Chapter 61

"Alright boys," Missouri spoke to them as they stepped back into the house. "Shall we proceed with the training?"

"Yes," Sam spoke before Dean could say anything. "I'm ready."

The brothers followed Missouri back to her study and took their seats at the table. They watched as Missouri picked of several crystals from a basket full of them and placed them on the table within Sam's reach. She settled into her chair and looked to Sam who was waiting patiently for instructions.

"Alright Samuel, why don't we work on your power and see if you can split it between several objects. Why don't you pick up two crystals and hold them in front of you and move each one separately? You will need to keep both in the air as you move them. Once you feel comfortable with them try adding another. This will help you strengthen your psychic muscles and help you control it easier."

"Okay, I can do that," Sam nodded his understanding as he looked at the crystals sitting on the table. He lifted one into the air and suspended it moving it in a slow circle.

"Dean, why don't we step out and give Sam some space?" Missouri suggested as she got up from the table. "An hour or so with this should be fine dear and then you and Dean can have the rest of the afternoon to catch up."

"Okay," Sam nodded.

"Sure," Dean shrugged moving from Sam's side. He knew Sam didn't need him for this and left him alone to practice. Dean followed Missouri into the kitchen and out the backdoor. He wasn't sure where they were going until Missouri strolled toward the small building, she used for her herb business. She unlocked the door and turned on the lights before stepping inside.

"I've got some orders to get out, how about you help me?" Missouri asked him. She wanted to keep him busy and his mind off his brother while Sam worked on his training.

"No problem, what do you want me to do?" Dean asked wrinkling his noise slightly with all the aromas that hit him when he stepped inside. It wasn't a bad smell just such a mixture of herbs and spices that made him sneeze several times.

"Bless you honey," Missouri chuckled. "It does take a little getting used to at first."

"I'm fine," Dean sniffed and wiped his nose.

"Alright young man, if you'll come over here, I'll show you how to weigh and bag the herbs I need."

Dean stepped to a worktable that had a digital scale, small zip lock bags, markers, labels, small scoops, and latex gloves. He slipped on a pair of the gloves and waited as Missouri pulled large containers of crushed herbs from a shelve beside the table.

"Now, measure out two ounces of each of these and do me six bags each. Be sure to put a paper on the scale for each herb so you don't cross contaminate and you can also use it as a funnel to pour the herbs into the bag," she instructed sitting six labeled containers on the workbench for him. "I'm going to get the mailers ready while you do this."

"Okay, I can do this" Dean nodded opening the first container and using a scoop to remove the crushed herb. He placed a thin square of paper on the scale and poured the herbs carefully onto it. He watched the display as it started to go up and stopped adding when it reached two ounces. Dean picked up a zip lock bag and opened it so he could pour herbs into the bag and then seal it. With that done, he printed the name on the outside from the label on the large container and set it aside to do the next. He tried to keep his mind off his brother and concentrate on his task.

spn

It was quiet in the room now that Sam was alone, and he looked around for a moment before rolling his shoulders and settling his sight on the crystals that sat in front of him. This was simple for him, he didn't need to fret over it. As he took a deep breath, he focused all his energy on them and watched them rise from the table in a smooth, even pace.

The crystals lifted from the table by the invisible force and hovered in front of Sam as he rotated them and studied their coloring. He moved them around for a few minutes getting the feel of them before splitting his focus as the crystals moved opposite each other, one going up, the other going down. He focused hard on maintaining the rhythm and after ten minutes stopped them in the air and brought them to rest in his hand.

The crystals seemed warm to the touch, like his moving them had generated heat within each one. He thought this was interesting and made a note to ask Missouri about it. Deciding to be a little adventurous, Sam reached for two more crystals and laid them out in front of him with the other two.

Taking in a deep breath, Sam frowned slightly as he pinched his lips together and stared hard at the four stones until they began to wobble up and down. One by one, he lifted the crystals a couple of inches off the table, but one fell back with a small thud, breaking his concentration and making the others drop too. Sam huffed irritation and wiped his face as he worked on calming his mind and pushing away the rise of anger.

