hello!! thank you all once again for the great reviews, i am glad you are enjoying it. a little bit more info is in store... hope everyone enjoys the next chapter. :)

NOT ALL AS IT SEEMS

Chapter 3

Dean and Jake sat side by side at the worn kitchen table, their mouths full, faces covered with little bits of food. Had it not been for the hight difference it would have been hard to tell who was a toddler and who wasn't. Jake swung his little legs as the stack of books Dean had him on swayed, but thankfully refused to fall. It had been a very long time since Kerri's house had harbored a small child, but Jake looked like he belonged there just as much as any of them. This was how that house was supposed to be, how Dean had remembered it being all those years ago. Full of laughter, full of life, full of sound; not the empty shell it had now become.

It was never just a house in his mind, never just a building. It was the only place he had ever thought of as 'home' after his mother had been killed. He had learned to live again here, learned to be a kid again within its walls, and he learned to be a hunter on its grounds. It wasn't dark then, wasn't full of dust and half faded memories. No, back then it was bright, alive and whole, and Dean's heart broke every time he thought about what had been lost.

He was brought out of his thoughts by what sounded like stomping coming from the floors above, some one obviously running along one of the upper halls. Dean smiled a bit to himself; even after his twelve year absence, he could still intensify every sound the aging structure made. He shoved another fork full of food into his mouth, eyes sliding to Jake as the sounds from above continued.

"What are they doing up there?" Dean asked, shaking his head. Jake mimicked him, shaking his head and trying to roll his eyes before grabbing another handful of food and shoving it in his mouth.

"Sam!" Kerri's voice echoed through the building, the footsteps growing louder and louder by the moment.

"What the hell." Dean mumbled, his curiosity rising. What in the world could Sam and Kerri possibly be doing?

"Sam, slow down!"

But Sam didn't seem to hear her, that younger hunter rounding the corner a few seconds later, moving as fast as his long legs could carry him. It was immediately obvious that Sam had left Kerri in the dust, her hurried footsteps still pounding over head. Whatever got Sam moving, was something he had yet to share.

"Dude, what the hell?"

But Sam just continued on past his brother, taking no notice of the older man as he approached his target. His deep brown eyes bored into Jake's blue ones, the toddler staring up at the hunter innocently, bits of hot dogs and macaroni still clutched in his little fists.

"Christo." Sam nearly whispered, his eyes never leaving the child before him. But instead of flinching, instead of shrinking back at the force of the name, Jake merely studied Sam for a moment before turning back to his plate.

"Are you high?" Dean asked incredulously, his eyes still shifting between his brother and Jake.

"What part of slow down don't you understand?" Kerri scolded breathlessly as she entered the kitchen. "What?" She asked, seeing Sam and Dean now staring each other down.

"Sam just Christo'ed the baby."

"What? Why? Sam, what happened on the phone?"

"I was talking to Jake's mom." Sam breathed, still watching Jake as though he could sprout a second head at any second.

"Well, unless she's Satan's bride I don't really think that requires christoing the kid." Dean reprimanded, ruffling the little boy's hair.

"She's got Jake with her."

"Huh?"

"I heard him in the background."

"Well, are you sure you had the right, Jake?" Dean asked, still wondering why his brother ran down the stairs like a bat out of hell.

"Positive. I asked her about the campsite and everything."

"Hey." Kerri began, finally catching her breath. "I'm sure there's an explanation. I mean, maybe he's just wearing Jake's outfit? What?" She asked, both brothers rolling their eyes at her half-assed answer.

"What I wanna know." Dean began, giving Kerri another look before turning to Sam. "Is why you tore down here like the world was ending."

Sam turned at the question, the counter suddenly very interesting, as he mumbled something to no one in particular. The moment had passed and Dean could tell that his little brother was starting to see just how much he had over-reacted to the situation. Hell, for all they knew Kerri could be right, their only real bit of information was a name written on the inside of his coveralls.

"Come again?" Dean pressed, wondering if there was more to the story then his brother would let on.

"I was worried." Sam answered reluctantly.

"Worried? About what?"

"Well, you know, I thought maybe you were down here alone with a demon."

Dean couldn't help the smirk that spread across his face, the older hunter doing everything he could to hold in the laughter that was beating to get out. He understood his brother's concern, he really did. Sam was worried about him, he thought he was with a demon. But still.

"Sam." Dean began, having to stop to compose himself again. "I appreciate your concern, man. But, you know, he's two."

"Shut up." Sam growled, Kerri shrugging off her laughter as a fit of coughing. "He still could have been dangerous."

"Oh man, Sammy. The day I get attack by something two feet tall is the day you should just put me down. But don't worry, dude, if I ever do get attacked by a baby, you'll be the first person I call."

"You're a freaking jerk. Both of you." Sam added, pointing at a still snickering Kerri.

"I'm sorry, Sam." She sighed, finally regaining some composure. "What did that woman say to you anyway? I mean, one minute you were chatting on the phone and the next you flew out of the room at mach five."

