A/N - Huge thanks as always to those who read and reviewed :)

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Staring at the screen, Dean ran a hand over his face, part of him hoping he was wrong, that his dad hadn't made a mistake that could cost them another member of their family.

He froze as he heard a rattling at the front door, pulling his gun and slowly making his way towards it. His heart rate kicked up a notch as he pointed his gun at the door, waiting for whatever it was to come in.

"Dean?"

He couldn't help the sigh of relief that escaped him, as he realized that it was his dad. He hadn't expected him for another half an hour, but he should have known that John would hustle when it was one of his boys in danger. And he still couldn't believe that that meant more than Sam and him now.

"Dad," he replied, opening the door, watching as his father stalked inside the house.

"So what did you find?" John asked, eyes scanning the room.

"No sign of Kate or Adam," Dean answered, following his dad as he went room to room. "A room upstairs was barricaded from the inside, there's nail gouges on the floor heading to the grate under the bed, blood and hair leading to the sewer system."

John turned and nodded his head.

"That's not all," Dean continued, nervous to share with his dad the information he'd found while waiting, "those grave robberies that you came here for last time? They've started up again."

"Yeah," John replied, grim look on his face. "And the guy I worked the job with is dead."

"So this thing," Dean said. "Isn't as dead as you thought?"

"It's dead, Dean," John answered. "I blew its head off, only way to kill a ghoul."

Taking in the new information, Dean filed through everything he knew about ghouls, and if his dad said he blew its head off, then he did. He watched as John made his way upstairs, knowing that his dad would to go over everything in the house before they moved on. Dean used that time to continue researching, ignoring the part of him that remembered how much easier it had been when they had their resident egg head.

"So … another ghoul then?" Dean asked, as his dad walked back into the kitchen after finishing his sweep of the house.

"Possibly," John answered, running a hand over his face. "What else did you find?"

"Like I said increase in reported grave robberies over the past six months," he replied, moving the computer so his father could see. "And it looks like the guy you worked with disappeared about two months ago."

Dean watched as his father's eyes flicked over the screen, John wiping a hand over his face before nodding once.

"If it is ghouls, then they're most likely using the sewers," he said, opening his duffle bag and pulling out his shot gun. "Only way to kill these things is to take their heads off."

"I know, Dad," Dean replied, trying not to feel too annoyed, reminding himself that his dad was worried.

They both jumped as the back door flew open. Dean drew his gun as a blonde woman came to stand in front of them, a dark haired man behind her, the two intruders looking at them in shock, before the woman flew into John's arms.

"John, thank god you're here," the woman said, hugging his dad, Dean lowering his gun slightly to the ground. "I can't find Adam anywhere, I was working the night shift and got your call, but when I came home he wasn't here. Luke's been helping me look for him but we can't find him anywhere."

Looking at the woman, Dean couldn't help but feel there was something off about her, something that had his hunter senses ringing, telling him that there was a danger here. He watched his father carefully, relaxing as he realized, even though his dad seemed to be comforting the woman, there was a look in his eyes that Dean knew meant his dad felt something off too.

"Can you think of anywhere he might be?" John asked, sweeping some of the blonde hair back. Dean would bet his last dollar that the strands from the grate upstairs would match this woman … which meant that Kate was most likely dead. And the woman in front of them was most likely a monster.

Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, Dean told himself that the fact Kate was most likely dead, didn't mean that Adam was. Adam could still be out there, waiting for them to rescue him. He could still be alive, no … would still be alive. Dean refused to lose another brother, refused to have failed another one of his siblings, especially one he had just realized existed.

"Adam and his friends," Kate started, a thoughtful look on her face. "They sometimes go down into the sewers. We caught them there the other week. It's possible he went down with one of his friends."

Snorting, Dean shook his head, ignoring the look his father sent him. The woman was clearly a monster, if she thought they'd believe that a twelve year old boy would disappear down into the sewers with a friend that just magically turned up in the middle of the night.

Might have been possible if it was him or … him or Sam, but not Adam. Not after what he'd just found out. And Kate would've come home straight away, she wouldn't have stayed at work and left Adam enough time to disappear.

"We should probably split up," monster-Kate continued, Dean sharing a look with his dad that told him that they were on the same page. The monsters clearly wanted to jump them at some point in the sewers. "Luke's a hunter. Not like you, but large game, and he has his shot gun."

"Sounds like a plan," John replied, giving her a smile so fake that Dean was surprised the woman didn't realize they were onto them.

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Leaning his head back against the wall, Adam tried to stop his stomach from churning, wishing he had some water so he could wash his mouth out, to wash away the lingering taste of the vomit.

He had thought he could handle anything when he'd opened the coffin, he just hadn't expected …

Closing his eyes, he wiped away the tears that ran down his cheeks, only to stop when he realized that they kept coming. His tears formed wet spots on his jeans when he brought his knees up and pushed his face against them. If he hadn't gone looking for his brothers, if he hadn't stowed away in the Impala, maybe his … maybe his mother would still be alive, maybe he could've helped her somehow, stopped the monsters.

But he had and now his mother was gone.

Taking in large gulps of air, he looked up at the coffin he'd opened, hoping this was all some bad, bad dream, and he'd wake up safe at home, his mom knocking on his door, telling him to get up for breakfast.

But he knew it wasn't. Monsters were real, and they'd killed his mother.

And they were going to kill him.

Swallowing, he pushed his pain to the back of his mind, telling himself that he'd deal with it later, that he couldn't afford to break down now, not when those things would be back for him.

Not to mention that his Dad or Dean could be with them, completely unaware that the woman wasn't actually his mother, but a monster that wanted them dead. He couldn't lose more of his family tonight, especially when he'd just found them.

Wiping his face on his sleeve, he pushed himself up off the floor, making sure not to look over at the open coffin as his eyes skimmed around the room, trying to figure out which tunnel was the exit.

Making his way around the room, he felt a small chill emanating from one of the tunnels, and following his instincts, he pushed himself up into the tunnel, making his way down it. He couldn't feel much as he walked, just an empty numbness in his chest, as he tried not to think of what he was leaving behind.