Note: hey babes, happy wednesday!

thank you so much for the love on last week's story 💜

here's some fluff for you. unprompted and plot-free. 

i hope that's someone's cup of tea. or coffee. i don't get that saying. not everyone likes tea, so why is your cup of tea supposed to be a thing you like/prefer. 

yeah, anyway, anna's seventeen in this one.

Rest, Recuperation, and Rock Music

Anna was dreading going back to school. She still struggled to get around without help, between the pain and the dizziness. Not to mention, she hadn't done much walking since getting hurt. She was afraid of how painful it would be going from class to class every hour or so. The distance that usually seemed so short was suddenly daunting.

After all, Anna was sitting on the edge of her bed struggling to get on a clean pair of sweatpants. When she hunched over too far, it hurt her side. When she tried to lift her foot off the floor, it aggravated her leg wound. There was no winning here. So she sat there breathing heavily, arm wrapped around her waist, wearing a long-sleeved tee and with only one leg in her pants.

The knock at the door startled her, which made her flinch, which made her gasp at the flare of pain in her side. "Ah, fuck, dude-" she hunched over, which just made it worse. "Hang on," she called so nobody would barge in before she finished putting her stupid pants on.

She'd spent a couple weeks needing help to get dressed and wash up and use the frickin' bathroom. Anna was determined to start doing things on her own again. It hurt, though. It hurt really bad. It hurt so bad that she was honestly considering asking for help. But she pushed through it, leaned down just enough to reach the waistband of her sweats and tug them over her foot.

The pants were at her hips when she called, "Come in."

Dean swung the door open, "You okay? It's almost time to go." He took in the sight of her, slouched and trying to catch her breath. "You don't have to go back if you're not ready," he offered.

Anna sighed shakily. "I'm almost ready." But she didn't even try to stand back up yet. She just sat there breathing carefully.

Dean frowned at her in concern. "I don't like this," he announced. "Are you sure you want to go in today?"

With a groan, Anna said, "Dean, I've never in my life wanted to go to school. Ever. But, like, c'est la vie and all that crap." At her brother's unwilling smile, she added, "Mostly, though, I miss Kate and Ethan."

Her brother's nod suggested he knew that already. "Well, you can invite Kate over here tonight, if that's it. Alright? I don't want you pushin' too hard and undoing the last two weeks of healing."

Anna made a face and moved her arms stiffly over her midsection. "What am I supposed to do all day, Dean? I can't nap anymore. I swear, I'm part couch at this point."

Dean snorted at her pitiful joke and sat beside her on the mattress. He eased himself down carefully, a move Anna recognized as being for her benefit. It still didn't take much jostling to send pain up her side. "I don't know how the hell you're gonna walk from class to class like this."

That was a decent point. But Anna groaned anyway. "I'm so bored. And I wanna see the sky."

"The sky?" Dean chortled. "Let's go for a drive then," he added more seriously.

Anna sighed carefully and hugged her midriff a little tighter. "Yeah," she agreed tiredly. "That sounds way better than school." She tipped sideways until her head was resting on her brother's shoulder. "How much longer, you think?"

"Few days," Dean told her calmly. "Maybe a week. You're healing okay, Rugrat. That infection just set you back a little bit."

In the quiet, warm air of her bedroom, Anna let Dean wrap his arm around her. Her mind backtracked to about a week ago. "I thought I was gonna die," she said honestly and matter of factly.

Dean's arm tightened just a smidge. "Never woulda let that happen," he stated.

Some things were out of Dean's control. Anna was old enough to know that now. But she still felt safer hearing him make such promises. She was still young enough to feel that way. "Well, you didn't," she acknowledged. "Thanks."

"Shut up," Dean drawled.

His arm was tightening just a little more, though, and Anna knew his mind was wandering backwards. She'd been scared when the infection set in. But she'd slept through the worst of it. Her brothers had probably been terrified.

"You want to walk to the car?"

"Want is a strong word," Anna quipped, expression grim.

Dean's smirk was sympathetic. "I could always throw you over my shoulder."

Anna wrinkled her nose and tilted her head back to look up at her brother. "Hard pass."

This time, Dean looked amused as he smiled and looked away. But he bent sideways to kiss the top of her head before standing up. "Come on, I'll help you," he instructed.

Anna took the hand he offered her, careful not to raise her arm too quickly. Her side was still aching, but her leg had gone mostly quiet. That was most definitely about to change. She closed her eyes in anticipation, feeling the dry rough skin of Dean's palm against hers.

