Supernatural: The Kids Are Alright

A/N: Greetings, I'm back with another story and I will be mentioning the episode Sin City in this story since I've chosen to skip it in order to move things along.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER ONE: AN OLD FLAME

"Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it: if a man would give all the substance of his house for love, it would utterly be contemned."

Song of Solomon 8:7

Cicero, Indiana…

In a quiet suburban neighborhood, a young woman was standing outside her home with a mixture of worry and impatience on her face. A short time later, a car pulled up into the driveway, and a girl of about ten years old got out, and so did her father, who was looking concerned.

"Thanks for driving her back here, Mitch," the woman told him after almost being knocked over by her daughter and took the backpack that he handed to her.

"It's not like I had a choice, Dana," Mitch admitted. "She pitched a fit."

Dana frowned and looked down at her daughter, who was hugging her tightly. "Hey, sweetie. What's wrong?"

"Nothing," her daughter answered. "I missed you."

Dana smiled slightly. "Okay, but tonight's your dad's night, Katie."

"No," Katie protested, shaking her head as Mitch got back into the car and waited. "I don't like Dad's night. I don't want Dad to have a night anymore."

"Since when?" Dana asked, surprised. "You used to love going to your dad's house. You know, he loves you, and he misses you a lot."

"But I hate it there!" Katie cried, pulling her mom toward the porch.

Dana frowned, confused. "You don't hate it."

"Yes, I do!" Katie whimpered. "He's mean, and there are monsters there. I don't w-want to go back. Please don't let the monsters get me."

'Monsters?' Dana sighed and hugged her daughter again before going inside the house. "Okay, sweetie. Okay." And Mitch drove away, disappointed.

Later that same night, Mitch was in his workroom, working on a wooden rocking horse, unaware that he was being watched. There were wood-carved objects sitting about, various types of tools, and a circular table saw.

Stretching, he noticed that it was nearly 1 am, and so he prepared to leave. Walking past his car, he shut off the lights by the door, and the table saw suddenly turned itself on.

Curious, he turned the lights back on, approached it, crouched down at table-height, checked it over, and then shut it off. As he started to leave a second time, the saw turned on again. Suspicious now, he went back to it, and was about to reach for the switch, when he heard a soft pattering of what seemed like feet, he turned, and suddenly fell backwards on the saw, dying a horrible gruesome death.

Bobby's place

South Dakota…

`"Ah ha!"`

Sam, who was at his laptop and was trying to translate a possible demon-dispelling ritual, looked toward the hidden room that held the entire Campbell's library, where Bobby had been looking through the hundreds of books for something that might help him fix the Colt and sensed a major shift in the older man's emotions. "You find something, Bobby?"

"Oh yeah." Bobby came out with an old leather book and a big smile as they were joined by Ellen, who had been cooking food in the kitchen, Jo, Liz, and Dean, who had been outside and had been tinkering with the Impala. "One of Samuel Colt's journals." And he showed them the front of the book, which had a pentagram on the cover.

He set it on his desk and they all gathered around as he opened it, revealing detailed pictures and descriptions of the Colt. "According to this entry, he wrote down instructions of how he made the Colt, plus the original bullets, and how to fix it should the owner ever run out of bullets."

"Lucky for us that he did," Dean commented, thrilled that they now had a chance to repair the gun and get Liz out of her deal before the year was up.

Elizabethville, Ohio…

In a local church, a nun was putting Bibles in the pews when an older man, who was dressed as a priest and was named Father Gil, appeared behind her, surprising her.

Father Gil handed her another Bible. "One more." The nun accepted the book and placed it on the nearest pew. "That's all for tonight, sister. Come on. Let me walk you to your car."

The nun nodded and they headed for the doors together when a voice spoke from above.

"Father?"

Startled, Father Gil looked up to the balcony, where a young man named Andy was standing. "Andy?" 'Where did he come from?'

"Father, God's not with us," Andy announced sadly. "Not anymore."

"Andy, of course he is," Father Gil protested. "Why would you say that? What's wrong?"

Andy shook his head, making it clear that he didn't believe that anymore. "He can't help us," he stated. "And if he can…He won't." he then produced a gun, which he placed under his chin.

