life raft. He knew that the moment Dean found out, his ass was toast. But, if he could convince Sam not to say anything, just for a few decades, he wouldn’t have to worry about it, so, Ben looked up at Sam with his biggest, brightest puppy dog eyes, and replied.
“No. The people sucked, some idiots brought beer, and then the cops showed up. It wasn’t even worth it.” Ben was almost convincing himself of those facts as he pushed images of busty brunettes from his mind.
“Oh,” Sam didn’t know what to say, “right. I guess you should uh head up to bed then.”
Ben’s brows drew together this wasn’t working out the way he’d planned. Sam was awkward sure, but he was still telling Dean as far as Ben could tell, and that just wouldn’t work. Ben pulled out the big guns then. He let his eyes tear up slightly, and turned the big brown orbs on Sam. “You’re not gonna tell Dean are ya, Uncle Sam?”
Again with the Uncle Sam thing, honestly the thirty year old didn’t know how to handle it. “Well yeah I’m gonna tell Dean. What else am I supposed to do.”
“Please, Uncle Sam, Dean doesn’t need to know anything it could just be between us. I won’t leave the house for the rest of the week, and I’ll do the dishes, and…and please, just don’t tell Dean!!” Ben was begging at this point and Sam had no idea what to do. It was bad enough trying to figure out what the hell to do with him on a daily basis, but punishing the kid? What the hell was he supposed to say, ‘sorry Ben but your just gonna have to get your ass beat’. Jeez this uncle thing was harder than he’d thought.
What harm could it do though, really? “You won’t get into any more trouble?” Sam finally asked, and ben knew he had him.
“Yes, sir!” he agreed enthusiastically.
“Yeah alright, go on up to bed, then.”
“Thanks, Sam!” Ben said as he quickly squeezed the giant of a man around the waist and dashed up the stairs to bed.
Dean always came in and ruffled his hair, checked on him, and talked before Ben went to sleep. Dean did not tuck him in, they just talked a little before bed, and, at thirteen, Ben most certainly did not miss those talks.
Ben moved quickly and quietly around the room. Sam was just down the hall in his parents’ bedroom and he doubted he’d be able to pull this off if he woke the guy up.
Luck appeared to be on his side tonight though. He hurriedly slipped out his bedroom window and down the drain pipe on the side of the house. Sometimes he swore someone had built the house for him to be able to escape. After successfully navigating the side of his house, and definitely not falling at all, he strolled down the road towards town. They lived just outside of the city limits and Ben gladly walked all three miles to Jimmy Rhodes’ house. He’d been invited almost two weeks ago to join his new friends for a little get together. At least, that’s how he’d explained it to his mom and Dean, but they had both adamantly refused once he’d let slip that Jimmy’s parents may or may not be there.
He’d been pissed, of course, until he’d done a little mental math and had figured out that his parents would still be on their honeymoon and his only supervision would be Sam. Sam was awesome, and Ben really liked him, he was almost as cool as Dean, but Ben was counting on the fact that Sam slept like a rock, and would never need to know.
Ben arrived at the party and was promptly greeted by the new girl, Candy, who’d moved in about two weeks ago bringing with her a new meaning for the word temptation. She was five curvy feet of hot, and every ounce of her attention was solely focused on one Ben Braeden for the evening. This night was going to be perfect!
And it was; that is until a couple of high schoolers showed up with liquor and weed. Ben didn’t really have a problem with alcohol, or pot, but there was small voice in the back of his mind that kept telling him to leave before something bad happened. He shrugged it off and continued giving Candy his undivided attention. He was pulled from his entertainment though, when flashing red and blue lights shone through the windows, and teenagers started running like a nest of rodents recently extracted from their den. It was chaos. People were running in all different directions and Ben was lost in the crowd. He pushed and shoved, trying desperately to fight his way to the back of the house looking for an escape. He could see the laundry room door and he was sure he’d seen a window in there. Ben pushed past three kids clawing their way towards the closet when he felt his arm grabbed in strong hold and he was falling. He landed hard on his knees, and felt his hands pulled behind his back and the stiff plastic ties around his wrists.
“You have the right to remain silent…” A deep voice called from behind his back. Dean is so gonna kill me. It was the only thing that he could think about as he headed out Jimmy’s front door and downtown to the police department. He was escorted to a holding cell with the fifty or so other kids that didn’t escape. He felt his hands shaking as Pete, their neighbor and Dean’s best friend since he moved back in that just so happened to be a cop. (Ben was sure there was some sort of irony in there but he was entirely too distracted to think of it.) Pete’s eyes scanned the cell but never landed directly on Ben and the young teen sent a silent prayer heavenward begging that the man didn’t notice him. It looked like luck may not have run off just yet as Pete walked past the cell.
It took twenty minutes for an officer to escort him from the cell and to a small room down the hall. Once he’d been led to one of the two chairs in the room, the officer gave him a long look. “All right kid, you’re not drunk. You’re not high, so we’re gonna give you a chance. You can call your parents, or you can go back to the cell and spend the night. It’s your choice, but you’re not gonna get a second chance.”
Ben thought for a moment. He really didn’t have a choice, but he couldn’t call his parents. They were in Paris on their honeymoon. “Can I call my uncle?” He asked hesitantly looking up at the man through his lashes.
The man gave a quick nod, and Ben let out a relieved sigh as the phone was pushed towards him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam was surrounded by flames rising twenty feet above his head and he could feel a slimy coating of unknown fluids surrounding his trembling form. There was a distant screaming echoing in his ears, and there was some sort of buzzing close to him. He couldn’t place the sound, until a familiar ringtone began playing. Wait, that wasn’t right, Hell didn’t have cell phones.
Sam’s eyes peeled open to and he caught sight of the lights on his phone and the lack of daylight told him it was entirely too early for this shit. Then, the panic set in. The only person that would call at this time of day was Dean, and that was only if something were really wrong. Shit.
He flipped his phone open, barely glancing at the strange number. “Dean?” He asked.
There was silence on the other end and for one moment, Sam swore his heart stopped. The scared trembling voice on the other end did nothing to ease his fears. “No, it’s Ben.”
Sam recognized the voice, but that didn’t make any sense. Ben was asleep in his bedroom where good thirteen year old boys are supposed to be at, Sam glanced at the clock, good God, two o’clock in the morning. Sam bolted from his bed and sped down the hall to look into Ben’s very empty bedroom.
“Sam?” Ben asked from the other end of the line.
“Where the hell are you?” The older man hissed.
“Um…jail.”
“Why are you in jail?”
“Well there was this party…”
“And?”
“The cops showed up. I just really need someone to come and get me. Please, Uncle Sam?” Sam didn’t know what to say. The kid just called him ‘uncle’. He’d never done that before. He was scared. It was obvious in the way his voice shook, and Sam was pretty sure at least half of that fear was focused solely on what Dean was going to do when he found out. Sam could sympathize. What was he gonna do, make the kid rot in jail? “Alright, I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
Fifteen minutes later found Sam walking in to the crowded police station, his eyes automatically searching out Ben. When he couldn’t see him, he walked up to the nearest unoccupied police officer. He still felt awkward around law enforcement even after nearly a year away from the hunt, but he plastered on his best concerned family member face, and spoke to the officer in the most soothing voice he could muster. “I’m here to pick up my nephew, Benjamin Braeden.”
“We can only release minors into the custody of their parents or legal guardians.” He said tersely.
“I’ve got temporary guardianship in case of emergencies until his parents are back from their honeymoon, so…” The officer nodded and led the way to a small desk in a sea of similar work areas in the building motioning to an older officer on his way. The officer joined them, and the younger officer gave him Ben’s name.
After Sam had been given the correct forms, the young officer went back to the chaos that was the police station and Sam waited for Ben. It didn’t take long for the older cop to show up with Ben in tow and the boy looked terrified. Sam felt bad for him. Sure, he was stupid for sneaking out, but they both knew Ben hadn’t been trying to find a wild teen party; it just wasn’t his thing.
The older officer, Carl if his nametag was correct, handed Ben over and took the clipboard. Ben tried to speak, but Sam cut him off with a look and a quick shake of his head. They’d talk about at home after Sam had been given a chance to calm down and let the panic leave his body.
When they arrived back at the house, Sam had calmed down a considerable amount and they both strode into the living room. Ben flopped himself into the nearest chair and looked up expectantly at Sam. Sam, for his part, had no idea what the hell he was supposed to say. Yeah, the kid had screwed up but it wasn’t like Sam hadn’t been in similar (and, if he was being completely honest with himself, worse) situations. He’d feel hypocritical yelling at the kid for having a little fun. God! How did Dean do this?
“’D you have fun?” He found himself asking, and he was pretty sure his tone was supposed to be scathing, but he just couldn’t put any real bite into it and Ben seemed to catch on to the lack of anger in. Ben clung to that calm like a drowning man to a life raft. He knew that the moment Dean found out, his ass was toast. But, if he could convince Sam not to say anything, just for a few decades, he wouldn’t have to worry about it, so, Ben looked up at Sam with his biggest, brightest puppy dog eyes, and replied.
“No. The people sucked, some idiots brought beer, and then the cops showed up. It wasn’t even worth it.” Ben was almost convincing himself of those facts as he pushed images of busty brunettes from his mind.
“Oh,” Sam didn’t know what to say, “right. I guess you should uh head up to bed then.”
Ben’s brows drew together this wasn’t working out the way he’d planned. Sam was awkward sure, but he was still telling Dean as far as Ben could tell, and that just wouldn’t work. Ben pulled out the big guns then. He let his eyes tear up slightly, and turned the big brown orbs on Sam. “You’re not gonna tell Dean are ya, Uncle Sam?”
Again with the Uncle Sam thing, honestly the thirty year old didn’t know how to handle it. “Well yeah I’m gonna tell Dean. What else am I supposed to do.”
