Come Together

by supernaturaldarkangel252018

AU set in the beginning of season 13. The boys did not make it to the cabin before Jack was born, so now they're one step behind and have no idea what happened. Cas and Lucifer have disappeared, a baby is nowhere to be found, and Crowley is alive and kicking. This is a terrible summary, full summary inside.

29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

2010

The tires squealed as he floored it into a parking lot. He threw the Impala into park, and then got out and grabbed Alec from the backseat. He started to run around the car but stopped when he saw multiple Impala's all lined up in a row.

"Hey. Come on," Sam said to get him moving again. Alec pushed on his shoulder, so he set him down, but grabbed his little hand so he couldn't get too far away from him. He spotted Chuck pacing at the bottom of some steps that led up to an old looking hotel. "Chuck! There you are," Sam said, running up to him. He wasn't far behind, and he was tempted to pick Alec up again, but he waited. He didn't even know what was going on yet.

"Guys?" Chuck asked, surprised.

"What's going on?" he asked.

"Ah, nothing," Chuck said with a shrug. "You know, I'm just kinda hanging. What are you guys doing here?"

"You told us to come," he said.

"Ah, no I didn't," Chuck said.

"Yeah, you did," Sam stated. "You texted me. This address, life or death situation. Any of this ringing a bell?"

"I didn't send you a text," Chuck said.

"We drove all night!" he snapped. Alec tugged on his sleeve, so he picked him up again. Alec knew he was mad, so he needed to pull it back. But he was pissed. If there wasn't an emergency, then what were they doing here?

"I'm sorry, I don't understand what could…" Chuck trailed off, but then muttered, "Oh no…"

"What?" he asked.

"Sam!" a woman squealed from the top of the stairs. "You made it!"

Becky ran down the stairs, practically bouncing from excitement. "Oh, ah, Becky, right?" Sam asked.

"Oh, you remembered," Becky said. "You've been thinking about me."

"I…"

"It's ok," Becky said. "I can't get you out of my head either." She gasped suddenly, and then somehow her voice got higher, "Aw! You are so adorable! I didn't know you had a kid!"

"Um, yeah, this is Alec," he said. Alec was looking at Becky like she was insane, which he thought was a definite possibility.

"Becky, did you take my phone?" Chuck asked.

"I just borrowed it from your pants," Becky said.

"Becky…" Chuck said with a sigh.

"What? They're going to want to see it!" Becky said, excited again.

"See what?" he, Sam, and Alec all asked at once.

"Oh my God," Becky said. "I love it when they talk at the same time!"

"Hey Chuck?" a guy said from the top of the stairs. "Come on pal, it's showtime."

Becky ran up the stairs, and then Chuck turned back to them. "Guys. I'm sorry. For everything."

He looked at his brother, unsure what this could possibly be, but then they both followed him up the stairs. He put Alec down again once they were in the hotel, but his little boy grabbed his hand as he looked around. Alec was finally more comfortable around him and Sam, so he wasn't afraid to grab their hand or get a hug or things like that. For a while he would pull away, confused, or even flinch when they tried to hug him or pick him up. He was glad Alec was starting to realize that they were really going to keep him.

He watched a guy walk by with a glass of beer, but the guy looked at him and chuckled. "Hey Dean, looking good," the guy said.

"Do you know him?" Alec asked curiously.

"No," he said. "Who the hell are you?"

The guy turned back to look at him, and he frowned when he saw that the guy was wearing a leather jacket just like he was and an amulet that looked fairly similar to the one he wore before Cas took it. "I'm Dean too. Duh," the guy said.

He looked over at Sam as the guy walked away, but his brother looked as confused as he was. Alec gasped softly next to him and hid slightly behind his leg as another guy walked up, looking kind of creepy in a scarecrow getup. "Uh-oh. It's Sam and Dean. I'm in trouble now," the scarecrow guy said to them. Alec hid even more behind him but peeked out from behind his leg. "Have fun you two. Aaah!"

He picked Alec up again and soothed, "It's ok, baby, it's just pretend. That guy was just in a costume." Alec hid against him and tightened his arms around his neck. He heard someone giggling, so he spun around to see Becky was standing there. "What…" His eyes widened as he looked around the room and saw all kinds of monsters walking around. But it wasn't just monsters; it was monsters that they had hunted. Bloody Mary, black-eyed demons, ghosts, it was probably a good thing that Alec was still hiding against him. Alec didn't typically get scared on hunts, but this was even weirding him out.

"Becky…what is this?" Sam asked.

"It's awesome!" Becky said. "A Supernatural convention, the first ever."

He held Alec closer, confused about this entire thing.

---

Present

"Hey kiddo, you ready for some food?" Dad asked, walking in just as he was waking up. He slowly nodded as he rubbed his eyes, trying to wake up a little more. "You want oatmeal or scrambled eggs?"

"Scrambled eggs," Alec breathed.

"You want breakfast in bed again or you wanna eat in the kitchen?" Dad asked.

"Kitchen," Alec said. "I need a minute though."

"Alright, I'll send your brother in a few minutes," Dad said, leaving the room again.

He slowly closed his eyes and curled up in his blankets. He wanted to get up, but he knew getting up by himself still wasn't an option for him. Thankfully, the blood transfusion actually worked. For once in his life, he hadn't completely screwed everything up and had come up with a good idea. He'd been able to actually get some sleep and rest enough to get his seizures back under control, so he wasn't on death's door anymore.

He wanted to immediately get to Seattle to find this guy, so he'd never have another seizure again, but he knew he needed to go slow to keep the seizures away. He was pretty sure if the seizures came back, then there was no getting them under control again. He'd had too many second chances, and he knew he wouldn't get many more. But he still had more time with his family. His Dad and Uncle were back, and he and his brother were alive. He had to be thankful for that.

"Hey, Dad said you were ready for breakfast," Ben said, his voice slightly muffled since he was under his blankets.

"Yeah…I need help up," Alec said.

"Are you cold?" Ben asked as he pulled the blankets slightly off of him.

"I am now," he grumbled. Ben was looking at him funny, so he growled, "What?"

Ben smiled, "I like that you sound like you again."

He rolled his eyes even though he was secretly glad that he sounded like himself again too. "You gonna help me up or not?" Alec said, trying not to sound too amused.

Ben helped him stand, and then kept him steady when he lost consciousness for a second. His left arm was over Ben's shoulders since his right arm still had to be in a sling, and he definitely needed Ben's support to make it from one room to another. He was hoping his muscles would start cooperating again soon, but until then, he needed his family's help to go anywhere. He was just glad that he could even go anywhere to begin with. He'd been pretty sure he was about to die before he'd had that weird dream, which gave him the idea to do a blood transfusion. His Dad had asked him, after he'd managed to be a little more coherent, what his dream had been about, but he couldn't explain it. He could barely remember it, and every time he tried to think about it, it just kind of disappeared.

"You ok?" Ben asked.

"Yeah," he breathed.

"You sure you wanna eat in the kitchen? It's a long way…" Ben said.

"I ate in the kitchen yesterday," Alec said.

"Yeah, and then pretty much passed out once you were back in bed," Ben said.

"I'm being careful," Alec said. "But if I don't start moving a little bit, then I'm never gonna do it."

"Fine, but how 'bout we stay in the kitchen for a while after you finish eating?" Ben suggested.

"Did Dad put you up to this?" Alec asked suspiciously.

"What do you think?" Ben shot back.

"I know I was pretty much gone, but we can't live like that," Alec said. "We can't live always scared."

"I'll be less scared when we find a way to stop the seizures for good," Ben said.

"We still gotta wait a little," Alec said. "I wanna be sure I'm up for it before we go anywhere."

"Don't worry, we're not goin' anywhere until you've recovered a little more," Ben said.

"Can you at least say that it's pretty awesome that I'm back on my feet?" Alec asked.

Ben chuckled and nodded, "Yeah, it's pretty awesome that you're back on your feet. It's good to see you walking around again."

He smiled but didn't say anything else since he needed to save his energy. He sank down into his chair and Dad slid over a plate of scrambled eggs covered in cheese and ketchup. His smile widened as he slowly started to eat. Dad messed up his hair and even put some bacon in front of him and Ben. It'd been a while since he'd had good, solid food, so he knew he shouldn't overdo it, but he loved bacon. He ate a few pieces of bacon and all of the scrambled eggs, and even drank most of the orange juice, feeling nice and full once he was done.

"Looks like his appetite is back," Uncle Sam teased.

"I was hungry," he said.

"Good," Dad said. "But I'm still gonna make you a milkshake."

"Alright," he easily agreed.

"Well, he's not back to normal yet," Ben muttered. He glared at his brother, who quickly defended, "You always argue with Dad, hell, you argue with everyone. You didn't argue, so, you're not back to normal yet."

"Shut up," he grumbled.

"That sounds like our Alec," Dad said. He rolled his eyes, and then rested his head against his arms, which were resting on the table. "Hey, you ok," Dad asked, walking up behind him. He felt Dad's hand against the back of his neck, and knew his Dad was about to freak out again. "You feel a little warm, kiddo…"

"Dad, I'm fine," Alec said. "I'm the same temperature that I was a few hours ago when you checked."

"You should probably go back to bed anyway," Uncle Sam said.

"What about my milkshake?" Alec whined.

"Milkshake to-go," Dad said. "I'll bring it to ya once it's ready."

