Bobby didn't make it back until almost ten-thirty. Sam had kept himself busy with making notes about werewolves, but had to search out more books because he ran out of book he could read that had stuff in it. Dean stayed asleep which Sam figured was for the best. He knew Dean didn't want to admit it, but he really doubted the senior would be up to going to school the next day.

When Bobby did get in and didn't come in right away, Sam got curious and went outside. He found Bobby with two new doors and a fender for the Impala, perfect ink-black in color to match the car. Once those were replaced, there wouldn't be any indication of the accident.

"Help me get these doors down. There heavier than a bitch," he told Sam. They carefully moved the doors from the flat bed and set them down near the Impala.

"No one will know," Sam said, "that the car was hit."

"Yup. That's the point. Dean ain't gonna have the time or strength to get the car in shape by tomorrow and just pounding it out some, I can't let my boy go to that school like that. I'm gonna need your help. We'll use the portable winch to hold the door while we take it off and put the new one back on. I can handle the front fender but having a gopher for tools would be a big help."

"Anything," Sam said bobbing his head. He didn't know if Dean was going to be pleased the car was fixed, or unhappy that they screwed with his car. Well, he could fix the damaged doors and put them back on.

"After we get the car fixed, we need to get those two engines in the garage over there."

Sam looked questioningly at Bobby.

"Two doors and a fender for a 67 Impala, painted to match, and with a matching interior, don't come cheap. Dean's rebuilding those two engines in exchange for the doors and fender, he just don't know it yet. How's he doing?"

"Ate breakfast then went back to sleep after taking his painkillers. He's been sleeping for almost two hours."

"Okay. With both of us working this, it shouldn't take long to change out the doors and fender. C'mon kid, let's get the tools and get cracking on this thing."

And Sam and Bobby got to work. In two hours they had the new doors on and the fender in place and got the engines off the flatbed and in the garage along with the damaged doors and fender. They headed inside for lunch and Sam had to admit, he was darn near ravenous.

The medication knocked him out pretty damned good and he slept deeply for a long time. Then the dreams started. He still had them, every once in a while, though not nearly as frequently as when he was a boy since he’d come to live with Bobby. But now the images were so clear and sharp it was like he was actually there, three years old all over again, watching it happen…

The scream had woken him.

His mommy and daddy had put him to bed hours ago and it was pitch black in his room, the little nightlight by his bed gone out. The darkness in the room was so complete and chilling he shivered in bed as he pulled his blankets up to his neck. A part of him wanting to cry out for his mommy and daddy in fear, knowing they would come running and keep him safe, but another part of him too afraid to make a sound.

He’d thought it was a bad dream. The scream that had woke him up. But then he heard his daddy running up the stairs, calling his mommy’s name in a tone of voice he didn’t think he’d ever heard from his daddy before and it only made Dean more afraid. But his fear for his mommy and for Sammy was greater than his fear of the darkness so shoring up his courage he climbed out of his bed and he rushed to his baby brother’s bedroom, his old bedroom, where he heard his daddy…

But what little courage his had drained out of him standing there in the doorway. Watching as his mommy… a huge growing stain of red on her nightgown bleeding down from the ceiling… before she burst into flames. His daddy was screaming. Sammy was crying in fear. Dean was frozen… and that’s when he saw the man. In the corner of the nursery, through the smoke and flames, laughing. Yellow eyes staring at him…

Then his daddy was there, his big strong daddy who could protect him, them, from anything looking terrified as he put Sammy into his arms. Ordering him to run… and he ran. He ran through the black choking smoke. He ran outside into the night air that should have been freezing through his thin pajamas but instead felt like summer from the heat of the flames coming from his house. When he stopped running he turned and waited. Watching the flames consuming his house, watching and waiting for his mommy and daddy to come out.

But the only one who came out of the flames was the yellow eyed man. Still laughing. His baby brother started crying louder as the yellow eyed man came for them. Dean tried to run again but he couldn’t move. As the yellow eyed man reached for them, to take Sam away from him, he screamed… and screamed…

They both heard the scream when they were at the back door. Sam was startled when Bobby shot by him, moving faster than he expected the older man to be able to move. The man was in the house and living room before Sam had really had a chance to process it and react.

Bobby was kneeling next to Dean, had gathered the young man in his arms and was just holding him, running one hand over Dean's hair, whispering soothing words that Dean was safe, would always be safe, that he had a home here as long as he wanted it, that he was safe from …yellow eyes.

Sam's eyes widened. At lunch yesterday he had told Dean about his own nightmares about the yellow eyes he saw. He remembered how Dean had reacted, blanching at the mention of yellow eyes and had agreed with him it was some monster movie. They both had dreams of yellow eyes? Dreams that woke them up screaming? He could tell Dean was sobbing in Bobby's arms and discreetly back-pedaled to the kitchen. Sam sure as hell wouldn't want Dean seeing his mom hold him after one of his nightmares, crying like a baby. So Sam busied himself in the kitchen. After looking through what was available he decided porcupine balls would be good to make. They would be good and filling and they were easy enough. So he pulled out the fresh hamburger, cut up onions and put them in with the burger, poured in rice and salt and pepper, and rolled them into little balls that he put into a hot skillet. He turned the meatballs, their sizzle pretty much blocking out the noise in the other room. He got out the ketchup the tomato soup and as soon as the meatballs were browned, he drained off the grease and added the soup, water and ketchup, then got out plates. The meal would take a good twenty minutes or so to cook.

At first Dean was too panicked to register the various pains throughout his body warning him against thrashing around like he had been as he struggled to wake up. Struggling against the yellow eyed ‘man’ that had been trying to take him, take Sammy, away from him… it had already taken his mother and father, he wasn’t going to let it take Sam too damn it!

But then there were warm arms surrounding him, protecting arms, and a comforting, reassuring, voice whispering to him over and over. At first he thought it was his daddy’s voice and his daddy’s arms around him, protecting him, keeping him and his brother safe… He was safe. They were safe. Safe… the yellow eyed demon wouldn’t get him… wouldn’t take Sammy away…

Yet Sammy was gone… Gone forever… Just like his dad and his mom. Memories flooded back and pain came with them. Pain so intense he couldn’t have stopped the tears that poured from his eyes or the sobs that practically shook his whole body. He never could.

It wasn’t his father’s arms wrapped around him while he cried, promising safety… It was Bobby. The man that meant just as much to him, maybe even more so, than his long dead father. The older man’s efforts eventually calmed him enough that Dean managed to stifle the worst of his sobs to small hiccups.

“Sorry…” He finally mumbled, even though he knew he had no reason to apologize or feel embarrassed. Still waking up from nightmares screaming and crying and needing Bobby to hug him seemed a lot less embarrassing when he’d been twelve instead of nineteen.

Dean sniffled and then groaned softly. Oh fuck, he hurt. Could he have chosen a worse fucking time to have one of those god damned nightmares?

"Nothing to be sorry about," Bobby said. "Something scares everyone. I got my fears, son. Living through what you lived through, losing your family at such a young age, then being tossed about, it's a miracle you don't have 'em every night of your life. Not like you can talk to some psychologist saying a demon killed your family and expect to get any help. You can only do the best that you can do dealing with it. Sometimes…sometimes that means nightmares and tears." Bobby squeezed his shoulder. "I ain't never told you, though I know you've seen her picture and wondered. I was married a long time ago. She got possessed. All I knew back then was that she went crazy. Killed people. Tried to kill me. I…lost her. Had to defend myself. Sometimes, son, I still see her blood on my hands, and sometimes I still see her dying, that black smoke pouring out of her. And sometimes I still wake up, and my pillow ain't dry. She's the reason I do what I do. She's also the reason sometimes folk look at me askance. I was cleared of any wrong doing. Self-defense. She weren't. She's still guilty in the records. She was the sweetest damned woman this side of Heaven and 't'weren't her that killed them people, but no one but hunters would ever believe that. And that kills my soul too. So don't you be fretting about bad dreams and tears."

Bobby handed him a tissue, then smoothed down his sleep-spiked hair. "You can take another vicodin, but it's another three or four hours 'fore you can take the ibuprofen."

Twisting, Bobby picked up the bottle of vicodin and pulled one out and handed it to Dean with a glass of water. He set the water back down. "Let me make sure you didn't pull none a your stitches."

Bobby gently peeled back the bandages. "Nope, they look good," he said and gently pressed the bandage back into place. "Your boy and I, we got your car back up and running.

"I called the principal. You ain't going to school the rest of the week." Bobby gave him a glare. "Shaddup and listen to me. You are gonna drop Sam off and walk him to home room like always. You're gonna arrive late enough, they all see you. Your 'cousin,' Jeff, he's 'transferring' to that school. He's gonna take over guard duty of Sam for the next two days. You ain't met Jeff, but he'll be here in the morning to meet you and then meet up with you at school when you get in with Sam. Jeff's twenty, though he looks like he's a bit younger. He'll be in all of Sam's classes. He's been raised in a hunter family. That boy can kick butt like no one's business and knows the deal. Then Friday, his family and me are gonna go after than werewolf. You met Jeff's dad, Tim on that wendigo hunt. As far as anyone at the school knows, you and me had to go out of town. Jeff'll bring Sam here tomorrow, then pick him up on Friday in the morning, and bring him here Friday afternoon. You're gonna rest so's you can go back to school Monday. We're gonna keep you off that ankle, keep it iced and soaked. This'll give you enough time to heal up that you can look after Sam proper next week and not be tearing out your stitches or have to worry about that concussion. We both know Lancaster is gonna push you tomorrow, looking for you to be injured. If he figures out how bad yer hurt, him and his boys will do their damnedest to take you down and take Sam down too. They clip you in your side, trip you onto that sprained ankle, or clip you upside the head, I know you could probably muscle through the pain for Sammy, but they'll be at you for the next three weeks and know your weaknesses. We can't afford that. Not you, not Sam. So, you willing to rest up proper so you can go back to looking after Sam on Monday?"

Dean knew Bobby was right. The older man usually was right, sometimes to Dean’s great annoyance. But that didn’t make it any easier. Bobby knew that too, though. The older hunter had been the only one to truly understand him, what he’d gone through, had believed him when no one else did… Dean almost snorted when the older man mentioned how he couldn’t talk to a shrink about his issues.

For a time they’d tried to get him and his brother and he adopted together to the same family. Of course everyone loved baby Sammy, but he was too much trouble. Dean could remember well the drugs they’d put him on as a boy to try to ‘cure’ his ‘delusions’ and how they locked him away whenever he started ranting on about demons and his mother burning to death on the ceiling.
Until they’d finally deemed him ‘unsafe’ around his own baby brother anymore and had taken Sammy away for good.

Of course he’d tried to find his brother later on, but the records had been lost, ironically, in a fire. Sammy was gone… lost to him just like his parents had been lost. To flames…

When Bobby mentioned his wife, Dean couldn’t deny he was a little surprised. He had always been curious about what had happened to her, but of course he’d never asked. He could see clearly enough the pain in Bobby’s eyes every time he gazed at her picture and the only two nights of the year he always found Bobby passed out drunk. One he’d guessed was the older man’s anniversary, the other… her death…

But he’d never known she’d been possessed. Dean swallowed hard against the lump of emotion that welled in his throat listening to what had happened to her. Yeah, he knew every hunter had a similar story. They all had a reason why they’d gotten into this ‘business’ but still… it wasn’t fair, damn it. It just wasn’t fair…

Dean took the tissue Bobby offered him, wiping off his face, and gladly took the painkiller the older man offered him afterwards. As much as his side hurt right now he was actually a bit surprised he hadn’t ripped out any stitches, though he was glad he didn’t. The last thing he wanted right now was to have Bobby have to redo them.

