As Dean walked into the courtroom that morning, he tried to ignore the intense nausea that was coursing through his veins, as he shakily slid into the galley with Bobby for the start of the proceedings. It was the first official hearing since Dawn had been handed the case after the prosecution had rested the previous day.

She planned on calling Dean as her first witness to testify. It was terrifying for the thirteen-year-old. Not because he was having any doubts as to what he would say when given the right questions, it was because he was terrified of messing up, and casting more problems on his guardian's shoulders.

And he was nervous about seeing Caleb. It had been two months since he had last seen the hunter, and that had been when the police pulled them over, and instructed him to step out of the car. After that, had followed a never-ending hell of emotional turmoil while he anticipated the end of a trial that had haunted him for weeks.

"Are you okay?" Bobby whispered, seeing how tense the kid looked as he knotted his hands around each other in order to attempt to regain control over his battered emotions before they got the best of him.

"No," Dean said, not even bothering to deny it like he normally would have.

There was no point. Not when his heart was thundering like a hammer in his chest, and his palms were achy and sweaty from clenching them so tightly. He could feel himself shaking not just with nervousness at being called to testify, but of seeing Caleb.

A much better reunion would have been to have actually been able to hug him, but he knew that would be out of the question. He knew, without anyone telling him, that it would be a surreal thing to watch him be led in by guards, and he tried to prepare himself for that as much as he possibly could before it actually happened.

It made him sick to realize that people actually assumed he was dangerous, thus requiring the security and restraints that had to accompany him whenever he traveled anywhere. He hoped that, with the inclusion of his testimony, the jury would hear for themselves how wonderful Caleb was, and how much he adored he and Sam.

"Try not to think about it, okay?" Bobby counseled, knowing exactly what the problem was, and knowing there was nothing he could do to alleviate the fears that Dean had placed on his shoulders. "Try to think about what you're going to say when you get up there."

"Okay."

Even though Dean knew it wouldn't be that easy, not when he was brutally reminded of the little rules he had to oblige by when he was in the courtroom. No physical contact between he and Caleb, and no real conversing with each other. Just like in the jail, but this time Dean would be in the same room as he was, and be forced to stare that prosecutor in the face as he delivered his cross-exam once Dawn was through.

The doors leading into the courtroom opened again. Twisting around in his seat, Dean saw Dawn enter this time. Passing her a nervous smile, he was rewarded with one of her own, as she leaned foreword to converse privately with he and Bobby.

"Okay," she said, "it's going to start in a few minutes."

"The hearing is?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah. The judge is going to call the jury in, and then we'll start."

"You're-you're going to call me first?" Dean asked, surprised at how shaken his voice was, as he tried desperately to rid his body of the sickness that he was feeling.

"That's right," she said softly, sensing, perhaps, how nervous he was. "Just tell me what you know, Dean, that's all you have to do. Nothing else."

"What if I screw this up?" he whispered, as more people started flocking into the room.

"You won't," she promised him. "Just stick to the facts, Dean. No matter how hard it will be for you to face the prosecutor, it's essential that you answer him honestly."

"Okay," he finally said, when he realized that she was waiting for an answer. "I promise."

"Okay," she said, giving him a tight smile. "We got this."

If only he could be assured of that, if only he could know that, when all was said and done, the jury would make the right decision and set Caleb free, but he didn't know that, and that was what was grating on his nerves.

"When is Caleb-"

His hesitant question was answered when the side doors leading into the other part of the courthouse that housed the holding cells, were opened, and the guards led Caleb in by the arm. Dean could feel his breath catch in his throat as he glimpsed his first sight of his beloved guardian in two months.

He looked the same as he remembered him, except Dean could tell, when he looked closely, that he was tense, nervous just like he was.

"He looks good, doesn't he?" Bobby whispered.

Dean nodded, beyond words.

"All rise!" the bailiff said, as the judge entered the room.

When they rose for the judge, Caleb turned and gave Dean a small smile. Dean tried to return it, but he was sure his face was frozen in shock at what was happening, as they sat back down.

Once the jury was called in, they had to stand again. Dean was used to this routine from watching too many crime shows on television, but it was surreal to be doing it in an actual court of law, where someone he loved dearly, was on trial.

