Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural. Though if I did it would still be on.

This is un-beta'ed so all mistakes are my own.

A/N: I can't even begin to apologize for my lack of updates. I can only say that no one was talking to me. I'm glad to be back in the saddle again. And I hope I didn't lose too many readers.

Enjoy!

Chapter 7

Dean looked over at his little brother sleeping peacefully. The thought of someone putting their hands on his brother made his blood boil. Dean spent his entire life trying to keep creeps like that away from his little brother. And now that Sam's on his own, some sonofabitch does that very thing Dean didn't ever want to happen.

Dean couldn't think about that right now. He will wait for Lee to find out as much as he can. Dean needed to put his attention on the matter at hand. He walked over to his slacks lying on the end of the bed and fished the small sticky note. It had Becca Banner's information on it.

Sitting back down at the table, Dean dialed the number. After a few rings, someone picked up.

"Hello."

"Hi," Dean said. "My name is Dean Winchester."

"Winchester? You kin to Sam?"

"I'm his brother," Dean confirmed. "I'm trying to reach Becca Banner."

"I'm Becca."

"Can I ask you some questions about what happened?" Dean asked. "I know my little brother would never do something as horrible as rape, and I'm sorry that this happened to you. I want to find out who hurt you, but in doing so, I need to prove that Sam didn't."

"I told the cops everything I remember," Becca said.

"I know," Dean said. "I talked with them. One of them is set on pinning it on Sammy anyway."

"I know. I tried to tell them that it wasn't Sam. I know Sam would never hurt me. He's my friend. I'm sorry he got mixed up in this."

"Not your fault. What I wanted to ask was Sam told me that he heard a noise. That's why he went to investigate."

"Yeah," Becca confirmed. "When I woke up, I remembered my head hurting. I was tired, and even though it was dark, it still felt like that room was spinning. I tried to get up, but I was still weak, and I remembered falling against something before things went black again."

"What happened when you woke up again?" Dean asked.

"I woke up at the hospital," Becca said. "I had Sam's jacket. The nurse told me they had to pry it out of my hand. The nurse asked if I wanted her to put it away. I just couldn't let it go."

"How did you know it was Sammy's jacket?"

"I've seen him wearing it."

Dean could hear Becca's voice brightened when she talked about the jacket. He didn't want to go back talking about the attack. He got what he needed. Becca didn't accuse Sammy. She was adamant that Sammy wouldn't hurt her. That meant the world to Dean.

"Thank you," Dean said. "I won't hold you anymore. Try and take care of yourself. Again, I'm sorry this happened."

"Dean," Becca said. "I still have Sam's jacket."

"Keep it," Dean said, looking at his sleeping brother clinging on Dean's leather jacket. "One thing I've learned is the power of a safety net."

There was a long pause, then a quiet, quivering, "Thank you." The line clicked, and Dean hung up his phone.

_000_000_000

Lee found the shelter well enough. When he walked in, a young gentleman met him at the door.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for some information," Lee said, flashing the man a fake cop's badge.

"How can I help?"

"I'm following up on an assault. There was an attack here."

"Oh, yeah," the man said, nodding, cutting Lee off. "I wasn't here, but I heard what happened. Poor dude. The person nearly cut that man's arm off."

"That sounds like an exaggeration," Lee commented.

"It was bad. I heard there was blood everywhere. The guy was taken to the hospital."

"Do you know which one?" Lee asked. "I would like to speak with him."

"I don't, but I can find out. Give me a sec." The man walked away from Lee.

An older man with a ragged jacket and dirty skull cap looked hard at Lee.

Lee walked over to the guy, figuring he might know something.

"You heard me, old man?" Lee asked. "Do you know something?"

"I might," the man snarled. "What's it worth to you?"

Lee smirked and reached into his back pocket. He pulled out a chained wallet. Fishing out two twenty-dollar bills, he waved it in the guy's face.

