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Dean didn't know anything was wrong until the yelling started. They'd actually stayed in a house this time, an old one with dirt cheap rent. He closed the laptop he'd been working on, swinging his legs over the edge of the bed and striding down the hall. The volume only increased as he descended the stairs. He stepped into the living room in time to see John throw papers down on the coffee table, face red with rage. Sam, who had by now outgrown everyone else in their transient household, glowered right back, holding his ground. They clashed a lot as it was, they were too much alike and with two strong willed Alphas it was inevitable.

That said, something was different this time. Both John and Sam looked like they were a hair's breadth away from coming to blows. Dean glanced around but he didn't see Castiel, which was just as well. He hadn't been feeling well lately.

"What happened this time?" he demanded, trying to wedge himself between the two of them, his back to Sam.

Before he could finish the motion John was snatching up the papers again, thrusting them into his face. "Sam's walking out, that's what."

Dean frowned, taking the papers and pushing them away so he could actually read them. His stomach dropped as he read the words on crisp paper, then reread them. John was pacing like a caged tiger, stream practically pouring from his ears.

College acceptance papers. Dean hadn't even known Sam had applied, much less got in. To add salt to the wound, the logo in the corner belonged to Stanford University. A full ride to Stanford University. He'd known Sam had done really well in school, but he hadn't known about this.

"When did you apply to Stanford?" he demanded at last, not quite to the anger stage yet.

"A few months ago."

"Did you apply to anywhere else?"

"Yeah. This is just the first acceptance letter. Dad got to it first."

"This is my house," John snapped. "It was mailed here."

"We've only been here two weeks, how did they get this address?" Dean added, eyes narrowed.

"Bobby let me use his place as a permanent address. He sent them here."

"Bobby?" repeated John. "Who else knew?"

"No one. And don't blame this on Bobby. This was my choice, he supported me. Why can't you?"

Dean frowned. He knew Sam as well as he knew himself. He knew a lie when his brother told one.

"You're a hunter, you can't walk away from the life. It never works."

"How would you know? You never tried. I don't want this, I want a chance at a real life."

"Do you know what you want to do? Or are you just so desperate to get away you'll try anything."

"I want to go to law school."

"What about money? If you go I won't support you," John warned.

"I can work, dad. I know what I'm doing. Why don't you think I can do this?"

"You're too focused on the can, Sam. Stop to think if you should."

"And why shouldn't I?"

"You're not going to leave the family business."

"I can and I am."

"If you walk out that door don't expect to come back."

"You can't do that."

All three Alphas turned to stare at the last speaker. Castiel stood in the doorway, a distraught look on his face. He was clutching a jar of honey in one hand, apparently forgotten. The Omega had had a fondness for it before, but lately he'd become addicted.

"That's not your call to make, Omega," John growled.

"He's your son, you can't kick him out," he protested, ignoring the warning. "You should be proud of him."

"Cas, go upstairs." Dean nudged his mate back towards the hall, but Castiel shoved the arm away.

"No, I won't." Still clutching his honey, the Omega moved to stand behind Sam. He lifted his chin stubbornly, glaring at John. "I don't understand. This is a big opportunity. How can you ask him to give it up for selfish reasons?"

Dean's chest had gone tight when his mate moved to stand by his brother. It had been almost five years since he'd mated him, and never once had he done that before. They'd had their arguments, sure, but when it came to things like this they always backed each other up. He was glad Castiel still got along with Sam, was glad to see him defending his baby brother, but not when it meant his Omega was turning his back on him.

"Cas, what are you doing? Get upstairs, now."

The Omega was clutching his honey jar in both hands, not lowering his gaze under John's furious glower. "You should be happy for him, not angry."

"Seriously, Cas, you should go now," Sam warned. "Thanks, but I can handle this myself."

John's eyes had narrowed suspiciously. "Did you know about this?"

"I told you I did it alone," Sam snapped.

"I want to hear it from him, boy."

Dean had had enough. He'd have to hash things out with his mate later, but for now he wasn't about to let Castiel get caught in the middle of this. His first question was going to be what the hell he was thinking. The Omega didn't like conflict, not between the Winchesters. He had proved useful time after time on hunts, had no qualms about ganking monsters, but the minute Sam and John started yelling he'd disappear somewhere to wait it out.

The Alpha moved back in, grabbing Castiel by one arm and pulling him away. When the Omega was reluctant to budge he moved his hand to the base of his neck, guiding him away a little more forcefully. Castiel didn't like getting manhandled, and no doubt he'd hear about it later, but for now he was a little more concerned about extracting his mate.

"I'll talk to him," Dean promised, pushing the Omega towards the doorway. "This is between you and Sam."

