Chapter 9

Dean and Sam were stunned into silence after the loud exclamation from Maria, both knowing enough to be sure that she never said something about her father before, except that he left her and her mother when she was seven. But other than that there was nothing, at least nothing she wanted to share with them. It had always seemed that she was still angry with him for leaving them so suddenly and she hadn´t finished that topic in her life. Unfortunately every time the brothers tried to talk to her about it, she either blocked them or left the room to look after Alex.

" How do you know that your father lived there? Didn´t you say you lived in Roswell all of your life?", Sam couldn´t recognize anything from his memory, just the things from the photos his father had shown him. It was somewhat strange to be here after all those years.

Maria rubbed her arms, feeling a chill that wasn´t from the weather. Something was so damn familiar to her and she didn´t know what it was. She knew that she had never been here, the only memories she had were from Roswell. But there was the feeling to be home. " Yes. But I found picture in the attic one time", she pointed at the building in front of her. " And that house was on it. With my father. And I think another couple. A blonde woman and a dark haired man".

Dean thought immediately about his parents and if her father knew them in some twisted way. That would be strange, knowing that maybe their parents had been neighbors or even friends. Or he was just imagine things. " We should check the house, the reason for coming here".

Sam watched his brother stalking away. He knew that his sibling was more than pissed to be here again after he promised to avoid it as long as he lived. But Dean had been the one insisting to protect all innocent along the way of the search for their father. And this wasn´t anything different. Just that it was more personal this time. " Let´s get this show on the road".

" Yeah. I´m joining you in a bit", Maria went around the car and opened the door. She couldn´t leave Alex alone in the Impala, not when Khivar was after him and wanted him dead. She wouldn´t leave her sons side until she was sure that it was safe again. Careful she pulled him out of his seat and secured him in her arms, keeping the blue blanket tightly wrapped around him.

Then she went after her two boys, checking her surroundings for strange things and sometimes glancing at the house of her father. She wondered if he lived there again after he left her mother. Part of her wanted to find that out and part of her feared it. What would she say when he was really in this house and they would come face to face? Would she scream and cry and demand answers? Or would she just cry and threw herself in his arms? No, she was too angry at him for just packing his things and go. She would probably choose option c, using her slightly none existent alien powers to blast his ass around a bit before asking him all the questions plaquing her for twelve years.

Suddenly she was ripped away from her thoughts when she heard Dean. " Ah my wife and my son", he pulled her close and laid his arm lovingly around her shoulder. Smiling like a madman he kissed her temple while whispering that she should play along. " This is my family. I wanted to show them the old house where my little brother and me lived as children".

" Winchester. That´s strange, I found a box yesterday with pictures from that family", the woman, obviously living in the house, stepped aside to let them enter. She had a small boy on her arm, happily drinking from his bottle with something in it that looked like juice.

Maria entered the house first, boxing her "husbands" side to make him lose his grip on her. She couldn´t believe it that he was playing that game without her knowing about it. Thank god that she was a good actor and could mask her surprise. Bastard, she should divorce him immediately. All of the sudden her attention was drawn to the walls around her. Something was there, something cold and angry. She couldn´t quite make out what it was, but she was damn sure that it wasn´t a good spirit. Seemingly Alex was noticing it, too. He was squirming in her arm and getting unsettled. " Yeah honey. I feel it, too. Let´s get out of here".

Sam tried to soak everything up and watched his surroundings. He had hoped to feel some kind of familiarity, but there was nothing. Just the impression that something was going on under this roof. Evil had been here or was still here. Hearing his brother talking to the lady of the house, he looked for Maria. Seeing her walking quickly out of the door, he wondered what was going on and followed her in the same pace. Catching up with her outside he noticed a shudder going through her body. " What´s up? Why the hasty retreat?".

" I sensed evil in there and it was fresh. Alex also felt it", Maria noted her son was calmer now and had stopped squirming around, so it had been really the house or something in it. Rocking him to distract her from the bad emotions she could still feel.

Sam was a little stunned, because he thought he had been the only one sensing anything. He was rather glad that someone had the same gift as him, even though she had alien essense flowing through her veins. " Maybe the demon killing our mother came back to do what he couldn´t with me?".

Maria glanced at the exterior of the building. It appeared so homey and made for a family. But on the inside it was horrifying and frightening, especially for kids who were afraid of the dark anyway. " Could be. But why now? Why wait so long?"

