Chapter Three-New Friends

It had been a month since the small family moved into the cabin and both boys were going crazy. Finally, John threw them out with a warning to stay near and to watch for strangers. Dean just snorted. He wouldn't let anything happen to his baby brother. Mary had told the boys about a small meadow near the cabin and John said they could go as far as that but no further. Also, the boys were told of the pond that Jim said had fish in it so the boys brought fishing poles and were going to dig for worms in the meadow. Adam planned on bringing some flowers home to his mom. He was happy to finally be outside after being cooped up for a month.

The boys found the meadow without any problems and started to dig for worms when a small noise alerted them to someone else being there with them. They looked up and saw two young kids looking at them with wide eyes. Dean noticed that they wore collars and became nervous. The only ones who wore collars like those kids did were one who had been taken by the government, the special kids. He wondered if the kids were part of a training program but when he really looked at them, he knew they had gotten away from the facility where they had been living. Both boys were dirty and their clothes were ragged. They were also painfully thin. While Dean was making his assessment, Adam reached out with his mind to find both boys were terrified that Adam and Dean would turn them in to get a reward or, worse yet, hurt them because they were different.

"Hey, are you two hungry?" Adam asked. Dean just huffed but knew that Adam had a good reason for being friendly. He trusted his brother's feelings when it came to people though he was more cautious. "We got sandwiches and some water we can share if you want." Taking a sandwich out of the bag he had been carrying, he unwrapped it and held it out as an offering. The boys looked at the sandwich then back at Adam. Reading their worries, he took a large bite of the sandwich and chewed. After he swallowed, he waited for a few minutes before offering it again. This time it was taken by the dark haired, blue eyed boy who tore it in half to share with the other one. Dean, seeing what his brother had done, took a bottle of water out of the bag and opened it to take a drink. He then offered it to the boys who took it eagerly and drank deeply. This was the pattern of the weird meal until the bag was empty except for the garbage. Then Adam went closer to the boys and, putting his hand on his chest he said "Adam." Pointing to his brother, he said, "Dean."

Hesitantly, the blue-eyed boy pointed to himself and whispered, "Castiel" then pointed to the other boy and again whispered, "Sammael". He didn't know why but the two boys in front of him made him feel safe enough to talk, something he hadn't felt since the guard had silenced his brother.

"We are brothers," Dean joined the conversation, "How about you two?"

Sammael nodded, looking down.

"Why don't you talk?" Adam asked.

Sam hung his head even lower while Castiel explained in a whisper, "Someone didn't like him talking so they stopped him."

Dean's mouth dropped open then he carefully stepped closer to Sam. Sam only flinched when Dean touched the collar around his neck. Dean moved it enough to see the scarring on his throat. His big brother instincts kicked in when he saw the damage done to the younger boy. Softly, he rubbed the scar. Sam felt the compassion from the older boy and looked quickly up at him. Dean got the feeling that Sam didn't look people in the eye often. He smiled at the younger boy to put him at ease and Sam smiled back, a thousand watt smile that showed his dimples, then he turned his eyes back down. Castiel was happy that his brother felt relaxed enough to smile. It rarely happened even now.

"Hey, does anyone every call you Sam or Sammy cuz I have to tell you that Sammael is a mouthful," Dean asked the boy. He nodded then Dean said, "Okay, then I'll call you Sam and your brother Cas." Castiel grimaced but Sam just grinned. He knew how much his brother hated it when their family shortened his name.

Before he knew it, Dean had gotten pushed so hard, he went flying a couple of feet. When he landed, he looked up to see a blond kid standing by his brother and the other two. Dean got up, ready to protect his brother when the new kid said, "What the hell are you doing with my brothers!"

Since he was a protector himself, Dean could see the protective stance the other kid had taken. He knew from his own feelings, he would have to go slow and carefully with him, "We were just talking, okay? We weren't hurting them."

"They don't talk to strangers," said the blond. "Hell, except for me, they don't talk to anyone."

