Title: And There You Were

Author: ArianaKnightly

Rating: T

Characters: Sam, Dean, Mary, John, Bobby, YED, Lisa, etc.

Summary: Pre-series AU; Mary isn't killed in a nursery fire, but when Sam is five years old, the YED returns to collect his soldier. Twelve years later, just as it seems like the Winchesters are truly moving on from the tragedy that occurred that night, Bobby calls with disconcerting news, forcing Mary's family into the life she had tried so hard to escape from.

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.

Reviews are appreciated!

Note: I'm not sure how this chapter will go over, and it was a bit harder to write than the previous three chapters. Let me know if there's anything you find interesting or if there's something that doesn't quite fit. I hope you like it!

CHAPTER FOUR

Bobby had never met Sam Winchester, but he felt as though he knew the kid better than any supernatural creature he'd researched during his hunting career. In the three years he had spent with the Winchesters, he had heard countless stories of the child, seen hundreds of pictures of him, and had felt the humid grief that had soaked into the walls of the Winchester home.

And now, there was some kid sitting in front of him, claiming to be someone named Sam who had a brother named Dean. Almost choking on his words, Bobby voiced his first reasonable thought. "Why am I on this list you've got? Who else is on it?"

Sam shrugged helplessly. "The majority of the names on my list are of families who lost a young son about twelve years ago. It's a pretty long list, considering I don't know the exact date, season, or region I was taken from. Hell, I don't even know my own age. I could have been taken anywhere from three to six years old."

"Kid, I can tell ya here and now that I never had a son."

"Uh, yeah… I've also got several hunters listed on there. Researchers. People who know the supernatural."

"How do you know about hunters?" Mary was a hunter of sorts, back before she had met John. But Bobby knew for a fact that she had never revealed her past life to anyone in her family. Not to her children, not to John. If this was Sam, he'd been forced to trade a childhood of love and safety for whatever hell he'd grown up in—one where he couldn't ignore the beings that slinked around in the dark. The depression in Bobby's chest sunk a bit deeper; he wished he had some whiskey on the table. There was plenty of the good stuff in the basement, but he had this feeling that if he went down there, Sam would follow him, find his exorcism equipment and safe room, then grab Hallie and run from the freaky psycho who looked to have a torture chamber in his basement. Plus, he wasn't sure it was a good idea to show off his bad habits in front of two very impressionable young children.

At least, that's what he told himself.

Hallie was the one who piped up in reply to Bobby's question. She pushed her finished oatmeal away and looked Bobby in the eyes, unabashed. "We lived with demons for twelve years, dumb butt. Of course we know about the supernatural. And they were always complaining about hunters. Sayin' how useless you all were."

Snorting, Bobby pushed back his chair and turned around to get some coffee prepared. "Sure sounds like demons to me."

"Have you heard of them?" Sam asked out of nowhere, causing Bobby to put the coffee pot back down and turn around to see the reluctant hope scattered across the boy's face.

"What?"

"Those people I described. My brother. My mother."

Bobby's mind urged him to say that he had. That, by pure chance, Sam had run into his long lost family's closest friend. That his family was alive, that his brother Dean was happy and with the girl of his dreams, that he hadn't been forgotten. But Bobby couldn't do that, because if he was wrong, he could snap five lives in half, including his own. "Sorry, son."

Sam visibly stiffened, as did Hallie, who gripped Sam's hand in support. "Please don't call me that," the boy mumbled.

"You don't like being called 'son'?"

"The demons called us their sons and daughters. For a while, they had me convinced that I was actually the son of some damned demon."

With no idea as to how he should reply to such a statement, Bobby turned back to his task of fixing up a new batch of coffee. "Alright, boy. I guess I'll just call ya… Sam."

Hallie was curled up on Bobby's couch, eyes at half-mast as she tried not to fall asleep. Every time Bobby or Sam ventured near her and gently asked if she would like to go sleep in Bobby's guest room, she would halfheartedly sit up a bit straighter and yawn as she claimed to be wide awake. Bobby had offered to just scoop her up and carry her upstairs, but Sam had advised against it, explaining that the little girl could throw a screaming fit rivaling those of demons during an exorcism. Bobby had acquiesced to the girl and was now showing Sam around his extensive library.

It was only nine in the morning, but Bobby could tell the boy, who was currently trailing his fingers along the spines of the books in awe, was holding back a gaping yawn.

Bobby caught himself zoning out and surreptitiously balanced himself against the shelves. He almost sighed as he acknowledged to himself that if he didn't get some sleep soon, he'd end up sleeping on a pile of books. "Hey, kid, I only got a few hours of sleep last night. What do ya say about turnin' in? You don't look too rosy yourself."

For a moment, it seemed as though Sam hadn't heard Bobby's proposal. The boy pulled out a book and began to flip through it. As he stopped at a particular chapter, he looked up and spoke, snapping the book shut and keeping it close to his side. "Yes, sir. Is it alright if I get Hallie's and my stuff from our truck first?"

"Sure, Sam. Here, I'll come and help ya."

Sam's face darkened as he shook his head. "It's really not much stuff. We share a duffel."

"One duffel?"

"Yeah… we went to this place that gave people free stuff. Got some clothes. A couple of toys and a brush for Hal. Plus, the duffel."

Bobby hadn't realized that these two kids didn't have anything they could claim for themselves that hadn't come from the goodness—or ignorance—of other people. The truck was stolen, all their clothes and necessities donated. It reminded him of the Winchesters when they'd first bought their second house after the fire. They hadn't had any furniture or pictures or toys and only a few pairs of clothes some friends had given them. It had been months before they had bought new furniture. Probably the worst part of losing Sam for the Winchesters had been that fact that the fire didn't just take their son—it took everything that Sam had ever touched, owned, or loved. If John hadn't sent his mother copies of Sam and Dean's pictures, they wouldn't even have had that comfort.

