Legalities, as always Sam and Dean and all things Supernatural do not belong to me. They are the property of the CW and Kripke Enterprises. I wish they would share, but I don't think that is going to happen so I guess I will simply play in their sandbox for a bit.

Rating MA: For language and injured Dean and Sam throughout the storyline, they will also be M/M pairing although they are not brothers in this story. Pairings won't happen till later chapters, so be sure to review the warnings before reading.

If you don't like this type of thing, then don't read this story I am sure there are ones that would be more pleasing to you.

Author's Note: This story will follow Sam and Dean they continue their lives and try to deal with the challenges of their own pasts and tragic past of a child named Adam Milligan. This ride will get bumpy before it gets smooth, so be prepared.

IF YOU READ MY OTHER STORIES AND DO NOT READ NON-RELATED SAM/DEAN PLEASE DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER :You have been warned.

Previous Chapter

Dean wanted to groan at the pain in his chest, but his throat was so dry he couldn't even swallow let alone speak. He forced his sticky eyelids open and waited for his eyes to clear. A soft snore near his hip had him dropping his gaze. "Oh Sammy…" He whispered.

"Dean?" Anna's worried whisper made him glance up at the door. His little sister's red head was bobbing up and down as he she breathed quietly in the darkness.

"Anna…" He rasped. She went immediately for the water and put the straw to his lips. Dean gratefully drank until he couldn't anymore and leaned back against the pillows. "Where's Cas and Cassy?" He kept his voice low in the hopes that he wouldn't wake up Sam.

Anna smiled and moved closer to bed. Her brown eyes drifting over the large sleeping form of Sam. "He's with the baby…at home. I needed to see you." Tears dripped slowly down her face as she knelt next to the bed and reached out, taking his larger hand between her smaller ones. "Dean…you have to fight." Her gaze flickered to Sam and then back to Dean. "He won't make it without you…and Cassy needs her uncle Dean." And then she threw in the clincher. "And what about Adam?" She smiled again. "That kid needs you two."

Sam had woke up sometime in the middle of her speech, he avoided moving and waited for her to finish before he sat up. Dean's green eyes connected instantly with his gaze and Sam smiled. He crossed around the end of the bed and claimed Dean's other hand. "Hey Anna."

"Sam." She inhaled and sensed that these two needed to talk. "I'm gonna run down and get a cup of coffee, you want some?"

"Yes." They said in unison and she glared at her brother. "Not you mister."

"But…" He started to argue and she simply shook her head. "Fine. But that makes you a horrible sister you know that right?" Dean's tone was joking and there was a hint of a smile in his eyes. He was covering the pain. Anna had seen it so many times growing up that she'd recognize the maneuver anywhere.

"Right." She ignored whatever else he had to say as she walked purposely from the room.

Dean's gaze switched back to Sam. "You look terrible." He whispered as he lifted his fingers and gently stroked Sam's face.

"You've looked better yourself, love." Sam leaned in and gently pressed his lips against Dean's forehead. "Don't do that again." His voice shook with the level of emotion he was trying desperately to suppress. Sam leaned away and blinked a few times as his throat bobbed with all the things he wasn't saying.

"I'm sorry." What else could he say? Dean couldn't believe the prickly feelings that were coursing through his system at the moment. Seeing Sam this worried was putting him right back in that basement room. It was also a relief that he'd come so far in his own life. The only person that had ever truly loved him before Sam was Anna. And it felt amazing to know that he'd earned the love and respect of someone as profoundly good as Sam Wesson. "Love you." He finished slowly.

"I know that Dean. I love you too."

"So what are we gonna do about Brandon?" The words were tough to stomach, but Dean knew that this wasn't over. Brandon wasn't the type of guy to leave things undone and right now? Dean was a loose end that needed to be tied up.

Sam bit his lower lip and shook his head. "I have no idea. I guess we work with Agent Robinson until they can bring him in." Something was lurking behind his expressive eyes and Dean found himself wondering what he wasn't being told.

