Okay, I'm thanking everyone who's reviewed so far. REALLY THANK YOU :)

Okay, another note here. I'm disclaiming everything again. If you recognize it from the show then it's not mine. The only things I own are the OCs. Eric Kripke is the god of the universe, he created it, I'm just playing with it. LOL

The Kids Are All Right
Part Two

Out at the car, I started to get in the backseat, but Sam beat me to it. I could've gotten in the back with him, but the empty space beside Dean was too tempting to pass up. Way too tempting.

Once in the car, I looked at Dean, who was actually openly looking at me.

My brows arched up. "What?"

His hand came up to rest in my hair. "You got your hair cut." He noticed the touching and immediately pulled his hand away. "It's nice. It suits you."

Dean translation: he liked it.

"Bobby called, said he might need us on this hunt he's on. He doesn't know what he's hunting yet…"

Sam and I went on to explain what Bobby had told us.

Dean was far away during our explanation, though, like his mind was definitely somewhere else. Lisa, maybe?

My gut twisted inside of me when I thought that and I was sure I looked like I had the stomach-virus all of a sudden.

"So, spontaneous human combustion, huh?" Dean asked absently. "In Ohio."

"That's what Bobby said," Sam said. "He's not sure what's doin' it."

"And the girl? Bobby says the boyfriend's innocent?"

"That's right. Scumbag material, but innocent anyway." I glanced out the window as we drove and took in the scenery. Green trees everywhere. "I'll look up stuff while you guys go do whatever you have to."

"Hence the laptop," Sam commented from the back.

The car ride was pretty uneventful aside from the good classic rock music blaring out of the radio. We reached Morning Hill Community in about ten minutes, and I saw that some of the houses weren't even finished yet. One of the houses only had the wood framing done and there was red dirt out front. Or maybe it was clay, I wasn't sure.

Dean drove us to the community park and left the car there in the parking lot.

"We'll be back soon," Dean said. "Be careful."

"You guys be careful," I said. "Last time I checked I'm female. This thing is a danger to you guys. Not me."

I got out of the car and asked Dean for the keys. I wanted a blanket from the trunk so I could lay down on the ground while I researched. Dean let me keep the keys, and he and Sam went on their way.

This park was pretty big. Plenty of space to play sports if you wanted. There were swings - I'd maybe use them before we left - a slide, monkey bars, see-saws - shuddered because I hated teeter-totters. There was a vending machine in a little concession stand thing.

There were about six kids on the playground part of the park; the rest were actually playing a sport of some kind. There was a soccer field on the opposite side of the park, and a few kids were there too. Three kids were just standing a few feet away. It was creepy, and not normal. They felt off a little.

I went to the vending machine and got in line behind two kids. Both were boys, around eight or nine years old. After the first got his drink, the second one - poor kid - got his dollar taken.

"Oh, come on," he said, frustrated.

"Here, let me." I gave the machine a good smack in the middle and heard as the can hit the bottom. "There ya go."

"Cool!" The kid looked at me. "Thanks."

"No problem." I took a dollar out of my pocket and inserted it. I pressed the button for an orange soda. The machine didn't give me any problems.

The boy leaned against the side of the machine, arms folded across his chest. He had the look of forced casualness. If he were older, I'd probably think he was going to flirt with me.

"I'm Ben," he said.

I smiled his way. "Alyson. Nice to meet you."

I began walking away and he followed me. It was kind of cute. I'd noticed that he had brown eyes and brown spiky hair. The way he carried himself seemed somewhat familiar to me, though I knew I'd never seen the boy before.

When I reached the spot on the ground that I wanted I spread the blanket out and took my place on it, sitting Indian-style. Ben sat down beside me.

Crazy kid. Didn't his mom ever teach him not to talk to strangers? I could be a kidnapper or something for all he knew.

"What're you doing?" I asked kindly.

"Sitting beside a pretty girl," he said, straight-faced.

I bit my lip to keep from laughing. "Pretty, huh?"

"Uh-huh." He smiled sincerely. "I wouldn't be lying if I called you beautiful."

I couldn't hold it in anymore. I laughed. Harder than I had in a while. The kid - Ben - was awesome and hilarious.

"You're really somethin', you know that?" I shook my head, still laughing slightly.

"I know," he said confidently. He seemed pleased that I found him amusing. He was going to be a heartbreaker when he got older.

I shook my head again and opened the laptop, turning it on to the main desktop page. I got onto Internet Explorer and checked out the local newspaper for Columbus, Ohio.

