Chapter 7

"Mr. Winchester, what is your son talking about?"

"Nothing, he's just scared and confused," Dean rubbed a hand on Noah's back, trying to calm him down. He was confused about what Noah had said. He had no idea the boys even had an uncle, but they'd talk about it once they were clear of the school. "So, what exactly happened, today?" Dean asked the principle.

"Well, according to his teacher, Noah was dozing off in class when he suddenly began crying and shaking as he is now." The principle looked at Dean like everything was his fault.

"And then what?" Dean asked.

"We brought him here and called you. We asked him what was wrong and he wouldn't answer so we left him alone. Your son has some serious behavioral issues, Mr. Winchester. If he's acting out this badly, it's obvious he needs more discipline." Now this man had gone too far, Dean was enraged he would even think Noah had behavioral issues. The kid was scared to death of getting into trouble.

"No, he doesn't have behavioral issues. I told you people about what happened to him; Of course he's going to be scared, and you just drag him into the office without taking into consideration how he's acting." Dean couldn't believe that this moron was a principle.

"He was disrupting the class, Mr. Winchester. He's probably acting out because he wants the attention. He needs discipline."

"This is fucking ridiculous. Nathan grab you brother, we're getting out of here," Nathan stood up and pulled Noah up with him.

"Mr. Winchester, we need to have a serious talk about your son," the principle stood up to meet Dean at the door.

"Yeah," Dean huffed and shook his head, "I'll be in touch."

Dean followed the two boys out the room. He noticed Nathan struggling with carrying Noah, "Here let me get him." He reached over and pulled Noah into his arms. Dean saw that Nathan looked paler than usual. He didn't say anything about it as he placed Noah in the car.

"Everything alright?" Sam asked when he saw the three returning.

"I'll explain everything when we get home." Sam wanted answers, but kept his mouth shut at the tone of Dean's voice. He looked at the boys in the back seat and saw Noah slid over and leaned into his older brother when Nathan sat in the car.

The drive home was silent and tense. As soon as the Impala's engine cut off, Dean got out of the car and opened the back door, pulling Noah, who was now asleep, into his grip. Nathan walked silently beside Sam, following Dean into the house.

"Go sit on the couch," Dean told Nathan after he unlocked the front door. "I'll be back down after I put Noah in bed." Dean quietly made his left the living room and made his way to the stairs, being careful not to wake the nine-year-old. Dean knew how disoriented and afraid the visions made the kid, and he hoped a few hours of sleep would lessen the severity of the symptoms.

Nathan still looked extremely pale, sweat glistening from his forehead. Sam could see the teen shivering, most likely from fear, and he moved over to place an arm around Nathan's shoulders, pulling him into a hug. "How you holding up, kiddo?"

Nathan shrugged his shoulders before laying his head on Sam's chest and asking, "Why can't it all just go away?"

"It'll get better, Nathan. Just try not to worry about it too much. Let Dean and me handle everything."

After that, the two just sat in silence, waiting for Dean to reappear and begin his interrogation of Nathan and Noah's past. Nathan didn't want to talk about this again. He had tried so hard to push all those memories into the smallest, darkest corner of his mind. Sure he still had nightmares about what had happened, but living a normal life was getting easier day by day. Just the very mention of Uncle Jack brought a torrent of horrific emotions and memories back that were slowly wearing him down. And to think, not too long ago he was in school, sitting in class with not a care in the world besides trying to figure out what to say next to his fun, beautiful neighbor.

Nathan was roused from his memories when he heard Dean making his way down the stairs. Nathan didn't move from the comfort Sam provided and didn't look up as he heard the scratching of a wood against wood as Dean pulled an armchair near to where Nathan and Sam were sitting on the couch. Dean lightly placed a hand on Nathan's knee, knowing these next few hours were going to be tough before vocally acknowledging the kid. "Nathan," Nathan still didn't move. He really didn't want to do this right now, "Nathan, c'mon kid, look at me."

