"I don't understand," Alec grumbled. "Why are we leaving Bobby's?" He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted; he was in the middle in the backseat and they were leaving his favorite place and he didn't like it. He wanted to stay at Bobby's and move the cars, and work on them, and play at the creek. He didn't know where they were going, but he wanted to stay.

"Alec, me and Dean have somethin' we've gotta do," John said.

"What is it?" Alec asked. Now he was interested. John had that tone that meant he was hiding something, and he wanted to know what that was.

"It's complicated…" John hedged. "But you boys will get to go to school for the first time."

Alec frowned; he didn't like the sound of that. "What's school?"

"It's where we get to learn stuff," Sam said. He sounded excited about it, so maybe it wasn't terrible. But he wanted to do what John and Dean were doing.

"I'm not so sure I want to do that," Alec replied. "I think I'd rather do what John and Dean are doing."

"Alec," Ben hissed.

John chuckled though and said, "How about we try school first? You might like it."

"I doubt that…" Alec muttered under his breath. Dean chuckled and smiled back at him.

"I think it sounds fun," Ben said quietly. Of course Ben would think school sounded fun. Ben liked books and reading and so far that's what school sounded like. It didn't sound like there was much time for fun or running around.

"Alec, there's this thing called recess that you're gonna love," Dean said. "And there's gonna be other kids that you guys can play with.

"What's recess?"

"Alec, just give it a try ok?" Dean said. "You might like it."

"What if I don't like it?" He was really pushing his luck; he didn't know how many questions he was allowed to ask, but until he got in trouble he wasn't going to stop.

"Alec, all kids have to go to school," John said. "Even Dean has to go to school."

"Really?"

Dean made a face at him and nodded. Alec couldn't help laughing and decided he could give school a try.

"We gotta go over a few things though before you go," John said. Alec frowned and shared a look with Ben. This didn't sound good. "In public we're a family and the school will expect me to be your Dad…"

Alec still didn't think John was their Dad, but he could play pretend. Manticore was training them to go undercover so this would be just like that.

Ben nodded next to him, making him huff. Of course Ben would just agree to whatever John said.

"Fine…" Alec breathed out.


"Alright, you've got backpacks, lunch, notebooks, pencils…Sammy, am I missin' anything?" Dean asked over his shoulder. Alec was fidgeting in front of him, but Ben was waiting patiently as he got them ready for their first day of school. He was actually nervous about his little brothers going to school. He wanted them to stay with him and he wanted to be able to watch over them.

"Does Alec have his pills?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded, and then looked to Alec, "And I have some in my bag if something happens, ok?"

"Ok," Alec replied.

"It's gonna be good," Dean tried to reassure. "Just think about recess, ok?" Ben and Alec both nodded. "And remember what we talked about. Don't mention Manticore or anything that happened there. The teachers wouldn't understand and things could get really complicated."

Dean fixed Alec's collar and checked the back of his neck. They had t-shirts and flannel, but Dean was still worried that their barcodes could be seen.

"Dean, I can't see them," Sam reassured. "The flannel covers them up."

"Don't take off the flannel shirts, ok?" Dean asked. "People freak out if they see tattoos on kids."

"We'll be good," Ben promised. "No one will ever know."

"It's like going undercover," Alec said with a smile.

Dean rubbed Alec's head and chuckled, "Yeah, it's kinda like goin' undercover."

"You boys ready?" Dad asked, walking in.

Dean took a deep breath and nodded. "C'mon, let's go get in the car."

Sam, Ben, and Alec all ran outside and Dean slowly walked to the door. He watched as the boys fought over who had to sit in the middle, and he smiled when Alec ended up losing.

"I'll search the house while you're at school," Dad said. "Keep an eye on the boys, ok?"

"Yes sir," Dean replied. Dad didn't even have to tell him to watch out for his brothers; he was going to do that no matter what.

"If I find anything, we'll look into it tonight," Dad said.

"Dad, I thought we were going to wait to do this," Dean said. "We were going to get Alec and Ben used to this before we started hunting again."

"They aren't hunting. It's just me and you hunting," Dad grumbled.

"I want them to have a normal life for a little while. I want to be around them and teach them things that kids do. I don't want them to have to see us hurt," Dean said. He didn't argue with Dad, but this was important. Alec and Ben deserved to be kids.

"Dean, get in the car," Dad ordered.

He took a deep breath and muttered, "Yes sir."

