"Dammit, Sammy! Did you steal my tie?" Dean Winchester hollered, tugging on a sock and hopping into the kitchen.

"Dude, I have my own. Why would I want yours?" Sam retorted, watching his brother scramble to get ready in time, amused.

Dean scowled, stealing a piece of toast off of Sam's plate. "Isha fus daya coo, oo bish!" Dean said around the toast precariously placed between his teeth while he tucked in his forest green button-up shirt.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Don't talk with your mouth full. And I know it's the first day of school, jerk; otherwise, you would still be veg'd out on the couch, dreaming about your latest conquest."

Dean grinned. "I'm gonna meet my new class today. I'm excited, so sue me." He dipped his toast into Sam's egg yolk, much to his little brother's disgust ("Dammit, Dean! You're an ass, I was going to eat that!") and Dean laughed. "Meet you at the Roadhouse around five?" He asked hopefully. The Roadhouse was a bar owned by Ellen Harvelle, who had been something of a mother to the boys for many years now. It was also one of the best burger joints in town, and the Winchesters' hangout.

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes, secretly amused by his brother's enthusiasm. "Yeah, yeah."

Ω

"Hey, Dean-o,," commented Gabriel Milton, Dean's teaching aide, saucily. "How was your summer, hot stuff?"

Dean rolled his eyes, not amused. "Gabe, you saw me two weeks ago," he said dryly. "How was the cruise, by the way?"

Gabe grinned. "Great, even with the terrible company." At this, he grimaced. Dean sighed. Gabriel's family was an enigma. His parents were filthy rich, but had always been distant, relying on their eldest, Michael, to take care of his six younger siblings. Despite Gabriel's insistence that he hated the lot of them (except one brother and his only sister), Dean knew differently. He knew that Gabriel really just wanted his family to get their heads out of their asses and just love each other. A big happy family was a dream both Dean and Gabriel shared, although neither would admit it. This was why it was so very difficult to deal with Gabe after another failed family trip/outing.

Dean eyed his best friend warily. "You okay to be here?" He gestured to the empty classroom. "You could take the day. The first day is easy enough; I'd be alright on my own."

"Is that your way of trying to get rid of me, Winchester?" When Dean opened his mouth to protest, Gabriel chuckled. "I was joking, you numbskull. I'll be fine to help you with the little mud monkeys."

Dean pinched the bridge of his nose, fighting a grin. Although he knew that Gabriel meant his term fondly, parents could very easily get the wrong idea. "You really shouldn't call them that. Didn't some mother try to sue you last year, after she heard you call her son that?"

Gabe grinned dreamily. "Ah, yes, Mrs. Johnson. What a lovely woman."

Dean groaned. "Please tell me you didn't sleep with her."

Gabe tried (and failed) to look innocent. "Fine, I won't tell you how wild she is in the sack." He winked as Dean grimaced. "Pre-cougars are awesome, man, you should try them sometime."

Dean was about to ask for bleach to clean the image from his brain when the classroom door burst open and kids started to pour in, most still clinging to their parents' hands.

Dean straightened his posture and put a serene smile on his face, going into what Sam jokingly referred to as 'teacher mode'. As soon as the final bell rang and parents began shuffling out (most going tearfully), Dean locked eyes with Gabriel, who held up ten fingers, followed by another five. Fifteen kids, Dean thought as he did his head count to make sure everyone had arrived. "Hi, everyone!" he announced in his most soothing tone. "Welcome to kindergarten! I'm Mr. Winchester, and that is Mr. Gabe, but you can call me Fitch." He winked conspiratorially, and a few of the kids giggled. One boy looked confused and raised his hand, much to Dean's pleasure. "Go ahead and tell us your name while you're at it, soldier."

The little boy blushed. "I'm Kevin. Uh, how come you wanna be called Fitch?"

Dean's grin became a little sheepish. "Well, when I first became a teacher, one of my kids couldn't say 'Winchester', so he called me Mr. Fitchser, until all of the kids were just calling me Fitch. I decided I liked it, so that's been my class name ever since." Kevin's lips stretched into a shy smile, and Dean filled with pleasure. He glanced down at his roster. "Are you Kevin Tran, then, son?"

Kevin nodded eagerly, and Gabe chuckled. "Good boy. Fitch, how about we go around the room and everyone can introduce themselves to the class?"

"That's a great idea! Okay, little lady, since you sit next to Kev, it's your turn." Dean smiled encouragingly at the small brunette next to Kevin. The little girl didn't hesitate to introduce herself as Bela Talbot, and Dean had to cut her off (politely, of course) or else she would have gone on to tell her life story. He listened as the rest of the kids introduced themselves, checking their names off of the roster: Jamie, Cameron, Sara, Kim, Levi, Lucas, Ben… Dean grinned when as the last kid, a little blonde named Lilith, was done introducing herself. This year was looking to be pretty good.

Ω

It had been a long drive from his apartment to his brother's, three towns over. He wasn't sure he was going to be able to make it off of the elevator. His side was killing him; he'd lost feeling in his legs during the beating, honestly, he was surprised that they were actually doing what they were told. He could feel the slick blood dripping down his skin in various places, and he resisted the urge to vomit. He had never been overly fond of blood, especially not when it was pouring out of his skin in copious amounts. A ding interrupted his disjointed thoughts; he was finally on the right floor.

Praise be to God, he thought, knowing his energy wouldn't last forever. The pain was steadily getting stronger as the adrenaline from fight-or-flight response wore off. It had taken all of his willpower to make it to the one person who may still like him enough to care.

Castiel Novak knocked on his brother's door, using what little strength he had left. He moaned at the pain such little motions caused, curling into an even tighter ball. He could feel the blood soaking through his shirt and jeans, and he whimpered. They must have done more damage to his body than Castiel had realized.

