Kay, back on Earth for this chapter. It picks up right where chapter two left off. Warnings for spanking of a minor and John!Bashing. It was inevitable if the plot was gonna work, and who am I kidding, I have a horrible opinion of John. I get that he really does care about his kids, but his way of showing it is a nightmare.

Samandriel was telling me about what flying's like when John came down the stairs. We didn't notice at first, so he overheard a good chunk of our conversation.

"The wind picked up right as I was flying through the gorge," Samandriel said. "And it blew me- off course-" he suddenly stopped, face going pale.

"What is it?" I asked.

Samandriel ducked his head and didn't answer. I looked behind me.

"Oh."

"Adam, I specifically told you not to go near the angels," John said.

I shifted nervously. "I know," I mumbled.

"I know, sir," John corrected.

If he hadn't looked so angry, I would've sassed him back. As it was, I didn't dare. "Yes, sir," I mumbled.

"And speak clearly," he snapped.

I had a hard time not snapping right back. He was practically asking for it.

"Fine," I enunciated clearly.

"You disobeyed me," John said.

"No duh," I said sarcastically.

"You are a disgrace of a hunter," he said.

"I'm not a hunter," I argued angrily.

"Yes, you are," he said. "You are my son, and that makes you a hunter. So behave like one."

I flinched. "I have the right to talk to whoever I want," I protested.

"No, you do not," John said. "You can talk to who I say you may talk to and nobody else! And for disobedience and disrespect, you'll get a spanking and no meals for the rest of the day."

"Fine," I said rebelliously. "Spank me all you like. I don't care."

I think he might've at least brought me upstairs to spank me. Instead, he spanked me right in front of Samandriel and Castiel. I did not want my new friends to be the audience for my shame. I was in tears by the end of it, and I ran upstairs to get away from John.

Dean looked up from where he was punching a hole in the wall when I stormed in from the basement.

"Adam?" he asked. "You ok, kid?"

"Leave me alone," I wailed. "It's all stupid and you're mean."

"Ah," Dean said. He gave me some space.

I turned my face to the corner and sat down, then leapt back up when sitting was uncomfortable. I kicked the wall. "I hate John," I cried. "I'm not a baby! He can't just spank me."

I swiped the tears from my cheeks and looked for something to do to take my mind off the pain and embarrassment. I found my backpack and got out my book. For a few hours the story took my mind off everything and I was happy. It was sometime in the late afternoon when I got hungry and restless.

John was eating a snack, which made my hunger worse. I was used to missing a few meals now and then, but did he really have to flaunt my punishment? And I was bored of reading and wanted some kind of exercise. I wondered how much trouble I'd get in if I left the warehouse for a quick walk.

I didn't want another spanking, but if he didn't notice… I snuck outside. The outside of the warehouse looked silly, all painted over with funny sigils. I supposed they were to keep Castiel and Samandriel in and the other angels out. It was sad.

In the bright daylight, I noticed a funny mark on my arm. A cut that I didn't remember getting. It wasn't big or anything, but I thought I'd remembered that my arm was fine. Huh. I must've missed seeing it earlier.

I ran around for a bit, careful to keep the warehouse in sight. I wouldn't want to get lost, especially not when I was already in trouble. I pulled up some of the long grasses and twisted them into random shapes when I got bored of running. I raced my shadow, looked at the clouds, and pretended to be a brave hero who fought off a dragon. Basically, I had a great time and completely lost track of when I needed to get back so John wouldn't notice I was gone in the first place.

It was twilight when I realized I'd been gone for hours. I was going to be in so much trouble. I crept back inside, and John immediately ambushed me and started yelling. I ducked my head, nodding and mumbling "yes, sir," in all the right places.

It didn't do much good, and I got another spanking. He also revoked my meal privileges for all of tomorrow. Really, can't he come up with original punishments? He just used these earlier today.

He didn't go at all easy on me with the spanking, and it really hurt after the other one just a few hours earlier. When it was finally over, I was too mad to just run off.

"You are an awful parent!" I yelled at him. "And I hope the next real monster you fight eats you!"

"That's it!" John yelled right back. "All you can use your mouth for is talking to enemies and being disrespectful, so you won't talk at all for the next twelve hours."

John duct-taped my mouth shut. I wasn't happy, but there was nothing I could do to express my displeasure. I stood in the corner and sulked.

Nobody seemed to care that I was sulking in the corner, so I got bored pretty quickly. But then there was nothing to do. John was watching me closely enough that I didn't dare try to visit Samandriel or sneak outside again, and it was too dark to read.

So then I stood in the corner and sulked because it was the only thing I could do. And that was pretty miserable. My stomach hurt badly, and my skin itched from the duct-tape. I was tempted to tear it off, but I couldn't stand the thought of a third spanking in one day. I just wanted to read my book, but I didn't have even a flashlight.

I lay down awkwardly on my side and tried to sleep. It was too early, and I wasn't tired. Add in the strange position, and I wasn't anywhere near sleep. It was a miserable few hours. At the end of it, Dean tapped my shoulder. Dean is a much better big brother than I give him credit for.

"Hey," Dean said. He grasped the edge of the duct-tape. "Ready?"

I nodded eagerly. Duct-tape removal would hurt, but it was better than being gagged.

Dean yanked it off quickly. I yelped, even though I'd been expecting it.

