The Runt of the Litter

caffeine, cartoons, and cuddles

Anna is fifteen

caffeine, cartoons, and cuddles

"Anna?" Dean stood in the doorway in his dead guy robe and slippers, looking very tired and a little pissed. His hair was disheveled and his eyes squinty. "What the hell are you doing up at two in the morning?"

Anna shrugged, exhaustion marring her judgement as she gestured loosely at the TV in front of her. "Watching Rick and Morty. It's Pickle Rick," she told her brother. To her, that meant a good episode was on. To Dean that meant possible delirium. Really? Pickle Rick?

Dean stepped into the room and snatched the remote off the armrest of the chair she was curled up in. He clicked the TV off without hesitating and dropped the remote on the nearby table in their makeshift family room. "Little girl, you have five minutes to get your ass in bed. I told you we're leaving early tomorrow-- Or today, now."

"I know that," Anna said, trying to keep her voice at an even, calm cadence despite her at once exhausted and jittery body. "And I would be asleep right now," she added reasonably. "If not for the fact that I drank a lot of coffee at, like, ten or eleven, and now I kinda feel like a wind-up toy. Like EEEEHHHH-" she made claw motions with her hands even though it didn't really make sense, and neither did the sound effect. But, hey, it was two in the morning. Who expected anybody to make sense at two in the morning? "Plus," she said, returning to her tired but even tone of before. "Rick and Morty's on."

Dean closed his eyes for a minute and sighed so deeply, Anna almost felt his exhaustion. He sat down on the armrest of the chair she was sitting in simply out of a desire to not be standing anymore. He spoke in a carefully measured tone, "Why would you drink coffee that late?"

"I dunno. I was tired, I guess."

"You know, usually when a person gets tired at ten or eleven pm, they go to bed."

"I didn't feel like it."

"Okay, well, here's the deal," Dean said, realizing there was no way to undo this and no way to force her to go to sleep while she was wired and brimming with caffeine. "We're leaving at six for Sioux Falls. Since we'll be ridin' all day, you'll have plenty of time to sleep on the way. But I expect you to be ready to go at six just like you would have been if you hadn't pulled an almost-all-nighter. Understood?"

Anna nodded agreeably. That didn't sound so bad. Of course, she would likely feel differently in the morning. "Does this mean I don't have to go to bed?" she asked, craning her neck to look almost vertically up at her older brother.

"It means you have one more hour." Dean moved away from the armrest of the chair and onto the couch. He patted the cushion beside him and Anna moved from the chair to sit next to him, grateful for the company. "Show me this Pickle Rick guy," he said curiously.

"He's a mad scientist," Anna explained briefly while retrieving the remote and flicking the TV back on. "And he turned himself into a pickle to get out of going to therapy with his family."

Dean laughed out loud even though he was tired beyond words. "Sounds like my kind of show."

Anna grinned and snuggled warmly into her brother's side. "It's funny," she promised and set the remote on the couch beside her.

"You know, you're shaking?"

"Now I know. I did drink a lot of coffee."

"I can't believe you sometimes, Rugrat."

"Me neither."

They settled into a calm and comfortable silence and watched a hardcore episode of animated TV.

La Fin