AUTHOR'S NOTES: While I know where I want to go with this story, getting there isn't as clear so until I find a groove, the sections might seem a bit skippy.

I'm also trying to think of something supernatural Dean can rescue Corey from. Ideas are welcome!

And please-don't force me to make a deal with Crowley for reviews! (I'm saving that for something else.)

Chapter 2

"So are you going to tell him or do you want me to?" Casey asked as she and Corey got to school the next day and saw Dean Winchester getting off school bus.

"I'm not telling him anything," Corey insisted, catching Dean's eye. Thankfully the fact that she was blushing was hidden by the rash on her face. But as she saw a few of the other students giving her a wide berth, Corey sighed, dejectedly. "I hate my life."

"Corey," Casey said, quietly, as she tried to put a hand on her twin's arm.

"I'm serious!" Corey shouted before lowering her voice. Looking around at the other kids, some of which kept giving her odd looks, she self-consciously touched the edge of the wig she wore as she added, "I hate being the girl with no hair and the freaky rash on her face."

Casey sighed as she lowered her eyes. Even though she and Corey were twins, Casey had been born first and Corey had been born nearly 24 hours later. As the older sibling, Casey hated that she couldn't help her sister with her current illness. "You can still make friends, Cor. But you never go out anywhere. If it weren't for school, you'd probably never leave the house, right? Besides," she added, with an optimistic smile. "The doctors said you should start getting your hair back soon."

"They've been saying that for 4 months now," Corey grumbled. "Hasn't happened yet."

Going to her school locker, Corey knew her sister had a point. But Casey didn't understand how it felt to have people staring at you all the time. Not to mention the intermittent fatigue and joint and muscle pain.

More than anything, Corey wanted to find a friend who understood what it felt like to be different, but no one ever seemed to. Most people couldn't get past the rash on her cheeks and nose and when she'd started losing her hair last year, things only seemed to get worse.

Corey looked at her reflection in the small mirror inside her locker door and sighed as she studied the wig she wore. Her parents had thought it might help make their daughter feel more like her old self, but Corey was still moody and withdrawn most of the time.

"Hey, Corey."

She turned to see Dean standing by her locker with a grin on his face. "Hey, Dean," she said before hastily grabbing her things from her locker and closing the door. Seeing him still standing there smiling, she asked, "Did you want something?"

"Do you want to grab a burger or something after school?" Dean asked, hopefully.

"I don't think so," Corey said, quickly as she started down the hall.

Feeling a trifle ridiculous and desperate, Dean called after her, "Would it help if I said you're really cute?"

Corey stopped, and Dean felt a skip in his stomach as he went after her as she turned to look at him. "No one's called me 'cute' in a long time," Corey said, surprised.

Dean raised his eyebrows at that and asked, "Why? It's true."

Corey felt herself tearing up and she didn't know what to say.

Dean sighed and went on. "Look, Corey, I like you. And maybe you haven't noticed, but I'm not big on making friends. I've moved around a lot, and I never had a chance to stay in one place." Catching Corey's look, he shrugged. "I've had a weird, crazy life." Dean felt the need to say something else, but at the same time, he also knew not to tell her about hunting. "Sometimes I've felt a little like a freak, you know?" Actually, it was Sam who felt like the freak for some reason, but Dean decided that borrowing his little brother's problems couldn't hurt.

Corey wasn't sure what to say but on the other hand, Dean was the first boy to be honestly nice to her since she'd gotten sick. "Sure," she said, finally. "A burger sounds good."

Bill Harvelle was a contradiction in the world of demon hunting.

He had a family and his wife ran the Roadhouse that had been in his family for almost 40 years.

He had the sweetest daughter and he'd been adamant that she wasn't to be raised in the life of a hunter.

He was a lean man—not as stocky as must hunters.

Sitting in the old pick-up truck he'd been using for the past few years, Bill checked his watch again and sighed as he waited in the airport parking lot. John Winchester was due in any time now and Bill could only hope the man hadn't gotten too complacent.

Hunting wasn't a 9 to 5 job, and cases could last anywhere from a day to several months depending on what you were hunting. There were a few hunters who did 'part-time' but it was mostly the rare individuals who had legitimate sources of income like Bobby Singer, or Bill himself.

Truth was, Bill was envious of John. It really took strength to walk away, and John was helped by the fact that he wanted more for his sons.

Bill's wife, Ellen, hated that her husband was a hunter and often wanted him to stop chasing after monsters and just help raise their daughter, Jo. Thinking of his little girl, he knew that he was screwed when it came to keeping the kid away from demon hunting. Jo was tough for an 8-year-old and had every ounce of her mother's stubbornness.