"Andy, wait!" Father Gil shouted, but Andy shot himself, and the nun screamed as his body fell to the floor, along with the gun.

Two weeks later…

"Hey, guys, I got two possible cases," Dean announced, entering the kitchen with two newspapers.

"Tell us about 'em, hon," Ellen requested from the sink, where Jo and Liz were helping her clean up the dishes from breakfast earlier.

"Well, got two deaths and possible demonic signs in Elizabethville, Ohio," Dean said, tossing the two papers on the table along with some research data that Penelope Garcia had dug up. "Garcia found that one, apparently some guy blows his head off in a church and another goes postal in a hobby shop before the cops take him out. Plus there seems to be a sudden boom of gambling and other sinful stuff going on, too."

"What are the demonic signs?" Bobby asked while cleaning the various parts of the Colt with a cloth.

"Dry lightning, barometric-pressure drop."

"Or it could just be a suicide and a psycho scrape-booker," Jo suggested while putting away a stack of clean dishes that she'd just dried.

"Maybe, but it could also be our best lead since Lincoln," Sam added. "What's the other case?"

Dean grinned and sat down before picking up the second newspaper. "Cicero, Indiana. Guy falls on his own power saw. Back first."

Liz raised her eyebrows as she joined them at the table. "And? That…that's it? One power saw?"

Dean shrugged. "Well…yeah."

"And you think that this is a case?" Liz asked, grabbing the newspaper to look.

"Well, I don't know," Dean said off-handedly. "Could be."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dean, stop lying."

Dean pouted, having forgotten that Sam still had his empathic ability while the electrical ability was fading, and the visions were completely gone. "Okay, there's something better in Cicero than just a case."

"And that is?" Jo asked.

Dean flushed. "Lisa Braeden."

"Should I even ask?" Sam wondered.

"Remember that road trip I took, uh…gosh, about eight years ago now?" Dean asked Sam and Liz. "You both were in Orlando with dad wrapping up that banshee thing."

Both Sam and Liz nodded, recalling that particular hunt that had literally left their hair standing on end. "Yeah. The five states, five-day–"

"Well, kind of," Dean confessed. "Although I spent most of my time in Lisa Braeden's loft and not that much on the road."

"So, let me get this straight," Ellen said, joining them at the table. "Instead of going to a possible Sin City, you want to drive all the way to Cicero just to hook up with some random chick?"

"She was a yoga teacher," Dean corrected, not admitting that he'd been tempted with the case in Elizabethville. "It was the bendiest weekend of my life. Come on. Have a heart, huh?"

Both Liz and Sam sighed, not liking the images that Dean's description had just put in their heads and then looked a the two possible cases. If they did go to Elizabethville, then there was a strong chance of going up against a couple of powerful demons without any access to the Colt, which Bobby believed he might have up and ready in a couple of weeks now that he had the blueprints to work with.

And then there was Dean's desire to see this Lisa gal, who probably wouldn't even remember him after eight years…

"Are you even sure that she still lives in Cicero?" Bobby asked, skeptical.

"I had Garcia check," Dean responded, grinning. "She lives in a house now, which happens to be in the same gated community as this guy who got killed. Come on, Sammy, Lizzy, please?"

Liz rolled her eyes while Sam chuckled. "Okay, if we go to Cicero with you, Dean, then who will go to investigate Elizabethville?"

"Jo and I can," Ellen announced, just missing the relieved expression on Bobby's face since she'd been organizing all of his paperwork that was connected to his salvage yard work, and it was driving him up the wall.

"Yes!" Dean cheered, making his siblings laugh. "God knows I'm gonna be smiling after 24 hours with Gumby girl." He then chuckled to himself. "Gumby girl." He then frowned. "Does that make me Pokey?"

Liz rolled her eyes and threw the dishcloth at his head. "Dean, grow up."

Provo, Utah

Idris house…

"So, what kind of colors are you wanting for your wedding theme, Hannah?" Andrea Grayson asked her granddaughter, joining her at the kitchen table, which was covered with books, papers, and a whole lot of other stuff related to weddings.

"I don't really know," Hannah Idris admitted. "Until Johnny proposed, I never really thought about what I would want at my wedding, beside being held at the Provo temple and that both you and great-grandmother Martha would be making all of the dresses."

