With a Chance of Severe Weather
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: see chapter 1

It was a tedious drive, the five miles from Martha Hazelwood's house back toward his farm, but Jim Murphy went as fast as he safely could which at top speed was about twenty miles an hour. Once out of the elderly woman's neighborhood the rural road was littered with trees and branches. A feeling of dread started to fill Jim's soul as he drew closer to his home; the destruction seemed to be worse as he neared the farm. When he came within a mile of his place the Pastor had pull his truck off the side of the road, the path before him was completely blocked with downed trees. He walked a few yards further and found himself looking at the clear pathway that only a tornado could cause as nearly all the trees on the right and left side of the road were laid over. "Oh God." the Preacher whispered out as he could tell from years of living in the area, the direction the destruction followed led right toward his farm.

Jim ran back to his truck and grabbed the duffle bag from behind the seat where he kept a first-aid kit and extra blanket. Slamming the door he started to pick his way down the road, he knew he had about a miles walk and on a normal day it wouldn't be a problem, but with all the debris he knew it would take him some time to finally reach the end of his drive. So with the overwhelming need to get to the boys Jim took off at a cautious jog, praying the boys were okay.

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The closer John and Mac got to Jim's farm the worse the area looked, the only good thing was the area was rural and houses were set farther apart, lessening the chance of wide-spread damage, but of course that didn't ease the mind of the two father's who were desperately trying to reach their children. It was about a half-mile from the small road that led to Jim's farm when John had to pull the Impala over on the side of the road, unable to go any further. "Looks like we walk from here." He told Mac as he shut off the car. Years in the military followed with years of hunting had caused John to be a prepared man, but nothing prepared him for the sight that lay before him and Mac, looking a few hundred yards down the road the men could make out the opening up in the tree line, showing where a tornado had crossed the road.

Exiting the car John and Mac rounded to the trunk, John grabbing the duffle that contained a few of his weapons, but more importantly the first-aid kit he carried. Mac grabbed the backpack that housed the traveling doctor's office of supplies he carried in his kit. Slamming the trunk, both men started off down the road at a steady pace, dodging the downed trees that littered their way.

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It had only been a few minutes since they had set off down the road, when John and Mac saw another person approaching from the opposite direction "Is that Jim?" Mac asked as both men slowed a little to take in the other person.

"Maybe." John again picked-up his pace as they neared Jim's drive.

"Mackland? Jonathon?" Jim called out as he noticed two men approaching, surprised to see the two hunters. Once he could tell it was them he felt a little relief.

"Jim!" John yelled out as the three men came to a stop, "What are you doing out here, where are the boys?"

"I went to visit a neighbor, I left Caleb in charge." Jim said as fear and worry crossed the faces of the father's before him. "I didn't know…" Guilt started to settle over Jim, he knew he couldn't control the weather, but the fact the boys should be safe with him started to overwhelm him.

John took off down the drive, "We need to get to them." he shouted over his shoulder as the other two men fell in behind him.

Mac glanced at Jim as they ran, "It's not your fault, you can't predict the weather." The Doctor feared for his son, but he couldn't let his friend take blame for something that clearly wasn't his fault.

"Oh my God!" Jim and Mac nearly ran into the back of John as he abruptly stopped. Each man stepping up to stand next to the former Marine as the Triad took in the site before them.

It looked as if every window in the old farmhouse had been blown out and they could see several items that would normally be inside the house scattered cross the farm. Jim could see curtains hanging outside the windows as the wind blew through the structure. Slowly the men picked their way across the yard, as they neared the house they could see much of the siding on the building had been ripped off as well as most of the shingles and some of the roofing it's self. Mac stopped and knelt down picking up a muddy chemistry text book that he recognized as Caleb's. He had been so proud of his son as the teen seemed to finally be taking his schooling serious, discussing dreams of going to college, maybe majoring in Architecture.

About twenty feet away John froze in place, Jim coming to stand beside him as the younger man bent down, picking up a ragged, mud covered Woobee. Sammy's much loved stuffed animal that he normally didn't go anywhere without. "Sammy?" John whispered so faintly that if Jim wasn't beside him he would have never heard. The young father suddenly took off in a dead run for the house, "Sammy! Dean!" running through the now missing screen door, Jim and Mac followed the younger man as he ran through the destroyed house, heading toward the door that led to the basement. Jerking the door open, clearly expecting to see his big, browned-eyed five-year old with a smirking green-eyed nine-year old wanting to know what all the fuss was about, John almost deflated as his hit the bottom step, the room was empty.

