thank you all so much for the great reviews. sorry for the long wait, i couldnt seem to get my brain to work. This chapter is a little bit shorter, but i wanted to get it up before i went away. hope you all enjoy. :)

NOT ALL AS IT SEEMS

Chapter 4

Kerri sat at the kitchen table, laptop opened in front of her, eyes glued to the screen. They only had three short days to figure this all out, or Jake was going to become an orphan. It was a race against time and she knew that losing was not an option. She had been forced to live without her family for years, an orphan at the age of twenty-six. It wasn't something any child should ever have to go through, and she was going to make sure that Jake returned to his parents. All three safe and happy, and, if possible, still innocently unaware of the supernatural world around them.

Sam shifted beside her, cracking his neck, papers spread out on the table before him. They had been researching for the better part of the last hour, trying to dig up everything they could about Korrigans and Changelings. They needed to know exactly what they were up against, but the two were having trouble deciphering fairy tales from reality. There had been so much written about them over the years; so many stories told and retold. Hell, there were even articles in medical journals explaining how the myths might have started in the first place.

"He's asleep." Dean whispered a few minutes later, coming out of the back room. "So don't either of you start jumping around and shouting."

"Oh man, we were just gonna start cheering, too." Kerri answered, shooting Dean a look.

"Did you two find anything?" Dean scowled, sitting down opposite his brother and Kerri.

"That's the problem." Sam began, rubbing his tired eyes. "We found too much."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, it's more than we need."

"Smart-ass."

"You're the one that asked me the stupid question."

"Guys."

"Alright." Dean started again, kicking his brother beneath the table. Sam jumped and scowled, but didn't pursue the childish argument. "So did anything stand out as maybe being true?"

"Well." Sam began, pulling a few papers from the bottom of a pile. "Korrigans date back pretty far, and they have a solid origin.

"They're described in most sources as fairies, but a few also list them as druidesses. They're all female and have a certain distain for anything christian, but love pretty, well-behaved human children. There's tons of different myths on Changelings, but most are based on the myth of Korrigans."

"So." Dean began leaning back in his chair. "The Korrigans themselves aren't the Changelings, they just replace human babies with them."

"Yeah."

"Well then where the hell do they get the Changelings from in the first place?"

"It's pretty vague. No myth really says where they come from, just that fairies, trolls or Korrigans trade them with humans."

"Alright. So, what do these suckers look like?"

"Well that's the thing." Kerri chimed in, her blue eyes still trained on the computer screen. "Some sources describe them as beautiful women with long hair and red flashing eyes, but others say they are little men with red eyes and goat hooves for feet."

"So, it could be a hot chick, or a funky looking dude." Dean reasoned, though he seemed to be slipping into his own world of thought.

"Yeah."

"Um, it'd be nice if it was the hot chick." Dean mumbled, closing his eyes.

"Well, the 'hot chick' variety is described a lot like siren, sitting by a well or stream and luring unsuspecting me towards them."

"Um, hot chick."

"Do you need a moment alone, Winchester?"

"Naw, I'm good." Dean answered absently as he leaned back in the chair, eyes still closed.

"Anyway." Kerri began, shooting Dean a look somewhere between a smirk and a scowl before turning to Sam. "From everything I can find, I think they're a type of shape-shifter."

"So." Sam broke in looking up from his paperwork. "You think a silver bullet would do it?"

"Yeah, I mean, that's the only real staple of shape-shifter lore. The one problem is that, even though they're normally small, they're supposed to have the strength of two men."

"So, no fighting it."

"I would advise against it."

"We should head back to the forest then."

"Actually, I think our only real option is to go to Colorado and get the Changeling."

"Why? We should get this thing finished at the source."

"Yeah, but did you see any signs of it there? Besides, who's to say it hasn't already left looking for the parents."

"If that's the case then the parents are in danger from both sides. They've got the Changeling that's gonna hulk out on them in a few days, and they're got the Korrigan after them, too."

"That's why I think Colorado's the better option."

"Yeah, but I don't think it will be all that easy to just get the Changeling and run." Sam began, rubbing his eyes.

"Why not?" Dean chimed in, finally opening his eyes.

"Dean, he's a baby. I mean, we can't just break in and steal someone's kid."

"It's not their kid, we already decided that, Sammy."

"Yeah well, they don't know that."

"So we swap them."

"And what do you think will happen if we get spotted and there's two Jakes?"

"Come on, Dude, we're not gonna get caught."

Sam just shot his brother the, we-always-get-caught look before turning back to the papers in front of him, mumbling beneath his breath.

