Disclaimer: Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and Warner Bros.

A/N - Hi again! Thank you for all the support for this story! It means a lot! This chapter is a bit longer than the previous two and I'll keep this intro shorter too, a win win! Hope you like it!

A Home For Wayward Sons

Chapter Three

No one who had ever met Bobby Singer would claim he had the patience of a saint, but even Saint Teresa would have had trouble keeping her cool around these Winchester boys. Ironically enough, despite the fact that the oldest one, Dean, was still in the ICU and had been fighting for his life up until an hour ago, he was giving Bobby the least amount of trouble. Of course, that would probably change as soon as the boy woke up properly, but Bobby knew to take small blessings where he could.

No, the main headache was coming from the two younger boys, Sam and Adam.

When Bobby had rushed over to Sioux General Hospital, he hadn't exactly expected a welcoming committee, but he hadn't quite expected outright hostility either, yet that was precisely what he had been on the receiving end of when he had first turned up at the hospital waiting room. It didn't seem to be aimed purely at him, however; Sam was holding his brother Adam close and was practically snarling at anyone who so much as looked at them, including Bobby.

Then it hit him. They'd never actually met him. John had shown him pictures of the boys last time he'd seen the man, although that sentimentally hadn't lasted long as far as Bobby could recall, but he doubted the man had ever shown the boys a picture of Bobby.

Course, even if he hadn't known who he was looking for, he would have been able to recognise Sam and Adam among the throng of other concerned family members in the waiting room. Sam in particularly looked almost feral, dangerous and scared and ready to attack. Winchesters through and through, Bobby thought wryly.

With a small shake of his head, Bobby strode over to them with the intention of clearing everything up.

"Sam Winchester," he greeted with a gruff nod. "And you must be Adam, although I can hardly recognise you with how big you've both grown." When he didn't get much reaction, Bobby continued. "You called me."

To his growing worry, Sam's defensive posture didn't really change, although Bobby did notice a slight relaxation in his grip on Adam. Adam, for his part, obviously didn't have a clue who he was talking to.

"This is Mr Singer, Adam," Sam explained. "He's come to help."

"Bobby," corrected Bobby. "And speaking of help, what have you been told?"

"Nothing," Sam scowled. "They took Dean to surgery hours ago and I have no idea why. We rode in the ambulance with him and they were worried about the head injury and his shoulder. Other than that, we don't know anything!"

Sam was getting more and more hysterical the longer he talked, and Bobby could see the effect it was having on Adam too.

"Calm down, boy, that ain't helping any," Bobby said firmly. "Now you just sit tight, I'll try and track down a doctor and find out what's going on. Then we'll go and get you boys some food and drink while we wait, okay?"

Sam nodded and held his brother closer, both of them seeming to get some comfort out of it.

"In your phone call, you mentioned child services," Bobby prompted. He hated to bring it up, but he had to know what he was dealing with.

"Yeah, I overheard one of the nurses talking about it," Sam hesitated. "Dean has older bruises. You know, from the last…trip with dad. And they can't get hold of Dad either"

Bobby nodded. He knew all about the werewolf hunt. By all accounts, Dean had done a good job, but werewolves were strong sons o' bitches and hunters rarely left an encounter with a werewolf bruise-free. Course, most hunters weren't 16 years old boys who were deemed minors either.

"Don't you worry about it, Sam, you hear me?" Bobby began. "There's always a back up for these situations, you know that."

Bobby was confused when Sam's scowl only deepened but it wasn't the biggest problem on his list of priorities, so he let it slide.

"If anyone asks, I'm your Uncle – your mom's sister," he told them both. "Me and John had paperwork made a while back that'll confirm it if anyone asks."

"What's the story?" Sam asked, already old hat at the drill. Lies were part of daily life for Winchesters.

"Your dad left this morning for a family emergency," Bobby told them. He'd thought this through on the way over, coming up with a plan on the fly since he couldn't get hold of John either. "Dean was going to make sure that you boys got to school okay this morning, and then I was going to pick you up after school, get your stuff from wherever you're staying, and bring you over to mine to stay until your dad gets back."

Sam nodded then looked down at his brother.

"You get that, Adam?" Sam asked softly.

Adam nodded, clearly still a little nervous of Bobby. Bobby knew he could look scary to some of the young'uns so he didn't take it personally.

"Tell me what you'll say if anyone asks," Sam prompted Adam.

"He's Uncle Bobby," Adam repeated. "We're supposed to stay with him while dad has an emergency."

"Good boy, kiddo," Sam smiled.