"He ain't going anywhere until he answers some questions."

Dean met his father's eyes squarely. Anything else and he'd stand down, as he always did, but this was Cas. "He's mine to deal with."

"I'm the head of this family, and as long as you're all a part of it it's me you answer to."

"He's my mate, dad. It ain't your place."

John didn't look any happier about this than he had anything else, but he did turn his attention back to Sam. Dean took advantage, bundling the Omega out of the room and up the stairs to their bedroom. Once inside he shut and locked the door, pushing Castiel down until he was sitting on the bed's edge.

"What the hell?" he demanded, barely keeping his voice down. "It's bad enough you helped out Sam, now this? You can't openly defy him like that, not when he's in that mood."

Castiel wouldn't look at him. "He wasn't being fair."

"Since when is that reason to get in the middle?"

"Sam wants out, Dean. He wants a chance at a new life. Why can't you be glad he's happy?"

"What the hell's wrong with this life?"

"I chose it, Dean, Sam didn't."

"Why are you taking his side?"

"Because I'm proud of him. Your father wouldn't let him go on hunts and now he won't let him do anything else. He's being smart about it, he's not just rushing into this with no preparation."

Dean didn't realize how hard he was clinching his jaw until his teeth started to ache. "When the hell did you talk with him about this? Don't lie to me, I know it was you that helped him."

"When you and your father were on that djinn hunt in Kansas, the one you took while we finished that vampire job in Washington. We...exaggerated how difficult it was. Sam wanted to look around a few campuses. Stanford was one of them. He spoke to a professor, they liked him."

It took a minute before Dean was sure he could speak without yelling. "You went with him? You actually looked at these places?"

"It was practical, he was already thinking about it. He wanted to see the place, Dean. You know how stubborn he is, either I went with him or I was to wait at the motel. It was a nice campus and the professor was very interested in him. I think that's part of why he got the scholarship."

The Alpha slammed a hand down on the dresser, back to his mate. Castiel wasn't meeting his eyes as it was, which seemed to make his broiling temper worse. The only thing that kept him from blowing up, yelling like his father and brother downstairs, was the chill he felt at realizing he was fighting the honest urge to strangle Castiel. He'd never lay a hand on him in anger, but this was the first time he was tempted.

"Dean, I'm sorry I kept this from you. Sam made me promise not to tell. I'm not going to leave you, and I'm sorry I didn't stand by you. But I won't apologize for helping him. Please don't be angry."

"Is this why you've been acting screwy?" Dean bit out. "You knew?"

"I don't like keeping secrets from you." Castiel bit his lip, then said quietly, "I want you to ask John about Charleston."

"What the hell happened in Charleston?" the Alpha growled. "More secrets?"

Castiel slowly lifted his gaze, staring into his mate's face through the mirror. "Please ask him."

Dean turned, stalking over to him and grabbing his Omega by the shoulders. "I'm asking you, damn it. What about fucking Charleston?"

He was startled to see tears in his mate's eyes. "Please ask your father."

The Alpha hesitated, pressing a hand to Castiel's cheek. In all the time he'd known him, Dean had never seen his mate so...brittle, like pushing him any farther would break him. Even during hunts he'd kept his cool remarkably well, regardless of how close the call. Dean had once seen him face down a wild eyed vampire, furious that they'd killed off his nest, and take his head off with a single stroke. He didn't flinch, didn't scream, didn't even look all that bothered when he got covered in blood. The Omega had just looked down at himself and said something about how many times through the wash it would take to clean them.

"Cas, look at me. What's wrong? What's with you?"

"I love you, Dean," the Omega mumbled, cobalt eyes glazed over. "I won't lie to you anymore. Please don't be angry."

"I'm not, just tell me the truth."

"Ask your father," he said again. "Please. I can't...

Dean slowly drew back, chest tightening. The anger had slowly drained away, shifting direction. What rage remained was no longer aimed at his mate. Something had rattled Castiel to his core, fear scent trickling off him. How had he missed something this big? Sure he'd noticed he was a little off, but not like this.

The yelling had died down downstairs, the front door slamming. Sam, he guessed. Good. It was his turn.

"Stay here, don't come downstairs until I tell you, alright?"

Castiel nodded, still clutching his honey with both hands. The Alpha hesitated, then pressed a tender kiss to his mate's forehead. They'd mated young, he knew that now, but Castiel had never shown any signs of wanting something else, of wanting to leave. Dean knew he wasn't the easiest person to live with, that their life would send most normal people raving to the loony bin. Yet still the Omega stayed, embracing and thriving in the family business. It might not be the smoothest road or the happiest, but it was theirs.

