Hey, Sam & Dean! It's a Supernatural Halloween!

Western Springs

Illinois

1995

12-year-old Sam Winchester stood in front of the bathroom mirror, admiring the vampire costume he'd made from scraps of material he was able to sneak past his father and brother. He had the cape, fangs, and other traditional aspects usually seen in the old movies. It looked cheap, but it would be good enough to get him some candy tonight. If he could get out of the motel room, that is. Sam and Dean's father had tracked a shapeshifter to the small town and given Dean strict orders to keep Sam safe, as was the norm for the older Winchester sibling.

Sam's 16-year-old brother Dean, sitting in the living room with his feet propped up on the coffee table, had occupied himself eating junk food while he was watching reruns of Baywatch.

"Why can't everything be in slow motion?" Dean smirked as he heard the bathroom door open. "Hey, Sammy, hope you're in the mood for something besides spaghetti o's. I got ahold of some decent hamburger meat at the store earlier, so we can eat like kings tonight," Dean said, although he was partly lying. He had just enough to make Sam a decent meal for once. Dean would just settle for a bowl of microwave pasta, but at least Sam would have something solid in his stomach. His little brother was starting to look a little thin and needed some meat on his bones.

"How do I look?" Sam asked as Dean turned his head to look at him.

"That's a loaded question, Sammy," Dean told him. "What the hell are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a vampire," Sam said.

"Sure you are," Dean said as he turned his attention back to the t.v. "Vampires may be extinct, but I'm pretty that when they were a thing they didn't dress like that. In fact, that's probably a pretty racist costume by vampire standards."

"I want to go trick or treating tonight," Sam told him. "This could be my last time trick or treating before I become a teenager."

"No way, Dad told us to stay put while he's hunting that shapeshifter," Dean told him. "We're staying right here tonight. I hear Stephen King's IT is on tonight, and I know how much you love clowns."

"He doesn't have to know," Sam said, ignoring Dean's comment. "And I'll split the haul with you."

"Sam, it's dangerous out there," Dean told him as he stood up. "You're my responsibility while Dad's away."

"I'm 12 years old, I'm old enough to take care of myself," Sam said.

"You're not even old enough to tie your shoes properly," Dean said as he pointed at Sam's untied shoes sitting by the door.

"Stop treating me like a baby!" Sam shouted.

"Aw, someone's cranky," Dean said with a smirk. "There's a juice box in the fridge with your name on it, buddy."

Sam stormed into his room and shut the door as Dean just chuckled. The oldest brother stood up and headed to the kitchen to get a soda, realizing the fridge was void of beverages. "Damn. Sammy, I have to go the store to get some soda! I'll be back in twenty minutes!"

Dean headed to the door, stopping to tie Sam's laces for him. He was sure that his little brother would spend the rest of the night sulking. As soon as Dean was gone, Sam peeked his head out of the bedroom, seeing Dean was gone. Within minutes, the boy snuck out of the bedroom and pulled on his shoes before grabbing a bag to collect candy in. Sam Winchester was going trick or treating, come Hell or high water.

An hour later, Dean returned to the room, having been distracted by the girl at the counter. He knocked on the door, hoping Sam would answer.

"Look, Sammy, I'm sorry, okay? It's just... if anything happened to you, I'd never forgive myself. It's not just about Dad saying I have to watch out for you, it's... I love you, Sammy. You're my kid brother and I just want to keep you safe, okay? If you got hurt, I'd never forgive myself," Dean leaned against the door. "I'll tell you what, you can put your crappy ass costume on and we'll go trick-or-treating around the block, but that's it. What do you say?"

Sam had just climbed in through the window, having lost his door key as he heard Dean talking to him through the door. He opened it and smiled. "Are you serious?"

"Just don't tell Dad," Dean told him. "Grab your crap, we have to make it quick."

Sam went to grab his stuff as Dean waited out in the living room.

"Remember, you said you'd give me 75% of the haul," Dean told him.

"Sure thing," Sam said as they headed out of the room. "Aren't you going to put on a costume?"

"I'm going as someone who's getting your ass back to this room before Dad calls," Dean told him.

Twenty minutes later, and the boys were already a good way through the block. Sam looked down into his bag, seeing all the generic candy and thought of something. "Dean, I heard the kids at the last house say that the house on the next street is giving full sized Kit Kats."

"That's out of bounds, buddy," Dean told him as Sam started giving him puppy dog eyes. "No, Sammy, don't. Don't you curl that lip! Don't you- Dammit, fine."

Dean looked down at Sam's shoes, which had become untied. He was about to say something when Sam kneeled down and tied it in a perfect knot. That's when he realized that were no at the last house, just a few drunken teenagers that Dean was jealous of for having their freedom on a night like this. "Let's.. take a shortcut through there."

Dean and Sam passed by an old electronics store with t.v.s in the window you could see yourself on. As they went past the window, Dean glared over at the t.v. and got the confirmation he needed when Sam's eyes flashed yellow.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight, Dean," Sam said as he put an arm around Dean and hugged him. "For once I feel normal."

"Yeah, yeah, I know what you mean," Dean said as he reached into his jacket pocket. He always carried a silver blade for emergencies and this thing that had taken his little brother was going to pay.

Back at the motel, the phone started ringing...

A woman in her early thirties was sitting in the old house, looking nervously at the clock on the wall. She was waiting for her son to lure Dean Winchester back so they could replace him as well. With both of John Winchester's sons out of action, killing the man himself would be no problem at all. John had tracked the shapeshifter to the Chicago suburb, leaving his boys holed up in a motel room while he went to handle what he thought was a simple kill.

