AN: I'll try to keep the updates coming through this rough time, but I hope you forgive me if I fall short. Enjoy!

Dean was sitting next to Johnny. He hated to fly but there was no way he was going to let the kid go without him, and it looked like it was a good thing. Looking across the aisle, he could tell that his parents were thinking the same thing. Johnny hadn't said a word since finding out what happened to Cade, and to be honest, Dean had no idea what to say to make him feel better. How anyone could do that to someone was beyond him, but he knew that for some reason Johnny was blaming himself. Looking over at him, he watched as Johnny stared out into the darkness; the only movement was the tapping of his fingers on the armrest.

Johnny knew what had happened, he had seen it in his nightmare, had heard Ellie's screams before he woke up to the room practically exploding around him. Now though he was going to have to find a way to take care of Ellie the way she deserved. He was too selfish to let anyone else do it, this past couple of weeks without even talking to her on the phone had been torture and he honestly had to wonder how he hadn't drunk himself to death. He was certain he could find an apartment for them to stay at until the results of the tests came back, then they could find a new town to move to. Someplace quiet with lots of trees and parks for her to play in. He knew that Cade had put everything in order to make sure Ellie was taken care of, in fact he made a habit of talking to an attorney every couple of months just to make sure things were what they should be. Cade had joked about being worth more dead than alive, and they had laughed about it, Johnny more so since he didn't have a life insurance policy of any kind and no assets which made him 'a big nothing all the way around' he had laughed at his joke, but Cade didn't. He had always insisted that the world was better because he was in it, if for no other reason than to help get through to Ellie. Ellie… he wasn't going to sleep until she was with him again.

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The Sheriff had already made transportation arrangements and after an unproductive argument about hospital policy not allowing people to wander the halls in the middle of the night, they were on their way to the hospital to check on Ellie with one very annoying attorney chattering about probate, life insurance, appointment with judges, as well as other things that had made each Winchester want to throw the man from the van.

Upon arriving, the small entourage was met the hospital's head administrator as well as Ellie's attending physician which made Johnny stop dead in his tracks and look at the Sheriff, "I thought you said she was alright!"

Dr. Fielding had been informed about the people coming in to see the little girl who had captured so many hearts that day, and although she couldn't agree with disturbing her patient in the middle of the night, she also knew that it was extraordinary circumstances. "I assure you that she is as well as to be expected. As you know we suspect that she witnessed her father's murder, and then had hidden herself pretty well, to the point that it took the Sheriff's department a couple of hours to find her. All in all though, she's hydrated, and even allowed us to feed her a little earlier. She hasn't really spoken to anyone…"

Dean had been listening, really he had, but the absurdity of the doctor's statements had really floored him, "You do realize that she has Autism, right? I mean, come on, did you really expect her to start singing like a Blue Jay?"

The doctor smiled, "Of course, we understand that. Autism doesn't make a person mute, they can still communicate their wants."

"Has she said anything at all?" Mary asked, worried not only for the little girl they were about to see, but for Johnny who had gone back to being withdrawn, as if to prepare himself for what he was about to see.

Nodding, the doctor explained, "She has been slightly communicative, however the only sound besides her humming has been something that we haven't been able to figure out. Does anyone know what 'ony' means?" she asked, looking to each person but was surprised to see the youngest of the group take off in a run down the hallway looking at the room numbers along the way.

"Oh God!" Johnny said over and over again. He knew what 'ony' meant, and it wasn't good. She hadn't said that since she was two, and only because she had gotten really good at saying his name by then. If she had reverted back to her baby name for him, then she really wasn't doing well at all.

Finding the room he swung open the door in full stride and stopped, horrified by what he saw. It didn't take everyone long to join him and the doctor had just started to reprimand him for disturbing their other patients when he spoke, "Get her out of that."

Confused the doctor didn't fully understand at first, but after few minutes she realized what he meant. "I assure you that she isn't being harmed, Mr. Doe. It looks far more archaic that it is…"

"She's in a cage!" he growled and looked at her with such fierceness that she took a step back.

"Mr. Doe, it's for her own protection. It's basically just an over sized crib, with extended rails on all sides so she can't climb out and fall. I assure you it's for her own protection!"

"She wouldn't need it if someone was with her. She only wanders when she's scared or upset. Now get her out of that – NOW!"

Dean had stepped closer to the door to make sure no one else came in and tried to interfere, the last thing they needed was more people getting Johnny or Ellie even more agitated. Mary and John took a step closer to Johnny, not to try and calm him, but to show their support. They had never seen anything like that before and it had upset them both, and they could just imagine how Johnny was feeling. Finally the doctor nodded and quickly undid the side panel so Johnny could pick Ellie up.

"Ony...ony…ony…ony…ony…"

"It's ok princess, Johnny's here. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere." Johnny said quietly, holding her tightly in his arms.

The Sheriff knew that things weren't exactly going well, but there were still a few things that needed to be taken care of, and it had to be dealt with soon. "Johnny, I hate to bring it up, but you need to stick around and get things settled with the court about Ellie. I know that it should be open and shut, but we still have to go through the motions."

