'Bobby,

We're leaving the twins with you for the summer so Dad can follow some leads and the boys can hopefully have some fun…Dad said it was ok and that you agreed with the plan. Alec's pissed off right now, but he'll bounce back once he gets to go outside. Ben probably won't talk to you until Alec decides he's ok with staying.

A few things that will probably help with the twins…Alec will argue with you until he gets his way when it comes to bedtime. The best thing to do is just let him sit with you in the living room and watch TV until he falls asleep. Then just wake him up after a while and get him to move. He's a lot easier to deal with when he just wakes up. But he has to go up to his and Ben's room because Ben has nightmares and he needs Alec there to help him through it.

If the twins are upset about something and won't talk about it, then it's probably about Manticore. It won't do any good to talk about it, so it'll be easier to just get his brother and have them take care of each other.

Alec should have enough pills to last the summer, if something happens then he knows what to get and he can point them out to you. He knows he's supposed to take them every day, but remind him until he rolls his eyes and walks off. But never bring it up around any of the friends he makes because he'll just stop taking them to get back at you. Also, he's gonna make a lot of friends so if you don't want them at your house, you better put your foot down and never show any weakness. He's a nightmare to deal with.

He's also on a kick to make money, so just keep an eye out for anything illegal. Ben usually pulls him back when he gets a crazy idea, but not every time. Alec is very convincing…And if he ever gets on your nerves with all his talking, just feed him. Or offer him some money since he's on this kick, but food usually works.

Just a few more things to help when they get into some moods. Alec loves affection and craves contact. Just ruffle his hair, pat his back, give him hugs-he won't admit it, but that's what makes him feel better. So, when he gets in a mood about Manticore and Ben's not around, just give him a good hug and let him crush some cars or something. Or…as a last resort, let him shoot something. He loves guns and if you're wanting to go squirrel hunting or something, he'll definitely go with you.

Ben's the opposite. He's not a big fan of touching and he'll try to avoid you if you start giving him hugs. Just give him a book to read and he'll feel better. But if you want to keep that book, you have to tell him he can't keep it and get it back from him as soon as he's done. You should also hide any books you don't want him to read, because he will read anything he can find.

Alec and Ben are both going to feel like we abandoned them, so I'll call as much as I can to talk to them. Just keep some ice cream on hand to cheer them up or take them swimming in the creek. They love swimming, baseball, bicycling, pretty much anything outside. They also have too much energy if you keep them inside for too long, so make sure they're occupied for the majority of the day.

I'm sorry this is all in a note. I wish I could be there to tell you everything you might need to know or that even Sam could stay with you guys too, but Dad wants to leave now and he thinks he needs both of us for the hunt. You can always call me if you need me. Just don't tell the boys where we are and don't let them see this note.

We'll be back before the summer's over as long as everything goes as planned.

Dean'

Bobby felt torn as he read through Dean's note again. He hadn't seen the boys for two years, not since John had first found them, but now he had the boys for the entire summer and without Dean to help take care of them. From the note, it sounded like Dean was pretty much taking care of the boys. He knew all these little things about the boys that only a parent would know.

He looked up the drive, trying to see if he could catch a glimpse of them before he drove up. He didn't like that John had just dropped them off while he was out, but he couldn't change that now. Dean had left the note in his mailbox; he could tell he wrote it quickly, but he'd put a lot of thought in it too. John must've been planning this for some time even though the boys didn't sound like they were on board with the plan, and this was the first he had heard of it.

He slowly got into his truck again and drove down his driveway to his house. The boys were sitting on the porch steps with their duffle bags at their feet and somber looks on their faces. Bobby got out and walked over to the two of them.

"So, I guess it's just us for a while, huh?" Bobby asked. Neither of them answered him or even acknowledged that he'd said anything. "They'll be back before you know it…"

"Can we go inside? I'm feeling tired and would like to take a nap," Alec mumbled.

Bobby took a deep breath and nodded, "Alright kid, but later on we'll go to the creek or somethin'."