There were a bunch of articles about the heat wave. There was an article about a secretary going missing and then turned up dead. Then a man - a school teacher dying - had appeared to have had a stroke.

Another article talked about a man - an employee at some warehouse - being burned from the inside out. When he'd been found his skin was blackened and cracked apart. This was one of the ones Bobby had mentioned.

I shuddered at the thought of how the man had died and tried to stop imagining what it felt like.

On a less important note, there was a new school board member: Alex Thompson. He was kind of cute in that overly defined way. Wave black hair, very defined face, perfect white teeth. He looked like the type who hadn't done a hard day's work in his life.

The next article was about the other guy Bobby had said had combusted. Same deal; burnt from the inside out. By the time it was over…the poor guy was a crispy critter. I mentally reprimanded myself; it was rude to think of the deceased like that. Insensitive, even.

"Whatcha doin'?" Ben asked, scooting closer.

"Checking up on current events," I said. "I'm almost done."

The next article - which I skimmed then skipped - was about how the football team for the high school broke their winning streak.

Finally, I got to the article about Alicia Allen. Mostly, it just reiterated what Bobby had already told us. She was missing, hadn't been found dead, and was last seen with her boyfriend at a bar. Her boyfriend, who was in jail now because he'd tried to rob a convenience store. Idiot.

I sighed and shut the Internet off. I didn't know what I was looking for other than the two combusted people.

"Wanna play pinball?" I asked, finding the game on the menu list. If he was going to be here anyway…

"Sure," he said, excited. I longingly remembered when it was that easy to make me happy.

"'Kay. We'll take turns. You can go first."

I showed him the controls for the game and then, enthusiastically, he began.

Thirty minutes later, Ben had beaten me three times. I didn't let him win; I just sucked at this game. I sucked at computer games, period.

It kept him occupied, though, so…whatever.

Dean made it back to the park first and he came over and sat down on the blanket, too.

"Hey," he said, making himself comfortable. "What's goin' on?"

I shrugged, glancing at Ben. "I think I've found a new boyfriend."

"Really? Should I be jealous?" When he realized what he'd said, he cleared his throat the way he always did when things were uncomfortable. "I mean…"

I decided to give him a break. "I know what you meant. It's okay." Seeing how he acted around me…I could see why he'd avoided alone time with me when he'd been pushing me away. It was so easy for us to get along, so easy for us to be playful, so easy for him to be himself.

"Hey, you were at my party," Ben said, getting a good look at Dean.

"You were?" I asked him.

"Yeah." Dean almost looked guilty. "Lisa is his mom." He looked at Ben. "I'm Dean."

My mouth opened slightly and then closed again. Then once more. I looked at Ben again. He looked about eight or nine…that was how long ago Lisa and Dean had…

I looked at Dean, arching an eyebrow, getting my question out without having to speak. Dean shrugged, but I could tell he'd been thinking the same thing. Ben could be his son. There were enough similarities in Ben's personality alone to make it possible.

"Did you find anything?" Dean asked, gesturing to the computer Ben was using.

"Nothing…unusual." I glanced at Ben, too. "Although, it does seem hot enough in Ohio that spontaneous human combustion isn't out of the question." I said all this lightly for Ben's sake; he didn't need to know we were being serious.

Heat wasn't new to me. I'd grown up in Southern California. Some summers were blistering hot. Some summers got so bad that the water supply dried up and had to be rationed. Sometimes it was too hot to even think about leaving your nice, air conditioned home.

And as Bobby had said earlier…heat made people crazy, anyway. Tempers would flare, people wouldn't stop at arguing, and they would forget about civilized behavior and resort to caveman mentalities.

Needless to say, there were more people going missing in Ohio, but the problem was…which was typical overheated temper behavior and which was because something nasty had gotten them.

"So…you two seem to be getting along pretty well," Dean said.

"Yeah, he's a sweetie." Ben smiled at me and I smiled back. "He's quite the charmer, actually." Like his dad?

"Ben?" A woman's voice came from a little ways away and I looked up to see who I assumed was Lisa. She was pretty, late twenties or early thirties.

She came up to us and looked apologetically at us until she looked at Dean. Then she looked at me again.

"Sorry. Ben latches onto the nearest pretty girl he sees."

"It's okay. He's cute."

"Mm. He thinks he is."

Dean and I stood up and I reached out a hand to the woman. "I'm Alyson. Dean's…friend."