The heartbroken look in Nathan's eyes broke Dean's heart. Dean didn't want to force the unwelcome memories back into Nathan's life, but he had no choice. Sam and he needed to know about this guy if they were going to be able to protect the boys from them. Besides, Nathan always seemed to get a tiny bit better whenever he talked about his father, maybe talking about this chapter in his life would further help him.

"Nathan, you have to tell us about this Uncle Jack fellow."

"I know, I just-" Nathan had to stop and gather himself for a minute. The time Jack had spent with his family created some of the darkest moments in his life.

"I'm right here for you; Sam's right here for you." Sam tightened the grip he had on the kid's shoulder, while Dean moved closer to Nathan.

"He's Mike's brother; he's a hunter too. A few years after our mom died he came to live with us. He played a large role in my training."

"When was the last time you two have seen him?" Dean asked.

"He left two years ago. We haven't seen him since," Dean could tell Nathan was avoiding something. He kept looking at the ground, his eyes flitting nervously between Dean and the floor.

"Did he used to hurt the two of you too?" Sam asked. Nathan bit his lower lip as if trying to decide whether to continue pushing the memories back or to break down completely and talk about everything; but he just couldn't do it, it hurt too badly.

"I don't want to talk about this anymore," Nathan suddenly stood up and began walking away from the couch.

"Nathan," Dean stood up to follow the boy, "come back here. We need to finish this conversation."

"No, I don't want to." Nathan continued his walk to the staircase.

"Nathan," Dean quickly caught up to him and firmly pulled him around, "Nathan, look at me. You have to tell us what happened."

"Please," Dean almost broke down himself at Nathan's pleading. He looked so lost. "Please, I don't want to. It hurts too much." Dean pulled Nathan to him and wrapped him in a tight embrace.

"Nathan, please. We have to know why he left. It might help us."

"No it won't," Nathan pushed Dean away, but continued to keep a tight grip on Dean's shirt. "It won't help. I know what happened and it won't help!" Dean would hate him if he knew what had happened.

"Nathan, I love you and nothing that happened in your past is going to change that. You know you can tell me anything. Please, just talk to us."

"Dad, please." Nathan looked at Dean in desperation; this was just one part of his past he had no desire to talk about. It had happened, Nathan recognized that, and once he had he tried his hardest to forget about it.

"Nathan." He pulled the boy close again and he felt Nathan hold onto him like a lifeline. What had happened in Nathan's life to make things this bad? He was always able to talk about things to Dean before, but this time Nathan seemed completely broken. Sam was watching the scene, not knowing what to do to help either of them. So, he just watched and held his breath in preparation for whatever was going to happen.

"Come sit down, kiddo." Dean pulled him to the couch and sat him down between him and Sam. "Nathan, just take your time and tell us."

Nathan knew he had to tell Sam and Dean; they wouldn't stop bothering him otherwise. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself before he began.

"Jack came to live with us when I was twelve. Mike was really busy with a hunt he was on, so he asked Jack to watch us and to be in charge of my training. He was so mean," Dean could see the tears beginning to fall down Nathan's face. "With Mike, at least he had a reason to be angry, but Jack was…anything we did wrong we got punished. If Noah spilled a glass of milk or we were being too loud, even if we just got in the way, it was like nothing was ever good enough. No matter what we did it never stopped, no matter how hard we tried…I tried to protect him, I did. Mike believed everything Jack said and just let him do whatever he wanted to us. I tried…please believe me. I did all I could, but they were so strong." Dean pulled Nathan close to him again as he began to sob. Sam ran a hand over his face before leaning over to put a hand on Nathan's back.

"Nathan, we know you'd always try your hardest to protect your brother. And just to remind you, Mike had no right to do what he did to you and Noah," Sam said as Dean whispered words of comfort to the teen.

"It's just, Noah was always so scared, and he didn't know what he was doing wrong. I mean he was only six years old and I couldn't tell him how to not get hit because Jack didn't care."

