AN: This one's for Mouse95 and Sammygirl1963 who have both been very patiently prodding me to get back to the brothers. So girls, I hope you like this one!
Sammy had no idea how he was going to let his brothers know that they needed to help Caleb, but he knew he needed to find a way fast. Seeing their distressed looks, he ran past them and unzipped all three duffle bags that they had sat next to the door just in case they ever had to leave in a hurry. He knew he saw it in one of them, but now he couldn't remember which one and … finally!
Dean looked at John worried as they both watched their little brother race around and practically ransack their duffles before he suddenly popped up with the atlas in his hands in triumph. He had no idea what he should think, but it was obvious in what he should do so he looked over Sammy's shoulder and worried that his brother was frantically looking over their current location on the map before he suddenly stopped and pointed someplace another state away.
"Sammy, what's going on?" John asked as he joined the other two at the table. When he saw what they were looking at he couldn't help but worry about what Sammy meant. Was he pointing out where they needed to be, or where a threat was? "We need a little more to go on kiddo. How about you fill us in on what's going on."
Looking at his big brother, Sammy once again pointed at the spot on the map, this time with the end of a pen. When he saw the blank look on his brothers' faces he got more frustrated and stabbed a hole through the paper right where he knew Caleb was. It wasn't fair – he hadn't tried to tell his brothers about the man with yellow eyes, but still he came to him and warned him what he would do if he did, even going so far as to happily tell him that he would make sure he never would. He hadn't understood at first, but when he started having trouble writing notes in his journal he worried, when it got to the point that he could only draw and even that was slowly being taken away did he fully understand what was happening. Yellow eyes was going to make sure he didn't talk, one way or another. Now he had to face the possibility that he couldn't help Caleb, and that was unacceptable. Looking back and forth from John and Dean and knew he was freaking them out, but they didn't know how much he was too. Finally an idea hit him and he could have slapped himself for not thinking of it sooner. Quickly reaching into Dean's pocket he pulled out his big brother's wallet and found the picture he was looking for, the one with all of them together including the other hunters that they considered family. With one final glance at his brothers, he pointed at Caleb in the picture then the map until he saw understanding finally dawn on their faces.
"Sammy, you trying to tell us that Caleb is there and is in trouble?" John asked before running his hand through his hair in frustration. 'Of course he is idiot; quit making him out to be Lassie.' He thought, totally disgusted with himself. Seeing the relief in his baby brother's face though told him more than he wanted to know – whatever was going on with Sammy was getting worse, and he had no idea how to fix it.
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Caleb knew it had to be a dream, but he also knew that he'd have to be asleep in order to dream and he distinctly remembered driving, not sleeping. Looking at the woman who was a dead ringer for his late grandmother, he had to wonder what was going on.
"My dear Caleb, please calm down, you're hurt and the aggravation you're feeling isn't helping any."
"Gramma Hannah? I'm sorry, but you can't be… I mean… you're dead and I know for a fact that…"
"That I was put to rest the right way? Of course I was dear, but you need to realize something – I'm here to help you right now and that's more important than anything else. Now, why don't you sit down and I'll fill you in on what I know?" Caleb's Gramma stated kindly as she sat down and beckoned for him to do the same. When she saw she had his full attention, she smiled and reached out to touch his face. "Always a handsome boy, and now you've grown up to be a fine man. I'm proud of you Caleb, don't ever doubt that, but you sure have got yourself into a pickle haven't you?"
Caleb smirked a little, relishing this moment with the woman who had taken care of him for so many years. Not knowing what else to do he nodded, hoping that she'd fill him in on what was going on.
"Let's see, where to start. Oh yes… that demon who's watching you right now and wishing she could get her hooks into you. Oh don't look so surprised young man; you'd be surprised how much you learn about what's really going in life once you're dead." Gramma Hannah stated with a wry smile. "Too bad most of us aren't privy to it during life, huh? Now back to business. You need to hang on. I have it on very good authority that help is on the way, but you can't give in to what that demon… witch wants. You can't allow her into your mind otherwise she'll have you twisted every way to Sunday, do you understand me young man?"