Shocked, Johnny looked at the man. "What? I'm her guardian, everything's legal, there shouldn't be any issues. Not to mention I have work on Monday."

John couldn't help but smirk about that, most people would have found something like this as an acceptable excuse to miss work; not Johnny. "I'm sure that we can take an extra day to make sure that everything's in order Johnny." Seeing that he wasn't going to back down, he tried another tactic, cold but effective. "If you want to take her with you, then this is how it's got to be!"

Dean couldn't believe what came out of his dad's mouth. In fact if it had been anyone else he would have a split lip by now. As it was, Dean watched as Johnny looked like he was trying to decide to make a break for it, or concede.

"I assure you that there will be no need for that. Mr. Doe, may I call you Johnny? My name is, Toby Norris, and although my associate is correct that you cannot leave until arrangements are made, I assure you that we can request an emergency meeting with a Judge in just a few hours and see you and little Ellie on the way."

Stunned, the people in the room stared at the newcomer and wondered who this person really was. After all, things couldn't be so easy as to have someone walk in who could speed things up, could it?

"Today's Sunday," Johnny said quietly, suspiciously, watching the man who had just walked into the room. "What judge is going to want to listen to my case on a Sunday?"

Smiling, Toby couldn't help but admire the young man. He had been more than a little shocked to hear that Frank Billow's son had been murdered, that hadn't been part of the plan, but then again it was working out better than he could have ever imagined. Now they not only knew where Johnny was, but also that he'd be slowed down a little while he was saddled with a little girl who had a handicap of some sort. No, there was no way he was going to let this opportunity slide by. "I assure you, there are several Judge's in the area who work on Sunday, and one in particular who will be here in the hospital right after breakfast visiting his granddaughter. So, we should not have a problem at all in getting everything situated so you can take custody of Ellie."

Johnny looked at the Winchester's and he could see that they weren't feeling so optimistic, and he was wondering if he saw what he thought in Dean's eyes; a plan forming just in case? Not taking stock in attorneys, he shrugged his shoulders and sat in the rocking chair to wait out the rest of the night with Ellie snuggled close.

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Knowing that Dean would make sure that no one disturbed Johnny or Ellie, John and Mary went to the small cafeteria to get everyone some breakfast. They had left at the sight of Johnny and Ellie asleep in the rocking chair with Dean standing protectively over them both.

It hadn't taken long to find the cafeteria, and even less time to put in an order for four breakfasts to go. While they waited however, they had the opportunity to sit down and drink some coffee as they planned their next move.

John had been worried about more than Johnny's health ever since the Sheriff had walked into their house. By the look on the boy's face, he knew that somehow Johnny had somehow suspected the turn of events, and that made John wonder even more about the kid that they were so determined was Sammy. Now though, this same boy was going to have another little life to take care of, and at the moment he seemed barely able to take care of himself. "Mary, we need to decide what we're going to do here…"

"Don't you tell me that we have decisions to make John. As far as I'm concerned, the only one's that need to be taken care of is how far do we support Johnny. Before you say one word, you better understand that there is only one right answer; all the way!" When she saw that her husband was about to say something, she interrupted abruptly, "You know he's Sammy, I know he's Sammy, the only one who hasn't figured it out is Johnny, and even if for some reason he's not… I'm not going to just abandon that boy, especially with that little girl to take care of!"

Laughing, John pointed behind her, "Sweetheart, you're preaching to the choir. I was just going to say that our orders are here and we need to figure out how to carry everything."

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Dean stood by the window watching the sun rise, normally he wasn't a morning person, but then again he hadn't been asleep yet so he could be forgiven for being out of character, right? He didn't like the new attorney who stopped in to 'help' them this morning, there was something about him that screamed 'don't trust me!', and Dean was more than willing to listen. However, if this guy could get Ellie and Johnny back home quickly, then he was willing to overlook a few things; for the moment. As he glanced back at the small rocking chair, he smiled as he watched the two sleep as if they were in some little world of their own. Actually, it was nice to finally see the kid sleeping, he and his dad had both seen the changes in Johnny and neither was optimistic about the outcome if something didn't change soon. Now however, he had a strong feeling that everything would work out just fine now that their little princess was back with them. 'Uncle Dean,' he thought, 'yeah, I could get used to that.'

Seeing his parents walk in with breakfast and coffee, Dean smiled until he saw who walked in behind them. The Sheriff insisted on talking to Johnny, and apparently it couldn't wait, even though he was getting reluctant after seeing how the kid and Ellie were enjoying their nap. "Look, I'd really like to tell him face to face, you know… but I have a feeling that wherever he's been the last several weeks has put him through the wringer." The man looked around and finally continued, "I've already started to get Ellie's things together, as well as packing up the house. I wasn't kidding when I said that I know how close those two were, and there is no way that he needs to see that. I'll have one of my deputies bring her suitcases here this morning. You know, it amazed all of us at how much these boys actually bought for her, if they owned four pairs of jeans between them I'll eat my hat, but I'm betting that Ellie has every princess doll and little girl outfit ever made."