"Does the state recognize the presence of the jury?" the judge asked.

"We do, your honor," the prosecutor said.

"And does the defense?"

"Yes," Dawn announced clearly.

"And who would the defense wish to call as their first witness?"

This was it: Dean could feel his heart hammering in his throat, his mouth painfully dry as he looked in a blind panic at Bobby, who returned his panicked one with his own calm one. Even though Dean tried to take some comfort from the look, he couldn't. Too much was riding on his testimony for him to feel completely at ease.

"The defense calls Dean Winchester to the stand," Dawn said, standing up.

Taking that as his cue to stand, Dean made his way to the front of the room where the witness stand was set up. Swallowing back the bile that rose in his throat, he noticed when Caleb discreetly held out his hand to him. Trying to hide a smile so it wouldn't be noticed, he slapped his hand against Caleb's, trying to take comfort from that brief physical contact they had shared. It was the first in months, as Dean allowed himself a quick second look into his gentle eyes.

"Go get 'em," Caleb whispered softly.

Dean nodded, swallowing convulsively as he approached the bailiff, who swore him in before allowing him to take the stand. Sitting in the witness seat, he tried to control the almost painful pounding of his heart, as he forced himself to look not at the prosecution side, but at Caleb and Dawn, as she rose to start her direct-exam.

"State your name for the record," she said, beginning her interrogation.

"D-Dean Winchester."

"How long have you known Caleb?" she asked, speaking softly for him.

"As long as I can remember, pretty much," he said with a small smile.

This wasn't so bad; not when he was talking to Dawn, who he trusted, and who he knew Caleb trusted too. It was easier opening up to her, knowing she had his and Caleb's best interests at heart.

"So you two are pretty close," she said, stating the obvious.

"Oh, yeah," he said, without hesitation.

"He knew your parents?"

"He knew my dad."

"And then after your parents both died, he and Jim started to raise you and Sam?"

"Yes."

It had been so long ago that he barely remembered that horrible period; it was only through the few memories he had of that time, and from Caleb and Jim's own recollections that he knew the gist of what that time had been like for all of them.

"How old were you when your parents died?"

"I was four when my Mom died, and then five when my dad was killed."

"So you've only ever really known Caleb and Jim, correct?"

"Yes. I have a few memories here and there of them, but all of my real memories are of being with Jim and Caleb and Bobby."

Dawn smiled. "So you all have become like a family, right?"

"Absolutely."

In the place of his real family, his real parents, Jim and Caleb and Bobby had become his family. They had become his support and love system, and had become the only people in the world who he could confide in and share with. They were the only people he knew to look after he and his brother, and the bonds they had formed with one another, had become priceless to him.

"So," Dawn said, diving into the heart of her defense, and the claims that surrounded her client and the two boys. "I'm sure there are times when you and your brother aren't so good, right?"

"Oh, yes," Dean said, smiling. "Many times."

Glancing over at Caleb, he saw him hide a smile behind his hand, knowing the truthfulness of Dean's statement better than anyone in that room.

"What would happen if you boys got into trouble?"

Dean knew why she was asking those questions: she was getting into the claims that CPS had made, and he was only too happy to refute them, and inform the court of what really went on when he and Sam got into trouble.

"It depends," Dean answered honestly. "When we were younger, we would be put in the corner, and if it wasn't serious enough, they would let us slide on punishment."

"And what about now when you're older?"

"If it's bad enough, they ground us," Dean said with a shrug. "Or they'll give us a really boring lecture."

"Caleb has never hit you, correct?"

"Never."

"Even accidentally, when he gets a little too mad sometimes?"

Dean knew why she was asking him those questions, and he knew it was to blow apart the ridiculous allegations made by CPS, and he was only too thrilled to answer in the absolute negative.

"No," Dean said, shaking his head. "Not accidentally, not on purpose. Never."

"Okay. What about the bruise mark on your arm?"

The whole reason their nightmare had started. The bruises had mostly healed now, except for a faint yellowish mark that had now rested on the spot. It wouldn't be visible to anyone, except if they knew what they were looking for.

"I fell," he said, giving her the same story that he had given the CPS worker. "I hit it on the cement when I was playing sports with my friends."

"Did you mention the mark to Caleb or Bobby?"