“Please, Uncle Sam, Dean doesn’t need to know anything it could just be between us. I won’t leave the house for the rest of the week, and I’ll do the dishes, and…and please, just don’t tell Dean!!” Ben was begging at this point and Sam had no idea what to do. It was bad enough trying to figure out what the hell to do with him on a daily basis, but punishing the kid? What the hell was he supposed to say, ‘sorry Ben but your just gonna have to get your ass beat’. Jeez this uncle thing was harder than he’d thought.
What harm could it do though, really? “You won’t get into any more trouble?” Sam finally asked, and ben knew he had him.
“Yes, sir!” he agreed enthusiastically.
“Yeah alright, go on up to bed, then.”
“Thanks, Sam!” Ben said as he quickly squeezed the giant of a man around the waist and dashed up the stairs to bed.
Part II
Dean arrived back from his honeymoon with Lisa in better spirits than Sam had seen him in a long time. The lines around his brother’s eyes were gone, and there was a new kind of joy in his brother’s eyes that he’d never seen before. Sam knew in that moment that he wouldn’t be able to tell Dean about Ben’s little adventure, no matter what, so he just greeted his brother with a warm smile and open arms.
Six days later, Dean decided that he’d finally take Pete up on his offer to take him and Sam out for beers. Sam had agreed readily, he never really got over idolizing his big brother and Sam was excited to hang out with Dean and his friends. Dean drove them both to the local bar over on Sixth Street and led the way towards the back booth. Sam saw a young dark-sinned man with jet black hair and heavily hooded eyes sitting at the table Dean was headed toward. He smiled jovially at Dean and motioned them over.
“Dean, man, what’s up?”
“Nothing much, Pete, just enjoying married life.”
“Never thought I’d hear those words come out your mouth.” Sam popped off.
“Really?” Pete asked giving Dean a long look. “I mean, the ladies are all over him, but I’ve never seen him give a one of ‘em the time of day.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, Lisa’s got him whipped.” Sam agreed and stage whispered, “Not that he minds.”
“Damn straight I don’t mind. Have you seen my wife? Who needs side action when I’ve got Lisa at home? Man, life is good!” Dean commented.
Pete was chuckling as he replied. “Yeah, I’m sure what with the juvenile delinquent at home. I was surprised you even showed up today. Don’t get me wrong, man, I’m glad you did but with what happened with Ben, I just sorta figured you wouldn’t be in the mood.”
Dean and Sam had both stopped laughing after the first sentence and now Dean was staring at him blankly while Sam looked like he was about to go into shock.
“What the hell are you talking about, Pete?” Dean barked.
Now Pete was utterly confused. “What am I…? The drug bust Dean. You know the one that’s been on every news station for three counties.”
Dean’s face didn’t relax any as he asked, “What the hell does that have to do with Ben?”
“How do you not know?”
“Know what?” Dean growled. Pete was a decent enough guy, but this shit was getting on his nerves.
“Look Dean, I don’t know why no one has bothered to tell you or how the hell Ben got himself out of jail, but Ben was there that night, at the party and he was brought in with about forty-five other kids. We didn’t press charges on anyone sober, but I saw Ben with my own eyes…”
“Son of a bitch!” Dean growled under his breath. Then, the wheels in head started turning and Dean looked over to find Sam giving him the best puppy dog eyes that any grown man could muster and Den felt white hot anger like he hadn’t since they’d quit hunting building up in his chest. How dare he? Sam was supposed to be a good influence on Ben, not let him go to parties and bail him out of jail. Dean had thought Sam had grown up but apparently, he was wrong.
Sam watched as first betrayal, then fear, and irritation overtook his brother until finally, a mask of angry determination settled on the older man’s face, and Sam felt his own fear rising. After one long look, Dean turned his eyes back on Pete who was looking in between the pair confusion quickly turning to understanding.
“If you’ll excuse us, Pete, Sammy and I need to talk about a few things.” Dean said before nodding his head slightly and getting up to leave. Sam followed at his heel; head bowed and mind whirring with thoughts. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
They arrived at Dean’s truck and Sam stood nervously by the hood. Dean motioned for Sam to get in but as the younger man shook his head, Dean felt his anger rising yet again. He quickly closed the small gap between them, and clamped his hand down around Sam’s arm.
“You’re gonna get your ass in the truck, now, or I swear to God, Sam, I won’t wait ‘til we get back to your place.”
Sam couldn’t help the small distressed noise he made in the back of his throat. “Wait? Wait for what…Dean?”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up in the universal sign of ‘are you seriously asking me this’ and Sam felt his heart jump into his throat. “Get. In.” Dean growled at him before following his own advice. He really didn’t want to blister his brother’s ass in the middle of the street but he would if he needed to. Luckily for both of them, Sam did as he was told and they headed towards Sam’s garage apartment a few blocks from Dean’s house.
The entire ride, Sam just couldn’t convince his brain to shut the hell up. There was no way Dean was going to do that, was there? He was thirty friggin years old, but Dean was so beyond pissed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said yes to Ben. God! How did he get himself into these kinds of situations? He hadn’t realized he’d been muttering to himself until Dean spoke up.
“You got something to say, Sammy?”
Sam swallowed back against the lump in his throat. “Uhm, right. Look Dean, I know I screwed up here, but shouldn’t we talk about this, like adults?”
Dean lost it; he pulled off to the side of the road and took several deep breaths before glaring at Sam. The younger man quickly forgot the significant height difference and the years since he’d last been forced down over Dean’s lap and felt like a six year old caught with his hand in his brother’s duffle.
“Adults, Sammy? You wanna talk about this like adults. You let my thirteen year old convince you to lie to me about going to jail, and you wanna talk about this like adults?”
Sam didn’t know what to say. What could he say? Dean had a point. Sam had been an idiot. He’d let Ben talk him to lying and he was supposed to be the adult in that particular situation. Yeah, he’d royally screwed up, and Dean knew it. His ass was about to be roasted and he couldn’t even say he didn’t deserve it.
Dean watched as resignation slowly took over Sam’s face, and the moment his little brother bowed his head, Dean nodded to himself and pulled back onto the highway.
In five minutes time, they had arrived back at Sam’s house and they both slid out of the truck wordlessly. Sam fumbled with his keys but eventually managed to let them in to the cramped space.
They walked into the small living room and Sam headed toward one of the two doors on the other side of the room. He opened the door to reveal his bedroom. He stood awkwardly as Dean followed him into the cramped space.
Sam was fidgeting, a nervous habit of his that let Dean know that he felt guilty. Good, he should feel guilty. “I wanna know why, Sam.”
For his part, the younger man knew what he’d done as stupid, but how was he going to explain that he just didn’t want to be the bad guy? That was even stupider than Dean thinking Sam had some kind of newly twisted morals. So, instead of explaining, he just shrugged.
Big mistake; Dean had him by the upper arm and turned faster than he could blink and had landed six solid swats to the seat of Sam’s jeans. “Listen up, Sammy. You’re in a lot of trouble here. Ben sneaking off and going that party are on him, but not telling me and Lisa about it, hiding it and lying to us, that is all you, little brother and I promise you that if you don’t start talking right fucking now, I won’t give you another chance to explain. So, talk.”
Right, not answering, bad idea. “Alright, it was just that, I don’t know, nothing bad happened, and, you know, no harm; no foul, right?”
Dean’s eyes took on a new level of pissed and his grip tightened significantly on his little brother’s arm. “And you wouldn’t consider spending a few hours in lockup harmful?”
Sam just shrugged. “I don’t know, Dean. I mean, he didn’t get hurt it’s not like he’s scarred for life or anything.”
“Okay, let’s forget for a minute that the kid was stupid enough to get himself locked up. How about the fact that by asking you not to say anything, Ben was testing you? Guess what, when you did nothing it put you right there on his side, not a place you wanna be little brother. ‘D you know why?” Dean asked his head tilted to the right and his brows raised just enough to look curious and angry at once. Sam shook his head. “Cuz, Sammy, people on that side of the line get spanked.” Dean finished.
Sam’s eyes went wide. Okay, he knew it was gonna happen, but hearing it? “Dean you can’t be serious, I’m thirty years old!”
“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that. Funny how at thirty you’re still acting like a twelve year old, so, yeah you’re getting your ass busted and then, I’m gonna go home and deal with Ben. So, find a corner while I call my wife.”
Sam was absolutely outraged. Find a corner? “No!” The word was out before Sam realized he’d even had the thought, and Dean froze mid-step and spun around quickly to face Sam.
“What did you just say to me?” Dean hissed his voice deadly quiet and calm.
Oh well, in for a penny… “I said ‘no’, Dean. I’m thirty years old. I’m a grown ass man and I’m not gonna stand in a corner while I wait on a spanking. If you feel like punching me, fine, don’t wanna talk, be my gues, but you are not spanking me like some kind of disobedient child!” Sam’s chest was heaving with the effort of his shouting and he barely noticed the way Dean’s face slid into a mask of utter resolve.
“One…”
“Are you… did you just start counting? For Christ’s sake, Dean I’m not ten, you can’t scare me into submission.” Sam chuckled slightly.
“Two…” Dean ground out between clenched teeth. Sam’s laugh died on his lips. No, no! Dean was not going to do this to him. Sam felt the blood draining from his face as fear overwhelmed him. He was dead.
“Three.” Dean whispered as he closed the space between him and his little brother quickly sliding down onto his brother’s mattress and hauling all six feet and four inches of Sammy Winchester over his lap. Sam began struggling immediately. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t been spanked in years and God how was Dean still so strong.
Sam felt a tug on the waist of his jeans and felt his pants and boxers slide down his thighs. He was lying bare assed over his big brother’s lap and he couldn’t even do anything about it. Okay, he was never listening to Ben again, nuh-uh never. Sam didn’t have much time to think of a creative payback however before he felt Dean’s hard, calloused hand land on his behind. He couldn’t help a small yelp that escaped; the first one always caught him off guard, no matter what. Ten swats later and Sam was starting to feel the first signs of what would soon be a burning fire in his ass, and Dean kept going.
