Disclaimer: I don't own anyone.
Rated: M
Warning(s): Slash, Foursome, Dom/sub, Sub!Dean, Dom!Hunter, Daddy!Hunter, Allusions to Heavy BDSM Gone Wrong, Past Scarification, etc.

"I can smell him on you." Roman stated nonchalantly. If it weren't for the obvious tension in his shoulders, or the gruff, agitated undertone in his voice, this could have been mistaken for a run-of-the-mill conversation. "Next time, maybe you should pick someone that doesn't bathe themselves in cologne."

Dean looked at the big man uncertainly, before trying to cover his ass. "Let's just keep this between the two of us, huh? Daddy doesn't need to know."

"He doesn't need to know that you've been shacking up with one of his superstars behind his back?" Dean cringed. When you put it like that, it did sound rather awful. "I'll be the first to admit, he can be a royal jackass - but he didn't deserve this. None of us did."

Dean shifted uncomfortably, but whether it was from the situation or the not-quite-unpleasant ache in his ass, one could not be too sure. "I never meant for you to find out like this. I was planning on quitting him, I swear."

Roman's eye twitched. Clearly, he was unimpressed. "How long, Dean?"

There was a pause, then, "Does it really matter?"

Something in Roman absolutely broke, then. Reaching forward, he grabbed a fistful of Dean's dirty blond curls and yanked him foreword until their foreheads were almost touching. "I want to know how long I've been fucking sloppy seconds. I want to know how long I've been fucking you while you dreamed about someone else."

"It was never like that!" Dean flinched, the pain he felt clearly reflected in his olive eyes. But Roman didn't let up.

Roman stared deeply into his eyes, trying to read him. But all that was lurking beneath the fractured shield that Dean desperately attempted to keep standing was hurt and pain. Finally, Roman released him, shoving him away and turning his back on his fellow submissive. Dean felt an unwelcome stinging in his eyes, and knowing that tears were soon to follow, he forced himself to look away. Roman turning his back on him hurt more than he could have ever imagined.

He could take the names. After all, he'd been called worse. And he could take the accusations. He felt like he deserved them. But there was a method to his madness, a reason why he'd done what he had. Roman and Seth - they were his world. And now that things were on the road to recovery with Hunter, he really didn't want to do anything to screw himself over. What he'd said was absolutely true - he had been trying to kick his nasty little habit.

Dean hadn't meant to do it - but wasn't that always the case? It had started after Seth's betrayal (sell-out, buy-in, whatever you wanted to call it) and had just evolved from there. Roman hadn't been around because of his emergency hernia surgery, and Dean had been alone... and he knew that he needed to break it off, really he did... he just hadn't anticipated Roman finding out about it first. The door slamming caused the floodgates to open. He didn't even realize he was crying.

"Roman told me what happened." Seth said softly. Dean flinched - had he really expected that Roman would keep to himself about this? He'd hurt Roman in the worst way imaginable, and Roman wanted payback. "And I wanted to tell you that I understand."

Well, that was an unexpected turn of events. He had been waiting for Seth to tear into him, just like Roman had. While he didn't think that Seth could hurt him to the same caliber that Roman had (his scalp still burned from the way that Roman had manhandled him), he wasn't about to put it past him to try. This had to sit on the top of the list of crappy things he'd done to their little family, and he was just waiting for the other shoe to drop.

Seth sighed. "I can't say that I condone your decision, but I understand why you did it. Just like you understood why I was going to leave, and why we both understood why Roman was as evasive as he was after Daddy put him through the three qualifying matches for Money in the Bank."

"Yeah, well, you and Roman obviously don't share the same sentiment. I thought he was going to rip a chunk of hair off of my head."

Seth nodded. He didn't like the way that Dean was curling in on himself, crushing a pillow to his chest like it was some sort of shield. "You can't really blame him. You started sleeping with him when things started to go sour with Paul... he probably feels like you're just jumping from bed to bed, that you don't really care about him."

Dean buried his face in the pillow, "Thanks for the vote of confidence." He said brokenly, feeling the tears start to form again.

"Hey, I didn't say that that was actually what was going on!" Seth was quick to defend himself. "Like I said, I understand. I really do."

It was true. When they were with Paul, Dean was kind of like the dead weight weighing down the relationship. Paul enjoyed messing with Seth psychologically - Seth would always have abandonment issues because of what that monster did to him. And Roman would always have issues trusting people because of the damage Paul did to his body. And Dean... well, Dean's story was a little bit different than the others.