When Bobby mentioned that he and ‘his boy’ had taken care of his car, Dean couldn’t help the faint smile that curved his lips. His boy, huh? He kind of liked the sound of that. Of course his smile vanished when Bobby went on to say how he wasn’t going to school tomorrow. Dean opened his mouth to protest immediately but Bobby silenced him.

He didn’t like it. He didn’t like it one god damned fucking bit… but annoyingly… Bobby was right again. AS much as he hated to admit it Dean was in no shape to protect Sam tomorrow. He wouldn’t even be able to protect himself and one good hit to his wounded side or to his head… Still he wouldn’t have cared if the choice was between Eric targeting him or the bastard going after Sam. He would rather the asshole come after him instead.

He didn't like it. Dean definitely didn't like not being able to back Bobby up on the hunt and he didn’t like the idea of trusting someone else to look after Sam either. But he'd rather other hunters back Bobby up rather than the older man going on a hunt alone. And if it was another hunter looking after Sam… well… he liked that idea better than Sam going alone. That was for damned sure.

“Fine.” Dean finally muttered, even though he knew he sounded far from pleased.

"I know you ain't happy 'bout this, son, but it's the best that we can do. Jeff might hang around yet next week or two, to keep up the appearance he really was transferred then his family suddenly got called away or something. Can't having the Lancaster shit get suspicious." Bobby climbed to his feet with a grunt. "I'm gonna check on Sammy and see what he's cooking us up for dinner. Don't smell like roast chicken but really, that was for dinner anyhow."

Bobby patted Dean's shoulder. "You think you can go back to sleep, you go right ahead. You want to stay awake, then as soon as lunch is ready, we'll get you fed." Bobby put the TV remote next to Dean. "I gotta tell Sam the plan yet, too. Now you be sure and look more confident about when he comes in to talk to you than you look now. The kid is bound to be scared about it. Convince him it's good. Tim's told me Jeff's taken down four vampires single handed and if he's as good a fighter as his daddy, Sam don't have a thing to worry about. Trust me on that. Tim can kick my butt with one hand tied behind his back and blindfolded. The sonuvabitch."

Bobby headed out to the kitchen to find Sam busily cooking away. Sam gave him a worried glance. "He okay?"

"He's fine. Just had a bad dream."

"About yellow eyes," Sam said coolly, wanting to see Bobby's reaction.

Bobby's head snapped up. "What do you know about yellow-eyes?"

"You tell me what you know, and I'll tell you what I know," Sam said.

Bobby's eyes narrowed. "Your momma a hunter?"

"The subject is yellow eyes," Sam said.

"Yellow eyes is a demon," Bobby finally answered.

Sam turned around and stirred their lunch. "Azazel," Sam said, the word popping into his head and having no idea what the word even meant.

"What else you know?" Bobby asked.

Sam glanced over his shoulder and gave him a long look. "One for one. Your turn."

Bobby met his gaze and couldn't tell from Sam's calm demeanor if he was being bamboozled or not and that bothered him. Sam's mom had what was undoubtedly a hunter's bow. From the books they had seen laying about, if Sam came from a hunter's family, he had to know Bobby was a hunter. But Sam couldn't fight, had seemed intrigued by his books, but not knowledgeable. Course if his mom had hung up her bow, Sam might only know stories. From his conversations with the boy, he just couldn't believe Sam knew anything more but he was shocked he knew a demon's name. And if it was yellow-eye's name, it was a helluva lot more than they knew a few minutes ago and gave him a place to do more digging.

"The demon is said to have taken out a couple families through the years," Bobby said, keeping his answer vague.

Sam turned back to stare into the bubbling tomato soup and meatballs. Bobby thought demons were real? …Well, angels were real. He believed that. So why not demons? All sorts of lore about demon possessions. "With fire," Sam said softly.

A blonde woman's face, fuzzy, but Sam always thought she was probably pretty. That blurred image always made him feel safe. Darkness, though a little dim light was there somewhere. Then a shape and yellow eyes. Then heat and orange light and screams and noises, and no image was clear. Except for the yellow eyes. Fear. Terrible fear. An upset voice screaming and he didn't know what was being screamed, but he always thought it was his name. Sammy.

"Yeah. With fire," Bobby agreed. "Have you seen him? Azazel?" Bobby asked quietly.

Sam shook his head wordlessly. "Never seen a demon. Never seen an angel. Never seen…a werewolf." Sam hesitated, knowing the question might lose the edge he had at the moment but he had to ask. "Are werewolves real?"

Bobby folded his arms across his chest. "Guess you ought a be asking your momma about that. You know anything else about the demon?"

"No. Just…Azazel. And fire. Did Dean see the demon?"

"I think he did."

God, were the two men really nuts? Was he nuts for kind of sort of…believing them?

Sam gave a single nod. "Lunch'll be ready in about ten minutes. Rice isn't quite cooked yet."

"I'll get everything out for it. Why don't you go check on Dean?"

"Keep it stirred or it'll burn," Sam said, not looking at Bobby and heading in to see how Dean was doing. Azazel….

No, he wasn’t happy. But Bobby was right. Again. This was the only reasonable option they had… well… beyond Sam just staying here and not going to school at all but the younger boy’s parents would never go for that. It was a miracle they’d let Sam stay here at all today. Hell, after what had happened in the parking lot it was probably an even bigger miracle they hadn’t forbid Sam to ever see him again.

Dean couldn’t help but wonder what Sam would do if his parents ever did say that he could never see him again. If they ever decided he was too much of a bad influence, not worth keeping him around even if he did promise to look after Sam… yeah, like Dean had been doing such a great job of it so far. They’d probably decide that Dean just made matters worse for Sam rather than better. To be honest… he couldn’t really argue with that. Surely the bad blood between him and Eric hadn’t made the situation for Sam any better.

Whatever the outcome though he had to be confident, for Sam. He had to act like he supported this plan, even if he didn’t like it and he had to reassure the younger boy that he would be safe with this Jeff looking after him.

Despite his depressed thoughts, Dean couldn’t help but smile a little when Bobby complained about the young man’s father kicking his ass. Dean couldn’t deny anyone who could kick Bobby’s ass was definitely someone you could trust watching your back. It made Dean feel a little better, for both Bobby on the hunt as well as Sam at school. He might not like being stuck here on this damned couch while Eric was gunning for Sam and Bobby was off in the woods chasing werewolves without him… but at least neither of them would be without backup.

Dean took the remote from Bobby with a nod of thanks. The last thing Dean wanted right now was to go back to sleep and risk falling back into that dream, no matter how exhausted he felt. Damn. It was probably too much to hope that Sam hadn’t seen any of that. He cursed softly under his breath as he flicked on the TV and started flipping aimlessly through the channels.

He had to admit, even though he was feeling a bit queasy right now from nearly pilling out some stitches for the second time today whatever Sam was cooking smelled pretty good.

When he heard the telltale creek of the floor board just outside the living room Dean turned his head to look at Sam standing in the doorway. Dean knew he probably looked as much like shit as he felt, but he tried to give the younger boy a smile that at least looked genuine.

"You look like hell," Sam said as he walked in and sat down in the chair next to the couch. He looked at the TV. "Oprah? Really?"

Dean looked like he just wanted to go to sleep. Moving down to the floor, Sam took his hand and leaned against the beat up couch. "I'll stay with you if you wanna sleep. If Mom stays with me after one of my nightmares, if I manage to go back to sleep, they usually don't come back. Or we could play cards or something."

In the kitchen Bobby suddenly realized he had completely forgotten to tell Sam about Jeff. The whole demon thing had gotten him off track.

"Dean, explain to him about Jeff. I didn't," Bobby called in.

Sam looked toward the kitchen then at Dean. "Jeff? You already tired of me and trading me in for a better looking model?" Sam asked teasingly, but the thought of that even remotely being true made his stomach sort of knot up.

“Thanks.” Dean snorted softly in amusement at Sam’s frank comment. Actually, he considered it kind of a compliment that he ‘only’ looked like hell when he kind of felt like hammered shit. At Sam’s glance at the TV and question, Dean couldn’t help but look himself. He hadn’t even realized that was the channel it had landed on when he’d been flipping through channels before Sam’s entrance had distracted him. Rather than offering an explanation though, Dean merely shrugged a little and then immediately regretted the movement.

When Sam moved from the chair to down on the floor beside the couch, Dean couldn’t help but smile a little more genuinely. His smile growing only more fond if it was possible when the younger boy took hold of his hand. Yeah it was pretty girly, but Dean didn’t much care right now.

Sam’s offer to stay with him while he fell asleep pretty much shattered that little hope that Sam hadn’t noticed his little panic attack caused by a bad dream. But at least the younger boy was being kind enough not to call him a wuss or anything because of it. Not that he really thought Sam would, considering the younger boy had admitted just yesterday how he had bad dreams too. But Dean wasn’t sure if he could handle any teasing right now, no matter how light hearted it might be.

“Not tired.” He replied, even though they both knew it was a lie. Then Bobby called in for him to talk to Sam about Jeff and Dean couldn’t help but frown in confusion. Just what had Sam and Bobby been talking about then? He’d heard their voices in the kitchen even though he hadn’t heard the discussion over the TV. Now he kind of wish he’d paid attention.

At Sam’s teasing question, Dean rolled his eyes a little.

“No, idgit. Jeff’s a cousin of mine. Well, not really. He’s from Bobby’s side of the family, but, you know. His family is moving back into the area and Bobby said he’s gonna be transferring to our school. Tomorrow’s his first day, in fact which is pretty good timing. Bobby’s already talked to him and the principal and Jeff’s gonna watch your back for the next week or so… since it looks like the quacks are right and I’m not going to make it in for a while. I’ll drop you off at school tomorrow and we’ll meet Jeff there. You’ll be safe with him though. I promise.” Dean told the younger boy, putting all the reassurance he could into his words.

Not tired. Sure he wasn't. But Sam knew what his dreams of yellow eyes were like and he never wanted to go back to sleep after he had one of them, so he accepted Dean's lie.

Sam didn't like that Dean wasn't going to be at school with him, but he knew Dean couldn't be. He'd been hit by a freaking car and it was selfish of Sam to wish Dean would come anyway. Eric would so take advantage of Dean's injuries if he found out what they were. In some ways it was kind of a relief, knowing that Dean would be safe. He just hoped Jeff was as good a fighter and as intimidating as Dean could be. Of course, Sam had no doubt Eric would test Jeff and that was probably going to suck, because Sam was pretty much useless in a fight and knew it.

Sam leaned in and whispered. "I hope he's better looking than Bobby," he said teasingly, but then added more seriously, "I don't have to kiss him, right? You and I, we're together even if he's watching out for me, right?"

Dean could tell that Sam wasn’t any happier with the arrangement than he was, but there wasn’t much he could do about it. It was a hell of a lot better option than Sam going to school alone and unprotected though. Maybe if Dean took it really easy for the rest of the day today and tomorrow he could at least go to school by Friday even if Bobby didn’t want him to.

Tomorrow the bastards at the school would probably try to go after Jeff, and get their asses handed back to them. So they certainly wouldn’t want to go up against both him and his ‘cousin’ at the same time.

