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.

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.

This is NOT beta'd. Please excuse the mistakes (they happen when I type too fast).

Previous Chapter

Sam sat in the passenger seat of the black SUV as agent Richardson careened around the corner of the old housing edition. His leg was bouncing in an effort to control his anger and his fear. He'd always had a very vivid imagination. In fact his mother had tried to get him into art classes as a child, but their transient lifestyle had made that impossible. And at this very moment he was cursing that vivid gift. Sam's brain had concocted some truly horrific scenes and the not knowing was killing him inside. I swear to god, Dean. I will find that bastard and I will make him pay for whatever he's done to you. Sam's mantra was now on repeat inside his head as they pulled into the last cul-de-sac.

"Jesus Christ…" Richardson breathed at the sight of a naked body lying in the street.

Sam's eyes widened in shock and he clenched his teeth before he was jumping from the still rolling SUV.

He ignored the call of the FBI man as he raced to the side of what he knew had to be Dean. The first thing Sam saw were the bruises littering his lover's body and he felt his stomach turn angrily. But it was the second thing was what had him leaning to the side and spilling his guts. Dean's right hand was stretched out toward the road, like he'd been reaching for someone. The white of a multitude of bones were popping through the broken skin along his fingers and the hand itself was bumpy from swelling and shattered bones.

"Oh god…Dean…" Sam breathed as he stared at the ruined remains of the man's hand. Dean regularly performed surgery and the extent of the damage to that hand may well take that away from him. Sam's gaze raked over Dean as he wiped his own lips and with trembling fingers he reached for Dean's pulse. The breath that he'd been holding escaped in a high-pitched keen when he felt the thread like pumping of Dean's heart beneath his fingertips. "Fuck…what the hell did he do to you?" Sam whispered as he hurried to pull off his own coat and draped it over the unconscious man in an attempt to give him some modesty.

Richardson ran to his side from the direction of the house. Sam wasn't even sure when the man had gone into the house or how long he'd been inside. "Brandon's long gone." He bit at his lower lip and debated on whether or not to tell Sam about the basement room. He decided that it wouldn't help either of the broken men on the ground in front of him so he kept the details to himself. At least until Sam asked to know specifically. Because at some point the details about what had obviously happened down there would come out. "Ambulance is almost here." He finished lamely as several more black SUV's pulled up.

Sam simply nodded and slipped forward placing Dean's battered head on his folded thighs. He wrapped his arms as carefully as he could around the smaller man and held him like the precious thing he was. Richardson watched the scene play out and he knew that it was very likely that the doctor he'd met in the hospital was gone now. The mangled wreck of a human body that Sam was holding? In his experience…people don't recover from things like this.

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Chapter Twenty-Two

Damages

The blaring siren's interrupted them and suddenly medical personnel surrounded them, they were immediately pulling Dean from Sam's embrace. He growled at one of the paramedics, the young man held his hands up in surrender. "I need to help him, sir. I can't see what's wrong without looking more closely."

Sam's eyes burned with unshed tears. There was so much wrong with Dean that he wanted to scream it to the heavens, but there was a part of him that was terrified by what the medical professionals would tell him. He already had a fairly clear picture, but the evaluation would confirm what he suspected and he was sure that that would be so much worse. His gaze dropped where Dean's body lay on his lap and he finally nodded to the paramedic.

The trip the hospital was awful. The longer he was forced to watch as the paramedic tried to help Dean, the worse it was. He saw first hand some of the more violent injuries and those had nothing on the blood that had dried in the most horrific places along his body. There were small puncture wounds along his chest and collarbone and Sam swallowed bile when he realized that they were bite marks. That son of a bitch had bit Dean to the point of drawing blood. Small slices were scattered over his chest and along the insides of his arms and ribcage. His beautiful face was a myriad of bruising; Dean's right eye was swollen shut, like he'd had his head bashed into something.

Sam could feel his gut twisting with nausea as he gained a cleared picture of what Brandon had put Dean through. And then to top that off, the bastard had escaped. They didn't even have the sadistic son of a bitch behind bars.

But the worst…the worst thing was the dried blood on the insides of his legs. Sam knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that when they tested Dean for rape, it would come back positive. And that was the most mind numbing thing about all of he injuries. Brandon had known Dean's past. He'd known what some of Dean's worst fears were and that being placed in the helpless position of a victim would pull all those memories to the surface. The things that his father had done or let be done would flood Dean with so much self-hatred that he may not recover. This was the worst thing that Brandon could have done. He'd stolen Dean's hard won sanity by throwing him into his past.

Sam swallowed the lump that was now permanently camped out in his throat. He thought if Adam and the life they were building with the little boy and his shoulders sagged under weight of what was to come.

When they'd arrived at the hospital there was a flurry of activity. He'd been coldly shoved aside and if it hadn't been Dean's life on the line he would have thrown a few punches. But the men and women of Mercy General were only concerned for their battered patient. So all Sam could do is sink wearily into an uncomfortable chair and drop his head into his hands. The fear was slowly seeping away as the anger took hold. Brandon had tried to destroy Dean and Sam knew that if they didn't find that sadistic son of a bitch, he'd try again and again…and eventually he'd succeed.

