Jim couldn't believe what he was seeing or hearing. His friend had not only willingly jumped off a cliff into a river to get away from them, but took his youngest son with him. Now they all stood there trying to see if they could find Sam, but was not having any luck in their search. "Come on, we can follow down river and see if we see him." He said, hoping that if they actually started to look, they would be able to keep Dean from doing something drastic and getting himself hurt too. The last thing that Sam needed was for his big brother to be out of commission.

They had been following the bank, alternating keeping an eye on John and his progress across the river, and watching for any sign of Sammy. Dean hated this plan, but had to admit that it was better than trying to search blindly for him in the water, when the chances were greater that he had been carried further downstream. Looking back over at his dad, Dean was furious. How anyone could casually let one of their children go into a river and not even try to look for them, he couldn't understand. If it was him, he'd have drowned himself trying. In fact, if it hadn't been for his friends holding him back, he'd be freezing to death in the water searching, instead of trying to find any sign of where the current took him. That thought made him stop in his tracks and look at his father again, it was as if John knew that Sammy was ok; but how…. "Damn! It was a setup!" he yelled and started looking around to take in their position, seeing the first cabin that his father had gone to.

"HEY!" Caleb yelled, looking past the cabin. Once everyone turned their attention up the hill past the small structure they could see a person quickly making their way back the direction that their group had come from. "Ah hell… you have got to be kidding me!"

As they took off in the direction of the diner, Bobby groaned "I should have known… there's no way John would have led us to them without a backup plan."

Stephen wasn't too sure what was going on, but he had a theory, and it wouldn't be popular. As they continued to run after the drenched figure, he voiced his thoughts "Why would the kid be carrying more baggage than what he went into the river with?"

The answer hit Dean hard. The plan wasn't to keep Sammy out of their clutches, but to give him a chance to get whatever was in those bags that he was dragging with him. Furious, he tried to push his anger into getting to his brother faster, but it didn't seem to be working. Although they were closing the distance, they also knew that if he made it to a car then he'd have another head start on them.

It wasn't until they made it to the diner that they knew their suspicions were correct. Bobby's truck came to life and peeled out of the parking lot towards the road leading to the bridge. Knowing that Bobby was really pissed now, Dean tried to refrain from being proud of his brother about the speed and skill he had in hotwiring cars; but damn it was hard.

Caleb ran ahead and yelled "Dean, go… we'll catch up… I'll get Tracy's keys!" then he was gone.

Dean didn't need anymore encouragement than that. He knew that Bobby had a strong engine in his truck, and the rental they got wouldn't be a match for it, but he wasn't going to give up without a fight. They were on the road before anyone even touched a seatbelt, speeding down the road hoping that Sammy would have to stop for something anything to give them a chance to catch up. They had just crossed the bridge when they saw Bobby's truck slide to a stop and Sammy jump out, grab the bags, and jump into the Impala without even bothering to turn off the truck or shut the door.

Looking over at Joseph, Dean tossed his phone to him. "Call Jim, tell him what's going on, that we need to find a way to box them in." He didn't check to see if his friend was doing it or not, he kept his concentration on the car ahead of him. He knew that his dad would try to keep it on a straightaway so the Impala's engine would get them out of town faster, but Dean knew that while they were still in the neighborhood areas, the rental would be able to handle the turns better. Not that he was dissing the other car, he just knew that the suspensions were different, and the newer cars were designed to handle the cities better than the older muscle cars. Although if he allowed his mind to drift, he would have admitted that hearing that engine purr was like music to his ears, and he had dreamed of that sound for years… yeah, if he allowed his mind to drift. No way was that happening, not right now.

John took a corner too fast and slid into a parked car, but continued on as if Hell Hounds were after him. Dean knew that if his dad was doing that, then he really had lost it. That car meant more to him than anything, and he often wondered if it meant more to him than anyone besides his mother.

"Caleb said they're trying to get in front of us from the other side, but to be careful because there has been trouble with the train tracks lately." Joseph said, not wanting to distract his friend too much, but knew that Dean's attention was already fractured. Between worrying about his little brother, seeing first hand how crazy his dad was, and trying to keep on the road while driving a cheap domestic rental… yeah, fractured was definitely a description to use. Glancing back to the rest of their little group, he could that they were having the same thoughts. There was no way, that there was going to be a good ending to this.

They continued to follow, barely keeping the Impala in sight, and on the occasions that they did lose it, they all made sure that they watched closely to make sure that John didn't veer off to another road. Finally though, Dean's worst fear came about; John hit a straightaway and floored it. Barely seeing the car joining them in their pursuit, Dean dodged the other car and gave them enough room to stay on the road as they all raced down the road towards the edge of town.

"DAMNIT!" Taylor yelled, pointing off to the side bringing everyone's attention to what he saw.

Caleb's warning echoed in the men's head. Train tracks, cutting at an angle in front of them. No, this could not end well.

