I don't own Supernatural or it's great characters. I just play with them!
Changes
John watched his two boys with delight. Too many times since his wife had died something would happen and they would have to move, upsetting the boys since they needed stability. Now, however, he was happy to be able to give it to them. They now lived on a farm in the country, far from other people who could hurt them. Only a few people even knew they lived there, only a few that John could trust. One was Jim Murphy, a pastor from Blue Earth who had found them when they needed help. Another was Bobby Singer, someone who made sure they had all the supplies they needed. Caleb Reeves was the next person John trusted with his sons. He lived with the family, helping John with the boys and any chores that needed to be done. Rufus Turner was the fourth person in their little family. He would come out and home-school the boys, saying that education was important. John didn't mind. He liked the company of those men who accepted him and his sons. These men knew what they were, and even though they were hunters they had pledged themselves to protect the small family.
When Jim found the family, they had been on the run from Samuel Campbell and some hunters that had found them in a small town due to a trick Sammy had played. It was an understandable mistake since the five year old didn't know any better. What happened was that one of his friends had been taken away from his family by a judge. The family, who was very poor but owned some land that the judge wanted, was being forced to sell their land before their child would be returned to them. Sammy had found out about the injustice so when he saw a picture of the judge being honored as Man of the Year (he had bought the title again for the fifth year in a row), he touched the picture and said "I wish justice would find him." It took a week but then the trick started to take effect. Sammy's friend was returned and the judge was found guilty of using his position for personal gain. Then the judge was found to have fathered many children by other women in other towns. The judge's wife left him and he ended up being sued for child support by all the other women. Another thing that had happened was the judge was arrested by the sheriff on corruption charges. He had gotten twenty years.
Justice had been served but Samuel had gotten wind of what was going on and he sent Gordon Walker to check it out. It took Gordon just a week before he found the small family and reported back to Samuel. Knowing what the family was, Samuel went down himself, bringing five more hunters with him but John had gotten wind that they were coming. He packed the boys up and they left in the dead of night after he put a blinding charm on Gordon who was watching their house. It had been a very close call.
What hurt John was that he had to let Sammy know that, even if he hadn't meant to, he had put the family in danger. The toddler cried and vowed never to do it again. John sighed and picked his baby up. He knew that Sammy wouldn't be able to help it, especially when he saw someone hurt or injustice being done. It was just in his nature. All John could do for now was to limit the damage. Dean helped to calm his brother by curling around him, purring comforting sounds. John was proud of his oldest who had taken on the task of helping him raise Sammy.
John missed Mary with a passion that hurt all the time. When they had fallen in love, he had told her what he was. In spite of being raised a hunter, she was surprisingly okay with his background. He told her that if they married and had children, they would be like him, an Inari Kitsune. Since she had never run into one of the Kitsune, Mary asked John many questions about himself which he was reluctant to answer. Everyone knew that if a hunter ever found out who and what they were, they would be hunted to extinction but Mary was different and he came clean about everything.
In fox form, Inari Kitsune were white in color. They started out with one tail but as they grew older, the number of tails they got increased until they reached nine. John himself had three tails since he was still considered young. Though they could be considered tricksters, Inari Kitsune were loyal and, in some cases, guardians. They also had the power to drive out evil and wouldn't hesitate to go after other Kitsune who were not of the Inari clan. He also said that it was in their nature to go after those who abuse others, who do injustices and generally evil people. Kitsune could also shape-shift. Usually they were not able to shift into human forms until they were older, about fifty but his family had been granted a very rare gift in which they looked human at all times and could shift their shapes at a very young age. In most Kitsune families, there are only females but in John's family, once again due to the gift, only males are born. He said that the Kitsune prefer empty houses instead of apartments or living with other family members.
Mary listened to John's explanations then shocked him by asking him to marry her. He was stunned and asked if she was sure since they would have to leave her parents behind to keep them safe. She was and they got married that night. To say that Samuel was furious was an understatement. He had looked into John's background and found out about John being a Kitsune. He accused John of putting a spell on Mary and was determined to kill Winchester to get his daughter back. Deanna actually understood that Mary was in love and wanted her daughter to be happy so she gave the couple some money and told them to run. For five years, they ran going from town to town then Mary got pregnant with their oldest child. John found a nice place in Lawrence, Kansas and they settled down. John took a mechanics job to support his wife and new son. Three years and ten months after Dean was born, Mary told her men that she was once again pregnant, actually three months along. Both Dean and John said they had gotten the best early Christmas present ever.
On May, 2nd 1983, Mary Winchester gave birth to Samuel John Winchester. His brother Dean Christopher Winchester and their father John David Winchester was in attendance, no matter what the doctor said about children being in the room where a mother was giving birth. John insisted saying that his sons needed to bond as soon as they could. Using his powers, he made the doctor and nurses see his point. For John, not only Dean needed to bond with his brother but it was a matter of keeping baby and mother safe. John had heard that Samuel was sighted just a couple of towns away.
For five months after Sammy's birth, John was on edge. He didn't like leaving his family alone so he asked his boss' wife to stay with her saying that he was worried about her health. Then Samuel left the area but what John didn't know was that he had also left another hunter in Lawrence with instructions that the family was to be killed. He didn't see Mary as his daughter anymore but someone who was tainted with the supernatural. When Sammy was six months old, the killer struck. He was in Sammy's nursery spreading gasoline around when Mary came in, surprising him. He eviscerated her then proceeded to light the fire with the baby still in the room. After he lit the fire, he got out through the opened window just as John ran into the room. Dean was right behind him and they both saw Mary's body on fire next to the crib. They heard Sammy's screams and John ran into the room to get his baby. He gave the baby to Dean to run out of the house with to safety while he got his wallet and a knife along with a couple of blankets for his sons. Then he joined them outside until the fire department and EMTs got there. John had sustained burns on his arms and legs, Dean had some smoke inhalation. Sammy's lungs had been compromised since the fire was in his room, around his crib.
