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Previously on Supernatural- Hugging his knees to his chest, he leaned his head down on his knees and started to cry. He was lost, tired and terrified. He wanted his daddy and Dean.
Stalking back through the woods all three hunters were lost in their own thoughts. The smiles had long ago faded from their faces. Grim determination was etched on each face while their eyes shone with fear for their missing family member. After they had come upon a small stream, the three men had been certain that they were closing in on the object of their search. Knowing that Sammy would follow the stream the three men carefully examined both directions looking for any clue as to which way the boy had gone. When no clue was found, they picked the direction that looked the most promising and started out. Hours later they were disappointed to find that the stream had led them back to the campground next to a very empty impala. Cursing themselves for wasting time, they quickly turned around and marched back through the forest focused on finding and bringing home the littlest Winchester.
Bobby led the way back mentally berating himself the whole time. He knew they should have split up at the stream. They could have covered more ground that way and probably found Sammy by now. He had mentioned it to John but John had nixed the idea saying they had no way to communicate and he wasn't about to lose anyone else in these woods. Adding walkie-talkies to his mental list of things to put in his arsenal Bobby snuck a glance at the two older Winchesters. He could see that the events of the day and night were taking their toll on the two. He hadn't seen either one of them this anxious since Sammy had been hospitalized with pneumonia two years ago. They had spent three days in that PICU glued to Sam's bedside waiting and praying that the youngster would make it through. Bobby had hoped that he'd never have to witness anything like that again but he'd quickly found that life with the Winchesters was full of trouble and worries. Focusing back on the path he prayed that they found Sammy safe soon.
John spent the walk back cursing himself for his obvious mistake. He should have followed Bobby's advice and split up. "What's wrong with me?" he thought. "Bobby's been hunting longer than I have. I should have listened to him. Not bit his head off for suggesting it. Got to start listening better and stop questioning other hunters. They know what they're doing. Questioning and adding my two cents are just a waste of time. Hunting's like the Marines. You don't ask why, you just follow orders. We probably would have found Sammy by now if it wasn't for me constantly voicing my opinions." Mentally kicking his own ass, John continued stomping through the woods searching for any sign of his baby boy.
Dean was ready to scream! He thought that his dad and Bobby were big bad hunters. But they reminded him more of the keystone cops at the moment. "How do they ever find and kill anything? They can't even find one little boy." he wondered eyeing his father and Bobby. Clutching the tiny army man tightly in one hand his thoughts turned to his little brother. "Where are you, Sammy? Why did you run off? Was it because I wasn't paying enough attention to you? I bet that's it. I was spending too much time with Ranger Gates." Thinking back on the last week, Dean realized that he had been ignoring his little brother. He was so busy trying to learn tracking to impress his dad that he had forgotten about what mattered most to him; Sam. At that moment Dean swore that if, no when, they got Sammy back safe and sound, he was gonna make sure that he took care of his little brother. Sam was going to be number one in his book from now on. Hunting, school, even his father and himself were moving to the very back burner. Sammy came first from now on. That decision made, Dean redoubled his stride bound and determined to find his missing sibling and start correcting his mistake.
"Hey kid, whatcha doing?"
Startled, Sammy looked up. Standing on the porch of the cabin across from him was a girl about eleven or twelve years old wearing a bright green soccer uniform. Shoulder length brown hair flew in every direction as she walked across the porch. Her eyes sparkled as she waved at him. Muffin stood up beside Sam and started growling at the intruder.
When she didn't get an answer, the young girl tried again. Smiling at the little boy she shouted, "If you're looking for the Peterson's, they've already gone back home." Walking down the stairs and sitting at the bottom she added, "What are you doing out this late at night? You need some help?"
Sammy looked the girl over then turned to Muffin. "What do you think, Muffie? Can we trust her?" Muffin cocked her head for a minute before wagging her tail and licking his hand. "That's good enough for me. Let's go!" Sam said standing up and walking toward the other cabin. He stopped a few feet from the steps. "Hi, I'm Sammy and this is Muffin." he told the girl timidly.
"Nice to meet you, Sammy. My name's Meghan. What are you doing alone at this time of night? Aren't you too little to be out by yourself?" Meghan asked.
Crossing his arms over his chest, Sammy scowled at her. "I'm not little kid. I'm six." he informed her holding up six fingers to make sure she understood.
"Okay, okay" Meghan said holding up both hands in a gesture of resignation. "Sorry. Didn't mean to make you mad, I just wondered what you were doing out in the middle of the night." Patting the stairs beside her she asked, "Can we still be friends?"
"I'd like that" Sam replied grinning. He walked over and sat down next to Meghan. Muffin cautiously walked up sniffed Meghan's hand and started growling again. "Stop it Muffie" Sam scolded.
Smiling Meghan leaned down and tried to pat the pup. Muffin backed away still growling. "So, Sammy, what are you really doing out this late?" she asked.
Sammy looked down at Muffie. "Muffin and I were playing on the playground by the ranger station. When Muffie heard something and took off into the woods, I followed her. I got lost and I've been trying to find my way back to the playground all night. Can you really help me?" he inquired.
"Well, I can't get you back to the playground." Meghan began. "But if you wait for my dad to get back, he'll drive you there."
"Can't we go inside and call my daddy?" Sam whined.
"Sorry, kid" Meghan said. "I kinda locked myself out of the cabin. There's nothing we can do until my dad gets back from town in the morning. It's too dangerous to go into the woods, and all the other rentals are empty right now. We'll just have to wait here together."
"Okay" Sam said yawning. Feeling safe for the first time all night, he struggled to keep his eyes open.
Seeing his struggles, Meghan took him by the hand and led him over to the rocking chair by the door. She sat down pulling him into her lap and starting to slowly rock. "Why don't you sleep for a while, Sammy? I'll keep watch and wake you if anyone comes." she offered.
Sam nestled against Meghan and fell asleep in the safety of his new friends arms.