They watched as the Sheriff left and they really hoped that the meeting with the judge would go as smoothly. Turning back around, they saw a pair of pale blue eyes staring at them. "Hi Sweetheart, are you hungry?" Mary asked, wondering if she would be willing to leave Johnny long enough to eat. Ellie watched the others, but then her attention seemed to be drawn to the door before she went back to humming and looking around the room. Turning around, they saw the attorney Toby followed by two other men.

The older of the three smiled gently as he saw the little girl laying on Johnny, "I can see that we came at a bad time, we'll come back in a little while." He said, motioning the others to follow.

"Wait…" Johnny said quietly, trying not to disturb Ellie, "what about…"

"Son, it's obvious to me and everyone here that you are too dead on your feet to be able to make any type of informed decisions. We'll be back in a little while after my granddaughter kicks my tail at checkers."

"No sir, we need to get this done soon." Johnny said as he stood keeping Ellie close. "Cade had everything arranged, and I'd like to get her home soon, she doesn't deal with new situations well as it is."

"Well, if there isn't any objections, I can hear the arguments now, and have my decision by the end of the day."

Confused, John and Mary looked at each other while Dean scowled at the other men. "What decision? I thought this was an open and shut case." John asked, wondering what to expect.

The other man in the group took some papers out of his briefcase. "I'm sure you understand why Judge Myers cannot just allow anyone to take custody of the girl…"

"The contents of the will are indisputable" Toby argued, putting his own papers out of another briefcase, "the absurdity that you would want to drag this out when this little girl has no other family is…"

"What's absurd it allowing a sixteen year old boy custody of a child with the type of problems that she…"

"Now wait a minute…"

"Stop!" Johnny hissed at them, "For people so determined to say I can't take care of her, you sure have no idea what's going on." Looking down at Ellie he rubbed her back and spoke softly trying to get her to go back to sleep. "She doesn't do well with yelling, so if we're going to do this, then it needs to be a little quieter and a whole lot nicer."

Judge Myers nodded, "I have to agree. Now, Mr. Doe, I have looked over all the pertinent papers in this case, and I understand that Mr. Hart declared you sole beneficiary as well as custodian of his daughter, are you aware of this?" Seeing Johnny's nod, he continued, "I have to agree that to give a minor custody of a child especially with the challenges that Ellie has would be very unorthodox."

"Sir, I was Emancipated in January of this year, I usually sent money to Cade and Ellie every month before that, and I'm the only one who knows how to take care of her now." Seeing the other attorney open his mouth to speak, Johnny rushed on. "Are you saying that it would be better if I was her father, left her with Cade, and now that he'd gone I'm willing to take on the role of daddy as if nothing happened? Is that how it works?" Looking around the room he saw a mixture of amused, confused and agreeing faces. "Fine, that's exactly how it went down. I got Ellie's mom pregnant, I wasn't ready, Cade stepped in and you know the rest. Case closed!"

Any other comments that would have been brought up were drowned out by protests of both attorneys ranging from 'making a mockery of the proceedings' to 'perjury' and leaving several other people in the room stunned into silence. Finally getting everyone calmed down, the Judge looked at Johnny, "Ok son, obviously you've done your homework, but how are you going to provide for her? Take care of her needs, such as medical? Do you have a home that is safe and productive for her? These are questions that are being asked at the moment. Have you thought about these things son? Have you thought about the sacrifices that you will have to make?"

Without hesitation Johnny looked at the attorneys and the Judge before declaring, "Sir, I have a job, and everything that I have ever done since the day she was born was for her. I will do whatever it takes to make sure she has everything she needs, nothing else matters to me."

Seeing the seriousness of the young man's face, Judge Myers nodded sadly, "I understand son, but you obviously don't. There's more to taking care of a child, especially one who's as disadvantaged as she is, than good intentions. I normally don't go against what is declared in a legal will, however…"

"Your Honor, Johnny hasn't told you everything!" Dean spoke up ignoring the sudden paleness in Johnny's face. "He's been doing everything that he can to show that he's totally independent, but he didn't tell you that at the moment he's waiting for an apartment in my building to open up, but he's been staying at Mom and Dad's house until one does, I know that he's looked over every piece of information about Autism that he could find and that he and Cade got into an argument because they didn't agree with a new doctor's assessment. I know for a fact that he's the only one who can get her to get dressed and to eat if she's having a bad day, and you should see how she will sit still just for him when he's brushing her hair. He has a job at the family garage where he's learning the ropes, and it might not seem like much, but dad's fair with the wages; the more he learns the more he'll earn. You can't just ignore that there was a reason why the will states what if does, and if you do then the system is more thoroughly screwed than what I've been told."

Looking at Dean, Judge Myers contemplated what he heard and then asked, "While you're at work, where will Ellie be?"

Johnny was stumped, he had no idea; he hadn't gotten beyond getting back to Lawrence and waiting on the test results. He hadn't expected having someone question his legal right to Ellie, and it was throwing him out of sorts. Before he could come with any sort of plan he heard Mary's voice beside him.

"She'll be with me, where else?"