Author's Note: Still not Eric Kripke, so I still don't own Supernatural. The reason I'm updating in such quick succession is to get further into the story before I slow down. . So if any of the writing seems forced that's why.Thank you for the reviews and Thanks for reading. – Jess

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As Sam made his way out of his last class to meet Adam, he was thinking about what he'd said at lunch. Was it really that weird that he didn't go anywhere after school? He always thought of it like a job, hunting. He'd have to train for it like any other job, and it took time away from other things, like hanging out with friends. The more he thought about, realized it wasn't that big of a deal, because he'd never really asked to ditch out on hunting for a friend. Now that he had one, maybe he could do the hanging out bit.

Sam was knocked from his thoughts when he was pulled into a corner, away from prying eyes.

Ah, man. Thought they'd let me go today.

This wasn't the first time Sam had been pulled in this direction. The varsity basketball team enjoyed picking on the underclassmen almost as much as loved a winning season.

"So Whinechester, you got a friend finally?"

The team's laugher at the pathetic pun interrupted the taunt.

"Too bad he's not here. He actually looks like he could put up a decent fight." The captain said while grabbing the front of Sam's shirt

"Shut up and leave him out of it Mark!" Was Sam's lame attempt to ward the older boy off

"Little Sammy boy here thinks he can play in the big leagues? Well I don't think so." Mark pulled back his other hand ready to punch the sophomore in the face, when he was pulled off.

"Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing? Picking on someone younger, just 'cause you can?"

Sam couldn't see his rescuer, but had a pretty good idea who it was.

"Shove off Cooper. We were just going to hurt him a little. You can have him back after that. You two can go play house or whatever it is you queers like to do." Mark was on the floor as soon as he finished his sentence. Adam stood over him, casting a dirty look over him. Adam threw a questioning look his way. He only nodded to confirm he was fine.

"Ward, don't mess with him. He's off limits."

"Whatever, just because you played well in Phoenix, doesn't mean you'll be able to make it here."

Mark got up and motioned to his team mates.

"Come one guys, wouldn't want to intrude on the couple." He left those parting words, while his team followed behind.

Adam watched them walk away with a scowl on his face. Turning to Sam he offered his hand, which had somehow in all the action slid down the wall.

"You okay there?"

"Uh, yeah, that was weird. No one ever stops them."

Adam looked at Sam before he answered back.

"Well they should. Why didn't you do anything about it?"

"My dad doesn't want me fighting at school."

Or against humans…

Sam just picked his things up as Adam waited. They headed out the doubles doors, and Sam broke the quiet.

"What made you come and look for me?"

"I didn't see you waiting at the tree and my last class is the furthest away, so I figured you got held up at your locker or something. But as I see, it wasn't your locker that was holding you up."

"Oh. Well thanks. I usually don't have to deal with them all that often, just a few taunts."

They stopped talking while they walked until Sam got bored.

"Sooo… you play basketball?"

"Mmhhmm, I play. I used to play varsity in Phoenix. I don't know how they found out I played, but I'm not planning on joining up here."

"Oh." Sam paused "I don't know much about you. What's your family like?"

There was a few seconds of silence before Adam answered.

"Well, my mom is a vet for the next town over. My dad is a cover artist for a publishing company, he does the cover art for books, you know? And I don't have any brothers or sisters, kind of boring really. What about you Winchester?"

"My dad is a free lance mechanic and my brother, Dean, sometimes helps him out."

"What about your mom?"

"She died when I was a baby."

Adam looked stricken.

"Ah, shit man. I didn't mean to bring that up."

Sam just grinned and laughed. He explained that it didn't really bother him, since he was never able to remember her. They walked for about ten more minutes before reaching the older boy's house.

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It was a medium sized house, painted blue with navy shutters. It even had the picket fence. It was the perfect normal family house; Sam could even spot a dog house in the back. It made him want to laugh at normalcy of it all. He looked to Adam and found the blue gaze locked onto him.

"It looks kind hokey, doesn't it?" Adam didn't wait for a response "Never mind, I already know. Well it looks like my mom is home, so we'll have to do the meet and greet. When can go up to my room and hang out after that."

"Okay."

Adam lead Sam into the foyer. Sam spotted nick knacks all around, a few photos hung on the wall, and boxes were piled in the corner.

I guess they really haven't had much time to unpack

"Mom! I'm home, and I brought Sam with me!" Adam called out to his mom

"I'm in the kitchen!"

"Come on Sam."

Sam was pulled by Adam who had a hold of his wrist. They passed down a hall littered with packing paper and smaller boxes. When they passed into the kitchen he saw what had to be his new friend's mom. She had lighter hair than her son, but they both had the same blue hued eyes.