A knock on the window made Bill jump and he turned to see John laughing as he opened the passenger door and got in. "That wasn't funny, John," Bill grumbled as he started the car.

"Maybe you're the one who's slowing up," John said with a grin as the two headed away from the airport. "So what's so important it couldn't wait?"

Sitting out on the curb, Sam wondered where Dad and Dean were. He hated this normal life stuff. At least when Dad was hunting Dean never forgot about him. But now his older brother was chasing after that girlfriend of his and Sam was getting pushed to the side.

"Hey," an older man said, cheerfully as he walked up. Holding out a hand, he said, "Sam, right? John's son?"

Sam recognized the man as Kelly's father and he nodded as he took Gibbs' hand and got to his feet. "Dean was supposed to come get me," Sam griped. "But I guess he got distracted by that girl at school."

Gibbs laughed, nodding as he put a hand on Sam's shoulder and led the boy over to his truck. "Same thing happened to me when I was a little older than Dean," he said as Sam got in the passenger's seat. After getting in the truck, Gibbs pulled away from the school and headed down the road.

Sam looked at Gibbs for a moment before asking, "So when are you going back to the Marines?"

"Well, I'm not," Gibbs replied. "In a couple weeks, you dad and I are going to be joining NIS."

"The Naval Investigative Service?" Sam said, interested. Catching the look from Gibbs, he gave the older man a shy shrug. "I looked it up at school after Dad told me."

"You like school, Sam?" Gibbs asked, curious. He knew Kelly was a secret bookworm and wondered if the youngest Winchester was the same way.

"Yeah, it's okay," Sam said, shrugging again. "Dean calls me a nerd all the time. And Dad doesn't think the stuff you learn in school is practical for… for real life."

Gibbs caught the hesitation, as if the young boy had stopped himself before he said something he shouldn't. But Gibbs was persistant and he very much wanted to know what John Winchester had been doing since leaving the Marine Corps. "So what does John think is practical?"

"Shooting," Sam said, looking out the window. "Knowing how to handle a knife." 'How to stitch up wounds gushing blood,' he said to himself. Expecting Gibbs to be disapproving, Sam was surprised to see the man smile. "What?' Sam asked, wanting to know what was so funny.

"Rule #9," Gibbs said, simply. "Never go anywhere without a knife." After a while, he asked, "So what have you really been up to, Sam?"

"I'm not supposed to say," Sam replied, looking away from Gibbs. But he wanted to say. He hated having this secret. But would Gibbs even understand?

Gibbs didn't say anything as he pulled into the parking lot of a nearby coffee shop and got out of the truck for a moment, heading inside for a coffee and something for the kid. He didn't want to push Sam too hard but the boy new something. If they got to the hospital to see Kelly and Sam was still holding back, Gibbs decided to let his daughter have a crack at the younger Winchester.

x

Sam knew he could trust Gibbs with the Big Secret. It was never really a question. You could just look at the man and know that whatever secrets you had would be safe with him. What was holding Sam back, however, was what his father and brother would say if they found out Sam had spilled the beans.

"You alright?" Gibbs asked as he got back in the truck a moment later, handing Sam a bottle of juice.

"Yeah," Sam replied, accepting the juice with a smile.

"Want to talk about it?" Gibbs queried as he took a sip of his coffee.

Sam hesitated for a moment before he said, "I don't want you to think I'm crazy."

But Gibbs just said, "Try me."

Sam turned to he was facing Gibbs more and he finally started talking about everything. Monsters, demons, ghosts… His father training him to hunt supernatural beings and his mother dying in a fire in their old house. When he finished, Sam waited for Gibbs to say he had an overactive imagination or that he needed to tell the truth and not some elaborate story.

But Gibbs looked pensive and finally met Sam's eyes. "A few years ago my unit was on patrol in this forest in Iraq one night. Something attacked us. Only a few made it out in one piece, myself included. It was like nothing I'd ever seen before. Thing turned out to be a wendigo."

"I think they're the worst," Sam admitted, relieved that Gibbs believed him. After a moment, he asked, "Are you going to tell Dad what I told you?"

"Do you want me to?" Gibbs asked.

"Not really," Sam admitted. "I'm not supposed to talk about it, Dad said."

"Okay," Gibbs replied, nodding.

Sam was surprised by that and asked, "You're really not going to tell Dad that I told you about the monsters and stuff?"

Gibbs nodded again as he started the truck's engine and pulled out of the parking lot. "You don't want me to tell John, that's okay. If you change your mind, just let me know."