"No. It didn't seem that serious to me, and so I didn't let them see it. It was only right before CPS called, that Caleb first saw it and by then it was too late to do anything about it."

"Okay," she said, "and so you got it from playing with your friends, right?"

"Yes."

"And Caleb did not see it until right before he received the call from child protective services?"

"Yes."

It was a lie, but Dean knew that if he deviated from the original story that he had fed to the CPS worker, the prosecution would hammer him during their cross-examination.

"I have to ask," she warned, knowing this would be a touchy subject for him. "And you have to answer me honestly, do you understand?"

"Yes."

Dawn hesitated. "Was Sam coached by Caleb before he spoke with Diane Ward?"

Dean knew she had to ask the tough questions, as well as the easy ones, but he hated that he had to answer this one, and he honestly wasn't sure how to answer it, as he glanced nervously over at Caleb.

"It's okay," Caleb mouthed, signaling to him to answer her honestly.

"Sam was nervous about doing the interview without any of us in the room with him," Dean said, "and Caleb told him that if she asked him about my arm or about school, he should just say that he didn't know, which was the truth."

"So Caleb never said that he couldn't answer her questions, correct?"

"Absolutely not," Dean said. "He knew how important the interview was, and Sam tried to do what he told him to do, it just came out the wrong way," he added with a slight laugh.

"Caleb never coached him to lie to her, right?"

"No."

"What about," Dawn said, covering some of the neglect charges that were up against Caleb. "When you two are really hurt or sick? Does he take you to the doctor or the hospital?"

"Of course," Dean said, as though the idea that he wouldn't, was ludicrous. "If we're really sick, we go to the doctor. If we cut something or really hurt ourselves, he takes us to the hospital."

There had been numerous times when he and Sam had both been taken in for an illness, or when one of them cut something rough housing. Or a year or two previously, when Sam had been taken to the hospital to get his appendix removed.

"So the idea that he wouldn't take you to the doctor for something like a bruise or anything serious like that is-"

"Ridiculous," Dean finished. "If I had showed him the bruise, he would have taken me in."

It was obvious that was the answer she was hoping for. "Alright, and take me through what happened the night that Caleb was arrested," she said gently, seeing Dean noticeably wince when she brought up that horrible memory.

"We were scared," Dean said carefully, glancing over at Caleb who nodded encouragingly to him.

"Of what?"

"Of something happening to Sam. He's had this freaky stalker, and we were freaked about being separated in the system."

"So you were scared of Sam and this stalker?"

"Yes."

"So Caleb took you because he was afraid of something happening to you?"

"Yes."

"Did he tell you that you were going to run?"

Dean hesitated, refraining from scratching something on his face. One of the pointers that Dawn had given him when she had visited him, was to avoid touching his face. In the sharp eyes of the jury and the prosecution, whenever a witness did that, it normally signified they were lying about something.

"No. He said that he didn't want us to be apart. He wanted us to be together," Dean said, "and more importantly, he wanted to make sure that Sam wasn't hurt again."

"But you went more than willingly, correct?"

"Why wouldn't we?"

"Alright," Dawn said, "and then when you were pulled over, what happened?"

"Caleb," Dean said, pausing to bow his head to try to ward off the tears that resulted from that horrific memory being brought back up. "He told us to stay in the car, and we did."

"You and Sam?" she prompted.

"Yes."

"And then what happened?"

"Nothing. I remember feeling like something was wrong, and then when the officer came to the car and told us to get out, we did."

"And then what happened?"

"He told us that Caleb had been arrested."

"And then what?"

"I flipped out, and we ran."

"Why did you run?" Dawn asked carefully, sensing what a sensitive subject that was for him to talk about, and wanting to tread carefully with how far she pushed him.

"Because," Dean said, with a scoff, as his voice broke. "I had just been told that Caleb had been arrested, and I panicked because in my mind, there was no way I was allowing myself or Sam to be taken to that place. Especially if we could be separated."

That had been the deciding factor of them running: not only could they be separated from Caleb, but Dean knew that it was a possibility of he and Sam being placed in different homes, and that wasn't even an option.

"But Caleb never-"

"Caleb never took us against our will. He never abused us in any way, and he never denied us medical treatment when it was warranted," Dean said, deciding to cover all the bases.

"No further questions."