Sam knew he needed to have patience, this was something he couldn't rush and would take practice. Not one for giving up easily, he turned his focus back to the crystals and was able to lift two stones easily and once they were stable, tried to lift the third. He watched the other two waver slightly, as the third moved a little. Deciding to only use two, Sam made the crystals move around the room several times. He sped them up and slowed them down, making them zip by each other without hitting. He juggled them in the air and made them rise to the ceiling and hang there.

After several minutes, the crystals floated back to the table and settled in front of Sam. He looked at the watch they had found in the metal box from the basement of their old house and rubbed a finger over it, wishing he had known their Dad and Mom. At least Dean had gotten nearly five years with them and had memories of them. He knew Dean didn't like talking about what happened, but he did tell Sam a few things about their parents that had him hanging onto every word. Seeing he had a little more time to train, Sam looked back at the crystals and picked one up with his ability and let his eyes follow it as he bounced it in the air, getting faster with each upper motion. He suddenly froze it in midair and held it there before holding out his hand and letting the crystal drop to land in his palm.

Sam replaced the crystals on the bookcase and took the rest of the time to practice mediation and let his mind rest. He slowed his heartbeat and breathing and looked inward almost feeling the surge of energy growing stronger. Once Sam thought enough time had passed, he drew in several deep breaths as he opened his eyes and glanced at his watch again seeing it was only a few seconds before his time was up. He left the study and headed for the kitchen to find the others.

Missouri and Dean were coming in the back door as Sam stepped into the kitchen. Dean had a box in his hands with the orders he helped Missouri fix.

"Hey, you done?" Dean asked Sam.

"Yes," Sam replied. "Unless Missouri wants me to do something else."

"No child, it's better to take it slow and easy and not rush it."

"Missouri wants us to drop these by the post office. Wanna take a ride with me?"

"Sure."

"We'll be back by dinnertime," Dean told Missouri. "Do you need us to pick anything up?"

"No, I don't think so," Missouri said. "Here's a credit card to pay for postage. You boys have a good drive."

"Alright and we will." Dean accepted the card and picked the box back up before leading them to the front door and outside. He unlocked the Impala, dropped into the driver's seat, and sat the box on the seat before reaching to unlock the other door so Sam could get in.

"What are we mailing?" Sam questioned looking at the brown envelopes stacked in the box he had picked up from the seat.

"Orders for herbs for clients of Missouri. She has a lot of loyal customers and there are a number of hunters who buy from her too and she helps out with spells and rituals when asked."

"So, not all hunters are afraid of her or want to harm her?"

"Most don't, but you always have the bad apples who fear what they don't understand and only want to kill it. No one bothers her though because she is protected by those of us who know the good in her."

"Good to know," Sam surmised as he thought about it. He had seen how people that were different by either a handicap or their ideas, being scorned and bullied by others for no other reason than to seem big themselves. He looked around at the scenery before asking, "Where are we going anyway?"

"I thought we'd go over to the park and maybe grab a milk shake or something and just enjoy the day," Dean replied. "Is that okay with you?"

"Sure, sounds like fun. And on the way back can we stop by our old house?" Sam asked.

"Okay, but why do you want to go back there?"

"I can't explain it," Sam shrugged as he looked away. "It's like something is drawing me back there. It's a feeling in the back of my mind like an itch I can't scratch."

Dean looked over at Sam for a moment as he frowned slightly with Sam's explanation. He wondered if he was feeling something because of his suppressed psychic abilities or if he was just sensitive to things since that was where their parents died. Dean didn't say anything else as he drove to the other side of town where a nice large park was located. Before getting there, he stopped at the post office and ran inside to mail the herb orders for Missouri. Sam waited in the car for Dean and thought about why he felt compelled to go back to their old house again.

Dean came back out and drove to the ice cream shop, and they went in to get a treat before continuing the short distance to the park. After finding a place to park, the brothers got out of the car and started walking through the park to a lake situated on the southern boundary of the site. A gentle breeze was blowing across the lake and ruffled Sam's hair as he drank his milk shake. He sat down by Dean on a bench by the lake so they could finish their shakes. Neither spoke as they watched the world unfold in front of them.

"How's school going?" Dean asked breaking the silence between them.

"Good, don't see any problems this year."

