No Ordinary Boys ~ Chapter 4
Chapter Four
"I can't believe you let them get taken away."
"Relax, Tommy. Here. Drink." Mick slid the glass of whiskey over to his currently very pissed off brother in law.
Tom downed the liquid in one gulp, slamming the glass back down. "Don't tell me to relax."
Mick let out an irritated huff. "Look, it's not my fault that god damn school can't mind their own bloody business"
"You should have been more careful," Tom snapped.
"Me?" Mick laughed. "What about you? If you hadn't beat Dean half to death that one time then you never would of gotten them taken off you in the first place."
"Well, we need to find a way to get Dean back," Tom growled. "Do you know how much money that kid makes us? We can't afford to lose him."
Mick poured them both another drink. "Don't worry. We'll get 'em both back."
Tom snorted in disgust. "I don't care about that little brat. I need Dean back."
"That little brat is the only way to control Dean," Mick repiled. "Without him there's no way Dean will do what we want."
Tom scowled, reaching for his drink. "Whatever Mick. Just find a way to fix this and do it fast."
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Both boys were looking jittery when they came down for breakfast the next morning. John had filled Mary in on what had happened the night before and she suspected the boys were probably still worried that there were going to be repercussions. They seemed to relax a fraction when neither John nor Mary mentioned last nights events, but Dean still kept Sam as close as possible and he still didn't eat anything.
Mary frowned in concern. "Dean, sweetie, is there something you'd prefer? What if you just had some toast or I could make you some cereal?"
Dean looked down at his untouched cooked breakfast and gave his standard reply, "I'm not hungry."
"Dean, you need to eat something, buddy," John said.
Dean picked up his fork but just used it to push the food around his plate.
John and Mary exchanged worried glances. They both knew that they had to find some way to get Dean eating soon.
"So, what's going to happen today? Are those social workers coming back for us?" Dean asked.
Sam's head shot up from his food in alarm and he scooted his chair closer to Dean. He didn't want the social workers to take them away again. They might take them back to their uncle or they might dump them some place even worse.
"Your social workers are coming over this morning but not to take you anywhere." Mary smiled, reassuringly. "They're just coming over to ask you a few questions, then afterwards I thought we could take a trip shopping and see about getting you both some new clothes."
Dean sat up straighter in his chair. "What kind of questions?"
"Dean, there's nothing to worry about," Mary assured. "They just want to talk to you, that's all."
"I'll talk to them but I don't want them asking Sam any questions."
"I think they'll want to speak to both of you," Mary said, gently.
Dean scowled and John could tell he was getting worked up so he stepped in to calm things down. "Look, why don't we just see what happens when they get here, okay? Dean, no one is going to make you or Sam do anything and you don't have to tell them anything you don't want to tell them, alright?"
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It turned out that Dean didn't want to tell them anything at all. He completely shut down when Becca and Jake arrived and their questions of "Can you tell how me you got those marks?" and "Has anyone ever hurt you?" were all met with the same answer. Silence. Things didn't go any better with Sam. They had barely finished asking their first question before Sam burst in tears and hid behind Dean. That's when John stepped in and suggested they call it a day for now.
Becca and Jake had then spoken to John and Mary, and informed them that they would be putting their new findings into the case they were building on the uncle. However without Dean or Sam admitting to any abuse it was going to make it difficult for any abuse allegations against the uncle to stick. They promised that they were looking into finding counselling as soon as possible for both boys and that they were arranging for them both have full physicals within the next few days.
John had voiced his concerns about how the boys injuries were missed in the first place, which was met with a very stiff, "I can assure you Mr. Winchester that a full investigation is taking place," from Jake. That didn't actually reassure John at all but as there wasn't much he could do about it, he let it go for now.
Becca and Jake had left promising they would be in touch again soon, and John and Mary were left alone with a tearful Sam and an angry protective Dean.
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Dean shifted Sam in his arms so that his sleeping brother was lying more comfortably across the couch. It had been few hours since the social workers had left and Dean had spent them on the couch calming Sammy down.
After the upset of the social workers, it was decided that is was probably best that Mary went shopping without them and so they had been left at the house with John.
John had tried to talk to them but Dean hadn't answered him, all his attention focused on his brother, and after picking up on the fact he wasn't wanted right now, John had smiled and said that if they needed anything he would be just outside working on his Impala. Although he hadn't shown it, Dean couldn't help but prick his ears up when he heard the word Impala.
Looking down at his brother, he knew Sammy would be a sleep for at least a few hours and carefully he moved him out of his arms and onto the couch. "Won't be long, kiddo." He stroked his brother's hair softly before walking towards the front door. He would just have a real quick look at the Impala and then he'd be right back.
John was working under the hood of his car, adjusting the carburettor when he got the sensation he was being watched. Looking over his shoulder, he was surprised to find Dean stood a few steps away from the front door, watching him with a look of wonder or rather he was looking at the Impala with a look of wonder.
"Hey Dean." Placing the tools he been using down, John turned round to face him. "Everything okay?"
Dean nodded, his eyes roaming over the sleek exterior of the Impala.
"She's a real beauty isn't she?" John smiled, patting the roof of the car affectionately. "You wanna come over and take look?"
Dean just shrugged, trying his best to look impassive but John could see the spark of interest in his eyes. "C'mon Dean, why don't you come have a look?"
Dean shook his head and even though he took a step back, he didn't disappear back into the house.
