"She's YOUR mother too Derek!"

Alice Bateman was angry, SO angry that she wasn't paying the attention to the road that she probably should have been. She was furious with her brother, he was older and growing up he was their parents favourite. His list of academic and sporting achievements made that inevitable. Now as an adult he was principle of a large metropolitan high school. He had been absent for the majority of their elderly mother's illness leaving Alice and her husband the sole, over worked care were exhausted and it was about time that Derek did his share. Big fancy job or not !

"Alie, what did I just say !" Derek answered in his best Principles voice. A tone that made Alice angry even at the best of times. "You expect me to drop my job and fly out. Just like that?"

Alice gave her brother the death glare that she felt he deserved, her rage boiling over.

"For OUR MOTHER. YES ! God dammit Derek you really think I don't have to work too don't you !" She wasn't getting through. They'd been close growing up and she loved him but time and distance had done more than just physically separate them. Alice took a breath, and turned toward her brother. Arguing with him wouldn't make his stay any more pleasant. Her eyes were off the road for only the briefest of moments.

"Look Derek. Alex and I just need som….."

Before she could complete her sentence Derek griped her arm. His voice was thick with concern.

"Alie I think you'd better stop the car".

Alice looked up. Directly ahead blocking the road was a car and two figures barely visible in the darkness. Alice could see clearly enough that this was no Police road block. The two men stood before a large monster of a vehicle, some kind of 60's muscle car painted black. As she drew closer and to a stop her certainty only increased. Judging by what they were wearing and their vehicle there was absolutely no way she was going to buy them as some kind of cops or federal agents.

Alice and Derek sat and looked at each other, each feeling their apprehension build toward the increasingly menacing view before them. Alice could still barely make the figures out and was wondering whether the best course of action would be to slam the car into reverse while she had the chance when one of the figures spoke and began to make his way toward them.

"FBI. I'm sorry but the road's closed Ma'am."

Yeah right FBI ! Alice thought.

"You can't come this way. Not tonight" The figure finished.

He was getting closer and closer and it was freaking Alice out. There was no way these ba8#*rds where going to hurt her or her brother. This was her town godamit! She steeled herself and gripped her door handle as the tall man got within distance of the car.

"No way you F*#king Ba8#*rd !" Alice slammed her car door hard into the stranger, doubling him over.

"SAMMY !" The other man shouted racing toward them. It was at that moment that Alice was sure she'd made a terrible mistake. The only partly obscured second assailant raised a shot gun, aiming it directly toward the windshield.

"Turn the god damn car around. Now !" He boomed "Right..Now".

Alice needed nothing more. This reprieve was more than she thought she had a moment ago. Pulling the car around she put as much distance between them and their assailants as she could.

Meanwhile the two shadowy figures watched Alice and Derek's car disappear into the night.

"You ok there Sammy ?" Dean asked.

"yeah, just great" Sam replied dusting off the failed FBI disguise that had led to the embarasment of being floored by a car door. "I always thought someone wouldn't buy us as FBI one day."

"Yeah well" Dean dismissed Sam's concern. "Buy the time the real cops get here we'll be done. It's almost 10:15. Get the stuff.

And Sammy" he added as he turned around to face Sam.

"Kinda funny she hit you down there huh" he motioned to his crotch a lopsided grin on his face.

"Yeah very funny Dean." Sam replied with a roll of the eyes and a shaking head as they reached the Impala."Jerk".

"Bitch" Dean replied.

TWO DAYS EARLIER Interstate 70 heading toward Bofford Missouri.

Sam turned to face Dean. "So Dad did a job for this guy ?"

"Yup years back." Dean replied. "You were still in high school I think."

"And he calls and tells you that there's some thing weird that needs checking out but he's not sure?" Sam continued.

Dean kept his eyes on the road and answered. "That's about the size of it." He reached for the stereo and flipped the tape punching ACDC back in quickly. They were both hoping that this one would turn out to not be much. Just some panicky old coot and nothing big to deal with. They could really use that right now.

As far as Dean could tell Sam had been in shock when he came back out on the had been clear. He was in mourning for Jess and the life they had together. The life that Sammy fought so hard for. Dean had figured that the distance between them, the way Sam would just clam up and stair out the car window lost in his own head for hundreds of miles had been because of that. That and the years they'd been apart. Boy had he been wrong, at least partially. Sam WAS in mourning. For the woman he loved and the life they wanted together but there was more.

Sammy had been pushing something back down inside. Something that his time at Stanford and a life with Jess had let him finally deal with. It turns out that Sam wanted to be a girl, or thought he was a girl or maybe even was one ? Dean didn't know what to do with that. He didn't know what to say when Sammy started to speak. It was nothing that he'd ever expected. He didn't know what it meant or what Sam needed but he was still the big brother and it was his job to take care of Sam no matter what. Monsters he knew how to deal with but this… not so much. A quiet job and ACDC as loud as the car stereo would play was getting him through it so far.

