Chapter 12
‘You’re a stupid worthless good for nothing brat’ his father hissed, punctuating every word with a kick to the stomach.
Dean curled further in on himself with each blow, the pain spreading throughout his body.
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Dean sat bolt upright in his bed, sweat dripping off of him and wetting the sheets. His breathing was ragged, and his chest felt painfully tight. He moved so he was resting against his headboard and had his knees brought up to his chest.
Dean wrapped his arms around his legs and buried his face in them, still struggling to take in air. All the marks on his body burned as if they were still fresh.
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It was 3am and Steve and Tony were awoken by FRIDAY’s voice.
“What is it FRIDAY?” Tony asked, slightly annoyed.
“It seems that Dean is having a panic attack after a nightmare, I thought you could help,” The AI replied.
The husbands were on their feet and out of the room quickly, speeding down the halls to get to Dean’s room.
Once they reached the room, Steve knocked but they received no answer. They knocked again, but again didn’t receive an answer.
Tony decided to just open the door and the two walked in to see Dean curled up into himself at the far end of his bed. They could see the sweat falling from the boy and the way his body was shivering.
Tony and Steve’s hurts broke simultaneously as they heard a small whimper come from Dean, one that sounded like he was trying to keep it in but couldn’t.
The husbands ventured further into the room and closer to Dean.
“Hey Dean,” Tony began, Dean flinched at the noise.
“Hey, hey, it’s okay Dean, you’re okay now,” Steve soothed as he moved closer still.
Dean only lifted his head slightly so he could see Steve approaching. He would normally have moved away, but something about Steve and Tony made Dean feel safe.
Dean continued to shake, but he lifted his head more fully as Steve asked, “Mind if I sit down?”
Dean didn’t say anything and nodded minutely. He felt the bed dip slightly as the weight of the super soldier landed on it.
“Everything’s okay now, you’re safe,” Steve soothed once again. Dean felt a strong hand being placed on his knee, and even though he would normally flinch away, he knew that Steve wouldn’t hurt him, so he stayed still.
Dean lifted his eyes to Steve’s, still shaking and sweating.
“I promise you’re okay,” Steve said.
Dean could see the truth behind the words in his eyes and surged forwards to hug him. He stayed silent through the gesture but calmed slightly knowing he was finally safe.
Tony watched with a sad smile as Dean and his husband hugged.
Slowly Dean stopped shaking and pulled away from Steve.
“Sorry,” he apologised.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for Dean,” Steve said.
“We’re here if you need anything. And I mean anything,” Tony added.
Dean just nodded.
“Are you ready for us to leave or would you prefer for us to stay?” Steve questioned.
“You can go now,” Dean said, voice wavering slightly.
“Okay,” Steve stood, and he and Tony made their way to the door when they were stopped by an almost inaudible, “Thank you.”
Steve and Tony just smiled back at the boy and closed to door slowly.
They retreated back to their room and fell into a light sleep, still slightly worried about Dean.
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Dean was awoken by FRIDAY.
“Breakfast is ready Dean, the team is in the kitchen with your brother,” The AI spoke.
Dean sighed and swung his legs over the edge of the bed, the action made his back sting slightly.
Dean made his way other to his closet and again picked out a baggy t-shirt, but this time with dark blue jeans and a plain black baggy hoodie. He also picked out a pair of black converse.
He stepped out of his room and headed down a hallway towards the kitchen, which was one big room with the dining room and living room as well.
He saw the team and Sam sitting around the long dining table, with copious amounts of basically every breakfast food you could think of. There were stacks of pancakes, plates of French toast, eggs, bacon, toast, various fruits and cereal. Dean had never seen this much food in his life and judging by the happy and excited look in Sam’s eyes, he was excited to dig into the food as well.
When the team noticed Dean, they all smiled. Sam gestured with his head to the empty seat next to him and Dean made his way over to his brother.
He sat down hiding the wince as his back moved. He grabbed the glass of water in front of his plate and took a big swig.
Everyone around him started reaching into the middle for food, and Dean waited until everyone was finished to grab some cheerios and milk.
“Is that all you want?” Tony asked.
Dean nodded, “Not that hungry.”
“Are you sure Dean?” his brother asked, “There’s a lot of food.”
Dean looked at his brother’s mountain of food and smiled, “I know there is and I’m sure Sammy.”
Sam looked at his brother weirdly but stayed quiet and started munching on his bacon.
Dean ate his cereal and finished his glass of water before leaning into Steve, who was sat on his other side, and said, “I need to go back to the house today and get some things, I’ll take Sammy, he needs to get things as well.”
Steve nodded, “Okay, me and Tony will take you.”
Dean shook his head, “No you don’t have to, we’ll be fine.”
“Dean, we’ll drive you okay?” Steve phrased it as a question, but his tone said otherwise.
“Okay, thanks,” Dean said.
“When do you need to go?” Steve asked.
“Is after breakfast ok?” Dean questioned.
“Sure thing,” Steve replied.
Dean leaned over to tell Sam and Steve leaned over to tell Tony.
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That’s how they found the four sat in a car together driving to the brothers’ old home.
Tony pulled into the driveway and the four got out of the car.
They walked up to the door, which was thankfully unlocked, and they all walked inside.
Steve and Tony felt anger bubbling inside at the memories of seeing Dean on the floor unconscious.
“Alright you can wait here or go with Sam, but I’m gonna do my stuff alone,” Dean said as he walked up the stairs.
Steve and Tony turned to Sam, “You want us to help you?” Tony asked.
“Sure,” Sam smiled and the three of them went up to Sam’s room.
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When Dean got to his room, he closed the door quickly and moved around even quicker.
He grabbed he backpack and went to all the hiding places in his room, picking out his multiple guns, knives and other weapons, placing them carefully into his bag.
He then went to his closet and picked out some clothes to put on top of them to hide them, ‘It’s not like he actually needed the clothes with the whole fucking store Tony had stocked his closet with,’ Dean thought.
He turned to leave and on his way to the door, saw a picture frame on his desk of him, his mother and Sammy. He looked at it for a while and picked it up, removing the back and taking the photo out.
Dean folded the picture and put it into his jeans pocket. Then he left the room and walked downstairs, looking for the final important thing.
When he got downstairs, he saw his jacket hanging up on a coat rack and went through the pockets, pulling out the keys to the impala.
He threw them up into the air and caught them with a smile.
Dean looked up at a noise and saw the other three walking down the stairs.
“You ready to go?” Steve asked.
“Yep,” Dean replied, “I’m gonna drive my car to the tower though. Sammy you wanna ride with me?”
Sam nodded, “Sure.”
The husbands looked at each other and then back at the boys, “Okay, we’ll see you back there then,” Tony said.
They all made their way out of the house and to their respective cars.
Dean sighed happily as he slid into the front seat of the impala.
‘It’s good to see you Baby, it’s been too long,’ he thought.
The brothers waited for Tony and Steve to pull out of the driveway, so that they could reverse out to, and then followed them back to the tower.