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It was always just his mom and him.
(John Winchester was more of a family friend than a father. Even if he was trying. The truth was that (Ex-) officer Barton was more of a family than John.)
He never thought that something was missing in his life.
A dad wasn't necessary when he had his Mom.
A brother or sister wasn't necessary when he had an (ex-)officer protecting him and his Mom like a big brother or an uncle would.
He was happy about how his life was.
Then the monsters appear.
Because apparently, they exist.
His Mom sacrificed herself so he could escape.
And he does that. He runs until he gets to the police station to encounter the body of an officer in the middle of the place. But the thing about being in a police station is the guns.
He didn't think much. He grabs it and shoots.
The thing died, apparently, before changing. A gruesome image that it's going to gives him nightmares for months. He thought to stay there, but his Mom said to run, and he is going to do that.
When he is in the middle of nowhere, cold as fuck and trying not to pass out, he remembers that he stole a cell phone of the station.
He was good at remembering things. It was always useful when he has to study for an exam of the 206 bones in the body, so retaining a number wasn't so difficult.
It wasn't his first option, but like hell is going to put his grandparents in danger.
So, John Winchester, it is.
John didn't answer.
What a surprise.
But someone else did.
" 'ello?"
"Who is this?"
"You're the one who called, kid."
"Listen... I need to contact with John Winchester and-"
"Are you a hunter?"
"What. No. Why would I-" He was cold and hungry, AND his Mom just got killed in front of him, so he didn't have time to get asked unimportant questions. "Listen, my Mom was just fucking murdered by some... Things. I'm in the middle of nowhere, and I just wanted to-"
"Where are you? We can help. Just... Don't move where you are." He sounds more serious than before. And maybe he (they?) can help, so he decided to tell him his location. "We're at 3km from there. We're coming. Don't move, kid."
He doesn't move from where he is (next to the main road outside of Windom). It's not like he has somewhere to go when cannibalistic shapeshifting monsters are after you, but he couldn't stay conscious for much longer. He was bleeding out for a stab wound, apparently.
At what moment did that happen?
He recognizes the symptoms of a hypovolemic shock before blacking out completely.
When he wakes up, the place where he's at is warm, uncomfortable, but warm.
He hears voices, not recognizing any of them-No, wait. He could listen to the guy he talked to on the phone.
And an argument was going on.
His head was still numb, so he didn't understand any of the words until there was complete silence.
He panics for a moment because if there is silence is because no one was there, meaning that he was alone, again. He didn't like to be alone.
He needs his Mom.
He began to stir, letting out a sob and just crying for his Mom when a hand ends upon his shoulder.
"Hey... Hey! Calm down, kid..."
His eyes were open now, not focusing on anything and moving, even more, making the hand on his shoulder tighten his grip. If he weren't hurt all over, maybe that would have made him shudder.
"I need you to look at me, kid... Can you do that?" because he was looking around, still trying to focus his gaze on something.
He feels a hand in his other shoulder and how the guy turns him so he can look at the front, at him.
"Are you with me...?" says calmly.
He looks up into the guy's face, his eyes finally focusing, resulting in looking right at the guy's beautiful green eyes. Remembering how in some class, they talked about how weird that is. Just 2% of the worldwide population had that color. Then the guy is moving him again, making him cry out because everything is beginning to hurt too much.
"I need you to tell me where does it hurt exactly and what happened," says looking directly into his eyes "I can't help you if I don't know how bad it is."
He nods. It's the only thing he can do. He tries to talk, but his mouth feels so dry. He notices some movement next to him, and in the next second, there is a glass of water in front of him.
Looks at the glass for some seconds before taking it, almost dropping it when he feels a pain go through his hand. The green-eyed man takes back the glass to help him drink it, at the end.
"The hand."
The gun. Of course.
"T'nks" tries to say still looking at the green-eyed man and from the corner of his vision, he can notice another man. A really tall man.
"Where else, kid?" he wants to say that he isn't a kid. But the man doesn't make him feel uneasy, so he guesses that can wait, for now. Then remembers the question that the other asks and without thinking moves his hand to his side.
The green-eyed man (need to ask his name) looks at him, before moving his hand there, asking for permission to do it. He nods.
There is a massive bruise in there. For sure one of his ribs is broken, maybe two. He then remembered the pain in his shoulder early and in his leg too, but he can see how are cover by bandages. These guys stop the bleeding, then. Then he touches his head and again, is bandaged.
Tries to think if there is something else that hurts but he can't think of anything.
"No, just that."
And even if the guy moves his head in a nod, he notices how his eyes express relief. "Can you tell me then what did this to you? To your mom?" He can recognize the change of tone in his voice but is no of pity.
"I don't... I don't know. They just..." his throat hurts. "They just broke into my house, took my mom and me and said... said how fun it was gonna be to eat us..."
He ended up looking at the floor, not noticing the other two sharing a look.
"Don't worry, kid." said the man still in front of him. "We got this."
