Hi, everyone! First off, I want to thank you all for the reviews, favorites, and alerts. You guys are too kind! So this is Chapter 2! Hopefully this clears up some things. This was an interesting chapter to write! Not a lot of action going on in it, and it's probably going to be one of the calmest chapters in the whole story! I hope you all enjoy it!

Combustion

Chapter 2

When Dean wakes up, he hears loud snoring. Extremely loud. He looks over to the other bed to see the covers wrapped around an invisible figure. It rises and falls with each breath Sam takes. Sam never has control over his powers once he's asleep. Since Dean has woken up to Sam flickering in and out of sight many times before, he isn't too worried about him.

Dean closes his eyes to try to get a few more hours of rest, but as he starts to drift off Sam starts to wake up. He huffs when Sam sits on top of his bed causing it to shake violently.

"Good morning!" Sam laughs, "We are free!"

Dean forces himself not to smile. "Don't get too excited yet." Seeing Sam's face drop causes Dean to plant a smile on his face. He doesn't want his brother to feel unhappy, especially not since they really are free. He winces slightly after accidentally scratching his sore arm.

Sam beckons Dean to give him his arm, and after a slight hesitation, Sam rolls up Dean's sleeves. His smile twists into a grimace, "Maybe you should tell them about that, and get them to look at it."

The needle marks are inflamed, some a scarlet red, others a violent purple, running along the underside of his elbow. Sam doesn't have any, only a few scars from where they took blood a few times. They are unnoticeable unless you know where to look. Dean is thankful that the scientists didn't subject his brother to the same treatment as he had received.

Dean shakes his arm out of his brother's hands, "It doesn't matter." He spots a pile of clothes sitting at the foot of his bed, with a small note saying, I hope they fit.

He stares at the pile before lifting up the folded shirt, shaking it out. It's a normal black shirt, with short sleeves, and when he pulls it on he's happy to find that it fits perfectly. There's new underwear and a pair of jeans. The jeans are a little long, but they fit fine. He leaves his old clothes in a heap on top of his bed.

"I'm going downstairs," Dean states as he slips on his shoes. Sam smiles, but returns back to his bed, determined to get a few more hours of sleep. Dean rolls his eyes, but doesn't comment.

He pads softly down the hallway, and looks down the stairs. He's torn between going down them and running back to the sanctuary of his room. He shakes his head because Dean Winchester is no coward, and bounds down the creaking staircase. His nerves are causing ice particles to form on the wooden banister, hardening around his hand. He hears happy chatter trickling out of the kitchen door, and he takes a breath before he walks in, quiet and unnoticed.

Jessica's laughing, eyes sparkling and lips parting to reveal stunningly, white teeth, a hand under a pan that seems to hover just barely over her palm. Anna rolls her eyes, telling her something else as she flips eggs in the pan. Gabriel is focusing his energy on a floating jug of juice, as it fills the glasses up on the counter.

Castiel and two other men he hasn't met before are arranging the plates and silverware on the table. The table cloth is slightly wrinkled, and the taller, balder one of the two is glaring at it like it will go away. The shorter man's shaky hands try their best to smooth it down before the other man can get too angry.

A gust of wind sends the napkins Castiel had placed on the middle of the table onto the floor. He frowns at the bald one, annoyed, "Zachariah."

Something bumps into Dean's back, and he stumbles forward. He feels Sam's hands grasp his shoulders to keep him from falling. Falling forward has gained Dean the attention of the entire room, and Jessica says, "Hey, it's nice to see you awake, Sleepy Head."

Castiel and the two men at the table look up in interest at the new guest, and Castiel says, "Hi, Dean, sit down."

Gabriel, not turning from the pancakes he is flipping, adds, "Sam too."

Sam flutters into sight, "How did you know?"

Gabriel turns, tapping the side of his head, "I can sense your energy."

"You don't have to hide here, Sam," Anna smiles encouragingly. "You're safe here."

"We can't be any worse than that rat infestation we found you in," the other man sneers. "I'm Zachariah."

"Chuck," the scruffiest one of the bunch says hurriedly. His voice is unnaturally high like he's anxious about something.

Dean and Sam introduce themselves even though it's unnecessary, since the men already seem to know who they are. Gabriel pulls out seats for them with a twitch of his wrist. Once they are all seated, with Chuck to Dean's left and Jessica to Sam's right, the talk dies down so the guests aren't overwhelmed.

"How did you sleep?" Jessica asks.

"Great," Dean answers, smiling awkwardly at her. He isn't sure how to act around these people yet. When he places the eggs in his mouth, it goes cold, just like everything he eats. Two coffee cups drift through the air coming to sit in front of Jessica and Gabriel. Zachariah flicks his fingers over their coffees, blowing the steam away. A dog barks somewhere outside.

"Bobby's here," Anna says, suddenly, and Dean stares at her. She notices, and explains, "I speak to animals.

"Which is good when Balthazar decides to be a snake for days," Castiel replies, and Gabriel snickers.

"Hey, he isn't even here to defend himself!" Anna scolds the laughing patrons.

"Sucks for him," Gabriel smirks as he tries to bury his laughs in his coffee mug.

A door slams loudly, and Sam flickers out of panic. He hangs his head in embarrassment when he realizes what caused the noise. Bobby enters the kitchen, and grabs himself up a plate and a cup for coffee.

"Morning," he greets as he pours the coffee into his cup.

"Why are you up so early?" Anna asks. She gets up to help him fix a plate, but he waves her off.

"I figured I should be here for the boys' questions."

"We should let them eat first," Jessica says. "Who knows when the last time they ate was."

Bobby rolls his eyes as he takes an empty spot at the table. "Just checking, but Sam, you have the power of invisibility, and Dean, you control ice?"