What he didn't know was that the shapeshifter knew he was coming and had planted clues to keep him far away from her real location while she waited for one of the Winchester boys to leave the motel. Separately, they would be easy to pick off, just like young Sam was when he left to go trick-or-treating earlier.

Darla opened the door of the closet by the front door, looking down at the real Sam Winchester. He had been stripped down to his boxers so the shapeshifter could use his clothes to fool Dean. Sam's hands were bound behind his back, with a gag in his mouth.

"Don't worry, I'm not going to kill you until your brother gets here," Darla said. "Then your father will see what happens when he messes with me and my family."

Sam tried to mumble as the shapeshifter smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll make your deaths quick. Your father, however, is going to suffer. The great John Winchester is going to die a slow and painful death."

A knock came at the door as the woman went to answer, expecting to lure Dean in easily. Upon opening the door, she found Dean holding a silver knife to the shapeshifter's throat that was pretending to be his brother.

"Going to make this real simple," Dean told her. "Where's Sam?"

"Aren't you a clever one?" Darla asked. "He's in the closet."

"I know that, but where is he?" Dean joked, not being able to resist such a set-up.

Darla opened the closet and pulled Sam out.

"Sammy, are you okay?" Dean asked as the younger brother mumbled.s "You're the shapeshifter my dad's been hunting."

"Yes, and Daddy is far, far, away and he can't help you," Darla told him. "And by the time he does come home, it'll be far too late."

Before Dean could say anything, he felt something hit him on the back of the head. Dean hit the ground as the fake Sam ran over to his mother. After a few seconds, a fake Dean stood naked over the real teenager, his old skin laying in a steaming pile around his feet.

"Hurry up and get dressed," Darla told the fake Dean. "You two go back to the motel and I'll get rid of these two."

"Mom, can't we just leave them somewhere? Do you have to kill them?" fake Sam asked. "Dean was pretty nice to me."

"No, he was nice to his brother, he held a knife to your throat, remember?" Darla asked. "We're monsters to them. Now drag that one out to the car, I'll be right behind with the other one in a minute."

The shapeshifter Dean had put the real Dean on the bed, having already removed his shoes and socks. He started unbuttoning the real Dean's shirt and saw the necklace hanging around his neck. Shapeshifter Dean put his hand around it when the real Dean's eyes shot open and grabbed his arm.

"Hands off the merchandise, douche!" the real Dean said as he head butted the shapeshifter as hard as he could. Dean jumped off the bed and charged at the shapeshifter as the two started struggling. "I'm fighting a naked version of myself. This is going to come up a lot in therapy someday."

The shapeshifter Sam was pushing the real Sam toward the car. The shapeshifter sighed as he removed the gag.

"I'm sorry, Sam," the shapeshifter told him. "But my mom says that your dad will kill me and my family if we don't stop you."

"You're monsters, you hurt people," Sam told him. "Your mom's' been killing people and taking their forms for years."

"She's just trying to keep me and my brother safe," the shapeshifter told him.

"Is she?" Sam asked him. "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"No," the shapeshifter said. "I- I don't want to kill anyone, Sam. I just want to normal, like you."

"Then help me save my brother," Sam said. "Please."

The shapeshifter just stood there and closed his eyes, trying to decide what the right thing was to do.

"What is taking so long?" Darla asked as she opened the bedroom door, just as Dean and the shapeshifter fell out of the room, trading punches. Darla grabbed a ball bat and was ready to finish the real Dean when the door was kicked open. Everyone stood there as John Winchester stood there, shotgun in hand.

"Dad!" Dean shouted as John fired a blast at the shapeshifter Dean, sending him flying back against the wall.

"Go get your brother, now!" John shouted, which was when both Sam's came back into the room. "Sammy, are you okay?"

"Yeah, just a little cold," Sam said as he covered his bare chest with his arms. Darla grabbed the silver knife that Dean had dropped earlier and aimed for the real Sam's heart.

"NO!" shapeshifter Sam shouted as he got between them, taking the knife directly into his own started flowing out of the wound as he fell into the real Sam's arms.

"I- I just wanted to be normal," shapeshifter Sam said in a whisper as the life heft his body. The real Sam felt bad and shed a few tears over the boy in his arms.

The shapeshifter Dean started to get up, just as the real Dean beheaded him with the machete his dad had tossed to him. The real Sam held the fake Sam in his arms, his eyes wide open as he died, as Darla angrily looked up at Sam.

"This is your fault," Darla told him. "You killed my sons."

"Don't worry, you'll be going to see them in about two seconds," John said as he pulled out an even larger machete to behead her.

Dean had wrapped a blanket around Sam's shoulders to keep him warm and let him wear his shoes as they walked out of the house behind their father. Sam didn't want his shoes or costume back from the shapeshifter, just wanting to forget about the night that had just happened.

"I told you boys were to stay in that room," John told them. "Dean, you nearly let you and brother get killed."

"I'm sorry, sir," Dean said, hanging his head in shame.

"We'll talk about your punishment when we get home," John told them. "Sammy, you get some clothes on and I'll take you to that little diner up the street for a late night dinner. Dean can just sit in his room and think about what he did."

"You were going to take me treat or treating?" Sam asked, looking up at Dean.

"Don't make a big deal out of it," Dean told him. "We were just going to go around the block. And you still owe me a lot of candy for even agreeing to take you out."

"I'll sneak you home some pie like I always do," Sam whispered to him.

Dean gave a little smile as he playfully pushed Sam.

"Jerk," Sam said.

"Bitch," Dean replied as he put an arm Sam's shoulder as they walked home.