Chapter Text
Δίδαγμα
“Lesson Learned”
Title: Lesson Learned
Authors: bt-kady (aka Kadysn) and PlatinumRoseLady
Artists: Shifterkrooi (LJ) and Kadysn
Pairing: none
Rating: PG13 to R (some language)
Word count: 22,772
Characters: Dean, Sam, Garth, Jody, OMC
Warnings: A little language. We're talking Dean Winchester here, people! Does one have to warn for mpreg?
Summary: What Dean considers an innocent comment at the time triggers a major event in his and Sam's lives. (Takes place mid-season 8 once the brothers are living in the MoL bunker; AU from that point on.)
wWw
Sam knew this wouldn’t turn out well.
Once again, he looked on, horrified, as his brother’s big mouth got them in trouble, only this time Sam feared he wouldn’t be able to prevent it.
Sam didn’t even remember how it all started. All he knew was Dean’s statement “Women have it easier than men” brought the wrath of the Greek goddess Eilithyia down on their heads. One moment, Dean was spouting nonsense, and in the next, they were faced with a beautiful redhead, robed in flowing white, long ringlets trailing down her back.
“Uh, Dean…”
“Yeah, Sam. I see her.” Dean stood in the middle of the motel room they were holed up in, and gave the woman a long, admiring gaze. “Who’re you?”
The beauty met his gaze with a smirk of her own. “I am the means to your comeuppance, mortal.”
Dean couldn’t stop the words from spewing from his mouth like word vomit. “You didn’t answer the question. Who are you, and what makes you feel you have the right to teach me a lesson?”
The woman’s hazel eyes blazed with ire. “I am the Goddess Eilithyia!”
“That don’t tell me nothin’.”
“Dean…”
“Shut up, Sam.”
Sam winced, suspecting shit was about to hit the fan.
wWw
The Goddess waved a slender hand – freezing the men in place. With a small, satisfied smile, she crossed the small room to pause in front of Dean, and shook her head sadly. “Silly mortal. You speak of what you know nothing about.” Holding out a hand, she placed it just over Dean’s abdomen – and her hand began to glow. The glow transferred from her to Dean, the entire area of his lower stomach taking on the same glow.
After a momentary thought, Eilithyia reached out with her other hand toward Sam and, her palm over his heart, drew from him a glowing, pulsating sphere about the size of a billiard ball.
“Maybe this,” she said of the ability to think before speaking, and a deep sense of love she’d pulled from Sam, “you will prove worthy of.” She held the shimmery mass against Dean’s belly, pressing it inside. Dean’s stomach glowed for a moment then it dispersed.
Eilithyia waved a hand once more, unfreezing the brothers from their stasis.
“What the hell?” Dean snarled, stepping away from the woman in white. “What just happened?”
The Goddess ignored Dean, turning to face Sam. “The lesson has begun. Although it is not meant for you, Sam, you too, will learn. Something that would be good for all men, I think.”
Sam was just as confused as his brother. “What do you mean?” he asked.
The goddess merely smiled, and in the next instant, disappeared.
As soon as she was gone, Dean gaped at Sam, his arms out from his sides, and asked, “What the hell just happened?”
Sam was just as clueless as Dean, but he suspected one thing. “I’m pretty sure your comments just got us in deep shit.”
Dean’s leaf green eyes got huge. “What’d I say?”
Sam didn’t reply. He figured he didn’t have to. Whatever it was, they’d find out soon enough.
wWw
Sam didn’t have to do research to figure out who the woman had been, but for his idiotic brother’s sake, he went through the motions. “Eilithyia, the Greek Goddess of women and childbirth.” He sent Dean an annoyed smirk. “That’s who you smarted off to, genius.”
Dean still hadn’t figured out what he said wrong. “So…what? Why her? Why me?”
Sam shrugged. “Could it be, maybe, I don’t know…your smart-ass remark about women having things easier than men?” he scoffed. “Somehow, I think something like that might do it.”
Dean shook his head. “Whatever.” Rising from his bed where he’d been sitting while Sam sat in front of the computer, he added, “I’m bushed. First dibs on the shower.”
Sam ignored him as he continued clicking links on the screen.
wWw
The weeks passed, and it wasn’t long before Dean forgot about what happened. One hunt after another kept the brothers busy, with a few days here and there off to rest in the Men of Letters bunker, otherwise known, by Dean, as ‘the Batcave.’
It was one such day, almost a month and a half after their face-to-face meeting with the goddess, the brothers were once more in their new home of sorts. Dean had been feeling a little under the weather the last few days, but it hadn’t been enough to stop him from working alongside Sam on the cases that came their way.
That is, until the morning Sam awoke to hear the unmistakable sounds of Dean retching in the bathroom that separated their bedrooms. He stumbled out of bed and across his room to knock on the closed door. “Dean? You ok, man?”
The only answer he received was a full-bodied groan and the clear sounds of Dean heaving again. “Dean?” After only a momentary pause, he turned the knob, and finding the door unlocked, stepped inside.