At the hospital, John made sure he stayed with his children and they were in the same room even though Sammy should have been in the PICU. He wanted to keep his family, what was left of it, safe and he didn't know if the assassin was still in town. After a couple of weeks, the doctor declared Sammy fit to leave the hospital only if John brought him in for a follow-up, a lie that John easily made in order to get his children somewhere safe. He didn't have to worry that much about clothes or other necessities since his boss and their neighbors got together to give them many of the supplies but the only thing was that, after the fire, Sammy refused to take a bottle, no matter what the nurses or John did. What Sammy needed died in the fire and it looked as if the baby would starve but then a miracle happened. One night when Sammy was screaming with hunger, John felt wetness on his chest that wasn't because of the baby's tears. He looked under his shirt and found milk leaking from his nipples. Acting on instinct, he put the baby to one of his nipples and Sammy latched on like a pro, feeding from his father. After that, John breast-fed Sammy any time he needed to eat. Dean also wanted the comfort and closeness so John let his oldest drink also. Not only was Sammy fed but he and Dean healed faster from their injuries. The bond between father and sons was now even stronger than before.
After his boys were released from the hospital, John packed them up in his Impala and they left Lawrence. They had been traveling ever since, staying one step ahead of Samuel and the other hunters. They moved many times just because of their nature of bringing justice. Once, it was John who couldn't stop from punishing a man who was hurting his kids. Another time, Dean was the one who did the trick that a teacher deserved for giving A's to his favorite students and F's to the rest. Then it was Sammy's turn with the judge. He never blamed his sons, just tried to impress on them they needed to be careful since their actions would bring them to the attention of the hunters.
After the judge incident, John drove aimlessly with his boys in the backseat of the car. He had no idea where he could go with them but he wouldn't give his children up. He loved them too much to even think of giving them to the hunters. One night, in Minnesota, he pulled into what he thought was an abandoned dirt road to sleep. He was awakened by Pastor Jim when the good man had gotten up to get ready for Sunday Services and saw the car in his driveway. What confused the Pastor was why a man was travelling around with two fox kits in his backseat. When Jim tapped on the driver's side window, John woke up fast and automatically looked for his sons. He panicked when he saw them in the back and the look he gave Jim told the Pastor much.
"Come into the Rectory and bring the kits in with you. I'll set you up with some coffee and breakfast," offered Jim, giving the man no choice but to gather his sons up and follow him into the house.
Once inside, Jim led John into the kitchen where the kits started to wake up in their father's arms. Licking his face in greeting, he then put them on the floor where they wobbled around knowing enough than to change in front of a stranger. Jim put a cup of coffee down on the table and watched his unexpected guest interact with the snowy white kits. There was something off about the stranger but Jim couldn't put his finger on it.
"Would you like some eggs and sausage?" Jim asked. "I'm sorry but I don't have any dog food but…"
"They probably would like some of the same," John answered absently. Then, realizing his mistake, he looked up in a panic.
"Huh," was all Jim said as he set about making breakfast for four. When he got done, he gave three of the plates to John who then cut up the eggs and sausages on two of them for the boys. Then he put the plates on the floor where his two sons looked up at him in disbelief. He nodded his head slightly towards the pastor then looked down at the plates. Dean gave a huff and began to eat while Sammy just looked at his father. John sighed then picked his youngest up along with the plate which he put on the table. As he held his baby, Sammy gave a happy yip and began to eat, tail wagging. John just rolled his eyes and started to eat himself.
"You know, if you keep spoiling her, by the time she's a teenager she will be impossible," Jim said casually. He had figured out whom and what was sharing his table. John's fork dropped to the floor and he hugged his wiggling son closer. Dean's tail went between his legs and he slunk under his father's chair for protection.
"H-h-how do you know?" John stuttered.
"Snow white foxes aren't indigenous to Minnesota," was all Jim had to say on the subject. He then motioned to John to start to eat. Shakily, John picked up his fork to finish his breakfast.
"Um, she's a he, by the way," John said having noticed his son's embarrassment. It wasn't hard for John to pick up on the furious blushes Sammy had about being called a girl.
"I thought Kitsune were female," Jim said revealing his knowledge.
John grinned a little. For some reason, he felt he could trust the man beside him. Like with Mary, it came as a shock but then settled into a warm feeling. "Yeah, well in my family we only have boys. Part of a gift for a good deed you could say."
Jim smiled knowing that it was hard for John to reveal anything that might hurt his family in the long run. "May I ask you what their names are? I just can't keep saying kit or boy," he asked.
John, acting on his feelings of warmth, said, "The little one on the floor is my son Dean and this baby in my arms is my son Sammy."
Jim looked at the kits and said formally, "Hello boys, my name is Pastor Jim Murphy. I'm very glad to meet you." Both kits gave a yip that Jim took to mean that they were happy to meet him too. He smiled at them then asked, "Do you want more breakfast? I believe there is more sausage in the pan and I can make some toast." The kit on the floor, Dean, nodded but the little one, Sammy, in John's arms just yawned and closed his eyes.
Jim picked the plate off the floor and brought it to counter. He then put another sausage on the plate and cut it up like he saw John do. He put the plate on the floor and stepped back for Dean. Dean rushed to the plate and began to eat. Jim looked at the little family, especially the kits. He noticed that Dean had green eyes and less baby fuzz than Sammy who had hazel eyes, when opened. John looked exhausted and in pain, emotional pain. The whole family radiated fear, pain, and tiredness. It wasn't in Jim to turn a family in need away, even this one so he made up his mind.
