Organized Nightmares | 2 |

The day was still fairly young, Austin knew this, even as he stayed curled up on the small excuse of a chesterfield in their living room. He had a small blanket covering his shoulders, even though he still shuddered underneath it. His breathing was gentle and quiet, even though the tear-tracks were very much visible. He sniffled softly, his legs sort of cramping up from sitting in one place for so long, but he wasn't thinking about getting up and stretching his legs, he just wanted the nightmares to stop.

Last night hadn't been the first night he'd had that same nightmare. It was actually something reoccurring and he had never had the heart to bring it up to either of his fathers, just for fear of being told something he didn't want to hear. Like, for example, he was seeing it for a reason and that same thing was going to happy to his family.

Which he dearly hoped wasn't the case.

Those were the kind of thoughts that made his heartrate quicken. That made his mouth run dry. His dad had never been someone to be superstitious, or to even believe in such a "silly and childish thing", as he liked to put it. Austin had brought the idea up, only asking casually, trying not to let on the fact that he was having the same dream over and over and over again. He was just trying to figure out what he could without giving too much away.

He flat-out refused to talk about the meanings of dreams with Andrew, as that man seemed to know too much about such trivial things.

He let out an unsteady breath, pulling his legs tighter to his chest and leaning his chin on them. Andrew had disappeared back into their shared room and Flynn was currently sitting silently at the table in the kitchen, head leant down over something in front of him. Austin knew that he should be talking to his father about these nightmares and coming clean about having them more than once, but the weary look already on his face made Austin think again.

He dropped his gaze from the man at the table and instead focused on a dent in the wall that he had accidentally made when he had played catch with his father inside. Austin had thrown harder than he had meant to, and Flynn had jumped out of the way from the sheer shock of such a toss and the marble had hit the wall instead, creating an indent that was impossible to reverse. Andrew had tried multiple times, and he was still rather irked about it being there in the first place, but they never mentioned it anymore.

Being honest, Austin remembered laughing about it for hours with his dad. While Andrew huffed and whined about it. He remembered being sat through a lecture by the other man about why they shouldn't throw the marble inside the house anymore. Wanting to be respectful, Austin had stopped doing it.

Austin found his mind drifting, in almost a daydream fashion as he stared the dent in the wall down, like it had committed some sort of crime against him. The brief image of what his mother looked like came to mind. She was hard to picture in his head, and they had no way to have captured what she had truly looked like. Flynn had always told him that he had his mother's eyes, but that only gave him some leeway to believe that his mother hadn't been a brunette like his father and he were. He always liked to pretend that she had been a redhead, with freckles dotting her cheeks and sparkling brown eyes that would shine with mirth. His father always said that she had been a gentle, caring woman and had still wanted the best for both her child and the her child's father, even if he had skipped out on her.

"Dad?" He called over, his brown eyes flicking over towards said man. Flynn looked up, meeting his son's eyes and gave a small hum in return, showing that he was listening to him. "Can.. can I go out for a walk?"

Flynn paused, only for a moment. His expression read one of surprise as he thought about what Austin had just asked. "By yourself?" He was answered with a meek nod in response. He wasn't a huge fan of the idea of his thirteen-year-old son being able to roam the walls by himself, but he also knew that he couldn't keep the kid cooped up here with them for the rest of his life either, and it would soon becoming upon them to let the boy borrow by himself as well. "I'm not so sure."

Austin frowned lightly, clutching the blanket tighter. He was already planning a rebuttal, while listing off a few reasons on why Flynn should let him go on his own, when Andrew walked back into the room, fully dressed and ready for the day, instead of staying in night clothes.

"Not so sure about what?" Andrew echoed, fixing the collar of his shirt before adjusting the cuffs around his wrists.

Flynn pinched the bridge of his nose, before answering. "Austin wants to go and explore the walls by himself."

Andrew rose his brows for a moment, looking honestly surprised, before breaking into a gentle smile and turned to look at said brunette still curled into the blankets on the couch. "I don't see why he wouldn't be able, to."

