Well, the alerts are still down, but I usually post the next chapter quicker than this, so here it is!

Chapter 3

Sam pulled out to the pick up area of the high school. He was gratified to see Rae standing talking to several other students. Finally! The group approached the car.

"Hey Sunshine! You ready?" He called out the open window.

"Uncle Sam? I have to do a group project for history. This is my group. Can we do it at our house?" It sounded like she had already promised her group.

Sam grinned. "Of course! Climb in." He waited until all the kids had piled into the back of the Impala, grateful their second car, the clunker, had been acting up yesterday forcing Dean to drive it to work to check it out. "Do I need to take anyone home, too?" he asked, glancing in the rearview mirror at the three teens in the back seat.

"We've already called our parents," the girl with glasses answered. "We each have a ride home."

"Sounds good. Rae?" he turned the corner off school grounds. "You going to make the introductions?"

"Sorry. Everybody, this is my Uncle Sam. Uncle Sam, that's Amy, Kevin and Brad."

"Nice to meet you," Sam grinned into the mirror. He could not force the wide smile from his face. Okay, so it was just a study group, but it was a start! He could barely contain his excitement as he made a mental inventory of the snack foods at their small apartment. There was probably enough to sustain four teenagers for the afternoon, but either he or Dean would need to make a store run tomorrow.

"So, Uncle Sam," the boy called Kevin leaned over the front seat, "what do you do? Sammie said - uh, sorry - I mean Rae said you used to home-school her. What do you do now?"

"I work at the library," Sam replied, still unable to rid himself of the silly grin. "That one," he pointed to the small branch library which stood between their apartment and the school.

"What do you at a library?" The boy named Brad asked. He did not sound impressed.

"Mostly I help people doing research, but when I'm not doing that I reshelf books, organize research materials," he shrugged, "stuff like that.'

"What does your dad do?" Kevin asked Rae.

"Fixes stuff," she replied, looking out the window.

"He's a mechanic," Sam corrected.

"What kind of research?" Amy asked from behind him.

"What?" Sam pulled into the apartment parking lot.

"What kind of research do you help people with?" she asked as she hopped out of the car.

"Whatever," he informed her. It was true. He could help people find nearly anything they needed. Sam led the teens to their apartment, hoping Dean had not left any socks in the kitchen sink or underwear lying around. A quick glance inside told him there was no underwear problem. He opened the door wide for Rae's study group.

Rae blew through the small den into the kitchen, dropping her bookbag against the wall. "Uncle Sam? I kinda promised drinks and snacks." She did not look up.

"No problem." Sam went about filling bowls with chips and cups with juice as the kids situated themselves at the table. As he set out the snack, he eyed Amy's notes. "So, what kind of history project is it?"

Amy grinned. "We have to present a chapter to the class, so we're doing it like a live news report. Kevin is the anchor and Brad is the weatherman," she shook her head at that one, "and Rae and I are on the scene reporters."

Sam felt his eyebrows climb. "Rae? You're going to speak in front of the class?"

"Why not?" Kevin asked, grabbing a handful of chips. "I mean, after she shut down The Grimm this morning." He laughed, the other two teens joining him.

"The Grimm?" Sam looked around the table, noticing Rae's bright red cheeks. "Miss Grimmault? The English teacher?"

Kevin nodded. "It was awesome."

"You talked back to your teacher?" Sam asked pointedly, frowning.

"No, sir," Rae shook her head, her eyes wide. "She asked me a question and I answered it."

"What question?" Sam asked again. Why was the child being so evasive? "Are we going to be called in for another parent teacher conference?"

She shrugged. "She asked what I thought of Romeo and Juliet."

Sam took the verbal hit and winced. He had an idea of exactly what happened. "And you said?"

"Morons!" Kevin laughed. "She called them morons! Then we got into a big discussion about how the families were like gangs and how stupid everybody in the play was. It was great! Best English class I've ever had."

"Wish I was in that class," Brad mumbled, staring down at his history notes. "We had to talk about how tragic everything was." He rolled his eyes. "Like anybody actually acts like that."

"Not one of his better plays," Sam said with a nod. "But you should remember, in Shakespeare's time, all the parts were played by men."

They all stared at him. "What?" Amy asked.

"All the parts were played by men, so it is possible it was written as more of a comedic tragedy than just a tragedy." Sam helped himself to some of the chips.