He really wanted to argue, but he was going to have to go back to bed, which meant he would have to walk, with help, but it was still going to drain him, and that was dangerous. "Alright, Ben…I'm gonna need some more help…"

Thankfully, Ben didn't tease him since his emotions were all over the place right now. The other day he'd started tearing up just because Dad brought him breakfast, and then told him that he could take a shower instead of a bath. Dad didn't say anything since he knew that would've just made it worse. Nearly dying really took it out of him.

Ben helped him up and they slowly walked all the way back to the rec room. He was surprised Dad hadn't tried to get them to go back to their own room, except Dad and Uncle Sam had been staying in the rec room too.

"Do you want another blanket?" Ben asked as he eased him down onto his mattress.

"No, these are good," Alec whispered. "I'm not as cold as I was."

"That's good," Ben said. His brother pulled the covers up for him and fluffed his pillow.

"Can you turn on the TV?" Alec asked sleepily.

"Sure," Ben agreed.

"And…um…"

"I'm not goin' anywhere, little brother," Ben reassured.

---

2010

He didn't like this place. He didn't like it one bit. All these people were dressed up like monsters, but they weren't monsters, and there were a lot of people dressed up like Sam and Dean. It didn't seem like this was a hunt, so he didn't know why they were still here.

Dean held him closer as they walked into another room. He hoped Dean wouldn't put him down again until after they left. And even though he really didn't want Dean to put him down for a very long time, he hoped they would leave soon.

"Welcome to the first annual Supernatural convention," a man said at a microphone. He didn't know what this was really all about, but Sam and Dean were weirded out, so he was weirded out too. And he wished Dean would explain it to him, but he would try to wait until there was a good time to talk. "At 3:45 in the Magnolia room we have the panel, 'Frightened little boy, the secret life of Dean'. And at 4:30 there's the 'Homoerotic subtext of Supernatural'."

"What is that guy talking about? Why is there a panel with your name in it?" he whispered to Dean, unable to stop his questions anymore.

"I have no idea," Dean breathed, shocked.

"Oh, and of course the big hunt starts at 7pm sharp," the man said.

"A real hunt?" he asked, tugging on Dean's collar.

"I don't know, kiddo," Dean said.

"But right now, I'd like to introduce the man himself," the man continued. "The creator, the writer of the Supernatural books. The one, the only, Carver Edlund!"

Everyone went crazy, clapping and cheering as Chuck walked on the stage. Dean stiffened, and Sam looked angry, so they were mad about whatever books they were cheering about, and he assumed Chuck was this Carver Edlund dude. He thought things were going to start making sense, but it was even more confusing now.

He quickly covered his ears when the microphone screeched obnoxiously when Chuck touched it. Dean held him even closer and put his hand on the back of his head since he knew that hurt his ears. Even though it hurt, he did feel better knowing that Dean knew that it hurt him. He really liked being with Sam and Dean. They knew all of his weirdness and they were ok with it. He hadn't known he was all that weird until they told him that he couldn't do certain things in front of people other than them unless it was an emergency. But they were still ok with it, so it was ok to be weird.

"Ok. Ok good, this isn't nearly as awkward as I…" Chuck stopped and cleared his throat nervously. "Dry mouth…" He picked up a bottle of water and chugged it, which made it more awkward. "Ok. Uh…ahem. So I guess…questions?" His eyes widened when everyone's hand went up at the same time. "Uh…you?" Chuck sort of said.

"Hey, Mr. Edlund. Uh…big fan," a guy in the front row said. "I was just wondering, where'd you come up with Sam and Dean in the first place?"

He looked to Dean, but he was just looking at Chuck. He wished he knew what was going on and why Sam and Dean were so angry. "Oh, ah, I…it just came to me," Chuck said. More hands immediately shot up, so Chuck called on someone else. "Ok. Yeah. The hook man."

"Ah yeah," hook man said with a German accent. "Why in every fight scene, Sam and Dean are having their gun knocked away by the bad guy? Why don't they keep it on some kind of bungee?" Ok, that was a valid question. Sam and Dean dropped their weapons a lot, but he didn't think a bungee would be the most practical solution. They'd have to hook the bungee to themselves, but that could get in the way, and if it was a knife, then it could cut them when it bounced back.

Dean really didn't like that question, probably because he didn't like being told he dropped his weapon a lot. He couldn't help it sometimes though because bad guys could be really mean and pop up out of nowhere sometimes. "I…yeah, I really don't know," Chuck replied.

"Ja, follow up," hook man said. "Why can't Sam and Dean be telling that Ruby is evil? I mean, she is clearly manipulating Sam into some kind of moral lapse. It's obvious, nein?"

"Who's Ruby?" he whispered. Now Sam looked really mad, but Dean looked like he was actually thinking about that question.

Becky suddenly stomped over to the hook man, "Hey! If you don't like the books, don't read 'em Fritz."

"Books? What books?" he whispered to Dean.

"You don't wanna know," Dean mumbled back. He didn't like that answer because he clearly did want to know. That's why he had asked about it. But he could at least figure out that these books were about Sam and Dean since everyone looked like Sam and Dean or some kind of monster. And they knew things like them losing their weapons and about hunting, so maybe the books really were about Sam and Dean. But if that was the case, then where were the questions about him?

"Ok, ok, just…ok, it's ok," Chuck said to smooth things over again. "So, next question…" These people had a lot of questions. And really, he would like to ask a question too, but he figured he should ask later. "Yeah, you."

"Yeah, at the end of the last book, Dean goes to hell. So, what happens next?" a guy asked.

He glared at Dean because these books seemed real to him, so why didn't he know about Dean going to hell? He should know that kind of thing. And Dean was ignoring him, so it had to be true. Dean didn't ignore him unless he was hiding something from him. He didn't like this one bit.

He wiggled to get Dean to put him down, and then crossed his arms so Dean couldn't hold his hand or anything. He didn't like being put down and not holding Dean's hand, but Dean was hiding things from him, and he didn't like that more.

"Oh. Well, there lies an announcement, actually," Chuck said. "You're all going to find out." Dean put his hand on his shoulder, so he took a step away, which made Dean sigh. "Thanks to a wealthy Scandinavian investor, we're going to start publishing again." Everyone freaked out at that, cheering and clapping, so they must really like these books.

Dean grabbed his arm and drug him back out into the lobby since it seemed like the questions were done. Dean crouched down in front of him and asked, "What's wrong, kiddo?"

"You're keeping things from me again," he muttered.

"There's just some things you don't need to know," Dean said. "Maybe when you're older I'll tell you everything, but right now, you're too little and I want you to be a kid for a while."

"But I want to know," he stated.

"Not right now," Dean said, making it sound final. He huffed and walked off even though he knew Dean was going to throw a fit. "Alec, get back over here," Dean said.

"I'm going to stay in eyesight," he shot back.

Dean turned to Sam and muttered, "I'm gonna have to change that rule again…"

"Just give him a few minutes," Sam whispered back. They still thought they were being quiet enough around him, but they were wrong, and he wasn't about to correct them. "He's a smart kid, Dean, he probably figured out that what they were talking about was real, and now he wants to know."

Dean quickly shushed Sam, "Keep it down. He doesn't need to know all the shit that's in those books. He's too young."

He rolled his eyes and walked around the room full of people. He finally found Chuck talking to Becky and quickly interrupted, "Excuse me."

"Um…yeah?" Chuck asked.

"Am I gonna be in the new books?" he asked.

"Who are you?" Chuck asked.

"My name's Alec," he said, sticking out his hand. Dean had taught him how to shake hands, and he wanted to prove that he could do it right. Chuck smiled a little and shook his hand.

"My name's Chuck," the guy said.

"So, am I gonna be in the books?" he asked.

"I don't know yet," Chuck replied, his eyes finally lighting up in recognition. He forced himself to not roll his eyes since he'd already met Chuck, but people usually ignored him since he was just a little kid.

"How come?" he asked.

"Because…" Chuck looked around nervously, which made him frown. This guy was keeping things from him too and he was really tired of it.

"Oh, hi Sam!" Becky said.

He huffed since Sam and Dean had already decided that they needed to track him down again. He just wanted a few answers from this guy since he knew all about Sam and Dean. Like, was Dean going to keep him? Was Dean ever going to be ok with him calling him Dad for real? What happened with Dean and hell? He needed to know these things. He was part cat for crying out loud; if Dean didn't let him know things, then he was going to die from curiosity.

Dean grabbed him again, which he was getting a little tired of. Dean got really grabby when he didn't know exactly what was going on. Most of the time it was ok, but it wasn't ok now because he was mad. "Excuse us," Dean said to Becky before he picked him up again and said to Chuck, "In case you haven't noticed, our plates are kind of full, ok? Finding the Colt, hunting the devil. We don't have time for this crap."

"I don't think it's all crap," he mumbled, but Dean ignored him again. He really, really didn't like it when Dean ignored him.

"Hey, I didn't call you!" Chuck defended.

"He means the…you know what," Sam said, glancing over at him. He did roll his eyes this time. "Why are you making more of them?"

"Um…for food and shelter?" Chuck asked more than said. This guy needed to grow a spine. If he wanted to write more books, then he should. Someone should know how awesome Sam and Dean were even if they thought it was all made up. And he really wanted to show up in the stories at some point, since he was actually part of Sam and Dean's lives. At least, he wanted to be. He was staying with them, but he didn't know for sure how long this would last. He hoped forever.

"Who gave you the rights to…this?" Dean growled.

"An Archangel, and I didn't want it!" Chuck said like Dean already knew this.