Dean barely glanced at what the problem was and when he saw the train heading towards where his family was going; it felt as if his stomach had totally dropped to the ground. Honking, he was hoping to distract his father, or maybe get Sammy's attention at the danger they were heading for. Instead, the Impala surged ahead faster, until it made it to the tracks, breaking through the barriers just as the train had arrived to the beginning of the crossing.

The sound of breaks screeching to a halt from both the train and the two vehicles that were chasing the Impala, echoed for what seemed forever. Finally the sound of the trains engines were the only thing that could be heard until the occupants of the cars got out and started running to the tracks.

'OH GOD OH GOD OH MY EVER LOVING GOD NOOOOOO!' Dean thought as he slid to a stop in front of the train. Not wanting to look, but not able to not look, he fell to his knees to see…. Nothing. They weren't there. No mangled mess, no parts lying around, no bodies strewn everywhere. Nothing… they made it, they got away. Dean sat there trying to pull in a breath into his uncooperative lungs, but he was feeling like something was sitting on his chest. It wasn't until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder pushing him backwards that he realized that someone was talking to him, trying to get him to calm down, but all he could see was the whole scene over and over again but this time, his eleven year old little brother dying in his arms asking why he wasn't there.

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Jim had insisted that everyone eat dinner with him at the rectory, and no one was going to take a chance at making the priest mad. So, everyone sat at the table and did their best to eat what was in front of them. The police had been informed about what was going on, and an APB had been put out for John and Sam, but none of them had faith that the duo would be found; it wasn't the first time they had eluded the law.

Finally Caleb couldn't take it anymore, he knew that his friends were hurting, but they needed to find a bright side to this otherwise they all were going to go insane. "At least we know he's still alive, right? So, we'll keep looking for him, and next time we'll be more prepared that he runs like a gazelle instead of the klutz we used to know."

Dean snorted at that picture, his brother a gazelle. Well, he'd never thought of it that way, but yeah, the kid could run. Sighing, he pushed his plate to the side. "I'm staying." He said, wishing he didn't have to, wishing that his Sammy was sitting with them safe and sound. "You guys can go back, tell the Colonel whatever you need to, but I'm staying until Sammy's back."

Everyone watched as Dean got up and walked outside. Not knowing what to say, they all sat there in stunned silence. For Dean to go AWOL, that seemed to make everything that Sammy had gone through a waste; not that it was really good, but it shouldn't be for nothing. "Oh like Hell!" Stephen growled as he got up and went after Dean. It wasn't long until the argument was in full swing and the occupants inside couldn't help but hear.

"So that's it? You're going to give everything up just so you might be able to find you're brother? Then what? Let's say you do go AWOL, then you find him… who's going to take care of him? Can't be you, 'cause your ass will be behind bars for desertion."

"Look, you don't get it! We were this close and we lost them. I know I can find them…"

"Well good for you, it's only been three years since you started searching, and your hunter friends here have their whole network looking, but you're just going to walk in and find him. Bravo! Too bad you haven't been able to do that, yet."

The sound of fist hitting face resounded through the night, and made a couple of people inside the house cringe, the rest smirked and nodded; yep, don't piss him off when he's already mad.

Stephen wasn't going to give up; in fact he was going to push harder. "What shape do you think he's going to be in when we find him? Do you really think he's going to jump in you're arms and everything's going to be ok? You're smarter than that Dean. We've seen what happens to people in these type situations, you know how badly this could go."

By this time, Taylor and Joseph had joined them. "Dean, were all in this together, when we find him, we'll all help to make sure he's ok. You have to have something for him to go to though. We have less than a year before we decide to re-enlist, or do something else. Don't throw it away. Give it another year, we'll get Katie to help us find him and if we still haven't done it, then we'll all resign and find him together." Joseph was adamant. There was no way he was going to let his friend give up on building that life he'd dreamt of for his little brother.

Looking at his friends, Dean didn't know what to say. It was no secret that he'd been stashing money away for when he found Sammy. He'd expected to have found him by now, but the dream was still the same; he and his little brother against the world, and when his time in the Corps was up they'd decide what to do together, whether it was stay in or settle down somewhere, his Sammy was going to be in the decision. His Sammy was going to have a choice.

Nodding, they went back inside and sat back down. Bobby cleared his throat and looked at Dean. "I agree with your friends. Sam's not just going to wake up from this unharmed Dean, and I think you know that. The question is are you going to be ready to give him what he really needs when we get him back."

Caleb looked over the group and nodded his agreement. "Look, you know that none of us are going to give up… EVER, but you have to make sure that you don't lose what ground you've already gained. Let's say that we get him back, how are you going to legally keep him unless you have a home for him, a steady job, and a way to take care of him. You've never shirked your duties to him, this hasn't changed anything. You're still his big brother, and we're still going to find him."

Jim took out a box from the fridge and put it on the table. "I was sure today was the day too Dean." He said with tears in his eyes.

Dean nodded and opened the box showing a cake neatly decorated in red, white, and blue with the words "HAPPY 15TH BIRTHDAY SAMMY" neatly written.

"Happy birthday little brother, be safe."

AN: Hope you liked this... let me know!