Hey guys!
I've recently fallen in love with Ridley's Brotherhood AU! The relationship between Caleb and Dean is my favorite thing ever!

I decided to write my own fic in the series. This takes place during the 1995 flashback portion of "Bad Boys" in s9. While Dean is at Sonny's.

I know that Dean was not Technica put in the system but sent to a correction home but I'm playing the foster care end due to Caleb's previous experiences.

Even if you haven't read the Brotherhood AU you should still be able to follow along.

I hope you enjoy! And happy Thanksgiving to those Americans celebrating ❤️

Title taken from Adventures in Odyssey episode of the same name.

I don't own Supernatural and the Brotherhood and it's characters belong to Ridley.

Please enjoy!

~TH~

The moment the plate dropped, Dean knew he was in trouble. As the plate fell from the cablinate it caught the edge of the counter before falling to the floor. It also caught Dean's left arm, causing a large slice about an inch above his wrist. He hissed, letting the plate fall the rest of the way to the ground and grabbing his forearm. It was bleeding. A lot. He didn't think he had nicked an artery but wasn't sure. He needed to clean this up. Preferably before Sonny saw. But first things first he had to get this cut taken care of. He'd deal with the rest later. There was dental floss in the bathroom and a sewing kit in the living room. That would work fine.

He grabbed a rag from the sink, he'd burn it later, and wrapped it around his arm. The sewing kit in the living room had a small enough needle. It'd be easier with a suturing kit but it wouldn't be the first time he'd used a sewing needle. He locked the bathroom door. They weren't technically allowed to lock doors but he couldn't risk someone walking in on him right now. Now came the real problem. Sonny kept the alcohol locked up, even the rubbing kind. He wouldn't be able to sanitize it, but it'd probably be fine. Probably. He used soap and water to wash the needle. It wouldn't be as effective but at the moment he just needed to get this taken care of.

It took longer than he would have liked to thread the floss through the needle. But he was working with one hand and his hand was starting to shake. A knock at the door caused him to drop it. He cursed, trying to pick it up, the rag had fallen off of his arm and there was blood leaking on the floor.

"Dean?"

Oh great, it was Sonny, "Uh, just one second!" He knew he sounded panicked and that would make Sonny worry. But this looked bad. This looked really bad.

"Dean?" The doorknob shook and Dean finally picked up the threaded needle. "Open the door!"

He'd gotten blood everywhere, the last thing he wanted to do was let Sonny in. He just wanted to get his arm stitched up so he could clean up the blood.

Dean heard the lock click a second before the door swung open.

"Dean!" Sonny didn't shout often, or really ever, and this was the closest he'd heard.

"It's not what it looks like!" Dean said immediately.

Sonny took the needle out of his hand before grabbing his left arm.

"How long ago did this happen?" He asked.

Dean tried to pull away. "A couple minutes ago. It's fine. Just let me stitch it up, it'll be fine."

Sonny held firm, grabbing a clean towel and wrapping the arm as he started pushing him towards the truck.

"Come on Sonny, it's fine. Really. It's not even that bad."

"We're letting a hospital stitch this up."

"No, just let me do it. I've done it before and it's free to let me do it myself."

Sonny spun around, still holding a towel tightly over Dean's arm. He made himself eye level with Dean. "We're going to the hospital. It's not normal to stitch yourself up. You've lost a lot of blood and it's my job to take care of you. Stop fighting me on this."

Dean looked away before sighing, "Yes, sir."

Sonny nodded and Dean followed him to the truck. He had to admit he was starting to feel a bit dizzy. After he was in the car, Sonny ran back into the house to tell the others what was going on and to keep them away from the blood.

The drive to the hospital had Dean looking out the window, trying to ignore Sonny.

"How are you doing?"

"I'm fine. You could have just let me stitch myself up. You know I don't have insurance or anything, right?"

"You don't have to worry about that. The state takes care of it while you're with me. Even if they didn't, that's not something you should be worrying about. And I don't even know why you know how to stitch yourself up."

"I know what you're thinking but it wasn't on purpose. I dropped a plate and it caught my arm."

"I saw. You left a trail of blood leading to the bathroom."

Dean cringed. He'd been trying to avoid that. "I would have cleaned it up."

Sonny sighed, "Son, that's not what I'm worried about."

The boy folded into himself, "The hospital is going to ask questions. But it really wasn't on purpose."

"I know, Dean. It'll be okay."

