Title: A handful

Summary: The principal of Sam's highschool has no idea what she's in for, when she orders John and Dean Winchester to her office after Sam got into a fight. Two-shot. Pre-series. Teen!Chesters.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

Principal Rose Tanner didn't know what to expect when she called Samuel Winchester to her office over the PA system.

She leaned back in her armchair, briefly skimming through his student file, before she reverted her attention to the report sheet, trying to find the reason why a straight-A student with a golden reputation among the entire teaching board had been sent to her office in the first place.

Sam had only been at the school for three months now, but if the chit-chat in the teacher's lounge was anything to go by, that short period of time had already earned him a lot of plus points among her fellow colleagues.

More than once she had found a battered copy of one of Sam's English or History papers in the employee room, after undoubtedly having been passed around and read by the entire faculty.

Finally, her own curiosity had spiked after a particularly vivid run-in with Mr. Everell, the sophomores' Latin teacher, who had claimed that Sam's latin skills easily surpassed his own and would even put a college professor to shame.

Needless to say, Rose had been dying to finally meet Sam Winchester in person.

She just hadn't expected for it to happen in such an unsavory way.

A hesitant knock on her door announced the teenager's arrival and Rose dropped the papers into a neat pile, before straightening her glasses. "Come in" she invited, trying to sound nonchalant, even when her steel grey eyes spiked with excitement.

Sam's posture was hunched as he shuffled into her office, unsuccessfully trying to hide the fact that he was rather tall for his age. His auburn hair was much longer than most of the other boys at school wore theirs, but the unruly mane framed his lean face in a favorable manner and Rose found herself wondering if the brown locks would feel as soft to the touch as they looked.

Clearing her head from the image, Rose smiled reassuringly and gestured towards the empty chair that was conveniently positioned right in front of the Principle desk.

"Please take a seat, Sam."

The boy did as he was told and Rose winced in sympathy when she saw the angry looking red mark on Sam's chin.

It wasn't exactly uncommon for over-hormonal teenagers to get into physical fights at school; in fact Rose had to deal with students that got into brawls on a daily basis, but she couldn't say that Sam Winchester struck her as someone who derived pleasure from beating somebody senseless.

Call her biased or whatever, but after almost 15 years as a Principle, she knew a thing or two about school rowdies and Sam just didn't fit the type.

"So I guess you know why you were sent here today?"

The boy nodded, head bowed as he toyed with a loose thread on his jeans. It wasn't hard to see that the kid's clothes were threadbare at best; a shirt of unidentifiable fabric, dirt covered jeans with holes at the knees and at least one size too small for him- if Rose had to guess, she would say they were hand-me-downs from an older sibling or cousin...

The principle sighed, thinking back to Sam's student file and the bold-lettered 'DECEASED' that was hastily written across half the parent section on top of the first page.

His father was a single parent, probably not doing all too well financially.

Add to that the fact that teenagers could be incredibly cruel and all the puzzle pieces fit perfectly together in Rose's head.

Being the new kid in High School was never easy, but being highly intellectual and impecunious on top of it? That was practically a death sentence.

The poor kid had probably been picked on from his first day at Riverdale High. Best guess? Sam hadn't initiated the fight but merely tried to defend himself from whatever cruelty the other kids had planned against him.

"Can you tell me what happened?" Rose pried, leaning forward in her seat.

The soft snort she got in response was unexpected.

"Look Mrs. Tanner, I really don't mean to be disrespectful, but I'm sure you've got all the information on that report card of yours, so why even bother listening to my side of the story?"

He sounded resigned. Sad. Like there was absolutely no sense in trying to explain himself or his actions, because she wouldn't believe him anyway.

Rose disagreed.

She dropped her hands on the table and spoke in a firm voice. "Well maybe your side of the story would make it easier to understand why you broke Scott Richman's arm in three places"

Rose still couldn't quite grasp how a scrawny teenager like Sam had managed to send a bulky guy like Richman crying to the infirmary.

According to the report card, Scott had engaged in a conversation with Sam at recess, when the latter had suddenly gotten up from his seat, snatched Scott by the arm and twisted it so viciously behind his back that Richman had cried out in pain, attracting the attention of teachers and students nearby.