"I know kiddo. You did nothing wrong." Dean pushed Nathan away from him so as to better be able to look him in the eyes. "None of this was your fault, okay? Are you okay now?" Nathan nodded while Dean reached over a wiped the tears from his face.

"Now, why hasn't Mike seen his brother in a year? What happened to make him leave?" Nathan averted his eyes again. This was the part he was dreading. "Breathe slowly, Nathan." Nathan hadn't even realized he was panicky g until Dean said something. "Calm down and breathe. You're fine."

"I went on a hunt with Jack," Nathan simply began, he knew Dean was going to hate him either way. Sam and Dean just watched and listen to Nathan's story, "Everything was fine until we got back to the house. Mike left a note saying he took Noah to get some food. I set the bag of weapons on the kitchen table and walked over to the fridge to get a drink, but Jack saw me moving and he pushed me into a corner of the room." Nathan was staring at nothing, his lower lip trembling as he told his story.

"I didn't know what to do. It was like he had gone crazy. One minute, he had me by the throat, I could barely breathe; then the next, he was undoing my pants." He couldn't force himself to look at Dean's reaction.

"Oh God, Nathan," Dean placed a hand on Nathan's head, but the boy still wouldn't look up. "What did he do to you?"

"He really didn't get a chance to do anything. I mean, he touched me, but Mike walked in and saw him and flipped out." Sam glanced at Dean, anxiety shown on both their faces. "He beat the shit out of Jack before kicking him out forbidding him to come near us again. You know, after the happened, for the briefest of moments, I thought my Dad was back. Maybe he cared enough to protect me, but as soon as Jack was gone he turned to me and said, 'Boy, zipper your pants up, wipe those tears, and get the hell out of my sight!' He didn't care; he just didn't want his son to be seen like that. God, he couldn't even look at me." Nathan's tears began afresh, and Dean was too shocked to do anything but hold him. "You hate me don't you? You don't want me to be your son anymore, right? Now, you can see how weak I am. I couldn't get him fucking off me, even when he was doing that."

"Nathan, I could never hate you. That wasn't your fault. You were just a kid and he forced you to do it. You're so brave for dealing with what you dealt with for so long. God, I'm so proud of you for how well you're doing now, even with what happened in your past. Your Uncle Sam and I are both proud of you kiddo."

"Dad," Nathan simply said before surrendering once more to Dean's protective and loving embrace. It offered all the warmth he missed for most of his life. Nathan felt Sam place a hand on his head and finally realized that they didn't hate him for what had happened, they loved him and would always protect him.

Nathan eventually cried himself to sleep, so Dean laid him on the couch and covered him with a blanket, allowing the boy to rest after the exhausting day. Dean knew Nathan was traumatized. Yes, the kid had made a lot of progress, but he just looked broken. He was too young and too good of a kid to have gone through what he'd been through. Dean just sat there stroking Nathan's hair, taking a few minutes to let the realization sink in before turning to his brother.

"What the fuck man? I mean, damn it, you don't do that to anyone, let alone a twelve year old boy." He stood up and led the way to the kitchen.

"Dean, he might need to see someone, like a shrink or something. This is too much for either of us to handle. Physical and emotional abuse is one thing, but sexual, that's a whole other ball field."

"No, shrinks will just complicate things. He just needs us, alright? Nathan's already made a huge improvement, this doesn't change anything."

Sam looked at Dean with pity. "Alright, man, whatever you say."

And that was the end of the conversation. Sam and Dean just sat at the kitchen table mulling over all they had found out and wondering out they were going fix things.

Anyways, I'm putting a poll up on my profile…it'll be up for 2 weeks. PLEASE TAKE THE POLL. It's about whether or not I should start a new story while writing this one. Thanks! Hope you enjoyed the chapter…poor Nathan by the way…I'm sorry for putting him through all this stress, but what can you do.

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