After Dean was done with his meal, Jim again picked up the plate then turned to John, "There is a couple of guest bedrooms upstairs for you to use. One has twin beds in it and the other has a queen. The bathroom is across the hall from the queen and has towels, soap and other toiletries for you to use. Feel free to stay here as long as you need." Seeing John's indecision he went on to convince the man, "You and your sons are tired and hungry. You need a place to stay and get yourselves together. I'm offering a place that is safe and where you can rest. Trust me, nothing will happen to you or your sons here."
At that moment, Sammy opened his eyes and looked at his father. John looked at him then at Dean who sat on the floor and drooped. No matter how uneasy he felt, he knew the best thing for his sons was to stay and rest. "I'll need to get our stuff out of the car," John accepted Jim's invitation. Then he looked again at the sleeping kit in his arms, wondering how he was going to bring their duffles in and protect his sons. Noticing John's dilemma, Jim silently held his arms out to take Sammy. After a couple of minutes, John put his sleeping son in Jim's hands. He told Dean to stay close to the pastor while he went to get their stuff. Then he left to go to the car.
Dean carefully edged his way to the pastor who was standing there holding his baby brother. Dean had a protective streak a mile long when it came to Sammy and didn't like seeing someone he didn't know hold his brother. Finally, getting near the pastor, he craned his neck to sniff the man. He had learned that he could find out many things from scent alone and the pastor's scent told him that the man was kind, loved books, was clean but had an underlying scent of gun oil and metal. The combination worried him and he made a note to ask his father about why he trusted the man with scents like these. He looked at his brother in this confusing man's arms and whimpered.
Jim looked down at the distressed kit and smiled, "Don't worry, Dean. I won't hurt you or your brother. Come on, I'll show you the house and get you settled."
Jim walked out the door of the kitchen and led the way to the living room. Dean had no choice but to follow. "Here is the t.v. (Dean huffed as to say no shit) and the sofa." Then he led the young boy to the next room, "The study. If you like reading, feel free to read anything here except for the top shelves." Jim showed Dean the laundry room and his bedroom with attached bathroom before taking the boys upstairs. There, he showed them the two guest rooms and the bathroom with the linen closet next to it. After which, he went to the bedroom with the twin beds in it and put Sammy down on one of them. Dean looked at the bed which was close to the door and shook his head. Then he picked his brother up in his mouth and jumped over to the other bed and put Sammy down. He jumped back to the other bed and looked at Jim who had a grin on his face. "Okay, then, why don't you lay down and take a nap for a while. I'll get your father settled into his room when he comes back in." Jim left the boys to await their father.
Dean was still confused and he looked over at his brother. Noticing there was some egg still on the younger kit's face; he again jumped over to the other bed and settled down to clean his brother. Even while he slept, Sammy still hated to be cleaned and he tried to squirm out of Dean's reach but Dean just held him down until he was done. Then he curled next to his brother and fell asleep.
When John came in, he was startled to see Jim waiting at the door without the boys until Jim explained that he had put them down to sleep. Seeing how anxious John was, Jim led him to the room with the boys. Putting the duffles in the room, John went over and sat on the bed that had his children.
"Do you want to see the other room?" Jim asked politely.
"No, thanks anyway but I can't sleep without my boys being near me," John replied not taking his eyes off of his sons.
Jim nodded his understanding, "I have to get ready for Services but I'll be back for lunch. Feel free to treat my home as your own." John smiled tiredly then Jim left. After he had gone, John got into some sweats and laid next to his boys, curling around the kits protectively.
JWSWDWJWSWDWJWSWDW
Jim had struck such a chord in John that, when the pastor offered to let them stay at his home, John jumped at the offer. Usually Kitsune didn't like to live in places with people other than their own families but the bond that started to forge between Jim and the family was strong enough to overcome that compulsion. Even after John found out that Jim was a hunter, he didn't abandon the man. Jim learned that sometimes Kitsune would attach themselves to a person or household and they would become very protective. He learned that when a drunken man came to the Rectory to do damage to Jim.
The man's wife had gone to Jim for counseling because he was being abusive to her and their children. Jim had given them some money and put them in a Safe House. When the man figured out what was going on, he got drunk and decided to take his anger out on Jim. John, seeing the man pulling his arm back to punch the pastor, got between them and threw the man out the door. Jim kept him from going after the man but couldn't stop John from throwing a trick on the idiot. By the time the man got up the next day, he had every scar, every bruise and every broken bone he had ever given his wife and children. When he went to the hospital, the doctors and nurses who had seen the carnage he had wreaked on his family were not sympathetic.
John was upset. This was the kind of thing that would get them noticed. He went to Jim to tell him they would be moving on but Jim wouldn't have any of it, he just said that nothing would happen to the family, he would make sure of it. John smiled hesitantly but accepted the pastor's assurances.
Jim found that John was the easy one to get close to. It took Dean a couple of weeks before he would change into a human boy. For days, both men had tried to get the oldest child to trust Jim enough to change but Dean wouldn't have any of it. The smell of guns and metal had put him into what John called his protective mode. Jim just nodded then started his campaign to win Dean's trust. He bought the boys some toys to play with and made sure the t.v. was low enough for them to watch. He found out from John what Dean's favorite foods were and made sure to serve them often. Jim even found Dean's itchy spots were and would scratch them in a friendly fashion but none of this worked until Jim baked an apple pie. Dean's ears perked up and his nose started to go a mile a minute as he smelled something delicious, something his mom had made a few times before she died. Jim smiled at the kit and when the pie was cool, served him a piece. After Dean had started to eat, Jim turned to the sink to clean the dishes. He jumped a bit when a small hand holding a plate appeared by his side. Looking down, he saw a nine year old boy with green eyes and blonde hair.