By the time someone had managed to restrain Sam, Richman's arm had hung limply from his side, tears of agony streaming down his face. The school nurse had taken one look at the injury before she sent him off to the nearest hospital.

"Sam, I don't think you quite understand the seriousness of the situation" Rose pointed out. "Even if you had a good reason behind your actions, nothing could possibly justify such violent behavior towards Mr. Richman. I am just trying to understand why a promising young man like you would jeopardize his educational success on nothing but an aggressive whim."

Sam shifted uncomfortably under her gaze, lips twitching into a bitter smile. "Educational success?" he repeated slowly, as if he was completely oblivious to the fact that he had managed to score a 100% on nearly all of his exams.

Rose wasn't really sure how to deal with such a reaction.

Was he playing her?

The Principle sighed and dropped her hands on the table in a lets-get-down-to-business manner. "I called your father, Sam."

A flash of panic crossed the boy's features and Rose knew she had hit a sore spot.

His eyes widened and his shoulders tensed beneath the dark shirt he was wearing, undefined muscles visibly bunching beneath the fabric.

Over the years Rose had been privileged to see hundreds of students transform from playful children into boisterous teenagers and lastly into young adults, and Sam was still stuck somewhere in the middle.

He was tall and way too skinny, still trying to get used to his gangly limbs and all the other awkwardness a teenage body had in store.

But beneath the child-like features, the brown tufts of baby-soft hair and the gangliness, Rose could already see the strong man that Sam Winchester was going to grow into.

His jaw bone would become more pronounced, he would grow more confident of his body height and this muscles would bulk up.

She had no doubt about it.

Give him a few more years to prosper and the boy would turn out to be a prettier version of the incredible Hulk.

Considering that, Scott Richman was probably lucky to get away with nothing more than a broken arm. But that didn't mean she could let Sam get away with what he had done.

"My father's on a business trip" Sam explained in a monotonous voice that left Rose wondering how many times the boy had used that very same sentence to excuse his father's absence before.

She tucked a loose hair strand behind her ear and cleared her voice. "I know. That's what his voicemail said. I left him a message in case he gets back before we are done here..."

After all, the man could hardly leave his sixteen-year-old-boy alone over night. So help her god, if that was the case and Sam was left at home without parental supervision, she would sick CPS on his wayward father. There was no excuse for the neglect of a minor. No matter the circumstances.

She waited a second before carrying on.

"I also took the liberty to contact your brother Dean, who was listed as an emergency contact in your student file."

That seemed to get Sam's attention. "You called Dean?" he asked with a groan. Rose idly wondered why the news triggered such a negative reaction, until Sam beat her to it.

"I appreciate your efforts to contact my family in this matter, Mrs. Tanner. But is it necessary to get my brother involved in this? Dean really likes his new job at the auto shop and his boss won't be thrilled if he runs off on his second day of work."

Sam's voice took on a pleading quality and his eyes widened slightly, begging her to understand. Rose sighed for what felt like the hundredth time and forced herself to resist the kid's incredibly powerful puppy-dog-eyes.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you broke Scott's arm, Sam" she said sternly, ignoring the twinge of guilt in her chest when Sam's features turned guilt-ridden.

Rose couldn't help but wonder how a fifteen-year-old could muster enough sympathy to care whether or not the older brother got into trouble with his boss. If she had about ANY other student sitting in front of her right now, they would probably gloat with the knowledge of getting their older sibling in a small predicament like that. But not Sam.

Sam looked like someone who carried the world on his shoulder. Lost and strangely small as he cowered in the leather seat in front of her, eyes averted and face partly hidden by unkempt brown hair strands.

Rose threw another glance at Sam's student file and her eyes got caught on a pristine-white sheet of paper that had been attached to the stash with a silver paperclip. She bit her lower lip in hesitation before gently removing the hand-written letter from the rest of the documents.

"You know what this is?", she asked, handing the paper over to Sam.

He took it from her hands and started reading.

His eyes widened and Rose saw the exact moment when he understood the implications of that one significant slip of paper. Basically, it was his whole future on a silver platter.

"Usually teachers aren't allowed to hand out testimonials until 12th grade. You've only been in this school for 3 months and your Latin teacher insisted on giving me this letter of recommendation in case you moved away again before graduation. He bent over backwards to do this for you... that's how much he believes in your potential."

