Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of its themes or characters.

April 2, 2006

Roosevelt Asylum had been about as far as any hunt could be from a walk in the park. Both Dean and Sam were physically and emotionally exhausted, thus both Winchesters were unwilling to rise when Dean's phone began ringing. After ignoring a couple of Sam's weak attempts to wake him, Dean was relieved when he heard his brother answer his phone for him, assuming he'd be able to fall back to sleep without really having to wake up at all. But something in his brother's far away sounding voice kept him from doing so. In fact, it was only managing to provoke him further into the land of the living.

The first of Sam's words that registered in his brain had him sitting up in bed and alert within milliseconds.

"Well, we're fine. Dad, where are you?"

Eyes wide with shock, Dean breathed the first question that his still restarting brain could put together.

"Is that dad?"

After listening to his brother's half of the conversation for another minute,

Dean was convinced that it was.

"You're after it aren't you? The thing that killed mom?"

Shit, just what Dean didn't want to hear.

He was now silently cursing himself for being too much of a lazy arse to wake up and answer his own fucking phone.

"A demon? You know for sure?"

"A demon? What's he saying?" Dean asked anxiously as he pulled a shirt over his head. Had a demon hurt Adam? Were he and dad hunting a demon? Was a demon after them? What? But Sam was paying no attention to him, focused entirely on the conversation he was having.

Dean listened for another minute before holding out his hand for his phone. He couldn't stand it; he wasn't getting any information this way.

"Gimme the phone," he told his brother, giving a prompting wave of his hand which Sam barely acknowledged.

Dean watched as his brother started breathing a little faster as he listened to what dad was telling him.

"No way. No."

Dean wanted to roll his eyes; four years of no contact and the two of them were already fighting and they'd been on the phone for less than five minutes, for god's sake. Dean was so not wasting his minutes on this, that was for sure.

"Give me the phone." Dean ordered a little more forcefully than the first time.

Sam's face began to shift angrily and Dean wasn't gonna put up with this shit any longer. He was gonna talk to his baby brother and he was gonna do it now and he wasn't about to wait for Sam and their dad to finish arguing to do so.

Dean snatched the phone from his brother's hand and brought it to his ear.

"Dad, it's me. Where are you?"

"Dean, thank god. Your brother is being completely unreasonable. I need you to take down some names," came his father's exasperated voice.

Dean's emotions shifted almost immediately after hearing his father's voice from relieved to furious. He could not believe his dad was actually trying to pull this. Did he seriously think that he could just up and leave in the middle of the night with Dean's little brother (a kid that really belonged to Dean more than John in almost every sense) leaving a note that told him he'd be back in a week, then call him six months later and pretend nothing was the matter?

"What? No, screw you. Is Adam okay?"

And that instantly had his brother's attention, snapping Sam from his angry thoughts, into shocked and curious ones. Dean could almost hear Sam's

mind click as he realized he was about to finally find out this big secret Dean had been keeping him in the dark on for these last couple months.

John paused, clearly not sure if he should scold his son for cursing at him or not; seemingly knowing that he deserved anything his oldest son threw at him at this point.

"Adam's fine, Dean, but this is important. I need you to-"

"Take these names? Yeah, I heard you the first time. I can't believe you're gonna just pretend you actually didn't do anything wrong." Dean said almost laughing at the hilarity of it.

John stayed silent for a long moment and Dean took a breath, trying to calm himself.

"Put him on the phone." Dean ordered firmly, unwilling to talk to his father any longer.

"Dean, it's not safe to stay on the phone for-"

Alright, 'calm' could go to hell.

"Fuck you! You had no right to take him in the first place! Now put my baby brother on the phone!" Dean yelled at his dad, not caring about the consequences as long as he got to talk to Adam.

A dead silence followed his words on both ends of the line: Guilty yet angry on his father's end and shell shocked on Dean's.

"Fine."

As Dean waited, listening to muffled voices, he chanced a look at Sam. The poor kid didn't actually look like he was breathing, prompting Dean to reach a leg across the space between the beds and give his brother's leg a small nudge which only resulted in a blink of incomprehension. Dean frowned at him.

Suddenly Adam's voice was on the line and Dean was pulled from worry for one brother to the other.

"Dean?" Oh, and his voice was so sweet to his ears.