Dean liked it rough - more specifically, the darker side of BDSM. The kind of shit that you needed real trust to be able to perform. And Paul... well, he'd decided to take it a step too far during one of their sessions. He'd left Dean blindfolded, handcuffed, and gagged for thirty-two hours. When Roman had finally found him, he was nauseous from hunger and extremely dehydrated. He'd never let Paul touch him again. Paul had the scars to prove he'd tried.

Dean slept around when he didn't feel safe in a relationship, when something had taken away his trust in his partners. This was undoubtedly a big part of what was upsetting Roman - the fact that Dean was sleeping around meant that he felt something was inherently wrong in their relationship. And this extended to their relationship with their Daddy as well. It didn't escape anyone's notice that Dean had never let Hunter top him.

"Do you trust Roman?" Seth asked suddenly. He tried to meet Dean's eyes, but the other man wouldn't let him.

Dean crushed the pillow tighter to his chest. "Of course I trust him. Why wouldn't I trust him?" But he didn't sound terribly sure himself.

"Do you trust Daddy?" Seth continued.

"Well, he hasn't really given me too many reasons to trust him lately, has he?" Dean's quick wit was just about all that he had right now. He felt so naked, with everything exposed to Seth's careful scrutiny.

"That wasn't the question. I asked if you trusted him, not why you didn't." Seth chastised gently. "It's okay if you don't. Trust doesn't come easily. Not anymore." Seth was quick to reassure. "But you have to try. Sleeping around is running from your problem, and you're going to need to face it sooner rather than later."

Dean frowned, "You want me to submit to him." It wasn't a question.

"I can't say whether you should, one way or the other." Seth shrugged, before rising off of the bed. "But I'm saying that you need to try. Not everyone is Paul, Dean. Not everyone is out to hurt us."

"Are you so sure?" Dean asked softly.

Seth didn't answer. He didn't need too. Dean had watched his former Shield brethren begin to overcome the damage that they'd sustained at the hands of Paul Heyman - but they'd done it with their Daddy's help. Dean had been attempting to battle his own demons alone, and now he was being swallowed by a pit of his own making. Above all, he knew that he needed his Daddy's forgiveness. And he knew that he needed his cleansing... to belong to him and him alone.

Seth pressed a kiss to Dean's forehead. "Everything will be okay, Dean-o. Everything will be okay."

Hunter stood in the doorway, watching a motionless Dean through blurry eyes. When Roman had called him, he hadn't wanted to believe it. He hadn't wanted to believe that Dean was so unhappy in their relationship that he felt the need to turn to someone else for the love and support that he needed. But when Dean looked up, meeting his eyes for a brief second before looking away, he realized that what Roman had said was one-hundred percent true.

"Dean..." Hunter trailed off, uncertain of what he actually wanted to say.

"You don't have to say anything, Daddy." Dean said softly. "I know that I fucked up."

Hunter sighed, taking an uneasy step forward. "You didn't fuck up. What happened... it isn't okay, but it is partially my fault. I didn't meet your needs, didn't give you what you needed to feel secure in our relationship. And I am sorry about that."

"It's not your fault." Dean continued. "I have trouble trusting people. That's my problem, not yours."

"But it is my problem. Obviously, there is something that that other man was offering you that I haven't or can't. I can't make you trust me... but I wish that you did."

Slowly, Dean put the pillow aside, before patting the place beside him. Hunter hesitated for a moment, before coming to sit beside his boy. There was a tense moment between the two, before Dean scooted over and rested his head on Hunter's shoulder. Hunter's arm came to rest on the smaller man's shoulder, pulling him tight to his side and rubbing soothing circles on his back. This certainly wasn't how he'd expected to be spending his night...

"It's not that I don't trust you... It's that I trust you too much." Dean said brokenly. "When I sleep around, I don't have to worry about trusting them. They hurt me, and it doesn't damage a pre-existing relationship that I have. They're just mindless fucks."

Hunter stroked his boy's dirty blond curls. "You're worried about getting hurt again. Because if I hurt you, you have to face me every morning, every day at work... you trust me, and that scares you." Dean tensed, and Hunter hugged him a little tighter. "It's okay to be scared, Dean. I won't take advantage of it."