“I’m gonna tell Bobby you think he’s ugly.” Dean joked, with a laugh. Though when Sam asked him if he would have to kiss Jeff, in payment for his services, his smile slipped off. Replaced with a serious look. Dean knew Jeff wasn’t like those other assholes at the school. Dean had met his father and he seemed like an all right guy, but more than that, Bobby never would have asked for him to help out if there was even the smallest chance he would take advantage of Sam.

Still, just the idea of anyone else kissing Sam… of Sam having to whore himself in payment…

“No. You’re mine.” Dean said firmly. His free hand coming up to cup the back of the younger boy’s neck and pull Sam into a kiss. Making it quite clear without words who Dean considered Sam belonged to and anyone who said otherwise would have hell to pay. When Dean finally let the younger boy up for air he grinned up at Sam. “So you better not go around kissing anyone else.”

"I was teasing about Bobby!" Sam protested. "Sort of." The thought of kissing Bobby…just ewww. Bobby was okay and everything, and maybe he cleaned up nice but Sam wasn't into guys in the first place (except for Dean) so he probably wasn't a fair judge. And Bobby was, like, old. "And I didn't say he was ugly."

Dean's words and the way Dean kissed him, he felt his heart kind of flutter and his stomach do little flip-flops. Was this what love felt like? It still bothered him that his first 'love' looked more and more like it was going to be a guy, but that didn't mean he wouldn't eventually meet a girl and feel the same way. But the thought of Dean not being there in his future made him unhappy. Could you really fall for someone this fast? This wasn't Hollywood. And really, he and Dean hardly knew each other. Maybe it was just hormones. Yeah. Just hormones. So why was his heart racing? His lips tingling? The kiss from Dean hadn't gotten him hard, but it has surely affected him otherwise.

"No kissing anyone else huh? What if Jeff is better looking that you?" Sam teased. "You've corrupted me. How am I supposed to resist his lips if they're even half as sexy as yours?" And Dean's look Sam giggled and whispered in his ear, "I'm yours. Idget."

Dean couldn’t help his amusement at Sam’s reply. Not sure if he was more amused by the younger boy’s rather loud protest that he’d only been teasing about Bobby or the look on Sam’s face when he did. Knowing how the younger boy’s mind worked a mile a minute he could only imagine what was going through his head… and Dean decided he really didn’t want to know. Some things really were better left unsaid.

Though he was a little less amused when Sam started teasing him back. Well, he’d better be only teasing anyway. Dean had never met the older boy so he had no idea what he looked like. What if Jeff really was better looking than him? Or if Sam decided he liked Jeff better than him…

After all, Dean knew he was no catch. He was a freak. Damaged goods, in more than one way. Sure, Sam had needed him up till now, but with Jeff around Sam wouldn’t need him. Sure, Jeff wasn’t going to be hanging around forever, but what if during that time Sam decided he really didn’t need Dean after all? After all, he hadn’t even managed to protect Sam for a few days. His first day on the ‘job’ Sam had gotten the shit kicked out of him too. Hell, Dean couldn’t even keep his promise to Sam to get the younger boy laid with a girl…

When he met Jeff tomorrow he was going to make it very clear to the other hunter he better keep his hands to himself as far as Sam was concerned.

Dean gave Sam a mild glare, though his expression relaxed with the younger boy’s whisper in his ear. Still, Dean couldn’t deny the jealousy gnawing in his gut.

“Prove it.” Dean whispered back, a note of challenge in his voice.

Sam saw it in Dean's eyes and honestly was a little surprised. Dean was jealous, just at the thought that Sam might find Jeff attractive, or he might kiss someone else. Did he make Dean's stomach all filled with butterflies? Did Dean get all tied up inside thinking about Sam? Sure Dean liked him, but was it more than just like? Considering Dean's words Sam wondered.

"Prove it huh?" Sam said. "If you weren't all stitched up and bruised and had a concussion, I would." He leaned in and ran his tongue around the inside of Dean's ear. "You really want me to get you hard and make you come with Bobby just in the other room? And you are NOT going to jack me off with Bobby in the other room either. If I kissed you the way I want to to prove it," Sam nipped his ear, "you would be hard and so would I."

Sam sat back on his knees and looked at Dean. Glancing around he saw a pocketknife on the table. He picked it up and opened it. Looking at Dean, he bit his lip but a smile played there all the same. He used the knife a cut a small knick in his palm, then took Dean's hand and did the same. He clasped their hands together, the couple drops of blood each spilled mingling. He kissed Dean then, trying for that same hot passionate kiss that Dean seemed to give to him so effortlessly, not letting Dean take the lead this time, not let Dean into his mouth, but controlling it all himself. He finally sat back and licked his lips, then put those same lips to their still clasped hands.

"We're connected now," Sam said, glancing at their hand. He grinned more broadly. "And if I can't be kissing anyone else, neither can you."

Dean had to bite back a groan, not so much at the things Sam was whispering in his ear but the younger boy’s tone, not to mention the soft warm breath caressing his ear, was making certain parts of him sit up and take notice. Which wasn’t exactly a good thing since the younger boy was right, he really didn’t want Sam to jerk him off with Bobby just in the other room. If there wasn’t a chance that the older hunter would walk in on them any second and embarrass the hell out of him…

A small moan of both pleasure and frustration escaped his lips when Sam’s tongue snaked out to caress his ear. Sam really was a fucking tease, and the boy knew it. Maybe Dean was really bad to for kind of wishing Bobby wasn’t here right now so that Sam could prove it to him… like he wanted…

“Tease.” Dean muttered when Sam nipped at his ear, but he was grinning at the younger boy when he finally pulled back. Even though parts of Dean were missing the attention his upstairs brain reminded him he didn’t want Bobby walking in to see him with a hard on either.

When he saw Sam look around and then reach for the knife on the table, Dean raised an eyebrow in question and then actually felt his heart skip a beat (much to his embarrassment) when Sam cut their palms and then held them together. Then Sam was kissing him, and fuck, he’d taught that boy well. Sam obviously wanted to control the kiss and Dean let him.

By the time Sam finally let him up for breath, he was definitely half hard and his heart was definitely beating a little faster than normal. Dean felt like he’d just gotten married or something. Oddly enough, that thought didn’t really bother him… had to be the drugs.

He laughed though at Sam’s words.

“Deal.” Dean replied, bringing their joined hands to his lips and kissing Sam’s fingers.

Sam smiled at Dean then chuckled. "I never figured my first steady would be a guy."

He leaned in and gave Dean a quick kiss. "Lunch ought to be ready before too much longer. I made porcupine balls. Tomato soup and rice and hamburger with rice in it. It's kind of a comfort food for me. And if you don't want the meat, you can just have rice and tomato soup. It's got ketchup in it too. I hope I made it right. I usually look up the recipe when I make it." He shrugged a little then settled down on the floor, putting his back against the couch and looking at the TV. He kept hold of Dean's hand. Tilting his head back he looked at Dean. "Uh, how about something other than Oprah?"

He grabbed the remote and began flipping channels and stopped on Magnum PI. "Well, that's about as good as it gets it looks like.

That sat in silence watching the show until Bobby called from the kitchen that lunch was ready. Sam hopped up and went in to help the older man get the meal dished out and brought Dean's in with some water, then joined him. Bobby came in and checked on Dean, checking to make sure he didn't have a fever, and tracked his moving finger. Asking for Sam's notes, Bobby took them with him into the kitchen and began reading them while Dean and Sam ate their lunch.

When they finished, Sam asked Dean, "So, you wanna watch more TV or play cards or something, or get some more sleep?"

Dean snorted in amusement at Sam’s comment, even though a small part of him kind of felt like he should be freaking out a little over the whole ‘steady’ thing. But he supposed that’s what they were now… boyfriends. Yeah, that was kind of weird. Not the fact that Sam was a dude, just the fact that Dean never thought he would have a boy/girl friend. Ever. If someone had told him a couple weeks ago he’d be going ‘steady’ with anyone, much less a boy he’d just met, he would have laughed his ass off.

But he wasn’t freaking out. Surprisingly.

Then Sam started talking about what he’d made them for lunch and he had to admit it sounded… interesting. He’d never had anything like that before, but it sounded like it would be ok. It sounded better than roasted chicken at any rate.

Dean chuckled again when Sam grabbed the remote away from him but he relinquished it without a fight. Not that he could put up much of one anyway, but he didn’t really want to watch Oprah either.

“Sure.” He said instead and just sat back while he watched Sam flipping through the channels. Letting his fingers settle on the back of Sam’s neck when the younger boy leaned up against the couch, gently petting through the soft strands of hair there.

Dean was kind of disappointed when not long after Bobby said that the food was done and Sam had to get up. When Bobby returned with Sam Dean went through the older man’s check up without complaint. He was a little surprised when the older man didn’t stay in the living room to eat with them but he guessed Bobby was trying to give them privacy. Some ‘alone’ time. He appreciated that. He guessed Bobby really didn’t mind that he and Sam were together. Dean still doubted that Sam’s parents would be nearly as accepting.

Dean pushed himself up enough so that he wouldn’t make a mess on himself as he ate.

“It’s good.” Dean complimented after a few bites of his food. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to finish the whole bowl he’d been brought but his grumbling stomach was definitely happy. Sam finished first and when the younger boy asked him what he wanted to do, Dean’s grin turned mischievous. Giving the younger boy an obvious leer. “Strip poker?”

"Okay, I am officially NOT a tease when your mind is always on sex anyhow," Sam said, rolling his eyes. "If you really want to play strip poker, sure, let me just go ask Bobby if it's okay if we get naked in the living room…." Sam started to get up, laughing when Dean gave him a light tug and a warning look. "Hey, you started it. I am going to go ask Bobby where the cards are and if he can read my notes okay."

Disentangling himself from Dean he got to his feet and gathered the dirty dishes. "I'll bring you back in some ice water, too." Sam walked out to the kitchen where Bobby was hunched over his books, his radio on real low, playing jazz.

Sam set the dishes in the sink, rinsing them out. "Want anymore?" he asked Bobby.

Bobby handed up his bowl with a distracted, "Yeah, thanks, Sam."

Scooping more out for him, he handed the bowl back. There was probably one serving left that he put in a bowl and stuck in the fridge, then filled the pan to soak. After refilling Bobby's glass with ice tea, he got both he and Dean some fresh ice water.

"Everything make sense in my notes?"

Bobby glanced up then shook his head and flipped back a couple pages. "This was really in the lore?"

Sam looked at his notes. "Yeah, but see here? Were-panther, not werewolf. I didn't know if it was important or not, so I copied it down, just in case. There's more in there about were-panthers, but all of that stuff seemed shaman related and willing shapeshifting, not like werewolves, so I just noted the page if you wanted to look up more details. Those were the highlights."

Bobby re-read the notes and nodded, underlining 'were-panther' and highlighting that section. "Yeah, 'kay kid, thanks. Everything else is fine. What about the "Doxis Nocturn" book, you get anything out of that?"

Snorting, Sam said, "I haven't even got a clue what language that's in, let alone translate it. Every book I looked at is written at the top of the notes. If you don't see the title I didn't look at it, mostly because I couldn't read it."

Bobby glanced up from the scattered notes and suddenly looked a little sheepish. "Sorry Sam. You've done a good job here."

Sam smiled. "Thanks. I like research. Dean and I are going to play some strip poker. Where are the cards?"

The look of disbelief on Bobby's face as his gaze snapped to Sam had Sam practically rolling with laughter. "Oh that was soooo worth it. And I'm sure I'll be able to embarrass Dean by telling him I told you his suggestion."

