Sorry, it took so long to update! This is the most stressful week of my life, but I had to take a break and finish this chapter because it was distracting me. All I want to do is write this story! Yeah for procrastination and not studying for my test! I will definitely regret this tomorrow…

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Chapter 9

Dean navigated the Impala down the rocky driveway to Bobby Singer's house. The four looked out the windows of the car and watched as the older man walked out of the front door and down the porch stairs, making his way towards the black muscle car. Sam got out first and went over to the man and embraced him, Bobby patting Sam lightly on the back. Dean also got out and opened the boys' door stepping aside to let Noah and Nathan out of the car. After the boys got out, Dean shut the door and looked over at Nathan, sad to see that the teenager still looked extremely anxious and afraid. Dean placed a gentle hand on Nathan's shoulder, frowning slightly when he felt him tense under the touch. "Hey, don't worry about Bobby. He may look rough, but I swear he would never hurt a fly, maybe a ghost, but not a fly. Just don't tell him I told you that."

Dean guided Nathan forward when he got no reply in response, Noah was holding onto Nathan's belt loop while keeping a curious eye on Bobby. 'At least one of them was relatively calm,' Dean thought as he rubbed small circles with on Nathan's shoulder; hoping that the more positive physical contact he got the more he would trust Dean. Noah had relaxed a lot more ever since his dream. He realized Sam and Dean weren't going to hurt him for having the visions. For a while the boy was hesitant to tell Sam and Dean what happened in the dream, but eventually his brother persuaded him to talk about it. They were unable to locate the victim because of Noah's lack of details, but the next day they saw a story in the newspaper that was similar to the dream Noah had. The Winchesters were curious about the boy's other talents, but didn't want to press him until Noah and Nathan felt comfortable and safe around them.

"So, you boys must be Noah and Nathan. I'm Bobby Singer, I'm sure you figured that out though," Bobby reached out a hand to the eldest Carmichael. Nathan reached out a hand even though Dean knew he didn't want to, years of abuse forcing Matt's drilled orders to break loose.

"Do you have a dog?" Bobby looked down at the young boy who was pointing at a rawhide that was laying near the big oak tree in the yard.

"Yeah, I do. She's actually in the barn right now; she had puppies a few weeks ago."

"Can we go see them?" Sam and Dean were both looking at Noah with shocked looks on their faces, Nathan also looking down at his brother in bewilderment. 'Where was this coming from?' he wondered.

"How about we go eat some lunch first, you boys must be starving," Bobby suggested, "and then when you're done, Dean can take you to see the puppies." Noah shook his head in agreement, he was pretty hungry.

The men walked into the rickety old house, Nathan and Noah staring wide-eyed at the cluster that made up each of the rooms. Each room was littered with old, leather-bound books, papers, and an assortment of other objects. The wallpaper was peeling in some areas, but despite the clutter, the house was extremely homey. Bobby led the boys through the living room to the kitchen which was just as unorganized as the rest of the house was.

"Go 'head and sit down boys. I finished making some burgers right when you got here."

"Awesome," Dean said going to sit in one of the chairs surrounding the table.

"Not you, you idgit," Bobby directed at Dean when he saw the man sitting, "get those boys something to drink."

"Oh, yeah," Dean sheepishly replied getting up and grabbing glasses for everyone from a cupboard. He filled the glasses while Sam and Bobby passed out the food.

"Okay, dig in," Bobby said putting the extra food on the table and sitting down. Dean looked over and saw Nathan shifting uncomfortably in his chair. He took the bottle of pain pills from his pocket and handed one to Nathan, pretty positive the injuries his father gave him were still hurting.

"Here, take this," Dean said. Bobby looked over with a sad look, Sam having filled him in on the boys' story before they arrived at the house. Nathan took the pill from Dean and washed it down with a big gulp of water from his glass.

"So…" Bobby didn't know what to say to these boys. According to Dean they were quiet and extremely nervous. He could see that was true for the oldest boy who was picking at the food on his plate; the youngest, on the other hand was shoveling the food into his mouth. "Hey, slow down there buddy boy, you don't want to choke on that."

"Sorry," Noah put his food down and Nathan looked up at Bobby with a worried look, waiting to see what the older man was going to do.

"No, eat all you want, just slow down a bit. You know that burger's dead, it's not going to get up and walk away." He was glad to see Noah perk up and smile at the joke.

"Hell, for all we know, it could. We see so many things; I'm surprised we haven't seen walking cheeseburgers." Dean had just taken a bite of his burger and a small chunk of meat had fallen out of his mouth causing Sam to look at him in disgust.

"That's because you eat a burger so fast, you don't give it any time to act freaky, you cow." Noah giggled at this comment.