Friend. It had been hard to get out. Especially in that context.

"Lisa." She grasped my hand. "Ben's mom."

She began talking about something, but my attention fell on three kids that were standing about five yards away. They were standing there, staring at us.

I realized they were the same ones from earlier. Creepy kids. They weren't smiling, they weren't frowning, their faces held no expressions at all.

"Anyway," Lisa began. "Ben and I really need to be going, so…"

"Yeah," I said. "Yeah, it was nice meeting you." Really. And it hadn't been awkward at all.

Ben stood up, handing me the laptop. "Thanks," he said.

"No problem. Se ya around, Ben."

"Yeah. See ya." He looked at Dean. "Nice seeing you again, too."

"Yeah, you too." Dean patted Ben on the back as he began walking away with Lisa.

Once the other two were out of earshot I turned to Dean. "That is so your kid."

Dean shook his head. "Lisa says no."

"Hm…" I thought Lisa was telling a fib. There was no way the kid belonged to another man. "Dean…Ben is like a mini-you. There's no way you don't share DNA!" Dean didn't say anything. "And there's something seriously wrong with some of the kids in this town."

"What?"

"Those three over there." I gestured subtly with my head to the three kids. "They've been standing that way since I got here. Haven't moved a muscle."

"Wow. That is weird."

"Mm-hm."

Things got silent then because I didn't know what to say. We hadn't talked about anything but work in so long that to talk about anything else seemed strange.

"So…if he is my son…" Dean trailed off.

I shrugged. "Then he is." I scoffed. "I was what, eleven when you were with Lisa? It doesn't matter." I lowered my voice. Softened it. "It's not going to change how I feel about you. Nothing you've done yet has."

Dean looked away, sighing. "Aly…"

I sighed, too. "Dean, look at me." He didn't. "Seriously. Look at me. Right in the eyes. And tell me that you don't love me."

"Aly, don't do this." His voice was soft, pleading.

"Don't do what? Don't love you?" I sighed again. "I don't know how to not love you." It wasn't like I could just shut it off.

Dean looked at me then. "Have you thought about it? What it's gonna be like for you when I'm gone? Rationally, I mean?"

I scoffed bitterly. "That's all I do think about, Dean. Yes, I've been rational about it. And rationally I know I love you and you can continue to do whatever stupid stuff you think you have to do, and I will still love you."

"Okay, well, what about later? What about when you wanna have a family or go to college or have anything resembling normal?"

"Dean…when I look into the future - or at least when I used to - all I see is you." I clenched my fists to keep from reaching out to him. "The only person I wanna have a family with is you. And I don't want normal if you're not here to have it with me."

"You don't want that stuff now, but one day you will." Dean looked intensely at me. "I won't be here to give that to you. You deserve someone who can."

"Dean -" I was frustrated now - "there aren't many people out there who can deal with the kind of stuff we have to deal with. Most people, if they saw a monster, they'd run the other way. So don't stand there and tell me what I deserve. I want -"

I was cut off by Dean's phone going off. 'Smoke on the Water' filled the distance between us. Before he answered I gave him a look that clearly said this conversation was not over.

"Yeah, Sammy, what's up?" A pause. "Evil monster babies?"

I quirked an eyebrow, wondering what was up, and he raised a finger at me: he needed a minute.

"They're kids. Creepy, stare-at-you-like-you're-lunch kids." Another pause. "Yeah, we'll check into it." Then he flipped his phone shut.

"Evil monster babies?" I asked curiously.

"Changelings," he said.

I looked at the laptop I was holding. "Am I Research-girl again?"

"Yup."

I sighed dramatically before sitting back down on the blanket. "'Kay. You know where to start?"

"Sam said to look up Asian and European mythology."

"Okay."

I already knew the basics from movies I'd seen in the past. A creature would come into your house and steal your baby and leave a fake baby. Their own baby. A twisted version of a human baby. Depending on the movie, that could be a good thing.

In reality, that was a bad thing. People were dying because of it.

I learned from the web that the creature could be a whole bunch of different things. A selkie - something that looked like a seal, but could shed their skin and appear human - a fairy - not likely - an elf, or a troll. Trolls were most common. And I didn't think elves or fairies existed. Though I was probably wrong.

The reason varied for why the children were swapped. The most common was that some fairy folk derived their magic from demons and had to pay a debt by sacrificing a child. They would switch their child with a human baby; their child would be raised by humans.

