Summary: Caleb finds 6-year-old Dean in Pastor Jim's attic.
Disclaimer: Not mine. Brotherhood is Ridley's, Supernatural is Kripke's.
A/N: I apologize; Jim is somewhat out of character.
It was nearly Thanksgiving. Mac was taking himself and Caleb to Pastor Jim's for a Thanksgiving feast. It would just be Mac, Pastor Jim, Caleb, and the three Winchester's. This year Caleb was actually looking forward to seeing all three Winchester's. John was his mentor so naturally he wanted to see him. Anything John had to say about the hunt, 14-year-old Caleb Reaves was ready to hear. As for Sam, he was 2.He wasn't exactly entertaining, but he didn't bug Caleb either. Besides the runt was kind of cute, in that baby sort of way. As for Dean, well he had started talking more in the past year and Caleb had grown to like the kid. He even nick-named the kid Deuce, and Dean called Caleb Damien.
So this year, all three Winchester's would be tolerated, at least, by Caleb. He'd actually make an effort without Mac or Jim needing to pester him. Suddenly Mac pulled up to the familiar old farm. Caleb emerged from the car and stretched.
"The Impala's here," Mac commented. Caleb looked where he was looking. Sure enough the black 1967 Chevy sat there, looking beautiful.
Caleb trailed his father to the door just as Pastor Jim opened it.
"Caleb! Mac!" he grinned.
Mac cocked an eyebrow, "Jim, it is 2 in the morning; why are you so perky?"
"I had coffee," the pastor replied as if it was obvious. "Come in, come in."
"What's with the caffeine?" Caleb asked.
"John got here bleeding to death not too long ago and I had to patch him up."
"Cool," Caleb nodded. The three entered the kitchen.
"I believe the Winchester's are all asleep," Jim announced.
"And you're bored?" Mac asked.
Jim shrugged, "A little."
"Well at least we're here now," Caleb said. So the men chatted for a while, which led, somehow, to the pictures Mac took constantly Caleb's first few months with him.
"Where are those anyway?" Mac asked excitedly. "I haven't seen them in so long."
"I look the same," Caleb pointed out.
"You know," both ignored Caleb, "I think they're in the attic," Jim said.
"Caleb, run up to the attic and find them; we can show John in the morning," Mac instructed.
Caleb sighed, but headed for the stairs. He wondered what the big deal was considering the only difference was a few inches, but fine, he can go up to the attic and get the precious pictures. He was thinking about what the album the pictures were in looked like when he reached the attic.
It was freezing. Caleb couldn't resist a shudder. He searched the room and spotted a broken window. Well, it was close to snow weather so of course it was cold in here.
Caleb froze when he heard sniffling. He peered around some boxes. There sat 6-year-old Dean, looking down at a binder in his lap, and he was crying.
"Dean?" Caleb's instincts told him to make sure the kid wasn't hurt. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"
Apparently he didn't want anyone to know he was crying because the second Caleb said 'Dean' the kid was wiping at his eyes with his sleeves.
"Are you hurt?" Caleb repeated. Dean shook his head no. Caleb inched forward. "What are you doing up here?"
"I said something about Sam's old baby blanket and Sammy wanted me to get it for him," Dean replied, holding up the blanket.
"Yeah, Mac wanted me to get some crap too," Caleb said. He spotted the photo album he wanted and grabbed it. "Now, what's wrong?"
He knelt down in front of Dean, who stood up, knocking the album closed.
"Darn it," he mumbled around his sniffles, and quickly crouched down and began flipping through the album again.
"Deuce, what are you doing?" Caleb asked. He was tempted to read Dean's mind, but he didn't want to know if Dean really didn't want him to.
Dean started to cry again, "I can't find it! I can't find it Caleb!"
The 6-year-old stood again, crying and wiping his tears away as more replaced the original tears.
"Can't find what, Dean?" Caleb asked.
"The picture of my mom!" Dean cried. "I just had it!" He knelt again. Caleb sat next to him, and tried to help Dean. They couldn't find it. "I just wanted Sammy to have a good picture…"
Now Dean was looking down, crying into his hands. Caleb stood, and lifted Dean up. Dean hugged at him, so Caleb hugged back.
"I miss my mom," Dean said as he cried into Caleb's shoulder.
"Me too, Deuce," Caleb replied quietly. The teen knelt down and searched for the picture again. "Hey, is this it?"
Dean pulled away from Caleb, "It is!" His face lit up.
"Good," Caleb turned around. "Piggy-back ride?"
"Yeah," Dean said before hopping onto the teen's back. Caleb took Dean, the blanket, and the picture to Dean and Sam's room and tucked Dean in.
"Night Deuce," Caleb said.
"Night Damien," Dean whispered. Sam was sleeping.
Caleb made his way back to the kitchen.
"What took you so long?" Mac asked. "Did you get lost?"
"Funny," Caleb muttered. Mac and Jim laughed. Caleb set the album on the table. "Here are your precious pictures."
"Thank you," Mac said, already flipping through them.
Caleb looked at Jim, "By the way, your attic window is broken. It's cold. I'm going to bed."
And he did, leaving the men with their pictures. Caleb fell asleep with one thought, 'Thank God I found Dean.'