" I don´t know", Sam heard his brother bellowing after his family. " I think we should go back inside".

Maria shook her head vehemently. She wouldn´t set one foot in there again, she was still trying to shake off the uneasy feeling in her gut. " You go. Tell Dean I´m not feeling so good and I´m waiting at the car".

Sam was in the process to ask her what was wrong, when Dean started to get inpatient, which was lacing his loud voice. " Yeah, I´m coming", he looked worriedly at Maria. " You stay out of trouble. If something´s happening, scream".

" Yeah. Now go before Dean comes out, asking why we´re both out here", she was close to roll her eyes. Both brothers were always so concerned about her, she wasn´t used to so much affection. Not even Michael had paid so much attention to her, even though he had tried. Turning around to walk back to the car, her eyes grazed the neighbar property for a moment. Something was calling her and she didn´t know what it was. Glancing around to see if someone was watching, she caved in. Her curousity was getting stronger and she couldn´t ignore it any longer. Walking slowly to the house of her father, she went through every emotion of a human being, within seconds. Her heart was beating out of control, her hands started to shake so that even Alex figure out that something was wrong with his mommy and her stomach was doing flip flops repeatedly. Losing her gut for a moment she stopped at a tree, looking behind her to make sure that nobody was there. There she saw it then, a cutting in the bark. Eying it closer she recognized the names. Jack loves Amy. That were the names of her parents. Stretching her hand out she trailed her finger on the it and immediately was hit with a flash.

Flash

A young Amy was standing in front of the huge house. Her excitement was really out of control. Even if she wanted she couldn´t get the smile out of her face for a long time. She was so happy and full of life that she wanted to share it with the whole world. Turning to the side she exchanged a loving glance with the man besides her. He was tall with beautiful green eyes and dark blonde hair. His smile was sincere.

" This is it honey. Our first home together".

Amy glanced at the house in front of them before taking her husbands hand. " Yeah. Now we can think about a few children".

Jack pulled her closer at his side, the joy clearly written on his expression. Putting his hand on his wife´s belly, he couldn´t wait until she was getting bigger.. Grinning from ear to ear he kissed her temple. " Maybe we should already start with the production"

" Behave, we´re not alone anymore", young Amy´s face grazed a visible flush while she tried to appear normal, seeing as their neighbors were coming to greet them.

Jack chuckled quietly, which disappeared as soon as Amy gave him a painful nudge in his rips. Rubbing the spot, he pouted towards his wife, already planning to get back at her for that. But before he could do that, another couple stopped in front of them. A small boy at their feet and the woman obviously pregnant. " Hey John, Mary", bending down he ruffled the boy´s hair. " Hey Dean. You´re growing so fast. You´re almost a real man".

John smiled at that. Laying a protective hand over his wifes round belly, he could feel his son kicking. " Yeah, the reason why we need another child we can pamper. Dean is getting too old for that".

" I can´t wait to get pregnant myself. Must be great", Amy started to glow, her face lightening up like the sun, her eyes shining brightly.

The other woman groaned, rubbing her belly with one hand while the other was on her back, trying to get rid of the ache there. " Sometimes yeah. Other times it´s hell".

Jack and Amy laughed, having nothing against a little challenge. They couldn´t wait to hold a small bundle of joy in their arms in the future, even if it meant pain and moodswings and not fitting in clothes anymore.

End Flash

Maria felt like she was thrown back in her body. Opening her eyes she realized that she was still standing at the tree with Alex in her arms. He was grimacing and it looked like he would start crying every moment. " Oh honey I´m sorry. Don´t cry". Rocking him tenderly she tried to get him to calm down. With no success. Seconds later the small guy wailed like an out of control car alarm system. Walking around she hoped that the motion would get him quiet. But it was like he began to get louder. Going to the car with fast steps, she opened the trunk and pulled a blue bag out of it. Putting it on the now closed trunk, she searched through it until she found a stuffed little ape. It was the ugliest thing she ever saw, but he loved it. " Look it´s Mr. Peepers!", she wriggled around with it in front of her sons face, but all he did was to raise his volume. " Oh Alex please stop crying". Pressing him closer to her body she didn´t know what do with him. He was neither hungry nor did he need a new diaper.