"Well, deal's off, ok. No more…of them," Sam said. "You have no right to give this out…to the public."

Man, they were trying really hard to keep this from him. They really should just give up since he was going to search and search until he found everything. He wouldn't stop until he knew what exactly was in these books.

"Ah…Becky. Would you excuse us for just a second?" Chuck asked.

Becky quickly nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"You stay right here," Dean said to him, sitting him down on a barstool.

"You're gonna leave me at the bar?" he asked, trying to make it sound like Dean was insane.

"Just stay here," Dean said. "Or else."

"Do you really think I can't live without TV, because I can," he stated.

"No hunting," Dean said with a warning look.

"That's not fair," he said, pouting back.

"Just stay put," Dean said, kissing the top of his head.

Luckily, they didn't move far enough away again. He smirked a little since Sam and Dean just didn't know a whole lot yet. "Do you guys know what I do for a living?" Chuck asked.

"Yeah Chuck, we know," Sam said.

"Then could you tell me?" Chuck asked. "'Cause I don't, alright? I'm not a good writer. I've got no marketable skills. I'm not some hero who can just hit the road and fight monsters, ok? Until the world ends, I gotta live, alright? And the Supernatural books are all I've got. What else do you want me to do?"

A woman screamed suddenly, and he was off the barstool and up the stairs before anyone else. Sam and Dean were right behind him, and this time, it was Sam who was Mr. Grabby. A maid was crouched down in the corner, and once Sam had pushed him behind himself, he walked over to the maid and helped her up. "Hey, are you ok?"

"I think so," the lady said.

"What happened?" Dean asked.

More people ran up the stairs, and he realized it was the people from the room where Chuck had answered questions. A guy wearing a leather jacket said with a fake deep voice, "A ghost? Could you tell us what it looked like?"

"Where the hell are you getting a ghost?" he asked.

"Language, Alec," Sam said, pointing a finger at him.

"Hell isn't a bad word," he said. "It's a place."

"It's not nice when you say it like that," Sam said.

"Why don't you leave this to the grownups, pal," Dean said to the poor lookalike. He chuckled when the tall, skinny Sam and the larger Dean looked at him, and then back at Dean, clearly saying that he was a kid and not a grownup, so what Dean had said was completely ass backwards.

"A woman," the maid said, sounding mystical. "She was in an old fashioned dress. Really old. Like a school marm, or something?"

"So…you did see a ghost?" he asked, confused. How did larger Dean know that this lady had seen a ghost? She could have screamed for any reason, but hey, why not a ghost?

"Did she say something to you?" another guy asked.

The maid slowly smiled, "Gather close everybody, for a terrifying tale of terror. I saw, a ghost!" Sam turned and walked away, while Dean grabbed his hand again.

"Wait, I wanna know what it is," he said, tugging on Dean's hand.

"None other than the ghost of Leticia Gore herself," the maid said from behind them. "I was on the third floor getting ice for a guest…"

"Alec, this is all make believe," Dean said, still dragging him away. He ripped his hand out of Dean's since he was done with all the manhandling. "Alec-"

"You're being too grabby again," he stated. "I wanna know what's going on. Why are they pretending that there's a ghost here?"

"Oooo, the LARPing's started," Becky said, running up to them.

"The…What is that again?" Dean asked.

"Live Action Role Playing. It's a game. The convention puts it on," Becky said.

"See, it's just a game," Dean said to him.

"Then why can't we play? We'd be really good at it," he said.

Becky handed Sam a piece of paper, and then Sam read, "Dad's Journal. Dear Sam and Dean, this hotel is haunted. You must hunt down the ghost. Interview witnesses, discover clues, and find the bones. First team to do so wins a 50 dollar gift card to Sizzler. Love Dad."

"You guys are so gonna win," Becky said with a big smile.

He tugged on Dean's hand again and looked up at him pleadingly. It worked a lot when he used this look, so maybe it'll work this time. He really wanted to play, and he wanted to find out more from Chuck. "Can we play? Please Dad?" He made sure to tack on the Dad part since that usually got Dean too. He did want Dean to be his Dad, but he didn't know if it was ok or not. But in public it was always ok.

Dean hesitated and looked over at Sam, who shrugged back. "I guess we could stick around for a little while…"

"And play," he said.

Dean growled a little bit, but then said, "Yeah…and play."

"Can I be you and you be Uncle Sam?" he asked, picking Dean's pocket to get his fake badge out.

"Then who am I gonna be?" Sam asked, trying to hide his smile.

"You can be Bobby," he said. Sam chuckled and nodded his ok.

He grabbed Dean's hand again and quickly left the area where the maid was still going on and on about the ghost. She only knew so much; he'd have to go to someone higher up to get the real information. Sam followed behind him and Dean, and then they stopped when he finally found the guy that had introduced Chuck.

"Excuse me," he said, poking the man's squishy side.

The man looked down in confusion, so he flipped out Dean's fake badge and said, "I'm Agent Lennon and these are my partners McCartney and Ringo."

"Starr," Dean whispered to him.

"I mean Starr," he corrected with an easy wave. "What can you tell me about this place? Is it haunted?"

"Aren't you just adorable," the man said.

"Please just answer the questions," he stated. "I'm a Federal Agent and I can arrest you for obstruction to justice."

The man chuckled, which made it even more annoying, but then he said, "Well yes, Agents Lennon, McCartney, and Starr, as manager of this fine establishment I can assure you that it is indeed haunted. This building was once an orphanage, run by mean old Leticia Gore. 100 years ago, this very night, Miss Gore went insane, and butchered four little boys before killing herself. Now folks say that the souls of those little boys are trapped here, and the evil spirit of Miss Gore punishes them to this very day."

He looked up at Dean, who nodded back to him. "Ok, thank you for your time," he said, sticking his hand out. The man shook it, and then Dean messed up his hair.

"Now what?" Dean asked.

"Um…we should talk to someone else who might know more," he said.

"Who do you wanna talk to?" Sam asked him.

He looked around the room, ruling out the other people who were dressed up as Sam and Dean, and then his eyes landed on the bar. "Bartender," he said.

"I like the way you think," Dean said with a smile.

He led the way over to the bar, and Dean picked him up and sat him on the barstool again. "Barkeep! I'll have a double!" he yelled.

The bartender didn't look amused, but then Dean said, "Two beers and a Coke."

"I get to have a soda?" he asked excitedly.

"'Course," Dean said. "When you talk to the bartender to get info, then you gotta order somethin' to make 'em happy and get 'em talking."

"Right," he said with a nod. The bartender gave them their drinks, but then immediately walked away. "Hey!" he said, trying to get the guy's attention again.

"You want me to take the lead on this one?" Dean asked him.

"Just for a few minutes, and then I want it back," he said.

Dean looked down the bar, but he didn't motion to the bartender again. Instead, he looked at him and asked, "You wanna try that lady over there?"

"She's dressed up like a ghost," he said. "And she's not playing right because she's on her phone. Ghosts don't have phones."

"Maybe she'll give us a hint," Dean said.

"I don't need a hint," he stated. "I'm a professional."

"Let's just see what she knows," Dean said.

They moved down a few barstools, and he climbed up onto the one next to the fake ghost lady. "How you doin'?" he asked, trying to sound like Dean did when he was talking to girls.

"Busy," the lady said.

Dean nudged him, and then whispered what he should say, so he repeated, "Well you sure look lovely tonight. Especially for a dead chick."

"Buddy, I have heard that line 17 times tonight, ok? And all from dudes wearing MacGyver jackets," the lady said, still looking at her phone. She finally looked up, and she smiled a little when she saw that she was talking to him instead of one of the other fake Deans, and then smiled more when she looked at the real Dean. "But you seem different," she said.

"Because I'm a lot better lookin' than all those other dudes," he said with a nod.

"And you're not afraid of women," she said.

He smiled, and he was just about to ask her some questions when he heard something more interesting. Some dude was definitely stressing out. "For the last time, I'm not making this up, ok? She's upstairs, a real live dead ghost."

He chuckled, "That's a good way to put it."

"Excuse us," Dean said to the ghost lady.

"I'm sure it was just one of the ghost actors," another guy said to the freaked out man.

Dean helped him down and let him lead the way over to the guys. "Who beat the hell out of me and then vanished?" freaked out guy replied sarcastically.

"You saw something?" Sam asked. He glared up at Sam, but he wasn't paying attention to him again.

"This isn't part of the game, jerk," the guy snapped at Sam before he looked back at his friend. "Look, I'm getting out of here and you should do the same."

"Alex, wait. Hey, come back!" his friend yelled before he ran after him.

"What do you think?" Sam asked Dean.

"I don't think that guy's a good enough actor to be acting," Dean said.

"So…is this real now?" he asked sadly. "Are we done playing?"

"I don't know, kiddo," Dean said.

"Can I keep asking the questions?" he asked. "I never get to ask questions on a hunt, and they won't think it's weird since everyone will think we're still playing."

"Yeah, you can keep asking the questions," Dean said. "But if this is real, then you're not gonna be part of the actual hunt."

"Why not?" he asked, crossing his arms again defiantly.

"Because if this is some crazy teacher lady who goes after kids, then she'll go after you," Dean said.

"But that's perfect since then she'll show up if I'm around," he said.

"We'll see," Dean finally replied, which was Dean-speak for no. "Hey, you still get to take lead."

"Who do you want to talk to next?" Sam asked.

"Someone who isn't part of the game and who isn't the bartender," he said.

Dean looked around the crowded room, and then suggested, "Front desk guy?"

