Title: The Boys Went Down to Georgia

Author: Razorbackgal0225

Rating: PG-13--A little language, but that's all

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, cars or situations from Supernatural, but I sure wish I did. Anything you don't recognize is mine.

Author's Note: I apologize for taking so long to update. Real life intruded on my writing time, with moving and work taking up all my days lately. But hopefully I'll be back on schedule now. Thanks again to everyone who has reviewed, I hope you're not disappointed by this update. Let me know what you think!

Dean woke up suddenly, knowing instantly that someone was in the room with him. He opened the eye that wasn't hidden in the pillow on which he was laying and was met by a brown-eyed gaze. Lilly was perched on the side of the sofa bed next to Dean, watching him with a grin on her face. He was thankful that he had chosen a t-shirt and boxers shorts for pajamas the night before, or he could have given the nine-year old an eyeful.

"What's up, munchkin?" he asked, his voice gravelly from sleep. He propped himself up on his elbows to met Lilly's stare.

"It's Saturday morning and it's almost time for Hannah Montana to come on," she answered folding herself further onto the bed, closer to Dean. She was also still in her pajamas, but her hair had been brushed and she was drinking a glass of milk.

"I have no idea what you just said."

Lilly's eyes went wide with shock. "You don't know who Hannah Montana is?" she asked incredulously.

"Lilly, I'm a grown man, I haven't watched Saturday morning cartoons since Bugs Bunny was on. Now that was quality television," Dean answered. Lilly produced the remote out of nowhere and turned on the TV. Dean flinched at the sudden addition of music into the otherwise quiet room. He briefly considered hiding his head under a pillow, but instead asked, "Um, what are you doing?"

"Watching Hannah Montana," Lilly announced, with a confused expression on her face. "Hannah's the bomb," she said, moving to sit next to Dean as she began to watch. "You'll like her."

That's how Sam found them a few minutes later; Lilly was leaning against Dean, who was watching the TV with a puzzled expression on his face. When Sam was far enough into the room to see the screen, he started to laugh. His rough and tough big brother was watching a teenybopper Saturday morning show, complete with singing girls. With a nine-year-old. Dean shot Sam an icy look.

"Good morning, Mr. Sam," Lilly said sweetly.

"Morning Lilly. What are you watching?"

"Hannah Montana. She's my favorite," she explained. She glanced up at Dean, who was still staring at the TV. "I think Mr. Dean likes her too."

"It's the Achy-Breaky-Heart guy," Dean said, mostly to himself. "If he can be an actor, I'm moving to Hollywood tomorrow." He saw that Sam was still laughing at him, so he gently nudged Lilly. "I'm going to go get some breakfast, alright?" he asked. He reached and found a pair of jeans that he quickly pulled on. He smiled at his brother. "But Sam happens to love Hannah Montana and would be glad to watch with you. He's even has her CD," he volunteered. Before Sam could voice a protest, Lilly had grabbed his hand and was tugging him down to the mattress. Dean chuckled evilly as he left the room. That would teach Sammy to laugh at him.

He walked into the kitchen and was grateful to smell coffee brewing. He opened a couple of cabinets before finding a mug. As he was filling his cup, Katie came sprinting down the stairs. He noticed she was dressed up, wearing a skirt and nice sweater, and was carrying a pair of high-heeled sandals.

"Shit, shit, shit," she muttered under her breath. She stopped abruptly when she saw Dean standing in the kitchen. "Sorry," she apologized. "I'm running a little late."

"For what?" Dean asked, continuing to sip his coffee.

"The Newman/Ross wedding, otherwise known as the psycho bride from hell's wedding," Katie answered. "I'm not sure why, but Jenny is under the impression that I need to at the church two hours before the wedding starts. Even though the wedding coordinator picked up all the flowers and arrangements yesterday. God, I can't stand her."

Dean gazed at her as if she had grown another head. Even though he didn't know the first thing about weddings, he still offered, "Sorry."

"It's not your fault," she said, smiling ruefully. "It comes with the job. Just like ghost boys and who knows what else goes along with your job."

"So, I guess no waffles," Dean joked. The glare Katie gave him was answer enough. "Okay, no waffles."

"And I've got to get Lilly to my cousin's house before I go to the church." She slipped one of the shoes she had in her hand as she reached for her keys. "Lilly, come on!" she shouted into the living room.

Dean was quiet for a moment before he processed what Katie had said. "Wait a minute," he interrupted, "why don't you leave Lilly with Sam and me? We can watch her for a couple of hours, if that's all you'll be gone."

Katie paused in her movements to stare at Dean, taking the time to put on her other shoe. Dean tried to not notice her legs. "Seriously, you wouldn't mind? I mean, Lilly can be a handful when she wants to be."