The tension in Dean's body instantly deflated, leaving him with a lingering pit in his abdomen where Dean assumed his stomach had just dropped.

"Damn it, Adam, are you okay?" Dean demanded in the angry voice he got when he was worried all to shit about something and got up and began to pace.

Adam jumped into a panicked and anxious explanation, "Yeah, I'm fine.

Dean, I'm so sorry, honest I would never have gone in the first place if I thought I was gonna be away this long. I'm sorry, but dad's got himself buried in a bunch of crap now and I can't just up and leave him without any back up. Believe me; I've kinda wanted to sometimes. I miss you, big brother."

Dean listened to his brother rush out the words all in one breath and he stumbled mid-step in his pacing as he heard all the things he'd been worrying about put to rest with his brother's short tumble of words, said in such a sincere manner that Dean couldn't help but let all his doubts about whether or not he'd been good enough slip away.

Dean let out a sigh as he reached up a hand and scrubbed at his face.

"I miss you too, kiddo." Dean said quietly, not removing the hand from his forehead.

Adam paused slightly before continuing, "Love you, Dean."

Ah, the forbidden word among the Winchester clan. Dean could always count on Adam to bring it up.

"Love you too, kiddo." Dean replied obediently, letting a small smile pull at his lips, hand still attached to his forehead, not really wanting to see the expression on Sam's face.

Dean could all but see the smile that he knew was on Adam's face as his brother ploughed onward.

"It hasn't been all bad, I've been learning a lot. Dad won't tell me much about what we're really hunting, but we've come across a lot of stuff I've never seen before. Large congregations of demons all wanting our heads on a platter being one of them-"

"What?" Dean snapped at his brother, hand finally removing itself from his head in shock.

"It's not as bad as it sounds. They were kind of stupid… easily distracted at least," Adam told him, laughing at an apparent memory, "Dad and I got away fine." He finished in a voice that was quietly trying to sooth his brother's worry.

Dean silently gaped at Adam's easy words, before pulling himself together and turning angry again.

"You shouldn't have been in a situation like that to begin with, Adam. It's dangerous and most definitely not something to laugh about," Dean told Adam icily.

"Oh, come on, Dean. You would be laughing too if you'd been there," Adam tried lightly, worried that he'd upset his brother.

Dean clenched his jaw and shook his head before responding.

"That's kind of my point, kid, I wasn't there was I? I'm supposed to protect you," Dean said, falling back to his quietly more vulnerable voice.

Adam chose his words carefully before responding, "I'm alright, Dean. I can take care of myself. And hey, if I can't, I have dad at my back. He's supposed to be the best of the best right?"

"At the job, not always at doing what's best for his sons." Dean replied bitterly, and paused before continuing, "Where are you, Adam? I'll come pick you up. Dad can take care of himself for a while; he doesn't need you."

Adam huffed a laugh that didn't carry any humour, "That's what he says too, but I think he does… I'm gonna stick around for a while, 'kay?" Adam asked hesitantly and Dean realized that he was asking for his permission.

All Dean's instincts were telling him to tell the kid, no. No, he wasn't going to 'stick around'. No. Dean was gonna go and get him and take him far, far away to like, Madagascar or something and then he'd be safe; away from all this crap that was going so out of control. So, no, no, no, no, NO, he wasn't going to stay with dad.

But Dean's head was telling him that his baby brother was quite capable as both a hunter and a member of their family, so if he could be there to help their dad out when Dean or Sam couldn't, then he should let him go.

Dean swallowed hard before answering.

"Fine." Dean said sounding half choked as his body rebelled against the word. He could hear Adam exhale, relieved at his brother's concession.

"Dean, I-" Adam began, sounding just as hoarse as he had but was cut short and Dean heard their father's muffled voice in the background, "Um, dad wants me to get you to write down a couple of names, I got a list here…"

"Right, yeah, alright…" Dean said, trying to pull himself together as he quickly located a pen and paper from the bedside, passing Sam who still looked confused but seemed to be putting the pieces together and coming to conclusions.

Dean quickly scrawled down the names Adam read out for him, ending with Vince and Holly Parker.

"Alright, well, dad's getting restless, I think I better go," Adam told him uncomfortably as Dean finished off writing up the list.

"Right, of course," Not quite ready to let his brother leave.

"Be careful, Dean."