"Yeah," he said. He walked right up to the front desk and said, "Excuse me, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Look kid, I'm not playing the make believe Star Wars game. Go ask the guy in the ascot," front desk guy said.

"I don't know what an ascot is," he said.

"And, uh, we really want to talk to you," Dean said, sliding something across the desk. "C'mon man, he just has a few questions…"

"Ok. You guys are really into this," front desk guy said.

"You have no idea," Sam muttered.

"What do you want to know?" front desk guy asked him.

"Is this place really haunted? And is it really Leticia Gore?" he asked.

"I think you're too young for-"

"Dude, just answer his questions," Dean cut off.

"We generally don't like to publicize this to…normal people…but yeah," front desk guy said. "1909 this place was called 'Gore Orphanage'. Miss Gore killed four boys with a butcher's knife, then offed herself."

"Don't sugar-coat it," Sam mumbled.

"And is tonight really her anniversary?" he asked, ignoring Sam. It felt better to be the one ignoring Sam or Dean instead of being the one ignored.

"Yep, guess your convention folks want authenticity," front desk guy said.

"Has anyone seen this ghost lady?" he asked.

"Yep, over the years," front desk guy said with a nod. "A few maids have quit saying they heard the boys or saw them. A janitor even saw Miss Gore once."

He looked over at Dean since he didn't know what else he needed to ask. He hadn't been on enough hunts yet to know how to take the lead. Dean whispered to him, and then he repeated, "Where did Miss Gore carve up the kids?"

"Look, I don't want you stomping all over the joint," front desk guy said, sounding really snotty. "A lot of this place is off limits to nerds." Dean sighed and slid something else over to the guy, who then quickly answered, "The attic."

---

Present

Alec barely shifted on the sofa, but his movement instantly drew his attention. He couldn't stop watching his brother to make sure he was still ok. He had almost lost his brother. All they could do was sit there and watch as he slowly slipped away. He couldn't stand the thought of it ever happening again. They needed to go to Seattle as soon as Alec was able to travel.

"I'm still ok," Alec said, moving down to rest his head on his pillow.

"Do you need another blanket?" he asked.

"When are you gonna quit watching me?" Alec mumbled sleepily.

"When I think you're better," he shot back. "Or when we find that guy from Seattle and get rid of the seizures for good."

Alec didn't say anything for a long time, but then he finally whispered, "I'm sorry."

"For having seizures?" he asked, confused.

"I didn't feel good before we left to get Dad and Uncle Sam, but I didn't say anything," Alec said.

"It's ok," he said. It wasn't ok, but he didn't want to argue with Alec right now. But it wasn't entirely Alec's fault since he'd known his brother was off before they had left, but he had wanted his brother with him, so he hadn't said anything. Alec could've died and it would've been at least partly his fault.

"It's not," Alec said. "When you wanna fight, I'll be ready for it."

"I'm not gonna fight with you until we get the seizures figured out," he said.

Alec smiled just a little, "You do realize that you just gave me a great reason to be a complete pain in the ass, right?"

"You're too tired to be a pain in the ass right now," he said. He picked up his book again since he thought Alec was going to fall asleep, but then Rowena walked into the room, so he put his book down as he rolled his eyes. He was grateful for her help, but Alec was better now, and Dad and Uncle Sam were back, so they didn't need her again until they figured out how to get Cas and Jody, Mary, and Jack back.

"Hello boys," Rowena said. She was carrying a tray with drinks on them, a mug and a taller glass. "Your father wanted you to have these."

"Thanks," he said as Alec struggled to sit up. He would have reached over to help him up, but Alec had started snapping at him when he tried to help too much, so he might as well let him struggle a little bit.

"What is it?" Alec asked suspiciously before he grabbed the glass.

"Just a milkshake for you," Rowena said with a smile. "Coffee for Benjamin."

"Alec's better now, so you can stop calling me Benjamin," he grumbled, taking the coffee mug.

Rowena just waved at him, completely ignoring him before she looked at Alec again, "Are you feeling better, my dear?"

"Lots better," Alec said. His brother blushed a little bit, and then said, "Thanks for helping me…"

"Anything for you, my dear," Rowena said. She started walking out of the room again, but stopped and said, "Your father said he'll be in to check on you again in a little while to see if you are hungry."

"Thanks Rowena," Alec said as she left the room.

"Why is she still here?" he grumbled.

"Because she's the best lead we have to finding the others," Alec said, slowly sipping the milkshake.

"Would you say that if it was Crowley that was sticking around?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Alec glared at him, so he said, "Sorry. I shouldn't have gone there. I just don't like her very much."

"When do you think we'll go to Seattle?" Alec asked, changing the subject.

"When you're feeling better," he automatically replied.

"I feel better," Alec said, sounding sleepy again.

"When you feel even better," he said. "How 'bout you get some more sleep?"

"Dad's gonna check on me again soon," Alec mumbled.

"I can wake you up when Dad's comes in here," he suggested.

"Promise?" Alec asked.

"Promise," he said. He smiled a little when Alec snuggled under his blankets and fell asleep.

---

2010

It took a lot of arguing and promising that he would listen to everything Dean said to get him to agree that he could look through the attic with them. They wouldn't let him go first anymore, but he did get to go into the attic. He was still relegated to flashlight duty, but at least he got to crawl through the little space and stay with them.

"The EMF's going nuts," Sam said.

"Great. We got a real ghost, and we got a bunch of dudes pretending to be us poking at it," Dean muttered.

"No way this ends well," Sam said.

"I had fun," he whispered.

Dean smiled and messed up his hair, "You did a good job, kiddo."

"I like pretending to be like you," he said. "I think you're really cool and everyone else here thinks so too."

Dean looked surprised to hear that, but happy too. It looked like Dean was about to say something, but then he was serious again, and he was suddenly being pulled behind him.

"My mommy loves me," a creepy ghost boy said in the corner of the room. He was covering his head, which was weird, but he couldn't really see anything else since Dean wouldn't let him see around his legs. "I said my mommy loves me," creepy ghost boy said when they didn't acknowledge him. He totally knew that feeling.

"I'm sure she does," Sam slowly replied.

"My mommy loves me this much!" the boy said, moving his hands. His eyes widened and he gasped when he saw that the ghost kid had been scalped.

Dean grabbed him, and this time he was ok with it, and then the little boy disappeared. Dean practically forced him through the little crawlspace, and then picked him up again. They went back down to the bar area without looking back, and he was pretty sure this was going to be the end of the hunt for him, which was disappointing.

"You ok, kiddo?" Dean whispered to him, holding him close.

"I'm fine," he said. "That creepy ghost kid wasn't even close. And he didn't attack us, so I think I should still be in on this."

"I'm gonna make a call. You go find Chuck," Sam said to Dean.

"There's no way I'm letting you in on this one," Dean said, walking back over to where Chuck and Becky were.

"But you said I could hunt ghosts with you," he said, playing with Dean's jacket collar. He missed Dean's necklace and wished Cas would bring it back.

"I'll think about it," Dean said. Another way of Dean saying no without actually saying no.

Dean stood next to Chuck as they waited for Sam to finish his phone call. Sam was pacing back and forth as he talked to whoever he had called, but he kept looking over here every so often, looking uncomfortable. He finally figured out that Becky was making weird faces at Sam, which was kind of funny. Chuck didn't look happy about it, but Becky wasn't stopping.

Sam finally walked back over and said, "Alright, so, that was a guy with the County Historical Society."

"And?" Dean asked.

"Not only did Leticia Gore butcher four boys, but one of them was her own son," Sam said.

"Her son," Dean stated.

"Yeah. According to the police at the time, she scalped the kid," Sam said.

"Oh that's it, I'm gonna deep fry this bitch extra crispy," Dean said.

"Dean," Sam said with a sigh.

Dean sighed too and said to him, "Don't say 'deep fry this bitch extra crispy'."

"Maybe say it like you mean it," Sam suggested.

"Sam-"

"We need to teach him things, Dean," Sam cut off. "He's our responsibility, so we need to teach him."

"Dude, drop it," Dean said.

"Dean," he said, tugging on Dean's collar again.

"You're definitely out of this one," Dean said, already knowing what he wanted. "Did he say where she was buried?" Dean asked Sam.

"He doesn't know," Sam said.

"Check it out," fake, skinny Sam said a few feet away. "There's the orphanage, here's the carriage house, and right there…cemetery."

"You think that's where Leticia's planted?" fake Dean asked.

"It's worth a shot," fake Sam said.

"Dad," he whispered. "They found a clue for the hunt."

"Who did?" Dean asked.

"Those two guys dressed up like you and Uncle Sam," he said.

"You're gonna have to be a little more specific," Dean said.

"Those two," he said, pointing.

Dean hit Sam's arm before they walked over to the two guys, Dean still carrying him. Sam reached out and touched what looked like a very old map. "Hey! Hey!" fake Sam said, waving Sam off.

"Hey, do you mind?" fake Dean asked.

"It's real," Sam said to Dean. "A century old, at least, and he's right, there is a cemetery on the grounds."

"Where'd you get that?" Dean asked fake Dean.

"It's called a game, pal. It ain't called charity," fake Dean said.

"Dad…I really wanna win the game," he said with a fake sniffle.

Dean looked at the guy like he was the most insensitive person in the world, but the guy still wouldn't give it up. "Gimme the map, Chuckles," Dean said. That was a better name for fake Dean, so he was going to call fake Dean, Chuckles.

