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"Hey Dean, it's Harper…I've got a vamp nest in Indiana that I could use some help on if you guys aren't busy…Call me back."
"Sam! I'm back!" Sam heard Jess call out from the front of the apartment. Alec had looked up when she'd unlocked the door so Sam knew she was coming.
"We're still in the kitchen!" Sam called back. Dean and Alec had used the last few hours to fill him in on as much as they could. Life seemed pretty much how he remembered it, only Alec had been with them since he was 9 years old. Everything they brought up had a memory to back it up. This world had started to seem more realistic than the other one and Sam wondered how he'd gotten so lucky.
Somehow, he was in some alternate reality where he had Jess and his brothers and he wasn't about to mess it up. This was a dream come true to have the best of both of his worlds.
"Hey," Jess greeted with a smile as she walked in the room. She was carrying an arm full of bags and Dean instantly got up to help her. "Thanks," she said, handing Dean a few of the bags.
Alec and Sam both got up; Alec went to help Dean put some things away and Sam went to Jess. She kissed him on the cheek and handed him the rest of the bags.
"Did you guys clear everything up?" Jess asked nonchalantly, trying to hide her curiosity.
Sam shrugged and nodded, "Yeah, things make a little more sense now…"
"Good," Jess said brightly. "Are you guys staying the night?" She asked curiously, almost hopefully.
Sam's focus snapped to Dean to see what his reaction would be. He shuffled his feet a little and said, "We don't want to be any trouble…"
"You won't be any trouble at all!" Jess said excitedly. "As long as you and Alec don't mind sharing the sofa bed?"
Dean looked over at Sam and Sam raised his eyebrows hopefully. He wanted Dean and Alec to stay with him.
"I guess we could stay the night…" Dean finally mumbled.
Jess's smile widened, "Great!" No one said anything after that and the silence started to stretch. She looked around at the three of them and then finally said, "Well…I have some more things in the car…"
"Alec, go help her," Dean softly commanded. Alec looked like he was about to argue, but then decided better of it and followed her out of the room. Dean stared at Sam for a few seconds and then guessed, "She doesn't know, does she?"
Sam shook his head, "No, she doesn't."
"I'm tellin' you right now, if you want me and Alec to stay around, you're gonna have to tell her," Dean said seriously.
"She doesn't need to know," Sam argued. He didn't want to drag Jess into the supernatural world. Not only that, but she would think he was insane.
"What are you gonna tell her then when we leave?" Dean asked, cocking his head to the side. "Cause she doesn't seem the type to just drop this. She's gonna have questions that you can't answer."
Sam frowned; he hadn't thought about that. "I don't know…" he finally admitted.
"I don't want to make this worse, but you're gonna have to figure it out," Dean said bluntly. "Cause we are going to leave."
"But you'll come back, right?" Sam asked. It sounded like Dean and Alec were only there for the night and then they would leave. He didn't think he'd see them again if they left. He knew they would still hunt, but he'd hoped that they would come back.
"Sam…" Dean started.
"Dean, I want you both to come back," Sam cut in. "You can hunt, but I want you to come back. I'll figure out what I'm gonna tell Jess, but please, come back."
Dean took a deep breath, thinking about it. "Fine," he replied after a moment and Sam gave him a thankful smile. He couldn't ignore that he had missed his brothers. He regretted not talking to them from the time he'd left, to now. Even though in the other world, he'd been hunting with Dean for two years.
"Promise?" Sam asked, looking over at Dean through his lashes. He knew Dean wouldn't break a promise and if he had to, he would bring out the puppy dog eyes.
"Promise," Dean replied quietly.
"You two can get the next trip!" Alec suddenly called out from the front. Sam smiled at the slight aggravation in his voice.
"Exercise is good for you," Dean called back with a smirk. Alec walked into the kitchen carrying a pile of things and Jess walked in close behind him.
"This isn't exercise, this is you two being lazy," Alec replied, shooting both Sam and Dean an accusing look.
"So far, Alec's my favorite," Jess said with a teasing smile.
"Hey!" Dean said, pretending to be affronted.
"There were a ton of stairs we had to climb!" Jess explained. She started putting some things away and then said, peeking over her shoulder, "So, what are we going to do today?"
"What?" Sam asked in shock; he'd thought that they would just hang out at the house today. Especially since he didn't know what Dean and Alec would really want to do.
"Anything with food," Alec said.
"You just ate," Sam argued.
"Yeah, but I had to walk up all those stairs," Alec replied dramatically and Dean and Jess chuckled. Sam scowled at him; he wasn't even the one that told Alec to go downstairs.
"I know!" Jess said excitedly, "We could go to the Art Center, I've been trying to get Sam to go with me for months, and then we can have a picnic in the park!"