Flynn knew that Andrew believed Austin to be old enough to be able to do a number of different things. However, the idea of letting him roam around the walls when he was so young set a deep worry into the pit of his stomach. What if he came across a spider or a cockroach or a mouse? Or even a rat for heaven's sake! Without either of his fathers there to protect him just gave the man anxiety.

As much as he wanted to turn down the offer right then and there, the hopeful look that he saw on Austin's face was heartwarming, and the bright smile on Andrew's face, yet accompanied by lovely green eyes giving a reassuring look to the other man, made him crack.

"Alright," Flynn said at last and Austin's face burst with excitement instantly at hearing the approval. Andrew nodded gently, mouthing a small "I'm proud of you" to Flynn, while Austin folded up the blanket and set it on the couch. Flynn could only smile at both of the reactions. However, his nerves weren't super settled when it came to letting his son leave without something to protect him, if not his fathers. "However, I need to set some ground rules for exploring by yourself."

"Okay!" Austin chirped as he rocked back and forth, from the balls of his feet to the tips of his toes and back. Flynn couldn't remember a time where his son looked so ecstatic to be doing something by himself. Of course, this was a big thing for all of them. It was a symbol of Austin growing up, which was a punch to the stomach.

"You stay out of any rooms with humans or humans' bags inside of them, okay? You see a suitcase, don't go inside the room. Even if it seems it's completely empty, the human could return at any time and spot you," Flynn stood up, moving towards the closet space they had designated for coats, shoes and weapons. He grabbed a thumb tack, pretty much mirroring a rather large dagger.

He held it out to a wide-eyed Austin. The kid's hands flexed, almost as if he didn't know what to do about the tack and he soon reach for it. Accepting it into his hold, he tested the weight of it, before jabbing the air to practice the movements he could use to defend himself. He had been taught how to defend himself, but he had never really used the weapon itself, before. "Woah," he murmured softly, letting his fingers brush the sharp end of the tack.

Flynn crouched down in front of him, and looked Austin in the eyes. "I need you to be careful. Without Andrew or I to be there with you, you'll have to be incredibly cautious." Andrew laid a hand on Flynn's shoulder and the man steadied himself. "You're a smart kid, Austin, I know you'll do fine out there on your own."

Austin's brown eyes soon bubbled with tears again, but not for the sake of crying, but for the idea that his father trusted him enough to let him do something like this own his own. Dropping the tack to the floor, he launched his arms around the crouching man and hugged him tightly, resting his chin in the crook of his neck.

The motion had startled Flynn so bad that he had nearly lost his balance, but he wrapped one arm around his son tightly while the other kept them both upright.

"Thank you, dad," he whispered into his father's neck, squeezing his eyes shut to try and keep the unwanted tears from escaping.

"You're welcome kid."

Soon after, Austin untangled himself from his dad's embrace and he got up excitedly. Grabbing the tack from the floor, the kid shot towards his bedroom to begin grabbing some things that he believed he would need.

"You're doing the right thing, Flynn," the hand on his shoulder tightened with a reassuring squeeze. "He really is a smart kid. He'll be able to figure things out for himself."

He knew Andrew was right. However, he may never actually admit it verbally.

Flynn sighed gently from his kneeling position before resting a hand overtop of Andrew's and squeezing. "I hope I am," he mused, before pushing himself up, back into a stand. For a moment, Andrew's hand stayed where it was, and so did Flynn's, all before Flynn interlaced their fingers together, moved their hands and interlaced them, before pulling the taller man directly into him, his arms then wrapping around his waist as he held him there, softly purring, "plus, that gives us some 'you and me' time."

Andrew chuckled lightly, moving his arms to let them wrap around Flynn's neck. The two were going to lean in for a quick kiss, but a groan from beside them showed that Austin was ready to head out. The two men smiled sheepishly as it was, before pulling away from each other as Austin rose an unimpressed brow. A look that very obviously said get a room.