He found Dean curled up on the tile floor, his body nearly wrapped around the porcelain stool, his face pale and sweaty. “Guhhh…” Dean groaned and spat bile into the stool.
Sam grabbed a clean washcloth from the rack near the sink, wet it in cool water then knelt beside his brother. “Here,” he said as he wiped Dean’s face and neck. He wasn’t surprised when Dean muttered and pushed him away.
“I got it,” Dean insisted as he took the cloth from his brother’s grasp. After holding the coolness to his face a few moments, he sighed and relaxed back against the tub.
“You gonna live?” Sam asked dryly as he seated himself on the cool floor next to Dean.
Dean scoffed. “No stomach flu will ever kill me, Sammy,” Dean said, his bravado evident even in his misery.
“Just checking,” Sam replied with a soft smile. Then, with a smirk, he added, “Want me to get you some hot tea and some saltines?”
Dean turned his head and gave his brother a bitchface. “Fuck you. I’m not pregnant, you know. I didn’t have lady parts last time I beat off.”
Sam grimaced. “Ok. Fine. Suffer in your manly way. I’m going back to bed.” He turned to rise, but stopped when Dean put a damp hand on his bare arm.
“I hate hot tea.”
“Your point being?”
“Gimme some.”
“Since you asked so nicely,” Sam nodded then stood up. “Need a hand up?”
Dean shook his head as he struggled to his feet on his own.
Sam followed Dean into his bedroom and watched as his brother buried himself under the covers. Seeing Dean as comfortable as he could be in the state he was in, Sam placed a lined trashcan beside the bed, then turned and went to fetch the requested tea.
wWw
Dean’s nausea came and went as the days progressed – some days it passed by late morning, only to reappear the next day, while other days found him never far from the restroom. Sam looked on and grew increasingly worried as Dean’s illness refused to completely abate, and even more so when his brother refused medicine. Dean’s grumbled, “I’m no pussy. I can handle it. Go away,” left Sam concerned.
Late one morning, almost two long weeks later, Dean walked into the ‘war room’ where he found Sam sitting at the lit up table, his laptop open before him. Wrapped up in his old man robe and slippers, Dean made his way slowly to where Sam sat and pulled out a chair, then collapsed into it.
Sam looked up and studied him. “It’s been long enough, Dean. I’m going on a meds run. You’re clearly not getting over whatever this crap is.”
Dean leaned against the back of his chair, closing his eyes wearily. “I know.”
Surprised at his brother’s acquiescence, Sam leaned forward on his bent arms. “Seriously?”
Dean looked over at Sam then nodded. “I feel like hammered shit, Sammy. I can’t keep anything down. Just the thought of food makes me want to hurl.”
Nodding, Sam stood. “Think you could hold down some Gatorade? You’re gonna get dehydrated if you don’t keep something in your stomach.”
Dean shrugged, not even liking the thought of that much. “I can try it.”
Sam studied Dean a moment more then said, his voice firm. “I know you’re gonna fuss, but it’s time to bite the bullet and go see a doctor.”
As expected, Dean didn’t agree. “No.” When Sam opened his mouth to reply, Dean said again, “No, Sam. I’m giving it more time. It’ll go away soon. I’ll tough it out.”
Sam sighed, not wanting to argue. “Think you’ll be ok while I’m gone?”
Dean flipped him off.
“Ok. Fine, then. I’ll be back as soon as I can.” After grabbing a jacket, Sam headed up the stairs to the bunker’s doorway then turned to look down at his brother. Dean sat, bent over the table, his head resting on his arms. Sam shook his head once more then turned and walked out the door.
wWw
The whole trip to the store, Sam couldn't get over the feeling that there was something... weird about Dean’s illness. He was convinced that it had something to do with the run-in with Eilithyia from weeks back, but what it was he wasn't sure. He knew that the goddess had done something to Dean... and to him, too. Whatever she'd taken from him and placed in Dean, though, he wasn't sure. He certainly didn't feel any different, other than being worried about Dean, of course. It wasn't like when his soul was gone, that was for sure - he still felt, still cared, especially when it came to Dean and his health.
As Sam parked, he realized that maybe something had changed. He was fussing over his brother more, kind of...mothering him. He guessed that would be the right way to put it. Was that something the goddess had done? He really wasn't sure.
All he knew was that Dean was ill, and he didn't want to be away from his big brother any longer than he had to be.
Sam walked into the store, picked up a shopping basket, and got to work. He grabbed some Gatorade (orange, which he knew Dean liked) along with some tea (he didn't know why, but something told him chamomile would settle Dean's stomach.) He picked up some bottles of aspirin, along with some Tums, and Pepto-Bismol as well.
As he made his way out of the medicine aisle, Sam stopped to help another customer. A middle-aged woman had dropped her purse, and was trying to pick up all her spilled items. As Sam bent down to help, he didn't notice the pretty redhead who approached him... and never saw her drop one more item into his basket.
