The Runt of the Litter

Scientifically

Note: Hey, beauties <3 Thanks for reading and voting and for all your comments. I love you guys.

This week has kicked my ass, so the chapter today is bite-sized. But it came from a request from whoreforwanda who asked about Sam and Dean giving Anna "the talk." So, you know, have fun with it, because I sure did. 

Anna is ten.

Scientifically

"Why does Dean look like that?" Anna asked innocently, shuffling to stay out of Sam's way as he set two shopping bags down in the backseat. She watched their older brother retreat into the gas station/convenience store Sam had just come out of. "He's sweating."

She was surprised when Sam actually laughed. He straightened and closed the back door. "He's nervous."

"Nervous?" Anna repeated doubtfully. She'd never known Dean to get nervous over... well, just about anything. "Why is he nervous? Is it about a hunt? I thought we were on vacation."

"We are. It has nothing to do with hunting, Ladybug. He's nervous because he's gotta do something important, and he doesn't know how."

Anna shrugged. "He'll figure it out." He was Dean. He could figure anything out. He always did.

"He's gonna have to," Sam replied, glancing back toward the storefront.

Anna beamed as Dean walked back out, but when he looked up and saw her face, his eyes instantly flicked down to the keys in his hand. He didn't look at her again until he got to the car. "What's the matter?" she asked. Sam was definitely right about Dean being nervous. She got the same way when she was apprehensive about something-- she couldn't look people in the eye, and she got jittery-- like when she was in trouble.

Dean looked at Sam, then at her, then at Sam again. "I don't know what you're grinnin' about. I'm not doin' this by myself."

Anna looked up at their brother just in time to watch Sam's smile disappear into horror. "What? Why? You don't need my help for this, Dean. You're more than capable of explaining..." He glanced cautiously at Anna before choosing the word, "everything... by yourself."

"You have to explain something to me?" Anna frowned, shaking her head a little. Why would that make Dean nervous? He explained things to her all the time. He had to. She was a kid, so there was a lot she didn't know. This was nothing new.

She watched Dean swallow and crack his neck. Another nervous tic. "Get in the car," was all he said. But she and Sam both obeyed.

There were some times when she could ask as many questions as she wanted and get all the answers in the world. There were other times when she could repeat just one question a million times and never get a straight answer. It was fast becoming clear to Anna that this was one of those days where she needed to just stay quiet and accept that she wasn't supposed to have the information they weren't giving her.

To her surprise, they only drove for about ten minutes, long enough to get out of town and a decent way down some back road. But Dean pulled over at the first turn off and parked there. "You're kidding," Sam mumbled.

"If we're doing it, we're doin' it now. I can't keep thinking about this crap. My head'll explode." Dean turned in his seat, resting his elbow over the seatback, and Anna was almost startled when he looked right at her, determined. "Meet me outside, Rugrat. We gotta talk about some real life crap."

Anna wrinkled her nose and curled her lip in confusion. But she watched Dean get out of the car and then scrambled to open her own door and follow. She heard Sam's door open, but he was moving much more slowly. She rushed around to the front of the car where Dean was leaning on the hood.