Title: Need Some Light [4/?]

Author: Ailendolin

Rating: PG-13 … just to be sure.

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural and do not make any money with this story.

Summary: Tag to Jump The Shark. What if Adam hadn't been dead when Dean found him?

Word count: 3685

Characters/Pairing: Adam, Dean, Sam, Bobby & Rumsfeld

Warnings/Spoilers: Spoilers for Jump The Shark. Story goes AU in the middle of the episode. Also, there is some cursing and I don't have any medical knowledge whatsoever so mistakes are bound to happen.

Author's Notes: Last update during the World Cup! Everyone cross their fingers for Germany to win today! They deserve it.
Again, thank you to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well even though I had some problems with it and am still not really satisfied with how it turned out.
At least now I have a vague idea about where I want to go with this story, so that's something. =)

Chapter 4:

They had spaghetti that evening. Not because Sam and Dean were horrible at cooking but because Bobby's last trip to the supermarket had been a while ago and spaghetti suited everyone.

After dinner, Dean volunteered to wash the dishes with Bobby.

"Sam," Dean looked at his brother, hoping he would get the hint, "Why don't you take Adam outside and show him around? It would be good if he knew how far the grounds are protected."

Sam raised an eyebrow, letting Dean know without any words that he knew his older brother was up to something, but nodded.

"Sure." Sam looked at Adam. "Come on, we can take Rumsfeld for a walk while I show you everything."

"Make sure to pay attention, boy!" Bobby shouted after them. It was almost comical to see both Sam and Adam cringe. Dean could not help but laugh as his brothers hurriedly took Rumsfeld by his collar and left the house.

"You enjoy this, don't you?" Dean grinned at Bobby before he put the dishes into the sink.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Bobby said. The amused twinkle in his eyes betrayed him, though.

"I can't believe Sam still reacts like a scared boy when you use that tone," Dean said unbelievingly. "It's not like he ever got scolded by you, anyway."

"That's because that boy actually studied and paid attention to what I was saying." The 'unlike you' was left unsaid. "Hopefully Adam's more like Sam when it comes to learning stuff."

"He is," Dean said quietly. "He went to college and was trying to become a doctor when all this shit happened."

He scrubbed furiously at the plate, feeling the anger burn inside him at the thought of what the ghouls took away from Adam. Bobby watched Dean for a moment then took the plate from him gently, but firmly.

"Stop that," he said. "It's not the plate's fault all this happened. I still can't believe your dad told no one about the kid. What the hell was he thinking?"

"He wasn't," Dean stated matter-of-factly. "I guess Dad thought he could protect Adam by not telling anyone about him. He so desperately wanted to do right by him that he left him and Kate more vulnerable than we ever were."

Dean sighed and began washing another plate, this time more gently.

"You know I've always worshipped Dad," he began, "But he shouldn't have kept Adam from us. I can see why he did it, but I keep thinking that if we'd known about him and Kate then maybe Adam's mom would still be alive." He handed Bobby the plate and took up another. "We could've checked up on them now and again. Hell, you live close by, not even three hours away. But they never knew. Not about us and not about the monsters. They never stood a chance against an attack." Dean shook his head and had to force himself not to break the plate in his hands out of frustration. "Just imagine if we'd gotten rid of Dad's phones! The ghouls would have never contacted us and Adam would be dead."

"But he isn't," Bobby said and laid a hand on Dean's shoulder. "He isn't because in this hell of a mess still something went right. You got to him in time and that's all that matters right now."

"Not to him, Bobby." Dean sighed. "Adam's lost everything. First his mom, then the ghouls tell him Dad's dead. And then we make him leave his home, his friends, everything behind. His whole future is destroyed." Dean looked at Bobby helplessly. "It's not fair."

"You know as well as I do that life's never fair, especially not the kind of life we lead." Bobby took the last clean plate from Dean and began to dry it with a towel. "What exactly happened to Adam anyway?" he asked after a moment. "Don't think I haven't noticed that you left out a lot of details in your explanation earlier."

"I'm not sure," Dean admitted. "We didn't really have time to talk about it yet and I didn't want to pressure him. I only know that he'd been in the crypt for a few days until I found him. The ghouls did a nasty job with him. He's got a lot of small wounds all over his body. Bite marks, cuts, burns, you name it. But he didn't tell me how he got them exactly."

"Torture?" Bobby asked and put away the plates and cutlery.

"Probably," Dean said. "He's also bruised pretty badly, especially around his ribs. And the ghouls forced him to look at his dead mom."

"Ouch." Bobby winced in sympathy. "Poor boy."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "He's been through a lot."

Together they put away the pots and went to sit in the living room.