"Perfect," Bobby said, earning him a small smile from Adam as well.

He was just about to tell the boys to hang tight while he went to find Dean's doctor, when another voice stopped him in his tracks.

"Bobby Singer, what the hell are you doing here on a fine day like this?"

Bobby turned with no small amount of trepidation. "Deputy Sheriff Mills, what are you doing here?"

She just smiled at him, like a predator would to prey. "I asked first."

It wasn't a request.

"I'm here for my nephews," Bobby replied, careful to not seem too casual. The Sheriff was a dumb hick with too much power and not enough sense, but Deputy Mills was sharp, with a good head on her shoulders. "This is Sam and Adam. Say hi boys."

"Hi," they replied despondently.

"Nephews?" she asked. Everyone knew Bobby Singer lived alone and didn't have any relatives.

Bobby subtly gestured her down the hall a little bit, out of hearing of the two Winchesters.

"Sister's boys," Bobby replied. "Well, Dean and Sam are. Adam was a surprise courtesy of their father, but a welcome one. He's a good kid. Their mother died a long time ago and their dad moves around a lot for work. I haven't seen them in a while, but John had a family emergency and asked me to look after them for a bit. I was getting the guest rooms ready when Sam called to say there'd been an accident. I only just got here."

"It wasn't a car accident by any chance, was it?" she asked with a frown.

"Dean was hit by a car, yes," Bobby replied. "You catch it?"

"Yes," she replied. "Drunk asshole lost control and veered straight towards your boys. From what I gather, the eldest, Dean, pushed his brothers out the way and took the hit himself. Saved them."

Bobby nodded. That sounded like Dean. He didn't know the Winchester boys well, but he knew Dean would do anything for his brothers. Everyone in their circle of contacts knew that.

"Do you know how he is?" Bobby asked. "The boys haven't been told anything. I was just about to try and track down his doctor when you got here."

"I think he came through surgery okay," Mills told him, "Other than that, you know as much as I do. I'm here to take statements from Sam and Adam while it's fresh in their minds."

"Can't it wait?" Bobby asked. "They're scared shitless about their brother. Until they know he's gonna be okay, they ain't gonna talk to you."

He expected an argument, but Deputy Mills just sighed. "I guess it can wait a while, but not too much longer, Singer. I'm not letting this asshole get away on a technicality, I want an air-tight case…"

Bobby was about to argue further when he saw a doctor approaching Sam and Adam. He left the deputy in the corridor and made his way back to them.

"This is our Uncle Bobby," Sam introduced, nodding to Bobby. The doctor, a middle-aged man with no hair but kind eyes, shook his hands and offered a small smile of reassurance.

"I was just telling your boys here," the doctor began. "Dean is going to be okay. He was damn lucky. He'll need to stay a couple of days so that we can monitor him, and he'll have a long recovery ahead of him, but he'll be fine as long as he does what he's told."

Bobby bit back a retort that Winchesters never did what they were told, too relieved that Dean was going to be okay. He had a shit-ton of other fires to put out, but at least that wasn't one of them.

The doctor continued. "He must have been standing side on when the car hit because it's mostly his left side where the damage is. His left collar bone is broken, as are a couple of his ribs on the left side. That's why we took him to surgery. One of the ribs came close to nicking his lung and we were worried about internal bleeding around his left kidney, but we got that repaired without any complications so with some rest, he should heal up okay. He also has a twisted knee that has swollen up, but again, it's something he should recover from. There are some exercises he can do to help his recovery, but I'll explain more when we release him. Is he going home with you?"

"His father is away on an emergency, the boys will be staying with me."

"Well we've got Dean set up in room 211," the doctor nodded. "He's still unconscious, but we're not unduly worried. If you're ready, you can go and see him now. It'll have to be a quick visit though, official visiting times aren't until later."

"Please," Bobby replied.

"Nurse Carter will take you," he said, gesturing to a young nurse stood to his right. Sam and Adam stood immediately and the nurse set off, leading them towards their brother.

"One more thing, Mr Singer," the doctor said, holding him back, his tone changing. "During his post-op examination, we noticed some older bruising on Dean's arms and back. You know about that?"

Bobby swallowed but nodded. "His daddy told me about that. Boy got into a fight with some neighbourhood kids. He was outnumbered and they got him good."

The doc didn't look convinced but seemed to decide to let it go for now.

"Go and see Dean," he said, gesturing towards the retreating backs of the nurse and the other two Winchester boys."

"Thanks," Bobby replied gruffly, before picking up his speed to catch the others up.

What in the hell had he got himself into now…?