"Sam, glad to meet you, Adam said you might be joining us. Sorry about the mess, we got here over the weekend, and haven't had time to unpack, what with enrolling Adam into school."

"That's alright Mrs. Cooper. I know how long it takes to get settled when you move." Sam's charm coming out full force

"Well now that you've met, we're going to go upstairs for a while. Call us down when dinner's ready."

Adam once again grabbed Sam's wrist leading him to the stairs. The woman's voice carried a warning to them not to be too noisy when playing those video games of theirs. They just looked at each other and laughed

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Dean drove away from the school feeling better about leaving Sam. He never enjoyed leaving his baby brother home alone, especially with the prospect of his father and himself not being there to keep an eye on him. For some reason his brother always attracted the big Nasties. Whenever they left him by himself, there was an 80 chance he was going to get hurt.

Oh well, he's old enough to take precautions.

Dean pulled the car into their small driveway, parked and climbed out. He was half way to the door before his dad opened it up and headed out.

"You ready?"

Dean just shrugged, he didn't have to respond.

"Well let's go."

John opened the passenger's door and climbed in. Dean followed suit.

"So we just picking up the shells in Shenandoah and heading over to Harlan for a good old fashioned Salt 'N' burn?"

"Seems like it. Like I said it might get tricky if we take too long. People tend to not like it when you mess with their bones. Plus I'd like to be home when Sammy gets there."

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Dean had been driving for half an hour before they reached the old Earth store. Getting out of the car, they headed into the cottage. A small bell chimed when they entered.

"I'm gonna look around, see if anything's new. Never know when you might run across a new amulet. Will you go get Rain so she can get the Cat's Eye shells out of the back?"

"Sure Dad, Oh, she's got that sweet little tank top on again." Dean said as he spotted her

My son has no sense.

Turns out that there was nothing new, so John just walked up to the counter, nudging the semi-drooling Dean out of the way.

"Sorry about him, Rain."

"It's no problem John, this it?" She opened the old till to her left

"Yup. Well thanks. We'll probably see you again pretty soon."

"Alright, see you then. Bye Dean."

"Heh, see you later Rain. You should always wear that top." Dean was cut off from complimenting the older woman by his dad dragging him out the door.

John threw a farewell out before closing the door to the shop.

"Aww… Dad, I was finally wearing her down."

John looked at his son amused.

"Whatever you say Dean, let's just get this over with.

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The carpenter had been murdered about a hundred years ago. His family had been too poor to bury him in a cemetery. Luckily for the Winchesters, they didn't have to wait for the sun to go down to be avoided. The family's land had been sold to a young couple willing to believe about anything. They just had to get the bones from the back yard and burn them. Simple right?

Dean flew across the lawn. Having been thrown from watching over his dad as he dug up the grave, as soon as the lid to the make shift coffin had been opened the smell of Ozone was present. Reaching for the salt to pass to his dad, Dean felt a powerful push.

"Dean! You okay?"

Owwwww….

"Yeah!"

"Well hurry up and be careful. Pass me the salt and gasoline, we need to get this over with and home to Sammy."

Dean picked himself up, carefully watching for signs of the enraged spirit. Edging over the hole, he handed to items to his dad. As soon as the items left his hands he was once again thrown back onto the lawn.

Ugh, that's going to hurt so bad in the morning.

Dean was picked up from his prone position coming face to face with the old Irishman.

Oh shit.

When Dean thought he was going to be thrown once again, he was dropped. He looked up and saw the ghost bursting into flame. It's haunting scream the only thing that remained, and even that faded.

"You okay there Dean? It looked like it got you pretty good."

"Yeah, just a few bruises, nothing major." Dean said while getting to his feet.

It was true he hadn't been very injured this time. Mostly due to the fact the spirit wasn't very strong. He looked out at the sky dusk was already here.

"Dad, think we can make it home tonight in time?"

John looked at his watch. He knew Harlan was a good fifty miles from Red Oak, but figured a little late was better than not showing up at all.

"Yeah, let's head home. We can stop somewhere on the way, for dinner if you like."

"Nah, we still have leftovers from last night. Besides, I know you hate leaving Sam by himself."

John only answered with an "I'm not the only one."

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After about an hour or so they'd finally gotten home. It was about 8:30 when they'd passed the city limits.

John was the first to open the door to car. He waited for Dean to get out before heading into the house. He opened the door and was met with a dark and quiet house.

Hmm…

"Sam! You home?"

Dean had finally come into the house. Noticing the lack of little brother, he also called out.

"Sammy?"

They were met with silence.

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Heh, cliffhanger of sorts. I don't know much about Iowa, so I don't know if the distances are accurate or not. This story is still un-beta'd to forgive any mistakes. Also if there are plot holes please tell me.