He slapped a smile on his face as he got closer to the car; this was Alec and Ben's first day of school and he was going to put on a happy face and try to convince them that school was fun. He was pretty sure Alec wasn't going to be convinced, but he was going to push recess until Alec was older. Once he was older then he would bribe him with hunting. Alec would probably like hunting just as much as he did, so that would work. He really hoped Ben liked school because he wasn't sure yet what he could bribe him with.

"Dean, is everything ok?" Sam whispered. His smile must really suck right now.

"Yeah Sammy, everything's fine," Dean replied. He looked over at Alec and Ben and said, "Once school's over I'll come find you guys, ok? Don't leave without me and Sam, ok?"

"Ok," Alec and Ben said at the same time.

Dean nodded and they sat in silence on their way to school. He was nervous again once they got there. Dad took off once he dropped them off and Dean led the way into the school. Dad had signed them up yesterday so he didn't really need to be there, but it would've been nice for Alec and Ben if he would've stayed.

Dean stopped by the office and found out where to take the boys before he led the way down the hall. They were late. What a great start for their first day. At least they probably wouldn't be here for very long.

"See ya after school, Sammy," Dean said once they were at his classroom.

Sam smiled, and then walked into his classroom. Dean ushered the boys further down the hall until he got to their room.

"Ok, you know where Sammy's at if you need something, but make sure you really need it, ok? The teachers don't like it if you just walk out of class whenever you want. So, make sure you listen to the teacher and do what she says," Dean said.

They both nodded so Dean opened the door.


"And this kid kept kicking the back of my chair. I told him to knock it off, but he kept doing it. I wanted to punch him right in the face, but I knew Ben was giving me that disapproving look that he's got so I didn't. And I didn't want to mess things up, especially on our first day," Alec said, talking as fast as he could. "And the teacher can't tell us apart because we're identical, but you do just fine at it so I don't know why she can't. She called us the wrong names all day. One time she even called me Steven, which isn't even close to my name or Ben's name."

Dean blinked a couple times, trying to take it all in, but then he smiled and asked, "So you liked it?"

Alec sighed dramatically and said, "No. I like recess just like you said, but the rest of it was useless."

Dean chuckled and looked over at Ben. "Did you like any of it?"

Ben shrugged and said, "I really liked reading, but Alec's right, the rest was useless."

"What d'you guys mean by useless?" Dean asked, trying not to laugh.

"We learned this stuff when we were babies," Alec said bluntly.

Ben nudged him and corrected, "We weren't babies…but we were pretty young. This is really easy compared to what we were learning."

"And we've got these awesome memories. Once we read something, we know it forever," Alec said.

"Where's Sam? I saw him at lunch time and he mentioned something about a library," Ben said.

Dean scanned the crowd of students all looking for their rides until he saw Sam's shaggy hair coming towards them. "It looks like he's on his way," Dean said.

"What're we gonna do while they go to the library?" Alec asked, looking up at him with his big green eyes.

He really needed to meet up with Dad and go over the hunt, but Alec wanted to hang out with him. And he didn't want to make Alec go to the library. "We'll think of something," Dean said with a smile.

"Dean, I was gonna take Ben to the library. Is that ok?" Sam asked as he ran up to them. "Alec can come too if he wants to."

"Pass," Alec muttered under his breath.

Dean tried to hide his smile and said, "Yeah, you guys can go to the library. Just get back to the motel before it gets dark."

Sam gave him a knowing look and nodded. "C'mon Ben."

Ben looked to Alec, but they both looked torn. Dean realized this would be the first time they would really be apart since Manticore. When they had been apart, they were never very far away from each other.

"Alec-"

"It'll be ok," Alec whispered. Ben still didn't look so sure so Alec said, "I'll go to the library."

"No Alec, it's just weird…" Ben said. "And you'd be really bored there."

"I can suck it up," Alec replied. "I don't know if I can do this."

"I've got an idea," Dean cut in. "Me and Alec will hang out near the library. That way you still get to do what you want, but you won't be too far apart." Alec and Ben still looked uncertain. "We can try it and if it doesn't work then we'll come over to the library, ok?"

They finally nodded so all four of them started walking down the street. Alec and Ben walked side by side; Alec was talking Ben's ear off, but Ben was laughing and nodding to what Alec was saying. They were inseparable.

"Have you heard anything from Dad yet?" Sam whispered to him.

Dean kept his focus on Alec and Ben to make sure they weren't listening before he said, "Not yet, but I'll probably catch up with him after I get you guys some dinner."