Sam looked at her with a vulnerable expression on his young face, eyes widened in shock and disbelief. He opened his mouth and closed it again, like a stranded fish gasping for water. "I-I don't know what to say..."

"I stumbled across one of your English papers last week and in your essay you mentioned your ambitions to become a lawyer. Do you still think of that as a suitable career choice?"

Rose looked up in time to see the flush spreading down the boy's cheeks before Sam quickly dropped his gaze to the ground.

It was kind of adorable how shy he was. Hard to believe, really, that this modest, well-mannered boy sitting in front of her had viciously beaten up on of his co-students barely 30 minutes ago.

Rose shook her head. "Well?", she asked, lifting a perfectly shaped eyebrow in expectation.

Sam bit his lower lip and shrugged, staring down at his battered sneakers.

"I-I guess... But it's not like it's ever gonna happen, so as much as I appreciate the gesture- I really can't take this Mrs. Tanner..."

He put the letter of reference back onto her desk with a mournful expression on his face. And...were those tears shimmering in the boy's eyes?

"Sam", she breathed "I know college seems like a far-away concept right now, but I can assure you, the earlier you start thinking about it, the better. If you can keep up your grade average over the years and gather a few more of these credential letters? You can easily get into any law school of your choice. Of course, for that to happen you'd also have to stop breaking arms-"

"Mrs. Tanner!" Sam interrupted in a rushed voice, looking pale and unhealthy as he raised his palm in a placating manner. "Can you stop talking, please?"

She was too shocked to say anything in response.

"College isn't an option for me, okay? Just... please-drop it."

His voice was wavering now, brimming with restrained emotion and Rose was almost sure now that the tell-tale glimmer in the boy's eyes were tears. Hesitantly she leaned forward, placing a gentle hand on the boy's own.

"If you are worried about money, I can assure you that there are plenty of scholarships—"

"It's not about money" Sam shot back, withdrawing his fingers from her gentle touch. "I... it's complicated. My dad wants me to get into the family business."

"Your dad wants you to get into... auto repair?"

The kid had to be joking... The mere thought of so much potential going to waste was sheer painful. In her discomposure, Rose didn't even notice the soft creak of the door as it was being pushed open by the older Winchester brother.

"What's so bad about auto repair?" a rough male voice asked and Rose's head snapped up in surprise.

Her breath caught in her throat when she was faced with a ruggedly handsome looking young man in greasy jeans and a dirt covered overall.

His startling green eyes barely grazed her though, gaze instantly drawn to the shaggy haired kid that sat hunched over in the middle of the room. "Dean—" the teenager exhaled in a quick breath as if he'd just been holding it in-waiting for his big brother to save the day.

"Hey Sammy..." the older brother greeted in response, passing by her to crouch down before Sam. "The hell happened to your face?"

Rose cleared her throat, trying to get their attention, but she might as well have tried to slip a dozen bikini models into the office- it would have been just as ineffective.

"Somebody give you trouble? I told you to come to me if one of these idiots gave you trouble—"

"Mr. Winchester."

"I'm fine, Dean. Really."

"You sure?" Dean wanted to know, running his grease-smudged fingers gently over the irritated skin on his brother's face. The tender gesture stood in complete contrast to the rest of the older Winchester's gruff appearance and if Rose hadn't been so annoyed, her heart would have melted at the loving interaction between the brothers.

"Mr. Winchester. Would you mind?!"

The older brother turned around to face her and she almost shuddered at the dark glare he bestowed her with.

"What?"

Rose felt her heartbeat rise in indignation. She pursed her lips all headmaster-like and crossed her bony arms in front of her chest. If these Winchesters thought they would get anywhere with their obnoxious behavior, they had another thing coming.

"Do you even know what Sam did to earn himself a chair in my office?!"

Sam at least had the grace to look embarrassed, while Dean's only response was a pearly white smirk. The smugness was killing her.

"He spelled a curse word at the spelling bee?" the older Winchester deadpanned and Rose's eyes widened when Sam's lips twitched into a tentative smile.

How this Dean-guy had managed to crack the shaggy haired kid up in a minute flat, when all her previous attempts of getting Sam to open up failed, was beyond her.