Sam had lost count a while ago and each slap brought with it a new set of flames to mingle with the previous ones. Sam felt the familiar burn behind his eyes as he fought with everything he had not to cry. Dean may have been able to wrestle him over his lap, but there was no way in hell he was going to start bawling like a baby. Then, he heard Dean’s voice above him.
“You do not get to say no to me, Sam. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it, especially when you’ve already dug yourself a hole so deep you can’t climb out.” Dean landed one more swat before standing his brother up.
Sam was beyond embarrassed when he had to reach down and pull his pants up, but he fell into Dean’s embrace, and mumbled a heartfelt apology none the less. His heart stopped beating though, when he heard Dean chuckle and mutter. “We are so not done here, Sammy.”
Dean looked up to find Sam’s eyes as wide as saucers. “We still need to talk about the lying thing.” Sam was actually pouting now, shooting Dean sorrowful looks, but the older man was unfazed. He’d raised Sammy he knew how to handle it. Dean turned Sam toward the nearest (and only) empty corner, and gave him one final swat as he headed towards the door. “Stand there and think. Use that genius brain of yours for something useful. If you can come up with one good reason why I shouldn’t bust your ass, tell me when I get back, and I won’t. And being thirty is so not a good reason, Sammy.” Dean threw the last part over his shoulder as he left the bedroom.
Dean let out a huge sigh as he fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Lisa. She answered on the second ring her honey-sweet voice light and playful. “Hey Baby, what’re you and the boys up to?”
Dean chuckled darkly, and Lisa knew something was up. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. “Is that sound for Sam or Ben?” She asked cautiously.
Dean laughed slightly before replying, “both, actually. Is Ben at the house?” Dean asked. When Lisa answered that he was Dean asked that she tell him to find himself a corner and wait for Dean to get home.
“What happened?” She asked after she’d gone back to her bedroom.
“You remember seeing that drug bust on TV the other night?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Ben was there that night.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Ben was there, Sam bailed him out of jail and then Ben asked Sam not to tell us and the big idiot agreed to it.”
Lisa was speechless. Ben had been known to have some rowdy friends in the past, but druggies? That was, just no. Her baby did not associate with people like that.
“Lise?” Dean gently prodded from his end of the phone.
“I’m still here, Dean.” She said and there was a long pause while both waited for the other to say something. Lisa finally broke the silence. “What are we doing about this?”
“Well, that’s part of why I called. I want your input.”
“Well, we’re gonna blister his ass, of course.”
Dean actually laughed at that one, a real laugh. Yeah, count on Lisa to go straight for the throat, or in this case, ass. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Give me thirty minutes to finish up with Sam, then I’ll come home and we’ll talk all of it out. Okay?” Lisa didn’t respond for a moment. “Hello?” Dean absently checked to make sure he hadn’t dropped the call.
“Still here.” Lisa’s voice was strained. Dean was utterly confused. Lisa had been all gung ho about beating the kid a minute ago, what was the problem now?
“What’s wrong?”
Lisa didn’t know what to say. Sure, she knew that Dean had practically raised his little brother, but the idea of Dean spanking the larger man was strange to say the least. “Nothing, just never really realized why you were so good at this from the get go.”
“Okay, you’ve lost me.”
“Nothing, babe. Go talk to your brother, and we’ll deal with Ben together.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright, love ya, bye.”
“I love you too, Dean.” Lisa replied seriously as he hung up the phone.
Dean locked the little hand held device and headed back into Sam’s bedroom. He held back laughter as he walked on his little brother rubbing his already sore bottom looking every bit the same as he had at six.
“Alright Sammy, let’s get this over with.” Dean called and the younger man slowly turned around and started walking towards his brother. Geez, it was like the kid was walking to his own execution or something the way Sam dragged his feet, with his head bowed so low his chin scraped his chest. Talk about a drama queen.
“Pick up the pace there, Sammy. I got places to be, asses to beat, and daylight’s a wastin’.” Dean sing-songed and Sam sent him an irritated glare that Dean matched with one quirked eyebrow.
Sam scurried the rest of the way over to his brother, band didn’t look at him until Dean cleared his throat. “Come up with anything?” At Sam’s shake of the head, he continued. “You know why we’re here?”
Sam shrugged, but quickly decided talking was a better option as Dean’s hand landed firmly on his backside. “Yeah, I know why we’re here.”
“Good, then why don’t you tell me?”
“Come on, man. Can’t we just go ahead and get this over with? We both know why I’m here. I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Too bad, Sammy. Either you start talkin’ or I start countin’ it’s up to you, little brother.”
Sam huffed loudly but decided against any more open displays of rebellion. “I didn’t tell you Ben was arrested.”
“Right, and keeping secrets counts as what?”
“L..in…b…m’shun….” Sam mumbled.
Dean quirked his head to the side slightly and lowered his voice a few notches before whispering in a tone that left no room for argument, “You wanna try that again.”
“Keeping secrets counts as lying by omission.” Sam said a litte more clearly but with no more enthusiasm.
“Glad you remember some things. Alright, so we have giving into peer pressure-“
“Peer pressure, Dean? Really? Ben’s thirteen. Peer?”
“Really? What would you call it?” Sam didn’t respond, and Dean took that as his cue to continue. “Right, so, peer pressure and lying. Anything else you wanna add.”
“Not really.”
“Fine then, get your ass over here.” Dean huffed as he sat down on the bed.
Sam trudged his way over to his brother, and was quickly yanked down over his lap. His compliance was short lived however, because Dean quickly yanked Sam’s jeans and underwear down to reveal an already slightly pink ass, and proceeded to wail his baby brother.
It didn’t take long for Sam to feel the need to start squirming. How the hell could he make it through gunshot wounds, and demon torture without shedding a tear, but once he was over Dean’s lap, he felt like the waterworks were only seconds away?
The slow burn built into a fiery blaze within minutes and Sam started to feel the beginnings of tears and he hated himself for it. He was thirty fucking years old and he was crying over his brother’s lap getting his ass smacked like a kid.
It didn’t take long after that for Dean to stop the spanking and it took Sam even longer to figure out that his ass was no longer being used for target practice. When he did, he rose from his brother’s lap, but didn’t get beyond yanking his pants and underwear back up before his brother had him wrapped in his arms.
“I’m sorry it had to go down this way, Sammy, but you know better. I was serious before when I told you that we have to make sure Ben knows where you stand. I get that you let him get away with the little shit, the kid could probably use the break, but you can’t let him walk all over you. You got me?”
“Yeah, Dean, I got you.”
“Good. You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’m gonna go beat my kid.” Dean said as he gave his brother one last squeeze and a once over before playfully ruffling his hair and going to do just that.
Six days later, Dean decided that he’d finally take Pete up on his offer to take him and Sam out for beers. Sam had agreed readily, he never really got over idolizing his big brother and Sam was excited to hang out with Dean and his friends. Dean drove them both to the local bar over on Sixth Street and led the way towards the back booth. Sam saw a young dark-sinned man with jet black hair and heavily hooded eyes sitting at the table Dean was headed toward. He smiled jovially at Dean and motioned them over.
“Dean, man, what’s up?”
“Nothing much, Pete, just enjoying married life.”
“Never thought I’d hear those words come out your mouth.” Sam popped off.
“Really?” Pete asked giving Dean a long look. “I mean, the ladies are all over him, but I’ve never seen him give a one of ‘em the time of day.”
Sam laughed. “Yeah, Lisa’s got him whipped.” Sam agreed and stage whispered, “Not that he minds.”
“Damn straight I don’t mind. Have you seen my wife? Who needs side action when I’ve got Lisa at home? Man, life is good!” Dean commented.
Pete was chuckling as he replied. “Yeah, I’m sure what with the juvenile delinquent at home. I was surprised you even showed up today. Don’t get me wrong, man, I’m glad you did but with what happened with Ben, I just sorta figured you wouldn’t be in the mood.”
Dean and Sam had both stopped laughing after the first sentence and now Dean was staring at him blankly while Sam looked like he was about to go into shock.
“What the hell are you talking about, Pete?” Dean barked.
Now Pete was utterly confused. “What am I…? The drug bust Dean. You know the one that’s been on every news station for three counties.”
Dean’s face didn’t relax any as he asked, “What the hell does that have to do with Ben?”
“How do you not know?”
“Know what?” Dean growled. Pete was a decent enough guy, but this shit was getting on his nerves.
“Look Dean, I don’t know why no one has bothered to tell you or how the hell Ben got himself out of jail, but Ben was there that night, at the party and he was brought in with about forty-five other kids. We didn’t press charges on anyone sober, but I saw Ben with my own eyes…”
“Son of a bitch!” Dean growled under his breath. Then, the wheels in head started turning and Dean looked over to find Sam giving him the best puppy dog eyes that any grown man could muster and Den felt white hot anger like he hadn’t since they’d quit hunting building up in his chest. How dare he? Sam was supposed to be a good influence on Ben, not let him go to parties and bail him out of jail. Dean had thought Sam had grown up but apparently, he was wrong.
Sam watched as first betrayal, then fear, and irritation overtook his brother until finally, a mask of angry determination settled on the older man’s face, and Sam felt his own fear rising. After one long look, Dean turned his eyes back on Pete who was looking in between the pair confusion quickly turning to understanding.
“If you’ll excuse us, Pete, Sammy and I need to talk about a few things.” Dean said before nodding his head slightly and getting up to leave. Sam followed at his heel; head bowed and mind whirring with thoughts. What the hell have I gotten myself into?
They arrived at Dean’s truck and Sam stood nervously by the hood. Dean motioned for Sam to get in but as the younger man shook his head, Dean felt his anger rising yet again. He quickly closed the small gap between them, and clamped his hand down around Sam’s arm.
“You’re gonna get your ass in the truck, now, or I swear to God, Sam, I won’t wait ‘til we get back to your place.”