The one called Castiel looked at the blond and said, "Makes us feel safe, like you."

"They do, huh? That's good," the blond cooed looking at him. Then he looked up at the Winchester boys and introduced himself, "I'm called Balthazar."

"Um, what kind of name is that? Or Castiel or Sammael for that matter?" asked Adam.

Balthazar knew he was taking big chances but, for some reason he trusted these new kids like the twins did, "Our facility manager liked Angelic names so we're named after Angels. We're from the Paradise Facility."

Dean had heard of the Paradise. One of the facilities that had the cream of the crop where it came to special children. Those children were used as spies and in espionage activities. Most of them were "retired" after a while, deemed to be dangerous to be kept. There were two other facilities like that, the Purgatory and the Inferno, both whose children were used then killed. The other thing was that when a child reached his or her eighteenth birthday, their sperm or eggs were collected and they were made sterile unless they had been marked as breeders. No chance of them having children of their own without authorization. The rest of the facilities were different. Their children were allowed to breed but with careful choosing of their mates. And the bulk of these children died in the field. No worries about retirement for them. The ones that survived mated, then…well nobody ever heard from them again.

If these kids were from Paradise, they were damned lucky to escape. "Oh man, even I heard about Paradise," Adam said with a moan.

"You haven't heard much about it if the manager had anything to do with it," Balthazar said sourly. Then he looked down as Sam tugged at his shirt. Sam was quiet, even when he needed something. The tug on his shirt was a very good example of the boy not wanting to be visible to anyone. Sam had tugged while looking at the ground. Balthazar carefully put his hand on the boy's face to raise it so he could see Sam's eyes. Sam didn't like to be touched or even looking anyone in the eye but he made exceptions for a few people, an exclusive club he let the Winchester boys into. "What do you need, Sammy?" he asked quietly.

Sam looked Balthazar in the eye and squirmed to show his need. Adam, reading the younger boy's mind said, "Hey, kiddo, there's a tree over there that's perfectly safe to use." Sam gave Adam a very brief smile then dragged Balthazar with him to relieve himself. Castiel trailed after the pair and used the tree himself. The three boys came back to where they left Adam and Dean.

Something bugged Balthazar so he extended his senses and found that both Winchesters were special but somehow managed to stay out of a facility. "How did you two stay out of a place like Paradise," he asked bluntly. He knew he could have found out the answer himself but Michael always stressed the need for everyone to have their privacy.

"Our grandfather. He ran the tests on our Mom before I was born," Dean explained. "He gave Mom and Dad some money and told them to run. We've been running ever since. How did you three end up here?"

Balthazar grinned. He liked the bluntness and honesty of the older boy so he was equally honest, "Our facility was raided and we escaped. We keep moving to stay away from the government goons."

Dean grinned at that then noticed his brother starting to dig for worms. "Do you guys fish?"

"We haven't," Balthazar answered. "But it sounds fun. Can you teach us?"

"Yeah!" Adam said enthusiastically.

The rest of the afternoon was fishing and just having fun. Something the five of them had very little of in their lives. When it came time for the Winchester boys to leave, they split the fish they had caught with the other three. Then, before leaving, they all made plans to meet in the meadow the next day.

When they were walking home, Dean turned to his little brother and said, "We can't tell Mom or Dad about the others yet. So, don't say anything, okay?" Adam nodded as his brother put his arm around him while they walked to the cabin.

They walked in the door with their catch, four good sized trout, and gave them to their Dad while their Mom praised them for their skill, "Did you two have fun? You were gone all afternoon."

"Lots of fun! Can we go back tomorrow?" Adam asked excitedly.

"We'll see if the weather holds out," John answered smiling.

"Pleeeeze, Dad? Please say yes!" Adam whined.

"Adam, we'll see. C'mon buddy, give your old man a break, huh?" John pleaded with his youngest.

"Yeah, Adam. Leave Dad alone, Buddy. I'm sure that we'll be able to go out to the meadow again and hopefully tomorrow. So give it a rest," Dean said.