"You think this is funny, Mr. Winchester?", she demanded grabbing the report card and dashing it against the table in front of him. "Your little brother single-handedly broke Scott Richman's arm in three places today. The poor kid had to be brought to the St. Caroline Hospital about an hour ago, because he was injured badly enough to require surgery! You have any idea what that could mean for Sam and your family in general? I'm talking about a full-fledged lawsuit here!"

Dean looked from Rose to Sam and then back to Rose with a rather startled expression on his face. "That true?" Dean asked his little brother and Sam nodded his head in affirmation. "What did the guy do?"

"Nothing..." Sam mumbled unconvincingly.

Dean's eyes narrowed. "Sammy" he said in a warning tone, nothing left of the playful banter that was there only minutes ago. Rose was thankful the older Winchester had finally come to understand the gravity of the situation.

"I'll tell you at home" Sam finally relented. "Can we please just get out of here?"

"Not so fast" Rose protested, raising both her hands up in the air. "Nobody is going anywhere without me saying so first, okay?"

"What's going on in here?" a third, deeper voice suddenly chimed in from the side and Rose's head snapped up once again when yet another Winchester made his way through her doorway.

Her head was spinning. She was met with a dark-haired stranger; charming smile, gruff appearance.

There was absolutely no doubt in the principal's mind that the bulky man in front of her was the boys' wayward father who had magically returned from his ominous business trip.

Rose gulped and ran a shaky hand through her hair. Her office felt hot and stuffy all of a sudden, probably due to the high level of testosterone in the room.

And if the stormy look on Papa Winchester's face was anything to go by, she needed to brace herself for the worst.

Good lord... what had she got herself into?

"Dad!" Sam piped up from his seat. The father strode forward, clapping his palm against Dean's shoulder, before turning his full attention towards his youngest.

"Mr. Winchester, I presume" Rose huffed, no longer expecting any formal decencies from either one of the Winchester men.

Apparently introductions weren't their cup of tea.

"You okay, son?" John asked his youngest in a gruff voice, once again ignoring the principal's feeble attempts to start up a conversation. Sam nodded up at his father with an innocent look on his face, lips twitching into a reluctant smile. The oldest Winchester brushed his fingers against Sam's bruised chin- much like Dean had done only minutes before and Rose felt the impatience grow in the pit of her stomach.

"You hurt anywhere else?" the man asked in that damn' husky tone of his and that was the moment when Rose decided to draw the line and lay down the law.

"Excuse me for breaking up this terribly loving display, Mr. Winchester. But as much as I enjoy watching your family interact, the reason why I called you here today is fairly serious. Your son has landed another pupil in the hospital with a broken arm that requires surgery."

Rose wasn't sure what reaction she had expected, but it certainly wasn't the cool and calculating gaze he gave her. Usually parents tended to get angry at their kids, maybe scold them or shoot them a disappointed look.

But she guessed there was an exception to every rule when it came to the Winchesters.

"My son wouldn't hurt anybody without reason"

There was no hesitation when he said it. Not even the flicker of a doubt. Next to him, Dean stared her down with the same conviction in his startling green eyes. Like father like son, huh?

She wouldn't have believed it either, if half of the school hadn't witnessed Sam doing it.

"Well whatever reason he might have had certainly doesn't justify such an extreme act of violence. I am sure you will agree with that, Mr. Winchester"

Instead of agreeing however, the man turned around to look at his youngest.

"Sam...You have anything to say about this?"

Sam bowed his head, face once again obscured by the dark hair. "I'm not going to apologize" he said in a low but unwavering voice. "Scott got what he deserved... H-he talked shit about mom."

And there it was: Mystery solved.

Rose wanted to slap herself for not figuring it out sooner.

What better way to get somebody riled up than to talk condescendingly about their deceased loved ones.

Rose could only imagine what it must be like for Sam to grow up without a loving mother to support him.

Using that emotional weakness against him in such a cruel manner was a low blow, even for a school bully like Scott Richman. Because while Sam was probably level-headed enough to ignore any cruel comments made on his own account, he certainly didn't shy back from defending his mother's honor if needed.

One look at Sam's father was enough to know how hard the words had hit him. For the first time since the man had entered her office, emotion was plainly visible on his face, dark eyes glowing with barely concealed sadness.

Rose almost felt bad for him.

Almost.

She sighed and softened her tone when she looked back at Sam.

