A/N Written for ally_skywalker's stocking over at Livejournal's fandom_stocking

Sons and Brothers

"Danny? Danny! Wh- oh, there you are! I've been lookin' all over for-" the words died on fourteen year-old Rafe Crawley's lips when he took in his friend's posture. Danny was sitting on the floor, tucked away in a corner of Rafe's father's barn, knees drawn to his chest, face buried in his arms.

Rafe's heart sank. Not again! "Danny?" he said, softly. "What's wrong?"

When Danny didn't move, Rafe sat down beside him and looked down at the younger boy. "Danny? Is- is it your dad again?"

Danny nodded against his knees.

"Bad?"

Danny shrugged.

Rafe hesitated before putting a hand on his friend's shoulder, but snatched it back when Danny flinched. Rafe scowled. "It was bad, wasn't it?" When Danny didn't respond, he leaned forward and tried to peer at Danny's face from below. "C'mon Danny, look at me. Please?"

For a moment, he didn't think Danny was going to listen but a minute later, Danny sighed and slowly lifted his head from his arms. Rafe sucked in a breath; the left side of Danny's jaw was a mottled purple and his cheek was red and slightly swollen.

"Oh man, Danny. I'm sorry." Without thinking, Rafe put his hand on Danny's back, intending it to be comforting, but when Danny arched his back at his touch, he frowned once more. "Danny, let me see your back."

"Rafe, it's all right."

"No, it's not. Lemme see."

Danny sighed and lifted his shirt part-way up, turning his back slightly towards Rafe. The older boy gasped at the sight of vivid red welts crisscrossing his friend's back. "That is not normal!" Rafe exclaimed, horrified. "Not even for your dad!" His scowl deepened and he shot up from where he was sitting. "Someone needs to teach him a lesson," he said grimly, stalking from the barn.

Danny intercepted him a few feet from the door. "Rafe, no!" the younger boy cried, grabbing his arm. But Rafe had grown over the summer and Danny was no longer taller or stronger than he was, so he kept on walking, ignoring Danny's insistent pulling.

Finally, Danny let go. "Rafe, please."

The desperate tone in his friend's voice was what finally made Rafe pause. He twisted around to face the other boy. "Why? Why won't you let me at him?"

"Because I don't want you to get hurt."

"Who says I'm going to be the one that gets hurt?"

Danny looked away. "'Cause he's stronger than us, Rafe. I've fought, I've tried, but he always wins."

"I won once."

The corners of Danny's lips quirked into a small smile at the memory of Rafe slugging Danny's father with a piece of wood. "Yeah," he said, sounding almost proud, before his expression turned serious again. "But- I don't want my dad to get hurt either. Not really."

"Why?"

"'Cause- 'cause I love him."

"Why? How can you love someone that beats the crap out of you?"

"He's my dad. He's the only family I've got, Rafe."

Rafe deflated at the sadness in the younger boy's voice. Danny was staring at the ground and Rafe's heart ached for him. "No, he ain't," Rafe said.

Danny looked up quickly, his eyebrows bunched in confusion.

"You got me," Rafe clarified.

When Danny just blinked at him, Rafe approached him and very carefully put an arm around the younger boy's shoulders. "Danny, you're my brother. You know that, right?"

"You mean that, Rafe?" Danny asked with wide eyes and a hushed voice.

The look Danny gave him was a mixture of awe, disbelief and gratitude, and it almost made Rafe want to march over to his friend's house and give that damn abusive drunk of a father a piece of his mind after all. Instead, he pulled Danny a little closer against him, mindful of his bruises. "Yeah, 'course I do. We've known each other since we were little kids and we've always looked out for each other, right? That makes us brothers in my book."

And finally, Danny smiled. A real smile – one that lit up his entire face, and Rafe realized it had been far too long since he'd seen that smile. He knew then that he would do anything to protect it. "C'mon," Rafe said, gently steering his friend back towards his father's barn. "Let's get you patched up. Can't fly my missions without my wingman now, can I?"

Danny grinned. "No sir, someone's gotta watch your back."

"And teach me how to write properly."

Danny nodded, still grinning. "That too."

They slowly walked back to the barn, Rafe's arm still around Danny's shoulders. Danny looked up at Rafe, squinting against the bright afternoon sun. "Thanks, Rafe."

Rafe smiled and brought his hand up to ruffle the other boy's dark hair. "Any time, Wingman."