"Ready?" he asked with more optimism than was strictly necessary.

"You're really into overstating things today," Anna complained, then gasped as Dean pulled her to her feet. Ripping the band-aid off. It was the Winchester way, and probably the best plan in this case. But shit. "Son of a-"

To her surprise, Dean actually laughed at her near-curse. "You know, if there's any scenario where I don't mind you swearin', Rugrat, I'd say it's now."

Anna looked up at him with a sour face, hunched over with her arm around her middle. "Well, then, bitch cunt fuck ass shit."

The breath Dean blew out was impressed, but his face showed mainly surprise. "I've taught you well, young Padawan."

"I'm way too tired to match your Star Wars references right now, Dean."

"Fair enough." He gave her his arm, and Anna wrapped both of hers around it. "You know, this would be way easier if you'd sprout a little, you midget."

"You know, I think I remember Jody telling you to be nice to me before we left."

Dean's eyebrows popped up, but he was smiling again, mostly on one side. "You remember what they say about snitches."

Anna limped alongside her brother toward the doorway to her room. "My stitches just barely came out, Dean."

"It's been over a week, Runt."

"Exactly." She was too breathless to keep up after that, leaning more and more of her weight on her brother.

Good thing she'd decided not to go to school. She'd gone in with injuries before. But hiding them was tricky, and she was still technically a kid in the eyes of the government. None of them needed CPS on their asses. Especially with her brothers' reputation as criminals.

"Doin' alright?" Dean asked her gently as they came to the end of the hall. He paused to disentangle his arm from hers and instead wrapped it around her. The usual walking assist would have supported her better. But with their height difference and Anna's injured side, it would have caused more strain on her wounds than anything.

Anna nodded but found she couldn't speak. Her mouth had gone dry, and she felt dizzy from exertion.

"Sure?" Dean asked skeptically.

Points for being observant, Anna supposed. She swallowed convulsively, sweat breaking out on her forehead. And this time she shook her head.

"I'm gonna lift you, okay?" Dean's voice was soothing in its low timbre. He'd bent down, his voice closer to her than before.

As much as she was tired of being scooped up and carried like a child, Anna didn't have any desire to keep walking. She nodded clumsily and gave her body permission to go limp.

"Woah," Dean exclaimed as she became dead weight. He was quick to get her feet off the floor.

For a second, Anna felt even dizzier than before. She could still feel the sweat on her forehead, but she felt cool now instead of overheated.

"Maybe we should skip that drive, Anna."

She shook her head quickly if crookedly.

Dean poked his head into the kitchen. "Sammy," he called.

Anna could picture their brother looking up from whatever he was doing at the table. She could picture his chair moving back as he stood with urgency. "She okay?"

"Yeah," Dean said. "Went kinda Jean Grey on me in the hallway's all."

Anna felt like she should probably say something. It probably would have eased Sam's mind a little bit. But she was wiped. She rolled her head toward Dean's shoulder, forehead against the soft fabric of his new orange flannel.

"Anyway, we're goin' for a drive. You want in?"

"Yeah," Sam said. "Course. Let me grab her a drink and something to eat. Might help with the whole fainting thing."

"Yeah, good idea," Dean approved. "Listen, she's heavier than she looks. I'm gonna get her to the car before my arms go numb."

Anna wrinkled her nose at that remark. She didn't feel the usual flare of indignance, though, over the fact the boys were talking about her instead of to her. She was too tired. She actually found herself drifting off, Dean's shoulder warm against the side of her head. But she woke from her half-doze when she felt the air grow cooler around them. For a second, her brain went on high alert. Spirit, it blared at her. You need salt, iron, and a matchbook.

"You're fine," Dean promised her, most likely having felt her stiffen at the change of environment. "Gonna have to put you down so you can get in the car, though."

Anna made a small noise of complaint at that. But she couldn't exactly argue with his logic. And she did want to lay down in the backseat of the Impala. It was so familiar, it felt warmer than her own bed. Homier.

Dean lowered her till her feet were on the ground, helping her sit back against the car. He swung the back door open and looked at her in question.

"Feelin' brave," she mumbled sleepily. It was meant to be a joke, and Dean gave her half a smile for it.

"Good thing, got a whole step sideways to get into the car."