Some stories said the humans would be treated as slaves. Some creatures wanted to experience the love of a human child. Some thought humans would raise their children better. Some liked the taste of human children…I hoped that wasn't the case, here.

"Okay, so…changelings are always hungry," I said, summarizing the sites as I read from them. "And they have horrible tempers. The lore says they're downright unpleasant."

I x-ed out of one site and went to another.

"Are you sure they're changelings? All the lore says their babies, not, ya know, older kids."

"Not sure, but Sam wanted to check it out anyway."

"Hm."

Ten minutes later, Sam came back and we got into the car.

"So, there's a kid in every house, in each of the victims' houses. What did you guys find out?"

"Changelings are fake babies? Supposedly, a changeling parent will snatch a kid, switch it with its own. I'm guessing the changeling can imitate the child it looks like," I said. "Except that they have tempers."

"Hm." Sam nodded. "There were marks on the windowsill at one of the kids' houses. Looked to me like blood."

"So," Dean said, starting the car, "the changeling grabs the kid, assumes its form, and joins the happy fam, just for kicks?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. It doesn't say what the kids want. And none of the lore is the same except for the switched kids, so really, we don't know what the parent wants either."

"Oh, and one of the mom's had bruises on her neck. Odd shaped teeth marks."

"Changelings are biting them? Feeding off of them someway?" Dean suggested.

"Looks like," Sam agreed. "I'll call Bobby when we get back to the motel."

Back at the motel, Sam did as he said he was going to do, and we got information from Bobby.

Changelings did feed on the moms. Synovial fluid. They had sucker mouths and they could drain the mothers for a few weeks before the women would die. Anybody who got in the way of the changeling's food source ended up dead. Hence the dad's deaths.

Fire was the only way to kill them.

"Great," Dean muttered. "Well, we'll just bust in, drag the kids out, torch them on the front lawn, that'll play great with the neighbors." He shook his head and rolled his eyes. "What about the real ones? What happens to them?"

Bobby, who was still on the line, said, "The changeling mom hides them somewhere."

"We need to find them," I said. Assuming the kids were alive…they would be so scared. But if they were alive that would mean the changeling mom needed them for something. I hoped it wasn't for food.

"A'right. Thanks, Bobby," Sam said. "We'll see ya soon."

"Uh-huh." Click.

"Okay, so, fire's what kills this thing," Dean said. "I'm thinkin' blowtorch."

"I'm thinkin' we should find out where this thing is before we make something to kill it with," Sam said.

"Well, if you've got a match or a lighter, I'm sure I can produce the flames for you," I said.

Dean glanced at me. "You sure? You know what using your abilities does to you."

I shrugged. "I can handle it. Besides, now we can just focus on finding the thing."

"A'right, well, I'll check the city archives," Sam said. "And you two should stay here and just…talk."

"Sam…" Dean warned, glaring. "What're you doing?"

"What you won't," Sam answered.

"Hey," I said, feigning nonchalance. "Get a map of the sewer system, too. The kids might be holed up underground somewhere."

"Yeah, good idea." Sam smiled at us both. "Have a good talk." He looked meaningfully at Dean, before grabbing the car keys and walking out the door.

As soon as Sam left things got awkward. I sat on the edge of one bed, Dean sat on the other.

"Dean…" I sighed. "I heard you and Sam talking earlier. I knew why you're pushing me away. And it's stupid." And it was killing me.

"Stupid?" Dean laughed bitterly. "No, it's smart."

"No, it's not." I stood up and began pacing. "It's completely mental. If you're gonna…I think I should be spending as much time with you as possible."

"That's the worst thing you can do. It'll just make it harder for you when -"

"Yes, but that's my decision to make."

Dean clenched his jaw and shook his head, standing up. He began walking toward the door, but I wasn't going to let him off that easily.

"Don't leave," I said, pleading. Sadness softened my voice. "Please."

I was begging him to stay, and I could tell when he turned my way that he wanted to stay. He didn't want to hurt me by leaving.

There were tears in his eyes and I couldn't breathe for a minute. The part of me that loved him more than anything in the world longed to comfort him.

"Dean, stay."

I stepped forward and now he was close to me, trapped between me and the door. He was so close I could smell him, the scent that was Dean. Leather and gunpowder, and then the other part that was uniquely Dean.

"Please," I whispered, touching his chest through his shirt. "Please stay."

