Omg I am soooo sorry I didn't realise how much time passed since I last posted something.

First things first, thanks to all of you who reviewed my last chapter. I am still encouraged by getting them.

My MA course at the university turns out to consume most of my time and I couldn't even think about fanfiction at all. However, since I have another deadline approaching my mind went into overdrive the last two nights as always when I start freaking out because of the workload. Well, this is the result of it. All typos and errors are mine so please return them if you find them,

Enjoy reading.

Slowly but surely the vacation time was coming to an end. The Winchester brothers had one more week before the summer holidays in Sioux Falls were about to end. It was Monday morning and all was quiet in Bobby Singer's house, a situation that was quite rare during the last weeks. The sun just started to rise and the first birds had started to sing. Bobby was snoring in his bedroom and an equally loud snoring could be heard from John's room. The room the boys shared was quiet; Dean was on his side, one arm draped over his little brother breathing in a steady rhythm. Sam's breathing pattern however had started to change and soon the hazel brown eyes of the eight-year-old fluttered open. The young boy stayed still for a few minutes in which he decided what he was going to do. As far as he could tell from the sound of the house his possibilities seemed endless as no one except him seemed to be awake. A quick glance to the alarm clock told Sam that it was five thirty in the morning. Careful as not to wake his older brother Sam managed to get out from under the arm draped over his chest region. He managed to put his still warm pillow under Dean's arm, without the older boy realising that his younger sibling was giving him the slip.

Carefully, to avoid as much noise as possible Sam tiptoed to the door and slipped out of the room as soon as he could squeeze himself through the small crack. In front of the door the eight-year-old stopped uncertain how to proceed. Should he turn to the right and go downstairs or left to investigate the upper floor? A particular loud snore from his dad's room had Sam jump on the spot and clutch a hand over his mouth to prevent a scream to escape. Since going downstairs meant he had to pass by his dad's room Sammy decided he would rather turn the other way. He passed a huge wardrobe that stood in the floor, but the little boy knew there were only spare blankets and other uninteresting things stored in there. Next was Uncle Bobby's room and Sammy tiptoed as careful as possible past it and even made the effort of holding his breath while doing so. A few steps away, Sam stopped and took a calming and much needed breath. That's when his eyes caught the ladder to the attic. Normally the ladder was folded and you needed a long stick with a hook on the end to open the trapdoor and enfold the ladder. Sammy stood a few minutes motionless, while gazing up to the hole in the ceiling. Dean and he had never been up there, he couldn't even remember if there were any rules set by their dad regarding the attic. Squaring his shoulder as he had seen Dean and his dad doing on several occasions before undertaking a particularly difficult task, Sam started climbing up the ladder. The little boy froze, when the old contraption gave a groan upon bearing his weight. Listening for a few seconds to be sure no one had been woken up he continued his way upwards. Finally he stood in Bobby Singer's attic. To say it needed a little bit of dusting would be the understatement of the century. Everything was covered in at least half an inch of dust. Sammy turned on the spot to have a quick glance around and saw footprints on the floor leading towards one corner of the attic. Curious why, presumably Bobby, had gone there recently, the eight-year-old went to explore. The footprints stopped in front of an old wardrobe and Sammy jiggled the knobs but couldn't open the doors. Confused he inspected the knobs: there was no lock. Sam tried to open the doors again; maybe it was just a bit stuck. But the doors still did not open.

Leaving the wardrobe for the moment, Sam inspected the rest of this part of the attic. He didn't know how much time he had before the rest of the house's occupants would awake and he did not want to spend all his time trying to open a wardrobe. There was also an old rocking chair and Sammy believed to remember that it had once been in Dean's and his room and their dad rocking him in it. The boy let his hand trail over the wooden armrest while walking past it. There was a paper box near the wall and Sam opened the lid. Inside he found old children's books that he and Dean had read before when being at Bobby's but for which they were too old now. Some toys were also in the box. It seemed Bobby had kept everything. Had Sam been a bit older he might have seen this as a sure sign how much the older hunter loved him and his brother, but being eight years old and on a treasure hunt in a probably forbidden territory, his interest was more in finding something interesting. There were other boxes with books nearby, and even so Sam checked there was nothing related to any demons or other supernatural creatures. They were just normal books. In another box, he found old school books and after digging through them he also found some exercise books. Upon opening he realised they belonged to a Robert S. Singer. Of course Sam couldn't resist having a quick glance at the books, to see how his surrogate uncle had managed in school. Most of the exercise books were neat despite Bobby's scrawl that he called handwriting. Therefore the books didn't hold Sammy's interest for long and soon he went to the next box. The boy found some old toys and a small paper bag that was already yellow on the edges. Itching Powder was written over the bluish front. Sam wasn't sure if the powder would still be working, but as any child he slipped the small bag into the pocket on the front of his PJ shirt. Sam wandered around the attic, there was a lot of old furniture, some was broken, more boxes, with books and clothing, old dishes, and even an old TV with a broken screen. When Sam's feet felt like ice, the little boy went back over to the rocking chair, carrying an old blanket with him. A quick look through one of the book boxes and soon Sam was reading in the rocking chair, wrapped up in a blanket, and slightly rocking to and fro. The rocking lulled the boy back to sleep, with the book draped half over his face.