"Thank you," the boy said with a shy smile.
"You're very welcome, Dean," Jim replied. After that, Dean stayed in his human form more often.
Sammy was the toughest nut for Jim to crack. Nothing he did or said would get the fuzzy kit to change into the little boy that was in the picture John had shown him. When Jim asked why, John told him about the judge and the trick Sammy had played that had the family moving the last time. John said Sammy had a very hard time forgiving himself for that, no matter what his father or brother told him. Even after the family had been with him for a couple of months, Sammy still hadn't turned so Jim started a campaign to get the tiny boy to trust him. He began by reading stories to him, knowing that children loved to be read to. Then he started to take the kit to the church whenever he needed to do some work there, always talking to Sammy. When he worked in his gardens, he made sure Sammy was with him and encouraged the kit to dig holes to help with the planting of flowers. Slowly, he saw Sammy changing just by his demeanor. Sammy no longer slunk around with his tail between his legs. He actually started to run to Jim whenever Jim came into the room. The defining moment came when Jim was getting some towels out of the linen closet. He didn't see the kit behind him and when he turned around, he tripped on Sammy and fell down. Sammy curled into a ball and cried, thinking he had hurt the nice man. That he had again been the cause of their family moving. Jim, though, got up and looked around to see the distressed kit. Instead of getting mad, he picked the baby up and cuddled him.
"Oh, Lord, Sammy. Are you all right?" Jim asked while checking the kit out for injuries. Seeing the wet hazel eyes, he pulled the kit in closer. "Shh, Sammy. It's okay, just an accident. I'm okay, you didn't hurt me. Shh, shh." Holding the kit, he went down to the living room and sat in an old rocker he had gotten from his mother. Rocking back and forth calmed both man and kit until they fell asleep. Jim woke up after a couple of hours to find a small five year old boy with long brown hair and hazel eyes in his lap, holding his shirt for dear life. Jim smiled and kept rocking until Sammy woke up. Sammy looked up at Jim who smiled at him, "See, I'm not hurt. I don't blame you, kiddo. It was an accident. Everyone has them; we just have to learn from them." Remembering what John had said about the reason for their last move, he added, "You will not have to leave here just because of this. I won't let you." A very warm feeling grew in the pastor as Sammy gave him a bright, wide smile complete with dimples.
Even though Sammy still changed at night to curl up with his father and brother, he also stayed in human form more and more. Jim was happy to watch the boys as they played in his yard while their father went to work at a local garage. Because they didn't have much in the way of clothes, Jim helped them by going shopping with John and the boys, using his own money. He refused any repayment that John tried to press on him saying that having the family living with him was payment enough.
After a few months, the family was settled and happy before it happened. One night, a knock sounded at the door. Jim got up and answered it only to find a bloodied Caleb Reeves, Rufus Turner and Bobby Singer. They had been hunting a pack of black dogs which had gotten the best of them. They had managed to wipe out most of the pack before it all turned pear shaped. Jim got Caleb on the couch and Rufus retrieved the first aid kit before John came downstairs after hearing loud voices and scenting blood in the air. Jim, seeing John standing in the doorway, motioned towards Bobby and the bandages, asking silently for help. John helped to patch up the hunters but didn't notice his sons coming down to see what the excitement was. In fact, Rufus was the first to notice the two white kits sitting in the door with large eyes.
"What the hell, Jim? Why do you have fox kits in your house?" Rufus asked loudly, hurting the kits' delicate ears.
Hearing the whimpering his sons were making, John went over to them and knelt down. "Shh babies, it's all right. I need you to go upstairs now. Can you do that for me?" He wanted to get the boys out of the line of fire since he had seen the sharp look on Singer's face.
But before they could leave, Caleb came over and looked at them. "Huh, I've never seen them that young before. Have you, Bobby?"
"Naw, the last one I ran into was about fifty or so. Looked like an old man. Jim, why the hell do you have Kitsune in your house?" Bobby bellowed, scaring the boys.
"Hey, Singer, keep it down! Can't you see you're scaring those babies?" Rufus surprised them. John stepped in front of his kids, ready to protect them. "Jim, he did ask a good question though. Care to answer?"
Jim knew his friends. He knew that they would help him out with the family but he also knew that John was nervous. So he was careful when he said, "They needed my help a few months back. Can't resist those beautiful eyes, now can I? Johnny, please, these men are my friends. They won't hurt you or the boys." Jim was pleased to see John calm down a bit until Caleb picked Sammy up. Dean growled, seeing his brother in a stranger's arms.
"Hey little dude, I'm not going to hurt your friend. I just wanted to take a closer look," Caleb soothed.
John put his hand on Dean before he could bite Caleb. Then, after he felt his oldest calm down, he looked at the men. Something about them made him introduce himself and the boys, "I'm John Winchester and these are my boys. The one on the floor with an attitude is Dean and the other is my baby Sammy."
Bobby asked after absorbing what the man had said, "Wait, not the guy that that crazy asshole Samuel Campbell is hunting? The one who he said put a spell on his daughter?"
"Mary fell in love with me. She asked me to marry her," John defended.
"Always knew there was more to the story that Campbell said," Bobby replied. "My name is Bobby Singer, by the way. The kid holding your son is Caleb Reeves and the bum on the chair is Rufus Turner. Don't worry, we won't hunt you. Never did like that bastard anyway." John grinned. Then all hell broke loose as a howling was heard outside.
"Damn, I thought we lost them!" growled Rufus.