Alec shrugged and followed him inside. Dean had said he was pissed, but he must've been pissed when they had first dropped him off and had simmered down to just being sad and missing his older brothers and his Dad.

Bobby tentatively put his hand on Alec's back, and surprisingly what Dean had put in his note was true. Alec leaned against him instead of pulling away like Sam or Dean would have. Ben followed them inside, but they still didn't talk to him. Alec went over to the sofa and laid down, and Ben looked up at him questioningly.

"Well, you wanna go to the kitchen with me and help me figure out what we're gonna do about dinner?" Bobby asked him. He nodded his ok and walked ahead of him into the kitchen. "So…um, what've you boys been up to?"

Ben shrugged, "Lots of things…"

"It's been a while since I've seen you boys," Bobby said, searching his cabinets for anything they could make for dinner. He might just have to order some pizza since he hardly had any food in the house.

"Dad's been busy," Ben said.

Bobby sighed, "I know you boys don't wanna stay here, but this could be fun. There's a lot we can do and there's hardly any rules at my house."

Ben barely cracked a smile, "Alec will like that…"

"It won't be so bad, and then your brothers and your Dad will be back," Bobby tried to reassure.

"I just don't know why Dad would take Dean and Sam with him, but not us," Ben said.

He didn't have a good answer to that. He wished John wouldn't have taken Sam and Dean with him either, but he couldn't change the man's mind. "Dean told me he'd call," Bobby finally said. "He'd check in and talk to you boys, make sure you're ok."

"You talked to Dean?" Ben asked, surprised.

"He, uh, he left me a note. Told me some of his tricks for you boys," Bobby said.

Ben nodded, "He's a good big brother."

"Yes he is," Bobby agreed. "Now let's order some pizza. I don't have any food in here…"

The first couple of weeks were a little rough for them. It took a while to get used to living with someone they barely knew. They didn't know the rules with Bobby and they were used to having Dean tell them if they did something wrong. It was weird not having Sam or Dean around with them.

Ben liked routines, but everything was different. He had wanted to leave Manticore, had convinced his brother to leave with him, but Manticore made sense. He had a set routine, he knew what was expected of him, he had set rules, and he stayed in one place. They moved so much and everything changed every few weeks, sometimes months if they were lucky, but as soon as he had a routine everything would change again.

The only constants he had were his brothers and now Sam and Dean were gone too. He wanted to like being at Bobby's, but he knew it wasn't going to last. Dad would come back and take them on the road again. He wanted to have a home like the other boys that he met at school. They never moved around and got to stay with their families.

After two years on the road, he just wanted to stay in one spot for longer than one summer. And he wanted Dad to stay with them.

Alec was fine with it; he actually enjoyed going new places and meeting new people. He didn't like it that Sam and Dean left with Dad this time, but he got over it pretty quickly. He liked exploring and riding his bike; he thought being at Bobby's was the best way they could spend their summer. He didn't mind the constant change or the fact that they didn't have a real home.

He liked hunting monsters and helping people, but why couldn't they have a chance to have a real home? He didn't know what he'd done wrong, but he wanted to fix things so Dad would come back.

He knew what he had to do, but he didn't know how to he was going to do it. He needed to make a sacrifice to the Blue Lady to get his family back together.

He loved being at Bobby's; he could explore and run around and really be free to do whatever he wanted. He missed Sam, Dean, and Dad, but he couldn't bring them back so he might as well enjoy being outside.

But he was getting bored. He'd already explored most of the city and everything around Bobby's house. Ben didn't want to explore with him; he just wanted to read and stay in his room most of the time.

"Hey kid, you wanna run to town and get some things for me?" Bobby asked, sitting down next to him on the porch. He was trying to decide where he wanted to go for the day, but he couldn't decide.

"Do I get to keep the change?" Alec asked back.

Bobby chuckled, "Sure, you can keep the change. Just be careful, alright?"

