Disclaimer: Don't own supernatural…

August 1, 2001

"Soooo, are werewolves real?"

"Yep."

"Lock ness monster?"

"Yahuh."

"Boogie man?"

"Sure is."

"Sasquatches?"

Dean rolled his eyes. He could only imagine how long this could go on for. It had only been one short month since Adam become a Winchester and it had seemed to fly by. He was a good kid; he didn't whine, or pout, or demand anything. He was able to follow simple instructions like 'brush your teeth' or 'go to bed' without needing to be supervised at every moment… he was a good enough kid that dad had decided to let him in on the family secret and he'd taken it surprisingly well. Then again, that really shouldn't be so surprising; kids are often more accepting of things paranormal than most adults.

So Adam was no longer under the impression that they were just taking a short summer road trip; but more likely a life long road trip and he was all too curious about what that life entailed.

They'd told him about an hour ago, during an eat in breakfast. And after answering a couple of important questions, John had dumped Adam in the back of the impala and escaped to the silence of his own vehicle.

So, thanks dad, for leaving me with the slew, Dean thought, glaring slightly at the black truck they were following.

Dean sighed and mentally shook himself; truth was he didn't really mind it this way. It was better than leaving him with dad who would probably tell the poor kid a ton of horror stories and end up scaring him shitless.

"Deeeeaaannn."

Dean rolled his eyes and hung an arm over the back of the bench seat, looking at his brother in the rear view mirror.

"What was that?"

Adam gave a big toothy grin, "Sasquatches; Are they real too?"

Dean gave his own mischievous grin, "Well, your other big brother Sam, he's a Sasquatch."

There was a stunned pause, "Wait, what?"

"Yep, it's true. Tall as a giraffe he is. Had to eventually set him free in the wild; he couldn't fit into any of the motel rooms we got." Dean tried to keep a straight face as he watched his little brother try to figure out if he was telling the truth or not, with growing apprehension crawling its way into his expression.

"Sent him off into the Rockies with a granola bar and a six pack." Dean muttered absently, watching his brother's reaction, "Wonder how he's doing out there..."

Adam's face was now full of worry. "So… so if you work around this sort of stuff for long enough, you can actually catch something like that? Like… like Sasquatchitis or-"

Dean couldn't help but burst out laughing at that comment, almost driving them off the road.

"Deeeaa-eeean!" Adam whined, kicking the back of the seat once before crossing his arms and going red with embarrassment.

"Hey, take it easy on my car." Dean scolded, still chuckling.

"I hatchu," Adam muttered, but there was now a small smile pulling at his lips in good humor.

"Psh, as if."

After a short pause, "So are they real?"

Dean snorted at Adam's persistence, "No, sasquatches are not real."

"Oh," Adam responded with a small frown.

"That 'oh' almost sounded disappointed." Dean said with raised eyebrows, "What, you're not satisfied with just werewolves, nessy and boogie men lurking in dark corners?"

"Naw, I just think a sasquatch would be a cool thing to fight," Adam replied with a grin, and Dean couldn't help but agree once he thought it over.

"Grim reapers?"

"Yeah."

"Leprechauns?"

"Yup."

"Garden gnomes that eat your face?"

"…What?"

"Those things are scary, Dean."

"No."

"But this one time-"

"No."

"…Are you sure?"

"…No."

"…Thanks for the reassurance there, big brother."

Dean laughed and thanked the heavens for supplying him with the perfect prank prop to use on his baby brother. Garden gnomes. Just think of the possibilities.

"Witches?"

"Yep."

"…Dragons?"

"No, somehow I doubt they could be kept a secret from the general public."

"Aw, I thought there might be like a Harry Potter thing going on when you said witches were real."

Dean snorted, "Naw, sorry kid, magic isn't nearly as happy go lucky in the real world as it is in those books. There is a lot more blood and soul selling involved."

"Huh, that sucks. I always wanted to go to Hogwarts," Adam announced.

"Sorry, kid. Bad luck," Dean teased lightly with a fond smile.

"Ghouls?"

And that had any trace of a smile gone from his face. Should he tell the kid now?

"Um…"

"…Dean?"

Dean stayed silent, unsure of what he should say.

"…What is it?" Adam continued, worried at his brother's change in demeanor.

Dean didn't respond for a minute or two, wondering how he should go about this. Finally deciding, he pulled off to the side of the empty highway and turned in his seat so he could look Adam in the eye; this wasn't the kind of news that you gave someone passively. Dad would wait up once he noticed they weren't behind him anymore.

Adam sat patiently, if not slightly confusedly, waiting for his brother's answer.

"Ghouls are real, Adam." Dean paused, not sure how he could go about this tactfully. "…They're the reason your mom's dead."

All emotion on Dean's brother's face slid off, replaced by a practiced, cool demeanor which Dean had become accustom to, however would rather Adam break down bawling.

"…Oh," Adam said quietly and Dean bit the side of his cheek in apprehension. "…they murdered my mom." Adam continued with conviction.

It was a statement, not a question, and Dean flinched at the harsh word he used. 'Murder' wasn't a word ten-year-olds should have to use in association with their life.

"We got them though, Adam. Me and dad, we killed 'em."

Adam's bangs hid his eyes as he bent his neck forward, looking down at his feet, and gave a small nod. Dean rolled his eyes in frustration at the familiar movements that surfaced whenever Adam's mom was mentioned, that were meant to exude indifference.

Dean reached into the back seat and gave his sibling's shoulder a small shake.

"Hey, would you quit that and look at me?"

Obediently, a pair of green, watery eyes surfaced to meet their brother's, making Dean's heart break a little to see the pain in them. With a sigh, Dean crawled his way into the back seat and pulled his baby brother into a hug that was quickly returned as little hands curled into the fabric of his shirt and quiet sobs wracked the smaller form.

"I miss her," Adam confessed between sobs.

"I know, kiddo," Dean muttered back, brushing his fingers through his brother's floppy hair, reminding him so much of someone else's. The sobs continued for a long while but Dean didn't care; he'd stay here as long as he was needed. "I got you."

A/N- Okay, so just to give you an idea of the layout this story , I'm going to be dedicating only a chapter or two per a year Adam spends with Dean and John up until when the series starts. After that I should be doing the episodes that I think would be made different with Adam's presence (and I'll take special requests if you have any) and most likely some extra happenings that weren't in the series. This isn't going to follow the exact storyline and it's gonna hold some unexpected, so I hope it will stay interesting and original for all of you =)

R/R! I wanna hear the good and the bad!