Ben was so frustrated he actually stamped his foot. "Why do you keep saying no?"
Dean smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. "Two reasons. One, your mother would kill me dead if I taught you how to shoot behind her back. Same with knife-handling and hand-to-hand. Talk to her first."
"You said two reasons."
"Yeah. Two, because you already use the most powerful weapon you have. And you're the only one who can use this one."
Ben blinked at him. "What is it? Some kind of supernatural mumbo-jumbo I've got inside me?"
"No," Dean said. He tapped Ben's forehead gently with the pad of his forefinger. "It's this. Your mind, Ben. You're smart -- use that intelligence. All the brawn in the world won't help you if you can't think straight."
"You're not as smart--"
"I am. I just hid it because I had Sam." His face fell a little, like it always did when he spoke of his trapped brother. "He thrived on research and on study. He was excellent at it. So we fell into the routine that he was the brains and I was the brawn. But I'm as smart as him, and smarter in some ways."
His hand curled back around Ben's shoulder and his eyes were deadly serious as they bored into Ben's. "You're smart. Quit hiding it."
When he released Ben, he found himself being hugged by the boy. He smiled and returned the warm hug.
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
The Most Powerful Weapon
Date: 2010-10-08 07:20 pm (UTC)Ben was so frustrated he actually stamped his foot. "Why do you keep saying no?"
Dean smiled at him and squeezed his shoulder. "Two reasons. One, your mother would kill me dead if I taught you how to shoot behind her back. Same with knife-handling and hand-to-hand. Talk to her first."
"You said two reasons."
"Yeah. Two, because you already use the most powerful weapon you have. And you're the only one who can use this one."
Ben blinked at him. "What is it? Some kind of supernatural mumbo-jumbo I've got inside me?"
"No," Dean said. He tapped Ben's forehead gently with the pad of his forefinger. "It's this. Your mind, Ben. You're smart -- use that intelligence. All the brawn in the world won't help you if you can't think straight."
"You're not as smart--"
"I am. I just hid it because I had Sam." His face fell a little, like it always did when he spoke of his trapped brother. "He thrived on research and on study. He was excellent at it. So we fell into the routine that he was the brains and I was the brawn. But I'm as smart as him, and smarter in some ways."
His hand curled back around Ben's shoulder and his eyes were deadly serious as they bored into Ben's. "You're smart. Quit hiding it."
When he released Ben, he found himself being hugged by the boy. He smiled and returned the warm hug.