Adam had a hard time going to sleep that night. He was excited. For the first time in his young life, he had friends that were just like him and he loved it. The only fly in the ointment was that Dean said they couldn't tell their parents. Something about it being too dangerous and Adam couldn't work out whether it was too dangerous for the other boys or for their parents but since Dean was the one who said it, he trusted that it was the right thing to do.

Dean also had a hard time going to sleep. He had sensed something about the twins that was at once familiar and also very different. Balthazar was someone he could understand. As an older brother, it was his duty to protect his brother from all dangers. Balthazar was also in the same position so it made Dean feel less lonely, not that he would ever tell his parents or brother how he felt. He would never be that selfish.

SWDWSWDWSWDW

Every day that it was nice, and the younger boys made sure that the days were nice, the five friends got together in the meadow to fish and play. After a while, Dean and Adam both found that their powers had expanded. When Balthazar was told about this, he explained that the boys had given them more powers since they wanted to make sure the Winchesters were able to protect themselves and their family. Even though Balthazar was younger than Dean by two years, he volunteered to help train the Winchesters in the use of their new powers. Dean was afraid that the government would somehow detect them from their using the powers so Balthazar brought Gabriel into the fold.

Gabriel was intrigued by the two Winchesters. He had known other kids whose parents hid them but they had been found at a young age since they couldn't control themselves. But the Winchesters had been able to do so and it made Gabriel feel good towards the boys. Gabriel put up sensors in the meadow and some equipment that would mask the usage of powers. Then he helped Balthazar teach the Winchesters about their new powers.

It wasn't long before the rest of the Paradise children became interested in what was going on and, one by one, they became acquainted with the Winchesters. Michael, Dean and Balthazar were the older brothers and at the beginning there had been a bit of head butting between the three of them but they finally resolved their conflicts in a way that suited them. Though Michael was head of their group, Dean ended up being one of his seconds with Lucifer being the other one. Balthazar and Gabriel took care of the youngest while the others were a group unto themselves.

Michael also had the Winchesters practice their telepathy. He said that they could use a frequency that the government goons couldn't detect with their machines. Adam found that he could reach the frequency easily since telepathy was his strongest power while Dean struggled with it. Dean agreed with Michael that, if there was a raid, it would be Adam who would alert the others so they could help the family. Michael also showed the boys where their cabin was in case of trouble. Raphael showed them the traps he had set while Gabriel didn't point out where the sensors were but he did tell them that they were there. Every foot around the cabin for five hundred feet was monitored by Gabriel.

Lucifer, ever cautious, agreed with Dean that the Winchester parents needed to be kept out of the loop for their own protection. He had told Dean about a couple who had been brought in the facility as breeders after it was found that they had hidden their special child. The man, he said, had been milked for his sperm then killed and the woman had been placed in an induced coma and made to bear other children until she experienced brain death. It took her five years to die, Lucifer reported. One of the empaths at the facility told him that the woman was in pain the whole time. Dean paled and it strengthened his resolve to protect his parents.

Raphael found that the Winchester boys were interested in the healing plants he collected so he started to show them how to gather, dry and use the plants. Dean loved learning how to heal that way. Anael, Rachel and Margaret taught the boys how to hunt and gather food so they would frequently bring game home for their Mom to cook. When John asked them how they did it, they said that they had put up snares and were teaching themselves how to use a sling and a bow that Dean had made after reading about them in a book which Caleb had actually left in the cabin. John accepted Dean's explanations easily.

It was Mary who figured out something was going on. Pretty simple really with the boys packing a lunch big enough to feed an army but she didn't ask any questions. She knew that Dean would lie anyway, for the safety of his parents. She also knew that he would keep Adam safe so whatever they were doing was okay, as long as they stayed safe. Mary started to bake cookies and put a couple dozen aside for the boys to take on their picnics. When John asked her about it, she just shook her head. He took the hint and didn't ask the boys either. Mary was a sensitive so he trusted her instincts. They were just happy their boys were full of joy these days.