The problem with the ghouls (because that's how they were called, apparently) was anticlimactic. Not that he knows about it because he stays in the motel room with the green-eyed man for some reason. They said it was too dangerous (and still just one of them goes for those things).
There is a tense mood in the room, it makes him uncomfortable, and he can feel the eyes of the other over him.
He is getting annoyed, so he is going to say something about it when the other talks first.
"How do you know John?"
He shuts his mouth to look at the other, considering what to say.
He remembers seeing the Impala (his dad's car), so he decides to pay attention to the other face and... They have to be family. Not his, of course. He doesn't know them, and he didn't know John. But why John wasn't there? Why those guys had his cellphone?
His head began to hurt.
And out of nowhere, a glass of water appears in front of him, with some pills. The guy is looking at him, worried, but that past so fast that maybe was his imagination.
"He was... A family friend" said because calling him 'dad' never sound correct.
"Oh. He died, four years ago." that explains why he wasn't there "And, well... We are his sons..."
He freezes, looking at Dean with more attention, that maybe it would make anyone uncomfortable for sure.
Brothers? Does he have brothers? Big brothers?
He licks his lips, thinking of what to say, but he didn't even know what to think.
Those guys don't know anything about him like he didn't know anything about them. So another thing their dad suck at it. But maybe, watching what they do, not knowing them was for the best.
But his Mom is dead now. He is alone and-
He doesn't notice he isn't breathing until Dean is touching his face to meet his eyes.
"Pay attention to me, kid."
He wants to tell him his name is Adam, but he can't even talk.
"Pay attention to my breathing."
He stirs, trying to do that at the same time that blinks several times. He tries to hear Dean's breathing. It's calm, slow, even in that situation.
"Yeah, like that, kiddo," said like he is really doing it.
And his mind is clearer. He isn't listening to the constant sound of his heartbeats in his ears anymore, and his body is trembling, but he can feel it.
So he focuses his eyes on the other's once more and notices how his vision is blurred, but he knows it's for the tears. His face is wet too.
Then, he notices a smile on Dean's face.
"Good job, buddy."
He is annoyed again with how many ways Dean calls him when he has a name.
"A-Adam," said between hiccups.
The other one looks at him kind of confused until he understands what he means.
"Well, Adam, you did an excellent job."
He wants to tell him that he didn't do anything else apart of had a panic attack, but the door to the room is burst open getting both of their attention. Dean is up in a minute and just next to Sam.
"Sammy! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" because the other one is double over in pain. Making a face.
"Yeah," says without air on his lungs "just a stab wound... And a bite..."
"Jesus, Sammy."
"But they're dead," looks right at him, "you are safe now, Adam."
He tries to believe it, but he can't.
So he decides not to say anything and just nods looking at Dean and how he takes the tallest man to the next bed with some difficulty.
He would like to help with the treating of Sam's wounds (he is the one who is studying medicine after all), but his body hurts (at least, the headache had dissipated a little) and Dean is doing a good job. Kind of sloppy but he thinks that considering their situation is enough to survive.
Minutes later, Sam is sleeping, and Dean is preparing something for him on the little kitchen that the motel had.
He looks at Sam from his bed, and he can see it. He can see Sam as John's son. Dean... Not so much. Maybe he looks like his mom.
Like how he looks likes his mom-
He feels something get stuck in his throat, and his eyes hurt.
"Hey... Are you ok?"
He nods. Dean looks at him like he doesn't believe him (understandably), but he doesn't say anything else.
"Well, if you're hungry, the food is ready. It's nothing fancy but at least is eatable." He moves next to his bed and - yeah ok maybe he needs help to go to the table.
He let's the other drag him to a chair, and then a plate with some mash potatoes and vegetables.
"Sorry that isn't meat, but Sam bought this shit on the last town hoping that I would eat it considering it was gonna be the only food would we have. Joke on him, I'm not gonna eat it, but that doesn't mean we have to waste it."
Even before Dean finish talking, he was eating, and really enjoying the food.
"It's... It's really good."
Dean beams at him, to change his expression to a boring one.
"Thanks, buddy."
He is going to reminder Dean what it's his name when he noticed the smug look Dean gives him. So he guesses it's a Dean thing.
It's two hours later, with all the dishes on the sink, Dean cleaning guns on the table and him watching TV that Sam wakes up.
He notices how fast Dean leaves everything he was doing to go to his brother to help him sit and drink some water.
Sam looks better. Tired, but better.
"...and I make your dumb rabbit food."
He listens to Sam's scoff before Dean is back at the kitchen, warm it up the plate he stored for Sam. And apparently, Sam can eat on the bed.
Maybe Sam is worse than he through.
He hears then some whispers coming from the bed. He knows for sure they're talking about him. He should be mad, but he is tired enough to not care, so he will wait when they decide to kick him out with his grandparents o worse... Leave him there.
Minutes later there is a plate on the kitchen's sink, the tv turns off and Dean trying to talk to him.