The kits, hearing the howling started to shiver and John put himself between the door and his sons. Kitsune didn't like dogs, hated them in fact but what was outside was worse than any regular dog, they were black dogs. Except for a couple of exceptions, they were evil entities who enjoyed killing. The ones outside were called yeth hounds, headless dogs that were thought to be the spirits of unbaptized children. It was the remains of the pack that Bobby, Rufus and Caleb had been hunting. The howling got louder as the pack neared the church.
Caleb picked Dean up and went further into the living room. There he sat in a corner with the kits, pulling a silver knife to defend himself and the boys with. Rufus heaved himself painfully out of the chair and retrieved his gun. Making sure he still had silver bullets loaded, he tossed it to John to use then he got out his spare. Bobby and Jim both were armed quickly with guns and knives. Quickly, the men made a plan. Jim would go upstairs to shoot down at the dogs while Bobby and Rufus would go out the back door to flank the pack. John would stay in the living room and shoot from the window there.
It all went according to plan until a dog had turned to attack Bobby. Rufus wasn't able to get to him in time and Jim was unable to shoot the dog without hitting the hunter. John, seeing that Jim's friend was in trouble, ran out of the Rectory and changed into his Spirit Fox form. Standing seven feet tall, the Fox was a formidable sight, one that made the dogs hesitate in their attacks. John ran, growling, towards the dog that was attacking Bobby and tore it to shreds before turning his attention to the other remaining dogs. It took just two minutes before the dogs lay dead on the church yard. John sat down panting, blood on his muzzle. He was exhilarated and exhausted. He hadn't fully changed like that in years, the last time being when his sergeant was killed in Viet Nam by a Bhuta, a ghoul-like creature made from the soul of a man who had died an untimely death. It would have taken out the entire company but John had been able to stop it quickly. The only sad part was his sergeant had died before he found out it was in the area.
"Uh, John?" Rufus said cautiously as he approached the Fox. "You may want to change back, man. Otherwise you'll hit your head going into the Rectory. Then, like all good fathers, you'll be teaching your kids a whole new vocabulary."
John huffed a tired laugh then he laid down on his side. A mist covered his body as he turned back into a human man. Since he didn't have any clothes on, Rufus took his coat off and gave it to John for covering. While John recovered, Rufus went to check on Bobby. Jim came out and helped John up while Rufus did the same for Bobby. Getting them to the living room went easily until the kits, seeing their father, struggled to get away from Caleb so they could be with John who sat heavily on the sofa. Caleb sensibly let the kits down and they ran to John. Catching Sammy in his mouth, Dean jumped on their father where they proceeded to snuggle into him. Jim and Rufus did triage on Bobby where they found the hunter had sustained minimal damage thanks to John's intervention. Just a couple of scratches on his stomach to show how close the yeth hound came to disemboweling him before John struck.
After the wounds were dealt with and the kits asleep, Bobby decided to ask questions. "What kind of Kitsune are you?" he asked getting to the point.
"Inari," John answered quietly.
"Huh, I didn't think Inari left Japan. How is it you're here?" Bobby wondered.
"It's actually a very long story," John began. "Um, I left my family to travel and ended up in Viet Nam during the war. Met up with an American marine named David Winchester who knew what I was but it didn't matter to him. I started to help him when his unofficial tunnel rat was killed. There wasn't anyone small enough to go into those tunnels so I volunteered. With my gifts, I was able to sniff out bombs, mines, enemy soldiers and stuff like that. I could also disarm mines and bombs without any harm coming to the platoon I was working with. David really liked that and we got along great until Tet happened."
"What happened?" Rufus asked quietly. He also was in Viet Nam during Tet and knew that whatever happened must have been bad.
"After the initial attack, we were sent to Hue City where half of the marines died, including David. He had been shot by a sniper and we were able to retrieve him before he died. He gave me an order: take his place and leave when his tour was done. I changed into his likeness and took his dog tags. A couple of people he trusted knew what I had done but they were okay with it. Even after his sergeant got eaten by a Bhuta. I got mad and changed like I did tonight then I tore it apart. We looked around after it was dead and found the bones of the man. One of the men in our unit had been the son of a hunter so he knew to salt and burn the bones so he couldn't come back again. Soon after that, David's tour was up and I came to America," John was quiet, remembering everything that had happened then.
"John," Jim began, "I don't understand. You said the marine's name was David but your name is John even though you took his place. How's that possible?"
John smiled, "He always hated his first name and told everyone to call him David. His real name was John David Winchester."
"I understand that Kitsune can change into human forms when they are fifty or older but you look like you are in your thirties. How did that happen?" Bobby asked curiously.
"My family had done a great service hundreds of years ago. From what my grandfather told me one of my ancestors had lived with a daimyo who looked down on the poor. When an earthquake hit the area, some orphans had been trapped in a cave they had been living in. My ancestor was told by the daimyo not to help them, that they were unimportant but my ancestor didn't listen to him and went to help them. It was dangerous and she almost lost her life a couple of times but, in the end, the orphans were all saved. The daimyo was angry but Inari was very pleased. To keep my family safe from the daimyo, they were granted a few gifts that the Kitsune don't have. One was that we are born into human form and we can change at a very early age into anything we want but human form is our fallback if we aren't in fox form. The second gift was that my family has only males born since our ancestor that defied the daimyo was female. A third gift that I hadn't been aware of until Mary died is that if our spouse dies while still breast-feeding, the male will be able to feed the baby. I found that out because Sammy refused to take the bottle and he was very hungry. One night, he was screaming with hunger when I felt some wetness on my chest. I checked it out and found milk leaking from my breast. Talk about freaking out but it turned out it was just what Sammy needed. What Inari did was to gift our family with the way to survive in all circumstances," John answered.