*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*

Dean woke up shortly after eight. After stretching he turned towards Sam's bed and found it empty. The older boy was not as alarmed as he had been when Sam had given them the slip at the beginning of the vacation, somehow he knew his brother was still around, but he didn't feel comfortable as well. Mumbling something about little brothers being a pain in the ass for making him leave the warmth and comfort of his bed, Dean got up. When he tiptoed past his dad's bedroom, he was called back.

"Dean, that you?" he heard the voice of his dad. It was amazing how his dad's voice changed from sleepy to almost fully awake during only three words.

The twelve year old went back and into his father's room.

"Morning, Dad."

"Morning, son. Sammy awake as well?"

"I guess so, he wasn't in bed anymore when I woke up."

John felt like any parent when a child's whereabouts were unknown. Scratching the stumble on his chin he swung his legs over the side of the bed and made his way over to Dean, who was still standing in the doorway. Ruffling through his son's hair and giving him a one armed hug John even dared to press a quick kiss on his eldest's forehead, something that Dean in a more awake state would have whined about.

"Let's find your brother, he's probably watching TV."

The two oldest Winchesters made their way downstairs. They went through the kitchen to determine if Bobby was already making breakfast and further into the living room. There was no Sammy. On their way back upstairs the two Winchesters bumped into Bobby, who was coming down the stairs.

"Somethin' wrong?" he asked in his usual gruff tone of voice.

"We can't find Sammy, Uncle Bobby," Dean stated his voice already close to panicking.

"What d' ya mean, ya can't Sammy. What happened now?"

"Don't know, Singer, probably he just woke up and started playing somewhere instead of going for the TV as usual," John answered giving his oldest a reassuring squeeze on the shoulder.

"Well, ya look upstairs, I'll have a look 'round the yard."

Twenty minutes later Sammy was still unaccounted for when John and Dean met Bobby back in the kitchen. Bobby had already started making some quick sandwiches for breakfast, "Can't search on an empty stomach fo'ever."

"Dean did you and Sam have a fight last night after you were sent to bed?" asked John.

"No, Dad. Everything was fine, he was out like a light within a few minutes."

John thought for a moment before turning back to Dean, "Well, you will stay with Bobby and look around his place again," turning to Bobby he added, "I'll go into town and start asking 'round if someone has seen him."

Bobby nodded, "John, I know ya don't want ta, but ya need to let the police in on this if we can't find ya boy. And before ya start shouting, go and talk to Jody Mills, she's a friend of mine and knows 'bout huntin' and ev'rything."

It was John's time to nod, and Deans to beg, "Dad, I wanna come with you. We need to find Sammy."

"Dean, I know you want to find your brother, but it's not going to help if you are coming with me. Stay with Bobby and the two of you can search every corner of his place. Maybe Sam just fell asleep playing and didn't hear us shouting for him," John didn't mention that Sam could also have been hurt and that's why he wasn't answering, but he didn't need his oldest to panic anymore.

*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*~*Dean*~*~*Sam*~*

When John came home in the afternoon without Sam, Bobby and Dean were still searching the property. They had spent until lunchtime inside turning the place upside down before heading outside starting with the yard the boys used to play in and then moving all the way into Bobby's junk yard, far further than the boys had ever been allowed to without supervision.

Dean was somewhat subdued and John didn't have to ask. He just knew that Dean had had an encounter one way or the other with his uncle's grumpy side, for panicking the later it became and probably running his mouth without thinking first. John didn't comment on it either, he only held it together for his oldest and because he knew he was of no use to Sammy if he started panicking as well.

With three pairs of eyes, the Winchesters and Bobby finished the search in the junk yard in record time. Sammy however, was still missing.