"Told you he was better than Grimm," Rae said to Kevin. She was grinning ear to ear.

"Maybe we should come over here to discuss Shakespeare," Amy said. "Then we'd have better ammo to use in class against The Grimm."

"Or we could work on our history assignment," Rae slammed her hand on her history book, glaring at Amy.

Sam reached out to rub her shoulder. "Relax, Sunshine. I'll go watch some tv while you all work. Holler if you need anything."

As he left the room, Sam wondered over Rae's odd reactions. Then again, he had never really seen her interact with anyone else, so all of her reactions should seem odd. He tried to assure himself that Rae would improve the more she was around kids her own age. When he turned on the television, he turned the sound down low enough to still follow Modern Marvels while he listened in on the kitchen conversations.

"What did I say wrong?" Amy demanded. "I would like to discuss Shakespeare with someone other than The Grimm."

"You're probably the only one," Brad shot back. "Now, somebody check out what I have for the weather. Flurries of Torries over the north east. Not bad, huh?"

Bricks? There's a whole Modern Marvels episode devoted to bricks?

"You're going to have to be one of the eye witnesses we interview," Rae told him.

"Nah. I just want to do the weather." Brad replied.

When you mix in straw with the mud, it becomes the first composite brick. Well, that makes sense.

"Brad," Kevin interjected, "we're all doing multiple parts. You have to do your share."

"Fine. What do you want me to be?" Brad sighed heavily, obviously agreeing against his will.

Sam kept one eye on the clock as he listened in, unsure of how his brother would react when he saw the small apartment swarmed with teens. Okay, so four should not constitute a swarm, but still. Dean usually did not get home until after six, so the kids still had plenty of time. By five, he was going to have to tell them to start calling their rides. Not that Dean would go ballistic or anything, but considering two of the kids were boys, it might not be pretty.

Recently, Dean had noticed a boy watching Rae in a restaurant. The moment Rae was out of sight to use the restroom, Dean had charged over to the boy and explained in no uncertain terms that he should keep his eyes to himself. The poor kid had been scared half to death and his parents had not been in much better shape. Better to avoid any confrontation completely.

The front door slammed open just after four thirty, jarring Sam from Modern Marvels: Concrete and eavesdropping on the history project. Dean burst through the door covered in his usual grease, oil and sweat.

"I'm home!" he announced loudly. His eyes leveled on Sam. "Dude, that junker is history. Not even worth fixing."

"In the kitchen!" Rae shouted.

"Uh," Sam glanced back at the kitchen, knowing he would be unable to hide the history project now, "so what are we going to do?"

Dean sighed, shaking his head. He pulled both shirts he wore off, standing in the middle of the den. "I don't know. I spent the afternoon looking for anything halfway decent. There's nothing in this damn town. I may have to get something with a wrecked body, yank the motor and drop it into the clunker."

Sam stood, trying to shield the kitchen from view. "And in the meantime?"

"Carpool, dude." Dean shrugged. He tried to step past Sam, but Sam moved right into his path. "Dude, is there a problem?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "No problem. Why don't you grab your shower now?"

"Because I'd like to say hello to Rae?" Dean glared at him. He tried to step the other way, but Sam moved to stand in the way again. "Sam. Something you want to tell me?"

"Not really." Sam wondered how quick he could get at least the boys out of the apartment during Dean's shower. He figured they could wait for their rides in the parking lot.

"Dad! In here!" Rae shouted again.

Dean put out a greasy hand to shove Sam aside. Sam jumped back before Dean could touch him, not wanting fresh stains on his clothes. Throwing a withering glare, Dean walked past him into the kitchen. With a sigh, Sam followed. At least he could do damage control.

"Hey, Sunshine!" Dean strolled into the kitchen. He stopped short when he saw the other kids. An odd expression crossed his face, but he recovered quickly. He walked over to Rae and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "What's this?"

"We have to do a project for history class. This is my group." She pointed out each person. "Amy. Brad. Kevin."

Dean smiled at them. "I'd shake hands, but I haven't cleaned up yet. Gimme ten."

"Okay, Dad." Rae's eyes dropped back to her papers.

With a look, Dean told Sam to follow him. Sam gave the kids a weak smile before following his brother out of the room.

"What the hell, Sam?" Dean demanded from the relative privacy of the hall outside the bathroom.

"What?" Sam asked, as though this were the most natural thing in the world. "It's schoolwork."