Dean snorted, rolling his eyes at his kid brother's worry, "Yeah, whatever, kiddo. You take care of yourself and um… you know… remember everything I taught you." He ended a little shyly, still very unhappy about the situation.

Adam paused before answering in his most sincere voice yet.

"I always do."

And then the line went dead. Dean closed his eyes momentarily and ducked his head, snapping his phone shut, not knowing when would be the next time he'd hear his baby brother's voice. At least now he knew for sure that Adam and Dad were at least alive, if not in just as much danger as he'd feared.

Adam had also put some of his internal worries to rest; he wouldn't have come out and said it but he'd been a little afraid that his brother had just gotten sick of him or something.

The rustle of the bed next to him pulled Dean from his musings and he unwillingly turned to face Sam, where he knew about a thousand questions lay waiting for him. He had some serious blanks to fill in.

Sam sat on the edge of his bed, back a little hunched and looking unsure, his forearms leaning against his knees and with his puppy dog eyes in full swing, and simply waited for Dean to speak.

Taking a deep breath, Dean headed to his own bed and took a position across from his brother in a pose much like Sam's but with his head bent, seemingly examining his hands, feeling inexplicably self conscious. He could feel his brother's eyes following his movements.

"I'm sorry that I didn't tell you, I just didn't know where to start. I mean, how exactly are you supposed to start a conversation like that? Hey, so it turns out we have this little brother…" Dean trailed off, not meeting Sam's eyes.

"When?" Dean glanced up a little at his brother's horse voice.

"Only a couple weeks after you'd left for college." Dean answered, chewing at his lip.

Sam raised his eyebrows in some amount surprise.

"That's a long time."

Dean shrugged, "I guess it has been."

Sam watched his brother for a couple moments before a thought crossed his mind, causing a crease to develop across his forehead.

"How'd he end up with you guys?"

Dean finally raised his eyes to meet his brother, feeling slightly offended: What, did Sam think they should've just abandoned him? Left him with foster care because he would have been 'better off' there.

Seeing a rather ferrous anger building in Dean's eyes, Sam quickly clarified, "No, I mean he's gotta have a mom out there somewhere."

Dean's face softened somewhat, "Ghoul killed her."

Choosing not to comment on his brother's short, to-the-point answers, Sam's face shifted in confusion.

"That's unusual, I've never heard of a ghoul feeding on living people. They're supposed to just be scavengers who live off dead bodies. You know, people mostly just mistake them for really effed up grave robbers who steal bodies from their coffins; which really is the only way hunters can find-"

Dean rolled his eyes and chose to intervene on Sam's smart-boy rant.

"Yeah, well these were ghouls with a debt to settle. Turns out our Dad killed their dad and they were looking for revenge; I'm just thankful they decided to get it while Adam was at school." Dean paused before continuing, "Only thing is, having the kid come home to find his mother's inside strewn around the house isn't the best situation you can hope for."

Sam's brow instantly smoothed in pity, understanding a little better their decision to bring Adam into this life.

"So you and dad have been taking care of him ever since?"

Dean rolled his eyes at his brother again.

"No, Sam, we randomly decide to leave him in small towns we happen to pass through and come back for him weeks later because we wanted a break from the responsibility." Dean answered, sarcastically.

When Sam simply stared at him uncomprehendingly, Dean couldn't help but raise his voice slightly when answering more seriously.

"Yes, Sam, we've been taking care of him ever since."

Dean's frustration finally snapping him to realisation, Sam shook his head a bit and rubbed his eyes.

"Right, sorry."

Dean couldn't help but loose all the ire he had building towards his brother at the utter look of exhaustion Sam had at that moment. Really, he couldn't blame his brother for being a little slow. This had to be a lot to take in and Dean figured he was taking it rather well in comparison to how Dean knew he'd react if he was put in Sam's position.

"Forget about it, man," Dean said, dropping his head again to stare down at his once again fidgeting hands and Sam couldn't help but quirk his lips a bit at his brother's movement.

"So... what's he like? How old is he?" Sam asked, trying to gain some insight.

"Kid turned fifteen in September-"

"Date?" Sam cut in, trying to gain all the knowledge he could about his new brother; a person Dean cared so much about, yet Sam didn't know in the slightest. It was already starting to feel like an insurmountable task to try and meet Dean's high standards as a big brother. He already doubted he could ever match Dean on his best day; I mean he hadn't even cared enough to know the kid existed during the last four years.