Andrea nodded sipping her herbal tea as she opened a book of wedding dresses designs. "Well, your mother had blue and green, plus we put up white Christmas lights at the park that the wedding reception was held at, and it was all very beautiful, plus a bit magical, too."

Hannah chuckled, recalling the wedding pictures of her parents' wedding and reception; it had been magical for them, and also for Ricky and Melinda when they had their wedding reception at the same park. "Well, both Johnny and I do want an outdoor reception, grandma."

"And if the weather turns bad?" Andrea asked, since it was possible.

"Johnny said that his dad's planning on renting out the ballroom and commons at UVSC as a backup should it turn stormy," Hannah responded, and then she sighed. "I've forgotten just how tough planning for a wedding can-" she then paused as she was hit by a vision and Andrea waited patiently.

Hannah blinked as the vision faded and she smiled. "Grandma, I know what colors I want… royal blue and lilac purple."

Andrea smiled. "Those are wonderful colors, Hannah. Now we know what to work with."

"Yup," Hannah agreed, smiling. 'Now, I hope we can have the wedding before Liz's deal is up…hopefully.'

Cicero, Indiana…

It was a few days later, when the Winchesters arrived in Cicero and, not wanting his siblings to meet Lisa just yet, Dean pulled up in front of the first motel that he could find. Both Sam and Liz got out of the car and got their bags out, too.

"Don't wait up for me, Sammy, Lizzy," Dean said cheerfully, revving the engine.

"Wait, Dean. Dean, you…Dean!" Sam yelped, barely getting the bag containing his laptop out, just as Dean drove off. "That jerk."

"Yeah," Liz agreed, rolling her eyes. "Come on, let's go get check in."

Sam agreed and they headed for the office.

Ten minutes later, Dean drove into the Cicero gate community, which had a few house under construction with a few piles of red dirt scattered about, plus there was a sign that stated the whole community was sold out. Soon he parked outside a nicely kept suburban house and turned the engine off. 'Let's hope this won't be a repeat of that last neighborhood and the bugs from two years ago.'

Walking up the steps, Dean rang the doorbell, and the door opened to reveal Lisa, who was in her late twenties, brunette, very fit, and she was gorgeous. Dean smiled awkwardly, and Lisa stared at him, surprised.

"Lisa," he said, mildly embarrassed. "How's it going?"

Lisa didn't know what to say, surprised by his arrival. "Wow. So, how long has it been?"

Dean grinned. "Eight, going on nine years now. Crazy, right?"

"Yeah," Lisa agreed nervously. "So, what are you doing here?"

Dean shrugged. "Oh, I was just passing through, and I couldn't resist. I remember that you love surprises."

"Yeah. Dean Winchester," Lisa remarked, still smiling nervously. "Wow. Just…wow. I'm – I'm sorry. You kind of came at a bad time. We're having a party."

"A party?" Dean repeated, brightening up at the thought. "Well, I love parties." He then nudged past her and entered the house. Lisa took a deep breath and shut the door behind them.

She led him into the backyard, which was decorated for a kid's birthday party.

"So, uh, who's the party for?" Dean asked awkwardly upon seeing all of the kids running around. 'I so walked into this one.'

"Ben," Lisa answered, proudly. "My son."

'Lisa has a kid? Since when?' Now Dean was even more wrong-footed. "Oh. You have a-"

Lisa nodded. "Yep." She then gestured across the yard to a young boy, who was wearing a black jacket, blue shirt, and jeans, and he was opening presents. "That's him."

Just then, Ben unwrapped a CD. "Yes! AC/DC rules!" he cheered.

"How old-" Dean began.

"Eight," Lisa answered and then saw Dana entered the yard with her daughter, Katie. "Oh, Dean, could you excuse me a minute?"

Dean nodded, stunned by the news. "Yeah, sure. Don't mind me." Pulling himself together, he walked over to one of the tables holding food while noting how Ben was eating his sandwich, and smiled when he saw the race car cake. "Cool." And helped himself to a slice.

Meanwhile, two women were sitting in lawn chairs, watching Dean put a slice of cake onto a plate.

"Did you hear Lisa call him "Dean"?" one woman asked.