"You could have called to tell me!" Dean hissed. "You let me just walk in there like this!" He motioned to himself with his free hand. "Covered in grease and half naked. Lord knows what those kids think of me now!"

Sam felt his mouth opening and closing, but no words were coming out because his brain was stuck in neutral. Dean shot him a final glare before slamming the bathroom door shut. Sam stood in the hall until the sound of running water brought him back to his senses.

"I can't believe that's your dad!" Amy's voice carried clearly into the den, which was only a few feet from the kitchen. "I want to marry a mechanic when I'm older. Period."

"Why's that?" Brad asked.

"Did you see him?" Amy shrieked. "He's gorgeous! Rae, is your dad married? Seeing anybody?"

"Uh, no." Rae's voice sounded uncertain. "He goes on dates, but never with the same woman twice."

"Oh, we have to hook him up with my mom." There was a pause. "What? My parents are divorced!"

"Where do you get this stuff?" Kevin demanded. "Leave her poor dad alone! I mean, obviously the guy works hard for a living. Give him a break."

"Besides, he's not that good looking," Brad put in. Sam had to chuckle at that. Typical guy reaction.

Dean padded out a few minutes later in clean jeans and t-shirt, hair still damp, and barefoot. He threw Sam another look, which Sam was pretty sure could stop a vampire dead in its tracks, before heading straight into the kitchen. Sam hovered nearby, figuring this was when there might be fallout.

"Clean enough?" Dean asked, flashing his hustling grin as he walked in on the study group.

"Sure, Dad." Rae jumped up to give him a quick hug.

"Okay, introduce me again." Dean waved to the other kids.

"Amy." Dean shook her hand, smiling warmly. Amy melted. "Brad." Dean's smile looked forced as he shook the boy's hand. Brad grimaced slightly. "Kevin." Same thing happened with Kevin, only Kevin did not grimace but Sam noticed he shook out his hand after Dean let go.

"Nice meeting you. How much longer you plan on working tonight?" Dean directed their attention to the clock. It was nearly five now.

"My mom's picking me up at five," Amy breathed, looking at Dean with dreamy eyes.

"Same here," Kevin said.

"My dad will be here about then, too," Brad answered. Sam leaned back to see Brad massaging his hand under the table.

"So no one needs a ride? That's cool." Dean grabbed one of the kitchen stools and pulled it up next to the counter. Rae jumped up without being asked and rushed to the refrigerator. She pulled out a bottle of beer and handed it to her dad before returning to the table. "Thanks." Dean smiled, opening it. The other kids were still staring at him. "You have at least ten minutes to work. Go ahead." He waved at them. "Work."

The boys exchanged dark looks before hunching back over the table. Amy still stared at Dean as if nothing else in the room existed.

"So, we pretty much have everything planned out, right?" Kevin asked. "We all know what we're doing, just not exactly what we're going to say yet. Right?"

"Right." Rae agreed. She nudged Amy. "Right?"

"Yeah, sure." Amy's gaze never wandered. Dean seemed to be soaking it up.

"Okay." Brad nodded. "So after we come up with our lines, are we going to have to memorize them? I'm not sure I can do that."

"Use notecards," Sam suggested. Everyone except Amy looked at him. "You can write your lines down on notecards and just hold the cards during your presentation. That's what you do in debate."

"Were you on the debate team?" Kevin asked.

"One year," Sam nodded. "It'll work. Have you given any thought to having commercials?"

"Commercials?" Kevin looked at him as if he just announced he were from another planet. "What do you mean?"

"Well, if you have time that is, you could do some commercial breaks. Like after the segment where the farmer is interviewed, you can have a commercial about broken down horses costing valuable plow time or buying an indentured servant coming over on the next ship, stuff that would set the period and stick in the students' minds." Sam thought it would work, especially since they were already doing a newscast. What a great idea!

"Not sure we'd have time," Kevin said. "We'll have to ask the teacher tomorrow what our time limit is."

"You ask," Rae said, making a note on her paper. "You know, we could do a bar commercial. Most of the patriots met and passed on information in bars."

"Now you're talking!" Dean said with a grin.

"Yeah," Amy sighed. Dean lounged on the bar stool. Sam hoped his brother was at least a little uncomfortable with all the attention of this minor.

A knock on the door sounded the end of this session. Sam went to answer the door while Dean kept his kitchen vigil.