Chapter One:
Dean sat on Missouri Mosley's back porch, listening to the sounds of her and Sam moving around inside, talking about God only knew what. Probably the dreams that have been plaguing Sam. He took a deep breath, absently scratching the orange tabby that had jumped up on his lap behind the ears. Honestly, he couldn't care less what they were talking about. He had enough issues of his own to deal with.
Such as Lawrence, Kansas.
He still couldn't believe he was back. That they were back.
If it hurt to see the house from the outside, it had almost eviscerated him to stand inside; to see the living room he remembered racing small mechanical cars with his father, and to stand in the kitchen where he could still remember his mother dancing and singing with him to old Beetles songs. He was glad they hadn't gone upstairs. He didn't think he'd be able to hold it together if he had to see Sam's nursery...or Deanna's bedroom.
It was like being slapped in the face with everything he'd lost.
Dean ran a hand over his face, still staring off into space. He was in so over his head, and he knew it. Quite frankly, he didn't know what to do. Every fiber of his being wanted to throw Sam in the back of the Impala, hog-tied and gagged if necessary, and drive as far away from there as he possibly could. He'd consider another continent if he thought it would help.
Honestly, he wished his dad would show up and take over command. Maybe then he could just sit back and breathe; try to make it so everything didn't hurt so much.
Dean was still sitting there, when he heard the back screen door creak open. Assuming it was Sam or Missouri, he didn't move. It was only when he noticed the black biker boots out of the corner of his eye.
The boots that were too small to belong to Sam or Missouri.
Dean nearly fell off the porch step, when a young woman with short, shoulder length, light brown hair and green eyes identical to his own, sat down next to him.
"Hey, Dean." Deanna Winchester said, sitting down next to the twin she hadn't seen in twenty years.
Dean stared at her in shock, his voice suddenly gone. Deanna stared back, green eyes patient and kind, while she waited for Dean to pull himself together.
"You're...you're not real." Dean whispered, mostly to himself. He reached a hand towards her, but just before he made contact, drew his hand back quickly.
Deanna just smiled. "Oh yeah? Huh. I feel real to me."
Dean just shook his head. "Deanna died. Twenty years ago."
Deanna gave him a long suffering sigh. "Dean, we've been over this. Over and over. I'm not dead." She shook her head, looking down at the ground, twining her fingers together. When she looked up, she was smiling again. "Would it help if I pinched you?"
Dean couldn't take anymore. Seeing her sitting there, smiling and joking at him, was too much to handle. He had a sudden urge to find Sam. To see if he too shared in his hallucination. Dean got up off the porch, and being careful not to touch her, stalked back into the house.
Missouri looked up from the book she was looking at, and frowned at Dean. Sam, leaning against the counter only raised an eyebrow at him.
"I told you that boy was stubborn." Missouri said, looking behind Dean at Deanna.
"Name one time I've ever actually listened to you, Missouri." Deanna said, leaning against the flowered wall paper. "Seriously. In twenty years, I want you to name one time that I've stopped and said, 'Hmm, maybe I should listen to the crazy psychic lady instead of doing things the hard way.'."
Missouri just shook her head. "I always wondered where your attitude came from. Daniel and Valerie were always so polite." She tilted her head at Dean, who was looking like he was about to pass out. "Now I know."
Deanna just grinned, showing off her perfect white teeth, and then turned her attention to Sam. "Hey, Sam."
That seemed to pull Dean out of his shock, and he reached over and slammed Deanna up against a wall, trying to ignore how close she was. He close to enough to smell her. A scent that he remembered from his childhood.
"You don't get to talk to him." Dean growled, holding a fistful of her black leather jacket.
Ignoring the sounds of Sam and Missouri in the background yelling at Dean to let her go, Deanna pushed her arms up between Dean's, and forced them apart. Before Dean could retaliate, she reached up and pushed him against the chest, throwing him back against the kitchen table. He quickly rolled against the edge and moved between Sam and Deanna, as if he were protecting him from a threat.
"Don't do that again." Deanna growled back, sounding exactly like Dean. Sam looked between the two of them like he was watching a tennis match, eyebrows pinched together in confusion. The two twins stared each other down.