It was the beeping that first Dean first heard when he started to wake up. The annoying, repetitive beeping that sank into his thoughts and dragged him from blissful oblivion.

Beep…beep…beep…

What was that? His thoughts felt like mud; sticky, heavy and difficult to move through. In fact, he could barely seem to form a coherent thought that wasn't confused or erratic or just downright tired.

Beep…beep…beep….

With a concerted effort that sapped some of his precious energy, Dean tried to open his eyes, but his eyelids felt far too heavy to lift, and he gave up after a few failed tries. He could feel his heartbeat increasing, partly in panic and partly in desperation and confusion, but he couldn't seem to calm down. His brain was working too slowly, too sluggishly, as if it was still trying to catch up to the situation.

There was something he was forgetting, something important…

Beep…beep…beep….

God, what the hell was that stupid beeping…?

Beep...beep...

"Dean? Dean…are you awake? Please be okay…"

The voice broke though the repetitive pattern of beeps - a pattern that, up until now, had filled his thoughts - filtering into Dean's mind like a ghost though a wall. He tried to place it, nothing made much sense to him. His head was starting to hurt but he didn't know why.

"Dean…?" It was a younger voice this time. Upset. He knew them. If he could just think clearly…

Beep…beep…beep…

Who was that? The question floated to the front of his mind, and when it got there it refused to budge. Who was talking to him? What were they trying to say? It seemed important, they seemed important, but for the life of him, he couldn't work out who it was...

"Dean…come on man, I need you. Adam needs you…"

"I need you to look after Sam and Adam, okay Dean," his father had always told him. "That's your most important job. Look after Sam and Adam."

Look after Sam and Adam.

Shit, Dean cursed to himself and tried to open his eyes, blinking at the brightness of the room and the sharpening of his headache. He failed, his eyes sliding shut again, but Dean was no quitter, not when Sam and Adam needed him.

With a strain, Dean tried to push his eyes open again, but the effort tore the energy straight from his mind, and left desperation in its place.

"Please…Dean…"

I'm trying, Dean told the Sam irritably, although in the back of his mind, Dean realised that he wouldn't be able to hear him.

Beep…beep…beep…

He tried to take a deep breath, but the movement must have knocked something in his chest because the next thing he knew there was a shooting pain running through his entire body.

God, that hurt…

Beep…beep…beep…

"Open…eyes…"

With one last effort, drawing on every energy reserve he had, drawing on the pain that was still throbbing in his chest, Dean focused on his eyes, pushing them with everything he had.

"That's it, Mr Winchester," a voice praised. He didn't know that voice. His heart-rate increased…

Beep…beep…beep…

After one final push of effort, finally his eyes opened, though the bright light filtered in so quickly that he was forced to blink rapidly to avoid being permanently blinded.

Ow…

Dean blinked again, tears gathering in the corners of his eyes as he tried to make sense of what he was seeing. All he could make out was white – wherever he was, he concluded tiredly, it was very, very white…

"Shit, Dean…"

Dean brought his tired gaze over to the voice, only to meet young eyes tinged with concern and relief.

"S-Sammy?" he managed to say, though his throat felt like sandpaper and it burned with the effort. "What…happened?"

Dean blinked again, tried to ignore the growing pounding in his head. He didn't remember being on a hunt with his dad, but he didn't remember a lot of things. He remembered getting Sam and Adam ready for school in the morning, and then…

Nothing.

Dean shook his head and looked over at Sam and Adam, mentally checking the kids over. Sam was sat in a chair next to his bed, Adam sat on his knee. Their clothes looked rumpled and they both look tired, but otherwise they seemed okay, which was all that mattered.

He nodded to Sam, reassured slightly when Sam smiled shakily back at him, then focused on Adam. Dean cleared his throat but it still felt scratchy. "Hey, bud."

"Dean, you're alive!" Adam replied, smiling widely before immediately dissolving into a flood of tears. Dean immediately tried to move to his brother, wincing at the unexpected shooting pain in his ribs, but Sam just wrapped Adam up in his arms against his chest and let the little boy sob.

"He'll be alright," Sam told him knowingly. "He was just really worried about you."

Dean could tell by Sam's face that he wasn't the only one, but he didn't feel it was fair to call his brother out on that. Not when he still had no idea what was going on. He was in a hospital, he knew that much, but other than the fact that he'd clearly had the crap beaten out of him, he had no idea...

"That bad, huh?" Dean said, and then, almost afraid of the answer, he asked, "What…happened?"