"Look." Kerri began, smiling a little. She missed having the brothers around, missed their banter, their voices. The house was so quiet and empty now that her father and sister were gone, and having Sam and Dean there reminded her of better times, brighter time. "We've only got three days till the thing turns cannibal and eats the parents. I think the first step should just be to get that thing away from them."

"And what about momma Korrigan? I mean, it does want baby Jake." Dean asked, the front legs of the chair smacking the old wood floor as he leaned forward.

"Dean's right, do you really want to swap the babies when the Korrigan could be there, too?" Sam asked, his eyes drifting towards the back room.

Kerri knew he was right, knew that the dangers were just too high. The Korrigan wanted Jake more than the Changeling, and if that meant leaving him in Valley, then that was what they would have to do. They would just have to find some way of reuniting Mr. And Mrs. Robinson with the real Jake after it was all over; and not get caught in the process.

"I guess you're gonna have to leave Jake here, and go for the Changeling." Kerri answered after a few moment's silence. They were treading on thin ice and she knew it.

"Alright." Dean broke in, standing. "So Sammy and I are gonna stake out the parents, and make sure nothing goes after them. You gonna be ok here with Jake?" He asked, turning towards Kerri, concern evident in his deep green eyes. Kerri knew he was feeling it, too. Something was off, but she just couldn't figure out what it was.

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

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Dean sat, drumming his fingers on the steering wheel, his mind miles away from the road beneath him. He had a bad feeling in the pit if his stomach that he just couldn't shake. Something wasn't right. He didn't know how he knew, he just knew, something about this hunt was off. It all just seemed a little too easy, all the answers falling into place a little too quickly. There were so many questions still left unanswered, and Dean just couldn't let his suspicions rest.

How did Jake get away from the Korrigan in the first place? How do the parents not realize that their kid isn't actually human? And how did a Korrigan wind up in a forest in Wyoming to begin with? Those were just a few of the questions bouncing around the hunter's mind, knocking against the side of his head, begging for answers. He was missing something, of that he was certain, but he just couldn't figure out what.

"You sure we got everything, Sam?"

"For the last time, yes." Sam signed, his head still resting against the cool passenger side window. "Why do you keep asking me?"

"This doesn't seem off to you?"

"Dean, we're hunting a Changeling, what part of that should seem normal?"

"You know that's not what I mean, smart ass."

"Everything's fine. We've got three days to watch this thing. I mean, we know it's a type of shape-shifter, so we know how to get rid of it."

"And if it isn't?"

"Dean--."

"Hear me out, Sam. I mean, how do we even know we're the ones with the right Jake."

"I don't know, but I would assume we have the right kid."

"You know what happens when you assume."

"Look, Dean, all the info points to a Changeling. I mean, all the other families had a little kid and they weren't found with the parents."

"Still Sam, there's so much we don't know."

"Since when are you all, shoot later, ask questions first?"

"It's just, I don't want to leave Kerri high and dry. She's already hurt."

"She'll be fine, Dean, the Korrigan's got no clue that we've got the real kid. If that is what we're actually hunting, that is." Sam added after Dean shot him a look.

"Sam--."

"Everything's gonna be fine, Dean."

Dean turned his eyes back to the road, his grip tightening on the steering wheel as the impala sped down the open highway. His brother was right, deep down he knew that, but there was still something eating away at him, a feeling in the pit of his stomach that he couldn't shake. Something wasn't right.

All of his instincts were screaming at him to turn around, to gun the engine all the way back to Valley. He wanted to be with Kerri, to make sure that she didn't suffer from another one of his mistakes. Because, lord only knew how many times she'd been the one to pay the price for his screw ups. He couldn't do that to her again, couldn't put her in harms way, leave her alone when he wasn't at all sure what was going on.

What if that wasn't the real Jake? What if this wasn't a Changeling at all? There were just too many questions racing around his mind, fighting for dominance, forcing him to second guess his actions. Sam and Kerri seemed more that certain that it was a Changeling, and hell, he was pretty damn sure, too. But something still didn't fit, and Dean knew that he wouldn't be able to rest until he figured out what was really going on.

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The forest swayed and bellowed as the winds blew, a thin layer of fog drifting over the valleys and hills, reaching out towards its goal. She could feel him, her need for the child growing. They had stolen him from her, taken away what was rightfully hers, and she wanted it back. The Korrigan raised blood red eyes to the old house before her, the place dim and quiet in the early evening air. He was right there, just beyond the doors, and she wasn't about to let anyone, or anything stand in the way of her prize.