Disclaimer:Supernatural is not mine. More's the pity. They belong to Kripke Enterprise and the CW Network. I am not making any money from this; I am simply playing in the fantastic sandbox that Kripke created with these two characters.

Synopsis: Samuel Campbell (Sam) is called home from Palo Alto, CA when his father is killed in an accident at the ranch. His sister Gwen remained in the family business, though it was always his father's intention that Sam should run the family business. Her husband Christian has taken over running the business, but the ranch is losing money and since Sam is the sole executor of the estate he is forced to return. Upon returning home, he finds his family's business is a wreck; an unknown corporation is trying to buy them out.

After interviewing several men to take the spot of one of the hands, Sam's foreman Bobby Singer eventually settles on Dean Winchester. This is after the man saves Sam's life in a bar one night. The cowboy brings his own baggage including a small son. He is also running from something in his past that he desperately wants to keep buried.

Warnings: This is an unrelated AU story with Male/Male pairings. If you don't like that sort of thing, DO NOT READ THIS STORY. There is also foul language interspersed throughout the story, so be on the look out for that. Dean and Sam are unrelated in this story, since I don't really write Wincest. But I do like the dynamic between these two characters. ALSO IF YOU READ MY OTHER WINCHESTER STORIES…YOU MAY NOT LIKE THIS ONE. PLEASE READ ALL WARNINGS.

Chapter 12

Hunted

The smell that was floating in off the grill had Sam's mouth watering. One thing about Dean? The man was a gourmet cook with charcoal briquettes, seasoning, and steak. Sam and Emery were staring at the television. The little boy had managed to talk him into watching Turbo…it was some show about a racing snail. The kid was chattering the entire time, explaining why the snail was so fast and how he wanted to be in the Indy 500.

Sam hadn't quite gotten that initially. Why would a snail be allowed to participate in a race for cars? He'd made the mistake of asking Emery about and the kid had actually snorted at him...cheeky little twirp. Sam thought fondly.

"Sam…he's fast snail. He can beat all those stupid cars. He can under them and around them. Duh…" The child was looking at Sam like he'd just defamed a famous monument or something. Dean chose that exact moment to step through the kitchen door. He couldn't help the smirk that worked its way onto his face at the comment.

He knew this side of his son…and Sam was never gonna live it down if he didn't step in.

"Emery…Sam hasn't seen the movie. He doesn't know that Turbo got super speed from a nitrous charged Mustang." Dean's gravelly voice lightened as he chuckled. "Play nice. Or he might not watch cartoons with you anymore."

"But daaaad…he should know these things." The boy's voice turned whiny and Dean tilted his head in reproof. Emery sat up and pursed his lips. "Fine." He turned to Sam. "Sorry, Sam."

"It's okay buddy. I'm gonna go help your dad with the food." He reached down and ruffled the child's hair before silently thanking Dean for the 'save'.

As they stepped outside Sam shook his head. "He always take things so seriously?"

"His cartoons?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded.

"Yup. They're very important to him. So I'd brush up on every cartoon since the 1980's." He couldn't help but laugh at the dumbfounded look on Sam's face.

"Seriously? The 1980's?" Now his voice sounded whiny. That was a shit load of cartoons.

"Pay close attention to Transformers, Ninja Turtles, and He-Man…ignore She-Ra. Emery hasn't learned to appreciate the female form yet." He reached around Sam and grabbed the tongs. His arm brushing against Sam's ass on accident...sorta.

Dean's green eyes lifted to meet Sam's gaze and he smiled. "I'm not sorry." As he stepped away from the other man to flip the steaks.

"For what?" Sam queried.

"Taking advantage of that and getting to touch you." Dean's voice dropped and then picked up a husky quality that was doing something awesome to the inside of Sam.

"Can I tell you a secret?" He asked as he leaned over Dean's shoulder. His breath brushing gently against the shorter man's ear. When his breathing increased and he finally nodded, Sam continued. "I'd let you take advantage of me any day."

Dean groaned and leaned back against Sam's broad chest. "I swear, you're gonna be the death of me."

"God, I hope not." Sam said somewhat seriously.

"Figure of speech, Sammy."

"Well, it's a bad one."