The kid had changed into some darker clothing, as it was always good to be ready to be stealthy just in case the need arose. Especially since humans would be able to pick up on something moving while wearing bright colours.

"I'm ready to go," he beamed, grinning from ear to ear. Austin had managed to strap the tack to his waist with a loop of string and it was held there fastened and ready to grab if necessary. "How do I look?"

"Like an adventurer," Andrew winked, tucking his hands into his pockets.

Flynn had adopted a proud father look on his face and he was giddy to see his boy ready to head out on his own. The very first time he'd be doing this on his own. "I remember my first time going out, Austin," he began and Andrew rolled his eyes.

"Save it babe, let Austin be a man," he took the time to lace their fingers together again and he looked to Austin. A look letting him know that he wasn't going to let Flynn change his mind about this whole thing. "Go on kid. Go make your fathers proud."

Austin rushed over to the both of them, giving them each a hug in turn, before dashing for the chain door. He reached up and unlocked it with a practiced maneuver. He pushed open the door, it was able to keep the rats, mice and bugs out and he turned back to his parents with a huge grin. Andrew gave a thumbs up and Flynn nodded his approval. Austin stepped outside shut the door and was finally on his way.

"I can't believe I let him do that," Flynn mumbled finally, letting a hand rub down his face. "his first time ever being out there without one of us."

Andrew moved to step behind him, his hands latching onto his shoulders and he began to rub the tension from them. "Third time, actually," he finally said, as his partner melted into his soothing touch. He leaned forwards and pressed his mouth against the warm skin of Flynn's neck, before laying a few kisses there.

"Wait. What?"

---

Austin had one hand pressed against the wall. He was still adjusting his eyes to the darkness outside the home and he was keeping a level head. Moving along through the hallway was truly nothing to be afraid of. Maybe of the things hiding in the dark, but the dark in itself, he had always found rather comforting. It was a time where he could always find himself thinking. It didn't usually matter what about.

The time he thought the most, though, was when he was laying in bed. The quiet of the house was always something that he looked forward to. When his father and Andrew had gone to bed, and the chatter stopped. When it was silent. He would always curl up tightly into his blankets and stare at the ceiling, watching the huge shadows of the humans from above move overtop of them, without them even knowing there was a tiny family living underneath their very feet. The dark and the quiet were times he found his mind wandering the most, as there were never any sounds there to distract him. There had been the odd time that he would hear his fathers arguing over something domestic, like how to put the bedsheets on correctly, or what they should do to finish off the night with, but when the silence came, it always rang clear as a bell.

Austin would never tell either of his fathers that he usually stayed up way late into the night. One reason for acting in such a way, was because of the nightmares that had started to become to frequent, but the other reason was because his mind was so alive with the questions and wonders and thoughts that he would want to talk about, but could never bring himself to have the courage to.

The time that he got to himself, the thirteen-year-old treasured. It was when he could be himself; he could question what his life was going to look like after he grew up. After he moved out of the home he currently had. If he would ever get married, or even raise a family of his own. Strange, yet very mature questions he would find himself pondering. Life was a mysterious thing, and the boy knew that.

His hand dropped down to the tack that he had on his waist, not for any particular reason, but maybe more for the fact to reassure himself that he had a way to defend himself from anything that could make a jump at him. So far, if he listened to the silent whispers of the dark hallways, he couldn't hear anything. No telltale sounds of a rat or a mouse, or even another person like himself. What he could hear was the very distant talking of other voices.

Humans, he reasoned, as they spoke so loudly.

He could always recall sometimes laying in bed and being able to clearly listen in on conversations that were behind held over him. Austin could never be sure if that was considered eavesdropping or not. In a way, he supposed it was, but on the other hand, he knew that it really couldn't be. If he listened in on Flynn and Andrew's conversations, that would be considered eavesdropping as they knew he existed, humans didn't. Sometimes he would even find himself mentally speaking his own opinion on those strange matters.