Sam couldn’t help the small distressed noise he made in the back of his throat. “Wait? Wait for what…Dean?”
Dean’s eyebrows shot up in the universal sign of ‘are you seriously asking me this’ and Sam felt his heart jump into his throat. “Get. In.” Dean growled at him before following his own advice. He really didn’t want to blister his brother’s ass in the middle of the street but he would if he needed to. Luckily for both of them, Sam did as he was told and they headed towards Sam’s garage apartment a few blocks from Dean’s house.
The entire ride, Sam just couldn’t convince his brain to shut the hell up. There was no way Dean was going to do that, was there? He was thirty friggin years old, but Dean was so beyond pissed. Maybe he shouldn’t have said yes to Ben. God! How did he get himself into these kinds of situations? He hadn’t realized he’d been muttering to himself until Dean spoke up.
“You got something to say, Sammy?”
Sam swallowed back against the lump in his throat. “Uhm, right. Look Dean, I know I screwed up here, but shouldn’t we talk about this, like adults?”
Dean lost it; he pulled off to the side of the road and took several deep breaths before glaring at Sam. The younger man quickly forgot the significant height difference and the years since he’d last been forced down over Dean’s lap and felt like a six year old caught with his hand in his brother’s duffle.
“Adults, Sammy? You wanna talk about this like adults. You let my thirteen year old convince you to lie to me about going to jail, and you wanna talk about this like adults?”
Sam didn’t know what to say. What could he say? Dean had a point. Sam had been an idiot. He’d let Ben talk him to lying and he was supposed to be the adult in that particular situation. Yeah, he’d royally screwed up, and Dean knew it. His ass was about to be roasted and he couldn’t even say he didn’t deserve it.
Dean watched as resignation slowly took over Sam’s face, and the moment his little brother bowed his head, Dean nodded to himself and pulled back onto the highway.
In five minutes time, they had arrived back at Sam’s house and they both slid out of the truck wordlessly. Sam fumbled with his keys but eventually managed to let them in to the cramped space.
They walked into the small living room and Sam headed toward one of the two doors on the other side of the room. He opened the door to reveal his bedroom. He stood awkwardly as Dean followed him into the cramped space.
Sam was fidgeting, a nervous habit of his that let Dean know that he felt guilty. Good, he should feel guilty. “I wanna know why, Sam.”
For his part, the younger man knew what he’d done as stupid, but how was he going to explain that he just didn’t want to be the bad guy? That was even stupider than Dean thinking Sam had some kind of newly twisted morals. So, instead of explaining, he just shrugged.
Big mistake; Dean had him by the upper arm and turned faster than he could blink and had landed six solid swats to the seat of Sam’s jeans. “Listen up, Sammy. You’re in a lot of trouble here. Ben sneaking off and going that party are on him, but not telling me and Lisa about it, hiding it and lying to us, that is all you, little brother and I promise you that if you don’t start talking right fucking now, I won’t give you another chance to explain. So, talk.”
Right, not answering, bad idea. “Alright, it was just that, I don’t know, nothing bad happened, and, you know, no harm; no foul, right?”
Dean’s eyes took on a new level of pissed and his grip tightened significantly on his little brother’s arm. “And you wouldn’t consider spending a few hours in lockup harmful?”
Sam just shrugged. “I don’t know, Dean. I mean, he didn’t get hurt it’s not like he’s scarred for life or anything.”
“Okay, let’s forget for a minute that the kid was stupid enough to get himself locked up. How about the fact that by asking you not to say anything, Ben was testing you? Guess what, when you did nothing it put you right there on his side, not a place you wanna be little brother. ‘D you know why?” Dean asked his head tilted to the right and his brows raised just enough to look curious and angry at once. Sam shook his head. “Cuz, Sammy, people on that side of the line get spanked.” Dean finished.
Sam’s eyes went wide. Okay, he knew it was gonna happen, but hearing it? “Dean you can’t be serious, I’m thirty years old!”
“Yeah, you’ve mentioned that. Funny how at thirty you’re still acting like a twelve year old, so, yeah you’re getting your ass busted and then, I’m gonna go home and deal with Ben. So, find a corner while I call my wife.”
Sam was absolutely outraged. Find a corner? “No!” The word was out before Sam realized he’d even had the thought, and Dean froze mid-step and spun around quickly to face Sam.
“What did you just say to me?” Dean hissed his voice deadly quiet and calm.
Oh well, in for a penny… “I said ‘no’, Dean. I’m thirty years old. I’m a grown ass man and I’m not gonna stand in a corner while I wait on a spanking. If you feel like punching me, fine, don’t wanna talk, be my gues, but you are not spanking me like some kind of disobedient child!” Sam’s chest was heaving with the effort of his shouting and he barely noticed the way Dean’s face slid into a mask of utter resolve.
“One…”
“Are you… did you just start counting? For Christ’s sake, Dean I’m not ten, you can’t scare me into submission.” Sam chuckled slightly.
“Two…” Dean ground out between clenched teeth. Sam’s laugh died on his lips. No, no! Dean was not going to do this to him. Sam felt the blood draining from his face as fear overwhelmed him. He was dead.
“Three.” Dean whispered as he closed the space between him and his little brother quickly sliding down onto his brother’s mattress and hauling all six feet and four inches of Sammy Winchester over his lap. Sam began struggling immediately. This wasn’t happening. It couldn’t be. He hadn’t been spanked in years and God how was Dean still so strong.
Sam felt a tug on the waist of his jeans and felt his pants and boxers slide down his thighs. He was lying bare assed over his big brother’s lap and he couldn’t even do anything about it. Okay, he was never listening to Ben again, nuh-uh never. Sam didn’t have much time to think of a creative payback however before he felt Dean’s hard, calloused hand land on his behind. He couldn’t help a small yelp that escaped; the first one always caught him off guard, no matter what. Ten swats later and Sam was starting to feel the first signs of what would soon be a burning fire in his ass, and Dean kept going.
Sam had lost count a while ago and each slap brought with it a new set of flames to mingle with the previous ones. Sam felt the familiar burn behind his eyes as he fought with everything he had not to cry. Dean may have been able to wrestle him over his lap, but there was no way in hell he was going to start bawling like a baby. Then, he heard Dean’s voice above him.
“You do not get to say no to me, Sam. When I tell you to do something, I expect you to do it, especially when you’ve already dug yourself a hole so deep you can’t climb out.” Dean landed one more swat before standing his brother up.
Sam was beyond embarrassed when he had to reach down and pull his pants up, but he fell into Dean’s embrace, and mumbled a heartfelt apology none the less. His heart stopped beating though, when he heard Dean chuckle and mutter. “We are so not done here, Sammy.”
Dean looked up to find Sam’s eyes as wide as saucers. “We still need to talk about the lying thing.” Sam was actually pouting now, shooting Dean sorrowful looks, but the older man was unfazed. He’d raised Sammy he knew how to handle it. Dean turned Sam toward the nearest (and only) empty corner, and gave him one final swat as he headed towards the door. “Stand there and think. Use that genius brain of yours for something useful. If you can come up with one good reason why I shouldn’t bust your ass, tell me when I get back, and I won’t. And being thirty is so not a good reason, Sammy.” Dean threw the last part over his shoulder as he left the bedroom.
Dean let out a huge sigh as he fished his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed Lisa. She answered on the second ring her honey-sweet voice light and playful. “Hey Baby, what’re you and the boys up to?”
Dean chuckled darkly, and Lisa knew something was up. Oh well, it was bound to happen eventually. “Is that sound for Sam or Ben?” She asked cautiously.
Dean laughed slightly before replying, “both, actually. Is Ben at the house?” Dean asked. When Lisa answered that he was Dean asked that she tell him to find himself a corner and wait for Dean to get home.
“What happened?” She asked after she’d gone back to her bedroom.
“You remember seeing that drug bust on TV the other night?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Ben was there that night.”
“What?”
“Yeah. Ben was there, Sam bailed him out of jail and then Ben asked Sam not to tell us and the big idiot agreed to it.”
Lisa was speechless. Ben had been known to have some rowdy friends in the past, but druggies? That was, just no. Her baby did not associate with people like that.
“Lise?” Dean gently prodded from his end of the phone.
“I’m still here, Dean.” She said and there was a long pause while both waited for the other to say something. Lisa finally broke the silence. “What are we doing about this?”
“Well, that’s part of why I called. I want your input.”
“Well, we’re gonna blister his ass, of course.”
Dean actually laughed at that one, a real laugh. Yeah, count on Lisa to go straight for the throat, or in this case, ass. “That’s exactly what I was thinking. Give me thirty minutes to finish up with Sam, then I’ll come home and we’ll talk all of it out. Okay?” Lisa didn’t respond for a moment. “Hello?” Dean absently checked to make sure he hadn’t dropped the call.
“Still here.” Lisa’s voice was strained. Dean was utterly confused. Lisa had been all gung ho about beating the kid a minute ago, what was the problem now?
“What’s wrong?”
Lisa didn’t know what to say. Sure, she knew that Dean had practically raised his little brother, but the idea of Dean spanking the larger man was strange to say the least. “Nothing, just never really realized why you were so good at this from the get go.”
“Okay, you’ve lost me.”
“Nothing, babe. Go talk to your brother, and we’ll deal with Ben together.
“Are you sure?”
“Yeah, go ahead.”
“Alright, love ya, bye.”
“I love you too, Dean.” Lisa replied seriously as he hung up the phone.
Dean locked the little hand held device and headed back into Sam’s bedroom. He held back laughter as he walked on his little brother rubbing his already sore bottom looking every bit the same as he had at six.
“Alright Sammy, let’s get this over with.” Dean called and the younger man slowly turned around and started walking towards his brother. Geez, it was like the kid was walking to his own execution or something the way Sam dragged his feet, with his head bowed so low his chin scraped his chest. Talk about a drama queen.