Bobby gave him a dark glare, then tossed one toward the living room. "That boy," Bobby said with a shake of his head. "Tell him not to make me come in there and chaperone. There are some cards in that drawer there."

After grabbing the cards and stuffing them in his pocket, he carried their water back into the living room. "Bobby threatened to chaperone if we tried to play strip poker," Sam said, setting the waters on the table.

Dean couldn’t help but grin at Sam’s comment, nor could he really deny that his mind was always on sex. Hell, he was a teenager, wasn’t he? Sam seemed to be the only teenager in existence who’s mind wasn’t always on sex.

Though when the younger boy went on to tell him he was going to go ask Bobby if they could get naked in the living room Dean’s eyes widened in surprise… surely he wouldn’t. The way Sam blushed when he even thought about something ‘naughty’ there was no way… But Sam’s face was remarkably straight and he definitely wasn’t blushing. The last thing Dean really needed right now was Bobby learning more about his sex life than he already did and he gave Sam a warning look, a look that usually had most of the kids at school messing in their drawers, but Sam was hardly intimidated. In fact the younger boy only laughed. Dean wasn’t sure whether to be annoyed or pleased.

When Sam assured him that he wasn’t going to embarrass him Dean finally let the younger boy go with a slight roll of his eyes. Turning his attention back to the television though it seemed now that he was fed his body was demanding sleep once more. His eyelids trying to fall shut despite how he fought against it.

He was glad when Sam returned, giving him something else to distract him. Though his eyes widened and nearly fell out of his head at the younger boy’s words. He didn’t… god damn it he did.

“No, you’re not a tease. You’re just evil.” Dean muttered, though a small part of him almost wished he could have seen the look on Bobby’s face when Sam asked him that. Right before he melted into the floor…

Sam laughed, though he really had hoped to get a blush from Dean. Damn. He'd have to come up with something else. "I'm the evil one? Hah."

He could see how tired Dean looked and put the cards on the table. He settled back on the floor by the couch and took Dean's hand. "You go on back to sleep. I'll be right here. If you even start to twitch from a dream, I'll wake you up. Unless it looks like it’s a good dream and then maybe…" he bit his lower lip and looked a little bashful, "maybe I'll help it along." Hastily he added, "So long as Bobby isn't still sitting in the other room."

Sam flipped through the channels since Magnum was long over and found some cartoons. Better than a talk show he decided. Absently he stroked the back of Dean's hand with his thumb.

Dean would have answered, but his reply was interrupted with a large yawn. Then he watched as Sam placed the unopened deck of cards on the table rather than dealing them out… not that they’d actually settled on a game yet, but it seemed like they wouldn’t be playing after all. He wanted to protest, he really did. He wasn’t ready to go back to sleep… possibly back to the dreams he’d been having. Sure as fuzzy as his thoughts felt from tiredness (not to mention the concussion) right now he’d probably get his ass handed to him if they did play, but he’d take the small wound to his pride. He was just having such a hard time keeping his eyes open…

Damn.

But Sam was promising to wake him up if he started dreaming. Help him along if it was a good dream… Dean couldn’t help but snort softly in amusement at that. Yup, no doubt about it, he was creating a monster.

“All right.” Dean finally mumbled, relenting, not that he was really up to arguing anyway. His eyes drifted down to his hand that Sam was holding and a small smile tugged at his lips in spite of himself. When his eyes dropped shut he really hoped for those good dreams Sam was talking about.

Dean slept through most of the afternoon. Sam finally got up and stretched after about forty-five minutes. He stayed in the room with Dean so he could keep an eye on him, and bobby was well pre-occupied in the other room. He wandered around Bobby's vast library. Demons. Lots of books on demons. He picked up a few at random and began flipping through them. He decided pretty quickly he was going to have to at least start beefing up his knowledge of Latin.

He found "Azazel" listed in a few places. Fallen angel. Devout follower and friend of the angel Lucifer…the devil. Demons possessed people. Killed people. Made people do horrible things. They were chaos and carnage manifest. But why…why would demons show up in his and Dean's dreams. Why would a demon have any interest in either of them? Angels helped because you prayed for them to. Demons? Didn't seem like they went after particularly saintly people. They just did damage and evil things. Maybe angels did good things without ever being prayed for. Balance and counter-balance. Did demons hear your prayers for good things and intercede and try to make your life hell?

Sam pulled off his watch and looked at the back of it, of what his mom had inscribed in it. After glancing over at Dean, he went to Dean's side and fastened the watch onto Dean's wrist. Maybe that would help protect him from bad dreams. He stroked Dean's cheek and kissed him lightly. Strange how he had grown so attached to Dean so quickly. Dean wasn't anything like anyone he had ever known. And what a conundrum. So tough, to touchy, so tender, so kind, so protective. Sam knew it sort of made him the girl in the relationship. If Dean ever brought him flowers though, he thought he'd …well, do something evil to him for it. After running a hand over Dean's hair to smooth it a bit, he retrieved some lemonade. He was getting restless, but he didn't want to leave Dean. He had promised him he would stay. So he resettled himself in the chair beside Dean and watched TV, drifting off to sleep sometime during the second show.

Dean slept… a lot better than he’d been expecting to.

Bobby woke him up a couple of times during the afternoon to give him his medication, to check his bandages, and see how his head was doing. Though by now Dean could tell that the older man wasn’t all that worried about him slipping into a coma or anything due to the concussion. Still, they went through the motions and Dean didn’t protest… much.

The first time the older hunter had woken him Dean was a bit surprised that he didn’t immediately see Sam hovering around over his shoulder or something. A quick turn of the head showed him where the younger boy was however and Dean couldn’t help but smile a little seeing Sam curled up in the chair next to his.

After Bobby left to continue his research and to take care of the salvage yard Dean watched the younger boy sleep for a few minutes before he drifted off again. Every time Bobby woke him up Sam was still there, ‘keeping watch’ and Dean easily went back to sleep afterwards, no more bad dreams plaguing him, much to his surprise.

This time when Dean woke up it wasn’t due to Bobby but the sound of Rumsfeld barking outside. It was dark out now. He’d slept the whole afternoon. It wasn’t too hard to guess that Rumsfeld was probably barking at one of Sam’s parents, come to collect their son.

Dean couldn’t help the pang of disappointment he felt knowing that Sam would be leaving soon. Even though of course he knew the younger boy’s parents would eventually want him back.

Bobby got Sam up for dinner. It was just a frozen pizza, but that was fine by Sam. Bobby made Sam stay in the kitchen be "pizza will wake that boy up faster than smelling salts." After Sam ate, he checked on Dean, pleased Dean was sleeping soundly. His face so relaxed, Sam couldn't help but marvel at how good-looking Dean was and had to admit he was a little envious. And why Dean would chose a geek like him over some busty blond or something baffled him a little bit more. Satisfied Dean was sleeping comfortably, Sam went in and did the dishes up from lunch and breakfast. Since he knew one of his parents would be by soon he gathered his things. He kissed Dean lightly on the lips because he wasn't going to be able to kiss Dean when his mom or dad arrived. He smiled to himself at the slight smile that touched Dean's lips. He just hoped that kiss didn't give Dean a wet dream or something. He kind of hated to leave Dean, but there was also a part of him that wanted to get back to his own room, his own family.

Boyfriend. He had a boyfriend. He shook his head. This was definitely going to take some getting used to. How was he ever going to tell his parents? Would they completely freak? "Mom, Dad, me and Dean are boyfriends. Just thought you ought to know." Better than, "Hey, I'm gay, by the way. Yeah, didn't know it either until Dean came along." He'd have to feel them out on it. He had no idea of what their opinions of a same sex relationship was.

Relationship.

Shit, this was just too weird and he was going to stop thinking about it.

He was saved from anymore thoughts on it with the barking of Rumsfeld. Sam stepped out onto the porch and saw his dad's car. After waving, he stepped back inside. Bobby was working on some receipts in his little office. "If Dean's not up to it, Mom or Dad can take me or drop me somewhere where your nephew can pick me or something."

"Nephew?" Bobby said.

"Yeah, Jeff."

Bobby wanted to curse Dean. He was supposed to tell Sam more or less the truth that Jeff was a friend of the family but they were telling the school that Jeff was related. Well, if that's what Dean wanted Sam to know, that was fine. "Oh, yeah, sorry, lot on my mind. I'll call you early, but I think Dean needs to show up there so as not to raise suspicion even if just briefly. If I hafta, I'll ride along with him, but I imagine he'll be okay for the short trip. He's doing fine. Jeff's a good kid. I think you'll like him."

Sam grinned at Bobby. "I think Dean's already jealous of him."

After a moment Bobby began laughing. Dean was so taken with Sam he was jealous? He couldn't hardly believe Mr. One Night Stand had found someone…he just hoped it didn't turn out badly or Dean would never give himself over like that again. And Sam wasn't even sixteen. Probably a recipe for heartbreak, but it would be good for Dean, for however long it lasted.

Sam went in and picked up his things. He saw Dean was awake, more or less. "Hey Sleeping Beauty. S'pose to be a kiss, not a dog that wakes you up. Dad's here. I'll see you tomorrow." Leaning down, Sam gave Dean a quick kiss. Straightening, he grinned. "And see, I didn't even tease with it. Feel better. See ya."

Sam couldn't help running his hand over Dean's spikey hair to smooth it. And he thought his own was unruly. With a final fond look at Dean, he dashed for the door and down the steps, tossing a "Bye, Bobby" over his shoulder as he got in the SAAB.

When Sam came into the living room to pick up his bags, Dean couldn’t help feeling a sharper pang of disappointment hit him. Though he couldn’t help but smile a little at the younger boy even as he rolled his eyes a little at the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ remark.

It was just... things were supposed to be going so differently tonight. Right at this moment he was supposed to be telling Bobby he was going to take Sam home when instead he was going to go to a bar with the younger boy. He was supposed to share a few drinks with Sam and check out the crowd together, getting a feel of what kind of woman the other boy might be interested. Once he found a girl he deemed suitable for the younger boy he was supposed to turn on the charm and help Sam pick her up. The three of them were supposed to go to a hotel together and... it was supposed to be a very good night.

Instead, he was laid up on the couch with a concussion and whatnot, Sam was leaving, and Dean wouldn’t even be able to look after the other boy tomorrow at school. To say things weren’t exactly going according to plan was an... understatement. If Dean didn’t have enough reason to be pissed off at that bastard Eric...

He was going to make that bastard pay, no doubt about it.

Dean smiled more genuinely at the kiss that Sam gave him and chuckled softly at the younger boy’s comment about not being a tease.

“For once.” Dean replied, then nodded when Sam said he’d see him tomorrow. At least there was that. “See ya, Sammy.”

It was a few minutes after Sam had left, while Dean was contemplating how he was going to get up to use the bathroom, when he realized the watch he was wearing wasn’t his own. His first clue being it wasn’t even on the wrist he normally wore his on, and the second it was much nicer than his own. It was Sam’s... he’d seen the younger boy wearing it before. He wasn’t sure what had made the younger boy put it on him, but Dean couldn’t help but smile as he traced his finger around the smooth face.

God, when had he turned into such a girl? He was being so sappy. It wasn’t like Sam had given him a ring or anything... Sill every time Dean looked down at the watch he couldn’t help but smile.