Entering the house Bobby gestured the Winchesters into the living room while he started cooking dinner. John was on the phone, calling a few trusted hunter colleagues, asking them to share any possible information they might have heard and to keep an eye out for John's youngest.

It was in between one of these phone calls that Dean made John aware of a strange bumping sound from upstairs.

"Stay here, Dean!" John ordered, but quickly thought otherwise upon seeing his son's rebellious glare.

He grabbed his son by the arm, disposing him into the kitchen under the watchful eyes of his uncle Bobby, quickly explaining the situation.

John Winchester grabbed the gun from the back of his Jeans and climbed the stairs in full hunter mode. When he reached the hallway with the bedrooms, he could hear a faint voice calling.

Listening carefully he was sure it was his youngest.

"Sammy? Samuel! Where are you?"

"Up here!" came Sam's voice back.

"Up where?"

"The attic. Daddy please let me out!"

John put the safety back on before stuffing the gun back into the back of his jeans. Then he opened the trapped door with the foldable ladder and there was his youngest. Wide brown eyes, tear marks clearly visible on the face, dressed in his pyjamas and barefoot, the hair a complete mess.

Before John could even climb the ladder, Sam was already down and hugging his dad. Relieve washed over John as soon as his arms wrapped themselves around his lost and now found son, before he could even think anything.

"John! You ok there?" came Bobby's question from downstairs.

"I'm ok, I found Sammy."

In a flash Dean was up the stairs and sandwiching his little brother between himself and his dad. Bobby didn't take much longer, but even so he was relieved to have the youngest Winchester back, he didn't want to interrupt the family moment.

All too soon Sam started squirming to be let go.

"What's wrong, Sam?" John asked loosening his grip.

"Bathroom!" was all Sam said before he was gone.

Dean looked dumbfounded for a moment, John also took a second to understand while Bobby just chuckled.

Not long after the small family was gathered in the living room piecing the whole story together. Sam told how he had ended up in the attic and obviously fallen asleep back up there. When he woke up it must have been midday or early afternoon judging by the light filling the attic. Then the eight-year-old had to realise that the trapdoor was now closed and he couldn't open it from the inside. That was when Bobby interrupted remembering that he had closed it before going downstairs to prepare breakfast where he had then been met by the frantic two oldest Winchesters. He never for a second brought those two things together and therefore had completely forgotten about it while they searched for Sam. So at the time Sam was awake and yelling for someone to let him out John had been in town and Dean and Bobby had searched the yard for him.

"Am I in trouble?" Sam asked almost inaudible after they had put all pieces together.

"I don't know," John admitted, "You knew that the attic was probably forbidden, yet you went to explore it."

"But Dad, you and Bobby never said we can't go into the attic," Dean piped in.

"You telling me that you can just do anything without asking if there is no rule about it, son?" John sent a questioning glance towards his oldest.

"No, it's just... I mean."

"You just try to help your brother, I get that Dean. But let's ask your brother.

Sammy, what are you supposed to do when you don't know if you can do something?"

"Ask you or Uncle Bobby," came the quiet reply.

"Ah, so there actually is a rule even for that, don't you agree Dean.

So why didn't you come and ask, Sammy?"

"Cause you were all still asleep... and IwasboredandtheladderhasneverbeendownbeforesoIjust..."

"Sammy! Stop the mumbling and talk so everyone can understand you," John interrupted the string of words that were almost impossible to understand.

"I said I was bored... and then I saw the ladder to the attic... and it's never been down b'fore, and I just wanted to have a look."

"Sammy, I know there is a lot of stuff that seems interesting to an eight-year-old, or for that matter," John looked at Dean, "to a twelve-year-old, but you have both seen that it is not a good idea to take off to somewhere without telling someone and asking for permission. So if there is ever a repeat from either of you, you will be in serious trouble. You two understand?"

"Yes, Sir."

"Yes, Daddy."

"Good. So I suggest we get started on eating your uncle Bobby's dinner then and tomorrow Sam you will go and apologise to Pastor Jim and Bobby's friend Jody for causing so much trouble."

Sam nodded and flung himself at his dad wrapping his small arms around John's neck. For once John didn't push for a verbal answer he just dropped a kiss onto his son's hair and reached out for Dean to include him into the hug.

I hope you liked it and you'll leave me a review ;-))

I already apologise in advance that it will still be very infrequent updating and probably a long time again (however I try to not again make it over 4 months)

Oh and one last comment/ question, I will finish this story (promise) and it's going to be only a few more chapters. So my question to you, do you want a sequel with the boys on the road with John, or should I kick my muse to give me another idea ;-)