Yet another 'what if' universe. What if there were four Winchester brothers? Mark, Andy, Dean, and Sam Winchester. And of course their father, John. Throw in some Caleb, Bobby, and Pastor Jim.

"Don't even think about it, Samuel." Pastor Jim Murphy warned in a somewhat stern tone. The four year old sheepishly took a step away from the wall. He looked down at the blue crayon in his hand.

"Sorry Pastor Jim." Sam apologized softly, looking up at the older man with big, innocent puppy dog eyes.

Jim nodded, "It's alright my boy. Just stick to coloring on paper. Now, where are your brothers?"

Sam looked back down at the ground as he answered, "They're playin' outside."

"How about you go join them?" Jim suggested curiously. Usually the Winchester boys couldn't be separated. They argued, of course, but what family didn't? Despite the age differences, the three oldest Winchester sons rarely excluded their baby brother.

The four year old looked up at the pastor and shook his head, "Can't. They're playin' with Daddy."

Realization dawned on him then. Now he knew why Sam couldn't play with his brothers, not that they were really playing. John was training with his older sons. Many of John's hunter friends agreed with the idea of the boys training and joining John on hunts, but it wasn't their call. Jim had repeatedly attempted to talk John Winchester out of letting his sons tag along, but John wouldn't hear of it.

"Why don't you go ask your dad if your brothers can play with you?" Jim suggested, hoping John would release Mark, Andy, and Dean from training. Sam smiled and hurried out of the living room, through the front door, and into the front yard.

Jim Murphy lived in Blue Earth, Minnesota, in a cabin in the woods. Every year Jim invited the Winchester, Caleb Johnson, and Bobby Singer over to Blue Earth to just take a break from hunting. They usually stayed for about a week before returning to the world of the supernatural. John, Mark, Andy, Dean, and Sam had arrived in Blue Earth a day early, surprising the pastor. Most of the time they were a day late.

Sam made his way off the front porch and onto the crunchy gravel that made up Pastor Jim's driveway. He walked past the Impala and past Jim's truck. Finally, he found his family. Mark and Andy were throwing punches at each other, Dean was sitting on the ground watching them with an annoyed expression, and John was critically eyeing his two sons. Sam ran over to Dean and sat beside him.

"Hey Sammy," the eight year old greeted, playfully knocking into his younger brother.

"Hi Deanie!" Sam smiled as he shoved the older boy, though it didn't work out as well as he had wanted it to. Being four years old, Dean had a height advantage and weighed more than Sam. "Can you guys come play yet?"

Dean sighed; his dad was not going to be happy about Sam interrupting the training session. A few times Sam had asked if he could train with his brothers, but John had told him 'No.' Which in some cases caused the youngest Winchester to cry and hide under the nearest bed for an hour, and in other cases Sam just shrugged and walked away. Secretly, Dean was glad his father refused to let Sam train with them. Sam was only four years old for cryin' out loud! Dean and the other hunters wanted to keep Sam in the dark, figuratively of course, because the kid was just so innocent. He didn't know about the supernatural, and he didn't need to know for a very long time.

The eight year old was just about to tell his brother that they couldn't play with him yet when he looked at Sam. He looked so hopeful that Dean turned to his dad and asked, "Hey Dad? Can we go now?"

John looked over at his second youngest son with a bit of shock. Usually Dean loved training. He hadn't been on a hunt yet, neither had Andy but Mark had been on a few, but he was excited for it. Then John saw Sammy, looking at his father with a pleading expression. His defense crumbled and he nodded, "Mark, Andy, you boys can go now. Good job."

The two older sons froze, smiled at the praise, and went to their younger brothers. John returned to the cabin after a quick look around the area, just to make sure his sons were safe.

"So what do you wanna play Sammy?" Mark asked. Mark had shaggy blond hair and dark brown eyes, a mixture of his parents. He was the oldest son at ten years old.

Sam shrugged.

"What about hide and seek?" Andy suggested. The other boys agreed and he went ahead and volunteered to be 'it'.

Andy and Dean looked exactly alike; dark hair and green eyes. People easily confused them as twins and were rudely told that they were a year apart, therefore not twins. Dean grabbed Sam's hand and pulled him up to a standing position as Andy closed his eyes and started counting. Mark made sure his brother was facing away from the house since all the good hiding places were around the house. Mark, Dean, and Sam went in different directions to hide.

Dean crawled under the Impala, then thought better of it. He pulled himself out from under the car and climbed quietly into Jim's truck bed.

Mark made his way around the house to the back yard and ran to one of the many surrounding trees of the woods. But this tree held a tree house Jim had helped him and John build a couple years ago. Mark climbed up the ladder and pulled himself into the tree house.

Sam was having a harder time finding a hiding spot. Mark had already claimed the tree house; he had seen his brother climbing the ladder. Looking around, Sam saw the perfect place. A small brown shed stood not too far from the edge of the woods. The little boy heard Andy shout, "Ready or not, here I come!" Quickly, Sam ran to the shed and pulled the door open.

It was dark, but that would make it harder for Andy to see him. The light from outside allowed Sam to see there was a black tarp in the corner of the room. Glancing over his shoulder, Sam went into the shed and closed the shed door. He made his way to the tarp in the dark and pulled it over his head before sitting down. Sam swallowed a few times. He couldn't even see his hand which he put in front of his face. Maybe he should switch hiding places….

"I know you're in here!" Andy said, opening the shed door. He'd already found Dean and now the younger boy was helping him find Sam and Mark. Dean had told Andy that both Sam and Mark had gone to the back yard.

