Title: The Boys Went Down to Georgia

Author: Razorbackgal0225

Rating: PG-13--A little language, but that's all

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, cars or situations from Supernatural, but I sure wish I did. Anything you don't recognize is mine.

Author's Note: Please review whether like the story or not. Thanks to my beta, Sarah, I couldn't do this without her. And especially thanks to my reviewers, you don't know how happy you've made me!
Sam glanced at the clock on his laptop. It was after 7:00, but it seemed much later. An hour ago Dean had momentarily paused, in his mad race through the channels, on a local weather report. The weatherman had been right, a thunderstorm was imminent, and it was causing the sky outside their motel room window to be much darker than he expected.

He continued scanning through the back issues of the local newspapers, hoping to find anything mentioning the death of a young boy. He had started with 1980 and was working his way back. The search would have gone much quicker if they could have both been thumbing through the actual archives, but after the fiasco at Katie's the day before, a low profile was in order. Because of that, Sam was sitting in the most uncomfortable chair ever made, hunched over his laptop, while Dean was stretched out on his bed, still channel surfing. How Sam always was stuck researching, he would never understand.

The sudden knock at the door startled both men. Exchanging looks of surprise, they rose in unison from their respective places. Dean reached under the pillow upon which he had been reclining and brought out his knife, then nodded his readiness for Sam to open the door. Placing his hand on the doorknob, Sam called out, "Who is it?"

"It's Katie Matthews," came the reply. Dean instantly dropped his defensive stance and replaced the knife. Sam opened the door and was greeted by both Katie and her niece standing underneath an umbrella. Both men could immediately tell something was wrong. Aside from the fact that the woman who had kicked them out of her house was standing on their proverbial doorstep, the girls didn't look the same. Katie was unnaturally pale, her face almost colorless, and her eyes wide with confusion. Lilly was literally clinging to her aunt, at least until the door opened fully and Dean came into view. She spotted him and let go of her aunt. She shot across the motel room and launched herself at him. Seventy pounds of girl hit him and latched onto him. If Katie hadn't looked so serious, Sam would have laughed at Dean's expression when Lilly wrapped her arms around his waist and buried her head in his side.

"Sorry about that," Katie finally said after a minute of silence. Dean had awkwardly returned Lilly's hug, patting her on the back softly. "She's a little freaked out. I'm a little freaked out. I'm sorry to barge in on you, especially with the way I acted yesterday, but I didn't know where else to go." Sam noticed that Katie was visibly shaking and shut the door behind her. He took her arm and led her further into the room, offering her the chair he had vacated. She took it, throwing him a grateful, albeit weak, smile. She took a deep breath and started to speak again, but was interrupted by Lilly.

"He's back, Mr. Dean. He came back and this time Aunt Katie saw him too," this statement was slightly muffled, since Lilly was still hiding her face. "He hurt Tommy." Her voice cracked a little, and she began to cry softly. Dean detached her arms from his waist, only to bend down and hug her properly. Gone was the awkwardness from before, and in its place was the strong older brother he always was.

"Hey, it's going to be okay. Why don't you tell me what happened?" he asked her, smoothing her hair as he did. Sam watched as the older man comforted the scared girl, much like Dean had comforted Sam when he was little. When it become evident Lilly wasn't ready to talk, Dean shifted his attention to Kate. She was slumped in her chair, eyes closed, hands at her temples. Sam placed a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. Katie's eyes opened and Dean saw the same expression in them that he had seen in Lilly's. Fear and disbelief. "What happened?" he repeated.

This time, Katie didn't blink before answering. "Lilly's class was having their picture taken, since it was the last day of school. They were outside the courthouse, right across the street from the shop. Right before the photographer took the picture, a concrete planter fell off the terrace from three stories above." She paused a moment, reaching into her purse as she did. She brought out a digital camera and turned it on. "Luckily," she continued, "one of the other teachers heard scraping and saw what was happening before it completely fell. The thing was huge; it could have easily killed someone. Still, one boy, Tommy, he had a really deep cut on his leg. They had to take him to the hospital for stitches."

"And you saw the little boy again, Lilly?" Sam asked her. She nodded in response, still silent after her initial outburst.

"The thing is, I was taking a picture at the same time the photographer was. And, well, see for yourself." She handed the camera to Sam. The viewer on the back of the camera was active, and Sam could see that a group of children were standing in front of an older building. Most of the kids were smiling, looking at the camera, but a couple, Lilly included, had their attention on something to their right. A boy, about ten years old it looked like, dressed in slacks and a button down shirt, was standing off to the side, looking up at the building. This in itself wouldn't have been abnormal, if it wasn't for the three bright orbs of light that were surrounding him. Spirits were known for showing on film in this way, unexplained balls of light that weren't visible to the naked eye. He handed the camera wordlessly to Dean, who took it. Lilly brought her head off Dean's shoulder momentarily to look at the picture as well.

"That's him," she said softly. "That's the boy that was in the toy store. The one I told you about."

"When ya'll told me about being ghost hunters, I honestly didn't know what to think," Katie stated. "Part of me thought you were up to no good, and the other part thought you were just plain crazy. But, I would swear on a stack of Bibles, that kid was not there when I took that picture. Which is impossible, because things like this aren't real. Right?" Her voice was strained when she finished speaking.