"Sammy…" He said slowly. His words were having the desired effect. The taller man leaned against the bed in frustration.

"How is it you know me so well?" It was almost rhetorical, but not quite. Sam thought that he was better at hiding his emotions than he obviously was…at least where Dean was concerned.

"Because you're the other half of my soul." His voice shook as he stared intently at Sam's shocked expression. "You and me…we're two halves of one whole." Love was tumbling through Dean's chest like he'd just run a race and his heart wouldn't stop racing.

Sam leaned in and pressed a soft kiss against Dean's lips. "We're gonna stop him, Dean."

"I know."

XXXX

Brandon climbed into the rental car in the underground garage. He'd been so close. He'd almost gotten the syringe into Dean's IV…and this whole thing would be over. He could die. Since the night of that raid he'd been carrying around a desire to simply let go. To avoid the pain and the derision of society. He hated that he couldn't do that until he'd killed Dean Winchester. But now with the addition of the man's little sex toy? Brandon had two people in his crosshairs. He couldn't kill Dean until he'd killed the other man…preferably in front of Dean somehow. That way he could feel the sorrow and the anger and that soul-consuming loss that Brandon had felt everyday for the past seven years.

Maybe he'd even go after Dean's pretty little sister if he really wanted to break Winchester. He grinned and the skin on his face pulled tightly reminding him of the scars he now bore on that half of his face. It was a subtle reminder that he had to get on with his plan. The hospital would have been fitting if that damn man had been where he was supposed to be. But Dean hadn't been in his office when the bomb exploded and now there were loose ends to tie up. At three that Brandon could think of.

He pulled out onto the street and slowed for a red light before jumping into a lane headed for the freeway. He wasn't done…not by a long shot.

XXXX

Chapter 18

Homecoming

Six Weeks Later

Dean stared at a chart and sighed when his vision blurred slightly. He kept thinking that he was beyond the explosion…but then he'd get a small reminder that he wasn't. The search for Brandon had stalled completely. Agent Robinson had no clue where to look for the man and Dean hadn't been able to help. There was a positive to all this though…he and Sam were closer than ever.

In fact, they were officially picking up Adam this afternoon. Maybe that's why I can't concentrate on a goddamned word. A small smiled pulled at the corners of his lips. A family. He was finally going to have a family of his own. True…he already had Sam, but with the addition of Adam? They would be a true family. He and Sam had met with the little boy several more times over the past three weeks and the paperwork had been finalized. Memory of the bright blue eyes and the hesitant smile that Adam wore every time he laid eyes on Dean and Sam made him smile full out.

"Thinking of anyone in particular?" Jessica asked as she grabbed a mug of coffee from the counter. Her golden locks were pulled back in a loose pony tail and she'd chosen bright orange scrubs for the day.

"I sweat your closet must look like a rainbow." He murmured.

She laughed. "It is pretty colorful." Jessica shrugged. "Brady likes it that way…he thinks it makes our closet happy."

Dean raised an eyebrow in question. "You have a happy closet?"

"Why yes Dr. Winchester…don't you?" Her blue eyes were sparkling with mischief as she bounced past Dean and back into the hallway. "Sam's looking for you." She called over her shoulder as she disappeared around the corner.

"You could've lead with that." Dean called after her, before grabbing a bottled water and heading toward his office. Sam always waited for him in his office if he wasn't sure where Dean was at. His green eyes flickered to the temporary wall that had been constructed where the building had been blasted apart. A pang of guilt and sorrow coursed through him as he remembered how many people had died that day…and in the days following. My fault…he thought for the thousandth time.

He moved slower than he had before the incident. His heart was healing, but he was far from what he'd been before this whole ugly affair. Sam had talked him into walking with him when he could. Mostly since Dean still couldn't run. His chest would ache as his heartrate increased.

The small office at the end of the building served as his temporary office. Dean took a deep breath and shoved past the door. Inside, Sam was sitting on a small couch reading something on his iPad.