" Hey hey little man, why are you making all this ruckus?", Dean seemed to appear out of nowhere, taking Alex out of his desperate mother´s grasp and pulling him in his arms. He had heard the noise from the inside and worried a little, after Sam had told him that Maria had felt something and would be outside.

Maria was stunned into silence when the crying immediately stopped as soon as Alex was away from her. He giggled happily while his hands held onto Mr. Peepers, although she couldn´t remember giving it to him. " Now that´s not fair".

Dean was pleased to see that the small cookie was so comfortable with him that it was quiet again. Refraining himself to stick his tongue out at Maria, he just grinned at her. " He just likes me more than you. Get used to it, we males outnumber you".

" You wish", she put her hand up and almost pushed it in his smiling face before flicking her hair back and acting like she was purposely looking away from him. But now her eyes landed on the house again and she couldn´t shake the feeling that it wanted her to get inside, that something was calling her. " Could you do me a favour and stay with Alex. I want to look after something".

Dean followed her glance and he wondered what had her so fascinated with the property. But it wouldn´t hurt if she checked the place out. They would stay a little while longer anyway, after he heard Sam getting excited when the little girl told them that she saw something in her closet, which her mother instantly explained was just a nightmare. " No problem. Knock yourself out".

Maria squeezed his arm in graditude and then crossed the street. At first she almost ran, but the closer she came the slower she got. The front garden seemed to be dead, there were no plants, flowers or even a lawn. It seemed like nobody lived at this place for years if not longer. Stepping carefully on the old looking stair, which had been white at some point in the past, she felt the first tug. Something wanted to keep her away from the house, pulling her back while at the same time something pushed her further. Noticing fear and curiousity climbing up her body she ignored both and marched towards the entrace. Opening the fly screen she knocked on the splintering door. After seconds of waiting and nothing happened she knocked again, this time a little louder.

" Hello! Is anybody home?".

Suddenly the door opened with a loud squeak, which startled her for a moment and she jumped a bit. Getting her thundering heart under control she peeked around the door to see who was there. Shocked she saw that there was nothing. Glancing back to the car, she witnessed Dean playing with Alex and having fun. Smiling at the picture, she turned her attention back to the opened house. Breathing deeply in, she set a foot inside.

" Hi. The door just opened. I don´t want to intrude, but I wanted to take a look at this beautiful house".

Nothing getting in response she walked further into the hallway. Immediately the stench of rotting wood and something in the direction of a defect toilet was drifting in her nose. Pressing it close with her fingers she looked around. Everything appeared like there was no one living in here. Dust, dirt and spider webs were everywhere. Eying the walls, she screamed terrified when the front door closed with a loud bang. Reasoning with herself that it was just the wind, she continued her mission. The other rooms she walked past didn´t look any different than the rest and she went in the direction of a staircase leading into the second floor. The steps creaked when she put her foot on one and the noise seemed to be extremely loud in the silent house. Sometimes she thought she heard a voice whispering something, but again she reasoned that it was the wind. Everything else would make her piss her pants in fear and she didn´t want that. Arriving at the next level, she stopped a moment to look around. Instantly her gaze landed in the room closest to her. Glancing inside she was shocked to see that a crib was standing in there with a baby inside sleeping. Detecting a shadow out of the corner of her eyes she saw a man in a black robe stepping at the crib and bending down to the baby.

" Stop that. Get your dirty hands of the child".

The breath was knocked out of her when two yellow eyes stared at her and she knew that it was looking at her first demon disguised in a human suit. Preparing herself to kick his ass should he try to harm the baby, she was taken aback when something hard hit her and she crashed against the wall behind her while the door closed at the same time. Jumping to her feet, she stormed towards the room and pounded on the wood with all her might, screaming almost her lungs out. Seconds later the door opened with ease and the room behind it was empty, looking abandonded and dirty. Shaking her head, she thought she was losing her mind and it wouldn´t take long before the boys noticed it, too. Feeling a stinging in her hands she looked down and saw that she was bleeding at the sides of her hands where she had beat on the door. Seeing a bathroom besides her she went inside. Strangly there was still water coming out of the faucet. Holding her hurt hands under the spray she wondered what was going on in this house. She sensed fear, anger and sorrow mixed with a touch of pain. What aweful thing must have been happening inside this walls? Glancing down to check if her wounds were cleaned she screamed when she realized that blood was coming out of the faucet instead of water. Pulling her hands back and stepping away she finally saw the words written on the dirty mirror. – Welcome back home Maria-, which had her shaking in fear. Whirling around she wanted to get the hell out of here. Unfortunately she crashed against a body, arms trying to hold her.