Still not sure if it was something John might have done or everything catching up to his Omega, Dean made his way downstairs. He found his father in the kitchen with a bottle of whisky and no glass, a wary look on his face. John didn't look up at him when he stopped in the doorway, just taking another drink of the amber liquid.

"He left. Told him if he was going to go then don't bother coming back."

The man might as well have slapped him across the face. "Sammy's gone?"

"Good riddance to him. Thinks he's better than all this," he muttered, taking another drink.

Dean's hand curled into a fist on the door frame, rage starting to build up in his chest once more. His first instinct was to go after his brother, try to call him, anything. Any other day he would have done it without a second thought, but any other day he didn't have a rattled mate on his hands.

"Me and Sam took a witch case three months ago, over in Phoenix."

"So?"

"So we were still working on a vengeful ghost gig up in Charleston. You sent us to take care of it while you and Cas made sure the ghost was gone. It took a week before you came down to meet us. You told us that it wasn't gone, it was attached to something else that you had to salt and burn."

"What the hell has that got to do with this?"

He started to take a drink. Dean stalked across the kitchen and knocked the bottle out of his hands, sending it crashing against the cabinets. "Sammy just walked out on us, either you take this seriously or we're going with him."

John finally looked up at him, eyes hard. "Like hell you are, boy. You're staying right here, both of you."

"Then tell me what the fuck went down in Charleston," Dean growled.

The older Alpha stood slowly, bracing his hands on the back of his chair, watching his son through weary eyes. "The bones did the trick, never saw that ghost again. We were packing up to skip town when he started acting screwy. He had a fever, he couldn't move very much, cramps that had him on the floor. Bleeding too, a lot of it. I got him into the truck and brought him to the hospital. They had to get him a transfusion before they could give him an exam, kept him a few days just to be sure."

Ice seemed to have replaced the blood in his veins. This made no sense, why wouldn't Castiel tell him? This sounded big. The Omega didn't like keeping little things from him, let alone a stay in the hospital.

"Why the hell wouldn't you tell me-

"Because I knew what it would do to you," John snapped, glaring at him across the table. "He could handle it, you picked a strong one. Castiel's fine. Go find your brother, talk some sense into him."

Dean didn't think, he just moved. In seconds he was around the table and grabbing John's jacket, slamming him against the wall. "What happened to my mate?" he snarled. "Cas is a lot of things but he sure as hell ain't fine."

"Get your hands off me, boy."

John reached up, grabbing his hands to peel them away. Dean only tightened his grip, slamming him back against the wall a second time. "Not until you tell me what went down in Charleston."

"Fine," growled the Alpha, shoving Dean away. "You wanna know? It was a damn miscarriage."

Dean went still. He barely noticed when John brushed passed him, taking down another bottle and cracking the lid. "Miscarriage?" he muttered. "He was pregnant?"

"Barely. Doctor's said he was just eight weeks along, didn't stop it from being messy when he lost it. Figured it was the life that did it. The pills, the liquor, doubt getting thrown halfway across that house by a spirit helped either."

"Why didn't he tell me?" Dean asked, dazed. He was still trying to wrap his head around the fact that Castiel had been pregnant. They might have an active sex life, but they were careful. He made sure his mate always had a good supply of birth control and heat suppressants, no doubt the pills John had been referring to. They kept plenty of condoms on hand too, taking every precaution. How had he still managed to get pregnant?

"The kid didn't know," John continued, ignoring his latest question. "Doctor said it wouldn't be the first time, and just because he was on the pill didn't mean they'd always be effective. Castiel had no idea until it was happening."

"But why wouldn't he tell me?"

"I told him not to."

Dean turned to stare at him, blinking rapidly. "You... Why the hell would you do that? And since when does Cas follow every order you give him?" It was the biggest standing issue between his mate and his father, that the Alpha he ultimately answered to was Dean. Just because he was his mate didn't make it any less grating for the older man.

"He follows the order if it's given to him in the Alpha's Voice," John stated, tone hard. "He'll do it if I make it clear why he needs to."

At that exact moment, Dean was sorely tempted to light out after Sam. His brother had probably just grabbed a bag and left on foot to hitchhike, he hadn't heard a motor running. Things had been tense for years now, but it'd never been like this. John had never crossed a line like this. It was one thing to rule your kids with an iron hand when they were children, it was another when they were grown up. It was a whole different ballgame to exert the Alpha's Voice on another's mate. Dean could overpower whatever orders were given by other Alphas, but not if he didn't know there was something wrong. An order given in that state would be one an Omega had to follow. Dean had always hated the Alphas Voice, had refused to use it on Castiel to this day. No matter how angry he got, he'd never take his mate's will away from him.

