Introduction: I've always wanted to do an alternate universe type story and this one was just to good to pass up. I have had personal experience with mental illness and being in a mental hospital. It's a very strange experience and it can be really tough, I wanted desperately to write about one since I got back from one. For one they aren't evil like most people think (though in the 50's there were some pretty messed up places). Hospitals and mental health are two very misunderstood subjects, I feel that more people should learn what they're like. Also I've got to say, I'm a sucker for Dean and Castiel as a couple.

The story is rate M for mature mostly for violence and strong language. I don't play on writing any sex because I don't know (I'm not really sure if I'm good at it), but who knows. It all depends on where the story goes. Emotional abuse (really any kind of abuse) can effect a person more then most people know, I wanted to be able to incorporate that into this story. I myself have been a victim of abuse and I know others who have as well, as always I appreciate any reviews.

AU: Dean's thirteen year old brother has been diagnosed with a case of schizophrenia. He spends a lot of his time in the hospital waiting on little Sammy. When he's there, he meets Castiel a young man with a bad past. Then their love story begins.

Ch. 1 One Egg Short of Scrambled

Dean shifted in his car seat. He knew this trip was going to be tough, though he'd never admit it out loud. His mother Mary smiled gently, twisting the keys in the ignition. "Are you ready to go see Sam?" she asked, picking up on Dean's uneasy aura. His mother was strange like that, she always seemed to be able to read people's feelings. Sometimes its was a blessing but mostly Dean just thought of it as a curse. She always seemed to know when something was bothering him or when he was doing something he shouldn't be.

'A mother's intuition.' she would say. He didn't believe a word of it, maybe she could just read minds.

Dean merely shrugged his shoulders in response. Mary let out a soft sigh, "Dean, Sam's going to get better. I promise."

"I know." he responded weakly as the 1967 Chevy Impalla pulled out of the driveway. The car was his but his mom drove it whenever they went somewhere together. One of the few things that his father left behind when he passed. Dean watched as the scenery passed him by, tree's and people on sidewalks. Though the street's of Lawrence weren't exactly what you would call 'crowded'. Dean reached over and cranked up the radio, his mother's silence was really bothering him.

He sank lower into his seat as they pulled up to the hospital, or 'the looney bin' as he liked to call it. Dean never called it that when his mom was listening but in his in own mind that's what it seemed like. They parked the car and sat for a long moment before Mary began to speak, "Now I know that things are tough right now with Sam. So please don't mention anything about voices or Lucifer, okay Dean?"

"I know mom." he said simply. She let out a small smile, it was pained and forced but at least she was trying. Dean knew that it must be hard for her, to have your own son in a mental hospital for hallucinations and delusions, he was only thirteen years old but the schizophrenia had already set in. They were working on getting him medicated but in the meantime the hospital was the best place for little Sammy.

The two got out, Mary shutting her door carefully and Dean slamming his. Mary gave him a quick glance and he shrugged his shoulders, it was an accident. They headed up to the front desk and the nurses greeted them from behind a glass window.

Dean looked around the lobby, no one was there. Posters about optimism and the importance of communication lined the walls. Dean shifted on his feet, the whole atmosphere was stale and wrong but he wanted desperately to see his baby brother. That didn't mean he had to like it here, he'd seen Cuckoo's Nest and since then places like this made him uneasy. The white walls felt suffocating and stagnate, like nothing here ever really changed.

"Come on Dean honey." his mother's voice broke him out of his daze, he shuffled behind. They entered the elevator and Dean felt a lump get stuck in his throat. Large almost square doors swung open. Dean wondered to himself why the doors were so oddly shaped.

They were greeted with the sight of nurses and patients shuffling up and down long corridors. They passed by the day room, up to Sam's room.

205

Mary let out a big smile. "Sam. Honey." she say in her gentle mother voice. Sam whipped around and paused. He observed his mother and brother as if they were foreign to him. He blinked a few times and life returned to his eyes. It was as if someone had flipped a switch in his brain.

"Mom!" he said happily standing up to hug Mary. "Hi. How are you?"

"Good Sam. How are you doing honey?"

"A little better lately. The doctors are saying that I might get to go home in a few weeks. Though they aren't sure. Maybe we could get some mattresses and build something. Maybe. Where would we find the pillows though. They may not have enough here and-"

"Sam, don't you want to say hi to Dean? He's here too." she said softly bringing Sam's focus back.

"Dean!" Sam jumped up and hugged his older brother. Dean relished the feeling, it was nice to be hugged. One thing about Sam that hadn't changed, he still gave the same cute, little brother hugs.

"Hey Sammy." Dean broke away and ruffled his brother's hair. A soft noise interrupted the moment, from the other side of the curtain.

"Oh!" Sam jumped to his feet and pulled the curtain away. A young man sat on the bed staring out the window, his hair was a dark brown and his eyes a icy blue. He had on the usual hospital get up, though they let him wear this big tan trench coat. Presumably it didn't have any strings or zippers on it. "This is Castiel, he's my roommate now."

"Hello Castiel." Mary said politely.

"Castiel, this is my mom and my brother Dean." Sam said happily, but still Castiel stayed staring out the window. His eyes seemed to be focused on something but no one was really sure what it was. "Mom I wanna show you something!" Sam grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her.

"Dean honey we'll be right back." she said calmly as Sam dragged his mother out of the room.

Dean shifted left alone with someone who didn't even seem to be present in the room. He walked over and sat down in the only chair in the room. He watched as Castiel stared, 'Does he ever blink?' Dean wondered to himself.

"Uh... hey. I'm Dean." Dean said slowly.

"I know." Castiel replied robotically. He didn't turn to look at Dean either.

'This guy is pissing me off.' Dean thought to himself.

"So... Cas-"

"Castiel."

"Relax it's just a nickname. Your name's a bitch to pronounce." Dean said simply. "Anyway, Cas-"

"Castiel." he corrected swiftly again.

"Casteil?" Dean blundered.

"Castiel."

"Castel." Castiel let out a sigh.

"Cas."

"Thank you. So Cas, why are you in here?" Castiel didn't say anything. "Oooooooookay. Are you gonna talk to me at all?"

"I have nothing to say."

"I just asked you a question. You could answer." Dean said simply.

"That's quite nosy of you."

"Why won't you look at me?"

"Is it required?" Cas said apathetically.

"It's just common courtesy... You know what forget it."

"Alright."

Dean let out a sigh. "You know you're impossible."

"I am... sorry?"

Dean stood up slowly and walked over sitting on the bed next to Castiel. Castiel turned closely looking at Dean confused quickly. "Uh... so what do you like?" The brown haired angel stared like a lost puppy. Dean sighed. "It's okay. Sam's my baby brother, he has some issues and I just wanted to make sure that he'll be okay rooming with you."

"I like... bees, flowers, animals, especially farm animals and birds, uh... board games..."

"Ah."

"Your brother, he's a nice person. Very... gentle but also very sweet."

"He's been through a lot. Doctors say that when dad passed away it... triggered the schizophrenia. The stress of it caused him to go into this big episode where he says he sees ghosts and this guy named Lucifer-"

"Like the devil?" Castiel said shifting his eyes back to the outside.

"...yeah..." Dean said slowly, "...be careful about it sometimes when he hears that name he flips out... Understand that if you hurt him, I will find you. He's my little brother and as my mom says, 'I'd go to hell and back to protect little Sammy'."

"I... understand."

"Just so we're clear." Dean says simply.