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

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."

XXXX

Chapter 19

Hidden Secrets

Dean leaned against the wall and watched the little boy sleep. Adam's hand was wrapped around a small stuffed giraffe. It was acting as a security blanket for the child. Dean had seen children under his own care use objects as ways to feel safe after being diagnosed with cancer. He sighed and stepped away.

The house was dark except for the small nightlights placed strategically throughout. Small bubbles of light climbed softly up the walls offering some comfort and illumination. The hint of popcorn combined with something sweet made the house feel like a real home for the first time. Dean would never tell Sam that last part. Because while he'd always felt that home was wherever Sam was, it really hadn't felt that way until Adam entered their lives. Anna had been as close to a child as Dean ever thought he'd get. And he'd never thought that he would be happy…truly happy.

The sins of Dean's father had destroyed the little boy he could have been, but he was grateful to know that they hadn't destroyed the man he had eventually become. He'd taken the anguish and guilt his father buried him in and turned it around into something good. Being a pediatric oncologist was the best way to prove that he was someone of worth…at least that was Dean's opinion about it. He knew that if he asked Sam, the man would say that Dean had always been someone of worth. Thoughts of Adam and what the little guy had already suffered in his meager five years made Dean's jaw clench in anger. At least his own sadistic father hadn't touched him until he was in his teens. The little boy in the other room had been dealing with that since…Dean cringed.

Honestly? He had no clue how long Adam had been subjected to his biological father and the man's twisted version of 'love'. A pain had Dean wincing before he was searching the cabinet for something to take the edge off. His green gaze fell on the bottle of 40 year old Scotch and he swallowed the desire to take a large gulp. He was still on pain meds and that wouldn't do his heart any good. Only the pericardium had been lightly damaged in his heart, but the surrounding muscles had nearly been severed. Dean closed the door and moved to the large stainless steel refrigerator. He pulled out a bottle of juice and then sat at the table.

It was still dark outside, not even four in the morning yet. Damn night shifts…he thought in irritation as he took a drink of the juice. It was some sort of health thing that Sam had insisted that he try. It looked like something Dean had seen in a surgery he'd observed when the stomach had been accidentally punctured by a first year surgical resident. Luckily, it actually tasted pretty damn good.

"Penny for your thoughts?" Sam asked as he leaned in, surprising Dean, kissing his partner on the top of his head.

Dean chuckled. "Pretty sure they aren't worth that much." Sam slipped into the chair next to him and reached out to touch his face. It was as much to reassure himself that Dean was sliding back as it was to offer some comfort for the doctor.

"Oh I don't know…you're a fairly well paid doctor. They've gotta be worth at least a penny." Sam sat back and glanced around the darkened room. "You okay?"

Dean blew out the air he'd been holding. "Yeah. I think I am." He'd been living in a constant state of fear since the hospital bombing. But for just this one night he felt safe. Inside this house with Sam and Adam…Dean felt safe and that was unsettling for him. He knew that Brandon was still out there and that he posed a very real threat to them. But for once Dean decided that he'd let the authorities handle the bag full of crazy.

Sam leaned forward again and kissed Dean lightly on the lips. The zing of anticipation that always accompanied physical intimacy between them lanced through Dean. He waited for the pain to follow…it didn't. He really was getting better…and sooner rather than later they would be able to put this whole incident behind them.

"He's a great kid." Sam said evenly. As his eyes adjusted to the light he saw the slight nod from the smaller man.

"Yeah, he sure is."

A moment of hesitation followed the exchange and Sam found that sitting in the silence wasn't as easy as it used to be. His mind kept trying to find something to connect to. Something that he could discuss with Dean. Because in these rare moments of silence, all Sam could picture was Brandon walking out of the hospital in a pair of stolen scrubs…and what that meant for Dean.

XXXX

Dean watched as Sam packed another suit. Adam was sitting in the lounge chair near the window. A coloring book sprawled out on his lap. He hated the idea of having Anna watch the kid while he and Sam attended some consortium in Seattle, but he didn't have a choice. Adam would be bored senseless and the adoption agency didn't want his session with the councilor interrupted. The problem was that Dean couldn't miss this and Sam had a case that would have had him flying out anyways. It felt like a lose lose situation.

Sam stopped and looked over at Dean. He mouthed… "I hate this."