"What the fuck?" Castiel heard his brother roar. He felt arms around him, picking him up, but the details were lost on him; the pain was too intense.

"No' as bad as it loos," Castiel slurred before losing consciousness.

Ω

When Castiel woke up again, it was too bright and his whole body ached. "Well, well, well," muttered a familiar voice. "Sleeping Beauty finally arises." Castiel turned his head, gasped at the pain from the sudden movement, and looked at his furious older brother. "So, are you going to tell me what the hell happened?"

"No," Castiel whispered. Gabriel made an angry noise and turned suddenly, slamming his fist into the wall, leaving a dent. "Dammit, Castiel! You can't just fuckin' show up here, half dead, expect me to take care of you, and not tell me a damn thing about what happened! This is too much, man." Gabriel made to leave, but Castiel grabbed his wrist, despite the fact he knew it would hurt like a bitch.

"Thank you. Sorry," he whispered, his eyes feeling very heavy.

Gabriel sighed, running a hand through his blond hair. "We'll talk when I get back from work, okay? But I'm going to need some answers, Castiel." He glanced at his baby brother again sadly, and then he shook his head. "Sleep, bro. I gave you some meds while you were sleeping; they're probably going to make you pretty out of it." He started walking towards the door again, but quickly turned and kissed his little brother's forehead before leaving abruptly.

Ω

"So, who pissed in your Cheerios?" Dean asked under his breath, crossing his arms while he monitored an impromptu soccer game.

Gabe scowled. "No one, idiot," he muttered gruffly, popping a golden candy into his mouth. He took his sweet time crinkling the plastic wrapper before groaning. "Could you quit with the staring? I can feel it."

"If you tell me what the hell is going on with you today. You've snapped at three kids, broke a paintbrush, and you've pretty much been giving death stares since you got in," Dean replied, his eyes flickering between the kids and Gabriel's face.

Gabe groaned again. "Ugh, fine. I'm a little hungover. My brother showed up last night, beaten to a bloody pulp. I cleaned him up, made sure nothing was broken," (before becoming a teaching aide, Gabriel was a doctor) "gave him some meds to help with the pain, and got drunk as hell after he finally fell asleep."

"Michael?" Dean asked hesitantly.

Gabe snorted. "As if. No, never Michael. He's too proud to ask anything of anyone, even if he was dying." Dean waited for Gabriel to share which of his brothers it had been, but after standing in relative silence for the better part of three minutes, he decided to go back to guessing.

"The scary-looking twins?"

"No."

Dean put up six fingers, knocked one down for Gabriel, another for Michael, two more for the twins… "And not your sister, so…" Only one finger left. "So, it's the quiet brother."

Gabriel looked at him sharply. "How do you know he's quiet?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I just kinda assumed, since you hardly ever talk about him, and I got to call him something, since you won't tell me his name. What's with that, anyway?"

Gabe made an annoyed sound in the back of his throat. "Ca- my brother likes prefers anonymity."

Dean was about to fire off another question when one of the other teachers, Mrs. Masters, interrupted. "Recess is almost finished. We should collect the children." And although it was phrased like a suggestion, Dean knew it was an order. Mrs. Masters had the ability to make Dean's life and career a living hell if she really wanted to, and Dean was pretty sure she just plain enjoyed having him under her thumb. It irritated him to know end, but he just forced a grin and mock saluted. "Yes, ma'am!" He stressed the ma'am enough to be insulting, but not enough for it to be obvious it was intentional. Gabriel would usually have scoffed and made fun of Dean for being so unimaginative, but today his heart really wasn't in it, so they rounded up their class without a word between them.

Ω

Dean strode into Sammy's office like a man on a mission. He gave his patented 'I'm-adorable' grin to the secretary, who rolled her eyes, already familiar with Dean's antics. "Hello, Mr. Winchester. Mr. Winchester is just looking over a case, but I'm sure he'll make time for you."

Dean chuckled, leaning down to her desk and settling his weight onto his forearms. "Jess, when are you going to quit bein' so formal? You've been working for Sammy for a few years now, we should be friends by now, at the very least." He winked at her, something that usually caused girls to blush and stammer.

Sammy's little secretary wasn't as impressed. She allowed him a slight smirk, shaking her head. "You're terrible, Dean," she allowed, and the use of his first name made Dean grin. Dean: 1, Sammy's hot secretary: 0

Dean was ready for the challenge of charming the pants off of her, but his baby brother chose that moment to walk out of his office, grinning like the big giant he was. "Dean! How'd it go, dude?"

"Pretty good. But something sorta weird happened, and, uh, that's actually what I'm here to talk to you about." His gaze flickered to Jessica pointedly, and Sam nodded, composing his face.

"Of course, yeah. Come on in. And, Ms. Moore?" Sam said with a shit-eating grin. "Thanks for letting me know he was here the moment you heard his loud-ass car."

Jess glowed, her big blue eyes shining and a smile on her lips just as big as Sam's. "Of course, Mr. Winchester."

When they were safely inside the confines of Sam's small office, Dean grinned and wolf-whistled. "Damn, Sammy, when you gonna tap that?"

Sam blushed and sputtered profusely, glaring at his brother. "Shut up," he grumbled after a few minutes. "What do you want?"

Dean sighed, quickly losing his good humor. His mind replayed the events of today, and he shook his head sadly. "Okay, I need a favor, but you can't tell anyone who you're doing this for or why. Capisce?"

Sam stared at him for a long moment, deliberating. Eventually, he sighed. Dean wouldn't ask him to do anything illegal – no, scratch that, Dean wouldn't ask him to do something illegal if it wasn't necessary. "Alright, Dean. What do you need?"

"I need you to investigate Gabe."