Summary: Bobby, Sam and Dean finally go looking for Chuck, but what they find is a woman with two boys who can help them heal from the harm they have sustained over the last 7 years. This is updated and is now more compliant to Season 6.
AN: This is the updated version of the story. It sits between "The Man Who Would Be King" and "Let it Bleed". It's more compliant to the season and is AU as of "The Man Who Knew Too Much" and Season 7. In other words, Sam's wall never fell.
PART 1
Chapter 1
The sleek black Impala pulled up to the curb in front of the old house and its occupants looked across the street at a neighbor arriving home. The woman drove her blue car into the driveway, parking and getting out with two young boys. The three men got out of the Impala as the two young boys dashed for the house, stumbling over their feet to a stop as a loud whistle pierced the air.
"Nice try, chuckleheads. Come and help me get the groceries from the car," the woman told them. "Take the cold stuff to the kitchen straightaway."
Rolling their eyes, but smiling, the boys came back to the car and started helping to unload it.
Sam and Bobby had turned in their direction when they heard the whistle and grinned at each other at the comment. Then they turned back to the old house.
Continuing the conversation they'd begun in the car, Dean angrily muttered, "We should be looking for Castiel."
Bobby gave him a withering glare, "Yeah? You got any clues where the hell he is? No? Well, then, while we're in town we'll look into this!"
Wanting to change the subject, Sam quietly said, "It looks abandoned, Bobby. What do you think happened to him?"
Aware what Sam was trying to do, Bobby softly answered, "I don't know. But waiting two years to check out his house wasn't exactly the best thing we could've done."
"Two years gives us a pretty cold trail," Dean muttered, as he walked up the sidewalk. "Now even if we find out what happened, we probably can't fix it."
"Despite that, I can't help thinking that we're only meant to be here now," Bobby added. The two brothers just looked at him. "What?"
The woman across the street, tall and slender with a long red braid down her back, was watching the three men going up to the porch of Chuck's house. She paused, watching them for a moment, before turning back to her sons. "Bring everything into the kitchen and then hit the showers. You have to be ready to go soon. Dr. Williams is coming to pick you up in about an hour."
The taller boy, about thirteen years old with short light brown hair looked at his mother uneasily. "Yeah, alright, but…what about the cold stuff?" His gaze went from her to the men across the street she was looking at briefly, pursing his lips, concerned at his mother's concentration on the strangers.
"It'll be alright for a few minutes." Putting a hand on his neck, she smiled at him. "It's fine. I won't be long." Her son nodded slightly and the woman walked down the driveway and glanced both ways as she crossed the street. Her two sons both took a bag out of the trunk of the car and carried them into the house, their curiosity moving them quickly to finish the chore.
The men were starting to come down off the porch when she approached. "Can I help you with something?" she asked. "Were you looking at the house or for the occupant?" Although she had never seen them before, suddenly she knew who they were. "Wait…" She smiled at them and said, "If you're looking for Chuck Shurley, you're about two years too late. I reported him missing to the police a while ago."
Bobby was still looking around, but when he heard her speak, he turned to her, blinking a few times, suddenly looking shocked. The other men and the woman didn't notice.
"Did you know him? Were you friends?" asked the taller of the two younger men.
"Yeah, we were friendly. He let me read his stuff and in February, he started telling me more." She paused for a moment and then took a deep breath before adding, "I know who you are."