"Oh, for heaven's sake, knock it off you two." Missouri said. When neither of them moved, she just sighed. "If you two are going to fight, take it outside. I don't want to have to clean up the blood off my floor."
Deanna stared at Dean. "Come on, big brother. Give it your best shot."
Dean was only able to take one step towards her, when a shrill ringing sounded through the kitchen. Deanna reached for her pocket and pulled out a cell phone, still staring at Dean. "What?" She snapped. Immediately she pulled out of the staring contest with Dean and her voice softened. "Hi, Sar."
Dean just raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. Everyone stayed silent while Deanna talked in soothing tones for a few minutes on the line. Finally she hung up, and then returned to looking at Dean.
"Where were we?" She asked, brushing a stray piece of hair out of her face.
"We were just at the point where you were going to leave." Dean snapped.
"The hell I am."
"Guys?" Sam asked. Both ignored him.
"She's dead!" Dean yelled. "So whatever it is that you are, I want you to know that I am going to hunt you down and rip you to shreds."
"I'm not a demon!" Deanna yelled back. "And I'm not dead!"
"Uh, seriously. Guys?" Sam tried again.
"Then what are you exactly. 'Cause you're not her."
"I am her, Dean! You're just in denial. I'm not a ghost, revenant, or shape-shifter either. And you're not hallucinating either. Sam and Missouri can see me too!"
"She didn't know about that stuff. She died long before we'd gotten into hunting. So if you're using that to try and prove you are her, you just ruined your whole argument. Stay away from me, and stay away from my brother."
"You told me, remember. The dreams? They're real. I'm real! Damn it, Dean. I'm standing right here! Can't you believe what's right in front of you for once in your life?"
"Guys!" Sam finally yelled.
"What?" Both Deanna and Dean snapped, turning to look at him.
"Either of you want to explain to me what the hell is going on?" Sam asked, looking at Dean, and then at Deanna. "Who are you?"
Dean glared at Deanna, who pulled out a chair at Missouri's table and sat back, looking pointedly at Dean. He then looked at Missouri. "You're actually buying this?"
"There's nothing to 'buy'" Missouri said, even using air quotations. "I told you there was so much you boys didn't know. Deanna is just the tip of the ice berg."
"Deanna?" Sam asked, really focusing on her for the first time. If he paid attention, she looked a lot like Dean, just shorter and more delicate. "Like, our sister?"
"Yahtzee." she said, looking at Sam, eyes crinkling the same way that Dean's did. "I have to say, you got really tall."
Sam turned to look at Dean. "Did you know?"
"No." Dean snapped. At Sam's look, he plopped down in a seat next to Deanna, resisting the urge to prop his foot up on the edge of the table at Missouri's glare. "Kinda." He amended.
"Kinda?"
"You brother and sister have been communicating through their dreams for years, Sam." Missouri said. "It's a result of their connection as twins. Dean just thought she was a figment of his imagination."
"So she's real?" Dean asked, jerking his thumb at Deanna. Deanna just rolled her eyes.
"She is sitting right here."
Sam was staring at the two of them in shock. After years of hearing stories about his sister, to see her sitting and snarking at Dean, as if they hadn't been separated for twenty years, was a bit overwhelming.
Sam opened his mouth, but before he could get anything out, Missouri stood up. "If you two are done having your touching reconciliation moment, maybe we should head out to the house. I need to go in and take a look, see if it's the thing that killed your mom."
"You guys are tracking the demon?" Deanna asked, looking between them.
Dean turned to look at her, really look at her. She turned to stare back, not flinching and not backing down. Right there, in that moment, with his whole world turning inside out right in front of him, Dean felt a long since absent part of it shift back into place. He took a deep breath, and glanced over at Sam. He hitched one shoulder. "Up to you, dude."
Sam sat down across from Deanna.
"See, lately I've been having these visions..."
O~O~O
Sam drove to the house this time, casting nervous, concerned glances at Dean sitting in the passenger seat. Dean had leaned his head against the cool glass of the window, watching in the rearview mirror the black Ducati that was following them. He hadn't taken his eyes off of it since they'd pulled out away from Missouri's house ten minutes ago.