"How did Campbell find out about you?" Caleb asked angrily.
"It was one of the guys in the unit. His dad was a hunter who had worked with Samuel a few times. When he came back, he told his dad that the unit had a Kitsune attached to it. He also told him that David had died in Hue. It wasn't very hard for Samuel to connect the dots but by the time he decided to tell Mary in hopes that she would either break up with me or kill me, it was too late. I had told her everything and we got married soon afterwards. He's always said I put a spell on her but I hadn't. It was love, pure and simple. The fact that we had children should have told him that. If I had put Mary under a spell, she would never have gotten pregnant in the first place, part of the gift from Inari I guess."
"Sounds like the counter-balance," Jim said then he went on to explain, "Gifts can cut both ways so, in most cases, if you get a gift you also have a balance to make sure you don't use the gift in wrong ways. Inari would have known that temptation would be too much for some beings so she made sure that your family couldn't abuse her gifts."
A tiny snore interrupted their conversation and John looked down to see both kits sleeping soundly against him. "That's enough for tonight," Jim declared with a small smile. John got up carefully to go to their room while Caleb stayed on the couch. Bobby also went upstairs to the other bedroom and Rufus decided to bunk out on the floor downstairs. Jim, though, got a cot and had Caleb sleep on that while Rufus got the couch. Age had its privileges was all he said to the younger hunter who just rolled his eyes.
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Since Jim insisted that the hunters stay at his place until they were fully healed, John and his boys got to know them well. Caleb was the first one to bond with Dean. All it took was the younger hunter treating the kit like the nine year old he was. He also treated him as an equal, not a monster. John watched in astonishment as the hunter wrestled with the kit, letting him pin him every so often. Caleb would also toss the kit in the air, laughing when he caught him. What Caleb didn't know was that his actions that first night, when he put both boys in the corner and held a knife to protect them, was the major reason why Dean really liked him. It only took a couple of days before Dean was comfortable being in human form around Caleb. Through Caleb, Bobby and Rufus also earned Dean's trust.
Sammy, again, was the hold-out. For some reason, he was shyer than either Winchester but that didn't stop Rufus from trying. No matter how gruff the man was, there was no hiding how much Sammy had caught his heart. Rufus decided, like Jim, to read to the youngest Winchester. He also picked Sammy up whenever he could and found the kit loved being rocked to sleep. What got to Sammy was how Rufus would include the kit in the pranks he played on Bobby. When Rufus had Sammy walk off with Bobby's hat, Bobby caught him and turned him over to tickle his stomach. Rufus laughed then rescued the kit. After a week, neither man was surprised when a very small, hazel-eyed boy came up to them and asked for a drink of water.
John himself was surprised how fast these strangers became part of his family. Caleb was the older brother to his sons while Bobby, Jim and Rufus stepped into the role of uncles. He was also surprised how fast his sons took to them. They were usually very shy around adults especially hunters. Dean always said that gun oil made his nose itch while Sammy just hid. That was because of the hunters Samuel kept sending after them.
After the hunters healed, Bobby and Rufus left but Caleb decided to stay. He had gotten attached to the Winchesters, John treated him like a son while the boys thought of him as a big brother. Caleb relished his new role and fell into it with a passion. Jim also fell into the role of a family member. To John, he became the brother he had left in Japan while the boys treated him as an uncle. All five were very happy.
Jim started to home-school the boys. He had a long talk with Rufus who agreed the boys needed an education but a school wasn't the place for them until they could control their powers. Dean was mechanically inclined. He did well in math and science while Sammy surprised them with his reading and math skills. Sammy was on the same level as Dean when it came to schooling. When Jim said they should learn other languages, John taught them Japanese while Caleb handled Spanish. Jim, himself, taught the boys Latin. Sammy, being younger, caught on quicker but Dean wasn't very far behind. Between the three men, the boys were also taught history, geography and writing. When tested by the school for competency, they had almost a perfect score for children of their age. The guidance counselor told John they should have their IQ's tested. Nobody was surprised to find that both boys were in the genius range.
All the time that they were having a normal life, they didn't know that the victim of John's trick had met up with a hunter who now was watching the small family.
He had left Blue Earth soon after losing his wife and kids due to that nosy pastor. Still sporting his cuts, bruises and casts on his left arm and right leg, he stumbled into a bar. Sitting at a table, he got a bottle and started to drink, crying to anyone who would listen about what happened to him. Finally, a man sat down and helped himself to some of the bottle. He poured the drunk another drink then started to ask questions.
"Hey, man, what happened to you?" the new man asked.
"I found out my wife and kids left after talking to the pastor. When I went over to talk to him, a big guy beat me up and did this to me," the drunk slurred.
"Aw, man, that's not right!" the other commiserated. "Didn't you fight back?"
"Sure I did but the guy was fast. Real fast. I didn't even see his fists when he hit me," whined the drunk.
This piqued the other's interest. He asked, "Where are you from?"
"Blue Earth," the drunk answered. "Blue Earth is where I lost my family thanks to Jimmy frigging Murphy."
Gordon Walker smiled and ordered another bottle. He decided to take a trip to Blue Earth to see what was going on. Jim Murphy, he knew, was a hunter but not much of one since he had such a bleeding heart. Samuel didn't like the man, especially since he was friends with Bobby Singer, Rufus Turner and Caleb Reeves, hunters who turned away from him in his hunt for John Winchester and those brats of his.
