"Uncle Sammy, take my picture," Alec said. He was grinning from ear to ear with his eyes shut tight, but Sam snapped the picture anyway. Ever since Bobby had taken a picture of Alec on Halloween, that was his new favorite thing. He and Dean had been taking nonstop pictures of him since then, and now they had over 100 pictures of him.

He chuckled when Alec opened his eyes and pretended to make muscles with his little arms. He took another picture since he knew Dean would like that one.

"Uncle Sammy, take another one," Alec said, sticking out his tongue and crossing his eyes.

"You better watch out," Sam said, taking another picture. "You keep it up, your face will stick like that."

Alec scowled at him and argued, "No it won't."

"Yes it will," Sam replied.

"No it won't," Alec said, crossing his arms over his little chest.

He snapped another picture and said, "I'm gonna call that one 'stubborn little boy'."

"I'm not stubborn," Alec said.

"Yes you are," Sam argued. Alec always argued with him, but it was kind of fun sometimes. "You're stubborn all the time."

Alec threw himself at him, but he easily caught his nephew but then tipped him upside down. Alec laughed, "Uncle Sammy! Take another one!"

"Another one?" Sam asked as he lifted Alec up again. "We've taken a hundred pictures!"

"Let's take a hundred more," Alec said.

"Let's go outside instead," Sam suggested.

"No," Alec said. "We need to take more pictures."

"Let's find your Daddy instead," Sam said. "He was going to take you to the toy store, remember?"

"Yeah!" Alec yelled.

He smiled as he took Alec outside and walked to the garage. He found Bobby right off, but he didn't see Dean anywhere. He figured his brother was under one of the cars, and that's why he couldn't see him. Alec pushed on his shoulder; he knew he wanted down to go find his Dad, so he quickly set him down, but warned, "Remember, don't touch anything or else you're going to get a time out, ok?"

Alec rolled his eyes and huffed, "Ok."

He watched Alec go and tried to keep an eye on him as he talked to Bobby. "We took a ton of pictures. The camera is Alec's new favorite thing."

"Good," Bobby said. "We shoulda been takin' pictures of him from the start. We're gonna want to remember these days."

Sam nodded, "I can't even imagine him growing up…it doesn't seem right anymore."

"I know. Just think about when he's old enough to go to school," Bobby said.

"Don't mention school to Dean," Sam muttered. "He throws a fit every time I bring it up."

"Uncle Sammy!" Alec yelled from across the room. "I can't find Daddy!"

"Dean wasn't feelin' so hot, so he snuck inside," Bobby said.

"Damn…Dean was going to take him to get another toy," Sam said.

"Uncle Sammy, where's Daddy?" Alec asked as he slowly walked back over.

"Daddy wasn't feeling too good, so he went inside," Sam said.

Alec nodded once before he turned and walked out of the garage. Sam sighed, but quickly followed his nephew out. "Alec, Daddy needs his rest. He needs to sleep to start feeling better," Sam said as he walked next to Alec.

But Alec ignored him and walked back to the house. He walked right up the stairs and to his and Dean's room. Dean was lying on the bed, but he really didn't look too good. He didn't even wake up when he and Alec walked in.

Alec climbed into bed and curled up against Dean's chest. "Daddy," Alec whispered.

"Alec, let's let Daddy sleep," Sam said softly.

Alec shook his head and snuggled against Dean. Surprisingly, Dean actually started to wake up and mumbled, "Hey kiddo…"

"Dean, you need anything?" Sam asked.

"No…just gonna sleep for a while…"

"Alright, c'mon Alec," Sam said, walking over and trying to pick up his nephew.

Alec grabbed Dean though and said, "No, I wanna stay with Daddy!"

"He's going to sleep for a while, and we're going to go get a toy, ok?" Sam asked.

Alec still shook his head no, so Dean said, "C'mon kiddo, I'm not feelin' so good, but Uncle Sammy's gonna get you a toy."

"Daddy, I wanna stay with you," Alec whispered.

"How 'bout when you get back, we can both take a nap," Dean suggested.

"Ok," Alec finally agreed. He sounded so sad to leave Dean, but this would help everyone. Dean needed rest and he needed to spend some time with Alec. His nephew gave Dean a kiss and said, "Get better, Daddy."

"I will," Dean said with a small smile.

Sam picked Alec up and carried him back downstairs. "What toy do you want this time?" Sam asked as he walked to the car.

