I own nothing, this is just for fun. Supernatural belongs to Mr Kripke.

An Apple Pie Life

AU. One year after the events of Swan Song.

Spoiler warning: Season 3 - 5

Sorry it took so long to get the next chapter uploaded. My computer was really messed up and I just got it back..

Chapter 2

Dinner that night was very quiet. Mom and Dad kept telling Ben to eat, but no one else was eating. The men did a lot of drinking though. After dinner everyone drifted off. Mom and Uncle Rufus were in the kitchen. Mom did the dishes while Rufus leaned against the counter quietly talking to Mom. Dad went out to the garage where he could be alone and think. Grandpa and Uncle Cas went into town. Gabe was asleep so Ben was on his own. He decided to climb out his window and sit in his favorite spot on the roof and watch the stars.

Ben was confused; he knew his dad had two brothers who were both dead. This new brother of Dad's was a mystery. Dad wouldn't be talking about killing him if he wasn't a bad guy. The idea that Ben had a bad guy for an uncle scarred the daylights out of him. Trying to figure things out, Ben thought back to when Dad had shown up last year.

A year ago.

Ben walked into the kitchen for breakfast and was surprised to hear a familiar voice say, "Hey kid want some pancakes?' Ben ran to Dean and was swept up into Dean's strong arms. They held onto each other tightly. When Dean finally put Ben down he kept a hand on Ben's shoulder, not wanting to let go just yet. Ben didn't move away for the same reason. Ben didn't ask Dean why he was there; he didn't want to say any thing that might make Dean leave again. Over pancakes Dean and Ben caught up. Well, mostly it was Ben filling Dean in on school, chicks, baseball and the local bully Ben had taken care of. Ben was enjoying his breakfast with Dean and he didn't want to go to school because he was afraid Dean would be gone when he got home. When Mom told him to get ready for school he started to argue.

"Ben, do what your mom told you,' Dean said and with that Ben was off to get dressed for school. From that first morning on, the three of them melded into a family. Mom was great, but it was awesome to have Dean to hang out with.

At first ther were times when Dean drank a lot and got very quiet and sad. Staring off into the distance as if he was remembering something horrible. Mom seemed to be the only one who could pull him back. She would place her hand over his and Dean would smile at her and nod. As if to say, "I'm back."

The night Uncle Cas first visited Ben overheard Dean and Mom talking in the living room. Dean apologized for being and ass and thanked Mom for taking him in. And he promised her that he would always be there for her and Ben. That was also when Dean decided to move them to Grandpa's. Ben was sort of hanging out in the dark hallway at the time. He didn't learn much more from the conversation. But he did get his first taste of what it was going to be like to have an angle for an uncle. Cas caught Ben in the hall and zapped him into his bed. Ben figured that was Cas' way of telling him to go to bed, so Ben stayed put.

The next morning Dean took Ben for a long drive. Ben learned about the Winchester family business. HIS family's business. It wasn't much of a surprise to Ben to learn that Changelings weren't the only nasty things out there. Dean told Ben about his grandparents John and Mary. How they had lived and died. Ben also learned he had two uncles who were both dead. Ben met his father's family and lost them all in one day. He had so many questions and Dean promised to answer them all, but he asked Ben to give him some time.

Over lunch Dean told Ben that they were moving to South Dakota to live with a friend of his named Bobby singer. Dean was sorry that Ben had to leave his friends and school but he promised this would be the last time they would have to move. Ben wasn't upset at all about moving. As long as Dean was still going to be around he didn't care where they lived. During the drive back home Ben was very quiet. There was so much for him to take in, so many questions. There was one question Ben couldn't wait to ask though. "Dean? So, um can I call you Dad?" Ben held his breath waiting for an answer that was more important to him than anything else Dean had told him that day.

Dean turned from watching the road and gave Ben a big smile. "If you don't, I'll kick your ass." The both laughed and that was the last time Ben called his father Dean.

Present day.

Ben lay on the roof outside his bedroom window staring at the stars. He was turning over every conversation he had had with Mom and Dad and every conversation he had overheard in his mind. From what Ben could remember Dad only had two younger brothers, Sam and Adam. The had both died on the same day in Lawrence, KS. Ben figured he must be mistaken about a third brother, because Dad had "Sam" and his Uncle Sam was dean. Ben decided he would ask Uncle Cas in the morning. Cas always told Ben the truth, even whe Mom and Dad preferred that he didn't. Slowly, Ben drifted off to sleep. But it was a restless sleep with dreams of a large man watching him from the shadows.

Dean was sitting on the hood of the Impala looking up at the same stars Ben was watching, and remembering the same pancake breakfast.

A year ago.

Dean couldn't help but smile as Ben told him how he had stood up to a bully at school on behalf of a smaller boy. Dean thought back to Jefferson High and how Sam had done the same thing. Surprisingly, Dean didn't feel the bitter pull of loss at the thought of Sam. Somehow, looking at Ben and hearing his story seemed to ease some of the pain of loosing his brother. In those first days Dean tried to ignore how much Ben reminded him of himself. But once Cas showed up and confirmed Dean's suspicions he not only saw himself in Ben but he also saw traces of Sam, Adam and John. The little looks or gestures that reminded Dean of his brothers and father helped Dean deal with their deaths. They were still around in his son.