It took him a couple of days to get to Blue Earth then another day to find that the Winchesters were staying there. It really wasn't a surprise to find them living with Jim Murphy. What did surprise him was that Caleb was there, playing with the boys. He knew that Caleb was soft-hearted too but he had worked with the younger hunter and seen him kill supernatural creatures with a song on his lips. Gordon found the perfect place to watch the family. He wanted to find the perfect time to kill them. He knew Kitsune were very protective of their family so he needed to take the brats out while John was gone, then he would go after their father while he was grieving and not paying attention to his surroundings. Good chance he would even beg to die.
It was frustrating, waiting for the perfect moment. There was always somebody around the boys but Gordon was patient. He had been known to stalk his prey for months, waiting for that moment when he would take it out. He watched the boys play, celebrate holidays and birthdays, and be home-schooled. He learned when they were let out to play, when they went shopping and with whom, and who they were allowed to be around. Rufus and Bobby, though, were the only wild cards. They came over at times that were allowed by their hunts and jobs, no discernible pattern that Gordon could work out.
Finally, his chance came.
It was Halloween and Caleb planned to take the boys out trick or treating. It was something they had never done before and, after he had suggested it, they were excited. John was nervous but agreed as long as Caleb watched them carefully. Jim just grinned and volunteered to get them costumes. He also made plans for himself and John to give candy out at the hospital so they too would be gone. It went very well with the boys getting lots of candy, enough to make them sick for two months. Caleb even got some along with quite a few phone numbers from women who thought it was sweet that he was taking his brothers around. Then it was time to go back to the Rectory and get the boys ready for bed.
After they got back, Caleb got them bathed and dressed for bed. Still hyped up from eating some of the candy, he allowed the boys to settle in front of the t.v. There was some scary movies on that Dean wanted to watch but because Sammy was there, he had to watch some cartoons instead. When the phone rang, Caleb got up to answer it, leaving the boys alone. Dean turned the channel to a scary movie while Sammy hid his eyes. They didn't see the man in the room behind the couch until it was too late.
Gordon reached over the couch and grabbed the boys who screamed. Holding them tight, he ran out of the rectory, straight into Bobby who had come up for a surprise visit. "Get away before I kill them," growled Gordon.
"Let them go and you won't get hurt," Bobby growled back.
Gordon started to back up when he felt a gun in his back. When Caleb heard the boys scream, he grabbed his gun and ran out in time to see Bobby cornering the kidnapper. Gordon slowly let the boys go. When they got to the ground, Dean took his brother's arm and ran into the house. It didn't matter to him since he had a friend helping him with the hunt. His friend was hiding in the linen closet upstairs, waiting for the boys to go to bed. The plan was then he would go into their bedroom and cut their throats with a silver knife after which he would stab them in the hearts with a blood covered stake.
"What do we do with him?" Caleb asked. "He's human."
"Barely. We wait for Johnny and Jim," Bobby decided. Motioning Gordon to enter the house, the three men walked into the kitchen. Gordon smiled. It made the other two nervous but they didn't want to leave the other with a madman. "What are you smiling about Walker?" Bobby questioned.
"Why nothing at all Singer," he answered. Then he asked a question that had been on his mind, "Why are you protecting those things? I thought after your wife had been possessed, you would hate anything supernatural."
"None of your damned business!" Bobby snarled. Then he turned to Caleb and asked, "Hey do you still have those handcuffs on you?"
"Yeah," Caleb answered. He went upstairs to get them since he had been staying in the guest room. He didn't like leaving Bobby alone but he had caught the subtext to the question. Gordon was acting too calm for their liking and it aroused both hunters' instincts. Quietly, he went up the stairs and pulled the gun he had put away. When he got upstairs, he noticed the Winchesters' bedroom door was open. Carefully as to not give himself away, he looked in the room and saw a man standing over the boys' bed holding a knife. Taking aim, Caleb shot the man in the head while Dean woke up and jumped with his brother to avoid the falling man. Caleb then ran into the room to gather the boys turned kits.
"Shh, it's okay," he cooed. "He won't hurt you. I got him." The kits just shivered in his arms. Bobby called up and asked what was going on and he yelled back, "Yeah, everything's fine. Boys are fine, Bobby. I'll be down in a second with those cuffs."
Bringing the boys into his room, he put them down on his bed then looked in the closet and under the bed for any other intruder. The kits watched his movements with interest. They knew what he was doing so they started to help him by getting off the bed and sniffing around for a strange scent. After the room passed everyone's inspection, Caleb got the handcuffs and warned, "Stay here while Bobby and I clean this mess up. You guys can sleep here until your daddy gets back, okay?" Both kits nodded.
Making sure to close his door, Caleb went down to the kitchen and handed Bobby the cuffs. Then he said, "Got a bit of a mess upstairs to clean up. I want to wait until I get some help to do it. Kids are okay, though. Tough little guys."
Bobby cuffed Gordon's hands behind him and finished tying the hunter up. It wasn't soon after that that John and Jim came back. They came into the Rectory laughing until they entered the kitchen to seen Bobby holding a gun on a trussed up Gordon Walker. John's face went white as he recognized the hunter who had tried to kill him after the incident with the judge.
"Bobby," John said in a whisper, "Where are my boys?"
"Upstairs in Caleb's room," Bobby responded. "Caleb is out digging a hole in the woods. Needs some help with a bit of a messy problem. Go, see to your boys." John nodded then ran up the stairs.
When he got there, he checked their bedroom only to find a corpse. His heart fell as he backed out and quickly went to Caleb's room. When he opened the door, he turned on the light but didn't see the boys on the bed. Keeping his voice steady, he called out to them. "Hey boys, dad's home. Everything is okay," he soothed.
After a couple of minutes, the two kits came out from under the bed where they had hidden. Seeing their father, they yipped happily and ran to the man. "Oh, babies. I'm so sorry I wasn't here for you. Can you ever forgive me?"