"What? You think that's funny?" Dean asked Noah with an amused expression on his face. Noah was biting his lip trying not to laugh as he shook his head 'no' in response. "That's what I thought," Dean went back down to eating his food.

Sam looked at Noah, raising his eyebrows in a devious manner and flicked a spoonful of peas at Dean, who looked up imagined shock and before Sam knew it, Dean had shoved his half-eaten burger in his face. Noah was laughing hysterically and even Nathan had cracked a smile. Bobby just shook his head in slight annoyance, "Okay, children, time to quit it." Noah sobered up at Bobby's tone, but Bobby looked at the small boy and said, "Oh no, not you kiddo, I meant those two children," he pointed at Sam and Dean.

"I am not a child," Sam was trying to scrape cheese from his bangs.

"Huh, yeah, says the man with cheeseburger all over his face. Better yet, Dean, go take those boys to see the puppies now. Sam and I can clean up."

"Would you like that?" Dean asked Noah. The boy nodded yes, excitement shining in his eyes.

"Why does Dean get the fun job?" Sam whined.

"And you don't think you're a child? C'mon ya idgit, let's get this place clean."

Dean got up and began leading the two boys to the door, but turned back around and looked at Bobby, "Hey, I thought Rumsfield was a boy?"

"Yeah, so did I."

"How is it that we know when someone is being possessed by a demon, but we have no idea whether or not you're dog is male or female." Dean shook his head in confusion and walked out of the room.

***

"Want a piggy-back ride?" Dean asked, smiling when he saw Noah shake his head excitedly, he was really beginning to like this kid. "Jump on, little dude," Dean leaned down and pretended to stumble as he lifted Noah up. "Uh-oh, you're too heavy," he joked and laughed as he heard the boy chuckle in response. Dean began walking towards the rickety red barn that stood at one corner of Bobby's property, "Are you coming Nate?" Dean looked back at the teenage boy who was standing at the bottom of the porch steps with a forlorn look on his face. Dean turned back around after he saw Nathan shake his head.

He didn't know what was wrong with the kid. One minute Nathan seemed almost comfortable around the Winchesters and the next minute he was acting like a caged animal. Dean just kept telling himself that that Nathan needed more time to realize no one was going to hurt him, but he didn't' know how else to help the kid when Nathan wouldn't even talk to him.

Dean got to the barn and slid the big wooden door back. He fumbled around looking for a light switch since the only light shining in the barn was the faint yellow rays that pushed their way through the cracks in the roof and windows. "So, where do you think these puppies are?" Dean asked flipping on the light.

"I dunno," Noah replied. Dean began walking down the aisle, Noah still on his back and slightly dipping the boy over the stall doors so he could look for the dogs. Dean could see Nathan out of the corner of his eye, peering into the stalls on the other side of the barn. "Found 'em!" Noah shouted scaring Dean and making him look back at the stall they now stood by.

"Well, would 'ya look at that," Dean set Noah on the ground and opened the stall door, letting the nine year old slip inside and make his way slowly to the puppies that were clambering by their mother. Nathan walked over looking curious, and even excited, and Dean let him go into the stall before entering himself and shutting the door in case a stray puppy decided to attempt to escape.

"Can I touch one?"

"Sure you can kiddo. Hey, if you sit down I'll grab one and you can hold it. Do you want to hold one too Nathan?" Dean asked. Nathan shook his head no, causing Dean to sigh slightly. Dean bent down and took one of the wriggling puppies into his hand, then carried it over to the young boy who was eagerly sitting on the ground, his eyes never leaving the dog. Nathan was watching his brother like a hawk, a smile making an appearance on his face when Dean placed the puppy in Noah's arms.

"What kind of dog is it?" Noah asked as he rubbed a hand over the puppy's body.

"It's a Rottweiler," Dean knelt down beside Noah and began petting the puppy that was now falling asleep in Noah's lap.

"Nathan, wanna pet her?" Noah looked up his brother who was standing with his arms crossed.

He shook his head no, "That's okay, Noah," he said. Noah frowned slightly at his brother's lack of enthusiasm.

"Dean! C'mere for a minute!" they heard Sam yelling from inside the house.

"What now?" Dean wondered out loud. "I'll be right back guys. Be careful with that puppy Noah."

They watched as Dean left the stall and made his way back to the house. Nathan sat on the ground, relaxing now that Dean left. Noah continued petting the puppy for a few more minutes, then set her down and watched her as she trotted over to her mom. He stared at his hands for a few seconds before shuffling over to his brother, leaning on Nathan's side, and wrapped an arm around Nathan's stomach. "Don't be sad anymore," Nathan stiffened when he heard those words come out of Noah's mouth.