"Compelling stuff?" Dean asked as he ruffled Sam's hair before sitting beside him.

"Hhmmm…I suppose." Sam answered quietly.

Sam looked over at him and a grin spread across his handsome face. The smell of coffee and spearmint wafted off the lawyer like a cologne. Dean smiled as he stared at that beloved face. Sam had lost weight after the whole incident, but when they hadn't been able to capture Brandon…Sam had lost even more. He was thinner than Dean had ever seen him and it worried him.

"You should eat more." Dean said as he reached over and pulled Sam's chin in his direction.

Sam sighed. "You're one to talk." His blue-green eyes dropped down Dean's thin form and stopped on the scars that peaked out beneath Dean's scrubs.

"Sammy…don't." He breathed.

Sam closed the cover of his device and turned to look at Dean full on. "I was going over the adoption papers."

"Again?"

Sam nodded. "I want everything to be perfect."

Dean reached up and gently ran his thumb down Sam's cheek and then pulled it gently over his lower lip. "As long as you're there with me? Everything is perfect." He leaned in when Sam's eyes glistened and pressed his soft lips against his partners. A low keen made it's way up Sam's throat and he reached up and cupped Dean's face pulling him closer as need threw all caution to the wind. They'd been limited on what they could do…sexually. So that was driving both men past where they usually stopped.

Sam's mouth opened at the first lick of Dean's tongue. He tastes even better than he smells. Dean though desperately as he plundered the deep recess of his partner's mouth. Sam pulled back slightly and bit at his plump lower lip before pulling away completely and staring into the startled face of the smaller man.

"I love you." Sam whispered.

Dean's eyes glistened and he had to look away from the emotions he saw swimming in Sam's gaze. "I know…me too." He said softly. A chime on his phone alerted him that the needed to go or they would be late.

Sam stood up before Dean could say anything. "Let's go get our son."

Dean couldn't have loved Sam any more than he did at that exact moment. He grinned and surged to his feet before swaying slightly as the blood rushed back into his legs. Sam's face fell for a moment before he covered the reaction and simply nodded to Dean. They'd had this conversation so often that it wasn't even a conversation anymore. Dean was getting better…but it takes time.

XXXX

The parking lot of the small orphanage was nearly empty when Sam pulled his BMW into a spot near the front door. Dean had tried to talk him into taking the Impala, but Sam had insisted that his German made behemoth, as Dean called it, was safer for a child. That had been his closing argument…as it turned out, it should have been his opening argument because Dean immediately nodded and that was the end of it. His eyes slid sideways and he looked at his partner in the waning light of the November sun. It was nearly Thanksgiving and the thought of spending it with Adam and Dean was making him all warm and gooey inside.

Dean hesitated opening his door and Sam turned to stare at him in question. "What's going on in that brain of yours?" He reached over and picked up Dean's ice cold fingers. Now he could feel the slight tremors running through the other man. "Dean?"

Blank green eyes turned in his direction and he exhaled slowly. "I just keep waiting…"

"Waiting for what?" Sam prompted.

Dean pulled in a ragged breath. "To wake up and find that this is all a dream." The words were soft and broken and Sam shook his head and cursed Dean's father silently.

"It's not a dream. This is happening." He forced a smile onto his lips where Dean's expression didn't change. "But not if we don't get up there before they lock up for the evening." The other man's gaze flashed in his direction and he blinked slowly before a slow smile broke the stony visage.

"Thanks." He said before he started getting out of the car.

"What for?" Sam asked as he too pushed open the heavy door and climbed from the vehicle. He stretched and felt the vertebrate in his spine pop as she stood to his full height.

"My life." Dean answered without looking at him. He watched as the smaller man started toward the stone steps of the building and rushed to catch up. Sam's words were caught in his throat as he stepped up next to Dean just as the door of the orphanage was pulled open.

"Gentlemen." An elderly woman said as she stepped aside and the moved past her into the foyer area. She gestured toward a small office off to the left and they followed.