The music was playing loud enough for there to be an audible buzz from the rattling fixtures as Sam turned her head briefly to look at Dean. She was letting him have his coping mechanism for now, allowing him to have the comfort of ACDC turned up WAY too loud.

She'd been almost as shocked as he had looked when she'd told him. When she'd come out. Telling Dad or even Dean, "look I'm a girl," had been some thing she'd fantasised about since she was a kid not that she'd ever thought it could really happen. When Jess died and she ended up back on the road with Dean "Saving people, hunting thing." She'd wanted, NEEDED to be there but she figured life was over and so was transition.

She was still ragged and angry inside for what had happened but as it turned out the genie was already out of the bottle and no matter how hard she tried to be just Dean's little brother again she couldn't. If this was life now, and it HAD to be because the demon that killed Jess and Mom WAS going to pay and they WOULD find Dad. Then it had to be HER life. She couldn't find that thing and avenge Jess and pretend all at the same time. She just did not have the energy or the strength for that. It was an insult to Jess's memory too, not what she would have wanted or needed. Some times Sam felt like Jess's memory was all she had left.

So she'd let everything rattle around in Deans head. She'd let him deal. The familiarity of loud music and hunting some evil thing might help him come to terms with having a sister. And maybe she'd still have her brother too.

They pulled into Bofford Missouri just after 10:00am with Dean complaining about missing breakfast and headed to office of The Bofford Dispatch to meet Dad's "old friend" Jim Cannock. Sam thought that maybe she remembered being here some time in the past. The old man's face wasn't familiar as he made his was across the newspaper's modest office and greeted them though .

"Boys !" He clapped them both on the shoulder. "John Winchesters sons all grown up ! Well I'll be. It's good to see you."

Sam and Dean's eyes met at the greeting, momentarily given pause by it's new meanings.

"Hey there Jim " Dean offered, reaching out a hand. "You think you got something here?"

"Yes, I think I do." The older man replied, his expression growing more grave.

Sam felt a flush of heat and self consciousness wash over her. At the same time she was kind of greatfull for the awkwardness that the phrase "Boys," had caused and for the acknowledgement of her identity that it had brought out of her brother.

Jim led them into a small office in the back of the building and took out several large files full of back copies of the Bofford Dispatch. He started to speak.

"So there's a road headed up towards the interstate. Not too busy , not too quiet either. Been a lot of accidents there over the years, ALOT. Cars just loosing control, hitting trees even flipping end over end for no real reason. It usually winds up with dead drivers one way or another."

"That's some accident hot spot!", Sam offered. "Sometimes roads just have them. Awkward turns or badly lit sections. It happens" She added.

"Yeah Jim," Dean joined in. "There's gotta be more to it than just a few messy car accidents. What do you thinks going on ?"

Jim looked up from the back copies spread out over the desk. "Not sure. That's the thing. Why I tried to call your Dad in on this. The Dispatch has been covering the accidents for years and I think something's up with it. City council and Sheriff's Office just think it's a bad patch of road like you said." Jim turned to look carefully between Sam and Dean. "But every accident, every single death has been the exact same time of night. Not just when it's dark or when its wet or icy or in the snow. All weathers but every one of them just after ten at night." He sat down in the chair next to the desk and started to riffle through the files again. "So eventually I HAD to do some digging," He looked up again, the weight of events beginning to show on his face. "Thought it seemed kind of fishy. Eventually I couldn't ignore the chance it WAS something. I had to check it out." Finding the paper he'd been looking for he threw it down on the desk in front of Sam and Dean. "and I found this."

The paper was dated September 22nd 1985 and the headline read "Horror on the Roadside" it showed a photograph and a smiling young boy with a toothy grin and had a sub header that read "Bofford mourns Billy Monroe."

Jim spoke. "See Billy's folks had a cattle farm just out of town. Salt of the earth kinda people. I guess Billy used to play out in their fields sometimes. You know how kids are, sneaking out even at night to get up to some kind of mischief!" Jim's brief smile faded as he added "Well nobody really knows what Billy was doing out on the road at the edge of his parents farm but he was there and well… it had gotten dark and he got hit by a car. Knocked over and hurt bad. Hit and run. The kid just lay there, cars passed by but either nobody saw him or nobody stopped and the kid died. Bled out right there on the road.

"Geez, nice story Jim!" Dean added picking up the paper "But there's gotta be more to it than that?" He asked looking up over the copy and back at Jim.

Jim took a breath, then spoke "There is. See obviously his parents where destroyed by it but Jack Monroe took it real hard. Started drinking stopped working the farm. Not even his wife could get through to him." Jim's voice went quieter, the words heavy in his throat "Then one night. Out there on the road right where Billy died Jack took his shot gun and blew his brains out. The farm went into receivership, Ellen moved out of state to her sister's in Kansas and that was that."

Sam could see where this was going. "So we're thinking. What ghost ?" She offered.

Jim looked hopeful at the suggestion. "Both of them died on the same stretch of road at the same time of night. Could that do it?" He replied. "Jack had been pretty angry that nobody even stopped to check. That they just passed Billy on the road as he died."