The steaks were sizzling and the corn on the cob was boiling on the stove. Dean had even gone out of his way to make some chicken kabobs. The aroma of the food was making Sam's stomach growl in anticipation. But the way Dean was 'toying' with him was making other parts of him…well he was definitely getting the picture here. They were both in this thing.

Sam took a chance and leaned in, allowing his lips to ghost over the exposed skin of Dean's neck. When the other man tilted his head away, giving Sam better access he slipped his tongue between his lips and pulled Dean's earlobe between his teeth. Suddenly he could feel hands reaching back and running along the muscles of his thighs and he had to remind himself to breathe.

"Oh God…Sammy…" Dean's tone sounded like liquid sex as he almost moaned. He stepped forward just a touch, breaking the contact and Sam frowned. "The steaks are gonna burn…" Dean said by way of explanation.

Sam's gaze dropped and he had to admit that the meat was looking a little dark at the edges. He chuckled. "Can't have that." He said as he pressed a quick kiss under Dean's ear. "I'll go check on Emery and leave you to the cooking."

"Great, how'd I become the girl here?" Dean groaned.

"Just lucky I guess." Sam tossed over his shoulder.

Dean spun around and enveloped Sam in strong arms and pulled his lips down. He moved with an ease and a practiced grace that left Sam stunned as he felt Dean's tongue slide along his lower lip. As soon as they slid apart, the man's tongue darted inside and he proceeded to kiss all coherent thought out of Sam's head. When he was sure that he had the taller man nearly senseless he pulled away. "Now you can go check on Emery."

"That was just mean." Sam said playfully as he slapped Dean on the ass and headed into the house.

Dinner went off without a hitch. They'd sat and watched the sunset and then read to Emery before he went to bed. Sam had smiled as he'd heard Dean slip in and out of the strange little voices that must have been characters in the story. The more he learned about the man, the more he found himself falling for him.

They were sitting on the couch later that night and their beers were getting warm as Dean's hands slid along the ropey muscles of Sam's back. The evening air had been crisp and cool so they'd moved back into the house once the sun dropped behind the hill. Both of them were still suffering from their encounter in the desert, but neither one of them could keep their fingers off the other. No words were exchanged as Dean gently pulled away, grabbing Sam's hand and leading him toward his bedroom.

XXXX

"You saw him today?"

"Yes."

A pause. "And how did the boy look?"

"Healthy."

"Good. Bring him back to me."

XXXX

Dean stared at the ceiling listening to Sam breathe. He glanced over at the taller man and smiled. They hadn't done anything more than lie on his bed and languidly kiss, running their fingers up and down each other. It wasn't that he didn't want more…or that Sam didn't want more. But neither of them was healthy yet and Dean refused to do this half way. Sam was too important for some 'wham bam thank you ma'am' romp in the sack.

He looked over at the alarm clock and sighed. It was 6:10 in the morning…which meant that the diner up the road would have fresh hot coffee, bacon, pancakes, and he could pick up something for Emery and Sam. A frown touched his eyes when he realized that there wasn't anything he could serve for breakfast in the house. He needed to hit up the store this week.

The covers slipped back as the carefully rolled out of bed. His jogging pants brushing the floor as he hissed at the cold hardwood. Dean grabbed a pen and piece of paper and quickly penned a note to Sam.

Sammy, I'm running into town to grab some grub…be back soon. Sleep as long as you like. I took Emery so the house is yours. Don't do anything I wouldn't do. –Dean

Dean grabbed a t-shirt from the closet and threw it over his head before heading toward Emery's room. The little boy was sitting up watching television. He cast bright eyes in Dean's direction and jumped from the bed.

"We going somewhere?" He asked excitedly.

"Yup, but keep it down…Sam's asleep." Dean said as he grabbed some boots and handed them to the little boy.

"You had a sleep over?" The innocent question caught Dean off guard and it took him a moment to figure out how to answer it.

He hadn't really thought of it that way. But they hadn't actually done anything other than sleep. "Uh…yeah. I guess we did."

"Cool."

XXXX

The morning was a little brisk. So Dean grabbed a large sweatshirt and tucked it around Emery as he started the car. A few moments later he was headed down the dusty road into town. He smiled at the little boy as he sang along with the song on the radio. An oldie but a goodie, some Credence Clearwater surrounding them in epic music at the ungodly hour.