Sam and his dad made idle conversation on the way to the house. Once they arrived Sam helped his dad get dinner ready for his parents then disappeared to his room. He'd come back down when his mom came in and sit with them, maybe have a snack while they ate. It was kind of tradition. That and his mom insisted they always have a short time together every night it was possible. Sometimes they'd play a game if it was too late for dinner, Yahtzee or cards or something. Since he had a little time, he got on the computer and started setting up his own little form of vengeance against Eric. It would take some time because he would have to be very careful not to get caught. He would have to set up programs to route and re-route from server to server. He would have to set up false accounts and decryptions and hacks, but he swore to himself that Eric would soon find his bank account empty and credit blown to hell. He wouldn't mess with Eric's parents even though they probably deserved it. He'd set it up to do a little at a time. Nothing all at once. Maybe he would set it up so it looked liked some of his friends emptied his account…he wanted to nail them too. He knew how to hack just about anything. He and his computer club got bored a while back. They got into all sorts of mischief. They never did anything horrible. Changed a few grades in school, poked around other people's computers and bank accounts and …maybe hacked a few government computers now and again. It was just for the challenge and they weren't stupid enough to taunt the people whose computers they hacked. And they certainly didn't want to do anything that would arouse suspicion by doing anything more than getting into and looking at files.

Regardless, he definitely had the skills to do what he wanted to do, but if he slammed Eric all at once, Eric would obviously blame Dean and probably hire some sniffers to find out where the source was. Sam would get it all set up then activate it from a fake account at a library or something. He could set it up to drop little bombs on Eric at inconvenient times. Have all his credit cards be denied above a certain limit. But three hours later have it all back to normal. Charge stuff to his credit cards that were never actually purchased. Donate his bank account to some orphanage or something. Sam grinned suddenly when a new idea struck him. Post Eric's information places for other people to find and use. Others could make his life hell and Sam would be innocent of anything other than the post with Eric's social security number and such.

Yeah, it was always a bad idea to piss off a geek. Especially one who knew the computer magic that Sam knew.

He wrote down several ideas and started the set up for them. After his mom got home, they had dinner and Sam helped clean up, then he disappeared back up to his room to work on Dean's scrapbook. Maybe he could have it done by the weekend and it would cheer him up.

Even though he slept a few hours at Bobby's he was still ready for bed by eleven. Thinking of all the things he could do to Eric put a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep. That and maybe thinking about seeing Dean in the morning.

Bobby woke him up early the next morning.

Even though Dean had slept for most of the day yesterday, he’d slept for most of the night too and somehow he still managed to feel exhausted when he woke up. At least Bobby had let him sleep the night through without waking him up every few hours. Dean was definitely needing his pain pills though by morning, probably one of the reasons why Bobby had woken him up early, to give them time to kick in.

The older hunter had also checked on his stitches, his ankle, and made Dean answer him truthfully about how he felt, before allowing him to sit up. His side still hurt like a mother fucking bitch, but his ankle might have been feeling a little less swollen at least. Small favors. Yeah, he still felt like hell, but he confirmed he should be up to taking Sam to school and coming straight back. Bobby glared at him hard when he emphasized the ‘straight back’ part and Dean knew better than to argue. Most likely he wouldn’t want to argue by the time he was done.

At least Bobby had managed to find the ankle splint they had in one of their first aid kits which would support it a lot better than wrapping alone. It made it easier for Dean to hobble to the bathroom at least even though he still limped a little despite his best efforts not to. Bobby wouldn’t let him go up the stairs though. Instead he fetched Dean’s clothes for him. The loosest pair of jeans that Dean owned, that hopefully wouldn’t aggravate his stitches, and a button up flannel shirt that was probably easier to put on than pulling a t-shirt over his head.

While he was getting dressed Bobby made him some breakfast and brought him some coffee too, watching him like a hawk as he ate. Probably to make sure Dean was really awake and not sick or disorientated in the least from the concussion or there was no way Bobby would let him out the door with his keys. The older man had probably already hid them in fact, but he brought them out to him when Dean had finished breakfast. The young man a little surprised that it was actually time to pick Sam up already.

Bobby walked out to his car with him, probably to make sure he could handle the porch stairs ok and to give him an arm if he needed but Dean didn’t. He was almost surprised when he saw his car, he knew that Bobby and Sam had worked on it yesterday, but damn. Not even a scratch. Dean grinned and Bobby gave him a pat on the shoulder, emphasizing once more to come straight back home, before Dean got in the car and started her up. Heading to Sam’s house.

Sam was waiting out on the porch, watching for Dean's car. Bobby had called and told them Dean was on his way, so his dad went ahead and left for work. Sam wasn’t thrilled he was going to school to be protected from Eric and his cronies by some unknown guy, but at least he would be able to see Dean for a few minutes. He heard the car before he saw it, but it came into view just a few seconds later. He waved and skipped down the steps and across the driveway. He waited patiently for Dean to cover that last block. When Dean pulled into the drive Sam grinned foolishly at him but noticed that when he opened the car door the music wasn't up nearly as loud at it usually was. All things considered, Dean looked pretty good, though he still looked a little tired.

As soon as he slid into the seat he reached over and squeezed Dean's leg. "Morning."

Sam really wanted to lean across and kiss Dean but with their neighbors, he didn't think it was a good idea, not until he got up the nerve to tell his parents he was seeing a guy. He didn't want them to hear it from a neighborhood gossip. "I haven't told my parents yet, so you know, probably shouldn't kiss you here. Nosey neighbors and all. A hazard of suburbia. I know we don't have time for the warehouse, and you aren't up to it," he looked and Dean and corrected himself, "okay, you shouldn't be exerting yourself like that, but if you pull off on Neilson, we could at least kiss. If you wanted. Then we could get right back out on the road to get me to school. You're sure this cousin of yours is going to be there to meet us, right?"

Dean couldn’t deny it, his mood improved drastically when he saw Sam. The younger boy looking so happy to see him… hell, that in itself seemed a little bit odd… and whatever discomfort he was in from the drive over was definitely worth it, he decided.

“Morning.” He returned, grinning a little more when he felt Sam’s hand come to rest on his thigh.

Though Dean couldn’t deny his surprise when Sam said he couldn’t give him a kiss now because he hadn’t told his parents… yet. Yet? The fact that the younger boy was even considering telling his parents about them quite frankly shocked the hell out of him. He and Sam’s parent’s weren’t exactly on the best terms right now and they didn’t know that he was fucking their underage son. Somehow Dean didn’t think that new bit of information was going to win him any points…

Maybe he’d talk to Sam about it later. Convince the younger boy that it was probably best for everyone if Sam kept it to himself.

But when Sam mentioned the warehouse, Dean couldn’t help but chuckle. He really had created a monster. No, he knew he wasn’t up for a while round of making out, but he definitely wasn’t going to refuse some kissing and light petting.

“Alright. Buckle up.” Dean replied as he pulled away from the curb in front of Sam’s house, heading for the warehouse. Though Dean could hear the slight nervousness in Sam’s voice when the younger boy asked him about his ‘cousin’ meeting them at school. He could tell that Sam wasn’t completely at ease with this new arrangement, neither was Dean, but there wasn’t much they could do about it. Sam couldn’t skip school the entire time Dean was laid up, and while Dean felt mostly ok right now he knew he wasn’t going to make a whole day at school. Especially with Eric and bastard’s cronies pushing him…

“He’ll be there. Bobby called him this morning. If he’s not, I wouldn’t leave you there alone anyway.” Dean reassured Sam.

Sam knew he looked relieved at Dean's reassurances. He really hoped this Jeff guy was at least as intimidating looking as Dean. He squeezed Dean's thigh again. The fact Dean's cousin was coming to protect him and that Dean was hurt like he was, it wasn't lost on him it was all his fault. The burden laid heavily on him but there was absolutely nothing he could do except learn to fight and protect himself, and make sure that he started watching Dean's back too. If he had been paying attention maybe he would have seen that car and Dean wouldn't be hurt. He promised himself he would keep a better eye out for both Jeff and Dean.

The drive to Neilson St seemed to take forever and Sam couldn't help but slide his hand a little higher up Dean's thigh. It so sucked Dean was laid up. He really wanted to explore more things with Dean, learn more…feel Dean's hands on him more. His subconscious agreed because Dean was all he seemed to dream about and he woke up with wood so hard this morning it practically hurt to even touch it to take care of it. Well, he did have that one dream with yellow eyes in it. Telling him what a good boy he was, how proud he was of how he was progressing. He'd woken up in a cold sweat but at least he hadn't had the 'orange' dream as he called it. The heat and fear and screams. After a cup of hot chocolate, he was able to get back to sleep and had managed to avoid waking up his parents in the process. Another bonus.

As soon as Dean parked the car on Neilson Sam undid his seat belt and slid over to Dean's side. He kissed him, still a little tentatively, but he smiled against Dean's lips when he felt Dean's hand cup the back of his head. He finally broke the kiss and pulled back a little. "I already jacked off once this morning because of you. I don't want to meet your cousin with a hard on," Sam said. "You make me blush enough."

Even after saying that, Sam couldn't help but lean in and steal another kiss. "School is going to last forever today," he bemoaned. Poking Dean lightly in the chest he scolded him, "Rest up today and maybe we can do more when Jeff drops me off at the Salvage Yard this afternoon," he promised.

Dean was glad to see the nervousness in Sam’s expression ease, and he certainly wasn’t displeased with the way the younger boy’s hand squeezed his thigh and then began to move higher as they drove. Not to mention Sam’s touch took his mind off of the discomfort he was in from driving. Dean realized, a little belatedly, that this was the longest he’d sat up since he’d been injured and his side was really beginning to feel it now. He would be glad when he could return home and lay down again.

At the same time he kind of wished he’d come to pick Sam up a little earlier, so at least they could have some more time together before he had to drop the boy off at school. Not that they could really do much. The front seat was kind of cramped to do anything in even when he was not injured. Still…

Dean couldn’t help but grin at the way Sam immediately unbuckled himself and slid over almost before he’d managed to put the car into park. Not that he was complaining, no, especially when Sam kissed him. Though it was a little too soft for Dean’s liking.

His hand came up to cup the back of the younger boy’s neck as he tried to deepen the kiss and a sound of complaint escaped him before he could stop it when Sam pulled away before he could. He raised an eyebrow at the younger boy and then laughed when Sam explained.

“As long as it’s a hard on for me.” Dean replied with another chuckle that was lost in the second kiss that Sam gave him. Yeah… today was going to last forever. And despite Bobby’s reassurances that Jeff was a more than capable hunter Dean knew he was probably going to worry about Sam all day anyway.

When Sam poked him in the chest, Dean snorted and rolled his eyes a little.

“You’re just as bad as Bobby.” Dean ‘complained’ about the older man’s tendency to turn into a mother hen whenever he was injured. Still, he couldn’t deny he had liked Sam playing ‘nurse’ to him yesterday. “I’ll take it easy. I promise.”

"You better or you won't be in any shape for…anything else," Sam said. He had no idea what the anything else was, but he figured Dean would fill in the blanks with whatever suited him most, regardless of what Sam suggested anyhow. He reluctantly moved back to the passenger's side and rehooked his seat belt. "Okay, to school, James. I don't wanna make Jeff wait and you're beginning to look a little tired. You have to look in perfect shape, just like your baby." He patted the dash. "Oh and just so you know? I've decided to leave working on cars to you. I can recite the whole elemental table to you but I can't seem to tell a box-end wrench from a socket wrench from an Allen wrench." It was an exaggeration, he knew basic tools, but turning nuts and bolts and stuff yesterday hadn't really impressed him much. He would have much rather been inside going through Booby's books. He was really glad he had been able to help though, getting Dean's car fixed, especially since he felt responsible for it happening in the first place. "And why do they call it a wrench when it's more like a screwdriver anyhow?" Sam complained.