But so far neither boy had had much luck finding the oldest and youngest brothers. Andy sighed; he'd been expecting someone to just be standing in the shed. Sam was the worst at hide and seek. He usually laughed out or picked horrible places to hide. Then again, Sam was getting older and much better at keeping his laughter under control.

Andy left the shed, closing the door.

Sam let his hands fall from his mouth. He'd been having a hard time keeping his laughter from escaping, but he'd managed to fool his older brother. Smiling to himself, Sam laid down on the floor. He began tapping his fingers on the ground beside him. Boredom was beginning to set in. He'd never had this problem before since he was almost always the first one caught. Suddenly Sam remembered something. His hand went to his pant pocket and pulled out a small flashlight. Andy had given it to Sam last night in the car so they could make shadow puppets in the backseat.

He clicked the light on, thankful that he finally was able to see. Sam made a few shadow puppets that Dean had showed him, but it didn't keep him entertained for long. The four year old pulled the tarp off so that his face was uncovered; it was getting a little hard to breath. Once again he was bored. Before he knew it, Sam was falling asleep.

Outside, Andy saw movement in the window of the tree house. It was fall and the Winchester boys all had long sleeves on. Andy remembered that Mark was wearing a red shirt, so when he saw the flash of red in the window he knew he had Mark.

Smiling, Andy ran to the tree where his brother was and called up, "I see you Mark! Get down here!"

"Crap." Mark replied, exiting the tree house and meeting his brother on the ground.

"Got him Dean!" Andy shouted to his other brother across the yard. Dean ran over towards them and stopped when he reached them.

"Now we just have to find Sammy." Dean said, looking around for his younger brother. "Can't believe he beat us, Mark."

Mark nodded, "I know. He's getting better and better, I guess."

The three boys spread out to find the youngest Winchester. When ten minutes passed and they still hadn't found Sam, they began to worry.

"Where is he?" Mark swallowed. He and his two brothers knew what was out there; they knew what could happen to Sam who was totally unaware of the monsters in the dark.

"Sammy! Sam!" Dean shouted as loud as he could. His stomach was jittery with nerves. Sam was their responsibility… but Mark and Andy weren't the ones who carried Sam out of a burning house. No, that was Dean. He remembered his dad putting baby Sam into his arms and telling him to get out of the house. Mark and Andy were right behind Dean, making sure he got out too. So yeah, Sam was all three of their responsibility but Dean had such a better connection with the youngest Winchester. Anyone with eyes could see that.

Another ten minutes passed and John came out to tell the boys it was time for dinner. Imagine his surprise when he only saw three of four sons. "Where's Sammy?"

Mark, Andy, and Dean shared a look.

"Boys! Where's your brother?" John demanded, anger seeping into his voice.

"We were playing hide and seek." Mark explained. He was the oldest, he should be the one to tell their dad what happened, no matter how mad he was. "And Sam's still playing, Dad. We can't find him anywhere."

"Damn it!" John shouted, "Mark, go get Jim. Tell him what happened. Andy, Dean, both of you with me and tell me everything else." He ordered his three sons. Mark ran to the cabin as John led Dean and Andy around the backyard since that was the place they thought the youngest Winchester was.

"I was counting and Dean said he saw Sammy and Mark go to the backyard." Andy informed his father, "I found Dean then we found Mark in the tree house. We've looked everywhere."

"Obviously not since Sam's still missing." John retorted. Andy visibly winced. Jim and Mark soon joined them.

They spent another fifteen minutes searching for the missing boy when Caleb arrived. His dark blue truck was just as loud as the Impala, maybe louder. So when he pulled in, everyone knew it. Dean met him in the driveway and explained what was going on. When the two returned to the backyard, they were shocked to find John fiercely hugging Sam who looked just plain confused.

"God, we were so worried about you." John said into his youngest son's hair.

"What happened?" Dean asked Pastor Jim.

Jim answered, "After you ran to the front yard to greet Caleb, the shed door opened and out came your brother. Asked if Caleb was here yet."

John finally released Sam, who still looked puzzled. "Samuel Jonathan Winchester, what do you think you were doing? We've all been looking for you!"

"Sorry Daddy." Sam replied, "We were playing hide and seek-"

"I know what you were doing!" John shouted, crossing his arms. "I wanna know why the hell you didn't come out when we called for you."

Sam swallowed, "I didn't hear you."

The father raised his eyebrows, "You didn't hear us? Sam, we shouted several times."

"You'd think he would have heard your loud voice, John." Caleb attempted to lighten the mood. He easily gave up on that strategy when John sent him a murderous glare. "Sorry, sir."

"I didn't hear you." Sam repeated, shrugging. He didn't see the flash of anger that went through John's face.

"Sam, we thought something took you." Andy said before he realized what he was saying. "I mean-"

"Pastor Jim told me there weren't no bears here, Andy." Sam rolled his eyes. "Right?" he turned his gaze to the pastor.

Jim nodded, "Right, Sammy. But they weren't talking about bears."

"Jim-"John started but Jim went on as if he hadn't heard him.

"They mean the lions."

Sam's eyes grew wide, "There are lions in the woods?"

"Mountain lions, Sam." Dean nodded, rolling with the pastor's idea. "And they eat people." So technically they weren't lying to the four year old. Mountain lions do live in the woods…maybe not in this area of Minnesota, though. And they do eat people.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know that there were mountain lions." Sam apologized softly.

John inwardly sighed, that was a close one. He thanked God Sam easily believed almost anything. There was that childish innocence again, something he was trying so hard to keep in his youngest son.

"Well, dinner's getting cold boys." Jim said, breaking a short silence.

The men and the boys went back to the cabin, the night's scare already starting to fade from their minds.