Dean threw the paper back down onto the desk pretty sure they'd seen this kind of thing before. "Yup. That'll do it. One aaangry ghost." He placed a hand on Jim's shoulder. "We'll check out the site. Thanks Jim."

Sam and Dean made their way out of the newspaper office and back to the Impala. Sam turned to Dean and spoke, it was clear to them both they were thinking the same thing "Seems pretty standard." Dean placed a hand on the car door ready to unlock it and looked up at Sam nodding. He wasn't thinking about Jim or Billy Monroe or the road out near I-70 anymore.

"You wanna grab some food at the diner over there? " He motioned toward a store front across the street with a colourful sign that read "May's Dinner, Worlds best cherry pie !"

Knowing better than to ignore the demands of her brother's stomach Sam nodded and smiled."Sure" she replied.

The door jingled as they walked into the dinner. It was the sort of place that if you squinted might kind of look like a Norman Rockwell painting but of course never actually did. They took a booth toward the back and were approached by a cheery looking waitress with blonde hair and a name tag that read "Hi I'm Cheryl ! " She smiled at them both and pulled out a note pad and pen as she spoke.

"What can I get for you guys?" she asked. Dean smiled back at her. "Well,we've been driving all night," He'd clearly decided to give her the full Dean Winchester charm. Sam shook her head and resigned herself to the familiar sight of Dean flirting. She laughed as he continued.

"so my bro…"

It was there Dean paused in his tracks stopping himself from finishing what he was about say. Stopping himself from saying "my brother and I…" he turned toward Sam, the grin fallen from his face then looked back to Cheryl and raised a hand as if to wipe the words from the air. "I mean me and Sammy here," he paused awkwardly and finished "… we could really use some coffee."

Sam was glad that Cheryl didn't seem to register the moment and took Deans order for a cheese burger and her order for pancakes without a pause. Her brother had been great nodding and listening intently. Not freaking out about her being trans but she knew that he was starting to have questions. Questions about how things where about to change because of all this. The thing was Sam didn't know the answer to those questions for sure. She was still waiting for the inevitable assertion that the 6ft 4? "brother" that Dean knew could never ever walk into a diner in small town Missouri and be taken for a girl. For her temper to raise in response and for her to yell at him that exact thought had played on her mind since puberty didn't he realise that! For them to talk about how this wasn't about everyone else or even just about whatever her body was. Sam wondered too as they waited in silence, would there ever come a moment when Sam would be short for Samantha not Samuel in Deans eyes?

"Sorry" was all that Dean said as he lifted his eyes from the table cloth." I didn't mean too…you know."

"suggest that I'm your brother. I know." Sam decided to give Dean the benefit of the doubt. They paused silence filling the space between them again.

It was broken as Cheryl placed their coffee down on the table still smiling. "Here you go. Food'll be up in a minute." she gave Dean a flirty look then left.

"It's ok Dean." Sam offered, she was going to be pragmatic about this. "You've had my entire life expecting to call me that."

Dean picked up his cup looking down into the hot dark liquid and took a gulp. He quickly grimaced, muttering "might be "the worlds best cherry pie" but its not the worlds best coffee May!" under his breath before returning his attention to Sam earnest seriousness covering his face. "That's the thing Sam. I've been there your whole life and I never saw this !"

"There were plenty of times I wished you would." Sam offered. "Plenty of times I needed you to notice. But that was then. I need to deal with the future." She HAD been angry, resentful of so much growing up. So much more than either her brother or father realised. Right now though it was just her and Dean against the world and she was trying to be pragmatic about this. " Look Dean, nobody ever told you to look out for it. If Dad hadn't raised us as hunters then we wouldn't know how to look out for ghosts or any of the things we hunt."

Sam could NOT believe she had just compared herself to the things they hunted. It was a REALLY bad metaphor but it at least half worked. Dean seemed to be thinking the same thing and raised an eyebrow as he continued.

"I've been going over when you were a kid in my head Sammy. It was MY job to take care of you and there's stuff I should have seen. I should have been there for you."

"Can you imagine what Dad would have said!" Sam replied . She'd spent long enough going over her upbringing and she knew on several levels that regret wasn't going to change the past with this just like anything else.

"Here you are guys ! See I told you it wouldn't be a minute!" Cheryl returned with their food clanking plates and utensils down on the table before asking, "More coffee?" They reluctantly agreed.

Sam looked up as she was about to slice her folk into her stack of pancakes and Dean was taking his first bite of Cheese Burger. "But thanks though Dean."

Dean paused placing his burger back down on it's plate and looking Sam squarely in the eyes "I'm your brother Sammy. It's what I'm here for."

Sam took a moment, letting the conversation sink in and with a shake of her head and a wide grin replied, "Is this where I get to lecture you on traditional sexism or cultural misogyny ?"

Dean looked back at her and raised an eyebrow "Bite me college girl." He replied.