Giving a sidelong glance at Dean, knowing he was stepping into dangerous territory he said, "And maybe I can talk you into helping Dad with his car? Just pointers here and there," Sam added, "not actually in there helping him. Just maybe looking over the car and telling him the best place to start or looking over his work and telling him if he's screwing up? Or I don't know car stuff, but gaskets, oil, lubricants, all that stuff you mechanical types like to talk about over a beer? I'd kinda like you to come over now and again, and that would be a good excuse. You can give him a few pointers, we can eat whatever Mom and Dad cook up, and then you and I can play pool. And we still haven't played darts. I bet I can beat your butt at darts. And we can make out in the basement while Bobby keeps Mom and Dad busy," Sam added with a grin. More softly he added, "I know you're not crazy about my parents, but…I'd like it if you'd at least think about it. That's all. Just think about it. I mean, if you like a geek like me, you'll like my parents if you give them a chance. I just know you will." Sam gave him his very best puppy dog look he could and he knew he had, as his mom called it, the puppy dogs eyes of doom. She swore he could swindle a pot of gold from a leprechaun if he tried.

Dean couldn’t deny he was really curious just what Sam had in mind. He also couldn’t deny he really wished the younger boy didn’t have to go to school now. At the very least if Dean went to school with Sam they could explore that ‘anything else’ during lunch period.

Damn it.

Dean sighed softly when Sam pulled away and shifted back over to his side of the car, though he snorted softly and rolled his eyes a second later at Sam calling him ‘James’. Like he was Sam’s chauffer… well he supposed he was. Sam’s chauffer, his bodyguard, his lover… No, Dean really didn’t mind.

“Don’t worry.” Dean replied as he turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the warehouse back onto the road. He knew Sam was right, and he would have to be ready for anything when they got close to the school. There was no telling what Eric might be planning... Hell, Eric might not even be the biggest problem. Any of those bastards that went to the school could be a problem. Dean certainly had plenty of enemies, even without Eric egging them on. The slightest suspicion that he wasn’t up to form and there was no telling what some idiot might try to pull.

Sam was kind of babbling now, but Dean found he really didn’t mind it. He wasn’t really tuning the other boy out, he was just trying to pay attention to the road and keep an eye out for anything suspicious as they got closer to school. So he almost missed when Sam changed topics and started talking about him coming over… to get to know his parents…

Dean couldn’t help the frown that pulled at his lips before he schooled his expression carefully neutral. Why the hell did Sam have to bring up his fucking parents now? Dean thought he’d made it quite clear that he didn’t want to have anything to do with them. Behind their too polite smiles he was pretty sure the feeling was mutual. He knew the type. He had nothing in common with those people nor did he want anything in common with them.

Besides, it was probably better if he had as little contact with them as possible anyway. He doubted they would be anything but outraged and horrified to learn that he was fucking their teenage son, and they would probably have him thrown in jail if they even suspected it. He definitely had to talk to Sam about that. Later. No time now.

Dean wasn’t sure why Sam cared if he came over his house or not anyway. Sam was already coming over his house practically every day. They had plenty of time to see each other and do… whatever… By the time Dean had taught Sam enough to take care of himself and didn’t need his protection anymore… Dean had little doubt the younger boy will have grown tired of him and moved on to someone better. So what was the point?

But Dean could actually feel Sam staring at him, waiting for his answer, and if the younger boy’s eyes were lasers they would have burned a hole into his skull by now.

“I’ll think about it.” He finally sighed. Giving the younger boy the answer he wanted to hear, even if it was a lie. By then they’d reached the school and Dean was pulling into the parking lot. It was already a lot more crowded than he would have liked… and the red Ferrari sitting in its customary parking space told him Eric was here.

Sam grinned when Dean at least agreed to consider it. He knew his parents liked Bobby, but they were a little unsure of Dean and if he and Dean were going to be…boyfriends…then he really wanted them to get to know the senior before he told them that. It would be a lot easier on everyone if they got to see the non-sulky Dean. And he would just as soon avoid telling them how he and Dean ended up going steady. So if he could get Dean to come over a couple times, be social and maybe even show the side of himself that Sam had seen that first night they were playing pool, and the way Dean was protective of him, then he could just say it sort of happened. They didn't need to know it practically started out from the get-go in a relationship Sam hadn't wanted, but was rapidly turning into something he wanted…a lot. He studied Dean a minute. He didn't love him. He cared a lot about him in even such a short time. But he liked Dean more and more. He felt a connection with Dean that was different from the girls he had been with. He wasn't sure if maybe because Dean was a guy, or if it was because Dean was just Dean. Jesus they were an unlikely pair.

When Dean put the car into park Sam blinked. Shit. He hadn't even realized they were at school already. And the lead weight settled into his gut almost like a fist. He really didn't want to be here without Dean and that had nothing to do with him and Dean being together as something more than just friends. His gaze went to Eric's parking spot. Crap. Well, they wanted Eric and the others to see Dean, to see his car perfectly intact and Dean appearing to be likewise. He spied a new car in the parking lot, one that didn't belong to any of the rich kids here. He didn't know cars very well, but even he knew a Mustang when he saw one. It was dark blue, an older model, but a lot newer than Dean's. From where Sam sat, it looked like it was taken well care of. He wondered if everyone in Dean's family was into old cars.

"That your cousin's?" Sam asked jerking his chin toward the car. The words were hardly out of his mouth when someone knocked on the window beside him and he jumped, spinning around and he would have scrabbled back if his seat belt wasn't holding him in place.

A blond guy, blue eyes, hair pulled back in a pony tail and easily as muscular as Dean, stood there. He gave a two fingered salute to Dean and then opened Sam's door. "You must be Sam. I'm Jeff."

Sam stared at him a minute and okay, he wasn't into guys (except for Dean) but there was no denying that Jeff was hot as hell. "Uh, hi," Sam stammered.

Jeff gave Sam a once over as Sam got out of the car with his backpack. He'd already been told the score about the school and that Dean and Sam were 'together.' Sam was a good-looking kid but Jeff preferred curves and busts to muscles and cocks. He had heard Dean was good-looking and something of a lady's man, so when his father told him, he had been surprised, but then, his father also went on to say he didn't know if Dean and the kid were actually together or it was just a cover to protect the kid from the rich-bitches. It didn't matter to him. If he had to walk down the hall with his arm over the kid's shoulder or around his waist, whatever. Kissing him…well, not his thing so he really hoped he didn't have to.

Of course neither he nor Dean had ever met one another, but he didn't figure any other of these rich snots would be driving up in a black Impala. Only Jeff's trained eye caught the slight wince Dean gave as he climbed out of the car. "I've already been given three lectures about the dress code and that I'm going to have to get a hair cut. I hate being nice to assholes instead of telling them to bite me. If Dad hasn't been able to get me to cut my hair I'm not doing for these pansy-asses. Bad enough I've got to wear a fucking blazer. Worse, my girlfriend thinks I look 'adorable' in it." Jeff looked down at the coat with disgust.

Dean looked over at Sam and he would have to be blind not to notice the tension that had come over the younger boy. Hell, he probably would have noticed it even if he was blind. He reached over to give Sam’s thigh a comforting squeeze. No, he didn’t like this either, but he had to at least appear confident to reassure Sam that everything was going to be ok.

Sam had better be ok. If anything… anything at all… happened to Sam while he wasn’t there…

When Sam asked him if that was his ‘cousins’ car, Dean glanced in the direction the younger boy had nodded. If he had to guess, he bet it was. The older mustang definitely wasn’t like any of the cars the rich snots drove to school. Dean had to say he approved.

His hand slipped off Sam’s thigh when the younger boy jerked in response to the knock on the window. The concussion must be slowing his reaction time down a lot more than Dean wanted to admit because he hadn’t even noticed the older boy’s presence until then. It was just another example of how Dean was in no shape to look after Sam today even if he tried. If anyone could get the drop on him that easily, sure Jeff was another hunter, but it was still no excuse.

Even though they’d never met before, Dean knew exactly who the young man was even before he introduced himself. Of course he’d asked Bobby what the other boy looked like, to which the older hunter had replied he looked just like his father, who Dean had at least met. It was both true and not. Jeff didn’t have that hard grizzled look that most hunters seemed to get, including Jeff’s father, but Dean definitely saw the resemblance. At the same time he would have pegged Jeff as a hunter even if he looked nothing like his father just from the way he moved. Definitely a hunter and a good one.

Unfortunately he wasn’t concussed enough to miss the way Sam had looked at Jeff and the head to toe appraisal that Jeff gave Sam as the younger boy climbed out of the car, and Dean frowned a little before he forced himself to stop. He was not going to go all jealous boyfriend on Sam now. The younger boy had already teased him about kissing Jeff if he was as hot as he was… unfortunately the older boy was, damn it.

As Dean got out of the car he couldn’t help but wince at the pull of the stitches in his side. Damn it, that hurt like a bitch. Not to mention his ankle was starting to feel really sore even with the brace. Still he managed not to limp as he came around the car and held out his hand to Jeff in greeting, even as he put an arm around Sam’s shoulders possessively.

“Well, could be worse. It could be pink and they could try to make you braid and put ribbons in your hair.” Dean replied with an amused grin. He had to admit, he kind of liked the guy… as long as Jeff looked after Sam and kept his hands off what was his there should be no problem.

Jeff smirked at the way the other hunter's arm went around the kid. Okay, there was no doubt, Dean and Sam were together. The easy but possessive way Dean's arm rested on the smaller boy's shoulder, the way Sam relaxed into Dean, yep, no doubt it wasn't a front. Lovers.

He met Dean's amused gaze, but he also saw the unspoken threat. Hands off Sam. Jeff gave a slight nod to the hunter. Messaged received, but he also gave Dean a look that told him plainly he would do what he had to to look out for the kid, even if it meant a little hands on possessiveness.

"Ashley says I look good in pink," Jeff said, "and so not happening ever again. And that's all you're getting about it."

"Ashley's your girlfriend?" the kid asked him.

Jeff dug out his wallet and extracted a picture buried in its depths. He handed it to Sam. Ashley was Jim Cobb's daughter, a kickass hunter for her age, and maybe not drop dead gorgeous, but she was pretty, slightly almond shaped eyes, lightly tanned, not busty but not flat chested, and brown hair with blonde highlights. She was only a little over five foot tall but a spitfire when she wasn't being all girly.

"She's pretty," Sam said sincerely.

"Yep," Jeff agreed. "Gonna be even prettier in a wedding gown," he murmured turning the picture back around to stare briefly at her. He stuffed her picture back in his wallet, "That is, in a few years when she's outta college, if she hasn't run off with some college jock and still wants a loser like me." He looked at the two. "So let's get Sam to homeroom. After we deliver Sam I'll get you back to your car and see you off. That way they see us together, and see you in one piece. That's the idea, right? You gonna be able to make it across the quad and back again without it looking like a strain on you?" Jeff figured Dean could, he was a hunter after all, but he wanted to make certain. If Dean couldn't pull it off, then their scam wasn't going to fly and both Sam and Dean could be in greater jeopardy. If Dean had to leave now, they'd still make it work. Dean knew his limits and his injuries and Jeff trusted the other hunter would pony up with the truth and not take foolish risks.