()()()

Anna woke up warm. She didn't remember grabbing the blanket that was covering her. And the thought of either of her brothers taking the time to throw it over her was incredibly endearing. But the blanket wasn't the only source of warmth. There was a Led Zeppelin song playing on the radio, turned down low.

Baby baby, I be leavin'

We really got to ramble

I can hear it callin' me the way it used to do

"S'old."

The reaction from the front seat was immediate. Dean sat forward and looked in the rearview until he could see her. "Hey, kiddo. What'd you say?"

"Music," Anna mumbled. She shifted, trying to get into a sitting position without putting strain on her injuries. "It's old," she panted, propped awkwardly against the door. "Ow."

"Just lay down," Sam suggested.

Anna grimaced and continued to struggle until she managed to sit up all the way against the door. She had to curl forward and hug her stomach as the pain threatened to make her sick. "S'music is old," Anna complained again.

"I've been telling him for ten years, Anna."

Dean made a disgruntled noise. "I can't believe you two don't appreciate the classics. Who the hell raised you again?"

Anna rolled her eyes, but Sam carried the torch for her. "Dean, you know it's possible to appreciate the classics and newer music at the same time."

"Mhm," Anna agreed. "Most modern rock bands take inspiration from the OGs."

"From the what?"

Anna rolled her eyes at Dean's question. "I mean they take inspiration from Zep, CCR, Bob Seger, Metallica, Styx. Lot of those older bands. Vic Fuentes was influenced by Queen. Hayley Williams was influenced by Fleetwood Mac and Talking Heads. Also Jimmy Eat World, but they're like young-old, not old-old." She looked sideways and caught Dean's eyes in the rearview. He looked confused and still mostly indignant. "Point is, the music is similar in some ways. It's just evolved too. And, honestly, it's kinda hard to find a good song from the '70s about girls who aren't sex objects or manipulative bitches."

Sam wore a proud smile, looking at Dean with one eyebrow raised. "Well. You got a response to that, Dean?"

Their older brother mumbled something inaudible and turned the radio down all the way. "Alright," he said. "I know you got your phone on you. Play us something good."

"Wait, for real?" Anna asked, already fumbling in her pocket to get her phone out.

"Once in a lifetime opportunity," Dean clarified, ornery as ever.

"Wow, I never thought this day would come," Anna breathed in excitement. She opened spotify and scrolled through her saved playlists. "I actually have a playlist just for this moment."

Both boys snorted at that. "You actually prepared for this?" Sam asked her, swiveling in his seat.

"Yeah," Anna said like it should have been obvious. "We got the five food groups of 2000s rock over here. Emo, metal, emo-er, weird but kinda emo, and MCR."

"Oh god." Dean sounded like he already regretted his decision.

"That's a joke, Dean." She turned the volume up on her phone, still giddy with excitement. "Alright, alright. King for a Day is first, because duh. But be respectful. This is Vic Fuentes and Kellin Quinn, we're talkin' about."

Dean rolled his eyes as if he wasn't just as protective over his favorite music. "Just play the song, Anna."

She looked at Sam with a wide grin on her face, and he matched it. The first chords seemed to surprise Dean, as he frowned thoughtfully. But when the vocals kicked in, and the beat picked up, his expression smoothed out some.

Anna smiled smugly the entire time, studying both her brothers' expressions closely. They were hard to read.

But as the song faded out, she asked, "So?"

Dean didn't look at her in the mirror. Eyes on the road, he just said, "Let's hear the rest."

It was about as close as he would ever get to admitting he liked it. Anna's smile broadened. "This is Paramore-"

()()()

Sam sat beside Anna with his arm around her as they both leaned back against the headboard of his bed. An old episode of The Walking Dead played on the TV in front of them, and Anna blinked tiredly at the screen. Maybe such a gory show shouldn't have brought her comfort, but it always had.

"I'm surprised Dean let you play that music today in the car," Sam said out of the blue. His eyes stayed fixed on the TV screen.

Anna was drowsy, but she still smiled genuinely at the memory. "Dude, he loved it."

"Yeah, I think he did," Sam admitted.

"You did too. Most of it."

Sam was quiet for a second. His voice was softer when he replied, "Yeah. I did. You know, it was nice to see you so happy, Sweetheart."

Anna's smile fell at that, but it came back with more layers in just another second. She tilted her head lower against Sam's side. "Thanks, Sammy."

His answer was just a kiss to the top of her head. "Don't fall asleep in my bed, okay? I had to sleep on the floor last time."

Anna was already dreaming.

La Fin