"People are scared of me. I'm not scared of anything." Dean was quick to correct him.

Hunter shook his head. "You're scared of getting hurt again."

Dean flinched, remembering how it felt to scream his safe-word behind that gag, hearing his own terrified screams reverberating inside of his brain, but producing nothing but muffled moans instead. He could remember the burning in his shoulders as he pulled at the handcuffs, desperately trying to free himself. Darkness was all around, the strip of silk over his eyes like a noose. It was suffocating and terrifying and he just wanted out.

Thirty-two hours. Thirty-two hours of hell, and Roman and Seth didn't even know half of what had transpired in that time. Could he really trust Hunter? Could he really submit to him? He had trusted Paul, back before they realized how much of a mistake that was, and that mistake had made him into the lunatic fringe. He didn't know if he could handle another betrayal of that caliber. He trusted Hunter... but was he ready to test how much?

Dean sighed, "I'm into the heavy stuff - scarification, whipping, DP... the works." He confessed. "Or, at least, I was... until Paul screwed it up for me."

Hunter's grip tightened on his boy, sensing that he needed him now more than ever. "Dean... you don't have to go down this road if you don't want to. I'm not going to force you to tell me anything."

"I know. But I need for you to know." Another sigh, then, "You know the scar on my back? The one that not even Roman is allowed to touch?" Hunter nodded, feeling a sudden urge to strangle the walrus' fat, slimy neck with one of his tasteless ties. "That was when it all went wrong."

"He cut too deep." Hunter guessed correctly.

Dean nodded stiffly. "He carved his name into my back. I guess so I'd never be able to forget him." Here, he laughed darkly. "When I finally arrived at the hospital, they said I was lucky that I didn't bleed out - the wounds were that deep."

"Dean..." Hunter trailed off, at a loss for words.

"I laid there for thirty-two hours, screaming for someone to help me. But nobody could hear past the gag." Dean was sobbing now, hiding his face in the crook of Hunter's arm.

"Until Roman found you." Hunter finished for him. He knew that part of the story, at least.

"Until Roman found me." Dean confirmed.

Suddenly, it all made sense. The reason why Dean allowed Roman to have him in a way that he couldn't allow Hunter was because the last person in Hunter's position had nearly killed him, and gotten away with not even so much as a slap on the wrist. It was disgusting, but he was beginning to understand that their life before coming into his care had been less than ideal. But this had to be the most disturbing occurrence yet, by far.

To have someone take your trust and throw it away like it meant nothing at all? That had to be the worst kind of pain imaginable. But to add salt to the wound and leave the person there, defenseless, near delirious from the combination of the pain and the blood loss, was unacceptable. If he wasn't so concerned about the sobbing mess of a man in his arms, he'd be shoving his boot so far up Paul's ass he'd be able to taste it in his throat.

There was a moment of tense silence, before Hunter offered, "Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?"

Dean's eyebrows knitted together in adorable confusion. "What?"

"A tattoo." Hunter repeated himself, a little louder this time. "A lot of people do it, to hide traumatic scars on their bodies. You see it a lot with breast cancer victims. They cover their mastectomy scars with tattoos to try and bring beauty to a dark reality... maybe something like that could help you."

Hunter's hand trailed down, and Dean did his best (although he ended up failing miserably) to not flinch when Hunter's hand trailed over his scars. "It's on my back. It's not like I have to see it or anything like that..."

Hunter shrugged, "You don't have to see it, but you still know that it is there. Who knows? Maybe this will help."

"Maybe..." Dean trailed uncertainly.

Dean set his head on Hunter's shoulder, before letting his eyes slip closed as he slowly began to drift off. Hunter watched him, mesmerized by the way his chest rose and fell with every inhalation and exhalation. Even though Dean had hurt him beyond belief, he couldn't help but feel relief as he watched the gentle motion of Dean's body as he dozed in Hunter's arms. Maybe they would be okay - maybe not today, or tomorrow... but someday. Someday, they would be okay.

One Week Later

Dean had chosen his tattoo. It was a combination of bloody angel wings wrapped in barbed wire. The tattoo artist had assured them that the angel wings would cover the majority of the scar, but Dean had insisted on the intricacy of the tattoo. "It's important that it looks just like that," he pointed to the picture.