Dean gave his brother a little look before answering, "September twenty-ninth."

Sam nodded for Dean to go on and apologized for his interruption at the same time.

"Well, I don't know. What do you want to know about him?" Dean asked, looking for some direction.

A small grin pulled at one side of Sam's face, making it look kind of lopsided.

"I don't know. Favourite books… or comics maybe, if he's anything like you?" Sam teased his brother lightly. "Or you know, what's his personality like? Driven and arrogant like dad or a smarmy jerk like you. What's his favourite food, or who's the better cook out of the two of you-"

Dean finally jumped in at the last sentence, having got caught up in watching his brother fire off eager questions, somewhat confused as to why he was so interested.

"Oh, I don't let that child near a stove or even a microwave for that matter." He told Sam quickly and firmly. "Don't ever let that kid cook for you or it's taking your life in your hands. Take it from me; I've learnt the hard way."

Sam raised his eyebrows at his brother's reaction, a small smile pulling at his mouth again.

"That bad, is he?"

"You don't even know. I can tell you stories ranging from salmonella poisoning to horror filled desert dishes that combined beef and whipped cream," Dean told his brother seriously, not bothering to point out he'd actually liked the beef-cream pie, however disgusting it should have been (and probably was to someone who wasn't Dean or Adam). Nevertheless,

Dean didn't give his brother much room to experiment.

Sam laughed.

Dean shook his head and sighed, "S'not even funny, dude." Then went on to answer the rest of his brother's questions. "He reads some books and so do I for your information, but yeah, he like his comics… my Playboys actually tend to go missing if I leave them around too. Kid's definitely a smart ass, doesn't take shit from anyone and tends to out wit pretty much anyone who tries. He's still kinda small for a fifteen year old but he's smart in a fight. And hey, I could say you were small at fifteen too and look how hugantic you grew up to be, right jumbo?" Dean said with a grin, giving his brother a little nudge in the leg.

Sam laughed for a second before his laugh turned into a groan, a grin now plastered across his face as he listened to his brother.

"Great, he sounds like a mini you."

Dean chuckled, "He has his moments, but don't be so sure about that. Kid is actually a complete mush ball, all emotions and sharing and caring… So the two of you should get along great. When you meet I'll leave you alone and you can sit on a corner sharing feelings, cuddling and crying on each other's shoulders over that piece of toast you dropped on the floor that one time. It'll be great." Dean told his brother mockingly. I mean, he had to get his brother back for the comic comment somehow… and for calling him smarmy (what does that even mean?).

Sam glared, trying to conceal a smile.

"What? Crying and cuddling? No, that totally sounds like you."

Dean rolled his eyes, "Oh yeah, you're right. That's totally what I do."

"Yahuh," Sam agreed, seriously.

Dean frowned for a moment before realizing he actually had some blackmail and torment to replace his poorly received (or rather too well received) insult. Dean reached over and grabbed the newspaper he'd written dad's names on and tossed it at his brother.

"Research. We need to figure out what those names mean." Dean ordered.

Sam's face fell comically, clearly not willing to pass over this conversation so quickly, causing Dean to grin at his success.

"You'll have plenty of time to ask your questions while we're driving to wherever those names take us. The quicker we know where that might be, the quicker I can answer your questions, so get moving."

Still looking unsatisfied, Sam did as he was told and made his way to his laptop with paper in hand, if not only because he knew his brother wouldn't budge.

Dean watched his brother go and couldn't help but let a fond and somewhat unsure smile break across his face for a short moment. He didn't know what he'd been expecting, but that conversation had gone much better than the disaster he'd been picturing.

Deciding to skip the deep thinking about his feelings, which Dean was decidedly too tired to work through at the moment, he flopped back on his bed, stretched out into a comfortable position and basked in the ever-so smartness of his plan that both won him a free pass on researching and gained him a few extra minutes sleep while Sam tapped away at his laptop.

A/N- Sooo sorry it took so long for this update. I made a small change to this chapter and sent it to my beta like a month ago, but she has yet to get back to me. So I figure a couple unedited paragraphs aren't a big enough deal to make everyone wait any longer. Hope it was okay:)