"Don't be so hard on him tomorrow, Bobby," Dean said at last and looked outside at his brothers who slowly made their way back over to the house with Rumsfeld strolling beside Adam. "I know you only mean well but Adam doesn't. I think he's a bit scared of you."

Bobby looked at him skeptically. "You think?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, and he won't say anything about it because he wants to prove himself. We're the only family he has left."

"Well, if he's anything like you two," Bobby said pointedly, "He'll do everything he can not to disappoint you. But don't worry," he added, "I was just joking earlier. Adam's still injured and I won't have him studying the whole day. What the boy needs is rest and to get to know his family. We can't make a Hunter out of him in a week anyway so there's no need to pressure him too much."

Adam and Sam chose that moment to open the front door with Rumsfeld at their heels.

"Though he doesn't have to know that yet," Bobby added quietly and winked.

"We're back," Sam announced and let himself fall on the couch beside Bobby. Adam remained standing for a moment, unsure about what to do, before he perched himself on the armrest of a chair. He reached down and scratched Rumsfeld behind the ears who was happily wagging his tail.

"So," Bobby asked, eyes twinkling with amusement, "Did you pay attention to what Sam's been telling you or were you too preoccupied cuddling the dog?"

Adam blushed and retracted his hand self-consciously.

"Relax, boy," Bobby laughed, "I was just joking. Coddle Rumsfeld all you want. Dean and Sam do that every time they're here. You have that in common."

"They do?" Adam asked, the eagerness to learn more about his brothers evident in his voice.

"Sure," Bobby replied. As if to prove it Dean went over to Rumsfeld and crouched beside him, petting his back.

"He's the only pet we've ever had," Sam explained. "We kind of adopted the first time we saw him. He was just a few month old then."

"That's probably the reason why he's not much good as a guard dog," Bobby said drily. "You've pampered him too much."

Dean gave Rumsfeld an affectionate ruffle and stood up, grinning.

"Well, it's really your fault because you and Dad wanted us out of the way when you were talking business and always told us to go play with the dog."

"Yeah, well, everyone makes mistakes," Bobby said grumbling and stood up as well. "I don't know about you guys but it's been a pretty long day and we've got a lot of work to do the next couple of days. I'm heading to bed. You still know where your rooms are, right?"

"Of course," Sam said. "Good night, Bobby."

"See you tomorrow," Dean added.

"Good night," Adam said with a polite smile.

"Don't forget about the Book of Revelation," Bobby reminded Adam and left the room. They could hear the old stairs creaking as he walked up them. Both Sam and Dean turned to look at Adam who once again had started scratching Rumsfeld. The dog was happily lying on his back allowing Adam to scratch his chin.

"Do we all get rooms for ourselves?" Adam asked after a moment and looked at his brothers.

"No," Sam replied. "There are only two guest rooms upstairs. The one Dean and I used to share when we were kids and another one with a single bed next to it."

"I thought we'd let you decide whether you'd like to have your own room or share with one of us," Dean said and looked at Sam to make sure his brother was okay with that. Sam nodded.

"Yeah, that's a good idea," he said. "So, which one would you like?"

Adam pondered that for a moment. He looked unsure, as if his answer could possibly be wrong. Finally he said," I … I don't mind sharing."

"Okay," Sam said, "Then I'll take the single bedroom. It has the larger bed," Sam added with a grin after Adam's questioning look.

"Looks like we're sharing, then," Dean said and smiled at Adam. "Sasquatch over there is too huge for his own good. Make sure you don't grow up to be so tall. It only creates problems."

Sam laughed at that.

"Dean, I think Adam's already as tall as you are and he's still got a few years of growing ahead of him."

"Great," Dean said and rolled his eyes, "What did I do to deserve not one but two baby brothers ending up being taller than me?"

Adam shrugged. "Bad luck?" he guessed.

"Yeah," Dean agreed, "We have plenty of that."

SPN

When Dean came out of the shower he found Adam sitting on the bed Sam used to sleep in, reading the Book of Revelation. He was still clad in his normal clothes and the look of concentration on his face told Dean that Adam read the Book closely.

"Anything interesting in there?" he asked and dropped his clothes on the other bed.

"Well," Adam said slowly, "The number seven appears a lot. There's seven seals, seven churches, seven angels … And there's of course the whole Apocalypse business with the Four Horsemen and stuff."

Dean grinned. "Nice bedtime reading, huh?"

"It could be," Adam said, "If it had been written in a way that's a bit more exciting and not so dry." He closed the book with a sigh and put it gently on his nightstand. "I'm just not sure how reading the Bible is going to help me learn how to fight monsters."

Dean looked at him for a moment, deciding whether he should tell Adam about the current situation or not. He finally sat down next to his brother so they were facing each other.