“Pick up the pace there, Sammy. I got places to be, asses to beat, and daylight’s a wastin’.” Dean sing-songed and Sam sent him an irritated glare that Dean matched with one quirked eyebrow.
Sam scurried the rest of the way over to his brother, band didn’t look at him until Dean cleared his throat. “Come up with anything?” At Sam’s shake of the head, he continued. “You know why we’re here?”
Sam shrugged, but quickly decided talking was a better option as Dean’s hand landed firmly on his backside. “Yeah, I know why we’re here.”
“Good, then why don’t you tell me?”
“Come on, man. Can’t we just go ahead and get this over with? We both know why I’m here. I don’t wanna talk about it.”
“Too bad, Sammy. Either you start talkin’ or I start countin’ it’s up to you, little brother.”
Sam huffed loudly but decided against any more open displays of rebellion. “I didn’t tell you Ben was arrested.”
“Right, and keeping secrets counts as what?”
“L..in…b…m’shun….” Sam mumbled.
Dean quirked his head to the side slightly and lowered his voice a few notches before whispering in a tone that left no room for argument, “You wanna try that again.”
“Keeping secrets counts as lying by omission.” Sam said a litte more clearly but with no more enthusiasm.
“Glad you remember some things. Alright, so we have giving into peer pressure-“
“Peer pressure, Dean? Really? Ben’s thirteen. Peer?”
“Really? What would you call it?” Sam didn’t respond, and Dean took that as his cue to continue. “Right, so, peer pressure and lying. Anything else you wanna add.”
“Not really.”
“Fine then, get your ass over here.” Dean huffed as he sat down on the bed.
Sam trudged his way over to his brother, and was quickly yanked down over his lap. His compliance was short lived however, because Dean quickly yanked Sam’s jeans and underwear down to reveal an already slightly pink ass, and proceeded to wail his baby brother.
It didn’t take long for Sam to feel the need to start squirming. How the hell could he make it through gunshot wounds, and demon torture without shedding a tear, but once he was over Dean’s lap, he felt like the waterworks were only seconds away?
The slow burn built into a fiery blaze within minutes and Sam started to feel the beginnings of tears and he hated himself for it. He was thirty fucking years old and he was crying over his brother’s lap getting his ass smacked like a kid.
It didn’t take long after that for Dean to stop the spanking and it took Sam even longer to figure out that his ass was no longer being used for target practice. When he did, he rose from his brother’s lap, but didn’t get beyond yanking his pants and underwear back up before his brother had him wrapped in his arms.
“I’m sorry it had to go down this way, Sammy, but you know better. I was serious before when I told you that we have to make sure Ben knows where you stand. I get that you let him get away with the little shit, the kid could probably use the break, but you can’t let him walk all over you. You got me?”
“Yeah, Dean, I got you.”
“Good. You gonna be okay?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, I’m gonna go beat my kid.” Dean said as he gave his brother one last squeeze and a once over before playfully ruffling his hair and going to do just that.
Most of the time, when his mother came into his room in the middle of the afternoon with her eyes blazing like a freakin’ forest fire and the phone plastered to her ear, Ben had to take a guess at exactly what he had gotten caught doing this time. However,today? Today, he knew exactly what his mom had discovered. His only question was how much did she and Dean know, and how did they find out.
So, when she came into his room and ordered him into a corner, he went immediately. Obedience was always a good option when it came to dealing with being in trouble. It was likely to earn him brownie points and, hopefully, save his ass.
Ben ended up waiting in that stupid corner for nearly forty-five minutes waiting on Dean to get home. It felt like he’d been standing there forever so when he heard booted feet downstairs, and the quiet rumble of Dean’s voice, he felt both relief and anticipation. He was getting out of the stupid corner, but there was a very good chance that his ass was going to be sore in a very short period of time. You see, Dean’s not like his mom; he doesn’t have a lot of rules. He likes for Ben to follow basic moral standard for the most part, but he lets some things go that Ben’s mother would never even dream of, but Dean was a hardass when it came to two things, putting himself in danger, and lying. Both offenses were guaranteed to earn you a one way ticket over Dean’s knee, so Ben was pretty sure that he was headed there now.
“Ben, come here; we need to talk.” Ben turned around slowly and gave Dean a scrutinizing look. He needed to know exactly what he was up against. Oddly enough Dean seemed to be passed the anger part already, which was weird because that usually lasted until the man had had time to wail on someone’s ass. Either way, Ben moved quickly when Dean’s eyebrows scrunched together in irritation. “Talk, kid, and for your sake, I’d make it good.”
“Would you believe me if I told you it was a shapeshifter?” Ben tried. At Dean’s quirked eyebrow, Ben decided to try for not being a smartass. “Right, so what do you know?”
“Ben, this is so not the time to play games with me. Start talking or I start spanking. Got it?”
Ben quickly nodded his head and launched into his tale complete with hand motions. “So I went to that party at Jimmy’s house that you told me not to go to, I snuck out of the house to get there, I didn’t leave when people starting…uhm… stuff.”
“You mean when kids five years older than you brought drugs and alcohol to a party you weren’t supposed to be at in the first place is that the stuff your referring to?”
“Yeah, uh, that.” Ben really couldn’t help the blush that spread across his face. Geez, when he said it like that.
“What else?” Dean hissed.
“Uh, I uh I got arrested?”
“Is that a question?”
“No, sir. It’s not. I got arrested, and….yeah”
“What about lying?”
“I didn’t lie!”
“Oh really, and what do you call keeping secrets, hmmm?”
“Right, so…lying too I guess.”
“Alright, let’s review, we’ve got Lying, sneaking out, disobeying direct orders, generally bad decision making and putting yourself in danger. Am I missing anything?”
Ben let out a deep sigh. “Nope, I’d say that about covers it.”
“Alright, let’s go, upstairs.” Dean said with a weary finality in his tone, but Ben didn’t move, and Dean felt the beginnings of a migraine building behind his left eye. “That wasn’t a request, Ben.” He said the irritation evident in his tone.
“Come on, Dean, don’t you think I’m a little old for this? I mean, I’m thirteen.” Ben didn’t quite understand it, but Dean let out a great bark of a laugh at that. Honestly, what was so damned funny about Ben getting his ass beat? “Fine, but I mean, I didn’t get hurt? No harm; no foul, right?”
Dean stopped laughing at that and glared down at the boy. Seriously? Did they plan this or was he letting Sam babysit too much?
“Right?” Ben prodded. Okay enough was enough.
Dean glared down at Ben for a moment before growled, “Wrong,” and raised his eyebrows while pointing at the stairs.
On his way past, Ben made sure to keep at least an inch out of arm’s reach the whole time. Once upstairs, Ben walked to the window in his room, and turned to face Dean. “Do we really have to do this, Dean?”
Dean had had just about enough of everyone fighting him on this. They screwed up, he spanked them, they moved on. That’s how things worked. However he did believe firmly in giving them just enough rope to hang themselves with. “I don’t know, Ben. Can you give me one good reason you don’t deserve the spanking of your life?”
Ben’s jaw dropped. Punishments were not negotiable, period. Begging, and bargaining only ever served to piss Dean off, so Ben was more than a little shocked to hear Dean ask his opinion on the matter. “Uhm…”
“I just need one good reason, Ben, and we’ll drop the whole thing. Give meone single reason, and we’ll call it even.”
Ben was thinking hard and fast but absolutely nothing was coming to mind. Dean had been with them long enough that Ben knew every one of his rules and the consequences that went with it. Crap!
Dean quirked an eyebrow. “Do you have anything?”
“I’m too old?” The way he’d said it, it was definitely a question. Dean just shook his head, and started shaking his head a small smirk on his lips. “I’m too tall now, really, I won’t fit.” Dean’s smirk grew as the distance between them shrunk even more. Crap, crap, crap! Dean was only inches away from him when the filter between his brain and body shut off completely and the words just slipped out of his mouth. “You’re not my d-…” He did manage to stop himself before the final word was out, but the damage was done.
Dean had stopped moving, midstride, and stood before Ben with the most devastated look on his face. Why had he just said that? Ben didn’t have a whole lot of time to do anything though, because Dean’s face quickly changed from pain to a blank mask and, somehow, that made Ben feel even worse.
“You’re right, Ben. I’m not your dad, as much as I love, and as much as I wish there was some way, any way that I could make you my son, I can’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get a say in what you do, or what your consequences are. Just because we don’t share blood doesn’t mean we aren’t family. I’m in this as much as your mom and it’s just as much my job to make sure you know right from wrong and that you learn from your mistakes.
I may not be your father, Ben, but I love you, and whether you like it or not, you are my kid, as much as Sam is, if not more, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.” Dean’s face had softened through his little speech and he’d ended with a small smile. “So, you can either get your ass over here so we can get this over with, and you can keep making cheap shots, it’s up to you, but either way, you’re not gonna get out of this one. Which is it gonna be?” Dean asked as he walked backwards the three steps to Ben’s bed. Ben shook his head once, and moved to stand next to Dean beside the bed.
So, when she came into his room and ordered him into a corner, he went immediately. Obedience was always a good option when it came to dealing with being in trouble. It was likely to earn him brownie points and, hopefully, save his ass.
Ben ended up waiting in that stupid corner for nearly forty-five minutes waiting on Dean to get home. It felt like he’d been standing there forever so when he heard booted feet downstairs, and the quiet rumble of Dean’s voice, he felt both relief and anticipation. He was getting out of the stupid corner, but there was a very good chance that his ass was going to be sore in a very short period of time. You see, Dean’s not like his mom; he doesn’t have a lot of rules. He likes for Ben to follow basic moral standard for the most part, but he lets some things go that Ben’s mother would never even dream of, but Dean was a hardass when it came to two things, putting himself in danger, and lying. Both offenses were guaranteed to earn you a one way ticket over Dean’s knee, so Ben was pretty sure that he was headed there now.