Something flashed in Dean's eyes and he touched my cheek with his warm fingers. Warm because I'd felt like I'd been freezing to death since the last time he'd touched me.

My gaze fell to his lips before I could catch myself. Then I was in his arms and his lips were on mine. They were firm and demanding, like maybe he thought I would change my mind about wanting him to stay.

My fingers tangled in his hair to erase that fear. No matter what he'd done, no matter what was going to happen, I still loved him. I still wanted him. That's why it was so hard for me.

It would be easier if he didn't make me react to him this way, if he didn't make me feel these things. It would be easier if I could just hate him. But I couldn't. Dean just being who he was - flaws and all - made it so I couldn't hate him. He was the most beautiful person I'd ever known. And his soul was even more beautiful, which was probably why hell wanted it so badly. They wanted to tarnish a good soul that should never be in hell in the first place.

I felt Dean's cock through the denim of his jeans. He was full and hard. I moved against him and he moaned in defeat. For the first time, I was grateful that a man's brain seemed to be connected directly to the lower part of his anatomy.

Dean's hands went to my butt, and he lifted me up and turned us around, pressing me against the door. His hips pressed into mine when I wrapped my legs around him. My grip was viselike.

I grabbed a handful of his shirt and lifted it over his head. Then he did the same with mine. With our kiss broken, I took in his face. Or, well…his lips. They were swollen from the ferocity of our kiss.

His mouth fell to my shoulder and he bit down a little harder than was strictly necessary. It made the throbbing between my thighs increase.

He slid his hand to my breasts and teased me through the material of my bra. I arched against him before he set me down so we could remove the rest of our clothing. I barely had time to register that we were both naked before he lifted me again. He slid into me easily as my legs wrapped around his waist. My body was ready, had never been more ready, and I clenched around him.

The door behind me was freezing when I compared it to Dean's hot body thrusting into me. I threw my arms around him to support myself as I raised my hips to grind against him.

I felt so…alive, in this moment. I knew that I needed this. Needed him like I needed oxygen to breathe. No one else could do to me what Dean could. No one else could give me what Dean did everyday - when he wasn't pushing me away, anyway.

Dean stared into my eyes as he shoved inside of me. Shoved hard. If I were a normal person I'd probably bruise from the force.

Were we having angry sex? Was he mad that I'd made him lose control? Made him do this? Made him pull me close instead of pushing me away?

Dean had never been rough with me, not like he was now. But I didn't care. When my back slammed into the door, I didn't care. Though I was vaguely worried that someone would complain about the noise. When Dean shoved in so hard I was sure I felt myself tear just a little, I didn't care. Because he was here and touching me and inside me.

Besides, the pain exploded into please as my orgasm tore through me. My fingernails ripped into the back of Dean's neck as I pulsed with pleasure.

Dean's body tensed with his own release and warmth filled me as he thrust erratically through it.

"God," he whispered against my neck. "God, Aly."

My laugh sounded hysterical to my ears. My name coming from Dean's lips was more reverent than when he said 'God'. My name on his lips sounded like a prayer. I wished it would save him, that I could.

I was vaguely aware of him slipping out of me. He carried me over to the bed, where he gently laid me down.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked urgently, like he just realized how rough he'd been.

His hand found his way to my face and he wiped away tears I hadn't known were there.

"I'm fine. I'm okay." Although I felt a sob coming on. I was sure he was going to leave still.

Dean's hand wandered down to where I was still tingling and his fingers became tinged with pink. His jaw clenched.

"You're not okay. You're bleeding. Why didn't you tell me I was being too rough?" His tone became stern. "What if I had seriously hurt you?"

"You didn't," I said. "Even if you had…I would've healed."

"That's not the point," he said, voice strained and harsh. "You don't deserve to be treated that way. Why didn't you stop me?"

"I don't know, I was okay with it." It wasn't like he had wanted to hurt me. He'd done it inadvertently. I bit my lip. "A-are you gonna leave now?"

Dean looked at me and I could see he was thinking it through. Would it be best to just get dressed and leave or would he just end up hurting me further? He knew I hated being alone after doing…that. And that helped him make his decision. He surprised me by lying beside me and wrapping his arms around me tightly.

I tried to relax, but it was hard. I didn't know if this would be the last time he'd allow this to happen, and at the same time I prayed it wouldn't be.

Yeah, so...I don't know why but the scene between Aly and Ben kept popping in my head, so that's what I wrote. And then the scene at the end kept popping up too, so there it is. Enjoy. :)