Lilly moved from Dean's embrace to climb on her aunt's lap. Katie quickly hugged her niece to her, as Lilly said, "They were right Aunt Katie, I think it's a ghost. He's see-through and that's not normal."

"Why?" came Katie's choked question. "Why would the ghost be after those kids? I don't understand how something like this could happen!" her voice dropped to a strangled whisper as she tried to rein in her emotions.

"Katie," Dean said calmly. When she didn't look at him, he moved closer to her and repeated, "Katie, look at me." She finally raised her gaze to meet his. "We're going to figure out what's going on and stop it," he reassured her. "I promise." He ran a hand over Lilly's hair. "I promise you too, munchkin."

Looking into Dean's hazel eyes, Katie felt oddly comforted. If what the men said was true about tracking these sorts of things, surely they would know how to fix this. She most certainly didn't know how to handle the last few days' events. As a matter of fact, she had the urge to act like her niece and get a hug from Dean. It appeared to have worked with Lilly and she had a feeling it would for her too.

Sam watched in awe as Dean calmed both girls by simply offering his assurance that they would stop the attacks. He would never admit it out loud, but he envied Dean his ability to provide relief in tough situations. Dean had been his emotional rock for so long, he occasionally took it for granted, until he saw his brother's affect on other people. Just like now, when he could almost see the load lift from Katie's shoulder. A little of the brightness was back in the smile Lilly gave him from her perch Katie's lap. This was a moment he would need to remember, to use on those days when he longed for a normal life and couldn't understand why his family had been chosen to carry out this task.

Katie suddenly frowned, noticing where they where. She finally broke the silence with an unexpected comment. "Why in the world are ya'll staying here?" She sounded tired, but not as terrified as she had been when they arrived. Both Sam and Dean looked around the dingy motel room at her statement. It looked like every other room they had called home for the last two years. The carpet could have optimistically been called pea green and a musty smell emanated from all the walls and the furniture. And neither man had even noticed this.

Dean shrugged his shoulders in response. "It was the cheapest in town," he answered. Katie raised an eyebrow to this. "Well, it is," he said defensively.

"It's also the crappiest," she added sarcastically.

"Speaking of that, how did you find us?" Sam broke in. "We're not registered under our names. Or the ones we gave you," he finished, rather sheepishly.

Katie brushed off this question as if it meant nothing. "Oh, please. It took me five minutes to find out where you were. It's not like two random guys hanging around town has gone unnoticed. I called a couple of people and found out you were staying here. Which reminds me," she paused for a minute, then blinked a couple of times. Dean knew that meant she was considering her next statement carefully. "I think, to be on the safe side, that ya'll should stay at my house from now."

The reactions from the boys to her suggestion were extremely different. Sam was obviously confused, but didn't appear to be resistant to the idea. On the other hand, Dean visibly bristled at the thought. "We don't need protection, we're supposed to be helping you," he protested.

"I know that," Katie began, "and I don't mean physical protection, but people around town have noticed you. And with everything that's been going on, especially with the accident today, folks will want to know why you're here. Since I saw through your story pretty quick, I'm sure someone else will eventually. You'll need a better cover." She moved Lilly, who had been listening to the conversation quietly, off her lap and stood up. "Which I have cleverly supplied you."

"Yeah?" Sam asked, ready to hear it. Knowing somehow that he and Dean would be staying elsewhere tonight, he handed Katie her umbrella and began to pack his duffle bag. Dean noticed this action and frowned at him. Sam shrugged and continued working.

"When I called the front desk here, Ted asked who you were. I told him you were a couple of friends of mine from college that were visiting me for a couple of days." She held out her hand to Lilly, who took it, and they headed towards the door.

"Wait a minute, what's that got to do with us staying at your house?" Dean asked.

Katie had the answer to this question ready. "Besides the fact that you'll get to stay in a place that's been cleaned since you were born," her nose wrinkled in disgust as she took in the condition of the room, "and you'll have a nice, comfortable bed to sleep in while you're getting rid of our ghost, no one will ask any questions if you're staying with me. It'll serve as the stamp of approval. And, no one is going to believe I'd let friends of mine stay here."

Sam laughed at her logic. It would make sense to stay in the house with the girls, especially since Lilly had been involved in two of the attacks so far. Being in closer contact with her could quite possibly save her if something else happened. And he knew that Dean realized all this, but his older brother didn't like to be told what to do. Even if the order was coming from a cute girl.

"Dean, it's a pretty good idea. We'll be able to keep an eye out for them too," Sam added. Dean rolled his eyes and began packing, his way of agreeing without having to actually say the words.

Lilly bounced a little as Katie started to open the door. Everything was going to be just fine, the girl thought. Mr. Sam and Mr. Dean were going to find that scary little boy and make him stop trying to hurt her and her friends. Plus, they were going to stay at Aunt Katie's house; that was even better. Her life would be back to normal by the time her mom and dad got home on Sunday.

As Katie walked to her car, she asked, "You remember where I live, right?"

"We remember," Dean answered. "And we'll be over in a few. We've got a few things to talk about first." Katie nodded and shut the door behind her. As she herded Lilly into the back seat, she heard through the thin door,

"Ow, what did you do that for?" Sam exclaimed. Katie laughed a little, fairly certain Sam had been on the receiving end of a brotherly punch. Even though she felt better about the situation than she had when they arrived, she still glanced all around the car before getting in. Better to be safe than sorry.