"Yeah, well, you're the Chuckles, Chuckles. Besides, Dean don't listen to nobody," Chuckles said. Chuckles moved his jacket to show a plastic gun. He laughed since this guy was seriously lame and not anywhere close to how cool his Dean was.

"Dean! Cool it," fake Sam said. He was going to think of him as Stringbean since he was really skinny.

Dean pulled out his real gun, making Sam say, "Dean!"

"What! They're freakin' annoying," Dean said. "Plus, Alec's the cutest, they should just give him the map."

"Look, guys," Sam said, trying to smooth things over. "We all wanna find the bones, right? We just thought…it would go faster if we all worked together."

Chuckles and Stringbean shared a look, and then Stringbean said, "We…ah…we get the Sizzler gift card."

"Fine," Dean said, rolling his eyes.

"Dad," he whined. He really wanted to win. He might be just a little bit too competitive.

"I'll get you a milkshake once this is over," Dean reassured.

"And we get to be Sam and Dean," Chuckles said.

"That's not fair!" he yelled. "I already called dibs."

"You can be Dean Jr," Chuckles said.

"Hell no," he said.

"Alec," Sam hissed.

"I'll be Alec," he said sadly.

"Alec's the coolest character there is," Dean said, kissing the side of his head. He snuggled against Dean and smiled to himself.

"Which character is Alec?" Stringbean asked.

"Just the best hunter in Supernatural," Sam said. "Only the real fans know about him."

"Is he mentioned in one of the books?" Chuckles asked.

"We got a sneak preview of the new books from Mr. Edlund," Dean said. "He's gonna be in the new ones a lot."

"We better get back to hunting," he said, hiding his smile. He felt all warm inside, and now Dean was rubbing his back which was making everything better.

They walked outside, and Dean slowly put him down once they were out there. He grabbed Dean's hand this time since he wasn't mad at him anymore. He'd find those books later and read them all to know what this was all about, and he just wouldn't let Dean know since he thought he was too little. But if he didn't say he couldn't, then it wasn't a rule yet. He just wanted to know everything there was to know about Sam and Dean.

"Hey, Rufus, Bobby, Alec, would you hurry it up?" Chuckles said.

"Sorry about the game, kiddo," Dean said.

He swung Dean's hand as they walked and shrugged, "That's ok."

"We'll get a milkshake and a big slice of pie once this is all over," Dean said.

"So, where were we?" Stringbean asked Chuckles a few feet ahead of them.

"Ah, Dr. Ellicott had just zapped your brain," Chuckles said.

"Right, got it," Stringbean said, clearing his throat. "Why are we even here Dean? You just following Dad's footsteps like a good little soldier? You that desperate for approval?"

"This isn't you talking, Sam," Chuckles replied.

He cocked his head to the side curiously, unsure what these two were doing. He was tempted to ask, but he would figure it out sooner or later. "See, that's the difference between you and me," Stringbean said. "I got a mind of my own. I'm not pathetic."

"So, what are you going to do Sam? Are you going to kill me?" Chuckles asked.

He gasped a little since he hadn't been expecting that. "Alright, you know what? That's it," Dean said before they could keep going. He was surprised that Dean let them go that far. But now he really needed to find those books.

"What wrong Bobby?" Chuckles asked.

Dean didn't say anything, so he looked up and saw that he was angry again. "I'm not Bobby, ok?" Dean finally said. "You're not Sam. You're not Dean. What is wrong with you? Why in the hell would you choose to be these guys?"

"Because we're fans. Like you," Stringbean said.

"No. I am not a fan, ok. Not fans," Dean said. "In fact, I think that the Dean and Sam story sucks. It is not fun. It is not entertaining. It's a river of crap that would send most people howling to the nut house." Tears filled his eyes since he didn't like hearing Dean talk like this. Dean was a hero. "So you listen to me. Their pain is not for your amusement. I mean, do you think they enjoy being treated like…like circus freaks?"

"Uh…I don't think they care, because they're fictional characters," Chuckles said like it was obvious.

"Oh, they care. Believe me. They care a lot," Dean said before he started walking again, dragging him along with him. He accidentally sniffled after they were pretty far away from the others, and then quickly wiped away the tear that had fallen down his cheek. Dean stopped suddenly, and then crouched in front of him. "Oh, kiddo, I'm sorry," Dean soothed. "The story only sucks up to the point where you come along. I love having you here with me." He shook his head no and took a small step back, but Dean wouldn't let him get very far away. "Alec, I swear I didn't mean any of that about you."

"It's not that," he whispered.

"Then what is it?" Dean asked, concerned.

"I think you're awesome," he mumbled. "And I think you're a hero and I think that you should think you're a hero too."

"Alec…"

"You saved me," he stressed. "You save a lot of people. That's what heroes do."

"I'm not a hero, Alec," Dean said.

"Yes you are," he argued. "You don't have to keep me, but you didn't kick me out even though I'm really messed up. You didn't have to do that. You still don't."

"Alec, I'm keeping you," Dean soothed. "You're the coolest kid I've ever met and I'm keeping you forever. I never want to lose you."

"Ok," he said, wiping his nose on his sleeve.

"C'mere kiddo," Dean said, pulling him into a tight hug. "Will it make you feel better if I let you hunt this ghost with us?" He nodded, so Dean chuckled, "Alright, but don't get it into your freaky smart head that this is a good way to get what you want." He laughed and snuggled against Dean's neck. "You're my kid, Alec," Dean whispered. "You're mine and Sam's and we're keeping you forever."

"I still think you're a hero," he whispered.

Dean smiled a little and messed up his hair, "I guess there's no point in arguing with you."

"Nope," he said.

Dean stood up suddenly, taking him with him, but he was used to that more now. "What do you think of this whole convention thing?" Dean asked him.

"I think it's fun," he said. "I liked the game."

"That was pretty fun," Dean agreed. "You were awesome at taking the lead."

"I know," he stated, even though he didn't know that. "I just wish people would talk to little kids more often, so I could ask more questions on the hunt."

"Well, I want you to stay a kid," Dean said. "If you get bigger, then I can't do this…" Dean moved him up onto his shoulders, which was the best! He was actually tall now. He loved being able to see everything. "See, now you don't wanna get older, do you?"

"No," he said with a smile. "I like being up this high so I can see everything."

"Then I guess you're not allowed to get older then," Dean said.

"Ok," he said happily.

Dean started walking again and they met up with everyone else in just a few minutes. Dean put him down again but kissed the top of his head as he handed him a flashlight. He walked around the little cemetery, and then pointed out four that were all killed on the same day and that were pretty young when they had died. "Dad," he said to get Dean's attention.

"Good job, kiddo," Dean said, ruffling his hair. "Alec found the four boys," Dean said to everyone else.

"And here's Leticia Gore," Sam said, looking at another tombstone.

"The weirdos are still looking around," he said to Dean, tugging on his jacket. Chuckles and Stringbean weren't walking over to where they were, and were instead still looking around the cemetery.

"Ah…what are you guys doing?" Dean asked.

"We're looking for bones, genius," Chuckles said like it was obvious. "They gotta be around here somewhere."

"Do they know that bones are usually buried?" he whispered to Dean.

"You guys know bones are usually in the ground, right?" Dean asked the two weirdos.

"Yeah, I know that. I just…" Chuckles trailed off as Sam pulled a shovel out of his bag. "Wait, hold on. Are you guys serious?"

"Deadly," Dean stated.

"We're not really digging up graves you guys," Stringbean said. "We're just playing a game."

"And you can't dig up a grave around a little kid," Chuckles said.

He glared at the guy, but Dean spoke before he could say anything. "Trust us. You wanna win the game, right?"

The two guys were definitely not comfortable with this idea, but they didn't say anything else. Sam tossed the shovel to Dean, who motioned for him to come with him. He sat on top of the headstone and pointed his flashlight down on the ground, so Dean could see where he was digging.

He couldn't tell if the two guys were going to bolt or not, but he didn't really care right now. He was just happy that Dean was letting him still be part of the hunt. He didn't want to be stuck inside without Sam or Dean even though now would be a great time to get some answers from Chuck, but he wanted to be around Dean more.

"Dad?" he asked once Dean was knee-deep in the grave.

"Yeah kiddo?" Dean asked without stopped.

"Why aren't we digging up the kids too?" he asked.

"Well, because once we get rid of the teacher lady, then the kids should be at rest and shouldn't haunt the place anymore," Dean said.

"Shouldn't we dig them up to make sure?" he asked.

"Not this time, kiddo," Dean said.

"Why not?" he asked.

"Because we're with a couple of dweebs, and I don't wanna hang around them any longer than I have to," Dean said. He giggled and nodded in agreement. "Plus, I want that pie," Dean said.

"Yeah!" he said. He'd forgotten about getting pie later.

"And a big, greasy burger," Dean said.

"Now I'm hungry," he said.

"Well, we're almost done here, so we'll head out and find a place with burgers and pie," Dean said. He heard the shovel hit something solid and knew that Dean had made it to the coffin. Sam walked over with Chuckles and Stringbean as Dean busted into the coffin, revealing the skeleton.

Chuckles gasped, "That's not a plastic skeleton. That's a…that's a skeleton skeleton…"

"You just dug up a real grave…" Stringbean breathed.

"Yeah," Dean said as he got out of the grave.

"You guys are nuts," Chuckles said.

"I thought you guys wanted to be hunters," Sam said with a shrug.

"Hunters aren't real man! This isn't real!" Chuckles said, completely freaking out.