"Finally," I said. "I got really sick of not talking."

"Dad hasn't sanctioned it, so you'll have to put it back on in half an hour or so," Dean warned. "I brought you some food. Couldn't have my little bro starving."

"Thanks," I said, throwing my arms around him. "I'm glad you're my brother."

"No chick flick moments," Dean complained half-heartedly.

"Sorry," I teased. "I wouldn't want to spoil your machoness."

Dean growled at me. I giggled.

"So, uh, you said food?" I asked hopefully. My stomach growled, underlining my words.

"It's canned soup and granola bars, but it's edible," Dean said.

I looked at the soup. "If I'd had anything to eat yet today, that would look awful. Right now it looks delicious." I ate the soup and granola bars as quickly as I could. "How long do we have to stay here?" I asked.

"Dad wants to get some information out of the angels and find a way to kill them," Dean explained. "I don't know how long we'll have to stay here. It depends on when they break."

"Can't we at least leave the warehouse?" I whined. "I was outside for hours earlier and nothing happened."

"I stuck my head out the door and nearly lost it," Dean said. "The warding on this building is really strong, and the angels can't break it. I dunno why you were ok, but they're out there and they're not happy."

"Of course they're not," I said. "Dean, we attacked them for no reason and captured two of them and tortured them. That's mean."

"And in return, they killed Sam," Dean snapped back. "So they deserve what they get."

I blinked. "Castiel said Sam was probably still alive when I talked to him."

"I don't know why that would be," Dean said. "Maybe he was manipulating you since you take a more favorable view of angels. With me Cass was- graphic in his descriptions of Sam's death."

"Cass?" I asked.

"Castiel is too much of a mouthful," Dean said. "Cass works."

"I thought you hated him," I said. "Now you're nicknaming him?"

"I do hate him," Dean snapped. "Rarely hated anyone more."

"Cass said he lied to you," I said. "When he was talking to me. He was trying to make you mad so you'd focus on him and let Samandriel alone."

"No," Dean said immediately. Then he thought it through. "I think you might be right. It was always right when I turned to Samandriel that Cass would say something about Sam. I just got so mad I couldn't even think!"

"And you hurt him instead of Samandriel," I noted.

Dean was silent for a moment, thinking about the angels.

"Can I have a flashlight so I can read in the dark?" I asked.

Dean started, like he'd forgotten I was there. "Oh, sure," he said. "There's an extra in my backpack you can have."

I read for a while with Dean's flashlight, not bothering to replace the duct-tape. If I got in trouble with John, then I got in trouble with John. Wouldn't be the first time or the last. About when I started feeling tired the screams from the angels started up again. I could tell it was Castiel, so he must've been protecting Samandriel again. He's really brave.

I couldn't fall asleep like that. I hid my face under the blankets and tried to block out the sound. It got worse after about an hour when the screams stopped being from Castiel. It was Samandriel being tortured. I care about Castiel a lot, but Samandriel is different. I couldn't handle hearing him scream. The sound just cut right through me and made me want to attack John. And there was nothing I dared do.

I had a lot of time to think. There was nothing else to do, and I didn't want to focus on the screams. I was scared that Samandriel would get hurt badly enough to stop acting like himself. I really liked him, and I was living for the next time I could sneak down to visit him.

Wait, I was living to talk to him? I hadn't realized it before, but it was true. And then I decided that I had to find a way to free him. I'd talked to him once, not counting the little bit before the fight, and Samandriel was already my best friend. It was a little stupid. Maybe it was his angelic aura or something affecting me, but I trusted him.

And come on! Samandriel's an angel. How could he possibly be bad?

John, on the other hand, was giving me tons of reasons to fight him. He spanked me twice in one day. I'm not necessarily against spanking as a punishment, but I think it's supposed to be a lot lighter and for younger kids. Whatever John did is obviously ineffective. I just want to defy him more than I ever have before.

I started thinking through the logistics of setting Samandriel free. Ideally, I would free both angels, but I'll start with Samandriel. He's my reason to revolt in the first place, so obviously he's my priority. The thing is how exactly to go about doing it.

Maybe I could steal the keys to the chains John's using to keep the angels stuck. If I could undo the chains, the only other obvious restraint is the loop of holy fire John has around them. I can put that out with regular water. I don't know if he has them tied up in other ways, and I bet they're weak from the torture. But it's the best I can do.

Stealing the keys wasn't hard. I guessed John kept them in the secret compartment in the car's trunk, and I was right. I stole a set of car keys from Dean's backpack and got the trunk open. I even remembered to return Dean's car keys. I didn't want John to get him in trouble when it isn't really his fault. I want all the blame for this one.

I slipped downstairs and started looking around for water buckets. There weren't any. So I ran back upstairs. Luckily, there was a water bucket there. I heaved it downstairs, managing to only spill a third of the water on the stairs. I felt like it was a massive accomplishment.

"Adam?" Castiel asked. "What are you doing here?"

"What- what happened to Samandriel?" I asked, horrified. He was slumped and motionless in his chains.

"John Winchester happened," Cass said. He sounded torn between anger and grief.

"Well, I'm getting you both out of here so it can't happen again," I said. "And then he'll get better, right?"

"He would, but there's no way for you to free him," Castiel said. "He's thoroughly bound."

I shook my head. "I stole the key," I said, holding it up.

A little hope crept onto Castiel's face for the first time.