The whole thing was pretty painless and forty minutes later they were back in the car with a small addition in the back seat. Adam was sitting in a child seat staring out the window. His small frame seemed to be dwarfed by the space on either side of him. Sam had turned on the radio, some soft rock music that he thought would set both the child and Dean at ease. Before he knew it they were pulling into the garage of their home and he let a pent up breath slip past his lips as it hit for the first time. They were parents. He and Dean were now responsible for someone else…another life.

Being that Sam had no brothers or sisters it felt weird to think that way. It had always been his mother and him…and then he'd met Dean and it had been, him and Dean. But now? There was an addition to their little party.

Dean helped Adam out of the seat and walked toward the house. They were talking about something, but Sam wasn't listening. He swallowed and went to the trunk, pulling out the small suitcase that held what little Adam Milligan owned. The child had the bare essentials. There were no stuffed animals or action figures. He didn't own a favorite pillow or a blanket that he felt safe with at night. Just this ratty old case that the orphanage had probably gotten at a donation drive. The air around Sam hung heavy with regret. He regretted that they hadn't been able to help this child sooner and regretted that the man that had done this to Adam had already died.

Shoving his anger down Sam shut the trunk and headed into the house.

XXXX

Dean walked Adam through the large home showing him where things were. He stopped at the door to the pool house and it occurred to him that Adam might not know how to swim. He locked the door before heading off to the game room. He and Sam had bought every toy they could think of that a six year old might want. There were large stuffed animals. A flatscreen LED television mounted to the wall with a cartoon playing silently. There were Lincoln logs and a racetrack complete with hotwheels and buildings surrounding the huge track. In the corner was a huge display of DVD's. Everything from Disney to Dreamworks or even the older cartoons like transformers or darkwing duck. He and Sam had tried to think of everything.

Adam's eyes panned around the room, but he remained silent. Dean found some of his own enthusiasm waning as he waited for a reaction of some kind. His eyebrows cut down and he thinned his lips before turning toward the room off to the right that was all Adam's. "Your room's over here." Dean said quietly.

"By myself?" Adam asked. There was a tremor to his voice that Dean hadn't expected. Most kids wanted a room all to themselves…apparently Adam wasn't most kids.

"Yeah, buddy." Dean answered reluctantly. He felt like he was screwing this all up. Sam settled against the doorframe and he looked up helplessly at the lawyer.

Sam stepped into the room at the silent request. "I can sleep down here with you if you want?" He knelt down so that he could almost look the kid in the eyes. "We can have a sleepover."

Adam's eyes widened. "What's a sleepover?" A touch of fear resonated through the deep blue pools and Sam's heart broke for the boy.

"Well, it's where friends stay up way too late and watch fun movies on television." Adam giggled at that. "And we'll eat too much candy and maybe if you're lucky I'll make us some caramel popcorn." He smiled at the boy and Adam nodded in wonder.

His blue eyes slipped over to Dean and he pursed his tiny lips in concentration. "You'll be there too?"

Dean licked his lips and his heart swelled. "Wild horses couldn't keep me away."

XXXX

A man knocked at the door of the orphanage. The elderly woman opened it slowly and stared out into the night. "Yes?" She asked through the slim crack she'd created when she refused to open the door fully.

"I'm looking for Adam Milligan?"

She couldn't see the man's face clearly. He was wearing a ballcap and it was very dark tonight. "And you are?" She asked suspiciously.

The man coughed in embarrassment. "I'm sorry ma'am. I'm his uncle, Brandon."

TBC…

Author's Note: I know, I know…it's been a long time. Sorry for that. But here's another chapter and I am currently working on the next one. I hope to have that up in the next couple of days. Brandon's got a plan and it's not going to be pretty for our boys. Please take a moment and let me know if anyone is still following this long-winded story. It's a short chapter I know. But the next one reveals some plans and Sam finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

PLEASE REVIEW: AND I PROMISE TO POST THE NEXT CHAPTER IN A COUPLE DAYS