" No, No. Let me go".

The arms around her eased their grip a little but didn´t let go. " Hey. It´s just me Dean".

Maria finally found the nerve to look up. Relieved she saw that it was indeed him. Throwing herself at him, she started to sob, glad to not be alone in this house anymore. " It was so horrible. The house it´s evil and it knows me".

" Shhh. It´s okay, I´m here now", looking over her shoulder he also saw the words on the mirror. Rubbing her back, he was surprised about his gut feeling that had told him that something was wrong. As soon as he saw the door falling close he knew that evil was trying to trap Maria in there. The only thing unclear to him was the reason for it. Obviously it was something or someone knowing her. Khivar? A demon? He didn´t know. " We should go. I don´t think it´s safe to stay here any longer".

Maria nodded in agreement, having the thought minutes before him. Still clinging to him both made their way outside, Dean always keeping everything in sight in case something tried to attack them. Carefully they walked down the steps, making sure that they didn´t fall or crashed through the friable wood. As soon as they were outside both breathed easier and the crushing feeling in their bodies left them.

Sam instantly stormed in their direction with Alex in his arms when he saw that his brother was supporting a pale looking Maria. He knew that something horrible had been going on, having sensed it. " What happened?".

" Something is in this house, something knowing Maria", Dean had never seen so much fear in a glance than he did with Maria. She was still shaking and her breathing was unregular. He was afraid that she was in shock. Tightening his arms around her he tried to make her feel safer.

Sam noticed the scared tone in his brothers voice, something that he never had heard until now. Oh shit, if Dean was already afraid, it was really bad. " A demon? Or do you think it´s this Khivar dude?".

Maria shook her head, which let her protectors heave a sigh of relief. At least she was still with them mentally. Even her skin color was coming back and she didn´t look like a ghost any longer. " No, it wasn´t Khivar. It was a demon. He was straight staring at me with his yellow eyes and he wanted to harm the baby in the crib. I wanted to stop him from hurting the poor child, but then I was blasted at the wall and the door closed. I pounded on it and I screamed until the door opened again. But there was nothing in the room anymore, just dirt and spiderwebs".

" Sounds like we have to watch those two houses now", and Dean would take care that Maria was far away from them. He didn´t want to see her anywhere near the properties. At least until he and Sam had figured out what was going on.

Maria dared to take a good look at the house where obviously her parents had lived before she was born. Her thoughts were drifting to the flash, where they both had been so happy with each other.But where was the connection with this demon and the baby? Had her mother kept secrets from her? Was there another reason why her father had disappeared on them? What had made them sell the house to live in Roswell instead? The fire at the neighbor house? They way Mary had died in there? " We have to find out everything concerning my fathers property".

Sam was surprised about her commanding tone after she just escaped the amityville horror house. She had been seeing something that was scaring or at least bothering her to the point that she needed to know everyting. " We will do that. But firstly we want to check out an old friend from our father".

" And we have to fill up the car", Dean wanted to be over with everything as fast as possible. The last thing he needed was to be stuck in his own nightmare and watching another woman die at the hand of something they couldn´t catch.

Maria took Alex from Sam, finally able to function normal again. She was okay with the plan, at least she would have time to get used to the situation and could think about a few question she could ask this old friend. " All right. Then let´s go", then an imaged popped in her head. A picture that had her curious. " Are John and Mary your parents?"

Sam and Dean immediately turned to her, both wearing the same expression. It was shock and recognation. Even if they wouldn´t say anything, their reaction was proof enough that she hit the nail right on the head with that one.

" How do you know that?", Dean was the first finding his voice again. He was wondering how she found that out, because as far as he could remember she never heard them talking about their parents name outside from father or mother.

Maria glanced at them like they were another species. For a moment she was stunned about the strange looks she got from them. Why did they appear so shocked? They were here because Sam had a nightmare and now the acted so weird because she asked something? They knew about her gift of seeing things that had happened." I´ve got a flash of my parents and your parents were in it, too. Obviously we´re more connected than we had thought", then she put her son in his seat before walking around the car and jumping in without paying attention to the brothers.