"What did you order him to do?" Dean asked slowly.

"To keep his mouth shut, which he did a damn good job of until today. You didn't need this shit. You two weren't trying for one, and you don't need to."

Dean opened his mouth, closed it, then turned to walk out of the kitchen. He couldn't stay anymore. Beyond the simple fact John had crossed an unforgivable line, if he did either he'd say something he'd regret or he'd kill his own father, which he might also later regret. All he knew was that he couldn't stay in this house anymore.

Castiel wasn't on the bed anymore when he climbed back up the stairs. Dean found him drawn up into a ball, back wedged into a corner, their bags packed and waiting on the bed. The Omega lifted red rimmed eyes to stare at him in a silent plea.

Swallowing tightly, Dean sank to his knees, drawing his mate into his arms. Castiel tangled his fingers in his shirt, burying his face in his chest. "I'm sorry, Dean," he whispered, voice even rougher than usual.

"You ain't the one who should be sorry," he muttered, turning his nose into tousled black hair. "You shouldn't have had to go through that alone. I'm sorry, Cas, I'm so sorry."

"We didn't know," the Omega mumbled into his chest. "Can we please leave? Can we go with Sam? Or hunt alone? Please, I don't care, just...I don't want to live with him anymore."

"Neither do I. Come on, Sam couldn't have gotten too far."

He coaxed the Omega into loosening his grip, pulling him to his feet. From there it was easy enough to get Castiel to help him load up the Impala. Shortly after the Omega had joined them John had acquired a truck, allowing them to cover more ground. It also meant John wouldn't be without transport when they left.

They were coming back through the house, getting an extra duffle and some food, when John lumbered out of the kitchen. Castiel froze halfway down the stairs, eyes locked on the newly angered Alpha. Dean bristled, stepping between them, back to his mate.

"Cas, get to the car."

His Omega gladly obeyed, the screen door slamming behind him. Dean shouldered passed his father, grabbing a cooler and throwing some ice into it. He tossed in a few beers, some jerky, and both remaining jars of honey Castiel had picked up at a farmer's market. It was a tight squeeze, but he managed to get the cooler to shut.

"What the hell are you doing?" his father asked icily.

Dean picked up the cooler, turning to face him. John was between him in the doorway, half empty bottle in one hand. For what was quiet possibly the first time in his life, Dean had every intention of completely and utterly defying his father.

"We're leaving. Get out of my way."

"Like hell you're leaving. Get that crap out of the car. Bring him back in."

"I can't do that."

"Why not? Just because Sam walked out doesn't mean you need to."

"You know damn well why I'm walking out," Dean growled. "You made me choose between you and Cas. We both know how that's going to play out. Move, dad."

John didn't budge, but he also didn't try to stop Dean as he shouldered passed. He marched out of the rundown house, stalking out to the Impala. Castiel was waiting for him, the engine running, her lights pointed at the road. He climbed in behind the wheel, twisting around to set the cooler in the backseat before putting her in gear.

"I'm sorry, Dean."

The Alpha barely spared him a glance as he pulled out onto the road, heading for the main highway. "This ain't on you, Cas."

"You wouldn't have fought if it wasn't for me."

"Just stop, alright? We'll talk about it later. Just keep an eye out for Sammy."

Castiel bit his lip. "Dean?"

"What?"

"What are we going to do now?"

"We're gonna pick up Sammy, then we're gonna haul ass to Stanford. We'll get him set up there, then see if Bobby has a job for us." He glanced at the Omega, raising his eyebrows. "Sound good?"

A faint smile was on Castiel's face. "Yes." Lifting a hand, he pointed at the roadside ahead. "There's Sam."

Sure enough Sam was still walking along the side of the road, bag over one shoulder. He slowed, turning to look over his shoulder as Dean brought the Impala to a stop. Castiel rolled down his window as the Alpha leaned over and called, "Get in."

Sam was already shaking his head, turning away. "Sorry, Dean. I'm not going back."

"Neither are we, now get your ass in."

The younger Alpha arched his eyebrows, but yanked open the backseat door. He climbed in, yanking the door shut as Dean let off the break. "What happened?"

Dean glanced at Castiel, who was still rolling his window back up. "I'll tell you later."

"So dad's on his own now?"

"Guess so."

It was all they said on the matter, for now. They were all still too wound up to talk about it yet. The wheel bit into his palms, his hands going tight around it every time he tried to even think about just how badly John had overstepped. One thing was for sure, neither brother was going home anytime soon, not that they'd had much of a home to begin with. It was time they made their own.

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