"What're you talking about Noah?"

"I don't want you to be sad anymore. They're good, I can feel it," Noah said. He tilted his head to see his brother's reaction.

Nathan was silent before answering, "You don't know that for sure, Noah."

At this, Noah got on his brother's lap and wrapped his arms tightly around his neck, beginning to cry. "No, I know, Nathan. They won't hurt us, they're good, I know for sure!" Noah was sobbing now, "Please don't be sad anymore."

Nathan pondered his brother's remark. Sure the Winchesters have never even tried to hurt them, but it was risking too much to put his faith in them. He couldn't deal with that again. So, Nathan just sat there, holding his brother tight, and running a hand through his hair trying to help him calm down, not knowing what else to do.

***

Later in the day, Dean walked over to where Nathan was sitting, absentmindedly pulling grass from the ground. Noah was asleep on the porch swing, always staying where Nathan could see him. Dean sat down on the ground, stared at the sunset, and waited to see if Nathan would speak first. Finally, after what seemed like a while, he surprisingly did, "Why are you helping us?"

"Because you need it and because you didn't deserve anything your father did to you."

"We don't need your help. I can take care of Noah on my own."

"I have no doubt in mind that you could take care of Noah, God if I knew any better, you've been doing it for years. But you shouldn't have to Nathan; you deserve the chance to be a kid," Dean finally looked at Nathan who he could see was slightly shaking.

"Yeah, well what are you gonna do about it?" Dean knew Nathan was testing him with this statement, trying to see if Dean would go back on his promise and hit him after all. Nathan knew his father would have smacked him, or worse, if he had disrespected the older man in this manner.

"Nathan," Dean took a breath trying to cool the frustration he was feeling, "I care about you okay. For the short time I've known you I've really grown to like you boys."

"No, you don't care about us; you're just like the others. All you want to do is hunt and kill things and Noah and I are just gonna get in the way like we always do, and then what, huh? We're just gonna get hurt again, and I'm not going to let that happen!" Nathan stood up to try to walk away.

"Nathan!" Dean got up and began following Nathan, "What are you afraid of? Don't you think Noah deserves a family; don't you think you deserve real family?"

Nathan whipped around, "I have a family; It's me and Noah. We don't need a father, we haven't needed one for years, and we don't need you, Noah doesn't need you, he needs me!" Dean hesitated for a minute wondering where Nathan was going with this. Nathan had turned back around and began walking back to the house.

Dean pulled himself out of his trance and quickly caught up with Nathan. "You're right Noah's always going to need you. He trusts you more than anyone, but he needs adults to care for him, you both need adults to care for you. You shouldn't have to do this alone," seeing no response from Nathan he firmly, but carefully took hold of Nathan's shoulder, "Nathan, just wait and listen to me for a minute."

As soon as Nathan felt Dean's hand on his shoulder he turned towards the older man with a frightened expression and tried to pull away, "Get off of me."

"Nathan, just please talk to me," Dean didn't give in to the boy's relentless pulling. In actuality, Dean put his free hand on Nathan's cheek, trying to calm him down.

"Please, don't hurt me," Nathan's hands were pushing against Dean. Tears began falling down Nathan's face as he realized he was too weak to get away.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Dean pulled Nathan close to him and wrapped his arms securely around Nathan who halfheartedly continued pushing, "Stop Nathan, just calm down now. I promise no one's ever going to hurt you like that again. You're safe here." Dean kept up a continuous flow of comforting remarks as he rubbed a hand on Nathan's back. He placed his cheek on Nathan's head as he finally felt the boy begin to abate his efforts of escaping. "You're safe now; it's all going to be okay now."

Dean felt as Nathan clutched the back of his shirt tightly, sobs now racking his body. His legs gave out and Dean barely had enough time to catch him before sitting them both on the ground. Dean rocked the boy back and forth, continually muttering, "It's going to be fine now. It's alright, you're safe."

Nathan slowly quieted down, but continued to keep a tight hold on Dean. Dean continued rubbing the boy's hair and back, trying to calm him. Finally, Nathan's head was rested on Dean's chest, sniffing every now and then. Seeing that Nathan was somewhat relaxed now, Dean said, "You're gonna be safe now. I promise nothing will happen to you or Noah. You can trust me, kiddo."

"I just want to be happy," Nathan whispered after a few minutes, "I want Noah to be happy."

Dean tightened his hold and bent down to kiss the top of Nathan's head, "You will be kid, you will be."

I hope you guys liked this chapter. It was extremely difficult to write, but I am very proud of it. Thanks for everyone who reviewed! I love love love reviews, so keep them coming! I'll try to update soon.