A/N: Thanks for your patience, everyone! Here's the next chapter. In this one, we'll see how hard the adults work to try to heal the Winchesters and ease their trauma.

Fanfiction Writing Month: October [1820]

If You Dare Challenge - #849 (Wild Gestures)

Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #152 (gold)

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It took a few days for everything to settle down; Dean and Sam moved back to the top bunk, and both of them refused to eat altogether. They didn't accept anything to drink in cups; if they got thirsty, they would run to the sink, drink from the faucet, and run back to their rooms. They stopped speaking in English; Dean and Sam reverted back to sign language. Sonny left meals at the door at first, but that only seemed to make matters worse. Kathy stayed at Sonny's to help with the boys; for some reason, the Winchesters trusted her a little more. After looking further into their file, he realized it was because she looked a lot like their mother, with blonde hair and blue eyes. After she stayed hours overtime to help comfort them when they needed it, he offered to pay her to stay with the boys, but she refused. "I think," she said, "I've been given a second chance." She told Sonny about her struggles having children on her own and that she would stay here with the boys whenever Sonny needed her.

Still, however, the boys hadn't spoken a word since what had happened that early morning. Even Castiel, with his gentle nature and compassionate words, couldn't go anywhere near them without frightening them even more. Once three days went by, Sonny made a call. "Sonny?" he heard. The answer was a little more gruff than he remembered, but it had been a few years since they had last spoken.

"Hey, Amina," he answered, smiling. "How are you?"

Amina Ife had been one of his very best friends throughout high school. She was born in Africa, and moved to America when she was nine. Born to one deaf parent, she was fluent in American Sign Language. As she grew up and attended college, she became fluent in several different languages, including Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Swahili, Afrikaans, Chinese, and British Sign Language. An expert linguist, she worked for all kinds of companies as a translators or a speaker.

Today, Sonny hoped she could help. After catching up, he asked her to come visit. "It's hard to explain, Mina," he said. "I think you'll just have to come and see."

So exactly six hours later, Amina Ife arrived at Sonny's Home for Boys. She greeted Sonny and the boys, although Sam and Dean merely stayed in the corner, signing and watching her warily. Dean had woken up frightened and intensely sensitive that morning; everyone within a five-foot-radius was now an obvious enemy to him. Amina and Sonny moved into the kitchen, where Kathy had just finished a phone call. The two women greeted each other, and finally, they sat down to talk about the Winchesters. "So what is this about, Sonny?" Amina asked. "You were pretty vague on the phone."

Sonny nodded. "There are a couple of boys I'd like you to speak to."

She nodded. "What language?"

"ASL, I think. Their names are Sam and Dean Winchester. They… I just got them a few months ago. They'd been in the hospital for around five months by the time they came here."

"What for?"

Kathy and Sonny exchanged a look. "Car crash," he explained quickly.

Amina frowned, looking over at the Winchesters. She watched them sign, back and forth, back and forth… "Were their arms injured in the crash?"

"What?"

"Were their arms—"

"I heard you, but… Why is that important?"

She bit her lip. "Their ASL… It's odd, choppy… They don't move their wrists very much. It usually means their arms have been injured before, and they've gotten used to signing with casts or braces or injuries that they now sign in the way that's the least painful for them." Kathy and Sonny looked at each other as Amina carefully examined the boys' movements. "But… They're different. The younger one…"

"Sam."

"Yes. His signing is smoother. Dean's is extremely…injured. But…" Suddenly, Amina stopped, eyes trained on the boys. "Oh…"

"What is it?" Sonny asked.

She pressed her hand to her mouth. "Sonny…"

"What is it? What are they saying?"

She turned, tears in her eyes, and looked at her friend. "What have you done to these children?"

Sonny, much to his dismay, had to explain the Winchester's situation to Amina. "They were talking about you," Amina explained. "That's why it was...difficult to watch. At first, it was only everyday conversation. Then they started to talk about a dream or something Dean remembered and their signs turned into wild gestures… It was terrible, brutal, and they kept speaking of this "evil." Then they spoke of you, Sonny." He swallowed hard. "They spoke of fear and pain and… They were scared. Scared that you were going to punish them. Have you seen them say this?" She made placed her arms in front of her and signed PUNISH, placing her left arm horizontally with a closed fist and flicked her right arm down sharply with her index finger out. "It means 'punish,' Sonny." Her gold bracelets glinted on her wrists. "They kept repeating it, over and over… That's why it startled me. Some of it is...hard to understand because they've created some signs on their own and due to their accent."

"Accent?" Kathy inquired.

"The one I spoke of before. In the Deaf community, we sometimes call it an injury accent. Dean's is...much thicker. All the movements he makes, see, are very tight; they're all close to his body. And there's this one sign he keeps making…" She demonstrated, crossing both arms over her chest. One hand curled into a fist and the other signed I LOVE YOU.

"What does it mean?"