Some of the things he had overheard had been rather petty. Things such as "I heard that Suzan was totally cheating on Markus" or even "c'mon, if we hurry this up, she'll never know", which then, beds had started squeaking more than usual and father had burst into his bedroom to cover his ears, while Andrew tried to talk over the sounds even further so.

The more he thought about it now though, the more he realized what they had actually been doing, and why his dad and Andrew had been so panicked.

Before Austin had another chance to think of such strange realizations, he had smashed straight into the front of something and the boy had jolted back as if he had been burned. He managed to stumble backwards, only to trip over his own two feet and tumble to the ground. A short yelp escaped him, and his hand flew to the hilt of his weapon, brown eyes wide and alive with terror.

Was it a rat? If it was, of course his luck had always been awful, but to run into something so dangerous on one of his first outings by himself would be just unbelievable!

His gaze shot up to see what he had bumped into as his shaking fingers latched tighter around the tack that his dad had given to him.

He noticed the onlooker wasn't an animal at all, and instead held itself the same way his fathers did. Two very long legs, a torso, two arms and a head. He swallowed nervously as the silence stretched out between the two people uncomfortably.

The kid saw something being outstretched to him and he belatedly realized, after he had scooted away with a sharp intake of breath, that it was a hand offering to help him up.

"You alright there, kiddo?" The voice from the stranger spoke up, still offering his hand out. It was easy to tell the gender, but Austin swallowed nervously. He pushed himself farther back from the hand, and the man seemed to realize after a moment that his kind gesture wasn't going to be accepted. Not that he could blame him, though.

"Y-yeah," he stammered, although, his bottom was a little sore from such a rough landing. Austin pushed himself up, before dusting himself off. A heartbeat passed between them as his hand still stayed securely attached to his weapon, just in case this stranger turned out to be a foe instead of a friend. "W-who are you?" He silently bit his lip for stuttering again. He knew that Flynn or Andrew wouldn't have stuttered.

The man chuckled lightly before tucking his hands into his pockets, and Austin finally got an okay view of him. He had shinning brown eyes and shoulder length brown hair. It was easy to tell that he was taller than both of his fathers, even if just by a little. He was wearing a tan jacket and some sort of denim for pants. The curiosity was getting the better of the little boy, but he wasn't going to let it on. Or he was going to try, at least.

Austin stood his ground, however. Wanting to assert himself in this situation, although he very obviously did not have the upper hand in the height or weight department.

"My name's Sam," he introduced finally, and Austin found himself blinking. "I've been looking around these walls for a couple days trying to find someone else like me. You're the first person I've seen in a while."

He floundered for an answer to that. Sam must be new here, as Austin knew everyone who lived in the motel.

There was Mr. and Mrs. Oliver, Tanner and Katy Needle, Leanna and her two sons - Alexander and Xavier - and one daughter - Glory, his uncle Joseph, and then there was the grumpy older gentleman named Gary.

Sam had never been a name with all the people here.

Austin stood there for a moment, just taking in the older male, tilting his head to the side in childish curiosity. He wanted to know more about this new person. "You're new," he stated bluntly, as if that wasn't the most obvious thing in the world.

Sam chuckled in agreement, his eyes watching as the kid's hand dropped from the defensive. He could give him credit for knowing how to search a stranger. "You could say that," he dipped his head into a nod. "Were you going somewhere, kiddo?"

"Austin," he corrected, a matter-of-fact tone to his voice as he said it, "and yep. My parents had given me permission to finally wander the walls by myself! I just wasn't really expecting to meet up with someone like you." He knew that might have come off a bit brasher than he had really meant it to, but he just ignored it and played it off instead.

"You've got some judge of character, Austin," he told him, overlooking the kid. "So, you're not all alone here?"

Austin shook his head. "Nope," he chirped, rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet as he had done earlier. "Where're you from?"

The boy could already hear his father's disapproval for talking with a stranger in the back of his head, but it wasn't hindering his interest in said stranger. Austin wanted to get to know someone that he didn't know, he had talked to everyone else so much already, that he knew them all. Especially when everyone gathered together to have fun feasts and dinners. It was always nice to see everyone, even if he was the oldest child in the motel. It was still fun to play with the little kids, as he could tell them stories of adventures or even of humans!