Sam shot a look over to Dean and Alec; they were both looking at Jess like she was insane. Sam didn't want to go to the Art Center, but if Dean and Alec said they wanted to go, unlikely, then he would go. They didn't look like they wanted to go, but Sam knew it was really hard to say no to Jess.
"Art Center?" Dean asked doubtfully.
"It'll be fun," Jess said, and she started to bring out the puppy dog eyes that she used on Sam.
"I don't know…" Dean hedged, but Sam could see that he was about to break.
"Please," Jess begged, blinking her eyelashes at him.
Dean sighed, "Fine, we'll go…"
"Yay!" Jess exclaimed at the same time that Alec said "What?! You've gotta be kidding me!"
Alec looked over at Sam, hoping that he could veto what Dean decided, but Sam smirked back at him and shrugged. There was no way they were getting out of this one.
"Hey, I never heard from ya, but I got the vamps taken care of…hope everything's ok… anyway, call me back."
"Dammit Alec!" Dad called out Saturday morning. Dean looked up from the TV just in time to see Alec dart off of the sofa and back up the stairs. Sam quickly scooted over to where Alec had been sitting to cover up his absence. Dad came in a second later and looked around. "Where did he go?"
"What's wrong?" Dean asked instead of ratting Alec out and hoping that he could distract his Dad.
"I've told him a million times to not leave his things out," Dad grumbled. "I nearly ran over his bike."
"You're going into the shop?" Dean asked; his Dad shouldn't work on Saturdays. And if he almost ran over Alec's bike, then that meant he was going to the shop.
"Yeah," Dad grumbled, distracted. "Gotta get some things done."
"You want some help?" Dean asked hopefully. He loved working on the cars and he figured his Dad would get done sooner if he helped.
"No," he replied shortly. He scanned the room one more time before he turned and left.
Dean breathed out a short sigh of relief and then called out, "Alec, you can come back down now."
Alec peeked through the rails on the stairs and gave Dean a thankful smile. "I didn't mean to leave it out…I just forgot to go back and put it away," he explained as he hopped down the stairs. "When's Mom coming home?" He asked at the bottom.
"She went to the store, so it shouldn't be too long…" Dean replied.
"It's too bad we can't go to the park today…" Alec mumbled as he plopped onto the middle of the sofa. It had started storming the night before and continued into the morning with no signs of stopping. Even if it wasn't raining, Dean wouldn't have been able to take them, so no baseball for Alec today.
"Yeah, but we get to go to Harper's house tonight," Sam replied.
"Yeah! We can play in their basement!" Alec said excitedly. He knew Alec always hated it when it rained; he liked to play outside and their Mom had already forbidden him to play outside today. They just didn't have enough room in their house for him to play and Alec got really sick the last time he'd played in the rain.
Dean shifted a little and then winced; he'd forgotten about his bruised ribs. His team had won the game, but the last play of the game, a player on the other team had tried to score but he didn't slide. He ran into him hard, knocking the breath out of him and bruising his ribs on his left side. He'd gotten the out though, and they won the game.
"Are you ok?" Sam asked; he'd seen him wince at the movement.
"I'm fine," Dean reassured quickly. He'd been careful to keep his pain hidden from his brothers. His Mom had insisted that they go to the hospital and he knew Sam and Alec had been really worried.
"I guess it's ok that it's raining," Alec said after a moment. "Cause if it was nice, I would really want to go to the park…"
"Boys! I'm home!" Mom suddenly said, walking inside. Dean started to get up to help with the groceries, but Mom shook her head, "Don't even think about it mister. Sam, Alec, you two go out and unload the car. And Alec, baby, put your bike away please."
Alec and Sam both ran out the room and Dean glanced up at his Mom who walked over to him and kissed him lightly on the forehead. "How're you feeling honey?"
"I'm good," Dean said with a smile. She gave him a disbelieving smile in return so he said, "They're just a couple bruises, no big deal…"
"Uh huh…" She replied. "You better just stay on that sofa until tonight though."
"Yes ma'am," Dean said, sinking into the cushions just a little more.
Sam and Alec brought in the groceries and Sam and Mom put them away while Alec went back outside to put away his bike. It was a few minutes before Sam and Mom came back into the living room; Sam sat on the sofa again and Mom sat in one of the chairs. Alec was still outside and Dean was starting to get worried about him. It was a few more minutes when Alec came back inside, covered head to toe in muddy water.
"What did you do?" Mom asked in amusement.
Alec looked up at the ceiling and then said, "…I accidently fell in a puddle…"
Mom laughed lightly, "What are we going to do with you?" Alec shrugged back with a smile. "Ok, go on upstairs and get changed." Alec smiled at not getting in trouble and ran back upstairs. He was back just a couple minutes later and jumped on the sofa in between Sam and Dean.