A smile worked its way onto the plump lips of his partner and Dean finally opted for a simple nod.

Adam glanced up and a hesitant smile pulled at the corners of his mouth. "Is Anna gonna bring Cassie?"

The question caught Dean off guard and he blinked in surprise. "I'm sure she is." Adam smiled and Dean felt his heart melt at the pleasure that radiated from the kid's bright blue eyes. "You like Cassie?"

"Yeah, she's cute." Adam answered as his gaze dropped back to his coloring project. He's left handed. Dean noted. He knew that highly artistic people were often southpaws and he wondered what this meant for the child's future. Would he be a painter? An actor? A writer? Suddenly Dean was desperate to stay.

He looked up at Sam, who was watching him intently. "We have to go. You've taken too much time off and I've got to meet with the board of directors for this corporation." His own blue-green gaze slid back over to the child and he sighed. "We'll be back in two days."

Dean tilted his head to the side and sank onto the bed. "I know. Doesn't mean I have to like it." He leaned in closer to Sam, his voice dropping to a whisper. "We've only had him for two weeks. What if he gets scared? Or something happens while we're gone?"

"Dean, something could always happen while we're right next to him." Dean's eyes widened at the truth of the statement. He worked with critically ill children, he knew how often parents were less than five feet away when something terrible happens to their child. Sam reached in and ran his fingers along Dean's face, tracing the scar that was nearly hidden in his blonde hair. "This is what being a parent feels like, Dean." He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss on the cupids bow shaped lips of the doctor. "Don't plan on a good nights sleep for the next thirteen years…maybe not even then."

The doorbell and rang and Adam sprang out of the chair and bounced down the stairs. Anna was just pushing the door open when Dean met her in the foyer. He took the baby from her overloaded arms. Cassie cooed and Dean felt his heart swell at the sight of the chubby happy baby. "Castiel working late tonight?"

Anna groaned. "Again…"

Sam stepped up and placed a soft kiss on the top of the baby's head. "Tell him he works too much."

Adam wrapped his arms around Anna's leg. She leaned down and hugged the little boy. "You are one to talk….Hey buddy."

"Can Cassie and me watch cartoons?" The boy might have missed out on a lot of things in his tragically short life, but he had certainly learned to use his piercing blue eyes.

Sam picked him up and started toward the living room, Dean followed with the baby. "Yes, but it has to be something that won't scare Cassie."

Adam thought for a moment before answering shyly. "Tangled?"

Warmth spread through Sam in a wash of affection. The tentative way the child approached everything in his life, like he was scared of getting something wrong. The second emotion that bowled through Sam was anger when it occurred to him that the little boy was likely waiting for a beating that he will never get…not in their home.

XXXX

The hired car felt empty, even though the two large men in the back seat filled up the space. Sam suspected that it was a direct reflection of how quickly they'd both fallen in love with the child. Some old rock music was playing softly in the background, Dean was studying a brief about a new drug to combat some tumor disease. Sam glanced over at him and found that he couldn't pull his gaze away from the beautiful lines of the doctor's face. The angles were near perfection and the slight scruff simply added to the rugged good looks of Dean Winchester.

Without looking up. "What?"

Sam dropped his gaze, slightly embarrassed that he'd been caught staring at the other man. He fiddled with his briefcase and shook his head. "Nothing."

Dean's green gaze shifted to the lawyer. He could see some of the insecurities that had plagued Sam as a younger man in the way he wrung his hands and lowered his gaze. "Sammy?" He asked quietly. When Sam didn't immediately answer him, Dean shut the binder and reached over. The strong lean fingers were chilly as Dean wrapped his hands around them. "What's going on with you today?"

Before Sam was able to answer the car pulled up outside of their terminal at LAX. They were so involved in themselves that they missed the small blue sedan that pulled up next to them, paused for a moment and then sped off. Sam wanted to have this conversation, but he didn't really understand what was bothering him, so how could he express that to the man he loved. Instead he reached over and squeezed Dean's knee lovingly. "It's nothing…I'm fine." He grabbed the handle of the door and shoved it open.

"You're sure?" Dean questioned as he climbed out of the other side of the car.

"Yup." Came the quick response.