"Yeah. Why?" the second woman asked, who was also the local realtor.

"You don't know about Dean?" the first woman asked, surprised. "The Dean. Best-night-of-my-life Dean."

The realtor shook her head. "No. Tell me."

The first woman laughed. "Oh, my god, so, they had this crazy, semi-illegal-" She cut off when she saw Dean approach.

"Hi," Dean said, slightly nervous of how they were eying him.

"Hi," said the first woman.

"Hello," said the realtor, biting into a piece of celery.

Dean was very uncomfortable; he smiled nervously and fled, almost going the wrong way, but quickly recovered, sort of.

Soon, he found Ben, who was also eating a piece of cake, and was eying the bounce toy that a lot of the kids, mostly girls, were playing on.

"What's up?" he asked.

"What's up with you?" Ben countered, keeping his eyes on the girls.

Dean chuckled. "So, it's your birthday."

"Guilty," Ben admitted.

Dean nodded. "It's a cool party."

Ben laughed. "Dude, it's so freakin' sweet. And this moon bounce – it's epic."

Dean was slightly weird out by an eight-year-old talking like a teenager…or like him. "Yeah. It's pretty awesome."

"You know who else thinks they're awesome?" Ben asked, excited. "Chicks. It's like hot-chick city out there." Just then, a woman and her little girl walked by. In unison, Dean checked out the mom as Ben checked out the girl, and as they turned back, they both took a bite of their cake slices.

Ben finished his cake, put aside his plate, and then ran toward the bounce toy. "Look out, girls! Here comes trouble! Ye-ha!"

Dean watched Ben, thought frantically, and then darted toward the house, almost crashing into a trashcan. 'There's no way…is there?'

In the kitchen, Lisa was pouring a couple of drinks and handed one to Dana, who was looking very frazzled. "So…how you holding up?"

"Fine," Dana responded, sipping her drink, but it was obvious that she was anything but okay as she glanced at Katie, who was standing in the middle of the backyard with a toy bear in one hand, and was just watching the other kids.

"Really?" Lisa asked, not looking convinced.

Dana sighed. "Oh, you know. I just…never mind."

"What?" Lisa asked, concerned for her friend.

"It's just…I'm worried about Katie," Dana admitted. "I think there might be something… wrong with her."

"Of course there is," Lisa said, thinking that she knew what was going on. "The poor girl just lost her dad. She's devastated."

Dana shook her head. "No. That's not what I'm talking about. There is something really… wrong with her. I'm not sure that Katie is…Katie."

Now Lisa was confused. "What?"

"I'm not sure that's my daughter," Dana confessed, voicing her fears.

"I know you're grieving, but you can't talk like that," Lisa said seriously. "Katie needs you. But you don't understand – seriously. We're gonna get you help. It'll be okay."

Just then, Dean entered, and Dana shook her head and ran outside to her daughter; he watched her leave, confused.

"Katie?" Dana said, kneeling next to her daughter. "Come on, we're leaving."

Dean shook his head and turned to Lisa, who was watching her friend. "So, I, uh, met Ben. Cool kid."

Lisa nodded vaguely. "Yeah."

"I couldn't help but notice that, uh, he's turning eight," Dean remarked. "You and me… you know."

Lisa blinked and looked at him, surprised. "You're…not trying to ask me if he's yours?" she asked before opening a cabinet and pulling something out.

Dean quickly shook his head. "No. No, of course not." He then took a breath. "He's not, is he?"

Lisa looked back at him, startled. "What?" and he raised his eyebrows. "No."

Dean nodded, but he wasn't convinced. "Right." He then looked out at Katie and her mom. "Something wrong with your friend?"

Lisa glanced at Dana, who was now leaving with Katie. "She's been through a lot. Her ex just died in this horrible accident."

"Oh, yeah," Dean said, recalling the article that he used as an excuse originally. "Didn't I just read about that? The power saw."

Lisa nodded. "Yeah. Guess there's been a lot of bad luck in the neighborhood lately."

"What kind of bad luck?" Dean asked. 'Is there something else going on that wasn't in the news?'

At the motel, Liz was sitting in the room by herself since Sam had left to do work on the translation somewhere else, which had her worried since it wasn't like him to go off on his own like that, and she was now idly turning the page on a magazine of bridesmaid dresses since she'd just gotten a call from Hannah, who was wanting her to be one of her bridesmaids.

