A/N: This chapter doesn't really feature the Winchesters, but it's important for their development. Hopefully, you guys like it!

If You Dare Challenge - #606 (Wishful Thinking)

Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #207 (lost)

Fanfiction Writing Month: October[1414]

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Rosa learned, through their brief talks, that Dean knew the alphabet and could recognize about half of the letters in it, but had no idea how to read actual words and sentences. He was a whiz with numbers and could easily comprehend books if she read them out loud, but he couldn't write or read them. She told Sonny as much, and he frowned. "How could he have never learned how to read?"

"He slipped the system," Rosa answered sadly. "His father rarely took him to school, y si iba a la escuela…" And if he went to school... When emotion fueled her conversation, Rosa generally had to switch back to Spanish, for English couldn't express well enough what she felt.

"Yo sé, Rosa," Sonny said. I know. "Desastre." Disaster. He slipped into Rosa's native tongue with ease.

"Sí, como el jueves." Yes, like on Thursday.

"Sí… Tal vez Dean no atenderá la escuela. Si él tendrá… este reaccion todas las días, no es una buena idea." Yes... Maybe Dean shouldn't attend school. If he will have... this reaction every time, then it's not a good idea.

Rosa sat down, pressing her fingertips against the sides of her head. "Pero… ¿Qué harémos con Sam? No se irá sin Dean." But... What will we do with Sam? He won't go without Dean. She sighed, blinking back tears. "I wish… Quiero ayudarlos." I want to help them.

Eventually, they decided that Sam and Dean would be better off at home with a tutor rather than finishing the school year with the constant fear of everyone around them. Kathy Gavinski, the saint she was, volunteered to do it for no pay. Sonny knew that the boys seemed much more comfortable around her than anyone else, so she was perfect.

Although Dean obviously had trouble with learning to read (it stirred up terrible memories for him), by the end of the school year, he could recognize all letters and some words. It took him a while to even be willing to do so; at first, Kathy's sessions with the boys ended in tears, hyperventilation, or violence. However, by the end of the third week, Dean could read Bob books. He was an intelligent boy, just like his brother. He learned quicker than anyone she'd seen; it was only his past that held him back.

Kathy sighed and closed her eyes, taking a long sip of the iced tea Sonny had given her. If only Sam and Dean had been her children… Then they would've been free to be children, free to be intelligent and carefree… The Winchesters were anything but carefree. Because of their father— Kathy didn't want to think about it. She'd seen the plethora of scarring on his skin. Dean almost always wore long sleeves and pants, even though the heat could be thick and relentless. She spotted the odd white lines and slightly curved marks covering his hands every time he picked up his pencil or pointed to a word he didn't know. He was also missing the tips of both pinky fingers down to the first knuckle; it didn't look genetic.

Kathy swallowed hard and tried not to think about it. There was also scarring on his face and all over his neck; there were lines just below his Adam's apple that made her think a knife had been held to his throat. Multiple times. On the back of his neck were thicker, pinker scars that seemed to lead to his back. Dean's face… His nose had definitely been broken; it had been broken so many times that there was an obvious knot in the center of his face. There were more sharp lines that looked like they came from knives and a large claw mark on the right side of his face, narrowly missing his eye. There was one thicker, curved line above his left eye that sliced right through his eyebrow. Another claw scar could be seen faintly on his forehead and grazing his chin. She guessed that the claw marks could not have come from the father, but at least from some negligence on his part. But the rest… She wanted to find him and rip his throat out.

"Wow," someone said, and she jumped. "I don't know what that napkin did to you, but I sure hope it deserved it."

She relaxed quickly, realizing it was only Sonny. Kathy glanced down to find that she'd been tearing her napkin into pieces. She sighed again. "Sorry."

"No worries," he said, sitting down across from her at the counter. "What's on your mind?" He swept the pieces into the trash.

"Just...thinking about the boys," she said.

"My boys? There's a lot of 'em. You're gonna have to be a tad more specific."

Kathy smiled, just a little. Sonny always knew just how to make her cheer up. "Sam and Dean. Well, Dean, specifically."

Sonny's shoulders slumped.

"I'm just…" she began. "I'm worried about them. Mentally, physically, emotionally… These Winchesters have been through more than we could ever imagine. They… I don't know… Sam will go into these moments where he will completely block everything out, and Dean, too… I can't get any closer than about three feet without them completely breaking down or shutting down or-or-or—And the...th-the scars, I mean, they're everywhere. Who would do this to a child? Some of the marks on them look years old, and they're not just on Dean… oh, God…" She looked up and realized that Sonny's head was in his hands. He was...crying. He was sobbing silently, covering his tear-streaked face with his hands. "Oh, Sonny, I didn't mean to upset you…"

He shook his head, trying to stop, but it didn't seem to work. Kathy approached him instead, hugging him and holding him. She touched his face and then she kissed him, trying to take away his pain. When he finally stopped shaking with his sobs, he kissed her once more and then hugged her. Finally, he confessed how lost he felt. "I've had boys come through here who look like they've gone through a meat grinder," he began. "I've dealt with them, I… I help them. They learn that they can be happy, they can be...safe here. I've met some who have come from families who have hurt them, or tried to kill them, or just abandoned them. Once they come here, they're… They remind me of Sam and Dean, in the way they don't want to be touched, they feel threatened, they… They're scared.

"Once they come here, settle into a routine, they… They get better. But Sam, Dean, they… They're not getting any better. They're scared of me, scared of Rosa, of you… They think I'm gonna beat them, Kathy," he said, tortured. "Any time I get too close, every time I try to help them, Dean does this thing…" His voice broke, and she rubbed his back supportively. "He—he shuts down and says—he says something about how he'll take any punishment and he won't complain, but he goes totally blank, like—like a soldier, honestly, and I know that look. He's experienced so much—so much pain that he's learned to crawl into the back of his mind because there's no suffering there.

"I can't… I want to help them, Kathy. I want to help them so badly it hurts. But they won't let me get close to them… Dean barely eats, barely sleeps, never lets Sam out of a five-foot range…" He bit his lip, hard, and his voice suddenly grew quiet. "Whenever he eats, Kathy, he…" He gestured with his hands. "He'll eat a bite of each thing in the plate, just a small one, and then he'll wait. Just a minute or two. Then he tells Sam he can eat." He rubbed his forehead. "I didn't understand why he was doing it before, but now… I checked his hospital records, and…the doctor working on him said that he'd been poisoned. Multiple times over a week-long period. Sam and Dean both. I think… He checks if the food is… the food I give him… is poisoned before Sam eats it. It's—" His voice cracked again. "They see everything as a threat, Kathy. Everything. They don't understand that they're safe here, and there's nothing I can do about it. I just wish they could know that all I want to do is protect them…"

"Well," Kathy said, curling her hand over his, "maybe you just have to prove it to them."

A/N: Can't wait for the next chapter! Stay tuned!