"Are you doing baseball this year?"

"Yeah, maybe you can come to some games when we start playing."

"I'll see if I can. Why don't you send me a game schedule and I'll check it out?"

"Alright, I'll send one when I get home."

"C'mon, let's walk around the lake. Need to work off that milk shake," Dean told Sam as he got up and stretched.

"Okay, it'll let me burn off some energy too," Sam agreed getting up and tossing his cup in a nearby trashcan. He wiped his hands on his shirt and fell in beside Dean to walk the trail around the lake.

They watched the fish jumping around in the lake splashing water, ducks swimming along the edge looking for food, turtles quickly darting into the water from sunning on rocks and dodged the dragon flies as they flitted around the edge landing on cattails and other weeds. When they got back around to the bench, Dean led them back to the Impala and unlocked it so they could get in. He headed back across town and detoured to the street their house was located on.

Dean pulled to a stop at the curve across from their old house. He sat in the car and looked out the side window. He heard the passenger door open, and Sam came into view as he rounded the front of the car. Dean huffed a sigh and got out to join him as he walked across the road and stood at the end of the driveway. Sam studied the structure as his eyes roamed over the house.

"Can I help you?" a female voice asked from behind them.

The brothers quickly turned around to see a young woman pushing an umbrella stroller and a young girl riding a bike standing behind them. She moved past them to stand closer to the house, taking a defensive pose and waited for an answer.

"Do you live here?" Dean asked.

"Yes, we just moved in a week ago," she replied.

"We used to live here when we were kids," Dean explained. "My brother wanted to come by to see the house again."

"Oh, I see," she nodded, relaxing some.

"I'm Dean and this is my brother Sam," Dean introduced them.

"It's nice to meet you, I'm Mia, and these are my kids, Harper and Tucker."

"It's nice to meet everyone," Dean replied.

"Hi," Sam added, waving at the toddler, and smiling when he shyly waved back. Something in a window on the second floor caught his eye and he frowned. "Mia, is there anyone in the house right now?"

"No, it's just me and the kids, why?"

"Dean, I saw someone one up there," Sam told Dean.

"It could be the ghosts that lives in my closet," Harper offered in a soft voice. "One is on fire and the other is smokey."

Dean and Sam gave each other a concerned look. Dean stepped forward toward Mia before speaking.

"Let me have your keys and I'll go check it out," he told her holding out his hand.

"Shouldn't I call 911?" Mia asked unsure what this stranger could do.

"No, let me check it out first and see if it's anything."

"We'll check it out," Sam butted in, giving Dean a bitch face for being left out. "I'm going in too."

"Maybe it'd be better if you waited out here with them," Dean insisted.

"No," Sam stated firmly. "I'm going in so get over it."

"Okay but stay behind me." Dean took the keys and they walked toward the porch and up the steps. Dean unlocked the front door and slowly pushed it open looking around before stepping inside. He paused in the foyer and listened for any unusual noises or sounds. He looked to the stairs and after pulling his gun from the waistband of his jeans, slowly began to climb them with Sam close behind him.

Dean stopped at the first bedroom and looked into the room but not seeing anything out of place. He stepped in and looked behind the door and in the closet before turning to whisper to Sam who had disappeared from the hallway.

"Sam!" Dean hissed madly, stepping to the next bedroom and looking in but didn't see him. He turned to the bedroom that used to be Sam's nursery and moved to the doorway to see his brother standing in front of the open closet door. "Sammy?" Dean questioned in a quiet voice. He quickly moved inside and stepped in front of Sam when a cloud of black smoke started to float from the closet, followed by a fiery figure. He raised his gun to protect his brother when Sam grabbed his arm and stopped him.

"No, wait Dean," Sam insisted. "I know them." He had seen their faces on the pictures they had found in the basement in the metal box months ago. He had no memory of them but was sure Dean would know them.

The smoke and fire stopped in front of them and slowly began to take shape into familiar bodies.

"Mom, Dad…" Dean whispered in surprise and shock when he recognized the two figures that were standing before them.

A/N: Sam's training is paying off and they see their parents in their old house. Thanks for coming along for the ride. Thank you to any guests who have left reviews. I do like reviews/comments. NC