Sam swallowed and shook his head; the sable locks of his hair sliding over his hands and hiding his face.

"Sam?" Agent Richardson's voice broke through the rambling thoughts and red haze of rage. His lifted his eyes and blinked several times in an effort to clear his head. Richardson forced a half-hearted smile and sat down across from Sam. "We're doing everything we can to locate Brandon."

"You won't find him." Sam murmured through his teeth. They both knew that the FBI hadn't been able to find any trace of the man for almost ten years, so if he wanted to hide? Brandon knew how to do it and evade the watchful eyes of the law enforcement community.

Richardson sighed. "We have our best people on—"

Sam surged to his feet, his fists clenched at his sides. "I swear to god if you finish that fucking sentence I'm going to punch you in the throat."

The blonde frowned and looked away from the anger simmering in the blue-green depths of the lawyer's eyes. "Sam, I'm sorry this happened."

"You're sorry?! It's because of you that he's in there fighting for his life! His hand looks like hamburger and god knows what else that bastard did to him. I'll be lucky to get back the man I love after this." Sam stalked forward, causing the agent to lean against the seat to create some space between them.

"Do you have any idea what type of childhood Dean had?"

The man shook his head.

Sam laughed, but there was no humor in the sound, it was hollow and raw with pain. "His father used to sell him to his suppliers for drugs and when that didn't work, he'd send Dean to square his debts. And do you know how he convinced his to do that?" Another shake of the head. "He used Dean's love for his sister. He used love to control Dean. When you convinced us to do this, you did the same thing."

Richardson started to protest, but Sam glared him into silence. "Yes. You did. You convinced me that this was the only way to save my family, but you didn't have any clue what you were up against with Brandon and Dean was forced to pay another bill that he'd no part in creating." It wasn't Dean's fault that the man was burned when he'd gone off the rails and killed all those people. But no one could have convinced the self-sacrificing man that Sam loved with all his heart of that fact. His voice had dropped when several people in the waiting area had glanced up in shock.

"I didn't know that." Richardson answered softly. He'd known a lot about the doctor, but they hadn't delved that deeply into his childhood. Looking back he wished that he'd told his analysts to search deeper. "For what it's worth, I am going to find this guy and am going to put an end to him"

Sam's face cleared of all emotions and he leaned down in order to whisper. "Only if you beat me to him."

"Sam you don't want to do this. Don't let him turn you into someone you aren't."

The tall lawyer blinked slowly and lifted to his full height. "You have no idea who I am." Any further conversation was interrupted when Anna and Castiel ran into the waiting room; Adam closely followed them.

Anna immediately fell into Sam's arms, her cheeks streaked with mascara stained tears. "Is he…?" She couldn't finish the sentence when her throat closed and emotion seized her words. Castiel pulled her gently from Sam's arms and Adam quickly launched himself into the long arms of the emotionally traumatized man. Sam hugged the little boy close murmuring platitudes as he did.

"He's alive, Anna." He answered the unasked question with a stronger voice than he'd thought he possessed.

Castiel gently took Adam. "Come on, buddy. Lets go get some pudding from the cafeteria." Adam looked between Sam and Anna and recognizing something way beyond his years, he nodded and took the hand of the man he now called uncle Cas.

"What aren't you telling me?" Anna asked quickly as her husband and the small boy that she was coming to love as her own went to get pudding. She turned bright brown eyes back on Sam and waited for more information.

"Anna…it's bad." Sam forced past reluctant lips. His hand was twitching against his thigh as he tried to put his

"How bad?"

He shook his head and sat back down, his shoulders slumping in silent defeat. "Brandon broke his hand."

She took a deep breath. "That'll heal." At his look she knew that it wasn't a simple break, something very bad had happened to her brother. "What else?"

Sam gulped back emotions and allowed his eyes to wander to the double doors where Dean had been taken almost two hours ago. "Torture." She inhaled sharply and nodded for him to continue. "And…rape." The last word stuck in his throat and he forced them past the denial his own mind was still trying to weave.

Anna's eyes welled up and she lifted trembling fingers to her lips as she shook her head in silent denial.

"The doctors haven't been out yet, so I don't have any more information than that." Sam's voice was even and devoid of his usual boyish exuberance. And Anna found that just as scary as the things she'd been told about her brother. She cautiously reached out and slid her fingers into his.

Anna tugged lightly and he finally looked down at her with vacant eyes. She swallowed the lump of emotion and finally found her voice. "Sam, we'll get through this." A smile that she could barely force didn't reach her eyes as she stared up at him. "We will get Dean back…our Dean."

Something broke loose in Sam's gaze and tears glistened as he pulled her into a hug. His broad chest shuddered as the proof of his pain worked its way through his body. Tears silently slid down his cheeks and disappeared into her red hair as she clung just as desperately to him.

"Sam Wesson?" An elderly woman in dark blue scrubs and a white lab coat stepped into the waiting room.

Sam's gaze flashed up and he immediately started toward her. Her gray eyes shifted between the large man and the small woman at his side. "I'm Sam Wesson and this is Dean's sister, Anna Novak."