Sam shrugged his shoulders, accepting the answer. He was so glad that he wasn´t the only one with freaky nightmares that came true. It was good to know that he wasn´t the only freak in this show. " She got a flash. Why didn´t we think of that?".

" Dude, I swear if we´re finished here, we´re all going to a nice trip to Vegas. I can´t lose with two psychics", Dean didn´t understand their powers and sometimes it scared him, but he took what he got. And what they needed right now was a little cash to carry them for a little while longer.

Sam rolled his eyes before opening the door to the car and getting in. From time to time he wondered how they were related. They were so different like night and day, although at some points they were the same. Chuckling he imagined himself sitting besides his brother at a poker table, intensely trying to force a vision to help his sibling to win money.

Dean threw his hands up in the air, wondering what he said wrong this time. " What did I say?".

Service Station

Sam and Dean were sitting on the hood of the Impala after filling up, collecting what they knew about the house and what their Dad told them about the night their mother died in there while Maria had disappeared with Alex in the toilet to change his diaper. So the brothers were discussing alone the course of action they needed to take at the moment, because all they really had was Sam´s nightmare and a statement from a small girl, that could have been fantasying for all they knew.

" What now? What do you remember from the night?", Sam was curious. His brother usually didn´t talk about it and if he did it was vague and mostly the same their father said. He had been too young to have a memory about the incident, but Dean had been old enough to know some things.

Dean saw the pictures flying around in his head, things he had tried to forget or wanted to erase from his memory. It had been a hell of a night when he woke up to hear his father screaming the name of his mother. Then he smelled the smoke and he got out of bed to see what was going on. When he came to the room of his little brother, his father almost ran him over. Everything went so quickly and before he knew what was happening he was holding Sam in his arms and stormed out of the house, leaving his father inside. He just realized what had been going on when he stood outside and he saw the fire. Seconds later his father came shooting out of the door, grapped them and carried them away before the upper floor exploded. " Just what Dad told us. You know I wanted to see what the noise was and before I could do anything, Dad pushed you in my arms and said I should go out of the house immediately, which I did of course".

Sam knew that his brother didn´t like the reminder about the worst night of his life, but they needed even the slightest information. They had to treat this case just like every other case they did so far, even though it was more personal this time. " You were the one carrying me out? You never told me that".

" Really. I thought you knew that", Dean noticed emotions threatening to overwhelm him, emotions that he had locked away deep in his inside. He couldn´t do his job if he let his feelings rule his mind and he wanted to keep it that way. " Wait here. I have to take a piss", fastly he walked to the toilets, looking for a quiet corner. When he found one he pulled his cellphone out of his pockets and dailed his fathers number before lifting it at his ear. Ring for ring he waited until the voicemail picked up with his fathers voice telling that he wasn´t available at the moment, but if it was urgent they should call his son Dean and the number of his cellphone. Listening until the beep sounded he started to speak.

" Dad? I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you'll get 'em", he cleared his throat, afraid of his voice failing him." But I'm with Sam. And we're in Lawrence. And there's somethin' in our old house and the neighborhouse. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not, but..", his voice broke for a moment and he tried to keep himself together. " I don't know what to do", at that he choked up on his emotions, barely able to hold back his tears any longer. " So, whatever you're doin', if you could get here. Please. I need your help, Dad".

Maria stood frozen in place, having listened to Dean´s side of the conversation. She had never heard him so unsure and young, he sounded like a little boy asking for help. She was tempted to take him in her arms and comfort him. But she knew him and he hated to be pitied, just like her spaceboy had. Trying to be as quiet as possible she made her way back to Sam, who was already deep with his head in front of his laptop, searching for clues. Seconds later Dean joined them without making an indication about calling his father, so Maria kept her mouth closed, too. She would pretend not to have heard anything and he would pretend to never having this conversation.

Autoshop

After asking around a bit they finally found someone knowing John Winchester, it was his former partner in the garage, which both man had owned before everything went out of control. He seemed to be a little younger than their father and a little talkativer. Dean, Maria and Sam were impersonating cops, looking into the case of missing people.

" John disappeared twenty years ago, why are you interested in now?", the owner was confused while wiping his oil smeared hands on his dirty rag. He didn´t know what was going on.