"Well, literally," she explained, "it's a combination of the signs for PROTECT and I LOVE YOU. But it's odd… The way he uses it is arbitrary; he puts it at the end of sentences, at the beginning, in the middle… So I think it's a name."

"It's Sam," Kathy and Sonny said together.

Amina nodded. "But the way they speak… It's interesting, honestly. They have their own accent: the Winchester accent, I suppose, because they only ever sign to each other." She adjusted her head wrap. "Do you think… Do you think I could talk to them?"

Sonny looked at his hands. "Look, Mina, they're not average kids. It'll be...a little different."

"I've worked with children like them," Amina said. "It will be—"

"No, Mina, honestly," Sonny promised her. "You haven't."

Nevertheless, Amina entered the living room to greet the boys. They were busy conversing in sign. The African woman watched their hands carefully, reading their words. AND D-M THERE, said Dean quickly. As Amina approached, his hands stopped. His eyes landed on her and he quickly stood, falling into a defensive stance, guarding Sam with his body and baring his teeth like a lion would.

NO BE SCARED, she said gently, kneeling. She had known children who had experienced pain; her kneeling was a sign of submission. MY NAME IS A-M-I-N-A. SIGN NAME M-N. Dean watched her carefully, but it was clear that he was not as aggressive as he would usually be. Her ability to sign and her nature had calmed him. HAVE SIGN NAME YOU?

Dean didn't respond; he simply watched her. But Sam peeked out from behind Dean's leg and signed quickly, his movements small. He made a unique sign that Amina assumed meant DEAN and then said, KNOWS M-N, KNOWS M-N, HOW?

QUIET SAMMY, Dean said. And he turned to Amina. HOW KNOW SIGN YOU?

MOTHER DEAF, she answered. DEAF YOU?

He shook his head.

DEAF S-A-M?

He shook his head again, eyes trained on her.

WHY NO SPEAK YOU?

This time, Sam answered. NOT SAFE, he said. MR—

Dean cut him off by blocking his body with his own. NO SIGN ANYMORE. GO AWAY. GO AWAY. It was much more obvious now; Dean had been hurt many times, particularly on his arms and hands. The scars were blatant signs of his injury, but it was clear to Amina with his movements. They were extremely precise, and his arms stayed tight, close to his chest. GO AWAY! NOW!

So far, Amina's attempts to calm the boys had been unsuccessful. Dean was still hyper-paranoid and very unstable; when one of the other boys, a fifteen-year-old named Paul, came too close, Dean punched him in the face so hard he broke the boy's nose. The next day, Sonny realized that Paul was not the only one injured by the incident. In his fragile state, Dean's bones were weaker, and although his punch had been well-practiced, he had broken one of his own fingers with the blow. Now, it was swollen and purple, and Dean struggled to communicate in ASL to his brother, which only amped his frustration and fear.

When Sonny glimpsed the broken finger that morning at breakfast, hidden behind Dean's sleeves, he asked, "Dean, what happened?" The two Winchesters were standing in the corner, apart from the rest of the boys. Dean wouldn't meet Sonny's eyes, as he did after he had punched Paul, so Sonny assumed the injury had resulted from the fight. "Dean, let me see."

The older Winchester glanced fearfully at his brother and moved his hand behind him, shaking his head. He signed one quick word—NO—before he backed up against the wall, wary, grabbing Sam's hand with his good one.

Kathy and Rosa, knowing that this situation could result in something violent or upsetting, asked Sonny's other boys to clear the room and take their breakfast with them. Amina watched from the sink, examining the Winchester's hand motions. Kathy pushed Sonny back, knowing his large male presence could sometimes terrify the boys, and kneeled in front of them at a careful distance. "Dean, please," she said. "We just want to make sure you're okay."

Dean shook his head again, his mouth in a tight line. His face was tense with fear, his legs actively shaking. His eyes kept glancing around the room, dancing over every object as though there was a monster hiding behind it.

When neither Kathy nor Rosa could coax Dean into a sense of safety, Amina tried, kneeling before them and signing in slow, gentle movements. The fact that she wasn't speaking out loud was enough to get Dean to stop shaking, and eventually she got him to show her his hand. During their non-verbal conversation, Sonny had gotten the first-aid kit from the other room, and he handed it to her. She placed the kit on the floor between them, signing, NO I NO-TOUCH. YOU HEAL.

Surprisingly, the boys needed little instruction on how to heal a broken finger, and little Sam placed a splint and bandage on his older brother with ease. No, not just ease. Amina recognized the fact that Sam's ability to heal his brother was unnervingly practiced. How many times had Sam had to take care of Dean's injuries?

A/N: Thanks for reading! To answer some questions I've gotten about Castiel, he will become a major part of Dean's life in the upcoming chapters. And no, he's not an angel. I don't know why, but he doesn't feel like the 'angel of the Lord' Castiel when I write him. You'll see. He's just a kid who cares about everyone and everything.

Thanks for your patience! I'll be posting the next chapter as soon as I can, probably tomorrow.