"Adam," he began, "You already know our lives are weird. Hunting monsters is obviously no normal career choice. But monsters are not the worst problem on our, admittedly, long list of problems, no matter how bad they are."

Adam remained quiet while Dean searched for the right words.

"Bobby wants you to read the Book of Revelation," Dean explained, "Because the Apocalypse is about to happen."

"The Apocalypse is about to happen?" Adam repeated, confused. "You're just screwing with me, aren't you? There's no such thing as the Horsemen or Lucifer."

"A few days ago you also would have never believed monsters could be real," Dean pointed out. He sighed. "Look, Adam, there's obviously a lot you don't know yet. But believe me when I tell you that the Apocalypse may very well happen. Lucifer is currently held by 600 Seals in his prison. Only 66 of them need to be broken in order for him to get free. And at the moment we're not doing a good job of keeping them intact."

"So Lucifer could walk on Earth in a few weeks?" Adam asked unbelievingly.

"Yeah." Dean looked at his brother. "The demons only need to break a few more Seals before he can break out. We try our best but it's not enough. We need to be prepared for the worst. If Lucifer gets free he'll turn Earth into chaos. Heaven and Hell will go to war and they won't care if a few million humans get caught in the crossfire."

Adam held up a hand and winced when the movement caused pain to flare up in his shoulder.

"You okay?" Dean asked concerned.

"Yeah, fine," Adam said dismissively. "So what you're saying is that there's actually a Heaven? Does that mean Angels do exist, too?"

"Don't get so excited, kid," Dean said, "Angels exist, yes. But they're not the fluffy-winged cherub-type with harps that you probably imagine. Actually, they're quite the opposite."

"What do you mean?" Adam asked and the crushed look in his eyes reminded Dean all too well of Sam when he met Castiel and Uriel for the first time.

"Angels are dicks, Adam," Dean said fiercely. "They're selfish and they don't give a damn about us humans. Some of them like to call us 'mud monkeys' which shows just perfectly how highly they regard us. They wouldn't hesitate smiting a whole city if it gets them their desired results."

"So you've met them?" Adam asked, his eyes dull. Dean hated himself for putting that look there.

"Yeah, some of them," Dean replied. "A fallen one named Anna, two major douchebags called Uriel and Zachariah. And Castiel. He's –" Dean paused, searching for words. "Cas is different," he finally said and Adam looked at him, intrigued.

"How?" Adam asked. Dean shrugged.

"I don't know," he said, "Cas was always different. I guess he really sees our point of view. You know, humanity's. He thinks before he acts and doesn't blindly follow orders anymore. He's beginning to doubt Heaven because of me."

Dean trailed off. Adam waited a moment before he asked, "So, is he, like, your guardian angel?"

Dean laughed. "I asked him the same thing once. He just told me he's a warrior and not here to perch on my shoulder."

"Doesn't he sound like a funny guy," Adam mumbled, causing Dean to laugh again.

"Yeah, angels and humor don't mix well. They don't feel emotions like we do," Dean explained. "Cas often doesn't get things that are normal for us. Like figures of speech. It's just the way he is," Dean shrugged.

"So, not all angels are dicks?" Adam asked cheekily. Dean chuckled and playfully ruffled Adam's hair.

"Cas is just the exception that proves the rule," Dean said.

There was silence for a moment when both contemplated Dean's statement until Adam asked, "How did you meet him?"

Dean did not look Adam in the eyes when he said, "He found me."

When Dean did not elaborate Adam asked quietly, "Do you think my Mom's in Heaven and met one of the nicer angels?"

"I don't know," Dean said truthfully. "I hope so. There's no reason for her to be anywhere other than Heaven. Maybe we can ask Cas the next time we see him."

"Really?" Adam asked, eyes bright and full of hope.

"We can try, at least," Dean smiled. "Now," he continued, "How about I take a look at your wounds before we call it a night? I want to make sure they're not inflamed."

"Yeah, sure."

"Good," Dean nodded, "Let's do this in the bathroom. Bobby keeps a med kit there and I can clean your wounds if I need to."

Together they left the room and took the few steps down the hallway that led to the bathroom. Dean turned on the lights and told Adam to sit down on the closed toilet seat.

"Here, let me help you out of the shirt."

Gently Dean opened one button after another, always mindful not to accidently bump into Adam's shoulders. When the blue button-down shirt came off Adam's bandaged chest was exposed.

"There's still no blood to be seen," Dean commented while he carefully removed the bandages. When the last one of them finally fell away Dean closely inspected Adam's wounds. Out of the corner of his eye he noted that Adam looked resolutely straight ahead and forced himself to breath normally.

The wounds looked good. None was newly inflamed or looked worse since the last time Dean saw them. He smiled reassuringly at Adam and reached for soft red washcloth that he soaked under lukewarm water.