Jeff got the message. Good. They should have no problems then. Dean returned the other man’s nod and snorted softly in amusement when the older boy countered that he looked good in pink… at least according to his girlfriend. Dean couldn’t deny he was a little surprised hearing that the other man had a girlfriend. From what he knew about hunters, Dean didn’t think the life really lent itself to ‘long term’ relationships. Sure it was possible but probably not easy in the least.

Yeah, Bobby had introduced him to a few hunters that were married. Some where even being hunters kind of ran in the family, like Jeff’s father and Jeff. But the hunters who were married, their spouses were usually hunters too and Dean figured most of them had been married… before… whatever happened to make them hunters.

Dean glanced down at the picture Jeff handed to Sam to view. He had to agree, she was pretty. Dean wondered briefly if she had any idea that Jeff was a hunter and what went bump in the night out there. He wondered what Sam would think if he knew… what Dean really was. What the younger boy might think of him if he knew a lot of the stories being whispered about him around school weren’t all that far from the truth.

Just another reason why there was no point in pretending… whatever was going on between them… was going to be long term. Dean knew he couldn’t hide what he was from Sam forever. Hopefully Sam would get tired of him and leave before he found out or Dean was forced to tell him. He’d rather Sam leave because he got bored with him than Sam leave because he was afraid or disgusted by him.

Dean forced his attention back on Jeff where it belonged when the other hunter started talking business.

“I can make it.” Dean answered without hesitation. Yeah, it was going to be one hell of a strain, but he could hide it. He’d make it because Sam was depending on him to make it, and Dean had certainly pushed his way through worse pain when he had to. “Though it would probably look better if you stayed with Sam, he’s the one who’s supposed to need protection after all, not me.”

"And that'll do all sorts of good if you get jumped coming back to your car by yourself. We get him to homeroom, make sure the teacher is there, and then I come back out to get my duffel out of the car which I've conveniently forgotten. You know damned good and well if they catch you alone crossing campus, this thing goes up in flames. I am not missing out on a hunt to come back to the agony of school to see you get jumped by these assholes."

Jeff saw Dean flinch when he mentioned 'hunt.' Swell, the kid didn't know. He was a fucking civilian. Annoyance flit across Jeff's face. Civilian and hunter long term relationships generally went bust when the civ learned about hunting and figured the hunter was freaking nuts. Shit what else didn't the kid know? He think Jeff and Dean were really related? One look at the innocence in the kid's eyes and Jeff chalked that up to an affirmative. After flashing Dean a mild glare he gave Sam a tight smile. "Me and some buds were gonna go deer hunting this weekend. You ever do any hunting? Next time we go, you and Dean could maybe come."

Sam shook his head. "No thanks. I'm decent with a bow but I just don't know that I could…killing things, it's just not what I want to spend my weekends doing." Sam saw all the veiled looks being passed between the older boys but could only guess at what a couple of them meant. Looking up at Dean Sam agreed with Jeff. "I'll be okay in homeroom for ten minutes. I'd rather Jeff walk you back out to the car. I'd feel better. I won't leave the room and you know the teacher won't let them do more than try to elbow me or something. I can handle that. I couldn't handle worrying about whether you ran into Eric on your way out of here."

Sam jerked his head toward the building across campus. "C'mon, we better get going." Adjusting his pack he began walking toward homeroom, making sure not to move too fast. Besides, he liked Dean's arm on his shoulder. He had to admit he felt really safe when Jeff fell in beside him. He realized that Dean's injured side was exposed, but he also realized that if Jeff were on that side of Dean it would look like the senior was the one being protected instead of Sam. He reminded himself to stay alert so he could help avoid trouble and cover the backs pf the two looking out for him.

The older boy's condescending reply had Dean's expression turning dark and he was this close to telling Jeff to go fuck himself. Dean had met plenty of hunters with the same attitude towards him. That he didn't know jack shit because he hadn't been in the 'business' for very long, only a few years really. Treating him like he was completely inept... He'd come to expect it even, but he hadn't been expecting it now, and obviously his earlier assessment of Jeff was completely off base. The guy was a fucking asshole.

Dean almost pointed out that if he did get 'jumped' on his way back to the car and Jeff had to come to his 'rescue' then how the fuck was that going to look? Before he could however, Jeff had mentioned 'hunting' and Dean's eyes narrowed even more. Just what the fuck had Bobby told the other hunter about the situation? Obviously not enough.

The other hunter's annoyance when he realized that Sam was a 'civilian' was obvious but Dean really didn't give a shit. It was clear that he and Jeff were going to have to exchange a few words when Sam wasn't around. It was none of Jeff's fucking business what Sam did or didn't know about something that had nothing to do with the situation at hand. Jeff had agreed to look after Sam and watch the younger boy's back, that was all. All he had to do was that, along with keeping his hands off Sam and keeping his fucking mouth shut about hunting for a few days until Dean was healed up enough. Even he could surely manage that.

It certainly didn't help that Sam decided to side with the older boy on the issue.

Again, Dean didn't really have time to answer because Sam began walking towards the school, leaving both of them to follow. Having really no other choice, Dean did follow, but only as far as the edge of the parking lot where he finally came to a decision and let his arm drop off the younger boy's shoulders.

"Go on. I'll see you later." Dean told Sam, giving the younger boy as reassuring a look as he could, before he turned and started back for his car. There was really no point in him making the trip. Jeff might think he knew how the minds of these little prep school bastards worked, but he had no fucking clue. No matter what he thought, if he walked with him back to his car it was going to make him look weak. Probably even encourage an attack not only to test him but test Jeff as well. Which would be just as bad, maybe even worse, if Dean was caught alone.

The only real option then was to let Sam go on alone with Jeff and hope that enough people had seen him already to assume he was a hundred percent or at least nearly so. Also if Dean showed that he trusted Jeff to be able to look after Sam by himself, it might help dissuade some of the jerk-offs from trying anything.

He could hope anyway.

Jeff frowned and he saw the concerned look pass over Sam's face as well when Dean stopped and said goodbye. He glanced at Sam. "Stay put."

Swell, he was pissing off Dean, upsetting the kid, and making a mess out of the whole fucking thing. He shoulda called Bobby and got the details for himself. His dad was notorious for leaving out the details. Or maybe Bobby hadn't told him. Who the hell knew. He did know this wasn't the way he wanted this to go. Winchester was a year younger than him. Most hunters didn't start hunting until they were in their mid twenties when something set them down the path, unless you were born into it. Having someone else his age that was competent as a hunter, it was nice to know he wasn't alone. Sure there was his girl, but someone his age to toss down a beer with now and again that wasn't his girl? That would be cool. As soon as Winchester graduated, he'd probably go full time hunter and Jeff wanted to be able to call on the guy. Most hunters treated young hunters as if they were stupid no matter how long they'd been doing it, no matter if they'd proven themselves. And he just did it to Dean, treated him like he had been treated through the years, coming in all knowing, deciding what was best, almost blowing Dean's cover with his lover. Grade A asshole. Not a good start.

Jeff strode to Dean's side catching up with him easily. Softly he said, "Winchester, sorry. This is your turf. This is your call. My dad always says to trust the one who did the research, and that I can be an arrogant bastard thinking I know best when my head's up my ass. If you say they won't fuck with you when you're headed back across campus by yourself then okay. You know 'em. Bobby and my dad will kill me if I fuck this up. Look, my job's your back up. I don't like leaving my back up without back up, y'know? Doesn’t sit right, but you're calling the shots, not me. Let me get my duffel out of my car and we play it your way."

Jeff made a beeline for his Mustang and grabbed a new leather duffel out of the trunk.

Sam came back to Dean's side and touched him lightly on the arm. "Hey. C'mon. Walk me to class. He can catch up."

Dean didn’t get very far before he heard the hurried footsteps catch up to him because unfortunately he couldn’t move very fast. He turned to give an annoyed look at the older hunter. What the hell did he want? To chew him out? Couldn’t it at least wait till after school, Dean wasn’t in the mood for any more lectures and he was going to make Sam be late for home room at this rate. That asshole teacher of his wouldn’t hesitate giving the younger boy detention either which would just further complicate matters.

Before he could say anything... damn that was happening a lot lately... the older boy was apologizing to him, and yeah, that was a bit unexpected... Yeah... Bobby had said the same thing about him on more than one occasion. Maybe Dean was being a little hard on the guy. They were the ones who’d asked for his help, after all. Jeff was doing them a favor, not the other way around.

Dean knew he had a short fuse to begin with, and the fact that he was tired and hurting more than a little only made it even shorter. The fact was this was a lose/ lose situation no matter what way you looked at it.

Sam couldn’t be left alone, not after what Eric had pulled. Unfortunately right now Dean was almost more vulnerable than Sam, but he couldn’t show it, or it was going to cause them all a hell of a lot more problems than they had already. Dean wasn’t a hundred percent certain that no one would try to mess with him on his way back alone to the car but he was sure he could bluff his way out of any situation a lot better if it didn’t look like he needed the back up.

He appreciated that Jeff wanted to back him up, but Dean wasn’t the target. Not really. Eric had tried to take him out to get to Sam. No, Dean definitely wasn’t used accepting help from others, especially strangers, but it was more than just a matter of pride. Sam’s safety came first.

Dean finally gave the other hunter a nod before Jeff rushed back to his car for his bag. He was almost surprised by the light tugging on his arm from Sam. Yeah, ok, if they didn’t go now then Sam was going to definitely be late.

“Alright.” Dean agreed, letting his arm return to rest across Sam’s shoulders protectively and possessively as it had become almost instinct by now whenever they were at school. As they walked across the quad to the building where Sam’s home room was located there were plenty of stares in their direction from other students on their way to home room. Dean wondered how many of those stares were because he was here at all, and how many were because he was out of uniform. He wondered exactly what the story was about his little mishap the other day. Probably that he’d been smeared all over the asphalt? Maybe that he’d even died? Who knew.

No one said anything as they passed however, in fact, everyone seemed quite content to get out of his way as normal, and Dean figured that was a good sign.

Sam was glad to have Dean's arm back over his shoulder. The same looks they always got were on the faces of the other students, though a few seemed more surprised than others. There were probably lots of rumors since neither he nor Dean had been in school the day before and he had no doubt Eric bragged about Dean's car getting smashed up and Dean going to the hospital. Sam held himself confidently. He had his protector and even though he was going to miss seeing Dean, he had Jeff and Jeff looked more than capable of taking care of himself and Sam too, hopefully. He knew Dean wouldn't entrust him to someone who couldn't watch over him, but then, it was possible Jeff just looked good. I mean, they were cousins. Just because Dean could fight didn't mean Jeff could, but hopefully he wouldn't have to anyhow.

Jeff was pleased to see Dean change his mind, or that kid of his changed it for him. Jeff kept about a step beside and behind Sam, scanning over the faces, watching the reactions of everyone. It was obvious that Dean had definitely impressed upon a lot of them that he was not to be fucked with. Dean walked slow but easy and there were no outward signs he was injured and that comforted Jeff. He hoped to hell Winchester was right though. It was going to suck out loud if he got jumped. Then Jeff was probably going to be stuck at this school for a few weeks at least, until Dean was able to regain his rep and put any jackasses back in their places. At least Jeff didn't have to worry about getting to class to pick up Sam since he had been placed in the same classes as the kid. Man was it gonna be a long day though. He did all right in school and liked math and physics, but everything else bored the crap out of him.