"Baby, don't jump on the furniture," Mom said without looking up from her book.
Sam started in on some homework after one movie ended and another one started and Dean felt Alec lean against him after a while. Dean was also starting to feel sleepy and after a few more minutes found that his eyes were starting to close.
"Hunting a demon tomorrow if you want to join me…it's really weird that I haven't heard from you yet…call me back when you can…"
"Sam!" Alec yelled when he saw Sam get pushed over the edge of the cliff. Alec ran as fast as he could to get to the edge, but he didn't get there in time to catch Sam. He ignored Dean telling him no and the gunshot from Dean that signaled the death of the werewolf. Instead, he tried to find Sam in the water. It only took him a second to find his brother and he didn't waste any more time before he jumped off the cliff.
He hit the water hard and his breath almost left him at the shock of how cold it was. He hated being cold. He kicked until his head broke through the surface and he took a quick breath of air. He tried to fight the current as he searched the water for Sam.
Sam was being pulled downstream and it looked like he couldn't quite keep his head above water. He'd been caught off guard when he'd been pushed over and he probably hadn't gotten a good breath before he plunged into the frigid water.
Alec swam as fast as he could, but he had to fight the current and all the limbs and fallen trees in the water. He finally reached Sam, who was barely conscious, and got behind him and wrapped his arm across his chest to keep him up.
"I gotcha Sam," Alec tried to reassure. He kept them both above the water and scanned the shore for a good place to try and get out of the water. He could see Dean making his way down the cliff to try and catch up with them, but it was slow going with all the loose rocks.
"You still with me Sam?" Alec asked after they had bobbed in the water for a few seconds. Sam sort of grunted back, which wasn't all that reassuring. "Y'know, I really don't want to give you CPR…save that for the ladies…" Alec teased. He should be conserving his energy, but he needed to get Sam to focus a little.
Sam gave him a little huff and Alec smiled at the small victory. "I'm gonna get us outta here, alright?" Alec asked, hoping he could get Sam talking. They had drifted pretty far downstream now, but the banks were too steep for them to climb up.
"Alec!" Dean yelled from the bank; he had to yell to be heard over the rushing water. Alec struggled to turn his head until he found Dean running a little ahead of them. "20 more feet, then there's a washed out spot! Think you can make it?"
Alec tried to look ahead to see the place Dean was talking about. He'd have to angle them just a little more, but he thought he could pull it off. "I think so!" Beep…Beep… Beep.
He started kicking and bringing them closer to the shore. Sam started to focus more the closer they got to the shore and slowly started to help kick. Dean waded into the water and swam out to meet them. He grabbed Alec's collar and pulled them the rest of the way out of the current.
"It's amazing you're still alive…" Dean muttered as he pulled Sam out of Alec's grasp and onto his feet. "…Even more amazing that I didn't actually have a heart attack…"
Alec rolled his eyes as he got to his feet. Beep…Beep…Beep. He sighed at the beeping he could hear; it probably hadn't stopped, but he'd ignored it during all the excitement. He still didn't remember things, but he'd decided to just roll with it and not ask too many questions. He also decided to try and forget about the random dream he'd had, but then he'd started hearing a steady, high pitched beep in his head. The first few times he told Dean about it, but Dean couldn't hear it and he knew he was starting to freak them out. The beeping hadn't really stopped, but he'd kept it hidden from his brothers.
"Hey, you alright?" Dean asked, turning back for a second to make sure he was still walking out of the water with them.
Alec shook himself a little, "Yeah, I fine…" Beep…Beep… Beep.
"We need to get back to the car and get dried off…it's too cold out here…" Dean said as he pulled Sam's arm over his shoulders.
He wished Dean hadn't mentioned how cold it was because he immediately started shivering and his teeth were chattering. He didn't really want to walk all the way back to the car, but he did want to get warm. He decided he wouldn't complain and started following Sam and Dean back up the side of the cliff.
"D-d-did you k-k-kill it-t-t?" Sam asked, hit teeth chattering so hard it was difficult for him to talk.
"Yeah, it's dead," Dean replied.
"We s-s-should only hunt-t-t in the sum-m-mer t-t-time…" Alec couldn't help but throw in. Beep…Beep…Beep.
"Hey, if you didn't go jumping off cliffs, this wouldn't be a problem," Dean said, glancing back at him with a smile.
"S-s-sammy was the cliff-f-f jump-p-per…" Alec defended.
"Yeah, but you were the one dumb enough to follow him," Dean said. He knew though, that Dean was thankful that Alec had gone in after Sam.
"G-g-good thing too," Alec said, catching up to Sam and Dean and bumping into Sam.
"I guess we'll take the day off tomorrow," Dean said after a few minutes. Sam and Alec both laughed.