They both nod and Dean asks, "How did you know?"

"We've got the whole organization's files," Bobby explains. "We know who's all in the system, and their abilities."

"How many more people are there?" Sam asks.

"A dozen give or take. This is a rare condition that many humans just don't have. That's why the organization hasn't garnered more attention. They never house too many people together."

"Gabe and I came from the same one," Jessica adds, grimacing slightly. "Cass and Chuck were together in a facility close to ours."

"Anna and I were never locked up," Zachariah tells them as he sips from his coffee. "We started this safe house with Bobby for people that had nowhere else to go after they were rescued."

"So last night was your idea of a rescue?" Sam says, incredulously. He shakes his head in disbelief. "It was so risky!"

"We don't usually destroy things," Bobby grimaces, "we were just supposed to get you idgits out, but Jessica and Gabriel don't know the meaning of the word stealth."

"I panicked," Jessica defends.

"Half of the place burnt to the ground last night," Bobby chides. He mutters idgit fondly before cutting a piece of sausage with his fork.

The chatter lulls into a quiet moment, and Jessica doesn't look the least bit ashamed for her actions. Dean admires her for it. There's a quiet chink of cutlery of plates, and Dean gives up on the soggy, wet toast. His powers make it impossible for him to enjoy warm foods.

"So you guys just run around burning up buildings?" Dean asks, and he's impressed. It's the sort of thing he imagined doing as a child.

"Nope," Bobby snaps.

"We're just a small operation of something bigger," Gabriel explains. "We're the search and rescue part."

Castiel moves his arm in this second, and his elbow knocks into his steaming mug, causing the entire thing to fall over. Boiling coffee falls toward his lap, and Dean, acting on instinct, reaches out to catch it. The coffee pours over his hand and with a hiss, it passes through his fingers and over Castiel's lap. He jumps slightly on impact, yelping.

"Are you burnt?" Anna asks, standing up.

"No, it's cold," he complains, and Dean's hand is unmarked.

Anna gasps again and says, "Dean, your arm!"

The needle marks are even worse in the bright lights of the kitchen. Most of the time they fade over night, but the purple and red has darkened and there are even signs of deep bruising. He tries to snatch his arm out of sight quickly, but Chuck grabs his wrist and stretches his arm out. His hands began to redden from the cold, but he keeps examining, and Bobby stands up to get a better look.

"I think you should take it from here, Gabe," Bobby instructs, and he nods seriously. Jessica keeps looking at Dean's arm with concern and sympathy.

"Let's just finish breakfast," he says, and everyone turns back to their plates, stiffly. The conversation doesn't shake the awkward tone throughout the rest of the meal.

After breakfast, Dean tries to help carry the plates to the sink, but Gabriel sends them flying away to land in the sink.

Jessica lays a hand on his back carefully, like she's afraid he'll scare easily. Her touch burns through his thin t-shirt.

"Can we go for a walk?" She asks, and Dean nods.

Jessica leads him out to the backyard, and Dean tastes the fresh air on his tongue. He hasn't been able to enjoy the sunshine in many years, so he uses this to his advantage. The yard surrounding the house stretches on for miles; it's mostly flat until it's met by trees. Dean guesses the trees are used to conceal the house from noisy neighbors. Jessica beckons him down a stone path, and he follows as he listens to the birds sing from somewhere in the trees. It's something he hasn't heard in a long time.

"What did they do to your arm?" Jessica isn't looking at him, but Dean knows she wants an answer.

Dean rubs the spots on his arm, and answers, "Needles."

"They injected you?"

Dean nods, but says nothing else. He doesn't feel comfortable discussing his life story with strangers even if they did rescue him.

"We think they were trying to change your DNA. Possibly even use your genes to create more people with your abilities. Did they take your blood?"

"They took both of our blood, frequently," Dean replies.

"Bobby and the government think they are trying to create a new race of people. That's probably why they experimented on you so often."

Dean stops under a large tree, and Jessica shoots him a soft look. "You get headaches, don't you?"

Dean's eyes widen at her question. "How do you know so much about this?" His eyes flicker over to Jessica's inner elbows, but they carry no scars.

"I think Gabriel would be a better fit to tell you this story. Since it is about him, but I'll give it my best. He wasn't born like the rest of us. He was genetically engineered. He wasn't born with powers like the rest of us. It's not something he likes to talk about, so don't ask unless he brings it up." She sends him a slight smile that he returns without hesitation. "I guess you could say he has 'daddy' issues."

"So they altered my DNA?" He looks over the canopy of leaves and branches hanging over them, shading them.

"Yes. We don't know if it was effective, but…"

"You said they were trying to create a new race," Dean says, looking out over the mown lawn leading back up to the house. "Why?"

Jessica leans back on her elbows. "We aren't exactly sure, but it makes sense. Imagine a whole race of gifted people. Who would even try to take that on? How could they?"

"Is that why you rescue all of us? So they can't take the gene to make an army?"

Jessica frowns at his question. "We rescued you because that's no way to live, and we know it. Good people get treated like lab rats in that place. It's disgusting!" She spits this out in rage. "I've got these powers, and I'll be damned if anyone gets treated like that because of my inability to act!"

Dean looks at her quietly. He hadn't meant to get her so worked up. He whispers quietly, "Thanks."

She falls back onto the grass with a sigh. Her rant has obviously worn her out.

Well, I decided to end this chapter before it got too long. Trust me, I think I could have continued writing this chapter for quite a bit longer! Next chapter's going to have some drama in it! Oh, and if you want a list of the characters and their powers, then check out my profile. I hope you all enjoyed the chapter! I'd love a review if you have the time!