"Okay, well I guess I'll get back to work. If you decide you want to take a look then just come on over, and if you don't want to then that's okay too."
Dean watched as John set back to work under the hood. He was torn. His feet itched to move closer and get a better look at the car but that would mean getting closer to John, and even though the man hadn't laid a hand on him, he was still wary, especially since John now also had tools to hand and Dean had first hand knowledge about how much damage tools like that could do.
In the end though, his curiosity won out and he found himself inching closer to the car. Dean had always liked cars, especially classic cars and John was right, the Impala was a beauty. He'd never got the chance to pursue any kind of interest when he lived with his dad or uncle, but whenever he'd been allowed to school, he had always enjoyed reading the books they had on classic cars in the library.
Before he knew it, Dean was stood beside John, his head titled curiously as he watched him work. John didn't say anything about him coming over but Dean thought he saw him smile.
Over the next hour Dean listened intently as John explained all about his beloved Impala, what he was doing to her and why, and Dean was surprised to find himself actually relaxing at the sound of John's voice. Dean never felt at ease around adults, especially men and while he didn't exactly feel safe around John, he didn't feel unsafe around him either. It was an unfamiliar feeling and he wasn't too sure what to make of it.
"Okay, I think we better call it a day." John smiled, wiping his oily hands on an old rag. "Mary's gonna be back from shopping soon and I need to make a start on lunch."
Dean nodded, taking a step back so John could close the Impala's hood.
"You know it was real nice to have someone out here helping me."
"But I didn't help. I didn't do anything."
"You kept me company." John smiled. "And if you want to help me again sometime then I could show you a few things that you can try yourself."
"Maybe," Dean replied, shuffling a little awkwardly on his feet.
"Well, you're welcome anytime," John said and he meant it. He'd seen how the tension had slowly left Dean when they had been working on the car and he had shown a genuine interest in what John had been talking about. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up."
As soon as they got back in the house, Dean immediately went to check on Sam, smiling when he saw his brother was still sleeping peacefully although he looked like he would probably be waking soon. "Be right back, Sam. I'm just gonna go get cleaned up," he whispered.
Dean walked into the kitchen just as John was taking of his shirt and tossing it into the washing machine, leaving him clad just in a white vest top.
"Sam okay?" John asked.
"He's sleeping but he should be awake soon," Dean replied and that's when he noticed the scar on the front of John's shoulder.
"Is there anything either of you would like for lunch?" John knew Dean wouldn't ask for anything but he had to try and get him to eat something.
"Anything's fine."
Dean's voice sounded distracted and John realised that Dean's eyes were laser focused on the scar on his shoulder.
"I wasn't paying attention," John stated.
Dean blinked, finally tearing his gaze away from the mark to look back up at John. "What?"
"The scar. I got it because I wasn't paying enough attention. It was on one of my first assignments as a marine. I got distracted and ended up getting jumped by the enemy. I managed to win the fight but he left me with this, courtesy of his knife."
John was shocked when Dean suddenly pulled his shirt down to reveal an almost identical scar on his shoulder. "My dad did this with a broken beer bottle."
Dean's voice was emotionless, as if what he'd just said was something perfectly normal, and John felt his stomach twist in disgust at the thought of a father doing that to his own son.
"I'm very sorry that happened to you, Dean." John tried his best to keep his tone neutral, not wanting to Dean to pick up on the revulsion he was feeling and think it was aimed at him. "I'm sorry you had to go through something like that. Your dad should never have done that to you."
John was not expecting what Dean said next.
"I'm glad it was me."
"What?"
"He was aiming for Sam," Dean said simply, before turning away from John and walking over to the sink to clean his hands.
Dean didn't say anything else but John didn't need him to, it was clear what he meant. Their father had intended to stab Sam so Dean had put himself in the way instead.
Dean's hands shook as he washed the oil and dirt away. He had no idea why he'd just done that. He had never willingly spoken to anyone about his injuries before or shown them his scars. One minute he'd been staring at John's scar then before he even had time to think about it he was revealing his own. Dean cursed under his breath when he couldn't get his hands to stop trembling, he didn't know why this way affecting him so much. It's not like getting stabbed by the beer bottle was the worst thing that had ever been done to him, compared to the stuff that had happened to him at his uncle's, the beer bottle incident had been a walk in the park.
"Dean, you alright?"
Dean heard the concern in John's voice, he'd heard it before but this time he felt like he might actually be beginning to believe it and it confused the hell out of him.
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"What did you boys get up to while I was gone?" asked Mary when they were all sat down to lunch.
"Dean got to help John with the car," Sam answered and Mary thought she saw him pout slightly.
"You were sleeping, Sammy," Dean sighed. His brother had been less than happy about missing out on helping out with the Impala.
"You could have woken me," Sam huffed.
John couldn't help but chuckle. "I promise you can help out next time, Sam."
"Oh dear." Mary smiled. "It's seems I'm destined to lose all the men in my life to that car."
The rest of lunch went well and both John and Mary were thrilled when Dean finally ate. He didn't eat a lot, half a chicken sandwich and a few bites of salad, but it was something and John couldn't have been happier.
The relaxed mood had continued into the evening, which is why John was surprised when everything suddenly went to hell and he found himself stood in his living room, blood streaming down his nose from Dean's right hook (and Jesus Christ that kid could throw a punch.) and Sam unconscious on the floor with a panicked and terrified Dean ready to attack to anyone who tried to get close to them.
Chapter 5