As they headed towards the hospital to see Kelly, Gibbs was caught off guard when Sam said, "I wish you were my dad."

Three weeks later, John and Gibbs found themselves in the headquarters of NIS sitting opposite each other in the squad room.

For Leroy Jethro Gibbs, it was strange to be at a desk and not in the Marines. Criminal investigation was a new world for him and truth be told, Gibbs wasn't sure he was cut out for this. But his own skills had nothing to do with his decision to leave the Corps, but rather the fact that the health benefits offered by NIS were better and with Kelly still recovering from the accident that was a top priority.

Sitting across from Gibbs, John Winchester found himself equally out of place. It was so strange to be an actual federal agent and not just pretending to be one. Plus there was the fact he was investigating normal crimes committed by actual human beings and not supernatural entities.

"Grab your gear, probies," Mike Franks said, gruffly as he came into the squad room. "Dead Navy petty officer in Shenandoah Park."

Gibbs and John both jumped up, grabbing their bags and following Franks to the elevator.

x

The ride to the crime scene was uneventful and as the two newest agents grabbed their stuff from the back of the van, John once again wondered if he was out of his mind for doing this.

Thankfully, Gibbs seemed to be in the same boat as they hauled their equipment over to the dead body.

"What's the matter?" Franks snapped as he saw his newest agent staring at the body. "You two never saw a dead body before? Get to work! Gibbs, start canvassing. I want pictures of the body and a 10 foot radius around. Winchester—start collecting evidence."

After working for a few moments, Gibbs looked up at his new boss. "Got a bloody knife over here, boss."

"What're you telling me for?" Franks said, frowning. Motioning to John, he said, "Bag it, Probie." As he supervised the probationary agents as they bagged and tagged and interviewed witnesses, Franks suppressed a smile. John Winchester had a very keen eye and had even found a few bits of evidence that Franks himself had overlooked.

Jethro Gibbs didn't have the eyes of an investigator yet, but as he watched the new agent interviewing witnesses and onlookers, Franks noticed that Gibbs was unusually good with the 10-year-old boy who had stumbled on the crime scene.

To Mike Franks, investigating crime scenes wasn't about teaching or learning. To him, it was all about what you saw and following your gut. The crime lab techs were the ones who figured the science of who, where, when, and how of crimes, but investigators covered the why.

But more than that, you could make someone a good investigator, but great investigators were already that way. They just needed to polish and refine their skills.

Mike knew full well he was a damn good investigator and a top notch federal agent.

Gibbs and Winchester had the potential to be even better… Once they grew up a little.

Kelly was Bored.

She had been in the hospital for more than a month and a half and she wanted to go home and go back to school. She couldn't understand why she still couldn't walk. After almost a month, Kelly had been able to move her legs a bit and the physical therapists had even had her standing for a few minutes last week.

But no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn't get her legs to work the way she wanted them to.

"Hey, Kelly," Sam said as he came into the room holding a small bouquet of flowers.

Kelly smiled shyly as she very carefully sat up. "I thought your dad was dropping you off at my house after school," she said a bit surprised.

"Your mom picked me up," Sam replied, shrugging as he sat on Kelly's bed. "She went to grab a cup of coffee but she'll be back soon."

"Thanks for coming, Sam," Kelly said, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. When she saw Sam blush, she asked, "What?"

"Usually Dad and Dean call me 'Sammy'," Sam replied, shrugging.

"You're more of a 'Sam' than a 'Sammy'," Kelly countered. "How was school?"

"Our teacher wants us to draw a picture of our family," Sam said, gloomily.

Kelly wasn't sure what was so bad about that and said as much.

"I can't draw," Sam muttered, looking dejected.

Kelly thought for a moment and then said, "I could do it for you."

"Really?" Sam said, eagerly. "That'd be great!" Pulling out a blank piece of paper and a set of colored pencils, he handed the materials to Kelly along with one of his textbooks so she had a hard surface to draw on.

x

Watching her daughter and Sam Winchester together, Shannon covered up a smile. The two were actually kind of cute together. Of course they were just kids and far too young to be actually dating, but she had to say that Kelly was far more cheerful that she would have expected, given the circumstances.

For a moment, Shannon thought about the future now open to her daughter—school dances, graduation, college… In the instant the van had crashed, Shannon had thought she and Kelly were dead. But being given a second chance, she saw a world of opportunities open up for her daughter.

A/N: Next chapter- John Winchester meets another new agent, Dean finds out more about Corey, and Gibbs decides to take Sam under his wing.