He shrugged in response as if brushing off her protests. "We'll be fine. I've gone up against a wendigo before, I think I can handle a nine-year-old girl," he assured her, a slight bit of sarcasm sneaking into his voice.

Katie frowned in confusion. "What's a wendigo?" Before he could reply, she held up her hand, stopping him. "You know what, never mind. I probably don't want to know and like I said, I'm late." She grabbed her purse and tucked it under her arm. She then walked into the living room, Dean following her. She shook her head at the scene that greeted her, much like Sam had when he had entered the living room earlier.

Lilly was singing along softly to the song on television, head propped up on Sam's arm. Sam didn't seem to mind, and Katie realized that her niece had managed to charm both men in less than two days. If only she had the same talent.

"Hey, Lill, I'm going to Miss Jenny's wedding. Mr. Sam and Mr. Dean are going to stay here with you while I'm gone. They're in charge, so you do whatever they tell you to." Lilly was nodding and grinning. "I'm serious Lilly, no funny business while I'm gone. I'll be back in a couple of hours."

Sam tugged a few strands of Lilly's hair, causing her to giggle. "No problem, I'm sure we'll be fine." Katie still looked a little hesitant, but she shook it off, dropping a kiss on Lilly's forehead.

"Alright, I'll be back as soon as the wedding's over. Help yourself to whatever you want in the kitchen," she called over her shoulder as she walked out the front door. Dean watched out the window until Katie was in her car and driving down the road before he walked to the TV and turned it off.

"Hey, what are you doing?" Lilly cried. "Hannah's not over with yet!"

"Listen munchkin, I know you like that stuff, but I'm going to teach you about real music." He reached into his duffle bag and pulled out a handful of cassette tapes. "Trust me," he added when he saw the disappointed look on Lilly's face, "one day, when you're trying to impress some boy, you'll thank me."

Half an hour later, Sam was sitting on the refolded couch, laptop resting on his knees, but he wasn't looking at the screen. Instead, he was watching his brother and Lilly and laughing at their antics. Lilly was playing air guitar, bouncing around in circles to the AC/DC song that was coming from the speakers. Dean was drumming along on the table next to him and doing his best Brian Johnson imitation.

"This is great Mr. Dean!" Lilly shouted over the loud music. "AC/DC rocks!" she said, holding up the 'rock on' hand signal Dean had taught her earlier. Sam wondered just exactly how happy Lilly's parents would be to know that their daughter had learned the finer points of mullet rock while they were in London.

Dean grinned at the little girl, borderline proud at how quickly she had taken to his music. Occasionally, and he would certainly never admit it, he was saddened by the thought of not having the chance to pass on his wealth of knowledge and extreme good taste to another generation. Of course, these ideas only came after a long night of drinking when the girls at the bar weren't pretty enough to hit on. And he would never say these things out loud, for fear of sounding like Sam. But right now, he wasn't feeling that way. Right now, he wasn't dwelling on the hellacious order his father had given him right before trading his own life for Dean's. He wasn't considering the war that he knew was coming. Instead, he was contributing to a minor, while his brother smiled approvingly from the couch.

As the song wound down, Lilly paused momentarily in her dancing, catching her breath. Mr. Dean and Mr. Sam were way better babysitters than her cousin Laura ever thought about being. She was having so much fun with them that she almost didn't see what was going on outside. She was about to try and convince Mr. Sam to dance with her when she saw a little boy ride by on his Big Wheel outside. This wasn't unusual; little Joey Sanders from across the street rode it on all the sidewalks around the neighborhood, normally with this puppy trailing along behind him. This time, it wasn't his puppy that was following him. Lilly froze in front of the window, as she recognized the boy that was tracking Joey as the ghost boy.

Sam and Dean noticed Lilly's sudden loss of motion at the same time. Sam quickly set his laptop on the couch and walked to her. "Lilly, what's wrong?" She looked up at him, her big brown eyes filled with tears and pointed out the window.

"It's that boy, and he's going after Joey!" she exclaimed in a scared voice. Sam followed her hand and could see the little boy on the Big Wheel and the same kid from the photo that Katie had taken the day before. He threw a frustrated glance at Dean, who was already out of his chair and grabbing a gun from his duffle bag.

"Sam, stay here with Lilly. I'll go get him," Dean ordered as he headed to the front door. Sam and Lilly were on his heels, but stayed inside as he went out on the porch.

Dean placed his gun in the waistband of his jeans and pulled his t-shirt down to cover it. There was no need in having the neighbors reporting someone toting a gun chasing after a small boy. He quickly made his way down the street, keeping a close eye on Joey and the ghost Jacob. The ghost didn't appear to be bothering anything, just following the boy, but Dean knew that could change at any minute. He crossed the street so that he was on the same sidewalk as the pair.

In the house, Sam held Lilly tight against him as they watched Dean trail after the boys. He was poised and ready to help his brother if he needed it, but he was also prepared to get Lilly out of the line of fire, if it came to that. Lilly, trembling slightly, was silent, taking in the scene.

