John knew that it was going to be hard to train Dean to make him into a hunter. There was only so much he could tell him, he had to show him and eventually use hand to hand to show Dean how to do it.
He also should have expected how easy it was to train Dean who seemed to absorb everything John told him and held it close to him.
A part of him knew that it was because Dean was afraid of disappointing him in anyway. He tried to reassure Dean that nothing bad was going to happen to him from John, he'd never raise a hand to him.
But then he reached the conundrum of how to properly train Deen on how to fight and how to defend himself. He settled for explaining before and after each training that yes, sometimes he might end up accidentally, he stressed that word more than once, hurting Dean in some way but it wasn't his intention, he didn't want to hurt him, and most of all that Dean hadn't done anything bad to warrant someone hurting him.
He wasn't sure if Dean really understood what he said but he did have a thoughtful look and despite a few times when he did get hurt during training he didn't flinch away from Johns touch and he actually started to look towards him for comfort and help.
He also started to smile a bit more and was putting on weight a bit more, starting to eat with relish and he even managed to coax a few laughs from him as well.
Slowly Dean seemed to relax more and more around John, he still clung to him and hid behind him at times, much to the amusement of the people around them, but he also would fall asleep next to John on the bed despite there being two beds and slowly, but surely, he was starting to come more out of his shell.
Finally John felt comfortable, or maybe not comfortable but a little bit more willing, to take Dean on what he hoped was a simple hunt, a man claiming that his son was possessed by a demon.
John blinked at the cowering child and despite everything telling him he didn't have to he reached out and let some of his holy water flicker onto the boy. The boy flinched back from the water but there was no screaming, no smoke, nothing that would tell him that there was a demon possessing him.
"I don't know where you got this from, but there's no demon." John told him, pocketing his flask of holy water. "He's just a kid." he looked behind him where Dean was. To his credit he hadn't hidden behind him and was standing next to him instead, shaking slightly but staying where he was.
"That's not a kid, it's a demon." the man spat out, his voice rough and harsh. The boy flinched hard at the voice and curled into a tighter ball from where he was sitting. Slowly John started to pick a few more things around the kid and breathed out slowly, his fingers starting to twitch.
"And what makes him a demon?" John asked, his voice remaining steady surprisingly despite the anger that was starting to rise inside of him.
"He can do things no one else can, I've seen him." the man sneered. Before John could stop him he moved forward and grabbed the boys arm hard enough for the child to cry out, and yanked him to his feet. "Show him!"
The boy was shaking hard, trying to curl in on ihmself as small whimpers escaped him much to the ire of his father.
"I said show him!" the man all but roared, shaking the boy hard and John stepped forward to grab at the kid as well and get him freed from the man but stopped when the boy took a deep breath and the chair that was a few feet away from them started to float.
"You see?" the man asked in disgust, throwing the boy to the ground hard. The boy fell and stayed on the ground, his body shaking, from fear or quiet sobs John wasn't sure. "Nothing human can do something like that."
John breathed out slowly, reaching behind him to lightly touch Dean's shoulder. The boy didn't flinch, praise for small mercies, and looked up at him questioningly.
John motioned with his chin towards the child on the ground and Dean immediately understood, coming forward. He shot a slightly fearful glance at the man but continued forward until he could crouch next to the boy.
"Get your kid away from it." the man said, eyes narrowing. "Else he might spread the evil."
John came forward to cover the two boys, he could see from the corner of his eye Dean was slowly helping the boy up to his feet, wrapping his arms around him. "Dean, get to the car."
Dean glanced at him one more but then nodded again, gently leading the child away.
"Where the fuck do you-" the man started to say only to stop when John came forward and grabbed him by his neck, squeezing hard. Dean didn't look back and when the boy tried to he made sure that he didn't, bringing him out of the house instead.
"Your kids psychic." John told him, not really surprising himself when he saw the man choking. "And yeah most people can't do that but that doesn't make him any less human." he tightened his grip. "In fact, the only thing thats not human that I can see here is you."
A little bit later John came out of the house with a bag filled with things from the inside that either he could tell belonged to the kid or something that would be of use to them. There was smoke starting to grow behind him that he didn't care about. Both of the boys were in the backseat and he got into the driver's seat and got them onto the road, letting a few miles get between them and the house before he spoke. He parked the car in a small field and turned to look at the boys.
"You didn't deserve what your dad was doing to you" John said, keeping his voice soft. "And I'm not going to let you go back to him," left unsaid was that there was nothing to go back to.
The both of them were sitting together, with the boy almost completely on Dean's lap and Deans arms around him. He looked downright terrified and John reached into his glove compartment to take out a handkerchief and used it to tenderly wipe at the tears on his face.
"You're going to be safe now kiddo." John murmured. "What's your name?"
"Sam." the boy, Sam, whispered, his voice breaking. "I'm Sam."
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