"Listen, Adam. I'm sorry about your mom," he knows he is, "but you're safe now. Those ghouls are dead, so you can come back to your home or take your things and just go with a relative. I don't know. We could give you a ride-"
And that would be the best decision. He can go back to his home; maybe he can't even stay in the town. His grandparents are the best option and still... He feels that he can't. He can't be safe again. He can't be with his mom's family.
Not when his dad's family, his brothers, are right there. They are saving people like him, apparently, getting hurt and needing stitches. Staying in motels and cleaning guns.
"No." He says, and Dean is looking at him kind of confused.
"No? What do you mean with no?"
"I'm coming with you."
And Dean is frowning now.
"Listen, kid-"
"I'm not a kid. I'm in college-"
"Exactly. Don't you have school to go back to...?"
"Not anymore. Not after this."
"If you don't have any relatives around, maybe it's time to live alone but coming with us... That's not- you don't even know what we do."
"Then tell me. Teach me."
"Adam."
"I'm not going to stay here where... Where my mom died. I'm not going to have a normal life again, because I now know that things like that exist and people like you kill them. People like you save people like me for those things, and that's better than being a doctor that's just waiting to maybe just maybe save the people that come to the hospital. Don't you think someone that knows medicine would be great in your... Work field? Yeah, perhaps you know how to stitch someone but do you know about fractures, pierced lungs, contusions?"
Dean is looking at him kind of surprise, but his expression change yet again.
"It's because my stitches were sloppy. I swear I can do better than that." he laughs like it's funny. Like he isn't trying to agree with him, because he knows he is right. Something tells him that Dean thinks he is right.
"You know I'm right."
"Hunting is not kid's play. You can get killed or worse."
Expelled, he thinks, because Harry Potter was one of his mom's favorite books. One that she read to him almost every night when he was little, and she wasn't in night duty at the hospital.
Remembering that, remembering her, he thinks he needs to be out there, saving other moms for monsters so they can see their children grow up and get out of college, get married or whatever.
"Adam."
He looks up, and his vision again is blurred, his face is wet. He is crying.
Dean looks at him kind of sad. Not with pity but with understanding.
He puts a hand in his shoulder, squeezes a little trying to give him comfort, but he doesn't need that right now, not like that. He needs his mom's hugs and kisses and words saying how everything is going to be all right, how his first pet is in a better place, how his best friend that decides to move to the other side of the country is going to be all right. He needs that.
So he ends up throwing himself at Dean, grabbing his jacket and just cries.
He feels the other tense but doesn't care.
Seconds later he is wrapped in strong arms, listening to Dean whispering how everything is going to be all right.
He cries more because he sounds just like his mom.
He wakes up when a door shuts with force. Dean is right in front of it, and Sam is nowhere around.
Then he hears the motor of a car.
Dean turns around and his angry expression change to a boring one.
"Hey, morning." The morning it's said to low to really hear it but he nods anyway. "Sam went for breakfast."
He knows that's not all true.
"He was mad," he said like a fact because John did the same thing of taking the car to a ride when he fought with his mom. Dean let out a sigh.
"He is. He doesn't want you to go with us."
"And you do?" Looks at Dean kind of surprise.
"Well, you look decided to go with us to help. I fear that if we leave you somewhere, you're gonna do exactly it and get killed for not being prepared."
And that's... Yeah. That sounds something that would happen.
"So, I tell Sammy that. He said that you had a life here. That you should go back to college. I tell him what you tell me and I said that maybe you don't have to be with us but with another hunter that can teach you."
He wouldn't want that either. It is just Dean (and Sam) or alone.
"So he got mad at how is possible that I want to drag you with us to this life and, well, he decided to take a walk and bring breakfast on the way back."
"Oh, I'm sorry for making you argue."
"What? No. It's not your fault. I mean, I think the same, but I wouldn't want you to end up dead just because we decide to leave you alone after knowing about this. He would have to deal." He shrugs, dismissing the discussion.
He nods. Doesn't knows what else to say.
When Sam comes back, with breakfast, surprisingly, he is still mad, or like Dean said, with a bitch face.
After eating, Sam is trying to talking him out of the idea to go with them to hunt. It isn't working, and the other is getting frustrated. Dean looks really smug about it.
He gets where Sam is coming. Just before Sam came back, Dean explained how Sam went to college for some years before shit hit the fan. So he can see why Sam is so mad at him to willingly decide to go with them. But it is still his decision so, as Dean said, he would have to deal.
The same evening, they were on the road going to South Dakota with the radio blasting Led Zeppelin. Dean was singing out of key, Sam trying to ignore everyone with a bitch face put on and him, in the back seat, looking out of the window to the fields around his town saying goodbye to his mom and his normal life in his mind.
Looking at Dean through the rearview mirror and receiving a look back while Dean was still singing and driving, Sam shouting how the hands had to be on the steering wheel and him laughing about all of that, he thought that maybe he can get used to this.