“Ben, come here; we need to talk.” Ben turned around slowly and gave Dean a scrutinizing look. He needed to know exactly what he was up against. Oddly enough Dean seemed to be passed the anger part already, which was weird because that usually lasted until the man had had time to wail on someone’s ass. Either way, Ben moved quickly when Dean’s eyebrows scrunched together in irritation. “Talk, kid, and for your sake, I’d make it good.”
“Would you believe me if I told you it was a shapeshifter?” Ben tried. At Dean’s quirked eyebrow, Ben decided to try for not being a smartass. “Right, so what do you know?”
“Ben, this is so not the time to play games with me. Start talking or I start spanking. Got it?”
Ben quickly nodded his head and launched into his tale complete with hand motions. “So I went to that party at Jimmy’s house that you told me not to go to, I snuck out of the house to get there, I didn’t leave when people starting…uhm… stuff.”
“You mean when kids five years older than you brought drugs and alcohol to a party you weren’t supposed to be at in the first place is that the stuff your referring to?”
“Yeah, uh, that.” Ben really couldn’t help the blush that spread across his face. Geez, when he said it like that.
“What else?” Dean hissed.
“Uh, I uh I got arrested?”
“Is that a question?”
“No, sir. It’s not. I got arrested, and….yeah”
“What about lying?”
“I didn’t lie!”
“Oh really, and what do you call keeping secrets, hmmm?”
“Right, so…lying too I guess.”
“Alright, let’s review, we’ve got Lying, sneaking out, disobeying direct orders, generally bad decision making and putting yourself in danger. Am I missing anything?”
Ben let out a deep sigh. “Nope, I’d say that about covers it.”
“Alright, let’s go, upstairs.” Dean said with a weary finality in his tone, but Ben didn’t move, and Dean felt the beginnings of a migraine building behind his left eye. “That wasn’t a request, Ben.” He said the irritation evident in his tone.
“Come on, Dean, don’t you think I’m a little old for this? I mean, I’m thirteen.” Ben didn’t quite understand it, but Dean let out a great bark of a laugh at that. Honestly, what was so damned funny about Ben getting his ass beat? “Fine, but I mean, I didn’t get hurt? No harm; no foul, right?”
Dean stopped laughing at that and glared down at the boy. Seriously? Did they plan this or was he letting Sam babysit too much?
“Right?” Ben prodded. Okay enough was enough.
Dean glared down at Ben for a moment before growled, “Wrong,” and raised his eyebrows while pointing at the stairs.
On his way past, Ben made sure to keep at least an inch out of arm’s reach the whole time. Once upstairs, Ben walked to the window in his room, and turned to face Dean. “Do we really have to do this, Dean?”
Dean had had just about enough of everyone fighting him on this. They screwed up, he spanked them, they moved on. That’s how things worked. However he did believe firmly in giving them just enough rope to hang themselves with. “I don’t know, Ben. Can you give me one good reason you don’t deserve the spanking of your life?”
Ben’s jaw dropped. Punishments were not negotiable, period. Begging, and bargaining only ever served to piss Dean off, so Ben was more than a little shocked to hear Dean ask his opinion on the matter. “Uhm…”
“I just need one good reason, Ben, and we’ll drop the whole thing. Give meone single reason, and we’ll call it even.”
Ben was thinking hard and fast but absolutely nothing was coming to mind. Dean had been with them long enough that Ben knew every one of his rules and the consequences that went with it. Crap!
Dean quirked an eyebrow. “Do you have anything?”
“I’m too old?” The way he’d said it, it was definitely a question. Dean just shook his head, and started shaking his head a small smirk on his lips. “I’m too tall now, really, I won’t fit.” Dean’s smirk grew as the distance between them shrunk even more. Crap, crap, crap! Dean was only inches away from him when the filter between his brain and body shut off completely and the words just slipped out of his mouth. “You’re not my d-…” He did manage to stop himself before the final word was out, but the damage was done.
Dean had stopped moving, midstride, and stood before Ben with the most devastated look on his face. Why had he just said that? Ben didn’t have a whole lot of time to do anything though, because Dean’s face quickly changed from pain to a blank mask and, somehow, that made Ben feel even worse.
“You’re right, Ben. I’m not your dad, as much as I love, and as much as I wish there was some way, any way that I could make you my son, I can’t, but that doesn’t mean I don’t get a say in what you do, or what your consequences are. Just because we don’t share blood doesn’t mean we aren’t family. I’m in this as much as your mom and it’s just as much my job to make sure you know right from wrong and that you learn from your mistakes.
I may not be your father, Ben, but I love you, and whether you like it or not, you are my kid, as much as Sam is, if not more, and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.” Dean’s face had softened through his little speech and he’d ended with a small smile. “So, you can either get your ass over here so we can get this over with, and you can keep making cheap shots, it’s up to you, but either way, you’re not gonna get out of this one. Which is it gonna be?” Dean asked as he walked backwards the three steps to Ben’s bed. Ben shook his head once, and moved to stand next to Dean beside the bed.
Ben looked up into Dean’s eyes and saw the determination there. Yeah, he was screwed, but now he kinda felt like he deserved it, so when Dean motioned to his jeans, Ben took them down without protest.
Less than a minute later, Ben was over Dean’s lap and he was surprised at the amount of room he found there. Geez, the guy had the longest legs. However, Dean had very little time to contemplate Dean’s roomy lap before the first stinging swat landed to the dead center of his behind.
Really? How did someone get that good of an aim? Un-freaking-believable. Dean started landing swat after burning swat all over his ass, and soon moved down to cover his thighs as well. The whole process was fast and hard and Ben was sure there could have been an innuendo in there somewhere, but damn it, it hurt too much to make the connection.
Then, Dean spoke, which was odd, because he wasn’t one for lecturing while he spanked, he was pretty single-minded. “That was for sneaking out. This,” Dean said as he yanked Ben’s boxers down, “is for choosing to keep hanging out even after you knew there would be drugs and alcohol, because it put your life and your freedom in danger. Got me?” Dean emphasized his last question with a single swat to Ben’s bare behind that made the boy jerk forward, instinctively trying to escape.
“Yes, sir,” he answered quickly. After the affirmative answer was given, Dena began spanking again. This time, he swatted every spot twice and made sure to turn the whole damn thing a shade of red normally reserved for various fruits. Finally, Dean stopped again, but he didn’t release his hold on Ben and the boy felt his heart jump into his throat. “And this, Ben, this is for lying to me, and your mom, and for manipulating Sam into getting what you want. We don’t lie in this house, and we sure as hell don’t manipulate our family. Got it?” Ben couldn’t speak for the crying, so he settled for a vehement nod, and Dean brought something hard and cold down on the area where ass met leg, and Ben gave a violent howl.
The boy spun his head around to see Dean holding a freaking paddle in his right hand. Where the hell did he even get one of those things? Dean didn’t say anything as he layed another stinging slap down on the other side in that same area that Ben knew from experience meant he wouldn’t be sitting comfortably at dinner tonight
.
It was over pretty soon after that. Dean finished with six more smacks, and let Ben just cry it out. Finally, the boy began to get up and Dean helped him right his clothing. Once Ben’s modesty had been restored to some degree, he dove into Dean’s arms like a perfectly aimed arrow sinking into the kill, and Dean just hugged him close and made quiet soothing noises.
Ben’s ass was on fire! He’d been over Dean’s lap plenty of times, but this? This had been the worst spanking of his life hands down, yet he still felt guilty about what he’d said before. Dean had been the only father figure Ben had ever known and he felt absolutely sick about what he’d said.
“I’m sorry.” The teen whispered into Dean’s neck as the man rocked him gently in his arms.
“I know, Ben. You’re forgiven, you know that.”
“No, I meant about what I said earlier, about you not being my dad. It’s not true. You’re as much my dad as Jason’s dad is his. You’ve been here for me whenever I needed you since I was a little kid, and that’s what matters. I’m sorry.”
Ben had stopped moving at the beginning of Ben’s explanation and he was gazing down intensely at Ben.
“I know you are, buddy. It’s forgiven, all of it. I know you were angry, and more than a little desperate. We’re good.” Dean said with a finality that lifted all the weight off Ben’s young shoulders. He didn’t have to worry about anything. Dean had forgiven him and that was all that mattered.
That night, Sam came over for dinner and the four of them, Sam, Dean, Lisa, and Ben, sat down to enjoy Lisa’s pot roast. Dean thanked whoever would listen that his family was safe, and whole sitting around his dinner table, and Sam thanked the same that Ben never noticed that they were both squirming uncomfortably on their seats that night.
Less than a minute later, Ben was over Dean’s lap and he was surprised at the amount of room he found there. Geez, the guy had the longest legs. However, Dean had very little time to contemplate Dean’s roomy lap before the first stinging swat landed to the dead center of his behind.
Really? How did someone get that good of an aim? Un-freaking-believable. Dean started landing swat after burning swat all over his ass, and soon moved down to cover his thighs as well. The whole process was fast and hard and Ben was sure there could have been an innuendo in there somewhere, but damn it, it hurt too much to make the connection.
Then, Dean spoke, which was odd, because he wasn’t one for lecturing while he spanked, he was pretty single-minded. “That was for sneaking out. This,” Dean said as he yanked Ben’s boxers down, “is for choosing to keep hanging out even after you knew there would be drugs and alcohol, because it put your life and your freedom in danger. Got me?” Dean emphasized his last question with a single swat to Ben’s bare behind that made the boy jerk forward, instinctively trying to escape.
“Yes, sir,” he answered quickly. After the affirmative answer was given, Dena began spanking again. This time, he swatted every spot twice and made sure to turn the whole damn thing a shade of red normally reserved for various fruits. Finally, Dean stopped again, but he didn’t release his hold on Ben and the boy felt his heart jump into his throat. “And this, Ben, this is for lying to me, and your mom, and for manipulating Sam into getting what you want. We don’t lie in this house, and we sure as hell don’t manipulate our family. Got it?” Ben couldn’t speak for the crying, so he settled for a vehement nod, and Dean brought something hard and cold down on the area where ass met leg, and Ben gave a violent howl.