"Like I said, I heard the kid in the background. He was making a ton of noise and she yelled for him to stop." Sam began, obviously thankful that Kerri hadn't pressed the matter further. Dean, on the other hand, well he was never going to let his brother live this down.

Sam ran downstairs to save him from a thirty pound kid. Dean couldn't really blame him though. Hell, if he thought that his brother was with a possibility possessed kid he probably would have acted exactly the same. Besides, appearances could often be deceiving, that was something Dean learned long ago. But Dean just couldn't stop himself from laughing at the image in his head. For some reason, all he could think about was himself, getting tossed around by Jake, and it was morbidly amusing.

"That's all she said?" Kerri asked, bringing Dean back into the moment at hand.

"No." Sam began slowly, standing and facing Jake once again. "She said they were worried he was too little for camping, but that he did great. She even said it made him more outgoing and active, kind of like it turned him into a little monster."

"So wait." Dean began, the image in his head finally dissipating. "You think we've got the real Jake and she's got something else?"

"Kerri, come with me." Sam started, grabbing Kerri's uninjured arm and pulling her towards the basement door. "Dean, stay here with Jake."

"Stay with Jake, what am I a freaking nanny?" Dean mumbled, grabbing the boy and followed his brother and Kerri.

He caught up to the pair at the car, both Sam and Kerri rifling through papers, their words muffled by the impala. They were going over the research again like little kids, the two talking so fast that, even when Dean actually made it to their sides, he still had trouble understanding what they were saying. Jake didn't seem to mind the commotion at all, instead choosing to play with the buttons on Dean's shirt, his dirty fingers leaving little bits of his lunch everywhere.

"What has you two all excited?"

"Dean." Sam stood so fast that Dean was sure the young man had given himself whiplash. "Dude, we missed something."

"What?"

"All the families, they each had a little kid."

"All of them?"

"Yeah, all of them. It wasn't in the news reports, I don't know if they're keeping it low key or what, but all the families had a small child."

"Were the kids found in the house, you know, with the parents?"

"It doesn't say anything one way or another, but I don't think so."

"Well then where the hell are they?"

"I don't know." Sam shrugged, his enthusiasm waning. "I mean, this thing could maybe just take the kid, or they're bodies were just too small to have anything left. I mean, the parents were pretty ripped up."

"Or." Kerri began, still staring at the crime scene photos. "The kids weren't there in the first place."

"Come again?"

"Korrigans."

"Kori-whos?" Dean asked, pushing down Jake's hand as it moved to his face.

"Korrigans. Changelings."

Realization suddenly dawned on both Sam and Dean, the brothers turning towards the little boy with renewed interest. Dean couldn't help but feel for him; all alone, his parents in danger, if not already gone. But instead of seeing the true magnitude of the situation, instead of understanding the fear, Jake just sat in Dean's arms without a care in the world. He was smiling, moppy brown hair covered in pasta and cheese, inquisitive eyes turned toward Dean, faith and trust shining through the orbs. And suddenly, instantly, Dean was thrown back in time, his mind drowned in memories.

He could still hear Sam's questions, still see his deep imploring eyes burning into him, begging him for answers. "Dea, what's daddy hunt?"

It had been an innocent question asked by a small child, but the memory of it still sent chills through Dean's body. Because it was that day, at that moment, that Dean realized he had to be more careful of Sam. He had always thought that is brother was too little to understand, and he had hoped that by the time Sam was old enough, they would have found the thing that killed their mom. But then, life never usually works out the way you plan and, against everything Dean tried, Sam grew to be a hunter.

And to Dean, it was both a blessing and a curse. Yes, he got to be with his brother, with his family, but he also knew that Sam would always be in danger. A fact that was almost enough to make him to tell Sam to go his own way, to leave him behind. Almost.

"You still with us, Winchester?" Kerri's voice broke through the haze that had settled around Dean, the older hunter turning towards his brother and Kerri, Jake humming happily as he played with the buttons.

"Yeah. Why?"

"You sort of zoned out over there."

"I was just thinking."

"Don't strain yourself."

"So, changelings?"

"Yeah. I mean, historically, they're ravenous monsters. Usually the parent changelings trade their babies for better behaved human ones. The baby changeling, being a monster, usually lasts with the family for a little bit, then grows either hungry or dangerous and kills them. Do you know how long we have?"

"Wait, hungry?" Dean asked, shifting Jake to his other hip.

"Changelings eat raw meat."

"That's gross."

"Well, it's always been six days. And the Robinsons left the campsite three days ago." Sam broke in, his eyes drifting to Jake, obviously thinking a lot of the same things Dean had. They both knew they had to stop this, had to keep an innocent little boy from becoming yet another victim.

"I think there's something else we have to worry about, guys."

"Yeah?" Dean and Sam both asked in unison.

"Well, changelings don't just give their kids up, they trade."

"So, if we have the real Jake." Sam began.

"And the Robinsons have the changeling." Dean added.

"Then there's a couple of pissed off Korrigans out there looking for a kid." Kerri finished, all eyes now turning to the quiet little boy in Dean's arms.