'I think my brain is going to melt from boredom,' she thought, tossing the magazine aside in frustration. She was thrilled that she was going to be a part of Hannah's wedding plans, but she wasn't into dresses, and the fact that Victor Henriksen was now heading to Utah was causing additional tension of when to hold the wedding.

Liz was now thinking of going out for a walk when her cell-phone rang and she answered it. "Hello?"

`"Hey, Liz, it's Jo,"` said Jo, who was sounding a bit frazzled.

"Hey, Jo. How's the hunt goin'?" Liz asked.

`"Frustrating,"` Jo answered. `"And there's this flashy nut-job here named Richie, whose insisting that he got the whole thing covered."`

"Richie?" Liz repeated, and then groaned. "Aw, jeeze, how is it that he's still breathin'?"

`"You know him?"` Jo asked, surprised. `"Is he a hunter?"`

"Sort of," Liz answered. "A few years back, Dean and I were in Ganovski, where we had to save him from a succubus, and he got it into his head after that, that he should be a hunter. Dean tried to talk him out of it…"

`"And it didn't take,"` Jo concluded. `"Well, hopefully mom can talk some sense into him, or pound it into him if she has to."`

Liz laughed. "Well, I wish Ellen the best of luck then. So, is it demons?"

`"Could be,"` Jo admitted. `"We should know more after we go to the local bar…man, I can't believe Dean turned down a chance to come here. This place is so Margaritaville right now. I mean, there's gambling, drinking, and a whole lot of other stuff that would send a bunch of LDS missionaries running away for the safety of their own souls."`

"I'll take your word for it," Liz said, grimacing at the image that just popped into her head. 'I so need to scrub my brain out right now.'

`"So, how's things goin' with Dean's old flame?"` Jo asked.

"I have no idea," Liz admitted. "Dean dumped me and Sam at the first motel he could find and headed off to see Lisa without us. In other words, Dean is just being Dean again."

Jo laughed. `"Yeah, that's Dean all right. So what're you and Sam doin'?"`

Liz sighed. "Sam left to do some research or something about ten minutes ago and I'm stuck at the motel all alone, trying to choose a bridesmaid dress design since Hannah called earlier and wants me to be one of her bridesmaids. Jo, I'm worried about Sam."

`"Why?"`

"Well, back at the Devil's gate, when Azazel had me pinned down, he said something to me that I haven't been able to get out of my head," Liz admitted, now standing up and pacing.

`"What did that yellow-eyed freak tell you?"` Jo asked.

"He said that I couldn't be sure that when Sam came back from wherever, that…maybe he came back different," Liz said, frustrated and worried.

`"Different how?"`

"I don't know," Liz admitted. "Whatever it was, it didn't sound good. You think…think something's wrong with my brother?"

`"Liz, you know as well as I do that demons lie,"` Jo said seriously. `"And I'm sure that ol' yellow-eyes said that just to mess with your head, girl. Both Dean and Sam are fine, and the only thing off about them, is Dean's eatin' habits and Sam's readin' habits."`

Liz chuckled. "Yeah, I guess you're right, Jo. Let me know how your hunt turns out."

`"Right back at ya."`

Liz shut her phone, sighed, and sat down on the nearest bed while clicking the TV on, just in time to see a new press conference being headed by JJ, who was talking to a bunch of reporters in Portland, Oregon, where they were investigating a case where young people were being killed by the things that scared them the most. 'Hmm, I wonder if they've had any luck in findin' Gordon?'

Meanwhile, Sam was sitting in a diner, doing both research on the man who was killed by his own power saw and grimaced when he saw that it had gone through his back, which meant he either tripped or was shoved by something, and was also working on the translation of the spell that could dispel a demon.

He looked up when he sensed something demonic entered the diner and he frowned when the blonde woman that had showed up in Lincoln sat down across from him in his corner booth. "You."

The woman smiled. "Hello, Sam."

A/N: And now I leave you all with a cliffy! Also, if you know who the strange woman is, share your answer in a review. Come on, I dare you to review, they make me happy and make my muses happy, too. R&R everyone!