The guy reached for it, but Lee snatched it back.

"Information first," Lee said. "Then you get paid."

"I was there that night," the man started. "Poor kid. Scared out his head. He wouldn't let anyone help him."

"Who? The one that got cut?" Lee never pegged Dean's little brother as an aggressor. Not from Dean's description.

"No," the man said quickly. "The other guy. He was all over the kid."

"And you just watched?" Lee sounded disgusted.

"No," the guy adamantly disagreed. "I was about to help the kid, but he came out with a knife of his own. Cut the dude. When the guy fell away, the kid kicked his bits so hard the guy will probably never have kids."

Lee tried hard not to cringe.

"After that," the guy continued. "The kid took off."

"Thanks," Lee said, handing the man the money.

The volunteer came back, holding a small slip of paper.

"This is where they took the guy," he said, handing Lee the paper. "I hope you get the information you need."

"Thanks," Lee said. "Much appreciated," and left.

_000_000_000

Dean was sitting at the small table in the hotel, lost in thought. Many things didn't sit right with him. Why would this one detective want to pin this crime on Sammy? What would gain if the victim said that Sam didn't do it? Then there were the circumstances of how Sam was living. Just thinking that his baby brother was living on the streets just broke his heart.

It was taking a lot for Dean not just to pack up Sammy and leave this town. Looking at his lanky baby brother asleep on the bed, Dean knew he wouldn't do it. As much as he wanted Sam by his side, Dean knew it wasn't going to happen. Sam wanted to go to college, and Dean would give Sam what he wanted.

Moaning from Sam brought Dean out of his musing. He watched his baby brother stretch on the bed, knocking the leather jacket on the floor.

"Dean."

Dean walked over to the bed and sat on the edge, picking up the jacket.

"I'm right here, Sammy."

"What time is it?" Sam barely had his eyes open, trying to reach for his watch that lay on the nightstand that was in the middle of the two beds.

Dean grabbed the watch before Sam could get it.

"Don't worry about it," Dean said, putting the timepiece in his pocket.

"Dean," Sam protested, getting up on his elbow. "What-"

"You are still sleepy." Dean cut Sam's complaint. "You let me worry about the time."

"But Dean."

Dean leaned over and softly pushed Sam so that he was lying back down.

"But Dean," Sam said, trying to sit back up.

"No arguments," Dean finalized. "If you're still this cranky, you're still tired. I'm not going anywhere. You're safe here. It's okay. Go back to sleep."

"But we have to solve this," Sam complained while he was being pushed back on the bed.

Dean shook his head. It's impressive that Sam was hellbent on running away from this when he wasn't around, but now that Dean's here, Sam wants to solve it.

"We'll talk about what I've learned," Dean promised, lying his jacket over Sam's cover, "after you've caught up on your sleep. You're still tired. I can see it."

Sam sighed as he looked up at his big brother. He knew Dean was right, not that he wanted to admit it. Especially to Dean. He would never let Sam hear the end of it. But he was still tired. He hated having this assault over his head, but he needed to look at this objectively if he needed to handle this.

Dean sat on the edge of Sam's bed and, once again, put his hand on his baby brother's chest.

"I won't do anything until we find out everything." Dean was talking in soothing tones. It became second nature to calm Sam down so that he would rest. "We will find who did this and clear your name. Rest."

Sam sighed as his eyelids became heavy once again. He was asleep within minutes.

Dean sighed as he got up and sat on the other bed. Dean was stumped as to who wanted to frame Sammy for this. Dean wasn't lying. There wasn't much that he could do now. He still needed information, and he was hoping that Sam could fill in some of those blanks. Plus, he was waiting to see what Lee found out.

_000_000_000

Lee walked into the hospital and went to the help desk, where there were two older women wearing volunteer jackets.

"Excuse me," Lee said softly, interrupting their quiet conversation.

"Yes, sweetie," the silver-headed woman said.