The boy spun his head around to see Dean holding a freaking paddle in his right hand. Where the hell did he even get one of those things? Dean didn’t say anything as he layed another stinging slap down on the other side in that same area that Ben knew from experience meant he wouldn’t be sitting comfortably at dinner tonight
.
It was over pretty soon after that. Dean finished with six more smacks, and let Ben just cry it out. Finally, the boy began to get up and Dean helped him right his clothing. Once Ben’s modesty had been restored to some degree, he dove into Dean’s arms like a perfectly aimed arrow sinking into the kill, and Dean just hugged him close and made quiet soothing noises.
Ben’s ass was on fire! He’d been over Dean’s lap plenty of times, but this? This had been the worst spanking of his life hands down, yet he still felt guilty about what he’d said before. Dean had been the only father figure Ben had ever known and he felt absolutely sick about what he’d said.
“I’m sorry.” The teen whispered into Dean’s neck as the man rocked him gently in his arms.
“I know, Ben. You’re forgiven, you know that.”
“No, I meant about what I said earlier, about you not being my dad. It’s not true. You’re as much my dad as Jason’s dad is his. You’ve been here for me whenever I needed you since I was a little kid, and that’s what matters. I’m sorry.”
Ben had stopped moving at the beginning of Ben’s explanation and he was gazing down intensely at Ben.
“I know you are, buddy. It’s forgiven, all of it. I know you were angry, and more than a little desperate. We’re good.” Dean said with a finality that lifted all the weight off Ben’s young shoulders. He didn’t have to worry about anything. Dean had forgiven him and that was all that mattered.
That night, Sam came over for dinner and the four of them, Sam, Dean, Lisa, and Ben, sat down to enjoy Lisa’s pot roast. Dean thanked whoever would listen that his family was safe, and whole sitting around his dinner table, and Sam thanked the same that Ben never noticed that they were both squirming uncomfortably on their seats that night.
Uncle Sammy
Characters/Pairings: Dean/Lisa, Sam, Ben (15)
Scenario: Dean spanks Ben, Dean spanks Sam (mentioned)
Implement: Hand
Summary: Ben has been pushing the limits ever since Dean and Sam swooped back into his life, and Dean is going to put an end to it.
Sam arrived at the Braeden household to the sound of shouting coming from inside. He rushed to the door, and threw it open racing to the living room only to stop short at the sight in front of him. Ben and Dean were standing chest to chest both breathing heavily.
“I don’t know who the hell you think you are, little boy, but you don’t get to talk to your mother that way, you got me?” Dean growled.
Ben’s breathing hitched again, and it was like Sam was having a flashback to his own childhood when he heard Ben shout back. “Why the fuck do you care? You’re not my father, Dean. You don’t get to tell me what to do!”
Apparently Dean had reached his limits at this point because he grabbed Ben’s left arm and spun him to the side landing three hard smacks to the seat of the fifteen year old’s jeans and leaned in to whisper something into the boy’s ear that Sam didn’t catch, and sent the boy towards the stairs with one final swat.
Dean let out a loud huff of annoyance once the boy had headed towards the stairs, the only order the boy had listened to so far, and turned to face Sam; his little brother simply quirked an eyebrow in silent inquiry. Dean couldn’t help the small chuckle that escaped his lips as he looked at the kid. Okay, so ‘kid’ wasn’t quite accurate anymore. Sam was thirty-one years old, but to Dean, he would always be the little boy that wouldn’t go to sleep until Dean had told him at least two bedtime stories.
“Dean?” Sam asked slowly pulling his brother out of his thoughts. Dean offered up a crooked grin before nodding his head in the direction of the kitchen and headed that way. Once in the cozy little room, Dean grabbed a coke out of the fridge and handed one to Sam. Sam just sat at the bar with him, waiting. Dean let another small chuckle escape his lips before launching into an explanation.
“Ben got suspended from school today.”
“Fighting?” Sam ventured a guess. It seemed the most likely possibility, and he was a little worried when Dean let out his third breathy chuckle in as many minutes.
“No, you’d think, though, wouldn’t you? Nah, he got suspended for making an underground homework ring. The kid was running some friggin’ mafia crap out of the locker rooms. Who does that?”
“Us,” Sam replied automatically. Dean just glared at him, and Sam was the one laughing this time.
“That was different. Desperate times called for desperate measures. We needed the money. Ben’s never had to deal with that crap. He just did it because he could get away with it.” Dean stopped shaking his head wearily.
“What else?” Sam asked hesitantly. At Dean’s shrug he prompted, “Come on, man. We both know that whole blow up wasn’t over some stupid get rich quick scam. What’s up?”
“I don’t know, Sam. The kid’s just been getting on edge all the time. Seems like he’s always pissed about something, and he fights me on every little thing. I had to ask him three times last night to clean up the kitchen, and then he left the pots and pans on the stove. Then this crap with the school happened, and the kid wouldn’t act right to save his life. He kept mouthin’ off and glaring like someone just killed his damn puppy or something. Then once I convince his principle not to kick him out permanently, he comes home and starts yelling and throwing a fit like a fucking four year old. Then, when Lisa tried to get him to calm down and just fucking talk to us, he yelled at he starts yelling at her. She had to go to work, and when she left man, I don’t know. She looked so lost. I just don’t get it Sam, what’s goin on with him?”
“Come on, Dean. It hasn’t been that long ago. You were fifteen once too. Don’t you remember being pissed.”
“Well, yeah, but I had something to be pissed about. I had you as a little brother, didn’t I?” He teased. Sam shoved at his brother’s shoulder, and smiled at him.
“You know it had nothing to do with any of the crap going on. It’s just what you do, ya know? It’s what happens when you’re fifteen.”
“You were definitely pissed more than half the time. The only difference was, I didn’t put up with nearly as much crap out of you.”
“Yeah, I remember. I swear my ass still has scars.”
“Good, you deserved every last one of ‘em.” Dean replied with a half hearted smile. “But seriously, Sammy, what am I gonna do with him?”
Sam cringed. He knew Dean was still having trouble adjusting to the whole ‘full time dad’ thing ever since they’d finally saved the world for what looked like the last time and came back to be with Dean’s impromptu family, but it was still weird to hear that note of uncertainty in his brother’s voice especially when it came to parenting. Dean had done the raising where Sam was concerned, and he just found it… bizarre that Dean would question anything he was doing with Ben. He’d done it once before already.
“Well, what would you have done if I’d pulled half of that crap?”
Dean smiled wryly. “I woulda beat your ass into next week, and then repeated the lesson every night until you couldn’t think about a chair without remembering.” He replied honestly.
“Exactly.”
Dean looked confused. “Exactly what?”
“Come on, Dean I don’t know what you’re not getting here. Ben’s pushing the boundaries right now to make sure they’re still there. Hell, he just wants to make sure you’re still there when he needs you to be. He won’t tell you that, probably won’t tell himself that either, but he knows it, and he needs you to prove you’re not leaving again.”
Dean stared at his little brother for a minute, before speaking. “Where do you learn all this psycho babble bullshit.” Sam just laughed. “Seriously though, you’re tellin me that all those times you got in my face told me to fuck off, you were just makin sure I’d kick your ass if I needed to?”
“Something like that.”
Dean sighed again though. “Yeah, Sam, you’re right about what I would have done then, but this is different. Ben isn’t my kid.”
“So? You’re the closest thing Ben has to a dad and you know it. He needs you to be there for him and not just for the good stuff or the fun stuff or the chick flick moments. He needs you to draw some lines in the sand.”
Dean gave his little brother a long searching look before lowering his head in resignation, and taking one final swig of his almost forgotten coke. “I guess I’d better go deal with the delinquent.” He muttered, but before he could leave, Sam grabbed his arm and looked at his big brother beseechingly.
“Let me go talk to him first, okay?”
“Why?”
“Because, Ben is about to get a patented Dean Winchester beat down, and he needs to know a couple of things first.”
“Sam, it’s not the first time I’ve spanked the kid.”
“Maybe not, but still, let me talk to him first.”
“Fine, I’ll be in the garage. Send him my way when you’re done.”
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam knocked lightly on the door before entering. Ben was sprawled out on his stomach glaring heatedly at the carpet like it had wronged him in some unforgivable way. He looked up at Sam as he entered fully expecting Dean. The teen raised an eyebrow in question.
“What do you want?” He asked dejectedly.
Sam shrugged. “Just wanted to talk, if that’s okay with you.”
“Whatever.”
Sam walked further into the room, slid down to the floor to sit next to Ben’s head. “So,” Sam began, but he wasn’t really sure what he wanted to say.
“Look, Sam, you don’t have to do the whole good cop bad cop routine, okay? I know I’m in trouble, dude and we both know how this is gonna end. What else do we need to talk about?” Ben quirked his eyebrow in exactly the same way that Dean did, and Sam contemplated, not for the first time, how great an argument Ben made for the nature side of the ever present debate. “Well?”
Sam took a deep breath. Where to begin? “Look, Ben, I just need you to know that what you’re going through, it’s normal. Being angry, for no reason, the way Dean’s commando voice grates on every last nerve. It’s normal, dude.”
“What, exactly, do you know about normal, Sam?” Ben asked scathingly. A pained look crossed Sam’s face for a moment, and , okay, maybe Ben should apologize, but the kid was pissed, damn it, and there was no way Sam was going to guilt trip him.
“Honestly, I don’t have any experience with normal, but I do have plenty of experience with being pissed off, and having Dean all over my ass.”
Ben couldn’t help but snort. “Yeah, I don’t think you get how literal that statement is.”
Sam just quirked an eyebrow. “I don’t?”
“Well, no. I mean you guys grew up together, you know, and it’s not like you ever had to deal with… ya know?” Ben trailed off awkwardly.