Sam acted like he would look for something in his notepad. He flipped through the pages without really glancing at the things. At some point he stopped and pretended to have found what he searched for. " Because 5 more men disappeared like that. We need to know what kind of man John Winchester was to find some common ground with those other men. How would you describe him?".

George, the name was standing on his overall, sighed. For a moment it seemed like he had to think hard to remember anything. But after seconds he started to talk. " John was a great man, stubborn as hell, but honest. He hated to lose, no matter the game. It was probably the whole Marine thing", he made a break. " He was crazy after his wife Mary and he loved his boys very much".

" But that was before the fire?", Maria was finally with them again, after worrying if she could leave her son alone in the car. But he was still in her sight, so even if someone tried to hurt him she had enough time to kill that bastard.

George nodded. " At first he didn´t say anything. But after a while he told that something had made this fire and killed Mary with it. He even managed to drag Jack in all this".

Maria´s heart stopped in her throat of the mention of her father´s name and she tried to mask her reaction. Instead she managed to avoid eye contact with looking at Sam´s notepad. She needed a few seconds to calm down.

" Jack?", Dean noticed that it was his time again to ask questions, seeing as his two partners didn´t make an impression like they would open their mouths in the next seconds.

George shrugged his shoulders not even noticing that new costumers were waiting. He didn´t appear like he cared either. " Yeah, his friend Jack DeLuca. They both grew up together here and they even lived side by side with their wives until the fire".

Now that got Sam´s attention. He was stunned about that revelation, having never heard his father speak about someone named Jack. He wondered if he and Dean would have been friends with Maria if the fire would have never happened. " How do you mean dragged him in all this?".

" Well John made such a big fuss that Jack was so afraid of the same happening to his wife when she got pregnant with their daughter. Half a year after tiny Maria was born Jack sold his house all of the sudden to live in some other hicktown with his family. Never knew what happened".

Dean exchanged a worried glance with Maria, noticing her eyes starting to glassy at the mention of her father. She seemed to realize that everything she believed all her life had been built on lies, lies that hurt her. " Anything else you can remember?".

George shook his head, he was sure that he said everything important. But then something popped in his mind. " John went to some palm reader for help. I don´t know the name, but he was often there".

" Okay. Thanks for your help", Sam closed his notepad and went back to the car with Maria. She had been rather quiet and he wondered if it had been too much for her. She had found out things she didn´t know and things that would explain a lot to her. " Are you alright?".

Maria bit her lip to keep her from crying. She had lived here as a child and her mother never told her anything about it. She felt betrayed and lied to. Losing the fight with her tears she started to sob quietly. Immediately Sam wrapped his arms around her and stroked her back.

Dean saw them both embracing and he knew that they revealed something huge. But now the message on the mirror was making sense. Then he remembered what the owner had told them. Six months after Maria´s birth her father packed their things and left? Was a demon after her or her family? Did the same happen to her what happened to them? But her mother lived, which would discount his theorie? Or maybe his father had made this Jack so uncomfortable that he choose to move somewhere else. All those possibilities and no idea which was the right one. " Hey, I know it´s the worst moment ever, but I think we should look for this palm reader Dad went to. Maybe this person can tell us something more and maybe give us a few answers".

" Yeah. You´re right. Maybe he or she can help me, too", Maria felt so stupid for crying over something so small. She at least had been having a loving home with her mother, even through she had been raising herself most of the time. But she had lived at the same place, at the same town with the same people all her life. It was more than her boys had. Wiping her tears away she smiled shyly at Sam, who let her go as soon as he noticed that she had stopped crying.

Dean couldn´t help himself and he cupped her face lovingly, staring in her sad eyes. It always broke his heart to see those emeralds losing the usual sparkle and having this blank look in it. He never wanted to see her unhappy in any kind, which he knew was impossible. " Hey. We´re finding those answers for you and when we do, we´ll be right behind you having your back".

Maria was sometimes so surprised about the gentleness inside him. He wasn´t so expressive about his feelings or his concerns, but a few times he had almost shocked her with the way he voiced what was on his mind. And he had a special way of calming her just with wrapping his arms around her and making her feel safe and loved. " I know you do".