The were approaching the building where Sam's homeroom was when Jeff caught movement off to his right and stepped up beside Sam. "Heads up, to the right," Jeff murmured.

Eric stood in the shadows of the steps leading up to Jordan Hall, ignoring the occasional nervous looks Adam and Cody kept shooting in his direction every few minutes. They’d been waiting here for a good fifteen minutes already. They’d waited even longer yesterday, even missing home room, while they waited for Sam Colt to show up for school. The boy hadn’t, and Eric was not pleased one damned bit.

He had paid good money to ensure that little ‘accident’ in the parking lot of that cheap ass restaurant the other day. He’d made his instructions quite clear. Take out Winchester, and he didn’t care how. Yeah, Eric knew it was on the risky side waiting around to watch the ‘show’ but he’d wanted to see Dean Winchester get what he fucking deserved for himself. The results had been less than… satisfying… unfortunately.

He’d been rather hoping the freak would be flattened under the wheels, that he could watch his head explode like a watermelon. Hell, at the very least see Winchester get cut in half between the two cars, if it didn’t kill him at least paralyzing him for life. He wished he could have seen the look on Sam’s face when that happened. That would have been satisfying.

Instead the fucking car had barely grazed the freak, but at least some damage had been done. It didn’t take nearly as much cash to get a look at Winchester’s charts from the hospital. A concussion, over a hundred stitches in his left side, and a sprained ankle. Not nearly as bad as Eric would have liked… but he could take care of that later. The important thing was that Winchester was out of the picture, at least for a week if the notes the doctor left on the chart was correct. Just enough time to give Sam what he deserved for leaving him for that junk yard trash…

Only Sam hadn’t shown up for school yesterday, he hadn’t been at home either, and Eric was pissed. He knew where Sam was yesterday. The junk yard. But Sam couldn’t hide there from him forever. He couldn’t stay out of school that long without just cause, or he’d be expelled. He had to show up sooner or later…

Only the younger boy wasn’t alone. Sam had shown up for school today all right, but he had his injured junk yard dog in tow, and another boy Eric didn’t recognize. If his expression had been dark before it turned practically murderous before he schooled his features and motioned for Adam and Cody to follow him.

“Hey Winchester! Heard you had some car trouble the other day.” Eric smirked as he walked up to the trio.

Sam clenched his fist, staring at the bastard. They were waiting on him. Just like they had the day after Sam had rebuked and run from Eric. The day they had beat the shit out of him. He really didn't think about it. All he could see was red, his fury blazing inside him. Eric had tried to kill Dean. Because of him. Eric had torn up Dean's car and nearly had him run down. If Dean hadn't dove over the hood, Sam might be going to Dean's funeral.

Sam struck almost instinctively. He slammed his fist into Eric's face and felt something crack but he honestly didn't know if it was his hand or Eric's nose since pain shot through his hand with the blow. There was an impressive splurt of blood that ran from Eric's nose. But he didn't stop there. He followed up the hit with a solid knee to Eric's groin, and clipped him with a left hook that had Eric stumbling back, groaning in pain and grabbing his balls.

"You god damned sonuvabitch! You touch him again and I will fucking END you!" Sam screamed at Eric, his face contorted with the same fury that was making his blood boil with rage. He stepped forward, his voice suddenly deadly calm. "And just so you know, you didn't get there first. I'm his. I'll always be his. And I guess I've got you to thank for that. If you hadn't tried to rape me, if you hadn't beaten me up, I'd have never turned to him."

Jeff stared at the scene with shock. He thought he was here to protect the kid, but the kid, while his form was sloppy, seemed like he was a spitfire. Of course if they hadn't been here and the three boys had gotten to Sam, he was certain it wouldn't have been pretty. He wanted to glance over at Dean, but knew better. He had to keep his eyes on the jerkwad's buddies. Sam struck with surprise. He had no idea if the kid could actually defend himself though.

Lancaster waiting for them outside the building to Sam’s homeroom wasn’t unexpected. Neither was the bastard’s taunts and the obvious pleasure he’d taken in smashing up his car and almost getting him killed. If there was any doubt at all that Eric had been behind the hit and run it was pretty much erased. Too bad the prick didn’t say anything more incriminating while there were witnesses around to hear it.

What was unexpected though was Sam’s reaction.

Dean didn’t have a chance to reply to Eric’s taunts, and he certainly wasn’t the only one who was taken by surprise when Sam suddenly launched himself at Eric. Watching Sam break the bastard’s nose and knee his would be rapist in the nuts should have been satisfying, and on one level it was, unfortunately this was about the worst time or place for Sam to fly off the handle. Here where Lancaster had way too much influence and a small crowd had already gathered to watch the ‘show’.

And Sam had just struck first.

Fuck.

Eric and Cody were already moving in to join the fight even as Eric recovered from the surprise attack.

“You little bastard!” Eric sputtered, blood still pouring out of his nose as he moved to retaliate. Reacting purely on instinct Dean moved to intercept the punch that Eric tried to aim at the younger boy. Blocking it with one arm and hauling Sam back behind him with the other… unfortunately that left his wounded side wide open.

Eric wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.

The punch to his side hit Dean so hard he could barely breathe through the pain and he knew more than a few of the stitches had been torn wide open. Dean couldn’t even see the smug grin on Eric’s face beyond the dark spots dancing in front of his eyes. He certainly didn’t see the fist that slammed into the side of his head that dropped him like a stone.

Jeff should be used to things happening fast. In his line of work, if you didn't react, you ended up dead or wounded or worse. When the two cohorts moved in, Jeff took the first hit, blocking the blow one of the cronies aimed for Sam who was hyper-focused on the leader. Having taken the first hit, he could legally retaliate. Jeff wasted no time and cold cocked the bastard with a one-two punch that put the guy on the ground, groaning. The leader was back on his feet and going after Sam, but Dean yanked Sam out of the way and took the blow himself. Then the leader hit Dean's side and the way Dean went down, Jeff knew that shouldn't have happened, then the leader finished Dean off.

The next thing he knew Sam had launched himself, literally, at the leader. Jeff stopped the other sidekick from interfering by grabbing him by the collar and spinning him away, practically throwing him into the crowd that had gathered. Sam's fists were flying but the bigger kid was getting his licks in. He almost hated to do it but Jeff yanked the two apart. Sam tried to barrel past him and reach the bastard again, but Jeff grabbed his arm. "See to Dean," Jeff ordered, giving him a solid shake. The bastard was climbing to his feet, brushing off his school uniform, absolute murder in his eyes. Jeff stood between him and Sam and Dean.

"It's done," Jeff growled. "Back down or be put down."

Sam didn't want to stop beating on Eric until Eric was in the hospital or worse. Maybe it was luck he hit Dean where he did, but Sam didn't think so. With Dean's cousin firmly between him and Eric, he didn't have a choice. He'd get Eric. He would get that son of a bitch if it was the last thing he did. Since he was cut off from Eric, he did what Jeff told him and turned to Dean. Gently he shook Dean's shoulder but Dean didn't even groan. It was just like yesterday. Oh god, it was just like yesterday. Dean already had a concussion! Sam felt for Dean's pulse and relief swelled in him when he felt the strong pulse at the senior's throat. He rolled the older youth over to check his injured side and saw the blood that soaked the black tee.

"He's unconscious. He's bleeding bad," Sam told Jeff, panic in his voice. He looked at the bystanders. "Will one of you god-damned idiots call a fucking ambulance?" he yelled at them. He didn't cry which kind of surprised him, but he was too mad to cry. His fault. Again.

Jeff's eyes narrowed but he moved back by Dean, watching the leader out of the corner of his eye. He lifted Dean's tee enough to get a look. Half the stitches had been ripped out and while there was a lot of blood, really it was superficial as far as any hunter was concerned. No penetration, just torn flesh. Dean wasn't going to bleed out, but the injury did need pressure held on it. The fact the injured hunter was out cold worried him the most. A secondary blow to a concussion could be bad. He peeled back Dean's eyelids. Equal pupils. That didn't mean it wasn't serious, but it supported Dean was probably just knocked unconscious.

When Sam started to get to his feet, Jeff could already tell the kid was ready to go after the blond asshole yet again. Tenacious, he'd give the kid points for that. Stupidity, yeah, he ranked up there in that department too. What a fucking mess. He grabbed Sam's wrist and yanked him back to his knees. He pulled off his coat, then his shirt and folded it up and pressed it against Dean's bloodied side. "Hold it there," Jeff growled at Sam, making certain Sam wasn't going to give him any argument.

Jeff turned back to the blond snot and glared at him, folding his arms over his chest and daring the shit to get one step closer to his charges. Bobby and his dad were gonna kill him.

Eric's satisfaction watching Dean Winchester crumble like the sack of shit he was, was short lived. The new guy who'd been walking with Winchester and Colt had already laid out Adam, and Cody wasn't faring much better. He wasn't prepared for the younger boy to literally tackle him to the ground in retaliation, but he was only taken off guard for a moment. Sam wasn't nearly strong enough to overpower him for very long and Eric was going to take great pleasure in beating the shit out of the little whore.

Before he could get the upper hand unfortunately Sam was being yanked off of him by the new kid and pulled back. Eric quickly got back to his feet, fully prepared to give Sam the beating of his lifetime, but the new guy stood in his way. Cody was up but Adam was still down. Between the two of them they might have been able to take down the newcomer…

He was considering it even as he looked down at Winchester who still hadn't moved even now that Sam was trying to rouse him. Blood. And a lot of it. Eric smirked when Sam demanded someone call an ambulance and no one moved. Everyone apparently too stunned by what was happening to do much more than gape.

"Guess Winchester isn't such a bad ass after all." Eric remarked in a sneer, earning a couple of snickers here and there.

"What is going on here!" An angry shout came from the back of the crowd. Of course by now the fight had drawn the attention of the faculty, a few teachers now pushing their way through the crowd that had gathered shouting demands to know what was going on.

"Colt and Winchester attacked me, Mr. Moore." Eric replied instantly. No one gathered would deny that Sam Colt had thrown the first punch.

Jeff looked at the teacher. "We need an ambulance. Now. And Dean never touched this son of a—him."

"And you are?" the teacher demanded.
"Jeff Shelby, sir. Just started here. Dean is unconscious and bleeding badly."

The teacher glanced over the scene and pulled out his cell phone and ordered the ambulance. He made a second call for the nurse to come to Jordan Hall. After shutting his phone he shook his head. That's what they got for letting riff-raff into the school.

After noting faces of who was watching the fight Mr. Moore snapped, "Everyone, get to your classes. Now."

As the students began to file away murmuring amongst themselves, Mr. Moore went to Dean's side. He started to make Sam move so he could see the injury, but Sam wouldn't budge. "You don't take off a pressure bandage once you put it on," Sam said firmly.

Mr. Moore straightened, glaring at the impudent sophomore. He turned to Eric. "Mr. Lancaster, I want the details. Do I need to call in the police?"

The crowd began to disperse reluctantly at the teacher’s command though some still tried to linger and see what was going on. Cody started to help Adam up off the ground. Eric wiped off some of the blood that was still dripping from his surely broken nose as he gave the teacher his most sincere look.

“Yes, sir. I want to press charges. Like I said, I was attacked. Colt threw the first punch, you can ask anyone who was watching.” Eric replied.

“Winchester got in the middle of it when I tried to defend myself. He’s attacked me before, what was I supposed to do?”