A/N: Thank you all very much for the comments and love! The response had truly been unbelievable!
I want to apologize for this update taking so long, sadly real life keeps getting in the way.
The next chapter I put up should be relatively short (sorry, that's just how the story goes), so in saying that I'll try to get it posted sometime this week :)
Exactly one hour and forty three minutes of tense silence later, they were pulling up outside Singer's Salvage Yard. Harry leaned forward slightly to take in the rather dreary, faded blue house.
"Come on," John murmured as he stepped from the truck. Harry hesitated a moment before following after the older man.
The teen followed the older man up the front porch steps and stood patiently behind him as John rapped his knuckles on the front door.
"Who is it?" A gruff voice called from behind the wooden door.
"Bobby, it's me. John Winchester." John called. The older man took a step back as the front door came open. Harry peered at the man revealed. He had a beard that was streaked with grey and the hair Harry could see was equally greying. The man wore a baseball cap on his head and a flannel shirt open over a dirty grey t-shirt. His jeans were stained and he had heavy boots adorning his feet.
"What're ya' doin' here, Winchester?" Bobby asked sourly. His eyes went to Harry and they widened at seeing him. "Who's that?" He added.
"He's why I'm here. Can we come in?" John asked somewhat impatiently.
Bobby's eyes narrowed as he pulled the security screen open. He thrust a flask out toward John. "You know the rules." Bobby said.
With a sigh, John took a swig from the flask before moving as if to hand it back to Bobby.
"Kid too." Bobby ordered. With another impatient sigh, John turned and handed the flask to Harry. Harry looked from John to Bobby and back to the flask held in his hand.
"What is it?" He asked warily.
"It's just water." John said as he encouraged Harry to take a sip.
"Why do I need to drink it, then?" Harry demanded as he turned to face the two men. Harry had far too many people out to kill him to simply take something like this at face value.
"It's holy water. It'll tell me if you're a demon or not." Bobby told him gruffly. Harry stared wide eyed at the bearded man before looking to John.
"Like the lady at the bus station?" He asked. John nodded and gestured for Harry to take a sip. Harry scrunched his eyes closed before taking a quick sip from the flask. The water was stale but certainly not the worst Harry had ever had. He opened his eyes and looked to the flask in relief. Harry hobbled forward a step to hand the flask back to Bobby.
"Alright, come on in." Bobby allowed. He stepped back to allow them both inside. Harry limped inside rather nervously. His head swiveling around to take in the dusty, crowded house.
"You mind if the kid uses your shower while we talk?" John asked his friend. Harry turned back in time to see Bobby shrug his shoulders and nod.
"Let me show you to the bathroom." Bobby said as he gestured for Harry to follow after him. Harry hiked his backpack further onto his shoulder before hesitantly hobbling after the man. His wand was a comforting presence tucked into the waistband of his too large jeans. They stopped outside a door with chipped white paint. Bobby opened it and gestured inside. "Towels are in the cupboard. Use whatever soap you want." Bobby instructed, his voice a lot less fierce now that they were away from John.
"Thanks." Harry murmured as he offered the man a tight smile. Bobby nodded before leaving Harry alone.
The moment Bobby was gone, Harry closed the bathroom door and locked it. He moved himself to the toilet, closed the lid and sank down on it. For several minutes, Harry simply sat there.
So much had changed in his life in the last few days. It felt like he'd barely had a moment to breathe before he was once again on the move. Harry's gaze turned to the rather dinky looking shower. He could not resist the temptation for long. As quickly as his aching body would allow, Harry began to peel his filthy clothes off. Inch by inch, he revealed skin molted in bruises and scrapes. The hardest part came when he moved to remove his shoes. Any slight movement of his foot sent a hot wave of pain through Harry's entire leg. When his ankle was finally revealed, Harry gasped at the size of the swollen joint. The swollen skin all around the joint was painted in sickly shades of yellow and purple. Harry let out a whimper as he tried to gently move it.
Deciding to simply leave it be, Harry carefully and awkwardly climbed his way into the shower. It took a bit of fiddling with the controls but soon enough Harry was being pelted under the hot flow. He could barely stop himself from moaning as his tightly bound muscles and aching body slowly relaxed under the assault.
Twenty minutes later, a much refreshed Harry Potter emerged from the shower. He toweled himself off quickly before turning to hunt in his backpack for some clean clothes. Unfortunately, nearly all of his clothes were filthy. Before Harry could decide which of his belongings was the least filthy to wear, a knock sounded on the bathroom door.
"Harry, it's me." John's voice came from the other side.
Harry wrapped the towel tightly around his waist before hobbling awkwardly over to open the door for the man. John looked down at him, his mouth open to speak but whatever words the man had to say died on his tongue. After several seconds, John seemed to pull himself together. He offered Harry a pile of clothes.
"I brought you some clean clothes." John told him stiffly. "Once you've changed I want you to come see us in the kitchen. It's just to the right of the front door. Alright?" John instructed.
Harry nodded as he accepted the bundle of clothes. "Thanks." Harry said before closing the door. A few minutes later, clad in a soft black t-shirt that was several sizes too big and some warm track pants that were equally too large, Harry hobbled his way into the kitchen.