Sam seemed hesitant for a moment and Austin felt shame blot his cheeks with blood. "S-sorry," he said finally, dropping his gaze as he looked anywhere but the stranger in front of him. "I didn't mean to be so forward. I've just never met someone who's come from the outside before."

"No, no, it's fine," he replied, almost a little too quickly, "I was just trying to figure out the best way to phrase it to you."

"Why?"

"Because I'm probably not like everyone else you know," Sam explained, keeping an honest look to his gaze, almost trying to express how much he really didn't want to frighten the kid off. The boy might be his link to meeting other people in the motel itself, and if he broke what little trust he had earned of him so far, well, let's just say he didn't want to. "I've travelled all over the United States, actually."

Austin went slack-jawed at that. "No way," he bubbled, his eyes giddy with excitement.

"Yes way," he grinned, almost endeared the by the way the boy's face lit up so quickly.

"How'd you do it? Car? Bus?" Austin gasped. "A plane?"

"No, I didn't ever travel by plane," he grinned, taking in the innocence of the boy. "This is going to probably sound sort of frightening to you." Sam watched as Austin puffed out his chest and shook his head, making a face that clearly said just try and scare me without the needed words. "I personally know a human that's helped me out a whole lot."

Okay, he was expecting anything but hearing something about knowing a human. A human of all things! Austin stood there for a moment, a surprised look had widened his brown eyes, and his mouth was slightly parted as he tried to find the right words. His mind was scrambling to find the correct things to speak about, but his heart was beginning to hammer in his chest. The more he tried to find the right words, the more he realized how dangerous this encounter could turn out to be. Austin wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight if Sam decided that he was taking the kid to said human. "What?" His voice was barely there and he wasn't above watching as the adult shifted uncomfortably.

Maybe that hadn't of been the correct thing to say to a little kid, Sam realized this only a tad too late. His parents had probably warned Austin about the dangers a human could pose to someone of their own kind, just as Walt and Mallory had done for him when he was a kid. "It's not what you think," he needed to explain this as best he could.

Austin had only been told horror stories by Andrew of how humans could train their kind into luring others like them out. This was all probably some elaborate trap to get Austin to lead this stranger to everyone else in the motel, including his fathers. His hand went directly down to the thumb tack attached to his side and this time he yanked it out from the loop holding it there.

As Sam advanced a step, Austin took a three steps back and raised the tack as a threat. "D-don't come any closer," he warned with a stammer, a wild look of fear fluttering across his young features, "I know about your kind. Dad and Andrew have said th-that there are some people li-like us, that get bra-brainwashed into luring others out.."

Sam blinked, surprised at the sudden, but rather soft, outburst. He raised his hands in surrender, seeing the sharp tack aimed towards him. "I can promise you that I'm not here to lure you or your family out. I really just wanted to see if there were others in any of the motels I stayed at. The human I'm with is my brother."

"Bull," Austin whimpered, his true nerves showing right through the word. He was trying to be threatening, but the kid felt like he was going to break down. He wanted his dad, he wanted Andrew. He wanted to turn around and pretend this encounter never happened, but if the stranger followed him back home, he'd know where they lived.

"Austin," he tried again, hoping that using his name would help, and his voice softened once he realized just how worked up the boy was getting, and really, this wasn't the right topic to be talking about with a kid that had to be about ten-years-old. "I know that the idea of being around a human is scary, but my brother really isn't a bad guy." This had gone the opposite direction Sam had hoped for, but maybe he could still work with this. He'd managed to freak the kid out, but maybe something would be able to reverse it. "His name's Dean, he's my older brother. He's really only overly protective, but he's not mean. I know other humans will just grab for you, but he's not like that."