"You just dug up a grave in front of a tiny, little kid," Stringbean said.

He frowned since he wasn't that little. "And he's not even freaked out!" Chuckles said.

His eyes widened when a creepy ghost lady appeared behind Sam. "Uncle Sam!" he yelled, pointing behind him.

Sam spun around and the lady yelled, "Naughty, naughty, naughty!" She hit Sam, making him fly across the cemetery. Chuckles and Stringbean screamed and started to run, but Stringbean tripped and fell.

He blurred over to the duffle bags and quickly got the salt and lighter fluid since the two idiots were distracted and he wanted to get rid of this ghost before it could hurt Sam or Dean. He ran back to Dean and gave him the lighter fluid before he started pouring salt all over the bones. He could hear the two guys screaming as the ghost lady yelled at them some more.

Dean motioned for him to come back over to him, so he did, and watched as Dean threw a lighter onto the bones. They instantly caught fire, and the ghost lady screamed as she disappeared. Sam slowly walked over to them, and then he was being picked up again.

"Real enough for you?" Dean asked Chuckles and Stringbean. The two guys just looked like they were about to have a heart attack.

---

Present

"Any ideas for getting into whatever world Mom, Jody, and Jack are in? Or wherever Cas is at?" he asked Rowena. They were all in the rec room since he didn't want Alec moving much, but he knew if they met somewhere else, then his son would come find them. So, Rowena, Gabriel, and unfortunately Crowley, were all in the room with him, Sam, Ben, and Alec. Ketch was the only one missing, but he'd called to say he didn't have any leads yet, and he didn't think the guy in Seattle was the answer.

Sam's phone rang before anyone could answer, so he quickly got up and left the room. He was hoping it was Donna since they had called her to check up on Claire and Alex since they hadn't been answering their phones. Hopefully Claire and Alex had actually taken Alec and Ben's advice and gone to Donna's since Jody was missing.

"The only reason we could get into the world you were in, was because of you and Alec and Ben," Rowena explained. "You have to have been there to get back, but since Alec and Ben are you, then we were able to find a loophole."

"What if we have something that belongs to that person?" Alec asked.

"It has to be blood," Rowena said.

"I thought we were going to go to Seattle first," Ben said.

"We are," he said. "But Alec's not ready to travel yet, so we're starting on this."

"I'm ready to travel," Alec argued.

"No, you aren't," he said.

"Ketch doesn't know everything. I think we should go now," Alec stated.

"We're still planning on going to see that guy, Alec, but we've gotta wait until you're all the way back," he said, refusing to budge on this one.

"Look who's here," Sam said, walking back into the room with Claire, Alex, and Donna.

Alec silently groaned, but Ben hit his arm to keep him quiet. Alec hated it when people saw him like this, but he was going to have to get over it. They needed help, and he was happy to see that Claire and Alex really were ok.

"Thanks for the call, Alec," Claire said sarcastically, glaring at Alec.

"What did I do?" Alec asked.

"You were supposed to call when you were going to go to an alternate universe!" Claire said.

"Ben was supposed to call you," Alec argued.

"No I wasn't," Ben immediately said.

"Someone was supposed to call us," Claire said.

"Boys," he said, shaking his head no to get them to stop arguing.

Donna walked over to Alec and Ben and gave him both a big hug before she pulled back from them. "Next time I find out that you two went to another universe without calling me first, you're gonna be in a world of trouble," Donna said. "Especially since you called a demon before you called me."

"Sorry Donna," both boys said at the same time.

"Alright, we need some help finding a way to get everyone else back," he said once it was starting to get a little awkward. "We have a spell to do it, but we need blood to get there, which we can't get. So, we need to find another way or figure out a way to get blood somehow from Mary, Jody, or Jack."

"We think they all disappeared together since they were all standing pretty close to each other, but there's no guarantee," Sam said. "Me and Dean were only brought back because Alec and Ben are pretty much an exact match for Dean."

"Okie dokie," Donna said. "Looks like we've got some researchin' to do."

"Researching in here?" Alec asked, sounding slightly panicked. Alec hadn't been staying awake for very long, and typically he'd been falling asleep on the sofa since they had moved their beds back to their room.

"We can head back to the room," Ben whispered to his brother.

"And research can happen anywhere," he reassured. "In fact, the library would probably be better. Or even the map room, so you two don't have to move."

"I'll show you guys where everything is," Sam said.

He walked over to his two boys and crouched down in front of them. "I'll try to keep everyone out of this room," he said.

"Dad, when are we going to Seattle," Alec asked softly.

"Not for a few more days," he said, giving Alec's knee a gentle squeeze. "You just keep resting up, ok? And then we'll head out and find that guy."

"I'm ready," Alec said. "I'm eating solid food, I'm just tired, and I can sleep in the car. I think we should go ahead and go."

"Riding that far is gonna be hard on you, kiddo," he said. "And if that guy's not the answer, then you're gonna have to be ok until we find someone. I don't wanna risk it, so I wanna make sure you're all the way back."

"The longer we wait, the more likely it is that I'll start having them again," Alec said.

He stood up suddenly, making his boys jump, but then he motioned to them and said, "C'mon, scoot." Ben slowly moved away from his brother, making sure he was steady before he moved away completely. He sat down in between them and pulled them both against his sides. His boys leaned against him, and the three of them just rested for a while. He wanted to reassure Alec that everything was going to be ok, but he didn't know that. He'd almost lost his son.

"Hey, you guys need anything?" Sam asked as he walked in the room again.

He looked at Alec and Ben, but they both shook their heads no. "Nah, we're good," he said.

Sam walked over to the armchair and sank down onto it. "Was this a bad idea?" Sam asked. "There's too many people here…"

"We'll hit the road in a few days, and then it'll be just like old times," he said.

"That'll be good," Sam said.

"Did you go to Seattle before we came along?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, I've been to Seattle lots of times," he said.

"We had some pretty good times in Seattle," Sam said with a laugh.

"Hunts?" Ben asked.

"Some of 'em," he said.

"You didn't go in any of those books," Alec mumbled sleepily, leaning against him more.

"Books?" he asked.

"Yeah, those books about you and Uncle Sam," Alec said. "Lots of hunts. Ghosts, scarecrows, werewolves, shapeshifters, your Dad was in some of 'em too."

"You read those?" Sam asked, surprised. He was pretty surprised too since Alec had never mentioned it, and he had thought he would've asked a ton of questions when he finally read them.

"Alec was allowed to read those and I wasn't!" Ben said, sitting up more.

"I didn't know Alec read those," he quickly defended.

"You never said they were off limits," Alec muttered.

"I told Ben a few years ago that he wasn't allowed to read them until he was older," Sam said.

"When did you read them?" he asked.

"After that hunt at the fan convention," Alec said like it was obvious. "Everyone knew who you were, so I looked them up after that. You never said I couldn't read them."

"Can I read them now since apparently Alec's already read them?" Ben asked.

"Yeah, you can read them," he said with a sigh.

"How come you never asked about anything?" Sam asked Alec.

"Thought the books explained most of it, and you never talked about it, so I just thought you didn't want to," Alec said.

"Wish you would've told us you read them," he whispered, kissing the top of Alec's head.

"Why?" Alec asked, confused. "You didn't say they were off limits, so I didn't think I was hiding anything."

"No, I could've talked to you about them," he said. "Or Sam could have. You could have asked any questions you wanted, and you still can, but you were just nine when you read those books."

"There wasn't anything in there that I didn't already know," Alec said. "Well…except some things about you…"

"The sex stuff?" he asked.

"No, I knew about sex," Alec said. "It was the stuff about hell and you dying and about your Dad and that yellow-eyed demon and Uncle Sam's powers that he had back then. I saw some of that, but I didn't get some of it. But it filled in some gaps too. I just knew random things about you, so it helped."

"You can ask me anything you want," he said. "Ben, you too when you read them."

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

He chuckled a little and shook his head, "I can't believe you already read all those."

"Uncle Sam threw a fit when I wanted to read them," Ben pointed out.

"I would've thrown a fit if I had known Alec was gonna read them too," Sam said.

"Too late," Alec said with a small, sleepy smile.

"You need to get some more rest, kiddo," he said, kissing the top of Alec's head.

"'M not that sleepy," Alec slurred. He started to get up, but Alec grabbed his arm and snuggled against him. "Don't go yet…" Alec mumbled.

"Ok kiddo, I'm not goin' anywhere," he said. Ben snuggled against his other side, so he held both of his boys close as they fell asleep.

---

2010

"Why can't you just answer the question?" he asked Chuck. Sam and Dean were at the bar with the two dweebs, so now was his chance to talk to Chuck about being in the books, and what exactly the books were.

"I just…I don't think the readers will like Dean with a kid. He's more responsible with you around," Chuck said.

"You're lying," he stated. "I'm adorable. And hilarious. And this is a whole new dynamic for Sam and Dean, and I think the readers will be very interested in the most adorable character that was ever written."

"I don't know what to tell you, kid," Chuck said.

"How 'bout you tell me the truth," he challenged.

"Ok, look," Chuck finally said with a sigh. "I can't add you in the books because I know what happened with the others…"

"Others?" he asked.

"Manticore," Chuck whispered. His eyes widened in shock because only Sam and Dean and Bobby knew about Manticore. And he knew they wouldn't tell Chuck any of that. "The angels…they wiped the place out. Everyone is gone."

"How do you know that?" he breathed.