"Dean, what if something happens?" Sam asked. "I thought you said we were going to wait to do this…"

"I wanna wait, but it's not up to me," Dean muttered.

"At least tell me where it's at so if something does happen then I know where to look," Sam practically begged.

"It's in an abandoned house outside of town," Dean said. "But that's all I'm gonna tell you. I don't want you out there either, ok?"

Sam gave him a sideways glare and said, "I'll go out there if I have to, Dean."

"You won't have to. It's gonna be an easy one," Dean said.

"You don't know that for sure," Sam argued.

"Sam, just drop it." He looked back at Alec and Ben just in time to see Alec quickly look away from him. He sighed and just hoped that Alec hadn't heard anything.

"Whoa! Dean look!" Alec said excitedly after they walked a few more blocks.

Dean smiled when he saw the building with a UFO on it and a lot of neon lights. "You wanna go there?" Dean asked even though he already knew the answer.

"Yes!" Alec immediately replied, but then asked, "What is it?"

"Looks like an arcade or maybe laser tag," Dean said. Alec just kind of looked at him and he realized he had to figure out how to explain this to Alec. "Um, an arcade has a ton of games in it and laser tag is this really awesome game where you run around and pretty much play tag…" That was a terrible way to explain it, but he was pretty sure Alec would like it no matter what.

Alec stopped suddenly and said, "Sam, Ben, let's talk for a minute."

Ben rolled his eyes, but Sam said with a small smile, "Ok, what do you want to talk about?"

"This building is probably the coolest building in the world and you two want to go to the library," Alec stated. "So just hear me out for a minute, ok?"

"Alec, we're already listening," Ben pointed out. "Just get on with it."

"Let's forget the library and have some fun instead," Alec said as fast as he could. "We can all four hang out like we did at Bobby's and have fun and be brothers. Besides, there are probably a million libraries and we just got done with the longest, most boring day ever. We need to go out and do something fun before we go crazy."

Sam and Ben looked at each other once Alec was done. Alec looked like he was holding his breath as he waited for their decision. Dean thought it was nice that Alec wanted them to all stick together.

"Ben," Sam finally said. "Maybe Alec's right. We could go to the library another time…"

"Please Ben," Alec begged.

Dean nearly cursed; Alec had a great pair of puppy-dog eyes. Now he had two little brothers who could pull that on him and he wouldn't be able to say no. He hoped Ben didn't have the same powers. He would have some real problems if all three of his brothers could pull the puppy-dog eyes on him any time they wanted.

Ben broke into a slow smile and said, "Alright, let's go play."

"Yes!"

Alec started to take off across the street, but Dean quickly reached out and wrapped his arm around his chest to stop him. "Easy kiddo, cars don't always stop. You gotta look before you take off like that."

"Sorry," Alec said, looking down in shame.

"It's ok," Dean instantly reassured. "Just gotta be a little more careful." Alec nodded so Dean led the way across the street when it was clear.

It was actually laser tag, so Dean paid the guy and got their vests and the guns.

"You guys wanna do teams or a free-for-all?" The guy asked. The place was pretty empty so they could really do whatever they wanted.

"Teams," Alec and Ben said at the same time.

"Yeah, except you two aren't allowed to be on the same team," Dean said. Alec and Ben sent him matching glares, but Dean chuckled. "Hey, me and Sammy don't stand a chance against you two. Ben, you're with me. Alec, you're with Sam."

They were on their third game when his phone started ringing.

"Dean, you can get it, I'll cover you," Ben said. He scanned the room looking for any signs of Sam or Alec. He and Ben had won the last game and Sam and Alec were out for blood this time around.

"Hello?" Dean answered.

"What're you doing? The boys doin' ok? How was their first day?" Dad asked. Dean could tell Dad really wanted to talk about the hunt, but he also wanted to make sure Alec and Ben did ok today.

"Everything's good, we're playin' laser tag right now," Dean said.

"Seriously?" Dad asked. He sounded disappointed, but the boys were actually having fun and they didn't have anything else to do. "Get them back to the motel, and then get your ass out here. There's more than one, so I need your help. Oh and a couple of teenagers snuck in here and they didn't listen when I told them they needed to leave."

"Dad, I'm gonna need a ride out there," Dean said.

"It's not that far outside of town. You should just have Sam take the boys to the motel. He's old enough now to be in charge," Dad said.

"Dad, he's not even 12 yet," Dean pointed out.