He'd already explained the symbolism to Hunter, who couldn't help but agree that it was very important that the tattoo looked exactly as it did in the picture. The angel wings were a symbol of purity, tainted by the blood dripping off of the perfectly white feathers. The barbed wire wrapped around the wings symbolized the oppression that suffocated individualism. In other words, he was covering his tattoo with a manifestation of Paul that he could control.

Hunter had asked if Dean would be okay heading into the room by himself. Dean had snapped back that he was a big boy that could handle himself, but Hunter could see in his eyes that he was thankful that Hunter cared enough to ask. He needed to do this on his own. It was an important step in his recovery to be able to have someone touch the scar, and maybe if he could accomplish this, he would be able to someday submit to Hunter.

In the last week, he hadn't left Hunter's side once. And he was okay with that. He hadn't so much as thought of the other man - in fact, it was rather like he fell off of the face of the earth. But things with Roman hadn't necessarily improved. They still weren't talking to one another, and he knew that Roman was still upset regarding his infidelity. Hell, Hunter was still upset about it - but he was taking a much different approach to his dealing with his hurt.

Hunter was trying to fix things, to correct whatever behavior had originally made Dean feel insecure enough in their relationship to cheat. But after their conversation, he realized that what he really needed to do was establish a place where Dean felt safe enough to begin to heal. He already trusted Hunter - he just needed to know that that trust wasn't misplaced. And Hunter would do whatever it took to prove that it wasn't.

"Are you sure that you're going to be okay?" Dean gave a stiff, curt nod, before narrowing his eyes at the older man. If he asked him if he was going to be okay one more time, he might scream. "I'll be right here waiting, okay?"

At that, Dean smiled weakly. That was one thing that he would allow himself. "Thank you." He said softly, before following the tattoo artist into the other room.

Three Weeks Later

"Roman... we need to talk." Dean started slowly, gently. He didn't want to tread heavily in unfamiliar territory. He didn't know how Roman was going to react, but he knew that this conversation was important enough to risk finding out.

"About what?" Roman asked, not looking up from what he was doing. He was trying to seem disinterested, but it wasn't working.

"You deserve to know the reason why I slept around." Dean said, staring down at the ground. He didn't think he could meet Roman's eyes, even if the other man was looking his way. "I know that telling you the reason won't make you forgive me. I don't think that I want you to forgive me."

Roman raised an eyebrow, "You want to torture yourself?"

Dean shook his head, "I don't deserve your forgiveness. What I did to you is unacceptable."

Sitting down on the floor in front of Roman, Dean carefully removed his shirt, revealing the thick layers of gauze bandages that had been carefully set across his back. He'd already had Roman's attention when he claimed that he didn't want Roman's forgiveness, but now, his heart fell as he looked at the mess on Dean's back. Roman looked at the gauze uneasily, reaching out toward it, before yanking his hand away as if he'd touched something hot.

"I want you to remove the bandages." Dean said firmly. There was no question in his tone.

Roman raised an eyebrow, "Dean..."

"There's something that I want you to see. I haven't even had a chance to see it yet." Dean continued. "It's still a little sore, so be careful. But I trust you."

Trust. The word that sent Roman's heart from the pit of his stomach to the middle of his throat. Dean trusted him - those had to be the four most beautiful words that he'd ever heard, ranking above even the long-awaited 'I love you'. He knew how much it meant for Dean to be able to confess that he trusted someone, and even if he was still aching from Dean's betrayal, he knew that he needed to prove that that trust wasn't misplaced.

Carefully, he peeled away the tape from the corners of the bandages, taking extra care to not tug and pull at the skin any more than was absolutely necessary. Once the tape was off, the bandages peeled away easily. When he saw was was underneath, his breath caught in his throat. The tattoo was absolutely beautiful. The scar that was underneath was practically invisible, hidden beneath intricate white feathers and realistic, bloody barbs.

Sucking in a deep breath, Roman asked, "Dean, what is this?"

"It was Daddy's idea. How did it turn out?" That hand reached out again, and this time, Dean allowed it to go further, saying, "Go ahead and touch it. It'll sting a little, most likely, but everything is healed up and infection free." Gentle fingers tenderly traced the outline of the wings.

"Was this scar the reason why you were sleeping around?" Roman asked gently.

"You can't be hurt by a one-night stand, because that is all that you're expecting. There's no emotional connection, no hurt feelings. It's just a once and done fuck." Dean whispered. "I was worried that, the more I trusted you, the more I was opening myself up to getting hurt. I was just trying to protect myself."