"Caleb!" Mac headed back up the stairs, like John he expected to see his son's golden gaze meet his worried one, but when that didn't happen Mac felt his heart constrict, if the boys were able to let them know where they were they would have and that terrified the Doctor.

John had come back up the stairs, racing to the second floor, thinking maybe the boys had hidden somewhere up there, but his pounding footsteps coming back down told the other two men that the boys were not in the house. "Where the hell are they?" John didn't do panic, he did pissed and the fear he was feeling was fueling his anger at not being able to find the boys.

"The barn!" Jim turned and headed back out the door, racing around the side of the house, sliding to a stop as he took in the structure that once stood three hundred feet from the house, but was now only a pile of rubble.

The three men took off running toward the demolished building, "Caleb! Dean! Sammy!" The echo's of the men over shouting one another as they ran, sounded across the farm.

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It had seemed like hours since the barn had fell in around them and Caleb had yet to move. Only the steady pulse and rhythmic rise and fall of his chest kept Dean's panic at bay. Sammy had finally succumbed to the down side of the adrenaline rush and fell asleep against his brother, the small child's head resting on the older boy's leg. Dean found himself running his fingers through his brother's longer brown hair as well as keeping his other hand on the center of Caleb's chest.

To some adults Dean shouldn't be as cynical as he was for as young as he was, but since the age of four his life had been turned on end and he had already seen to many things in his nine years to believe in anything other than himself, his father and those few people he let into his world; that being Caleb, Mac, Pastor Jim and occasionally Bobby Singer. To Dean there wasn't a place for God in the world his family now lived in, he couldn't understand Pastor Jim's unwavering belief with all he was sure the older man had seen, but a small part of the child wanted to hold on to that, no matter what his mind told him. So taking a deep breath, looking from his baby brother, and his unconscious best friend Dean closed his eyes and bowed his head. "God…It's Dean…Dean Winchester, look I know I don't always believe you are there watching over everyone like Pastor Jim says. I mean if you were I'd still have my mom, Damien would still his mom and dad too, so I know you might not think much of me either, but Jim says you listen to those who need help. Well I guess this would count as one of those times." Dean swallowed the emotion he could feel building in his throat, "I'm scared…" He whispered, "I don't know what to do. Caleb won't wake up and Sammy's scared even if he doesn't realize it and I don't know what to do to help. I can't get us out of this mess and I don't know when Dad or Jim or Mac are gonna be back…"The small boy felt a tear escape his eye, but didn't brush it away. "I don't want Caleb to die down here and I need to get Sammy out of this too, so…" He cleared his throat, "If you could help me out I'd really appreciate it, I mean I'd understand If you didn't, but I hope you'd understand I be pissed at you the rest of my life." Dean removed his hand, for a second, from Caleb's chest to rub it over his face, "Anyway, please God, we need some help."

As the young boy laid his hand back onto the teen's chest he heard the faint shouting of his name, along with Caleb's and Sammy's. He could make out the shouts of his father, Mac and Jim as it sounded like they were getting closer. He gently shook his brother, "Sammy, wake up, Dad's here."

"Daddy? Where?" Sammy rubbed his eyes as another muffled shouting of their names was heard.

"DAD! DAD WE'RE DOWN HERE! IN THE BARN!" Dean shouted as loud as he could as Sammy clung to him.

"DEAN!" John's voice was much closer, but not close enough to where the child could see his father. "Dean are you all right, is Sammy and Caleb with you?"

"Sammy and me are okay, Dad Caleb's hurt, he won't wake up!" Dean shouted back, still noting all the noise hadn't raised the teen.

"We're gonna try and get you out, you boys sit tight!" John could be heard mumbling to someone else and Dean could only assume it was Jim and Mac.

The young boy gently kissed the top of his baby brother's head, then squeezed Caleb's hand, "Helps here Damien, just hold on a little longer." Then Dean glanced upward and whispered, "Thank you."