"Dean, just get over here," Dad said before he hung up.

"Game over?" Ben asked knowingly.

Dean frowned wondering how Ben knew that, but he nodded, "Yeah…game over."

"You're doing something dangerous, aren't you?" Ben asked. "That's why me, Alec, and Sam can't come with you."

"Ben, I don't want you guys involved in this," Dean said. "It is dangerous and I want you guys to have a chance to be kids."

"Dean, I get it, but there are a few things you need to know," Bed said matter-of-factly. "The first thing is that me and Alec can take care of ourselves and we're pretty good at it. I don't think you know much about Manticore, but if you did then you would understand. The second thing is that if anything happened to you, we'd have a real problem because we really like you. We don't like very many people and we'll do just about anything to protect the ones we do like. That's another thing you don't really know yet, but you will eventually. And the third thing is that Alec's already curious and there's no stopping him once he starts, and if he decides to follow you out there, then I'm going with him."

Dean's heart fluttered in panic; he wanted to keep the boys away from this, but Ben made it sound like it was already a done deal. "Ben, please, you guys can't be part of this."

"I'm just giving you a fair warning," Ben said. "We heard enough earlier to get a good idea of where you're going. The best I can do is delay Alec for a little while, but if the game is over and you leave, then he's going to sneak off and follow you and that means I'm going and so is Sam."

"What if I sneak off right now?" Dean asked.

"That'll give you maybe a 30 minutes head start," Ben said.

"Really?" Dean asked.

"I can keep the game going for a while," Ben said with a shrug. "It won't take them long to figure out where you went, but it will take us some time to find where you are."

Maybe he could get to the hunt and finish it before his brothers found them. "You sure you can cover for me?"

Ben smiled, "I got this."

Dean patted Ben's shoulder and said, "We're gonna be great brothers."

Ben's smile widened, "You better get outta here before they come find us."

"Thanks little brother," Dean said before he quickly snuck out.


"They're doing really good this time," Alec whispered to Sam.

"I know," Sam replied, watching his back.

Alec loved this game, but it was weird that he hadn't even spotted Dean once yet. Not seeing Ben was understandable, but he should've seen Dean at least once. "Sam…this is weird," Alec said. "We haven't seen them for 15 minutes."

"You're right…something's wrong," Sam said. Sam thought for a moment, but then he looked up with wide eyes and said, "Never mind…I think everything's fine…"

Alec scowled, "Sam, you're not a very good liar. Tell me what's going on."

"I honestly don't know for sure," Sam said. But he was only being half truthful.

"Ben!" Alec shouted as loud as he could. "Ben! Be-"

Sam slapped his hand over his mouth and drug him to the corner. "Would you stop," Sam hissed. "You're gonna freak everyone out."

"Tell me what's going on," Alec demanded.

"I don't know exactly what's going on," Sam said. "But I know that Dean doesn't want us to be a part of it."

"He's at that abandoned house outside of town, isn't he?" Alec asked. Thank God for his heightened senses, otherwise he wouldn't have heard where Dean was going.

"How did you know that?" Sam asked.

"Never mind that for now," Alec replied. "We gotta find Ben, and then we're going after Dean."

"Alec, no," Sam said.

"Sam, yes," Alec argued. Sam glared at him so he decided to back up his argument. "Dean's doing something dangerous. What if something happens to him and we aren't around?"

"Alec, he's gonna be pissed if we go," Sam said.

"I'm going," Alec stated. He turned and shouted again, "Ben!"

"What?" Ben grumbled, suddenly appearing next to him.

"What took you so long?" Alec asked. "I could've been dying."

"You're so dramatic," Ben shot back. "I knew you weren't dying. I could hear your yelling a mile away."

"Where's Dean?" Alec asked.

"I think you already know," Ben said.

"Ok, don't think that I missed the fact that you stalled for him, but we can still catch up," Alec said. He and Ben were going to have words later, but for now they had bigger things to worry about.

"Alec, do you really think this is a good idea?" Ben asked. "Dean really didn't want us to go."

Alec sighed dramatically and asked, "Do I seriously need to go through this again?" Ben and Sam just looked at him so he said, "I'm going even if you guys aren't going with me."

"Alec, you already know I'm going with you," Ben said.

Alec looked over at Sam. He hesitated for a minute, but then said, "Alright, I'm in."

Alec smiled; they were going to find Dean and they were going to find out what this big secret was. This was going to be great.


More soon...