Disclaimer: I don't own anything you might recognize from Supernatural.
A/N: Dean is about 12 years old and Sam is 8.
It had all happened so fast, just two hours ago they had been sitting in front of the TV, watching cartoons and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Now Dean was sitting, handcuffed to a chair in what looked like a waiting room, but he and Sammy were the only two people in there. Sam had been given some crayons and a paper to draw on but he didn't move from his seat next to Dean. A week ago, his father had left them in a worn down motel room with enough money to get by and a promise to be back in a couple of days. John had called three days later, telling Dean that the hunt was taking longer than expected and that he wouldn't be back for at least a couple more days. It hadn't been fun but they had managed until today when there had been a knock on the door. Dean could hear his father's words in his head, clear as a bell. "Don't open the door for anyone Dean". And that was exactly what he did, but the knocks grew more persistent and were followed by a female voice,
"Mr. Carter? Can you open the door please, we are from the child protection service and we would like to have a word."
Dean's eyes grew wide and he tensed up. Sam immediately stood up and looked over at Dean to tell him what to do. Dean put a finger to his lips in a gesture to be quiet. Maybe if they were really quiet, the people knocking would think the room was empty and go away. After a while they heard a set of footsteps walking up to the door and then the rattling of keys. Both Dean and Sam held their breaths as everything went quiet for a couple of seconds. The moment a key was put into the lock, Dean went over to where Sam was standing and grabbed his shoulders.
"Don't tell them anything dad wouldn't want you to Sammy, don't tell them anything." he said while looking into the small boy's panicked face. The sound of the handle being pushed down made Dean turn around and take a few steps back, taking Sammy with him. A woman with dark skin and short curly hair popped her head into the room. Her eyes wandered the motel room and grew sad when they fell on the two boys standing by the stained and worn down couch. She began walking towards them and Dean instinctively tightened his hold around Sammy and took yet another step back. The woman stopped her strides at this and crouched down so that she would be in eye level instead. She tilted her head slightly and said in a low voice,
"Hello there, what's your name?"
Dean and Sam remained quiet as she scrutinized the two boys. She quickly came to the conclusion that they must be brothers. The oldest of the two were eyeing her nervously but had the rest of his face set in a stubborn manor. Behind him, he hid a smaller boy with brown hair long enough to almost cover his eyes.
"You don't have to be scared, my name is Nancy and I'm here to help you." She said and smiled.
The older boy didn't say anything but continued to push the younger boy behind himself until he was completely blocked from her sight. The motel owner, a man in his late forties, had called, saying a man and two kids had rented a room in his motel. The man had taken off in his car the day after and now, a week later, still hadn't come back, according to the owner who was now standing in the door opening, trying to get a peak inside.
"Yep, those are the kids I told you about. Their father left a week ago and hasn't been back since." He said indifferently and put his hands in his worn out jeans.
Nancy sighed and turned to the man, looking at him with glaring eyes. He took the hint and turned around to walk out of the room the same way he came in. Nancy turned back to Sam and Dean.
"How long have you been alone in here?" she said and couldn't help but to look around the room. The walls were filthy and had probably been white at one point but were now an uneven grayish tone. The wall-to-wall carpet had definitely seen better days as well since it was decorated with a variety of differently seized and colored stains.
"Did your father say when he was going to come back?" she asked but received no answer as Dean just kept staring at her. She was pondering on how to proceed when the oldest boy suddenly spoke,
"My dad will be back anytime now and we don't need help with anything." Dean said and tried to sound as confident as he could.
"Honey, this is not an appropriate place for you to be in, especially not without parents. You're not old enough to stay in a place like this by yourselves and you shouldn't have to." She said, choosing her words carefully.
"I'm sixteen, I can take care of us just fine." He said and tried to deepen his voice.
Nancy frowned slightly at that. The oldest boy was tall and looked to be athletic but there was no way he was a day older than thirteen.
"Is this your brother?" she asked as a small head peaked out from behind the boy. Dean didn't answer her but seemed to become more nervous as he started to chew his lip.
"We just want to help." Nancy said after a moment of silence.
"We don't need your help!" Dean yelled. Nancy wasn't taken aback, but was used to this kind of reaction. She figured she'd try another approach.