"She's not going to disappear, Dean." Missouri said gently from the back seat.
Dean didn't even move his eyes from the mirror. "You don't know that."
Missouri snorted in the background. "One minute you're threatening her, the next you panic when she leaves your sight."
"Last time I let her out of my sight, she died. Excuse me for being a little paranoid."
Dean had so many questions, and he knew Sam had them too. Unfortunately, Jenny and her kids came first. Sometimes he wished they had the luxury of worrying about themselves before others.
He shook his head. He needed to pull himself together. With long-time practice, Dean shoved all the whirling emotions down deep, took a deep breath, and with effort pulled himself away from the window. He caught Missouri's annoyed glared in the rearview mirror, choosing to ignore her.
Sam pulled up outside the house, Deanna close behind. Sam glanced at him before getting out.
"You ready?"
Dean just glared, and got out of the car. He glanced over at Deanna, who had stopped behind them. She'd pulled off her helmet, and was holding it between her hands, leaning forward on the handle bars. She gave him a small smile, and nodded, letting her hair fall around her face.
Dean saw his mother in that soft smile, and quickly turned away, marching up the sidewalk and up the front steps with Sam and Missouri.
Jenny opened the door after a few seconds holding Ritchie protectively in her arms.
"Sam. Dean. What are you doing here?" she asked, looking from one brother to the other. She then turned to look at Missouri, who gave her a bright smile.
"Hey, Jenny." Sam started, smiling reassuringly. "This is our friend Missouri."
"If it's not too much trouble, we were hoping to show her the old house." Dean piped up. "You know, for old time's sake."
Jenny just sighed, and looked around distractedly. "You know, this isn't really a good time. I'm kinda busy."
"Listen, Jenny." Dean started. "It's important."
Missouri chose that moment to slap Dean upside the head. "Give the poor girl a break. Can't you see she's upset?" She turned to Jenny, ignoring Dean's incredulous look. "Forgive this boy. He means well, he's just not the sharpest tool in the shed."
Melodic laughter rang out behind them, and Dean found it interesting that him and Sam already automatically turned slightly towards the sound. He also found it interesting, when Ritchie started struggling to get down out of his mom's arms.
"Dee! Dee!" He cried out.
Dean turned as Deanna walked up the front steps, and watched amazed as Jenny just handed over Ritchie to her.
"How's my favorite little dude?" She asked him, both of them rubbing their noses together. Ritchie just threw his arms around her neck, and Deanna settled him on her hip, turning to look at Jenny. "Hey, Jenny."
"Hi, Deanna." She smiled. "Sari's inside, if you want to talk to her."
"Yeah, she called me. Jenny, I know these guys sound nuts, but you should hear them out."
Jenny motioned towards Sam, Dean and Missouri. "You know them?"
"Yeah." Deanna said. "Please. Just listen to what they have to say."
"About what?" Jenny asked, looking back towards Missouri.
"About this house."
"What are you talking about?" Jenny looked nervously between Deanna and Missouri, ignoring the boys completely.
"I think you know what I'm talking about," Missouri said knowingly. "You think there's something in this house. Something that wants to hurt your family. Am I mistaken?"
"Who are you?" Jenny asked, reaching to take Ritchie from Deanna, as if she could draw comfort from holding her child close.
"They're people who can help." Deanna said, handing Ritchie over. "They can stop this thing, whatever it is. You're just gonna have to trust them. Just a little."
"I don't know if I can do that." Jenny admitted.
"Can you trust me?" Deanna asked softly. At her nod, she smiled, and jerked her head towards the strangers on Jenny's porch. "Then trust me when I say, they're just here to help."
Jenny stared at Deanna for a moment, and then sighed, stepping aside to allow everyone inside.
Dean looked at Deanna as they passed her. She gave him a grin, and followed close behind. As Dean turned his back to her, Deanna looked up towards the ceiling, the hairs on her arms standing up on end.
Yeah, something was in that house.
And it was not happy.
Author's Note: I want to thank everyone for their reviews. They mean more to me than you know. I hope everyone enjoys this chapter. Next one should be up next week.
Thanks again. :)