"So, I was thinking we could get some pancakes from the diner. What do you think?"

Emery's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he grinned a wide toothy smile. "I love pancakes!"

"I know you do."

"Can I have chocolate Chios in mine? Like the way you make them?" Emery was so hopeful that Dean would've put the chips in himself if they didn't have the. on the menu.

"Absolutely."

Fifteen minutes later they were pulling into the parking lot at Cid's Roadside Diner. Dean parked next to a small blue sedan and pulled Emery from the car. He inhaled the morning air and couldn't help the smile. It had been months since he'd felt safe. And for whatever reason he felt safe here in Texas.

Emery squirmed in his arms when he saw the gumball machine near the register. He set the boy down and he went bouncing toward the brightly colored plastic bulb of large gumballs. He was soon distracted by an arcade game.

"What can I get ya, hon." An older woman asked as she smiled warmly at Dean and her eyes twinkled when she saw Emery.

"A table and an order to go?" He kept his eyes on the little boy as she led him toward an empty booth. Dean slid in as she handed him a menu. "Coffee?"

"You bet. Be back in a jiff." The woman with the name 'Debbie' on her name tag headed for the pot of black coffee. A moment later Dean was taking his first sip of dark black coffee and he sighed in pleasure.

A man slid into the seat across from him and he looked up in confusion. "You lost?"

"Nope. I'm not lost. But, you and I need to have a chat." The man was tall, nearly as tall as Sam. He had dark eyes and light skin. A shock of light brown hair capped off an otherwise unremarkable face. But something about him had Dean sitting up straighter in the seat.

"And what exactly do we have to talk about?" Dean was looking for any exits and he was trying to keep Emery in his vision as well.

The man tilted his head to the side like Dean should already know the answer to that question. "Shouldn't have taken the boy when you left Dean."

Dean's jaw clenched and he scrambled to his feet. He heard the click of a pistol under the table and when he looked over he saw another man talking to Emery. Someone he definitely didn't know. The man's eyes flickered up and smiled maliciously at Dean. Before he dropped his gaze back to the boy.

"Sit down, Dean." The man across from him hadn't moved.

He sank back into his seat as he heart flew into his throat. They'd found him.

"There are some people that would really like to talk to you."

Dean shifted uncomfortably. He was trying to keep his one eye on the man in front of him and the other on Emery. "I'm sure there are."

"I think you know who I'm talking about." The man smiled amicably and Dean felt like he'd just had ice water poured over his head.

"So what happens if I resist?"

The man leaned forward and then looked over his shoulder Emery. "I really don't think you wanna resist, Dean. I only need the boy…alive. You're a bonus."

That got Dean's wheels turning in his head. "You're a hired gun."

"What can I say…you're a valuable commodity…or should I say, the boy's a valuable item."

Dean shook his head. "You gonna give me a name here asshole?"

The man's eyes narrowed he leaned forward causing Dean to lean back. "I'm the guy that's gonna collect on that reward. And I can do that with you alive or in the trunk of my car. Take your pick."

He swallowed hard and looked down. The other man was too close to Emery, he couldn't protect the boy and this douchebag definitely had a gun on him under the table. His thoughts shifted to Sam. He wasn't going to know what happened. The only thing that Sam would know is that he went into town and then took off. And that would break the other man.

Dean didn't know a lot about Sam at this point, but he knew if the other man was feeling half what he was, then this was gonna hurt like hell. He threw on a fake smile, his hands were tied as long as they had Emery. "When do we leave?"

"I'd heard you could be reasonable. And I heard that you're damn good at your job. So the boy stays with my partner, in the other car, and I stay with you." He held his hand up when Dean immediately protested. "Not negotiable."

"You son of a bitch…." Dean seethed. He could feel the vein popping out on his forehead as the anger flooded his system.

TBC…

Author's Note: Scenes from the next chapter: "It was three o'clock in the afternoon and Dean hadn't come back. He wouldn't answer his cell phone and no one had seen him since the previous night. Sam was worried. He'd driven into town; Dean's car was nowhere to be found. So he'd driven over to the diner and Debbie said that Dean had been there several hours earlier. But he'd left pretty quickly with another man.

Sam's blood ran cold. Dean left? That couldn't be right. Who would've come looking for Dean…unless. Oh shit…"

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