"I saw it," Chuck said. "That's how I wrote the other books. I saw what happened and wrote it down because I'm a prophet…I guess. So, I saw what the angels did to Manticore, and if I put you in the books, then you're in danger. The more people that know about you, the worse it will be."

"They're all gone?" he asked softly.

"Alec…I'm sorry," Chuck said. "After the angels found out about you, they went straight to Manticore and killed everyone. They wiped it off the map."

His knees felt weak and tears were blurring his vision. He hated Manticore, but he had a few friends there. Not everyone was bad, and they didn't deserve to die. He jumped when someone touched his shoulder, but the tears started falling when he saw that it was Dean. He was immediately wrapped up in Dean's strong arms and held against his chest. "What the hell did you say to him?" Dean growled.

"I…I just…"

"You don't talk to him unless I'm here with him," Dean snarled.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, walking up to them. "Alec? What's wrong, kiddo?"

"Chuck said something to him," Dean said as he rubbed his back.

"Let's just go," Sam said.

"How do you know for sure?" he asked Chuck, not even caring that he was still crying. "How do you know?"

"Alec-"

"What the hell did you tell him?" Dean asked.

"Manticore…I told him Manticore is gone," Chuck said.

"What do you mean gone?" Sam and Dean asked at the same time.

"The angels wiped it out," Chuck said. "I saw it happen after the angels met Alec for the first time. They were so pissed that they were playing God that they wiped it all out."

"Even the kids?" Dean asked, shocked.

"I…yeah, I guess," Chuck said.

"Are they coming after Alec?" Sam asked.

"No, I don't think so," Chuck said.

Dean rubbed his back and held him closer, whispering soothing things to him to try to get him to calm down. He did finally manage to stop crying, but he was still really sad. He didn't like Manticore, but he didn't hate it either. And the kids were just like him, they didn't deserve to die. None of them asked to be created, so why did they have to go? He didn't understand.

"Shh, it's ok, baby, it's ok," Dean whispered. "You wanna get out of here?"

"Yeah…" he said against Dean's neck.

"Alright, let's go get some food," Dean said. "How does that sound?"

"Good…"

"We'll get the biggest burgers we can find," Dean said as he walked over to the main doors. Sam beat Dean to the doors and tried to open them, but they wouldn't budge. "That's weird…" Dean muttered.

"Definitely," Sam said.

"Let's try a window," Dean suggested. They walked around the hotel, but everything was locked.

"It's almost like…" Sam started, looking around the room.

"Something's keeping us in?" Dean asked, finishing Sam's thought. Dean's arms squeezed him closer, but not so tight that he couldn't breathe. Dean had gotten better at not squeezing too tight when he didn't like something.

"This is bad," Sam said.

"Gee, ya think Sammy?" Dean sarcastically shot back.

A woman screamed suddenly, making him jump. Dean kissed the side of his head, and then put him down but grabbed his hand. They ran upstairs toward the sound of the scream and found the ghost lady from before running out of a room. Dean let go of his hand to catch the lady, who was seriously freaked out. "Don't go in there!" she yelled.

"Get downstairs, ok? Go!" Dean said, and the lady didn't need to be told twice. Sam and Dean walked into what turned out to be an old library, and Dean motioned for him to stay back, but he just stayed behind Dean. The kid from before was sitting in a corner of the room, holding his head again.

"Why'd you do that?" the kid asked. "Why did you send my Mommy away?"

"Ah, maybe because of-" Dean grunted when Sam suddenly elbowed him in the side and shot a look back at him. Dean rolled his eyes, "How 'bout some thanks?" Sam cleared his throat and gave Dean a pointed look. "Well, I'm just saying, a little gratitude might be nice once in a while."

"My Mommy didn't do this to me," the kid said.

"What? Then who did?" Sam asked, but the kid disappeared.

"Dammit…" Dean growled. Dean was about to pick him up again, but then someone else screamed and they were running again. Dean suddenly grabbed him and turned around to try to keep him from seeing, but it was too late. The hook man from before was scalped. "We gotta get everyone out of here," Dean said.

"How?" Sam asked back. "All the doors are locked. How are we going to get out to burn more bones?"

"We shoulda just burned all the bones," Dean said, rubbing his back as they walked down the stairs again. "You were right, kiddo. We shoulda just gotten rid of all of them…"

"What's goin' on at the convention now? Still the hunt? Or something…" Sam asked.

"They're all in the auditorium asking Chuck more questions," he whispered. "Or, at least they should be."

"You're awesome," Dean said, kissing the side of his head again. "Alright, Sam, you get Chuck to stall and we'll get everyone else into the auditorium."

It took a while to convince the staff to go to the auditorium, but eventually Dean was able to talk them into it even though they still grumbled about it.

"Buddy, I've got work to do," the manager said, trying one more time to get away from them.

"You're gonna want to see this, trust me," Dean said. "It's gonna be a hell of a show."

Dean let him pour salt in front of the door once it was closed. "Ah, what does the future hold for Sam and Dean?" Chuck asked from the stage. "Well, how do you feel about angels? Yeah, because let me tell you, they're not nearly as lame as you think."

"Ok, new theory," Dean said to Sam. "The legends about Leticia are ass-backwards obviously."

"Yeah. So, alright, let's say those three orphans were playing cowboys and Indians," Sam said.

"LARPing as cowboys and Indians," Dean quickly corrected.

"Whatever," Sam said. "And let's say they scalped Leticia's son and killed him."

"Mom catches 'em in the act, flips out, slices them and dices herself," Dean said with a nod.

"If that's true, it means we've got three bloodthirsty brats in the building," Sam said.

"Yeah and Leticia was the only one keeping them under control," Dean said.

"Smooth move on our part," Sam muttered.

"We shoulda listened to Alec," Dean said, ruffling his hair. "You were the only one thinking." He smiled a little and leaned against Dean's side. "But now we gotta get back to the cemetery and torch the kids' bones."

"How?" Sam asked. "We're trapped. We don't even have our guns! The ghosts are running this joint and they're only scared of one thing."

"Exactly!" Dean said. "C'mon kiddo, let's go sweet-talk that ghost chick."

Dean grabbed his hand and they walked over to where the ghost girl was texting on her phone. She looked up and smiled when she saw Dean, but he was ready to participate some more. "We need your help," he said before Dean could say anything.

"Ok," she slowly replied.

"We need you to pretend to be the real Leticia Gore," he stated. "You have to tell the ghost kids that they can't kill people."

"You want me to do what?" the lady asked.

"You're an actress," Dean said. "We just want you to act."

"I work at Hooters, in Toledo," she said. "No, you can forget it."

"You'll be safe, we promise," Sam said. He scowled at Sam since he didn't think he should promise that kind of thing. But maybe it was ok since they really needed her to at least try to help. She could stop the ghost kids long enough for them to get out and burn the bones. "This is really important."

"We wanna help," Chuckles suddenly said to Dean.

"Turn up the charm, kiddo," Dean said before he turned to Chuckles, "Guys, no."

"Please?" he asked the ghost lady, trying to look as sad as he could. This look pretty much always worked on Dean, so it would probably work on this lady no problem.

"Why not?" Chuckles asked Dean.

"Oh my God…you're cute," the ghost lady breathed.

"'Cause this isn't make-believe," Dean said, still talking to Chuckles.

"Look, we know. We're not nuts," Chuckles said. "We're freakin' terrified."

"So, you'll help?" he asked ghost girl.

"Yeah, but if all these people are seriously in trouble. We gotta do something," Stringbean said.

"Why?" Dean asked.

"Because, that's what Sam and Dean would do," Chuckles said.

The ghost girl sighed, but then said, "Fine. I'll help."

"I get to help too, right?" he asked Dean, tugging on his hand.

Dean crouched down in front of him, and then pulled him closer. "I don't want you in on this one Alec."

"But it's ghosts. You said I could help on ghost hunts, remember?" he said.

"Why don't you stay here with Chuck and help him keep everyone in this room," Dean suggested.

"But I wanna go with you," he whispered.

"I want you to be safe, kiddo," Dean said. "The best place for you right now is in this room."

"I can help dig graves, or I can help give you backup," he said.

"Next ghost hunt, ok kiddo," Dean said.

He pouted a little bit, but then Dean was picking him up and bringing him up to the stage. He glared at Dean as he walked away, but Dean didn't seem to notice. He wanted to run after Dean and help, but he knew this was important too. People could get hurt if they left this room, and he didn't think Chuck was up to the task of keeping everyone entertained.

"Can I have that?" he asked Chuck, pointing to the microphone. Chuck looked confused, but then handed him the microphone. "What d'you guys wanna know about Sam and Dean?"

"Alec-"

"Dude, I got this," he said. He looked out at everyone, but they were just looking at him in confusion. "Ok, look, I know things about Sam and Dean that haven't made it into these so-called books."

"They aren't 'so-called', they actually are books," a lady said.

"I know for a fact that Sam loves Celine Dion," he said, ignoring the lady. "He tells Dean that his favorite is Elvis, but it's really Celine Dion. He hums sometimes in his sleep, and it's usually that lovey-dovey song from that movie about that ship."

"Titanic?" a guy asked.

"That's the one," he said. "He hums it all the time when Dean's not around." And he knew every word because Sam sang it way too much.

"How do you know that?" another guy asked.

"Alec got a sneak peak into some of the new books as a sort of prize," Chuck quickly covered. "And he got to look through some of the early drafts where things like that didn't make it into the books."