"Uh… Bobby? I'm going to go get the bag now."

Absent-mindedly nodding, Bobby waved the boy away. After hearing the door swing shut behind the boy, Bobby's gaze landed on the phone topping his desk. He could call Mary right now. No, not Mary. She would drop everything and fly out to South Dakota, which would mean John was coming, too. As a fully qualified hunter, Bobby didn't want to admit that he feared John's retribution if this Sam turned out to not be their Sam.

He did feel as though he needed another hunter nearby, though. Something wasn't right about what was going on with this kid. And if Sam was telling the truth, the demon coming after the kid wasn't going to give up easily. Chances were that Sam wouldn't be safe for very long.

He could always call Pastor Jim, who had run Mary and John's wedding, and had watched Mary grow up. Before Sam's death, the Winchester family had gone to visit the pastor a few times a year, but Bobby doubted that the pastor had heard much from the Winchesters since Sam's funeral. Plus, Jim lived all the way in Minnesota. Caleb was the only other hunter he could think of who knew about Sam. He had also been like a younger brother to Mary. However, the man had gone off the grid when Dean had been about twelve years old. Bobby no longer had his cell number and had only seen him twice in the nine years Caleb been on the road.

No. For now, Bobby was on his own. If he got substantial proof, he'd contact Dean. Dean would be sensible. He would be cautious about telling his parents and wouldn't get his hopes up too high.

Although he had put on a brave face to appease his brother, David would much rather have spent the evening at home with his girlfriend Ivy, watching Pearl Harbor for the millionth time. Instead, here he was, the only sober member of their small group. He was pissed that Joseph had gotten Ivy drunk, and even more pissed that Joseph had given him the wrong directions to get home and they were now making their way down unfamiliar streets—unfamiliar to David, at least.

"Man, straighten up for a minute, will you?" David growled into his older brother's ear. "I'm not carrying your stupid ass all the way to my apartment."

From his right, Ivy giggled. "Daaavid, don't be such a mom," she said, slurring her words, and reached up in a clumsy effort to stroke his cheek. She missed and accidentally poked his eye.

"Agh, goddammit, Ivy!" he yelped, letting go of his brother, who promptly staggered to the left and bumped into the brick building they had been walking alongside.

As David held a hand over his stinging eye, Joseph felt along the wall and headed towards the alleyway between the dainty Italian restaurant they were standing by and a barbecue place next door with motorcycles line up in front of it.

Joseph just wanted to sit down for a moment. His head was spinning and he was beginning to feel somewhat nauseous. Before he submerged into the darkness offered by the narrow path, he looked back at where his brother was nursing his injured eye. Ivy was smiling at him with that soft way of hers and his breath faltered for a moment before he reminded himself that there was no way in hell he would go after his brother's girl. His brother already held so many things against him- for good reason- and Joseph had seen how happy Ivy made David. He and David hadn't had an easy time of it growing up, and it was good to see his little brother genuinely happy around another human being, to have him love someone so deeply.

However, he also knew that with his brother being such a prick, there was no way Ivy wasn't looking for some excitement. He sent her an inviting wink and nodded his head toward the alley, then turned and disappeared from Ivy's line of vision. At least the girl knew how to have fun, Joseph thought as he made his way deeper into the alley, out of the light.

Mumbling something unintelligible, Ivy tugged away from David's hold around her waist. Still covering his eye, David turned to face her, but she was already heading for the alley. "Oh, you've got to be kidding me! Ivy, where the hell are you going?" Swiftly glancing around the empty street, he groaned as he realized his brother had taken off.

Storming after his girlfriend, who had already entered the space between the two buildings, David was seething with anger at his brother. After this, he was going to make it clear that he and Ivy were never spending a night on the town with Joseph again. Who was stupid enough to just go off into a random alley? Everyone knew that nothing good ever happened in alleyways.

"Wait, Ivy! Come back here! It's not safe to go in there!"

"Don't worry, Daaavy... Joseph can protect us…" Ivy trailed off, and David heard a crashing sound from the direction her voice had been coming from.

"Ivy! Are you alright?"

"'m fine… Daaavid, where is he?"

"Joseph!" David called out, irritation lining his words. Listening for a moment, and getting more anxious with each second that crawled by, David finally heard a low moan. "Joseph? Is that you? Let's just go home… look, I'm tired of your shit and I want to go to bed. Some of us have school and work tomorrow."

"Dave? I... can't see worth... jackshit… Why's it so dark?" his brother slurred.

David huffed. "Because you, being the idiot that you are, de-"

He was cut off by the sound of scuffling coming from his brother's direction, accompanied by petrified words spoken in a higher pitched voice than David had ever heard uttered from his brother's mouth. "Something's in here, Dave! Oh, G-" The scream that followed was brief, but no less effective at tying David's stomach in knots.

David rushed forward to help his brother, to fight whatever evil had confronted him, and immediately bumped into someone. He had opened his mouth to scream when he heard the familiar sound of Ivy's yelp. She scared easily under normal circumstances, but he wasn't about to tease her for getting spooked now. "It's just me," he whispered, grabbing her hand and leading her towards the street, his heartbeat drumming in his ears. He'd nearly reached what he considered to be safety, but before he could get Ivy away from danger, her hand was jerked away from his hold.

Her scream was more drawn out than Joseph's had been, and David felt as though he was experiencing this nightmare from afar. His body leapt after her, only to grasp at thin air. His foot caught on a low object, and he went crashing down, head bashing into the edge of one of those giant dumpsters.

Before he passed out, he could swear that he saw a dark, billowing mass descending towards Ivy, a cloud even darker than the night around them.

To Be Continued