"You should have come and told me or one of the other teachers if Scott was picking on you. Violence is never a solution."

"Yet it's okay for some inconsiderate asshole to ridicule the tragic death of our mother?" the older brother snapped from beside Sam, jaw clenched and shoulders squared.

He looked two seconds away from tearing her office apart and Rose would have lied if she said she wasn't intimidated by the feral young man in front of her.

"Mr. Winchester—" she sighed, rubbing her temples. "I can assure you that Scott's actions will have consequences once he has recovered from Sam's attack. As for now- could we please focus on your brother and talk about the further proceedings?"

There was a moment of tension-filled silence and Rose shifted uncomfortably on her seat.

Not wanting to risk the chance of further escalations, Rose quickly carried on, clearing her voice. "The usual punishment for a case of physical assault is suspension. However given the extent and seriousness of Scott's injuries I will have to consider expulsing him from school."

Sam's eyes widened visibly and Rose winced, feeling a little guilty. She liked the kid, but if she wanted to make a professional decision, she needed to stay objective. And there was no easy way around what Sam had done.

"You wanna throw him out?" the father asked in an incredulous tone that implied an unspoken 'You ARE aware that my son is a genius, right?'.

Rose folded her hands and set them down on the table in front of her. "Sam is a really good student, but grades aren't everything, Mr. Winchester. I will draw up a conference meeting with the other faculty members to discuss Sam's behavior. Until further notice, your son is suspended from school."

"You can't be serious" Dean protested weakly, but Rose had already made her decision.

She got up from her stool, slightly wobbly on her feet from sitting in the same position for too long and made her way over to the three men. Grabbing the letter of recommendation from her desk she handed it wordlessly to the father and gave him a tight-lipped smile. "No matter if we decide to keep Sam at Riverdale High or not, he certainly is quite the interesting character. And he did impress the whole teaching board with his skills and knowledge... "

There was no way she could have missed the flicker of pride in the father's hooded eyes.

He looked at the piece of paper in his hands, confusion clouding his expression until realization started to dawn. Swiftly grabbing a pamphlet from her desk drawer she dropped it in the shaggy-haired teenager's lap with a small smile. "Law school at Stanford is supposed to be best. Stay out of trouble until then, you hear me?"

It was probably unprofessional or whatever, but Rose couldn't help it. She had no idea what devil possessed her to give this kid academic advice and references, when she should be handing out punishments instead. Maybe it was her inert mom-instinct or whatever, but there was something intriguing about Sam Winchester that made her uncharacteristically soft...

In spite of everything he had done, she just wanted to wrap the boy up in her arms and hold him tight. Slowly she came to understand the other teacher's fascination with him.

"What the hell is this?" the father snarled, waving the letter around through the air, while Sam watched him with a sad but resigned look on his face.

"This is your son's entrance ticket to college."

"College?" Dean's eyes widened as he snatched the letter from his father's hands and started reading.

The father didn't seem impressed by any of it. He snatched the college pamphlet from Sam's lap and dropped it back down on her desk. "Sam's in the family business. College isn't an option for either one of my sons."

Rose briefly closed her eyes, trying to swallow past her annoyance. The crushed look on Sam's face was too much to handle.

How could his father not notice that the boy had other ambitions- other dreams in life than the 'family business'?

"Mr. Winchester- I beg to differ—"

"That's not up for discussion" the man shut her up, tugging on Sam's T-shirt to get him moving.

Rose made a tentative step forward and threw Sam one last, knowing look. And in that moment, when their eyes met- Rose knew without a doubt, that no matter whether Sam would be expulsed from school or not, she would never see him again.

Come next morning, his dad would have already dragged him off to god-knows-where, breaking his son's heart a little more with each passing day. Destroying his future.

Destroying his life.

And she was helpless to do anything but watch him leave.

Rose flopped back into her seat, feeling utterly spent after an hour and a half of the Winchester's very own kind of family-branded torture.

Maybe she would cancel the rest of her appointments for today... she felt dead-beat all of a sudden.

Over the years she's had her fair share of unpleasant experiences at Riverdale High, but this family?

They were simply too much to handle. Even for her.

THE END.

For everyone who's been wondering- this story was originally split up into 2 chapters and is now a one-shot. Please drop a note if you liked it! :D Thanks for all the lovely support!