As Dean crept closer and closer to the ghost, he heard a car approaching. Thinking nothing of it, being that he was in a suburban neighborhood, he never took his attention from Jacob. But when the sound of the car grew louder, his eyes left the ghost. A black Ford Escort was cruising down the street at a much higher rate of speed than normal on a 20 mile an hour road. And if he wasn't mistaken, which he normally wasn't in these situations, the car was headed straight for the little boy.

Sam realized the path the car was going to take at the same time that Dean did. Not wanting to scar Lilly if the worst happened, he picked her up and moved into the kitchen away from the door. Lilly squealed, not happy with leaving. "Wait, what about Mr. Dean and Joey?" she cried. When they were safely into the kitchen, Sam put Lilly down and squatted in front of her so that he could meet her eye.

"Lilly, I need you to promise to stay in here for a minute, okay? Don't come to the front door until I say so," Sam voice was gentle but firm. When she didn't respond right away, he reiterated, "Lilly, seriously, I don't want you to come to the door." The little girl finally nodded, and Sam brushed her bangs back out of her eyes. "Okay, I'll be right back."

In the time that Dean had taken to glance up at the car bearing down on Joey, Jacob had disappeared. Swearing under his breath, Dean ran towards the little boy and his Big Wheel as fast as he could. Joey had realized the car was headed for him and had frozen on the sidewalk. This helped Dean gain on him, enough that he had a full three seconds to scoop Joey out of his toy car and tumble into the adjacent yard before the car hit the sidewalk. The tire of the Escort clipped the Big Wheel, smashing the plastic into a countless number of bits. The car then swerved back onto the street and speed around the corner.

"Joey!" a woman yelled from the yard next to where the boy and Dean lay. "Joey!" she shouted again.

Dean rolled over with his arms still protecting the little boy. Joey was whimpering quietly and Dean saw that he was starting to cry. He also noticed out of the corner of his eye that Sam was rushing across to the street towards him. His brother reached the two at the same time the woman from next door.

"Joey, oh my God, are you okay?" the woman asked, falling to her knees next to them. Joey immediately threw himself at her, startng to cry in earnest. She held him to her and rocked him gently, then met Dean's eyes. "Thank you so much, I don't even know what to say."

"Don't mention it," he said as he got up off the ground. "I just happened to be outside at the right time."

Sam offered his hand to the woman who took, still holding Joey to her chest. "Is he alright?" he asked quietly.

The woman nodded. "I think so." She pulled Joey away from her for a moment. "Joey, sweetie, are you alright?" When she received a nod in return, she answered, "He's pretty good about telling me when he's hurt. I think he just had a good scare." She turned to Dean and said again, "I can't thank you enough. I saw him out the window but I would have never made it to him in time." An angry look grew on her face as she muttered, "And if those damn teenagers don't learn how to slow down and get off their cellphones, someone's going to get hurt."

"No problem," Dean repeated. "I'm glad he okay." He patted Joey on the back. "You be careful there, Junior." He then started back across the street. Sam smiled at Joey and his mother before following his brother.

Once they were out of earshot, Sam commented, "Okay, that was strange." The boys had reached Katie's porch again. "I've never seen anything like that happen."

Dean opened the door and entered the house. "You're telling me. This job is buckets of weird. Jacob is escalating pretty quickly if he's using other people to go after kids now, because that car was making a beeline for Joey. And I noticed Jacob conveniently disappeared right before the car hit the sidewalk."

Sam agreed hesitantly. "I guess, although…" he paused, remembering the little girl he had left in the kitchen. What he had to say could wait until they had checked on her. "Lilly, you can come out now."

Two seconds later, Lilly charged out of the kitchen and hurled herself at Dean. He luckily was paying attention and caught her. "Hey, munchkin, everything's alright," he said soothingly, stroking her hair as he did. "Joey's fine, he's just scared. Kind of like you were when that shelf tried to fall on you."

Lilly gazed up at Dean with adoring eyes. "You're like Superman, Mr. Dean. You saved Joey from the ghost."

Dean laughed a little and Sam thought he looked a little embarrassed by Lilly's comment. "I don't know about that," Dean answered. He picked Lilly up and carried her back into the living room. "Maybe Batman, he was cooler than Superman. And he had better tools."

Sam smiled in amazement at how much his brother had taken to Lilly. His amused expression changed to one of confusion as he recalled the events that had just occurred. Dean was right, this case was full on weird. Something was off, but Sam couldn't quite but his finger on it. As Lilly's classic rock lesson recommenced, Sam wondered if maybe there was more to this case than just a standard haunting. He rejoined Lilly and Dean in the living room, hoping Lilly's hero worship didn't increase the size of his ego. The Impala didn't have that much extra room available.