Things in the hospital went about how Dean expected. He was rushed to the ER as soon as the hospital saw a teenager with blood flowing from his arm. The small cubicle made Dean feel claustrophobic. The doctor asked him what happened but he could tell they didn't believe him. He was even more positive when the doctor finished and then turned to Sonny asking if they could speak outside. Sonny gave him a reassuring pat on the leg before following the doctor out. His arm was stitched up. He was right, it didn't hit any arteries. It bled a slot but only because it was deep and long, not because it hit something important. His arm was not wrapped in thick white gauze. He hoped it wouldn't affect the dance this weekend. It wasn't bad enough to warrant immobility. He'd get the stitches removed in about a weeks. It'd probably scar but hopefully not bad. Wouldn't be his first scar. His miraid of scars probably didn't help his credibility with the doctors right now though.

A voice was coming from outside the cubicle and Dean strained to hear, hoping it was Sonny and the doctor.

"It's a well stocked hospital, I think a children's wing would be a good investment."

"Mac?!" Dean couldn't help the exclamation. It'd been so long since he'd heard from anyone in the Brotherhood. He wasn't even sure they knew what happened to him. Or where he was. He'd just disappeared. In the back of his mind he wondered if they'd even noticed he was gone. Or cared. No one had even tried to contact him. And the truth was he loved being at Sonny's but he did miss Sam and Caleb.

The curtain moved back and Mac stood slack jawed in the cubicle.

"Dean?" He gasped coming over. He waved away whoever he was talking to saying that he would speak to him later.

"Mac, what are you doing here?"

"I'm in negotiations to do a new children's wing, what are you doing here? I thought you were at Bobby's!"

"Bobby's? Is Sam there? Is he okay? Have you heard from Dad? How's Caleb?" He wasn't allowed to make phone calls so this might be his only chance to get in a real conversation with someone about his family.

"They're all fine, Dean. What are you doing here?"

"I-"

"And what happened to your arm?"

"It got cut. It's fine." He said hurriedly.

"Why are you in New York when everyone thinks you're in South Dakota?"

Dean was saved from answering by Sonny entering.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Sonny said. Dean could hear the suspicion in his voice and the teen inwardly flinched.

"Uh, this is Dr. Ames. He's a… friend."

Dean pulled his wrapped arm to himself, feeling suddenly self-conscious.

"And who are you, sir?" Mac frowned, stepping close to Sonny.

"Dean's staying with me right now. And we need to get going. Dean." He nodded towards the teenager to start moving. Dean stood up but Mac moved forward.

"Staying by choice?"

Dean looked between Sonny and Mac unsure of what to say. He loved being with Sonny but Mac had been helping him for years.

"He's staying with me. If you have a problem with it you can take it up with the state."

Dean's eyes widened, knowing that this was not going to end well.

"Sonny, can we leave now?"

"No Dean, you're coming with me." Mac said, a clear challenge in His voice.

"I'm sorry, Doctor , but the state doesn't look well on me just letting my foster kids go off with the first 'family friend' that comes by."

All the color drained from Mac's face and Dean looked away, feeling suddenly guilty but for what he wasn't exactly sure.

"Since when is Dean in the system?" And the horror in Mac's voice made Dean flinch.

Sonny was now standing nearly nose to nose with Mac. "Since his father told the state to let him rot in jail for stealing some bread. If you have a problem, you can take it up with him. Dean, let's go."

He started towards the exit when Mac grabbed his good arm. "Dean."

"I'm okay, Mac. Really." He looked in Mac's eyes for the first time since Sonny came in. "Don't tell Caleb. You know how he is. I'm okay. Just don't tell him."

"Let him go before I call security." Sonny never sounded so dark and Dean hoped Mac hadn't gotten him in some kind of trouble.

Mac dropped his arm but he clearly wasn't happy about it. Dean didn't wait for another word, turning away from Mac and heading straight for the truck.

Sonny followed close behind.

They were half way back to the farm before Dean spoke. "He's not a bad person. Caleb was in the system for years and it wasn't like here."

"Who's Caleb?" Was all Sonny said.

"He's my best friend. Mac's son. He adopted him but the places he stayed before were bad. He said the group homes were the worst."

Dean looked out his window, not able to keep looking at Sonny. He was confused and tired and the pain meds were starting to wear off. He'd been trying not to think about the Brotherhood. It made his brain hurt. At least they thought he was at Bobby's and didn't think he'd just disappeared off the face of the earth.

"I know that not every home is like ours. And I know that Mac is a good person, but I can't let you go with anyone but your father."

And Dean felt relief at that. He hated himself for it, but he was relieved. Relieved that Mac couldn't just show up at the farm and disrupt the life that he had at Sonny's.

"It's okay, I like it here." He said quietly.

Some of the guilt eased as he saw the soft smile on Sonny's lips.

~TH~

I hope you enjoyed that first chapter! I really do love this fic. I wrote the entire fic in the span of about twenty-four hours. It was one of those *looks down and sees 4k words and wonders how they got there*.

Please let me know what you think and if you enjoyed it, consider looking at the rest of the Brotherhood AU!

Next chapter will deal with Caleb finding out.

God bless,
Jamie