If You Dare Challenge - #3 (Moonstruck)

Are You Crazy Enough To Do It Challenge - #19 (book title) You Can't Go Home Again

Fanfiction Writing Month: November [1226]

Disclaimer: I own nothing.

It was as though all of the faith and trust and safety and happiness Sonny had built up in the past two years vanished in the car ride home. Dean became dangerously silent; the joy faded from his face, and he spent the entire car ride wiping away the face paint on Sam's skin. He had waited a half hour with Amina for the bunny face paint, but now Dean was scrubbing it off with his shirt and half of a water bottle in record time. "Dean!" Sam whined, wincing. "No! I wanna keep it!"

The frown lines in Dean's face made him seem a hundred years older. "He won't like it, Sammy. Scitis quod non placet." You know he won't like it.

"Autem—" But—

"Nihil, Sam!" No, Sam!

Awkward, intense silence filled the car.

"Dean," Cas said gently. "Dean, obsecro. Liceat mihi… et auxiliatus sum tibi." Dean, please. Let me… help you. Cas had learned Latin when he realized how much of a difference it made in Dean's mental state.

Dean jerked away sharply when Cas tried to touch him. "Don't," he snapped. For a moment, he softened. "Sorry, Cas, I just…" But then he hardened again like cement. "Just don't."

Once Sam's face was paint-free, Cas tried again. "Dean, obsecro te, liceat mi—" Dean, I'm begging you, let me— But when Cas touched his arm, Dean shuddered and flinched away. Dean's safe bubble that Sonny had so carefully constructed was destroyed.

When they reached the house, there were two police cars outside. Dean grabbed Sam's hand, and they followed Sonny inside.

John Winchester, in all his glory, stood inside, speaking with two police officers while the third and fourth approached the boys. Dean quickly pushed Sam behind him, but at the sight of his father, he snapped to attention. His arms were tight at the sides, his back was as straight as an arrow, and his eyes focused on the ground. Sonny felt his fists tighten at the sight. Now, he knew. John Winchester had tried to make his sons into soldiers. When Dean had chanted, "Soldiers don't cry," over and over until he shut down… This was John Winchester's doing.

John Winchester grinned. "Boys!" He moved to embrace them, but Sonny stepped forward.

He was not about to let this man ruin what he had created for Sam and Dean. "On what grounds, Officers," he said through gritted teeth, "is this man allowed to take Sam and Dean back?"

The first policeman, Officer Wells, answered him. "He's their biological father, Sonny."

"I know that," he growled back. "But this man allowed his children to be harmed and left them alone to fend for themselves and—"

"He explained the situation at the station." Wells jerked his head at Sam and Dean. "He was brought in to the hospital actually, with a bad stab wound. He was abducted during such time and therefore cannot be held responsible for his children's well-being during the time they were left alone."

Amina pressed her hand to her mouth, incredulous. "Do you honestly believe that?"

"Yes," the officer said. "But it doesn't matter. These are his children, ma'am, and Mr. Winchester deserves to have them back."

"Are you blind?" Kathy hissed. "Have you seen the scars on these boys?"

"He explained that as well, ma'am, and it's in their hospital reports. Most were accidents, and the...er...worse ones were from when both boys were abducted. None of them came from the father."

"You can't just take them away," Amina protested. "They have a life here."

They argued and argued and argued until finally the officers put the foot down. "They're leaving right now, Sonny. There's nothing you can do about it." He nodded at the boys. "Go get your things." Sam and Dean lowered their heads and trudged up the stairs, Castiel close on their heels.

Dean shoved his entire life at Sonny's into a small blue backpack. "Dean!" Cas called his name a third time. "Dean, stop! You can't go home again. You know... I know what he'll do to you. What he'll do to Sam." Even though Cas knew perfectly well that they couldn't fight the police officers, still he pressed on, trying to reach Dean. "You can't. Please, you can't go back. We can fight them. We can... We can hide up here. We can... We could run away, Dean. Just you, me, and Sam against the world. We could do it. Please, please, Dean."

When Dean turned around, Castiel realized he was crying. "I'm sorry, Cas," he said, helping Sam pack his backpack. "I can't—" As Sam zipped his backpack up, Dean leaned forward, grabbing Cas' face with his hands, and kissed Castiel fiercely. They pulled apart slowly, foreheads resting against each other. "I'm gonna miss you," he said. Dean's face was swollen with anguish, moonstruck.

For once, Cas didn't know what to say. He just kissed Dean again with passion that tasted like goodbye and carried Dean's backpack downstairs with them.

When they reached the bottom, John Winchester stood at the bottom of the stairs. "Okay, Sammy," Dean said. "Ready to go?"

Sam nodded.

John Winchester laughed. "Oh, Dean…" he said, and the rebelliousness melted from Dean's bones.

"Yes, sir?" Dean looked like a soldier; John was his commander.

His father laughed again. "You're not coming with us."

Dean shook. "Wh-what?"

He grabbed Sam by the shoulder. "You heard me. I tried teaching you to be obedient, Dean, but you didn't listen." He patted Sam's shoulder. "Sam's coming with me. You're going to stay here until you learn how to behave."

As he picked Sam up, taking him towards the door, Dean let out a bloodcurdling scream that only depicted a fraction of his distress. He launched himself towards Sam—the younger boy thrashed and shrieked in his father's grip—but two of the police officers held him back. "Calm down, boy!" shouted the first. The other kids began to grow restless; they loved Sam as well, and were not willing to let him go. They saw Sam as another little brother, and when Jaime threw a punch at one of the police officers, everything went to hell.

Castiel had never seen Dean so angry in his life; Dean roared— "No!" —and dug his heel into a foot, throwing his head back to bash Wells in the face. It became clear to everyone in that room that Dean was a better fighter than all four policemen combined. Before long, one was unconscious, one was bleeding profusely, one was nursing a broken limb, and the final had pulled his gun, trying to keep the other children at bay. "Everyone, stop!" he yelled. "The Winchester boy is gone! There's nothing you can—"

Dean had then broken free of all three policemen and was sprinting for the door at breakneck pace. The final officer grabbed his shirt collar to try to stop him, but Dean brought his elbow up instead, breaking his nose. As Dean bolted for the door, Officer Horowitz raised his Taser and shot, nailing Dean between his shoulder blades. Dean fell to his knees, letting out a small moan of pain, but rose again, stumbling through the door frame. The other officer shot him again with his Taser, hitting the boy's neck, and Dean convulsed. He twitched and seized as Cas screamed before giving in to darkness.

A/N: Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think! Next chap coming up.