Roman rubbed soothing circles into the small of his back. "You never need to worry about protecting yourself from me."

"I know that now." Dean confirmed, leaning back into Roman's touch.

And while it hurt to think that he hadn't known that before, Roman thought that he was beginning to understand. They had all be hurt in their own ways, and Dean had been hurt more severely than they'd originally thought. Sitting down behind him, he pulled the smaller man against him and squeezed him as tightly as he dared. Dean moaned, leaning his head back on Roman's shoulder. Everything was back to the way it should be.

"I'm sorry I said those things, Dean." Roman said. Dean felt his heart soar - Roman apologized to no-one.

"I know." He smiled softly. "Roman?" He hummed, acknowledging that he'd heard. "I need your help with something. I want to submit to Daddy."

Later That Night

"Is everything okay?" Roman asked, stepping back to admire his handiwork. Dean was handcuffed to the bed, with the link wrapped tightly around the headboard to keep him from having too much wiggle room. In addition to this, a silky black handkerchief had been tied over his eyes, fully blackening his vision.

"Everything's good, yeah." Dean gave a curt nod. "It's good without the gag. I feel... safer."

The door to the hotel room opened just a few seconds later, and Hunter made his way inside. He made it all the way to the bedroom before pausing, trying to keep his mouth from dropping at the sight laid out before him. Roman squeezed Dean's hand, silently informing him that the other man was in the room. Dean squeezed back to show that the gesture was understood.

For a moment, Hunter simply remained frozen, too stunned by the sight before him to do anything more than stare. Then he pointed to Dean, then at himself. Roman gave a brisk nod. The entire layout was for him. Hunter felt his heart start to beat rapidly in his chest, and he quickly made his way over to sit at the foot of the bed. Taking this as the sign that all was good, Roman took Dean's hand and placed it in Hunter's. Then, he left.

"Daddy?" Dean asked weakly, immediately recognizing the change in the feeling of the hand that was currently grasping his.

"I'm right here, Dean." Hunter quickly reassured. "What do you need, baby?"

Dean's hips rose off of the bed, legs already spread-eagle (Roman had certainly done an excellent job of tying him up - maybe he'd have to try this out with the big man some time). "Need you inside of me. Already prepped."

Carefully, Hunter moved so that he was situated between Dean's legs. The display of absolute trust here was beautiful, and he wasn't about to do anything to wreck it. Unzipping his pants, he slowly teased Dean's hole with the head of his erection, watching as the rosy pucker attempted to suck him in. Dean was squirming, a slight flush on his cheeks as he attempted to push down on his Daddy's girth. Hunter laughed.

"Getting a little antsy there, my love?" Dean hummed, nodding hurriedly. Not wanting to torture him any longer, Hunter plunged deep into his boy, earning a howl as Dean's back arched with pleasure. "God, you look so beautiful like this, Dean..." he began a slow and steady pace, fucking his boy as deeply as possible.

"Daddy..." Dean mewled, already lost to the pleasure of their love-making.

"I love you so much, baby boy. Nobody else is ever going to touch you like this again." And then, softer, firmer, "Nobody will ever hurt you again."

Dean's lips turned up in a sarcastic smirk that he was glad was not obscured by a gag, "I know."

And with that, he began to pick up the pace. The bed creaked beneath them as Hunter reclaimed his boy, always mindful of the torture he'd endured once upon a time. He knew that he'd never be able to completely erase those horrific memories, but he'd be able to lay a new foundation of hope, trust, and love with his boys that would hopefully last them a lifetime. All too soon, he reached his limit, and with a grunt, he spilled inside of Dean.

Dean followed shortly thereafter, covering his belly in cum. Hunter moved to untie him, but Dean shook his head. "No. Not yet. I have a feeling that we can use this as one of those cheesy bonding exercises. So just... uh..."

"What do you need, Dean?" Hunter pressed gently.

Dean swallowed his pride and forced out, "Hold me?"

Hunter smiled, even though Dean couldn't see it. "I'll always hold you, baby." And then, wrapping his arms around his boy, enveloping him in his familiar and comforting scent, he whispered, "I love you, Dean."

And the last thing that Dean said before falling asleep was, "I love you too, Daddy."

A/N: Well, that turned out a lot darker than anticipated... like, a lot darker. But I hope you enjoyed anyhow. Please remember to leave a review!