"Can we get some medicine for Daddy instead?" Alec asked.

"We have medicine here at home, buddy," Sam said.

"I don't wanna go," Alec whined.

"How 'bout we develop these pictures? Don't you want to see all the pictures we took?" Sam asked.

Alec nodded and mumbled, "Ok…"

He put Alec in his car seat and buckled him in. He thought about taking Alec to the park too, but he knew Alec would want to get back here as soon as he could, and he didn't want whatever Dean had to spread to the other kids. Alec didn't get sick, but that didn't mean other kids wouldn't catch it.

"Uncle Sammy?" Alec asked as he pulled out of Bobby's salvage yard.

"Yeah buddy?" Sam asked back.

"Why is Daddy sick?" Alec asked.

"Well, sometimes people get sick," Sam said. "But he'll get better in a few days."

"Days?!" Alec exclaimed. "But you said Daddy just needed some sleep!"

"He does," Sam reassured. "It just might take a couple days."

"Uncle Sammy?" Alec asked after a moment.

"Yeah buddy?"

"Am I going to get sick too?" Alec asked. "And are you going to get sick and is Grandpa going to get sick?"

"Well, me and Grandpa might get sick, but you're special," Sam said. "Remember when De-Daddy said that you shouldn't run as fast as you can or jump as high as you can around other kids?"

"Yeah…" Alec said slowly.

"Well, this goes along with that. You can do things other kids can't, and you don't get sick like other kids do," Sam tried to explain. "Does that make sense?"

"No," Alec said.

"You know the bad place?" Sam asked, not knowing any other way to get Alec to understand. He looked at Alec in the rearview mirror; he looked scared, but he nodded. "Well, the bad place gave you special abilities. Do you remember them giving you shots and things like that?"

"Yeah…" Alec whispered.

"Well, some of that helped give you the special abilities," Sam said. "And it helped your immune system to fight against diseases. So even though your Daddy got sick, you won't."

"Am I a superhero, Uncle Sammy?" Alec asked quietly.

Sam smiled, "Yeah, you're a superhero."

He felt terrible; his muscles ached and he was coughing off and on. He was glad that Sam took Alec to the store since he was afraid his little boy would catch whatever he had. He knew Alec wouldn't get sick, but he still didn't want to chance it.

"Hey kid, you feelin' any better?" Bobby asked from the doorway.

"No," Dean grumbled.

"You wanna try to eat some soup?" Bobby asked.

He groaned, "No…"

"You wanna move to the sofa so when they get back, Alec can be in the same room with you?" Bobby asked. "And maybe he'll decide to watch a movie instead of drivin' your brother nuts." He didn't answer so Bobby continued, "And this way we won't have to lock him outta this room. He might let you sleep if you're on the sofa…"

"Fine…" Dean mumbled. He started to push himself up, but he was already pretty weak.

Bobby came over to him and helped him up before he went over to the dresser and searched for something. He came back with a pair of sweatpants and said, "Put these on. You'll be more comfortable if you don't sleep in jeans all day."

He grumbled a little under his breath, but he knew Bobby was right. He slowly changed, getting his gun from the back of his pants and setting it on the nightstand.

"Do you sleep with that all the time?" Bobby asked with a frown.

"What? My gun?" Dean asked back. Bobby nodded, so he said, "Well, yeah…"

"Do you have any brains at all?!" Bobby yelled. "You've got a two-year-old son and you're sleepin' with a gun!"

"Bobby-"

"If Alec gets ahold of that, he could shoot himself or you," Bobby growled. "I thought you woulda had some sense, but this…"

"What am I supposed to do with it?" Dean asked.

"Lock it away! Put it somewhere he can't reach!" Bobby yelled.

"Yeah? And if something happens and I don't have it, then what?" Dean yelled back. "It's better that I have it and can teach him how to be safe and how to use it than to not have it when I really need it."

Bobby sighed and was quiet for a minute before he nodded, "Fine, I don't like it, but that makes some sense."

"Besides, he held a gun before I got him," Dean muttered. "The first time he saw mine…he just looked sad. I asked him if he knew what it was and he nodded. Bobby, they had him holding a gun…"

"I didn't know that," Bobby said softly. "I forgot he was at Manticore before we had him."

He nodded, "Me too. He hadn't mentioned it for a while, and he's always so happy now I forgot."

"He's really held a gun before?" Bobby asked.