"I will be," Alec said, taking the list from Bobby and running over to his bike. Bobby had gotten him and Ben bikes when they had first gotten there and he rode around everywhere. Dean must have told Bobby that they liked to ride bikes.

He actually really missed his older brothers, even more then he missed Dad. It had taken him a while to feel safe at Bobby's since Dean wasn't there. But Dean had somehow told Bobby all the tricks that he'd learned. Bobby knew about how he usually fell asleep, he knew about ruffling his hair, and he knew that he needed his space sometimes. He knew Dean would come back for them, so he tried not to think about the feeling of abandonment that would hit him sometimes. He tried to shrug it off and act like it didn't matter, but his brother could tell so he'd take off and hang out at the creek until the feeling would go away.

He skidded to a stop in front of the store and ran inside.

"Hey Alec, what's Bobby got you lookin' for today?" Mr. Hastings asked.

"He gave me a list," Alec replied, handing the older man the list Bobby had given him.

Mr. Hastings studied the list for a moment, then nodded, "I think I can find all of this for ya. You on your bike again?"

"Yes sir," Alec said with a nod.

"I don't know if you can carry all this back on there…" Mr. Hastings said doubtfully. "It's a ways to Bobby's place."

"I can carry it," Alec reassured.

"Tell me again how you're related to Bobby Singer?" Mr. Hastings asked with a cocked eyebrow. He found it suspicious that he'd never met him before and had shown up out of nowhere 11 years later.

"Bobby's my uncle," Alec easily lied. He was good at telling stories and he'd told this one a lot this summer. "My Dad's on a work trip and he won't be back for the summer. Uncle Bobby agreed to help out and watch us so we wouldn't have to ride around in the car for the whole summer."

"And you've got how many brothers again?"

"Three. A twin and two older brothers. But they don't venture out much. I'm the adventurous one in the family," Alec said.

Mr. Hastings chuckled, "I agree with you on that one. I almost don't believe you even have brothers…"

"I'll convince Ben to come with me next time so you can meet him. He's my twin," Alec said.

"I'd be happy to meet him," Mr. Hastings said. He handed him a couple bags, and then said, "You better get on back to your Uncle's. A storm's supposed to come in, and you shouldn't be ridin' your bike around in that."

"Ok," Alec easily replied. He waved goodbye and tied the bags onto his handle bars. He rode around town even though he'd told Mr. Hastings that he'd go back. He wasn't ready to go back yet and he wasn't afraid of the storm. He didn't particularly like getting wet, but if it meant he could stay out longer, then it would be fine.

His head cocked to the side when he heard something that sounded like a fight. He turned slightly and headed towards the sound. He skidded to a stop once he saw two guys in an alleyway. One guy was beating up the other guy; it was pretty one sided so he thought it would be ok if he intervened.

He hopped off his bike and ran over to the two guys. He immediately kicked out the first guy's knee to bring him down lower and used a hard right hook to the guy's jaw to knock him out. They guy fell to the ground, unconscious, and he kind of regretted taking him down so fast. His adrenaline was pumping and he felt alive.

The guy who had been getting beat up was looking at him in shock. He heard an impressed whistle behind him, making him whirl around to face a tall guy in a black leather jacket. "That was pretty impressive for a 9-year-old," the man said.

"I'm 11," Alec growled.

"You're a little small for an 11-year-old," he shot back.

"I'm small for my age," Alec said. "I haven't hit my growth spurt yet."

"Is that why you know how to fight? You're little so kids pick on you?" The man asked.

"What do you want?" Alec asked, crossing his arms over his chest defiantly.

"You like money kid?" He asked instead.

"What's it to you?"

"Well, I like money, and I've got a place where people would pay good money to watch you fight," he said. "I'll give you a cut of whatever we make, if you're interested…"

"What if I was just being a good Samaritan? What if I'm not interested at all?" Alec asked. This guy was sketchy and he knew he shouldn't be tempted to do this, but he was. He liked fighting and he liked making money.