"Dean knows all the words to the song 'Tom Sawyer' and is really proud of it," he continued. "He sings it as loud as he can when it comes on the radio, and then he keeps singing it off and on for about three days." Another song that he knew all of the words to. "And a lot of times Sam forgets how smart Dean is because Dean likes to joke around a bunch, but Dean reads a lot more than Sam knows." Dean read to him all the time, so he wasn't sure why Dean pretended to not know things sometimes.

"Which book were those cut from?" a lady asked.

"Hell House," Chuck quickly jumped in.

"Dean claims he doesn't like romantic comedies, but he's seen almost all of them. He likes the happy endings even if they are super unrealistic," he said.

"Which one is his favorite?" a man asked.

"The Wedding Singer," he said. "But he says it's still manly and ok to like it because it's Adam Sandler, and everything with Adam Sandler is great." He walked over to the chair and stood up on it so he could see better.

"Alec, you shouldn't stand on that," Chuck said.

"I'm not a baby," he shot back.

"Do Sam and Dean watch the romantic comedies together?" someone else asked.

"No because that would be weird," he said. "But they do watch action movies together and they have sports on a lot. But they usually only really watch movies at Bobby's house."

"I don't have time for this…" the manager muttered as he stood up and walked back over to the door.

"We have to stop him," he whispered to Chuck.

"Excuse me!" Chuck said, running after the manager. "You really can't leave. Please sir." He rolled his eyes since he wouldn't stop either if he was the manager. Chuck didn't sound very intimidating. The manager started to open the door, but Chuck yelled, "Don't open that door!"

He jumped off the chair and ran over to where the manager already had the door open, breaking the salt line. A ghost boy appeared in front of the manager, smiling at him with a creepy smile. The ghost boy had a knife in his hand, so he took off to find something made of iron. He grabbed an old looking stand, and then yelled, "Chuck!" He tossed the stand to Chuck, who staggered just a little since it was kind of heavy, but then he swung it at the ghost kid, making him disappear.

He ran over and slammed the door shut, moving the salt around to complete the salt line again.

"I said nobody leaves, damn it," Chuck said. Everyone was shocked, but he was more concerned that Sam and Dean weren't done yet. He wanted to run out of the room and check on them, but he trusted Dean. It was really hard for him to just let Dean do something without him, but he needed Dean, so he couldn't lose him. "Alec, c'mon, everyone wants to hear more about Sam and Dean," Chuck said.

"I wanna know that they're ok," he whispered.

"They're going to be ok," Chuck said.

"You don't know that," he said.

"They don't want you to leave this room, remember?" Chuck said.

"You can talk to everyone again," he muttered. He wasn't going to move from this spot until Dean came back.

"Just…don't leave this room, ok?" Chuck said.

He stood there and watched the door while Chuck went back on the stage and started talking to everyone again. He didn't listen to what he was saying. He just wanted Sam and Dean to come back.

He ran at Dean as soon as he opened the door a few minutes later, and Dean immediately scooped him up and held him close. "Hey kiddo," Dean whispered.

"Are you ok?" he asked.

"Yeah, I'm good, Sammy's good, and the ghosts are gone," Dean said.

"Do we have to stay in this room?" he asked.

"Nope, we don't have to stay in this room," Dean said. Actually, everyone was leaving the room now, and there were a lot of people out in the lobby. He wasn't sure what was going on, but Dean was ok, so he didn't really care about anything else. "You know, I gotta hand it to you guys," Dean said. He was surprised to see that they were outside now and Chuckles and Stringbean were walking with them. "You really saved our asses back there. So ah, you know, thanks." Dean rubbed his back as he walked, but then he stopped suddenly and said, "Guys, I don't even know your names."

"Oh, well, I'm Barnes. This is Damian," Stringbean said. He liked his names for them better. "What's yours?"

Dean was quiet for a minute, "Dean. The real Dean."

Stringbean and Chuckles looked at each other, and then they started laughing. "Ahh, yeah right. Me too!" Chuckles said.

"Get the hell out of here Dean!" Stringbean said with a laugh.

Dean took a deep breath and nodded, "Well, anyway. Thanks. Really."

Dean started to walk away again, but then Chuckles said, "You're wrong you know."

"Sorry?" Dean asked.

"About Supernatural," Chuckles said. "No offense, but I'm not sure you get what the story's about."

"I that so," Dean said, amused.

"In real life, he sells stereo equipment," Chuckles said, pointing to Stringbean. "I fix copiers. Our lives suck. But to be Sam and Dean, to wake up every morning and save the world. To have a brother who would die for you. Well, who wouldn't want that?"

"Maybe you got a point," Dean said. Dean kissed the side of his head, "Thanks again, guys."

"Do you really believe them?" he asked softly as Dean started walking.

"I think maybe at least part of it they got right," Dean said. "You and Sam make things worth it." Dean walked over to their Impala and leaned against the side. "You ok, kiddo?"

"Yeah," he said.

"Maybe Chuck didn't know what he was talking about with the angels and Manticore," Dean said. He just shrugged and snuggled against Dean's neck. "Alright, we don't have to talk about it if you don't want to."

"I just don't know why they would kill everyone," he whispered.

"I don't know, kiddo," Dean said, rubbing his back again.

"We didn't ask to be made," he said.

"Alec, I'm so sorry," Dean said. "They should've just helped those kids, not kill them. But we still don't know if Chuck was telling the truth or not."

"He was…" he mumbled. Dean took a breath to say something else, but he quickly spoke before he could, "Where's Sam?"

"I think he's talkin' to Chuck," Dean said.

"Where are we going next?" he asked.

"Probably Bobby's house. How's that sound?" Dean asked.

"Good," he said with a small smile. He really liked hanging out at Bobby's house.

"We can play in the creek again if you want to," Dean hesitantly suggested. Dean had an easier time suggesting food options than when they stopped to play or something.

"I really like the creek," he said. "Can we watch movies on the sofa too?"

"We can do that," Dean said, running his hand through his hair. Dean rubbed his back and held him close as they waited for Sam. He didn't mind the silence because Dean was ok, and he still got to stay with Sam and Dean.

"You ok?" Sam asked as he walked up.

"Yeah, I think I'm good," Dean said.

"Well, you're not going to believe it, but I got a lead on the Colt," Sam said.

"What?" Dean asked, suddenly tense.

"Long story, I'll tell you on the way," Sam said.

"We're still going to Bobby's house, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, we're still going to Bobby's and we're going to go get some food and we're still going to play in the creek," Dean reassured. "We're still gonna have some fun, but this is good news." He snuggled against Dean's neck again. He was just happy that he got to stay with Sam and Dean, and he was going to find those books as soon as he could.

---

Present

He tucked Alec in and kissed his forehead before he kissed Ben's forehead too. His boys were sleeping in their mega-bed, as Alec had called it. Really, they had just pushed their two beds together once they had gotten their mattresses back into their room. Ben was still freaked out that he was going to lose his brother, and Alec was worried that the seizures were going to come back, even if he tried to pretend that he wasn't.

He plugged in the Christmas lights that were hung around the room since he knew his boys felt better with the lights on, and then he reluctantly left their room. He didn't want to leave them at all, but since Alec was starting to get better, he knew he couldn't hover as much as he had been. But he wasn't going to feel ok until they got rid of the seizures for good.

"Hey, they ok?" Sam asked as he sat down across from him in the kitchen.

Sam slid a beer over to him. "Yeah, they're ok," he said. "I just wish the seizures were gone for real."

"We have more time, so we can find someone who can help," Sam said.

"For once I wish Ketch would call us," he muttered.

"In a few days we can go up there and find that guy ourselves," Sam said. "Ketch probably just skipped town."

"Once we get Alec and Ben taken care of and get everyone back, we're taking a freakin' vacation," he grumbled.

"Dude, if we pull this off, then we're retiring," Sam teased.

He chuckled and shook his head no, "Try tellin' that to the twins."

"Hey, you're the Dad," Sam said.

"Yeah, but you're the hard ass," he shot back. His phone started to ring before Sam could get him back. He dug his phone out of his pocket and frowned when he saw Ketch was calling. "Speak of the devil," he muttered before he answered, "Yeah?"

"Ah, Dean," Ketch said. "There has been a slight hiccup in the investigation."

He rolled his eyes, "Yeah? What's that? Quitting already?"

"Actually, I need your assistance," Ketch said. "It appears that I may have, as you Americans say, 'poked the bear', and have been taken hostage."

"They let you make a phone call?" he asked, not quite believing Ketch's version.

"They would like to know who I am working for, so obviously I gave them your name, and they would like to meet you," Ketch said. "Which is why they let me make a phone call."

"Ketch you son of a bitch," he grumbled.

"Be a good lad and get to Seattle as quickly as possible," Ketch said. "These are not patient people."

Ketch hung up, so he muttered, "Guess we're goin' to Seattle sooner than I thought…"

"What's up?" Sam asked.

"Ketch got himself captured and gave us up," he said. "He said he needs us to come up there and rescue him."

"Leave him," Sam said with a shrug. "The guy's tried to kill us multiple times."

"Except he might've actually found something…" he said. "He was trying to find things out about Manticore, so it was probably Manticore that got him."

"But the angels wiped out Manticore," Sam said.

"That's what those douchebags told us. Doesn't mean it's true," he said.

Sam sighed, but then nodded, "Alright, so, we leavin' in the morning, and are the boys goin' with us?"

He ran his hand down his face, but then nodded. "Yeah…leavin' in the morning with the boys."

"Seattle here we come."

---

More soon...