Disclaimer: Not mine.
Author's Note: I figured it made more sense to post the interlude along with the next chapter… So you get two updates today. *g*
Thanks to emebalia, BranchSuper, doyleshuny, Olive-Pizza, shookenuppepsi, criminally charmed, SPN Mum, AriSophAlmah, Scribble2Much, SayLo, L.A.H.H and Jane88 for the reviews!
Interlude: Lady of Mercy Hospital, Baltimore
"Hey, kiddo," Dean murmured, so softly Fuller almost couldn't hear. He shook his head; he couldn't imagine ever addressing the man lying in the hospital bed as a kid. "Figures you'd be making trouble for me even now. I thought we'd be done with the CPS idiots when you turned eighteen, but…"
Fuller frowned. CPS? That did suggest a history of abuse, just as Dora had said.
"How much older are you?" Fuller asked abruptly.
Dean scowled at him. "Four years. Not that it's any of your business."
"Huh. That's more than old enough to… Any other relatives?"
"Our parents are dead."
"What about wives?" Fuller knew he was being nosy, but it was an important question. If Sam Smith had no close friends or family, it would make him more vulnerable to his big brother. "Girlfriends? Boyfriends?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "No. No girlfriends, no boyfriends, no lesbian life partners, no kids. Sam has an ex living in Texas, but that's it. You got any other inappropriate questions you need to ask about my critically injured baby brother?"
"Why? Does it bother you when someone else takes an interest in him?"
Dean's eyes darkened dangerously. "Listen, douchebag –"
"Is that why Sam doesn't have anyone else?" Fuller demanded, voice just as hard as Dean's. "Have you been scaring away anyone who wants to get close to him? Is that how you keep him tied to you?" Fuller knew he was overstepping his bounds, asking these things before they had proof, before Sam had even woken, but there was something about Dean Smith that got to him. "Is that why he can't get away from you? Because he has nobody to go to?"
"Shut up," Dean snarled. "The only reason I'm not punching your lights out is that I don't want to disturb Sam. Keep talking, though, and I might decide it's worth it."
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