"If you come with us we will try our best to find your father, I'm sorry but we simply can't leave you two in a place like this. You're going to have to come with us."
"We are not going anywhere with you!" He yelled even louder.
A young man, presumably in his late twenties, stepped inside the room. He was tall enough to almost bang his head on the doorframe above him. The beige police uniform he was wearing looked brand new and had creased pants.
"Do you need help, Nancy?" he said in a deep voice.
"No it's fine Mark." She said as she stood back up from her crouch. She scratched her forehead and said,
"Can I talk to you for a second?" as she walked over to the corner of the room.
"I don't think they are going to come willingly. I'd like to avoid using force to make them come with us but.." she whispered and gave the officer a knowing look and then glanced over to the boys. The officer also looked at the kids and said,
"Alright, let me try"
Dean smirked at the police officer as he walked into the waiting room. The man's uniform didn't look quite as new anymore since small speckles of blood colored the collar. His face had gotten a small makeover in curtesy of Dean's fists and the officer's nose was now slightly crooked and swollen like a potato. Trying to remove the Winchesters from the motel room had ended with Dean in handcuffs and Sam being carried out by Nancy, kicking and screaming all the way. The officer glared back at Dean with fire in his eyes but said nothing as he walked over to him and removed the handcuffs. Nancy came through the same door and walked over to where the two boys were sitting.
"I need to talk to you individually now, one at a time."
"Sammy stays with me" Dean ordered and looked at the woman, daring her to challenge him.
"If looks could kill.." she thought and continued.
"I need to evaluate you separately, we'll just be in the room next door, I promise." She said.
Dean considered her suggestion. He knew he wouldn't really gain anything by screaming or fighting, other than being handcuffed to the chair again so he said,
"Fine"
The woman looked relieved.
"Okay, it will be alright I promise, I know it is hard to see that now" she said.
Dean saw kindness in her hazel eyes but huffed and rolled his eyes, this lady had no idea what she was talking about.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Dean" he said, he didn't know if it was best to tell them his dad's fake last name or their real one so Dean had to do for the moment.
"Alright Dean, follow me" she said and smiled as she walked towards the door she had come from.
Dean turned his head towards Sammy who looked completely mortified at the idea of being left alone.
"I'll be right back Sammy" Dean said in a voice that was confident but lighthearted before he followed Nancy out.
The lady never came back with Dean. It felt like he had left an eternity ago. Sam started to swing his legs back and forth on the chair, making a smacking sound each time one of his feet touched the wooden legs. The officer, annoyed by the sound, looked up from the magazine he was reading and froze his eyes on Sam who stopped abruptly. The door suddenly opened and a young blonde woman walked into the room. She had nice clothes on, a striped gray suit and skirt. They looked expensive. The officer smiled and stood up as she approached him. He corrected his tie and momentarily forgot about his nose being stuffed full with cotton balls to stop the previous bleeding. The woman looked down in her papers and said something Sam couldn't make out to the officer, who just looked over to Sam briefly and said,
"Sure, he's all yours"
The young woman barely glanced at Sam before she said, "Follow me" and turned around to exit the room.
Sam didn't dare to do anything but follow and figured maybe they would take him to Dean. They walked out of the double doors on the opposite side of the room and started to walk down a long corridor. The woman's high heels made a echoing clicking sound every time they hit the floor and Sam tried to keep up with her fast pace.
"After interviewing Dean we have come to understand that your father is not available. And since your mother is deceased we will have to put you into foster care during the time of our investigation. You are very lucky since a place just opened up for you in one of our foster families. The…" She said and paused, looking through the papers in her folder.
"… Williams family. I will drive you there in a moment, after we finish some paper work. Do you have any questions?" she said and finally turned around to look at Sam who looked up at her with big watery eyes, tears threatening to spill over.
"Oh" she said, surprised.
"Ehm.. There, there." She said and patted him awkwardly on the shoulder.
"Do you have any questions?" she said once more.
"When can I see Dean?" Sam asked.
"We are having trouble finding homes to all of the children that come here. You are very lucky we managed to find you a foster family willing to take you in at such short notice. Many kids are sent to an orphanage instead. You won't see your brother for some time because he will undoubtedly be put in a different home. Now follow me." She said and turned away just before a single tear spilled over onto Sam's cheek.