"Yeah…he knows the parts of it and everything," Dean said. "They must have taken it apart and told him what each piece was, and his memory's so good, he remembered. He hasn't ever shot one though…so at least there's that."

"Well, I'll leave gun trainin' up to you," Bobby said. "Now, let's get you downstairs."

He nodded and started for the door, but a wave of dizziness made him stop and reach for the closest thing to catch his balance. Bobby grabbed his arm and looped it over his shoulders.

"You're burnin' up, boy," Bobby said. "I'll get ya some medicine and some soup and water once you're on the sofa."

"Bobby, I'm fine. I don't need all this babying," Dean complained.

"Dean, we've got a chance to do this right. A chance to teach Alec that it's ok to get help when he needs it. But we've gotta show him that it's ok, and the best way to show him is by you accepting help first," Bobby said, helping him down the hall before they slowly started down the stairs. "You know Alec, and you know that no matter what you do, he's gonna find trouble. It may not be supernatural trouble, or maybe when he's older he'll get into hunting too, either way, some day he's gonna get hurt and it'd be better if he didn't try to hide it from us when it happened."

"Bobby," Dean growled. He didn't want to talk about when Alec got older. He didn't like thinking about when his boy grew up and didn't need him anymore.

"You know it's gonna happen," Bobby said. "He's already been hurt before just by playing on the playground. The kid's a trouble magnet, but this is one way to protect him. If we show him it's ok to ask for help, then he will."

He was quiet for a minute, but then he finally said, "Fine, but I can't just change because you told me to."

"I know. It's gonna take time, but all you gotta do is try," Bobby said. He helped ease him on the sofa, and he closed his eyes in relief. "Now, I'm gonna get ya some soup and water, ok?"

He nodded, but then asked, "And a blanket?"

Bobby chuckled, "Yeah, and a blanket."

Alec swung their hands as they walked down the aisles. He'd dropped off the film at the counter, and now they were just waiting for it to get developed. The store was small, but it had enough for them to look at while they waited.

"Uncle Sammy! Look at this one!" Alec said, leading him over to the display of snow globes. It was getting closer to Christmas, so the stores had their lights up and their Christmas displays, which made the trip even better. "What are they doing?" Alec asked, pointing to the one with the ice skaters.

"They're ice skating," Sam said. "Maybe when it snows we'll take you ice skating."

"Ok!" Alec said happily, grabbing his hand again.

"What do you want for your toy?" Sam asked.

"Can I have one of those?" Alec asked, pointing to the snow globes again.

"Sure, which one do you want?" Sam asked. There were quite a few in the display, but he wasn't sure which one Alec would pick. "Here," he said, picking Alec up so he could see better. "There's the ice skaters, or the ones having a snowball fight…or the snowman, that one's pretty cool."

"What's that one?" Alec asked, pointing to another one.

"That's a Christmas tree," Sam said. "We'll put one up at Grandpa's house later if you want."

Alec nodded, "Yeah. Can I have that one?"

"Sure, let me just get the clerk and tell him which one we want," Sam said, setting Alec down again. Alec held his hand as they walked back down the aisle. He walked up to the clerk and told him which snow globe they wanted, and then waited while he went to go get it.

"Uncle Sammy," Alec whispered, tugging on his hand.

"Yeah?" Sam asked.

"Someone's watching us," Alec said.

He turned to look for whoever Alec was talking about, but he didn't see anyone there. "Who's watching us?"

"That lady," Alec said, pointing towards the opposite side of the store, but no one was there.

"Alec, I don't see anybody," Sam said, crouching down next to his nephew. He was worried that there might be a ghost in the store, but it didn't feel like there was. But Alec had heightened senses, so maybe he could pick up on something that he couldn't.

"She's really pretty," Alec said. "She's got long red hair and a long dress on."

"Is she kind of see through?" Sam asked, still trying to see what Alec saw.

"No, she's really there," Alec said.

"I can't see her, buddy," Sam said.

"Ok, one snow globe comin' right up," the clerk said. "And your pictures are just about done…"

"Thanks," Sam said, standing up again. He pulled Alec against his leg since he didn't want him to go over to the lady. He still didn't know if it was a ghost or not, but Alec was his responsibility right now. He gave the clerk his money and kneeled down to show Alec the snow globe. "Now, you've gotta be really careful with this, ok? It's really breakable, so it's just to look at."