Having no idea what to say, Caleb shook his head. He really had no clue what his Gramma was talking about, or for that matter how the hell she was able to talk to him to begin with. Frustrated, he was about to question her further when he noticed the walls wobble and the woman he was facing begin to change.
"Oh Caleb, I'm so sorry… my time wasn't as long as I thought. Remember what I told you… be strong, help is coming." Then she was gone, leaving a very confused Caleb sitting not at the kitchen table, but standing at a deserted crossroads, knowing that this change could not be a good thing.
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She had long forgotten her name, but loved the feel of her meat suit's name as it passed her lips – Tara. Although it didn't seem to be an exotic name, nothing close to the feel of the body she currently inhabited, it was one that she could work with very well in luring others in her trap until she was done and tossed her victims to the side. Maybe that was the main reason she was so irritated when her initial attempt to enter Caleb's mind failed, he was an easy enough target, but one that would have given her great satisfaction in breaking.
It wasn't until she was about to leave the broken body of the hunter when she felt a tiny shift and knew that it was her opportunity to try again. It didn't take much effort to slide in as the other entity was fading away, now she knew that his loyalty to his family was everything for him, and that would be the exact weapon she would use to destroy him.
Watching as the scenery changed from a small kitchen to a dark crossroads, Tara smiled and with a great new confidence, she strode forward until she was behind the hunter close enough to touch. "Boo!"
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John knew that he either packed everyone up in the car and went after Caleb, which would put Sammy in the most danger, or go himself and leave both his little brothers defenseless. Neither option sounded good, but what else could he do? He looked over and saw the exhausted form of his baby brother being rocked on the couch by Dean and knew that he needed a new plan – Sammy couldn't handle much else at the moment and there was no way he wanted to leave Dean with the sole responsibility to keep them both safe until he got back. Once again he looked at the map and saw that he wouldn't be able to get there until tomorrow afternoon if he drove straight through, and that didn't set well with him.
Dean finally stood and walked over to John and watched his older brother ponder a decision that was obviously a hard one. "You know, you don't have to make all the decisions on your own." He said quietly, hoping to not wake Sammy up.
"I know kiddo, but there's not much I can do here you know and if Caleb needs us then…"
"Why don't you run up to the next town and call Joshua or Jim? They both check their answering machines often enough and they could probably get word out pretty quickly or maybe if you got hold of Bobby…"
It didn't take long for John to know that Dean had a point. If he didn't want to put his brothers in harm's way, then he'd have to find someone to get to Caleb. Sure he could call the authorities and tell them the general area, but without knowing what was really going on he couldn't send someone into what could very well be a supernatural firestorm. Sighing, he dug through his father's journal until he found the notes in the back with the latest addition added – Bobby's cell phone number. He remembered when the hunter had gotten the latest piece of technology and how they all had laughed seeing as how there was nothing about Bobby Singer that was new, but he explained with his own brand of humor as well as explicative's that it was for the salvage and he could take it off on his taxes as a business expense – which got everyone laughing even harder. Now though John couldn't believe his luck their friend had one and hoped that Bobby knew would be able to get someone to Caleb before it was too late.
Nodding, he gave a quick grin to Dean and walked to Sammy to make sure he was in a deep sleep before he rushed out the door to uncover the Impala and get going. He knew that Dean would be in hunter mode until he got back, but he still couldn't help but worry about his brothers and leaving them in the cabin by themselves, even for a short time… anything could happen, and he would never forgive himself if it did while he wasn't there to help. Taking a deep breath to steel himself for what he had to do, he started the car and carefully made his way out of the forest, watching for any threat along the way before he got to the main road and let the engine take over. The sooner he got help to Caleb, the sooner he could get back to his little brothers.