At the clarification of Anna's identity the woman nodded. "I'm doctor Jane Renner. Can we speak in my office?"

Sam gulped and then nodded once. "This way please." She waved her hand down the hall and started toward the open door at the end. She glanced over her shoulder. "You too, Mrs. Novak." The no nonsense way that she was approaching this had Sam's insides twisting like a ball of angry snakes.

They entered the small but organized office and sank into the only two chairs available. Dr. Renner sat down and pulled up something on her computer before starting to explain what was going on with Dean. "We have stabilized Dr. Winchester for the moment. He is suffering from severe dehydration and malnutrition in addition to several deep lacerations spread across his ribcage and chest. Those have cleaned and he is currently on a drip to help correct the dehydration. We have given him two bags of O negative in an effort to replace some of the blood loss due to the damage to his hand and the lacerations." At this point she sighed and turned her computer toward them.

Sam sucked in a breath when he saw the X-ray and the extent of the damage to Dean's hand. "Oh god." He murmured.

Anna didn't say a word, but the tears that slid unnoticed down her face gave away her feelings.

"The hand is a problem. Doctor Winchester is a surgeon in addition to being a very competent children's oncologist. We have called in the best plastic surgeon in the continental United States. She is due to arrive in a few hours. She's already received the preliminary pictures of the damage in addition to a CT and an MRI. So we should hit the ground running once she's here." Doctor Renner frowned. "The last thing we are dealing with is…" Her gray eyes flickered to Anna and then back to Sam looking for permission to broach the very sensitive subject of Dean's treatment at the hands of Brandon.

"She knows, doctor Renner." Sam said softly.

"He is showing signs of forced intercourse—"

"Rape. That sadistic son of a bitch raped him." Sam ground out.

Doctor Renner's face took on a more sympathetic expression. She leaned forward and interlaced her fingers. "Yes. We have given him prophylaxis to combat any sexually transmitted diseases, but we won't know anything for sure for a few days. Not until the tests come back from the lab." Her greying eyebrows knitted together in frustration. "But I don't think that's the worst thing that was done to him."

Sam's green-blue eyes slid up and pinned her with an unasked question.

"Whatever was done to him? It was a lot worse than rape. Something was broken and I pray to god that we can fix it. The body we can heal…but the mind?" She leaned back in her chair and shrugged. "That's a whole different ballgame. He has to want to recover and I'm afraid that with his past? He may not want to."

Anna blinked in surprise. "How do you know about Dean's past?"

Doctor Renner smiled lightly. "The FBI brought me in. They feel responsible."

"They should." Sam bit out between clenched teeth. "They should feel responsible. If it wasn't for them, Brandon never would've gotten his hands on Dean in the first place."

The rhythmic ticking of a clock on the wall was the only sound for several very uncomfortable moments while doctor Renner decided how to answer that. The sterile smell in the office was barely noticeable over the overwhelming vanilla scented candle that sat on a warmer in the corner.

Finally the doctor found her words. "Sam that man would have found a way to get to Dean with or without the FBI. He was fixated and that isn't something that just goes away with time. If my information is correct? The guy blew up half a hospital to try and get to Winchester."

The anger slid out of Sam like water through a sieve and he slump down into the chair. His complexion was sallow and lacked any of the warmth that he usually had. He knew that she was right, but that did nothing to assuage his own guilt at not being able to protect Dean. All the training he'd done as a young man and through college…none of it had helped him keep the man he loved more than life, safe. And he hated himself at the moment. He finally nodded.

Anna reached over and once again took his hand in hers. "You couldn't have known he'd pull something like this, Sam." She reached up with her other hand gently pulled his face so he was forced to look at her. Her expression was a mirror of his own…devastated. "But we will not let him win. That bastard does not get to win. Do you understand me?" Her voice was strong and steady as she tried to reassure her friend that they hadn't both lost Dean.

A soft knocking on the door interrupted them. A nurse stuck her head in without waiting to be invited. "Doctor Renner? He's waking up."

Sam's eyes flashed up and he was on his feet instantly. "Can we see him?"

"I'm not sure he's ready for visitors." The nurse said hesitantly.

Dr. Renner stood up and raised a hand. "I think it would be good for him to know he's not alone." She gestured toward the door and Sam and Anna followed the short nurse in the green scrubs into the ICU area.

The constant beeping that echoed through the quiet halls of the intensive care unit were the only sounds as she trio made their way toward the room at the end of the hall, right across from the nurses desk. There in front of the room were two uniformed men. Obviously they were there for Dean's protection.

TBC…

Author's Note: In the next chapter we'll get to see Dean's reaction to seeing Sam after his time as Brandon's prisoner and the intense reunion between Adam and Dean. But Brandon is still out there and Sam is hiding the fact that he has every intention of finding and killing the bastard for what he did.

Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the last chapter. The good news is we're on the downhill slide of this now. It's not going to be easy, but Sam and Adam will be there to bring back the Dean Winchester they know and love.

Please Review: Just to let me know that you are still reading. Thank you.