Whe Dean told Lisa he wanted them all to move in with Bobby she was hesitant. Lisa didn't want Dean to be with her and Ben out of some stupid sense of obligation. They got into a huge fight. Neither of them was willing to back down and neither of them was listening to the other. Dean stopped bacing suddenly in front of Lisa and took hold of her shoulders. "Lisa! I didn't come here because I knew Ben is out son. I came here because I love you! I need you! I'm tired of hunting and I want to come home. You're my home Lisa, you and Ben. Please let me come home!" Dean pulled Lisa to him and kissed her. It was a kiss of desperation and pleading at first. But as Lisa slid her arms around Dean it became a kiss of love and acceptance. Dean was truly home. that was the first night since his return that Dean and Lisa together. And according to Lisa it was the night Gabe was conceived.

Dean had felt so lost and adrift after Sam and Adam had gone into the pit. But now he had a purpose again. Dean has once told Sam that looking out for Sam was who Dean was. Loosing Sam had been like loosing Dean's reason to live. So now Dean did what he always did, he pushed his own problems down and focused on his family. And this time Dean was determined to get it right. He wasn't going to let Lisa and Ben down like he had let his father and brothers down.

Present day.

Lisa and their sons were Dean's life. He would not allow anyone or anything to threaten them. Dean's days as a hunter were mostly behind him. Now he hunted only the most dangerous creatures for Cas. Or to train Ben. Dean had never been a fool; he knew what was out ther in the dark and he knew his sons needed to be prepared. If Rufus and the others were right and this mysterious hunter might be Sam, the Dean had no choice. He had to hunt him down. He had to know the truth. This guy might be huntind evil sons-a-bitches and saving young hunters but Dean needed to know for sure that whoever or whatever he was, he wasn't a threat to Dean's family. It didn't occur to Dean that he wasn't including this possible 'Sam' as part of his family. Dean considered the unkown hunter a danger until proven otherwise.

If it was Sam, Dean was toing to royally kick his ass, then bring him home to meet his nephews. It if wasn't Sam, or if it was some sort of an evil version of Sam, Dean would kill it, not just send it back to hell. There was no place on earth it would be safe from Dean.

Cas stood on the roof looking down at Ben. The boy as sleeping fitfully. Cas touched Ben's forehead and sent him into a deep, dreamless sleep. The Cas lifted Ben up and carried him inside and put him in bed. Cas felf uneasy himself so he sat at the foot of Ben's bed to watch (and guard) the boy.

Dean walked through the salvage yard and then made a circuit around the house before going inside. When he entered the house through the locked back door, his boot skidded over a line of salt. Dean re-laid the sald and checked a few windows. Every window and door were locked and salted. Dean went to Bobby's bedroom off the library to thank him for taking the precautions but Bobby's room was empty. Dean found the hunter sitting in his old recliner that was pulled in front of the stairs. Next to the chair was a small table with bottles of holy water and several boxes of rock salt shotgun shells. Across Bobby's lap lay his shot gun. Dean tried not to wake Bobby as he squeezed past the recliner to get to the stais. Without opening his eyes, Bobby said, "Make some noise before you get to the top of the stairs on that old fool up there just might blow your head off."

Dean smiled as he shook his head, and the stomped up the rest of the stairs. In the middle of the hall was another old recliner. Rufus had taken his boots off and was reclining with a shot gun across his lap. He also had a supply of holy water and rock salt shells. Rufus opened one eye and glared at Dean. "Shush up you fool before you wake those babies of yours." As Dean passed Rufus he reached down and squeezed the hunter's shoulder. As long as there was breath left in Bobby and Rufus nothing would get past them. Dean tried to hold back the tears of love and gratitude, but they spilled over once he saw Can sitting at the foot of his son's bed.

Lisa looked up from nursing Gabe as Dean entered their bedroom. She smiled and asked, "How'd you get past the guard posts?"

Dean chuckled as he closed the door. "It wasn't easy." he knelt nesxt to the rocker and wrapped his arm around Lisa's shoulders as he watched their infant son nurse. When Gabe was finished eating, Dean took him from Lisa and burped him. While Lisa was in the bathroom, Dean got undressed and settled into bed with Gabe. Lisa shook her head when she returned. She sometimes wondered why they even had a crib. The she smiled. There were plenty of nights when Gabe spent most of the night in his crib.

Once the three of them were settled in bed and the lights were out Lisa took a deep breath. "You're leaving in the morning." It wasn't a question. Dean tightened his arms around her and Gabe and nodded. "You're going alone." Another nod. "Pleas Dean, take Cas."

"No, I want him here with you and the boys. he'll just be a phone call away if I need him." Dean could feel Lisa tensing up for an argument. "Lisa, I need to know you and the boys are well protected. I can't be worrying about you while I'm hunting." This time it was Lisa who nodded. Leaving would be hard but knowing his family was protected by some of the fiercest fighters he had ever know would allow Dean to keep his head in the game and not get distracted. A heavy silence filled the room. There was nothing left to say. Dean started planning the hunt. Lisa decided not to tell him about the new baby. Both quietly cried for what might be lost.