Both kits started to lick their father's face in joy. After a few minutes, John put the kits down on the bed with strict instructions to go to sleep. He told them he had to help Caleb and Bobby clean up a mess then he would be right back. Both kits yawned and, after giving him a final kiss, they jumped down and got on the bed. Curling up in the middle, with Dean on the outside, they fell asleep. John knew that they would probably have some nightmares but he was just happy his sons weren't hurt. Then he went back to the kitchen.
When he got there, he was surprised to find Jim alone. Jim said that Bobby took Gordon out for a walk to "explain" why going after the Winchesters was a bad idea. The look on Jim's face told John that the walk was much more than Bobby talking to Gordon but he didn't ask any questions. Keeping his sons and family safe was much more important to him. When Caleb came in, he and Bobby just went to the bedroom to retrieve the corpse. They didn't ask for help, just said they needed to salt and burn it to make sure he didn't come back to haunt anyone. After they left, Jim got a bucket of soapy water and a rag while John went to the linen closet to get some clean sheets and blankets. Together, the men cleaned the room, making it acceptable to put the kits in it once again. When Caleb came back, he told John that they would permanently switch rooms. John was grateful, he didn't think the boys would feel good about sleeping in the same room where someone had tried to kill them.
It was no surprise to anyone the next morning when the boys stayed in fox form. They had almost been killed and were very upset. The men decided to spend the day with them and let them know they were protected and loved. It took a couple of days but the boys started to appear in human form once again.
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Rufus got to the Rectory as soon as he heard about the attempt on the Winchesters. After assuring himself that the boys were not hurt, he sat down with the other hunters and John to discuss the problem.
"That bastard won't stop until you and the boys are dead," Rufus said bluntly. "Is there anything you can do?"
"Me personally? No. Not unless he is physically threatening you or my sons," John said sadly. "He technically isn't evil so that is out."
"How about injustice?" Bobby asked. "You didn't do anything wrong and what he is doing is persecuting you for being different. Can you work with that?"
John smiled slowly, "Now that I can work with." The other four grinned with him.
Samuel was looking over the last reports that Gordon Walker had sent in before he went on the vampire hunt that had killed him and his partner. The Winchesters were dead, it said. They had been staying in Blue Earth with Jim Murphy and believed themselves safe. On Halloween, Gordon and his partner killed the boys then waited for John to show up. Finding his boys dead, John begged them to kill him. Then Walker salted and burned the bodies before Murphy even knew what had happened.
He sat back and smiled. Finally, he had gotten revenge on the man who destroyed his daughter. There was a scratching noise at the door. Puzzled, he got his gun and went to check it out. When he opened it, he saw two very young boys, both bloodied. The youngest looked just like his daughter, down to the hazel eyes. The older looked like that bastard, John Winchester. He knew they couldn't cross the salt lines so he smirked and closed the door on the ghosts. When he turned around, his daughter was standing in the room with her belly slashed open. She pointed at him accusingly. His eyes got big as he turned to leave only to find his way was blocked by the bloodied apparition of John Winchester. His chest felt tight as the two of them advanced on him. There was a tug on his pant leg. He looked down and saw the boys next to him. The tightness became a pain which radiated down his left arm. His breath came out in short pants. Suddenly, Mary was next to him, reaching for him. The pain soared as his heart stuttered. Finally, the last vision he had was of John's hands coming towards his throat. He fell to the floor, his heart stopping.
The next morning, a maid came in to clean the room only to find Samuel Campbell's body on the floor. The coroner said the cause of death was a massive coronary.
After they had solved their problem with Samuel, it was decided that the family needed a place that was isolated from everyone except their family. Caleb came up with the solution. It seemed he had inherited his family's farm near Bobby's house. It was isolated since it was in the country, perfect for the family to live. Caleb and Rufus went there to make sure it was safe by putting up sigils and salt lines. Bobby offered John a job, saying that even if he was staying at Caleb's, he would need something to keep him busy. When John voiced his concern about the boys, Caleb told him that he would be moving with them so the boys would be protected.
John talked to the boys. Even though they didn't want to leave Pastor Jim, they no longer felt safe at the Rectory. John said that Jim would visit as often as possible since he was family. Rufus also told them that he would never abandon them either, visiting so often it seemed like he lived there. After those assurances, they agreed to move.
John and the boys were so busy moving and getting settled, they forgot what season it was but the others didn't. On Christmas Eve, the hunters showed up at the house with a Christmas tree and presents. Caleb had found decorations in the attic and put them around the house. Rufus, being stubborn, brought what he called Chanukah gifts. Bobby brought over a turkey dinner with all the trimmings. They put the presents under the tree while the boys and John slept.
When the family got up the next morning, they got the biggest surprise. A tree stood in the living room decorated with lights and tinsel. There were stacks of presents underneath for everyone. When Dean looked at everything, his eyes grew wet.
"What's wrong, Ace?" Caleb asked concerned. Sammy's eyes also had tears in them.
"We didn't get you anything," Dean sniffed.
Jim just picked Dean up while Rufus got Sammy. "You did give us something," Jim said. "You completed our family."
Bobby hurried out of the room while John smiled, tears in his own eyes. When he came back, he had muffins and virgin eggnogs for everyone. The rest of the day was spent in celebration with toys, too much food and a lot of joy.
A/N on the Real Tunnel Rats-In Viet Nam there was a special unit attached to the Engineering Corp who was trained to go into tunnels and find bunkers. They also knew how to find and disarm bombs, mines and many other things. During the whole Viet Nam War, there was only 700 men who served in that specialized unit. Many units had their own unofficial tunnel rat but only the ones who served in this unit had the proud and official title of Tunnel Rat.
A great thanks to my awesome beta Daiyu Amaya!