A/N: Sorry this took so long. Suffering from a major lack of inspiration. Come on, guys... help me out. Give me something to go on? Anyway, please review, and sorry this is so short.
Dean noticed the ghost of old pain run across Scott's face, then disappear just as quickly. "What happened to him?" Dean asked.
"Don't know," Scott said sadly. "I guess he just took off. He couldn't handle it anymore."
"Couldn't handle it?" Dean asked. "You mean the whole medic thing? People dying and being bloody and stuff?"
Shaking his head quickly, defending his former mentor, Scott said "No, he always handled that like a pro. Like I said, he was the best. What he couldn't take was the bunch of idiots who worked here." His face clouded over with anger. "The people we worked with treated him just as badly as they treat Danni now." His voice softened some. "I see a lot of him in her. Maybe that's why I like her, why I try to protect her as much as I can."
"Because you couldn't protect Adam?" Dean asked. Scott nodded. "They did the same stuff to him that they do to her?"
He nodded. "And worse, too. Things they couldn't get away with to Danni, sexual harassment and all. His initiation was brutal, by far the worst I've seen. He was actually bleeding by the time they were done… No one has ever actually gotten hurt before."
"Uh… initiation?" Dean asked, instantly alert. "As in weird guys with paddles?" No way was he saying 'Please, sir, may I have another?'
Scott grinned a little as he shook his head. "I forgot, you and your brother haven't been through that yet… Don't tell anyone I told you about it. I would tell you not to warn Sam, but I know better. It's nothing major, I promise. Usually they just duct tape you to a backboard like a trauma patient and torment you some. You know, spray you down with the water hose, stick you in the back of someone's truck and leave you there for an hour or so, tickle you until you piss yourself. Basically harmless fun. No one gets hurt, and we've all been through it."
"No one gets hurt? But Adam was bleeding?"
Scott frowned, not happy at the memories. "They were rough on Adam. Really mean."
"Like?" Dean prompted, trying to hide his impatience.
"Well, they took his shirt, for one."
"They pinned him down with duct tape on his bare skin?" Dean winced. Ouch…
Scott nodded. "And used way more than necessary. Tore him all to hell. Then tried to act like they didn't mean to do it, like they were sorry. Until he was out of the room. Then they laughed like it was the best joke in the world." Scott ground his teeth in an effort to shove back some of the anger he had fought for years. Dean could understand. A mentor suddenly disappearing really sucked. Assuming he ran off voluntarily made it worse.
Dean shook his head. "Dude…" That was just wrong. He wondered what Sam would do if someone did something like that to Danni. Then he realized he really didn't want to know. "That just…"
"Sucks." Scott supplied for him. "Yeah. I was just a kid then, I didn't know what to say or do to help Adam. But I'm older now and I can do what I can to help Danni."
"You've stood up for her?" Dean asked.
"Yeah. A lot." It was clear from the sound of his voice that had involved more than just a few stern words. Dean wasn't sure if he should ask, or if that would be pushing it. Before he could, Scott tapped an inch-long scar down the side of his face. "This place is just evil," he concluded.
Dean's eyes widened. Not often someone made it that easy for him. "Evil how?"
Scott shrugged. "I don't know. Just evil. This is a redneck town and I guess it's just the typical redneck attitude towards people who are a little different. But this seems to go above and beyond."
Dean mentally processed it. "The same people, twenty years later?"
Scott shrugged. "Most of them. Stephanie. Darrell. Alan. Michael. Me. The first class, except Adam, is still here. Well, Darrell and Michael and Alan are…"
He couldn't seem to make himself say it, so Dean said it for him. "Gone? Scott, are Michael and Alan were the other ones killed?"
"Yeah."
"What about Jason?"
Scott shook his head. "He's only been here about 18 years. He got here right before Adam left."
Wheels turned in Dean's mind. "So you and Stephanie are the only ones left?"
With a shrug, Scott said "And Adam, wherever he is now."
Scott looked like this trip down Memory-Lane-from-Hell had pretty much wiped him out, and Dean had other things to deal with now. And an apology to give. "Uh… you gonna be okay? I gotta go…"
"Check on your brother? Yeah, go on. Make sure Danni is okay too, will ya?"
Dean nodded, then hurried out of the room. He was at Danni's bunkroom door in just a few seconds and slammed open the door without knocking. "Sam? Listen, I'm sorry about what I said. We gotta talk, and I think you might be- Oh, holy crap!"
He stopped and jumped back abruptly when he saw Sam kissing Danni, her hands up his shirt. Sam pulled back, and run his hand through his hair to smooth it, face turning red. "Uh, Dean? Don't you knock?"