"I'm sorry to interrupt," Lee started, but the other elderly lady waved his apology away. "I was wondering if you could help me."

"If we can," the woman replied.

Lee flashed his fake badge and explained that he was investigating an assault. The victim was taken here, and if there was a way, he could speak to someone about him.

The two ladies were puzzled by his request, looking at each other for a moment, trying to see how they could help him.

The silver-headed woman picked up the phone and called someone. After a moment, she hung up.

"The hospital Administrator is coming," she said. "Maybe she can help you with what you need."

"Thank you," Lee said, smiling. "I appreciate it."

"Sorry, we couldn't help more." She sounded sad.

"Don't worry yourself," Lee said. "You helped me plenty."

Lee went to one of the empty chairs in the small waiting area, waiting for the Administrator.

His wait wasn't long as a smart-suited middle-aged gentleman stepped up.

"Hello," the man said, holding out his hand. "I'm Justin Wangwright, Hospital Administrator."

Lee stood up and shook Justin's waiting hand.

"Detective Sawyer," Lee said.

"Pleasure," Justin said. "How can I help you, Detective?"

"Is there somewhere we can talk privately?"

"Sure," Justin held out his hand. "There is an empty office just around the corner."

The two men walked down the corridor together.

"Is there a problem?" Justin asked.

"No, not really," Lee assured him. "But it is something I wouldn't like to discuss out in the open. Respect for the victim."

Justin nodded his understanding as he stepped up to the door of the empty office. "Come in."

Once they were both sitting, Lee got straight into his reasons for being here.

"Yesterday, a homeless man was brought here with a deep slash on his arm," Lee explained. "A volunteer told me at the shelter he was here."

"Okay," Justin said. "I wasn't here yesterday, and just arriving today, I haven't gone through the reports yet. If you don't mind, give me a few moments, and I'll get you the information."

"I appreciate that," Lee said before the guy walked out of the room.

Lee could see Justin walking down the corridor. He pulled out his phone and called Dean.

_000_000_000

Dean was asleep leaning against the headboard of his bed. The vibrating of his phone woke him up. He put it on vibrate when he first came back to the room. He didn't want to disturb Sammy. Looking at the number, Dean got up and walked out of the room.

"Hey," Dean said into the phone. "You learn anything."

"A lot," Lee's voice sounded through the phone. "I learned what all happened during the altercation. I'm at the hospital now. I'm finding out what he's had done to him."

"Did you get his name?" Dean asked.

"Just a first: James."

Dean couldn't keep the sneer off his face as he let that name echo in his mind. James would deal with a lot more than a slashed arm when he was done with him.

Lee's voice broke through Dean's deadly musing. "I got to go. I'll let you know what else I find out."

"Thanks," Dean said, hanging up the phone.

Dean ran his fingers through his short, cropped hair, trying to calm down. Sam would know if he was angry. He didn't have the luxury of getting angry right now. Right now, Dean had to keep a cool head if he would find out who assaulted Becca and exonerated Sam.

Dean was contemplating packing his baby brother into the car and leaving. It would prevent this town from witnessing Dean's full wrath for committing these atrocities towards his brother.

But he couldn't.

Two reasons.

Becca needed to know the truth about who attacked her and that they were off the streets. And Sammy wants to go to college. Dean would do anything for his Sammy.

Sighing again, Dean walked back into the hotel room that housed his heart.

_000_000_000

Across the street, there was a dark grey sedan parked facing the hotel. The person in the car, holding a camera with a telephoto lens—the clicking sounds of the shutter filled the area of the vehicle. Lowering the camera, the person reviewed the photos just taken.

"Well, Agent Barnes, what's got you all upset. Could it be that you can't save your brother?" Looking back up at the room door, Dean went in.

TBC

A/N: Thank you for taking the time to read this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it.

Please leave a review letting me know what you think.

Many hugs and kisses to you all.

Mandancie