It wasn't until he got to the checkout counter and started lifting items out of the basket that he noted the box. He knew he hadn't placed it in the basket. He looked around the small store, wondering if someone had put her item in his basket by mistake.
The only other customer in the store was the elderly woman he'd assisted. He knew she wouldn't have needed something like what the box contained.
"Dude, you buyin' that or not?" the late-teen boy on the other side of the counter asked.
Sam looked back at the box and started to shake his head, but something wouldn't let him set it aside. Without a word, he nodded and waited as the kid rang his items up.
As he set his purchases beside him in the Impala, somehow that one box made its way to the top of the bag. All the way home Sam felt like the damn thing was watching him.
He sighed. Dean was so going to kick his ass.
As he drove away, he didn't see the redhead in the rearview mirror.
Eilithyia grinned a cheeky smile. So the mortal thought women had it easier than men? Let the proud man find out for himself!
Dean was still sitting in the war room when Sam got back to the batcave. When he stopped beside Dean and set the plastic bag down, Dean lifted his head and looked up at Sam blearily.
"You look like shit, bro," Sam commented as he began lifting items out of the sack and set them beside Dean.
Dean said nothing as he reached for the Gatorade and took a hesitant sip. When the first one stayed down, he took a few more before replacing the lid. It was then he caught a glimpse of the last item still in the bag.
Two things almost happened at once - Dean nearly did a spit-take and almost chucked the Gatorade bottle at Sam's head. He took the box out of the bag and held it pinched between two fingers, the look on his face saying he'd rather be holding a dead rat by the tail.
"Sam," Dean asked, his voice deadly calm (which of course meant he was utterly livid.) "What the fuck is this?"
Sam, for once, was completely incapable of speech. He shrugged, which didn't exactly please Dean.
"I'm waiting, Sam."
Sam, not Sammy. Yeah, Dean was pissed.
"I, uh... didn't plan to buy that."
Dean wasn't satisfied with that response. He waited.
Sam shrugged. "Someone else put it in my basket--"
"Why did you buy it? I have to assume you did." Dean shoved the pregnancy kit at his brother.
"It-it just showed up in the basket when I got to the check-out..." Sam mumbled.
"Uh-huh. And you didn't tell the cashier you didn't want it why, exactly?" Dean asked, sarcasm dripping from every word.
"Because..." Sam blinked. Why hadn't he done that? "Because..."
Dean made a 'hurry the hell up' motion, and the words poured out of Sam's mouth so fast he couldn’t stop them.
"Because-I-think-you-might-need-it."
Now it was Dean's turn to blink. "Excuse me?" he questioned, hoping against hope that Sam hadn't taken one too many blows to the head over their years as hunters and finally gone stark raving bonkers.
"Dean, think about it. You pissed off a goddess - a goddess of childbirth, no less. What better way for her to get back at you than by--"
"Making me pregnant?" Dean finished the sentence, and when Sam nodded, Dean wasn't sure if he should punch his brother in the nose or laugh himself sick.
Sam didn't reply. Instead, he tore open the box, and then handed it to Dean.
Dean gaped at him, certain by now that his brother was certifiable.
It wasn't until he found himself reaching for the opened box that he realized his brother wasn't the only insane one.
He stared at the box, and then looked back up at Sam.
"So... go use it. Pee on the stick," Sam said, gesturing in the direction of the bathroom.
Less than ten minutes later, Dean walked out of the bathroom, a dumbfounded expression crossing his face. He gaped, again, at his brother.
"It shows positive."
Something in Sam's heart surged - which he put down to fear, since it looked like his older brother was about to do a face plant onto the floor. He grabbed Dean by the shoulders and led him over to a chair. Gently easing his brother into it, he took the pregnancy test out of Dean's hand, which he noticed was trembling more than a little bit.
He looked down at the stick - yep, there was the word 'pregnant.'
His brother was pregnant.
More important than anything else at this point, Sam felt, was to get Dean back to bed. Wrapping an arm around Dean's shoulders, Sam led him through the rooms and into Dean's own. Dean didn't fight him - it was clear Dean was completely poleaxed by the news - so Sam did what he could. He settled his brother under the covers and sat with him until long after Dean dropped into unconsciousness.
More than anything, as he watched Dean sleep, Sam felt an overwhelming need to take care of not only his brother, but the little life growing inside him, too. He knew that some part of him should be doing research, finding a way to summon the goddess, get her to break the spell…
But, at the same time, Sam knew he couldn’t - wouldn’t - do that. He wasn’t sure if Eilithyia had cast some spell on him as well, to keep him from trying to find her, but he knew one thing - Dean had always wanted to be a parent, and the life they led had always found a way to deny him that.
Not this time.
Dean whimpered softly in his sleep and Sam gently tucked the covers around his brother, softly easing him back to sleep. “Don’t worry, Dean,” Sam whispered. “I’ll take good care of you…”
In spite of (or maybe because of) the utter loopiness of the situation, Sam had to smile.
“I’ll take good care of both of you.”
wWw