It Only Takes a Second
Chapter 4
Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Jim pulled into his drive exactly fourteen minutes after he had received the phone call from John, the Pastor drove faster than he normally would have through the quiet town, an overwhelming need to get back to the farm driving his urgency. Pulling the car to a stop next to the porch steps the Guardian exited the car, taking the stairs two at time. Upon entering the kitchen he found one of the walkie-talkie's they use on the farm laying in the middle of the kitchen table, obviously John had left it for him.

Grabbing the device he pressed the button to speak as he walked back outside, heading toward the barn, "Jonathon, I just got here, where are you?" Stopping behind the structure, facing the wooded area he waited.

The quiet crackle from the hand-held device signaled someone answering, "Pastor Jim?" Dean's small sounding voice filtered through the speaker.

"Dean?… where's your father? Are you with him?" Jim silently prayed that John had not sent the six-year old off in another direction, thinking they could cover more ground. The Pastor knew that the father expected a lot from his young son, but with his little brother missing Jim hoped John didn't expect Dean to be able to handle the situation.

"Dad's right here, he's trying to track Atticus, but the damn leaves aren't helping." Just before Dean let go of the button the Pastor heard John reprimand the small child for the language, before the signal broke Dean was heard saying, "that's what you said…"

If the situation wasn't so dire Jim would have found the whole exchange funny, but under the circumstances the six-year olds slip of the tongue would slide. "Dean, ask your father how close you all are to the barn." Jim knew they couldn't be far with the time frame that had passed between the phone call and his arrival.

The crunching of leaves had Jim turning as he made out the forms of the Winchester's jogging back toward the barn. Jim ran to meet them at the edge of the woods. "Have you found anything?"

John ran his hand over his face as Dean came to a stop next to him, walkie-talkie clutched tightly in his small hands. "No, I was trying to track Atticus, Sammy's so small he would barely make an impression without the falling leaves covering the ground. I found a spot where either the dog was rolling around or Sammy fell, then I lost what little trail I had."

"Okay, about how long has he been missing?" Jim was trying to think of just how far a two-year old could travel.

"About a half an hour, maybe…" John stepped off, "Damn it, this is my fault, I called Dean into the barn, didn't even think that Sammy would wonder off. I've told him to not go off by himself."

"I should have brought him with me." Dean's quiet voice broke, both men meeting the guilty, scared gaze of the six-year old as he quickly looked at his feet.

John stepped back to his son, squatting, lifting the small boys chin, "It's not your fault Ace, do you understand?"

Jim watched as Dean nodded slightly, tears filling his eyes, "What if we don't find him?…" Dean's breath started coming out quickly again as his emotions were building, "What if something bad gets him?"

Jim knelt this time, "Dean, look at me…" The small child's moss-green eyes meet the Pastor's. "Atticus is with him right?" Dean nodded, "He won't let anything get close to Sammy, he's a good watch dog, right?" John knew Atticus was about as good of a watch dog as a poodle, but understood what Jim was trying to do.

Again the small child nodded as he wiped his face. "Okay, let's see if we can find your little brother and my wayward canine." Jim looked at John as he stood, "Show me where you've searched and we'll go from there."

John and Dean quickly led Jim back through the area they had look to see if the Pastor could pick-up on anything the former Marine had missed.

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Sammy's cries had turned to hiccups as he stumbled along, Atticus running ahead a bit then returning to see if the toddler was still following. "Dede…Daddy" the small child would call out every few breaths, but still no one answered. The small boy didn't realize that it was getting later in the afternoon, or that he only had his little windbreaker on over his flannel shirt, but it didn't stop the cold shiver that slightly shook his body as it started to react to the slowly dropping temperature, not only from the sun moving closer to the horizon, but the constant shade within the woods.

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It had been over two hours since Caleb and Mac had left Louisville, an accident on the interstate slowed there travel time adding to the anxiety each one of them was feeling. Mac pulled the rental into Jim's drive coming to a stop behind the Pastor's car, which was parked closer to the porch than normal. Caleb was out of the vehicle before Mac had it in gear, "Johnny! Jim!" the teen yelled as he made his way up the porch into the house, Mac racing to catch up. "Deuce! Sammy!" Mac heard his son's continued calling as the boy had made his way upstairs searching for someone. Breathlessly the boy came down the stairs near the kitchen, "Nobody's here."

Mac ran his hand over his face, "Okay, if they are looking for Sammy in the woods, they would have taken the walkie-talkie's to keep in contact." Mac raced down the hall to the library where the items were kept on their charging bases. Caleb watched as his father turned the device on, checking to make sure it was on the channel they always used, he pressed the button on the side, "John? Jim? Can either of you hear me?"

Mac met his son's anguish eyes as he handed the boy another radio then headed back toward the kitchen. "Mackland?" Jim's voice crackled over the speaker.

"Jim, where are you? Is John with you? Have you found Sammy yet?" Mac asked in quick secession as both Caleb and he exited the back door, walking across the yard toward the pond.

"What?… How did you know Sammy was missing?" Jim knew he hadn't talked to Mac since yesterday when the Doctor had called saying they would be arriving this afternoon, and he knew John wouldn't have tried to get a hold of the Doctor because he would have been in route and unreachable.

Caleb's voice answered Jim's question, "It was me, I had a vision Jim." Mac could feel the emotion coming from his son as the boy spoke. They all knew how Caleb's visions worked and it was never viewed as a good thing if he saw someone close to him in them.

John Winchester's scared, angry voice was heard over the radio, "Damn it Junior, what the hell did you see?" Mac watched his Son blanch at the emotion filled voice of his mentor.

"John, I think we should regroup at the farm. Maybe I can try and locate Sammy, give us a better search area." Mac replied as he laid a gentle hand on his son's shoulder.

"We'll be there in ten." John's abrupt voice cut off as Caleb slowly made his way to the small picnic table Jim kept near the pond. The boy sat down, lowering his head into his hands.

Mac walked over and stood in front of his son, "This isn't your fault."

"Damn it Dad, didn't you hear it in his voice? Even if it's not my fault he's gonna blame me, everyone does…" Mac had been working with his son for the two years they had been together, not only helping the boy understand and attempt to control his abilities, but to help the teen see that just because his visions sometimes resulted in the loss of life, they were by no means his fault.

Mac knelt in front of Caleb, trying to get the boy to look at him. "I don't believe that and neither do you. John is scared; he's dealing with something every parent fears the most, their child missing. Believe me; working with the FBI, I've seen my share of angry parents. Some have even become angry with me when I couldn't help. Anger is the easiest reaction to the fear they are feeling." Mac took his son's face between his hands, "It's not dark yet, maybe with what you can remember and if I can get a reading off of something of Sammy's we can find him. You said Atticus was in your vision?" Caleb nodded, "That dog loves Sammy, he'll try and protect him too. We'll find him, I promise." Mac hoped his words were helping his son deal with what he had seen, but he also knew Caleb didn't let go of guilt very easily.

The crunching of leaves and snapping twigs heralded the arrival of the others. Caleb took a deep breath as he stood, the emotions that hit him as the other men and Dean exit the woods nearly knocked the teen down. Caleb took an unusual step back from the fear and anger clouded face of his mentor as the hunter headed straight toward him.