"You were hit by a car," Sam told him soberly. "We were walking to school and a drunk driver came too fast round the corner. They were going to hit us all but you pushed me and Adam out of the way. It hit you Dean. The car…it hit you, and then you weren't moving…and I didn't…I couldn't…"

"I'm fine, Sammy," Dean said automatically, not actually sure if it was true. He had some sort of strapping around his ribs and it looked like his left arm was in a sling. Under the covers, he surreptitiously wiggled his toes and was relieved to see the fabric move, although he could feel strapping around his left knee. He wasn't paralysed at least, thank god.

His head still hurt like a son of a bitch though, and it was getting harder and harder to keep his eyes open. He was no stranger to concussions, so he knew the signs…

"Dean," Sam prompted when Dean zoned out a little bit. Dean forced his attention back to his brothers, though it was getting harder and harder to concentrate as the fog began to rise up again. "Do you want anything? Water maybe?"

He blinked again, but didn't try to speak again. Instead he just nodded tiredly, already feeling his energy falling away from him. He wanted to stay awake, but he wasn't sure it was a battle he was going to win this time…

But he had to make sure Sam and Adam were okay.

"You…okay?"

"We're both fine," Sam replied, rubbing reassuring circles on Adam's back.

"Dad?" Dean asked. He was flagging now, he knew he didn't have long before he went under again. He had to make sure Sam and Adam were going to be okay until he could look after them again.

Sam sighed, "Can't get hold of him." Sam took a deep breath. "Dean, CPS were on their way according to one of the nurses. Otherwise I wouldn't have done it, but…

"What did you do, Sam?" Dean asked with dread.

"I called Bobby Singer."

Dean jerked up and immediately regretted it when pain shot through his chest. "Dammit Sammy, why?"

Spots danced in front of his eyes and he felt the darkness creeping even closer. He heard movement to his right - it was probably a nurse coming back to poke him with a needle or something. Damn bloodsuckers, worse than Vampires…

"Because, you idjit, your brother has more sense than you do. I'm here to help."

Dean swallowed hard and turned to his right. He'd never met the man before but their dad's description of him didn't do him justice. Grumpy old bastard.

"We don't need your help," he told Singer, trying to pull himself up in his bed. His body felt weak, beaten. "We don't need any help."

Singer just gave him a knowing look. "Sorry son, not sure you're in a position to argue at the moment."

"I did all the tests on him, Dean," Sam piped up, looking between the two of them nervously. "He's on the up and up."

Which meant he wasn't any of the usual suspects, like a Demon or Shapeshifter. Didn't mean he could be trusted. Dad didn't completely trust anyone who wasn't a Winchester, so neither did Dean. Dean just wished his head didn't feel like it was full of cotton wool. Dammit, he hated concussions.

"I'm not here to cause you any trouble, okay Dean?" Singer said placatingly. "I'm here because your daddy would expect me to help you until he can help you himself."

He wanted to tell the man to screw himself and leave his big nose out of their business. He wanted to get up out of the bed, grab Sammy and Adam and he wanted to run, somewhere far away, where neither hunter nor CPS could find them. He wanted to keep them safe.

He wanted to…but he couldn't.

"You hurt them, I hurt you," Dean replied, his eyes closing for longer this time before he was able to force them open again. His reserves were fading fast. "Sammy, don't trust him okay. Keep Adam safe."

"Dean…" Sam looked worried. Dean wasn't sure why.

"Bit fuzzy," he replied hoarsely. "It's…the drugs. Hate…hospitals…"

He could feel his energy leaving him more rapidly now, and his eyelids were beginning to feel heavier by the second. He knew he didn't have long before he lost his battle with the drugs or the concussion, but he clung to consciousness with everything he had left.

"Look after Sam and Adam," he whispered to himself, pain flaring up in his chest again.

God how he wished he felt numb again now. The pain levels were rising now, and it was all he could do not to cry out in pain. Too tired to even fight it anymore, Dean allowed his eyes to fall closed again, darkness already creeping at the edges of his vision.

"I'll look after Sam and Adam, Dean," Bobby Singer told him gently. Dean was too tired to tell him that he'd been talking to himself not making a request of the older man.

Beep...beep...beep.

The darkness came upon him then, and he fell, down, down, until he knew no more.

A/N - So how was it? I'd be interested to know where you'd like this story to go and how far to take it. I was intending to keep it a medium to short length but I've made promises like that before that turned into 50 + chapters and almost 200,000 words so I won't make that mistake again! Please let me know your thoughts anyway, if you can spare a minute. Otherwise, and until next time, thanks for reading!