Was he really supposed to believe that? Austin was aware that this could all be an act too, trying to make it seem like the human really is the good guy and that they wanted nothing more than to help them. He jabbed the tack towards Sam, but only half-heartedly. The kid's eyes were watering, and it was revealed a little too late for that fact.

Shit, was the only thing that Sam's mind would supply for him. "Hey, hey, really, I'm not going to do anything," he lowered his lands, before showing palm up that he didn't have anything on him that could hurt the kid. Which wasn't entirely true, as he did have a knife in his pocket, but what was one small detail? "I know, I know, maybe talking about this as a first impression wasn't the best idea, huh?" He offered a small grin, and he got a half-hearted, breathless, damp giggle in return. "Why don't we start over, okay? We can go back a few minutes and we can reintroduce ourselves. How does that sound?"

The thirteen-year-old still watched him suspiciously, but he slowly lowered the tack once more and gave a nod in response. That would be nice. He slipped it back into the loop on his waist before wiping his noise and dabbing at his damp eyes. Clearing his tears, he noticed the hand outstretched to him. Austin sniffled softly.

"Hey kiddo," he greeted with a small grin, as Austin accepted his hand shake. "I'm Sam, I'm new around here."

He chuckled softly again, blinking the rest of his tears from his eyes before sniffling again. "I'm Austin, I've been here since I was born."

Sam just watched the boy for a moment, watching as Austin steadied himself and recollected his thoughts. Something about the kid actually vaguely reminded him of himself. Just as when he had been so young, Sam had been pretty smart for his age, and this little kid was giving off that same aura. Someone that understood too much for such a young, inncoent and rather naive age. At least, an age where kids should be innocent and naive. It didn't usually work that way when the world wasn't built to your scale. He was interested in knowing the kid a bit better, as he wasn't the only one around here, which was obvious.

If the kid had parents, maybe there was more than one family in the motel as well.

"Are your parents home, kid?" He finally found himself asking. He watched as Austin nodded, and he stayed put, to prove that he wasn't interested in following the boy home.

"Yeah, though my dad said he was probably going to go out looking for supplies later today," he shrugged his shoulders. "I was just allowed to roam the walls. Andrew said that he might take me out another time."

Okay, so the kid had a dad and a brother. Older or younger was yet to come to the light. "What about your mom?"

Austin paused for a moment, before looking to Sam, big brown eyes suddenly sad. "Gone."

The word was colded as it passed his lips. Austin could feel the change in temperature within his body and he sighed softly. He didn't really ever talk about his mom, it was still a sore spot with his father. Andrew just felt guilty whenever Lilyanna was mentioned. He folded his hands together as he played with the hem of his jacket instead.

Sam felt remorse wiggle deeply into his chest. "I'm sorry to hear that," he wanted to reach out and lay a hand on the kid's shoulder, but he wasn't sure how that action would be taken, so he refrained. "I-"

"It's okay," Austin offered, a small smile peering over his sad lips, his eyes betraying how he actually felt. "I just don't talk about my mom much is all. I have always grown up with two parents though."

That... didn't make any sense. He didn't have a mother figure, but yet he still had two parents. had his father remarried another woman? It wasn't impossible, but finding love like this had to be nearly impossible. Especially if there wasn't anyone else around. He had come across motels where there had been no signs of anyone his own size before. As disheartening as it was, he knew that maybe they hid as well. Seeing him with a human certainly wouldn't be comforting. As Austin had proved earlier, it was a possibility that people would believe he was trained to act a certain way.

"So, it's just you, your father and your brother then?" He asked, tilting his head to the side.

Austin cocked his head to the side, a confused look crossing his features before he finally understood what Sam was saying. A bright smile broke across his lips and he laughed. Loud and warm and childish. Sam was rather taken aback at such a strange reaction. "Andrew's not my brother," Austin snorted, stifling his chuckles behind a hand and shaking his head. His shoulders quivered with silent snickers. The idea of having Andrew as a brother was what kept cracking him up. "Andrew's my other dad!"

And oh. Oh.

This just got a tad bit more awkward.