"So, Sammy, who's your favorite superhero?"

Castiel kept his voice soft as he continued to gently clean the blood and dirt off of the boy's face with the warm washcloth.

Still sitting up on the gurney, Sammy flinched away from him occasionally, but overall, Cas thought the boy was doing well.

"Umm, I don't know," Sammy whispered back to him.

"C'mon…" Cas encouraged, "you must have a favorite."

Sam paused and watched Cas carefully as the man pushed himself over a bit on the stool and placed the washcloth back on the cart.

"My brother."

Cas snapped his head over to Sam. "Your brother?" Cas was panicking. Was there another boy outside they had missed? Was this boy hurt as well? No, Cas thought, his brother must be much older. He must not be aware of his little brother being beaten. He must not live with him...

Cas considered his next words carefully as he picked up a digital thermometer.

"So he's your big brother? He must be pretty great if he's your superhero." Cas smiled down Sam and gently placed one hand under the boy's chin to hold his head still.

But Sam didn't answer Cas because he was too concerned about the object that was getting closer to the side of his head.

Cas could feel Sam pulling away from the hold on his chin. "It's just going to rest in your ear for two seconds, kiddo," he explained. Sam's eyes grew wide when he felt the thermometer, but Cas kept a relaxed look on his face and Sammy realized that it somehow kept him calm too.

"He's better than a superhero."

"Your brother? Is he your big brother then?"

"Mhmmm, he's really big. He's already nine!"

Castiel's breath stopped. He was expecting Sam to be talking about a teenager. But a nine year old? The chances of this boy also being hurt were… Cas wanted to puke. Something about this whole situation didn't feel right. He barely knew Sam and yet he felt this connection that he couldn't quite place.

"Was your brother— was he with you tonight?" Cas asked, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice.

Sam's expression said it all. The boy felt his eyes start to get watery again as the guilt of leaving his brother behind took over.

Cas crouched down a little more on the stool to make eye contact with Sam.

"Sam, this is very important. I know that you were hurt tonight, and I need to know if your brother was hurt too."

Cas ran his thumb back and forth over the boy's knee. "Sam?"

Sammy looked up slowly from the floor, tears on his cheeks. He nodded his head three times and Cas' stomach turned.

"Where was he hurt, Sam?" Cas asked a bit more forcefully.

Sam wouldn't speak, but he used his good arm to point to the back of his own head. "Can you help him?" Sammy whispered.

"Where did he go tonight, Sam? Where can we find him?"

Castiel stood up and got the attention of another doctor on the floor, calling him over to where they were.

Sammy cowered away and kept his head down when he saw the new man.

"Hey, hey," Cas said soothingly when he saw Sam's change in body language, "where is he? I know he's your superhero. We have to find him to make sure he's ok too. Where was he when they found you?"

There were a few moments of silence before Sam got the courage to answer the doctor.

"A-ac-ross the s-street," Sammy mumbled, "f-for food… and m-medicine."

Sam silently cried as the two men exchanged information. The other doctor called out to some adults in the ER, but Sam blocked out what he was yelling. Dean was gonna be so angry that they were caught.

Castiel returned his attention to the boy and did his best to make eye contact. "What's his name, Sam?" Cas asked softly. He wiped some remaining tears off of Sam's face.

Cas tilted his head sideways at the boy, waiting patiently for an answer.

"D-dean."

The other doctor moved away from the bed where Sam was and ran to catch up with another group of adults.

"Ok, Sam," Cas said with a reassuring smile, "we are going to try and find him to make sure he's ok."

Sammy nodded and Cas turned away for a second to grab something else off the cart, but Sammy thought Cas was leaving him. Cas took another step away and Sam reached out with his good arm and firmly grabbed onto a piece of Cas' white coat.

Cas quickly looked down at the boy's hand and realized what had happened.

"Oh, Sam, I'm not going anywhere. I'm not going anywhere, buddy. My friends," Cas gestured out to the nurses station, "they are going to go get your big brother, ok? I'm going to stay right here with you and fix you up."

Cas moved back towards Sam and the boy let himself fall into the man's chest, his forehead buried into the Cas' scrubs.

"Can you tell me the truth, Sam?" Cas asked, running his hand through the boy's hair. "Are you in a lot of pain?"

Sammy kept his head buried, but slowly nodded once more. Cas gently pulled away from him and softly tilted the boy's head up.

"You need to let me examine you, ok?"

Sammy looked at him and swiftly shook his head back and forth. "I don't want to," he said shyly.

Cas sighed. "Please? I'm not going to hurt you. You have to trust me, kiddo."

Cas observed the way he was protectively cradling his arm. "I can help make your arm stop hurting… and then we can get you some good food."

"You promise it's not scary…?" Sam asked.

Cas felt his heart drop in his chest.

"I promise."

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed so far! I'm glad you're enjoying the fic - please let me know what you would like to see in future chapters!