"I'm going to wash your chest first, alright?" he asked. "I don't think you should shower for a couple of days. It may irritate the wounds."

Seeing Adam's barely concealed panic Dean added, "I'll be gentle, I promise. I know it hurts."

"Okay," Adam nodded finally, "Just make it quick."

Dean cleaned Adam's back and chest as quickly as he could. He stopped before he proceeded to clean the shoulders. They were still red and the bite marks looked as horrible and painful as the first time Dean saw them.

"I'm going to clean your shoulders now, alright?"

Adam just nodded, closed his eyes tightly and bit his lip when Dean started on his left shoulder blade. Every touch caused a shiver of pain to run down Adam's back and Dean had to force himself to keep going and get the job done.

"All done," he said relieved when the last bite mark was cleaned. Adam exhaled shakily and relaxed his hands that had been gripping his blue shirt tightly.

"You alright?" Dean asked worried.

Adam nodded slowly and even managed a smile. "Yeah, I'm good. It hurt, but not as badly as the last time. The shoulders are the worst."

"They'll take a bit longer to heal but you'll be fine in a week or so," Dean said and pulled gauze and bandages out of Bobby's med kit. "I'll try to cushion them a bit with gauze."

With that Dean proceeded to aplly the gauze to Adam's shoulders. He put the bandages over it and once again wrapped Adam's whole torso in them. A few minutes later Adam's injuries and multi-colored bruised had vanished under white bandages. Dean tightened them a last time before he took a step back and looked at Adam.

"How about I'll take your shirt with me back to our room and you get ready for bed? I'll help you into your sleep shirt when you're done."

"But I don't have my stuff here," Adam said.

"Yes you have." Dean pointed to a small bag. "Sam already put it there, next to our stuff."

With that Dean left Adam alone to get ready and went over to Sam's room. He knocked quietly, not wanting to wake Sam up if he was already asleep.

"Come in," he heard Sam's voice from inside the room. The door creaked when Dean opened it and he found Sam lying on the bed with the laptop on his lap.

"Hey," Sam said and glanced at Dean.

"Hey," Dean repeated. "Just wanted to let you know that Adam and I are going to grab some shuteye now. Oh," he added, "I also told him about our lovely friends, the angels."

Sam looked at him disapprovingly. "Don't you think it's a bit early to confront him with the possible destruction of the world?"

"He asked me why he had to read the Bible." Dean shrugged. "And there's no way I'm going to destroy his trust in us by lying to him." He looked at Sam pointedly. "We both know things always go horribly wrong when there are secrets involved."

Sam could not meet Dean's eyes and stared instead at his laptop.

"I'm going to stay up for a little while longer," Sam said after a few moments of silence, changing the subject. "Tell Adam good night from me, yeah?"

Dean sighed when Sam briefly glanced at him and turned towards the door, shaking his head.

"I will," he said. "Night, Sammy."

"Night, Dean."

Dean closed the door gently behind him and inhaled deeply. There was no way he was now going to think about Sam and his problems now. It would get him nowhere and only keep him up all night. He had been through that already and no solution had presented itself so far. Maybe he could ask Castiel for help. It was worth a shot.

He put Adam's blue shirt on a chair and sat down on his bed. His gaze fell on the Bible. It was not the first time Dean wished he could have the kind of Faith Castiel expected of him. He wanted to believe that God was out there somewhere but he needed some kind of prove. Just a small sign would be enough. He did not expect God to stop the Seals from breaking and the Apocalypse from happening. Dean just wanted Sam to be free of the Demon Blood. He wanted his brother to be okay again, nothing more.

Adam chose that moment to open the door and walk into the room. He gingerly bent down to retrieve a shirt from his duffel and looked shyly at Dean.

"Dean? Could you help me?"

"Sure." Dean went over to his youngest brother and helped him into the shirt, ignoring the painful winces when the soft material touched Adam's shoulders.

"Thanks, Dean," Adam said and lay carefully down on the bed, again with his back as close to the wall as possible, Dean noted.

"No problem," Dean replied, deciding against bringing the subject up. There was still plenty of time for that. He lay down on his own bed and turned off the bedside lamp. Darkness filled the room and it was only then that Dean noticed that Adam had forgotten to turn off the light in the hallway outside. A small beam lit up the carpet where the door was ajar. Dean thought about getting up again and turning it off but he did not feel too keen the idea and figured Sam would switch it off.

"Dean?" he heard Adam's quiet voice ask. Dean looked over at the other bed.

"Hm?"

"Good night," Adam said and Dean could hear the sleepy smile in his brother's voice.

"Yeah," he replied, chuckling softly, "Good night, Adam. Sleep well."

TBC