"Ok," Alec said. He tipped it upside down, and then back over so Alec could see it snow onto the tree. "Wow!" Alec said with a wide smile.

Sam chuckled and ruffled Alec's hair before he kissed the top of his head. He started to stand up again to get the pictures, but then the hair suddenly stood up on the back of his neck. He turned as the little bell jingled and two men rushed in holding guns.

"Hands up!" One of the guys yelled while the other guy yelled, "Nobody move!"

He immediately pushed Alec behind him. This was bad. He either needed to make a move now, or he'd have to just pray they didn't hurt them. He looked back at the clerk, and he looked to him.

"Alec, get down when I say," Sam said as softly as he could without moving his lips. The men were shouting at the clerk now, so this was the best chance he was going to get. "Get down!" Sam yelled, pulling his gun from the back of his pants at the same time.

He fired at the first guy, but heard two other shots fired at the same time. He felt a burning in his left shoulder, but saw the other guy go down. He looked over at the clerk in surprise and saw he had a shotgun out, and pointed where the second guy had been.

The clerk dropped his gun and grabbed the phone as soon as the guy dropped.

"Alec!" Sam said, turning to look for his nephew. He was pretty sure nothing had gotten to Alec, but he had to make sure. Alec was on the ground, just like he'd told him, looking up at him with wide eyes. "Alec," Sam breathed out in relief, dropping down next to Alec and pulling him in close. "Are you ok? Are you hurt?" Sam asked quickly.

Alec shook his head no, "I'm ok."

"Cops are on the way and I called in an ambulance for you," the clerk said, coming around to their side of the counter. "Is he ok?"

"Yeah, he's ok," Sam reassured.

"Uncle Sammy, you're bleeding," Alec said.

"I know, but I'm ok," Sam said. "We're just going to take a trip to the hospital, ok?"

"Should we call Daddy?" Alec asked.

"Yeah, I'll call him once we're at the hospital, ok?" Sam asked, and Alec nodded. Alec was still holding his snow globe, which was amazingly still in one piece.

"What happened? I heard gunfire from across the street," a familiar voice said. Sam turned and saw Jody Mills running into the store.

"Jody!" Alec said excitedly. Alec got up and ran to Jody, who immediately picked him up.

"Alec, are you ok? Are you hurt?" Jody asked worriedly, looking him over as she held him.

"Uncle Sammy's hurt," Alec said.

Jody slowly walked into the store, avoiding the two dead bodies as she went. "Mitch, what happened? Sam…"

"Two guys came in tryin' to rob the place," Mitch said. "Sam here, helped me bring 'em down."

"Sam, are you ok?" Jody asked, kneeling beside him, with Alec still in her arms.

"Just got hit in the left shoulder," Sam said, turning to lean against the counter. "I think it went straight through, but I don't know…"

"I'll call Bobby," Jody said. "Mitch, is an ambulance on the way?"

"Yeah," Mitch said.

She thought for a moment, before she nodded. "Alright, well, when they get here tell them I took him to the hospital already," Jody said. "C'mon Sam, let's get to your car. Mitch, help him up."

"Jody, you sure?" Mitch asked.

"This sounds a lot better than an ambulance," Sam said, accepting Mitch's hand up. He leaned against the man as they walked out of the store and to his brother's car. Jody followed them and took the keys from him when he held them out.

"Ok Alec, we're gonna go for a ride," Jody said as she buckled him into his car seat.

"Jody, hold on before you leave," Mitch said, running back into his store.

"Sam, you doin' ok?" Jody asked, getting into the driver's seat.

"Yeah, this isn't even that bad," Sam said. "You could just take me to Bobby's and he can patch me up."

"No, you're going to the hospital," Jody said in a no-nonsense tone.

"Here Sam," Mitch said, holding out a packet to him. "Thought you should at least get what you came in for."

"Thanks," Sam said, realizing it was the pictures that he brought in.

"And I grabbed another one of these for ya," Mitch said, holding up the snow globe of the ice skaters. "It's not a lot, but I wanna try to do somethin' to thank you for what you did."

"Thanks Mitch, Alec's really going to like this," Sam said.

Mitch smiled, "You get patched up, ok?"

"I will," Sam said.

"Mitch, call Bobby Singer and tell him what happened and where we are," Jody said, starting the Impala and putting it in gear. "Alright boys, let's take a trip to the hospital."

More soon...