"I think you are interested," he said. "And if you really are, then meet me here at 11pm tonight."

He disappeared after that, and Alec slowly walked back to his bike. He wanted to go, but he didn't want to betray Bobby and sneak out to do this. But as long as he didn't find out it would be ok, right? And if he really did make some money tonight, then he could add it to his stash just in case they needed it.

"Alec…what are you up to?" Ben asked his brother. Alec was acting weird, and he knew his brother was up to something.

"Better question is, what are you up to?" Alec asked, deflecting his concern. "You're acting just as weird as I am."

"Just promise me you're gonna be safe and I'll drop it," Ben tried to compromise.

"I can't promise that. You know how I am," Alec said with a smirk.

"Alec…"

"I won't ask what you're doing if you drop it," Alec bargained. "Obviously we're both sneaking out tonight. We just don't talk about it and it never happened, ok?"

"But there's a difference between what you're doing and what I'm doing," Ben said.

"Oh yeah? What's that?"

"You're doing something reckless and dangerous and I'm doing something to get our family back together," Ben said.

Alec looked up at him curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Just promise me that you'll be safe and I won't ask you any more questions, ok?" Ben asked back.

"I'll be safe," Alec reassured.

"Alec, that's not a promise," Ben said.

Alec hesitated, and then hedged, "I promise to let you patch me up if this doesn't go the way I planned."

"Alec," Ben growled.

"That's the best you're gonna get, brother, take it or leave it," Alec said.

"If you don't tell me, then I might just follow you," Ben warned.

"No you won't," Alec replied easily. "You've got you own thing you're doing. Maybe next time."

Ben glared at his brother, but then muttered, "You better be careful."

"You too," Alec replied.

Bobby sat down on the sofa and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels to try and find something to watch, but he didn't see anything. Usually he let Alec pick what they watched so he didn't have to choose. Alec liked picking anyway, so it was a win, win.

He frowned though, just then realizing that the little monster wasn't grabbing for the remote or getting crumbs all over his sofa or even leaning against him to get more comfortable. The little twerp was the worst to watch TV with, always flipping through the channels and turning the volume way up, but then he would fall asleep against him and he'd forget that he'd been annoyed in the first place.

He looked to the recliner, searching for Ben's steadying presence. Ben didn't care about watching television, but he liked being in the same room as them, curled up in the recliner, reading his book. He was a quiet kid, unlike his brother, but it was reassuring to have him around. He didn't like it when the kid was around.

He didn't like it that neither of the boys were around and it was after dark.

He turned off the TV and walked up the stairs to the room that the boys shared, but it was empty and the window was open.

"Balls!"

Alec snuck through the shadows towards the house. He had some bruises on his side, but the stack of bills in his pocket outweighed the slight bruising.

"What was it?" Ben asked, appearing seemingly out of nowhere.

"What was what?" Alec asked back.

"Bruising on your left side," Ben said. "So, what was it?"

"What did you do?" Alec asked back.

Ben sighed, "We already had this argument."

"I know," Alec said with a smile.

"You know I'm going to find out and you know I'm going to be pissed when I do," Ben said.

"Back at ya, bro," Alec said.

He turned away from his brother and started climbing up to their window. He heard Ben huff, but then followed after. He froze though once he was inside their room. Ben came in after him, but pushed his way in front of him to try to protect him from whoever was in their room. He rolled his eyes, but he let Ben have this one.

The light flipped on and Bobby was there in front of them.

He put on a good act, but he didn't like getting in trouble any more that Ben did. Trouble meant punishment, and punishment equaled pain. He didn't think Bobby would punish them, but he didn't know Bobby like he knew Dean.

"I don't know where you boys went or what you did," Bobby said. "And I don't want to know. But if you sneak out on my watch again, I'm callin' your Dad. Either tell me where you're goin' or don't go at all, got it?"

"Yes sir," they replied at the same time.

Bobby nodded once before he left their room.

More soon...