" Oh my god. Kiss each other and then let´s go", Sam was always in awe how strange this two were. Both seemed to have deeper feelings, but were too afraid to act on them, even though it appeared like Maria didn´t know about how deep this feelings really went. She was still secretly in love with the father of Alex, which Dean couldn´t understand.

Maria and Dean turned to their third member, staring at him like he had grown a second head. Then they faced each other again, smiling uncomfortable and parted slightly embarrassed. Sam just shook his head when he saw both getting in the car with a blush covering their cheeks. Glancing at Alex he wondered if even the small one noticed the tension between them. Without a word he put the boy in his seat and jumped in himself.

Chicago

Michael was at the end of his patience. Two months they were cruising around looking for Maria and two months they seemed to be always one step behind her. He was frustrated and tired and angry and every feeling in between. He didn´t even know that he possessed so many feelings. Kyle was the only one standing behind him one hundred percent while the others just went with them because they had nothing better to do. Liz and Max had given up finding their missing friend ever again two weeks ago, saying that it was pointless to chase her if she didn´t want to be found. One day they would cross path with each other, but until then they should try living their life in the present, which Michael answered with a nice punch to his brother´s nose. Strangly nobody had interefered. That was probably because Liz was sick of the other, Kyle hated to be in a room with Max, Michael hated everybody and Isabel was just acting strange while Max was trying to keep everyone together. The runaway train had finally taking its toll on every passenger and they already started to get on each others nerve. It was even worse knowing that one person was not with them, who should be there. Liz blamed mostly Michael for that while Kyle thought it was nobody´s fault. Michael in return thought it was all because of Liz, she as friend should have fought his decision, which she hadn´t done. She had just stood besides him without opening her mouth once. Max had no opinion to the topic, seeing as both had a point.

" I´m so sick of waking up every morning in another hotel room and trying to remember where I am and who I am at the moment", Kyle complained in the safety of the own room he shared with Michael, the only one he could stand right now.

Michael turned his attention away from the tv and faced his friend. He knew that feeling all too well. To top of it, he was searching for his child and the only woman he ever loved. It was a heavy burden, but one he would carry until he found them. " Yeah. Me, too".

Kyle stood up from his bed and walked to the window. Watching people walking on the sidewalks deep in conversations with their companion, he wondered what would have happened if everything would have went different. Where would he be now and what would he do? " Do you sometimes ask yourself what you would be doing if the FBI would have not interrupted our graduation ceremony?"

" Truthful? Really often", Michael had pictured his future in vivid details. He wouldn´t confess it out loud, but he had found a small house that he had liked and he thought it would be perfect to raise children in there with Maria at his side as his wife. He knew that it wouldn´t happened no matter what, but the idea had kept him sane and gave him a reason to man the grill in the crashdown almost everyday. " I had made deposit for an engagement ring for Maria. Two more payments and it would have belonged to me".

Kyle was stunned speechless with that revelation for a few seconds. His eyes widened and his mouth moved in silence. Getting his voice back, he swallowed to get rid of the dryness. " Are you saying that you had planned to marry Maria?".

Michael shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal. " I thought if I knew that I would never love anybody like I love her, I should make it permanent. And maybe I wanted everybody to know that she was mine".

" Then why did you leave her behind?", Kyle saw the love shining in his friends eyes, an expression he had missed for so long and knew from personal experience. Unfortunately he was a good friend. Finally he was aware how Alex had felt all this time.

Michael didn´t know the reason for that himself. For months he was trying to find the answer to that question. He was so sure that it hadn´t been his intention. The more he thought about that night, the more he knew that it hadn´t been his decision to go without her, even though he had been thinking that it really had been about his hurt pride. " I really don´t know. One moment I´m happy that she wants to go with me and the next I´m refusing to take her with us. I don´t know what came over me".

Kyle was in the process to pump his friend for more information when the door opened with out a knock. Both men immediately prepared themself to blast the intruder, Kyle had started to crackle like a foil two months ago and was now letting explode everything in sight when he was emotional. Relieved they realized it was just Isabel.

" I know where we have to go next".

Michael instantly noticed that something was wrong with her. For the first time he really glanced at her, trying to see right through her exterior. Something was off with her, something he couldn´t pinpoint or even name. But it was there. Suddenly he saw her eyes flicker yellow for a split second. Before anyone could do something he had Isabel pinned at the wall and was right getting into her face. " What are you and what have you done to Izzy?!".

TBC