XXXX

Seattle was under an umbrella of clouds and it was cold by comparison to Los Angeles. Dean watched as Sam smiled and crawled into the limo sent by his firm's client. The lawyer waived and disappeared into the distance in the black car. Sam hadn't said more than a few words since they'd left the airport and Dean was a little worried. He wasn't sure what was driving the melancholy mood of the other man. Mostly because it wasn't a normal way for Sam to react. The man was always happy. But something over the past few weeks had been driving him crazy and he wasn't talking to Dean…and that was driving him crazy.

XXXX

Sam shook his head as the Federal Bureau of Investigation building came into view. The tall brick walls lined with razor wire and the cameras pointed into every crevice. The process of getting trough security was quicker than he'd anticipated, but waiting for Agent Richardson took a lot longer than he'd thought it would. When the man finally made an appearance, Sam was ready to kick his ass. He'd already lied to Dean about this meeting and he'd convinced himself it was for the good of the nation.

"Sam, thank you for coming to Seattle." The agent reached out and shook Sam's hand.

"I didn't have much of a choice." Sam didn't want Dean involved and this was the only way to ensure that didn't happen. He'd been the one that saw Brandon, not Dean. So that meant that he was on the man's radar now just as much as Dean was…so he could be the bait.

"My office is this way. We can talk in there."

Sam shook his head and followed the man. The offices were simple and sparsely furnished. This was a place that was all about results and work. And Sam should know, he'd seen his fair share of serious businesses. He should have known the US government would take the cake on that one.

A half an hour later and Sam was ready to pack Dean and Adam into a padded room and keep them there until Brandon could be apprehended. The man was a vicious character that had fixated on Dean and anyone surrounding him. Richardson figured that the only reason the man hadn't gone after Anna was because of Sam. He knew that Dean and Sam were involved and that it would be far more devastating to destroy that than to take away Dean's sister.

"So he's here? In Seattle?" Sam asked quietly. The only consolation about that was that the man wasn't anywhere near Adam…small miracles.

"We believe so, yes." Richardson stood up and grabbed an envelope off a bookcase. "We've been able to track his movements to the state line, but he was able to lose our tale in Kent, Washington. We haven't been able to locate him since Tuesday."

"Wonderful." Sam answered derisively. "So what's the plan?"

"We need to get him in a public place. So we would like to set up surveillance on a Ferry boat."

Sam interrupted quickly. "And I'm supposed to play the whole 'lets go see the sights' thing with Dean?"

The blonde man nodded. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the metal desk. "That would be the most controlled scenario."

Sam scrubbed his hand down his face and pulled in a steadying breath. "Is there a way to accomplish this without bringing Dean along?" He knew in his heart he wasn't going to get the answer he wanted, but he had to ask.

The agent shook his head. "I'm afraid not. Dean won't be the primary target yet. This guy missed his chance when Dr. Winchester survived the hospital bombing. He'll try a new tactic…we believe that tactic will be go after you."

Bile rose of Sam's throat at the thought of lying to Dean. But he'd sworn that he'd do anything to protect the man, even that meant putting himself between Dean and his past. It's not different from standing between Dean and the nightmares. He thought. "When is this all happening?"

"We've arranged for Dean's conference to end earlier than expected tomorrow. Since you're only in town for two days, we have to move quickly. So out thoughts are to put you two on that boat tomorrow afternoon."

Sam pulled in another deep breath and forced his stiff body into a standing position. He noticed that Richardson had a few framed articles hanging on his walls. "You're sure you can get him? If I do this, can you guarantee you get the bastard?"

A shadow shifted across the agent's features. "I can't guarantee anything, Mr. Wesson. But I can guarantee we'll try." He shifted and moved to pat Sam on the shoulder. "And I won't give up until that man is behind bars or in buried."

Sam pulled out his cellphone and stared at the picture of Dean and Adam at the park earlier in the week. The sun was just starting to set behind the golden blonde of Dean's head. But it was the pure joy in both of their eyes that made up Sam's mind in an instant. "Okay."

TBC…

Author's Note: I have no excuses other than life has been crazy busy. But here's a new twist to keep your interested. The next chapter is entitled: Drowning on Dry Land...but don't worry, for those of you looking for a juicy scene between Sam and Dean...next chapter. After all they have a son at home now...take advantage of the hotel room.

PLEASE REVIEW: It's been a while; I just need to know people are still reading.