“What, spankings? You honestly think that Dean, my brother Dean, never found occasion to beat my ass?” Sam asked incredulously.
“You, you mean…. Dean… Dean spanked you?”
“Well yeah, how do you think he got so good? He had to practice on someone, and that one happened to be me.”
“I don’t know.” Ben admitted. “I just figured the guy had some kind of natural born talent.” Sam let out a full laugh this time as he took in Ben’s downcast eyes and the bright flush filling the boy’s cheeks.
“Nah, I gave him plenty of chances to practice that little skill of his.”
“Oh…” Ben mumbled as a pregnant silence filled the little bit of space between them.
“Yeah,…” Sam huffed.
“How old were you?” Ben blurted out.
“When?” Sam asked.
“When he stopped, ya know… that.”
“How old was I when he quit spanking me?” Sam asked as the blood rushed to his face.
“Yeah…” Ben mumbled pulling at a loose thread on the comforter under him.
“Uhm, that’s, uh, not really what I wanted to talk to you about…”
“Then what did you want to talk about?” Ben huffed indignantly.
Sam’s sharp eyes cut to the boy on the bed, and glared. He may have gotten where Ben was coming from, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be talked to like that. “I just wanted to make sure you got that you’re not alone here, that Dean punishes you to teach you a lesson.”
“Yeah, he teaches me that he can beat my ass.”
“Come on, you and I both know you get more out of than that.”
Ben shifter uncomfortably, refusing to look at the man. There was no way in hell he would ever admit to the fact that having some kind of physical release for the guilt that built in his chest every single time he fought with his mom, or did something he knew made Dean disappointed in him enough to punish him, was the only thing that kept him sane.
He wasn’t really sure how he’d cope if he didn’t have that, and the way Dean just let it go when they were done, did make him feel better, not to mention the way Dean let him just lay there until he was okay to talk about it, and then hugged him like he never wanted to let him go. He knew he needed that, but there was no way he would ever admit that to Sam.
Ben had decidedly that he would never discuss the issue with his surrogate uncle again when he looked up into eyes that so obviously knew all of the things he’d just been thinking.
“Yeah, I know.” Ben admitted lamely. Sam smiled lamely, and stood, unfolding his lanky frame and smiling down at the teen.
“Why don’t we just get it over with, okay?”
“We?” Ben asked skeptically.
“Yeah well, this one is more of a solo trip, but I’ll be there at the other end when it’s over.”
Ben snorted and took the offered hand as he climbed up from his bed and was surprised when Sam pulled him into a quick one-armed hug.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Dean was getting antsy as he waited for Ben to get his butt out to the garage. Seriously, the boy was known for stalling but it was going on an hour, and Dean was losing patience. In fact, he was just about to head into the house and up the stairs to take care of Ben wherever he happened to be, but was saved the trouble of going to find him when the door opened to reveal both his little brother and Ben.
It was a little weird to see the two of them smiling at some kind of inside joke, and even stranger that it was Sam who was blushing a deep red.
“Seriously, you said that?”
Sam’s cheeks reddened even more, if that was even possible, and, at his nod, Ben’s loud laughter filled the room.
“And you’re still alive?” Sam chuckled deep in his throat.
Dean interrupted before the kid could be further corrupted. “Sam.” He barked. “You were supposed to talk to him, not fill his head with the stunts of your youth.” There was a flash of agitation in his eyes as he addressed his brother.
Sam flashed his brightest smile before reassuring his older brother. “Relax, Dean. He knows I didn’t exactly, um… get away with it.”
“Damn straight you didn’t. Wait, what were you talking about?”
“Juno.” Sam replied.
“Alaska?” Dean asked his face paling with the memory. Sam had decided that at the ripe old age of seventeen, he was old enough to wander the streets alone in the middle of a hunt, at midnight to go to some stupid party that turned out to be a bust anyway. Dean had tracked him down in a matter of hours, and brought him home before tearing the kid’s ass to pieces and, based on the now ever present blush on his little brother’s face, Sam remembered the spanking too.
“Yeah, well, I was a kid.” Sam commented lamely. Ben shot a scowl his way before turning to Dean.
“So…” He said. Immediately, the tension in the room shot to palpable levels, and Dean knew they needed to get it over with.
One look at his little brother, and the younger man scurried from the room. Dean took in Ben, shifting his weight from foot to foot, and Dean knew he got it, at least he understood why Dean needed him to have consequences for his actions. Maybe Sam had done some good.
“Ben,” Dean began slowly moving back to rest his hip against the work bench on the wall and motioning for the teen to join him. “You wanna tell me what’s been goin’ on with you lately?”
Ben took a deep breath, and looked up at Dean through his lashes giving a week shrug.
“Ben…” Dean intoned harshly.
“I don’t know, Dean. It’s just that, everything just seems like so much lately, ya know? Like everything is just, I don’t know. It’s like everything seems so much…bigger. Like every little annoying thing anyone does or says is worse. I just don’t know.” Ben finished lamely.
“Mhmm. So… everything seems… worse.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Dean let out a little breath. Maybe they’d get past this one without any permanent damage after all. “Okay, I get that.” At Ben’s disbelieving look, Dean hurriedly continued. “I mean, I get that, right now, life sucks but that doesn’t mean you get to go around treating people like shit.”
“No, Dean, you don’t get it. It’s like… like, I’m too old to act like a kid cuz ya know I’m fifteen and you can’t go around acting like a little twerp or anything, but then you guys, you, mom, even Sam sometimes, treat me like I couldn’t possibly understand what you’re talking about or doing. I’m fifteen, Dean, and I don’t fit in anywhere.” Ben was breathing heavily toward the end of his speech and Dean felt his heart breaking with Ben’s words.
He didn’t say a word as he pulled the boy tight to his chest and hugged him close. “Listen to me very carefully, Ben. Just because you’re fifteen doesn’t mean you can’t still be a kid. Yeah you’re fifteen, but you’re only fifteen. You don’t have to be an adult yet.” Dean said firmly to this boy, his boy. “Look at me, Ben.” The boy lifted his eyes to meet Dean’s and was met with a surprising intensity. “You do fit, Ben. You fit right here with me and your mom, and your Uncle Sammy.” Dean said gently staring the boy down. Ben just looked up at him as the words sunk in. Ben had never really had much family but now, now he did.
“Now,” Dean said, his eyes darkening as his mind shifted back to why they were in the garage in the first place. “we gotta talk about the attitude, and the disrespect.”
“I thought we just did.” Ben tried without conviction. He’d known his ass was toast the moment his Gym teacher walked in on the meeting earlier in the day.
Dean glared down at the boy. “Nice try. Let’s review. Where should we start?” Ben just shrugged and Dean gave him that one. His death warrant may have been on the table, but that didn’t mean the kid was going to willingly sign on the dotted line. “How about the disrespect, or the lying, and sneaking out, or the plain stupid move of ignoring a direct order, any of those ring a bell, Ben?”
“Yes, sir,” Ben mumbled under his breath.
“All right, let’s get this over with.” Dean said as he walked towards the workbench on the back wall of the garage. Ben followed without question. This wasn’t the first time he’d been here and he didn’t figure it’d be his last.
Dean sat on the bar stool in front of the tool bench and motioned Ben forward. Ben stepped forward hesitantly. He felt a tight knot forming in his stomach as Dean grabbed his wrist and gave a quick yank. Suddenly, he found himself staring at a stained concrete floor and felt his jeans pulled down to his knees and there was nowhere on the planet he wouldn’t have chosen to escape to if he could just get up off Dean’s damn lap, and the stupid thing hadn’t even started yet.
His wishful thinking was quickly pulled to a standstill as Dean’s hand connected solidly with his upturned backside. He couldn’t help the small gasp that escaped his lips. Shit that hurt. He didn’t have time to dwell on the initial shock however, because the second swat landed right beside the first and Ben knew this was gonna suck.
Dean was focused on the small backside in front of him methodically covering it in hard, fast swats that were sure to leave the kid squirming for hours. He knew Ben needed this lesson but that didn’t make it any easier to tune out the small cries that were now escaping or the tears he knew were beginning to fall. He hated this part, but he kept on laying swat after swinging swat to the boy’s ass until he felt heat radiating under his palm.
Then, he began his lecture. “You don’t get to take your anger out on the world.” Dean landed four swats to the same spot and Ben cursed whoever had decided the smacking your kid, repeatedly, on the ass to get better behavior. “You don’t break rules and laws set for you just because you can.” Dean applied a second round to the other side. “And you do not ever disrespect your mother the way you did this afternoon. Are we clear?” Dean asked punctuating his statement with ten solid swats to Ben’s thighs.
“Yes,” Ben cried as the sobs overtook him. He was a crying mess laying over Dean’s lap like a freaking kid, and he didn’t know why that made him feel safe, and loved.
After a moment, Dean helped Ben right his clothing and pulled the boy close. Ben just cried, and burrowed himself into Dean’s chest. This felt right. Yeah his ass hurt, and yeah, he was embarrassed as hell, but he knew Dean cared, and that was more than worth it, sorta.
Fifteen minutes later found a Ben and Dean walking into the kitchen. Ben’s face was red and splotchy but he wore a genuine smile and Sam was relieved that he hadn’t heard anymore yelling.
“Go ahead, and ask.” Dean said pushing Ben toward his little brother. Sam looked confused for a moment as he gazed down at the closest thing to a nephew he was ever going to get.
“Will you order pizza tonight, please Uncle Sammy?” Ben pleaded turning large brown eyes on Sam.
The older man didn’t stand a chance. He may know how to work the puppy dog look, but he sure as hell didn’t know how to resist it. “Sure Ben, no problem.” Ben gave him a quick hug around the middle before fist pumping and dashing up the stairs.
Sam stood baffled for a moment before turning wide eyes on Dean and mouthed, ‘Uncle Sammy?” in utter bewilderment.
Dean just shrugged one shoulder and let a smile grace his lips. “Kids,” was his only reply.