He was met with both Bobby and John talking intensely. They stopped at his arrival. John stood up and gestured that Harry should take his seat while Bobby began fiddling with some kind of kit laid out on his kitchen table. Harry limped his way to the offered chair and sat himself down gingerly.
"Right. First things first, let's see that foot of yours." Bobby instructed as he came to kneel in front of Harry.
"What?" Harry choked as he flinched back from the hands making to grasp him. Both Bobby and John paused to look at him.
"We're not gonna hurt you, kid." John soothed at once. "You're hurt and Bobby's going to help fix you up." John swallowed.
"Oh." Harry mumbled. This time when Bobby reached for him, Harry managed to suppress his flinch. His accomplishment was ruined when seconds later he jerked back, letting out a cry of pain as Bobby prodded at his ankle.
"Can you move it?" Bobby asked looking serious. Harry shrugged his shoulders and looked stubbornly away. "Looks like it could be broken. We'll have to wrap it and you'll need to stay off it for a while. Might need an x-ray." Bobby mumbled the last part to himself.
John frowned down at his youngest son, his arms crossed against his chest. "I asked you if you were hurt." John said unable to keep the reprimand from his voice.
Harry stiffened in response. His own arms came to fold across his chest as he stared mulishly at John. Unwittingly both father and son jutted their jaws out in the same stubborn manner, causing Bobby to let out a brief snort of laughter.
"And I said I was fine." Harry bit back. "I can look after myself." He added.
"Clearly," John agreed with a snort and a wide gesture to Harry's whole body.
Harry turned his head away and stared at the fridge rather than look at the older man.
"This is gonna hurt." Bobby warned seconds before he began tightly wrapping a bandage around the joint. Harry let out a hiss and went stiff in his seat but other than that offered no resistance. "How'd you manage this, anyhow?" Bobby asked as his hands deftly wrapped the bandage.
Harry shrugged. "I was running, didn't see a pothole in time." Harry told him simply.
Bobby paused as he turned to look up at Harry. "What were you running from?" Bobby asked, his eyebrows quirked.
"A vampire." Harry told him blandly.
Bobby snorted before returning his attention to the task at hand. Harry could swear he heard the bearded man muttering about the stupidity of Winchesters and them being 'damned fools'. The teen wasn't sure whether to be amused or offended at the other man's tirade.
"How'd you get away?" John asked curiously.
"Sam and Dean."
John hummed thoughtfully at his response. "I called the boys. They're on their way. Should be here sometime tonight, maybe early morning tomorrow." John told him. "Seems they were sticking around Illinois looking for you." He added.
Harry didn't respond to either statement. Instead he decided to focus on watching how Bobby wrapped his ankle. When finally the man was done he gently placed Harry's foot back on the ground and stood to his feet.
"Anything else we should know about?" Bobby asked as he quirked an eyebrow at the teen. Harry shook his head.
"No. My ankle was the worst of it." Harry told him. Only for John to let out a snort from his position leaning against the door frame.
"He's bruised just about from head to toe." John commented sourly. "Maybe give him a pain killer, Bobby?" John suggested briskly.
"I'm fine." Harry bit out even as Bobby turned to look through his kit. A moment later the bearded man emerged with a blister pack of pills.
"Here, take one of these and you'll feel a whole lot better." Bobby said as he popped one of the blisters to give Harry a small, round tablet. Harry looked from the pill being held in the man's hand and back to his face.
"I'm fine." Harry repeated slowly.
Bobby rolled his eyes even as John let out a huff.
"No need to be a hero, boy. Just take the damn meds." Bobby told him gruffly. After only a minute longer, Harry extended his hand out and accepted the tablet. John stepped further into the kitchen and returned moments later with a glass of water.
"Here," He said as he held the glass out to Harry.
Harry finished the glass after taking the tablet. He'd no sooner put the glass back on the table then John was speaking again.
"What's that on your hand?" The man asked, pointing to Harry's left hand. Harry looked down at the back of his hand only to see the fresh scar of his own writing.
"It's nothing." Harry muttered as he moved his hand under the table.
"It's not nothing. What is it?" John pressed, taking a step forward.
"John, give the boy some space, ya idjit." Bobby grumbled. "You hungry, kid?" Bobby asked frowning over at him.
Harry nodded his head, flashing Bobby a grateful smile. "I could eat." He said.
"You like cereal?" Bobby questioned as he pulled a box of Cornflakes from the cupboard. Harry nodded. "Good." Bobby grunted. The man deposited the box on the table before turning and rummaging a bowl and spoon from his cupboards. A moment later he moved and retrieved a fresh glass of water and a carton of milk, both of which he set down in front of Harry.
"Thanks." Harry smiled awkwardly before reaching to pour himself a bowl.
"Your Daddy and I will be in the next room over, alright?" Bobby told him gruffly.
Harry shrugged his shoulders. He was far more occupied in filling his suddenly ravenous stomach. In fact, he was so occupied he didn't even think to care that they were once again treating him like some snot nosed kid.
A/N: Let me know what you guys thought in a review!