"M-m-maybe we should t-t-tell Bob-b-by to make soup," Alec suggested and Sam nodded in agreement.
"Dean, what's going on? Are you guys in trouble? Or did you just lose your phone…"
"I think that was the funniest thing I've seen in a while," Jess said with a laugh, lying down next to Sam on the blanket.
Sam laughed, "I told you those two didn't really fit in with that crowd…" Jess had dragged all of them down to the Art Center even though Sam had warned her that Dean and Alec didn't really do that kind of thing. Alec had fit in at least a little bit, he looked bored, but he could easily blend in with different crowds and make sure he didn't stand out. Dean on the other hand, stuck out like a sore thumb. He looked at the art and then cocked his head to the side to get a different angle only to look back at Sam with raised eyebrows, silently asking him if this was seriously considered art.
Even though Dean and Alec probably didn't have fun, it had been a great time for Sam. He got to hang out with his brothers and with Jess and she got to know them a little better. Now they were at the park; Dean had found an abandoned Frisbee and he and Alec were messing around while Sam sat with Jess.
"Don't you want to go play?" Jess asked. "You haven't seen your brothers in a while…"
"I want to stay with you," Sam said, kissing her on the cheek. "I've missed you."
She smiled a little, but she seemed doubtful, and then said, "You keep saying that, but you were only gone for a few days…"
Sam leaned back, "Umm, it's kinda complicated…" Jess raised her eyebrows in a challenge. She would do that until he finally caved in and told her what was going on. He sighed and then said, "Ok…I just had this extremely realistic dream, where you died…"
"Really?" Jess asked curiously. "And you thought I was actually dead?"
Sam nodded, "Yeah…it was like two years' worth of vivid memories which is why I made Dean come talk to me this morning…I couldn't figure out which was real…"
"Which one did you decide was real?" Jess asked lightly; she leaned in closer to him, her lips barely touching his.
Sam smiled against her lips, "This one…" He pressed his lips to hers and put his hand against her cheek. He tilted her head just a little and-
Smack! Something suddenly hit the side of Sam's head, forcing him to break off the kiss. He looked for what hit him and saw the Frisbee, that had hit him and bounced off, lying a few feet away. Sam glared at his brothers, trying to figure out which one of them had hit him.
Alec immediately pointed to Dean, who stood there proudly.
"Get off your ass College-boy!" Dean called out and motioned with his head for Sam to join them.
Sam turned to Jess for just a second; she kissed him lightly on the lips and then pushed him to get up. "Go on, I'll still be here."
Sam smiled and then got up to join Dean and Alec.
"Dean…I captured a demon…I don't know what to do with her and…please just call me back. It's urgent."
"How're the ribs?" Harper asked as they walked down the stairs of her house to the basement. Alec and Sam had already raced down the stairs ahead of them to go ahead and start playing.
"They're good…hardly a scratch," Dean casually waved off.
"Uh huh…" Harper replied in disbelief.
When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Dean saw that Alec and Sam were already playing foosball.
"Dean! You're on my team!" Sam called out, barely glancing back.
"Me and Harper are gonna kick your asses!" Alec exclaimed excitedly.
"Alec," Dean warned with a smile.
Alec rolled his eyes dramatically and then revised, "Me and Harper are gonna kick your butts!"
"Bring it on, little man," Dean challenged. He stood next to Sam and they fist bumped before they took their positions. Dean and Harper were going to be the goalies while Sam and Alec were the offense. Dean couldn't help but smile as they started the game.
"I've tried all of your phones…I'm really starting to worry…"
Alec was bundled up on the sofa with a bowl of hot soup in front of him. He couldn't get warm; Sam had gotten warm, but he hadn't. Two days after the hunt and he was still cold. Dean thought he was catching something, but he didn't have a fever. He was just cold and there was nothing that could fix it.
Beep…Beep…Beep. And to make everything worse, the beeping was almost constant now. It never stopped and no one else could hear it. It was driving him crazy.
"Alec, try to eat the soup…" Dean suggested.
"I'm tired of soup…" Alec mumbled back.
"It'll help warm you up," Dean tried to reason.
"I've already had seven bowls of soup and I'm still freezing," Alec argued; he sounded like he was five, but he didn't care.
Dean sighed and put his head in his hands. He didn't know how to help him and now he was just making it worse. But he was so sick of soup and he was sick of being cold.
"Here…" Bobby said gruffly as he walked into the room. He set down a small space heater next to the sofa and plugged it in. "If this doesn't work, then it's back to the hospital."
"You said the hospital didn't know anything," Alec grumbled. He was definitely going to refuse to go this time. He'd rather eat a hundred bowls of soup than go back to the hospital.
"It doesn't," Bobby replied. "But we're out of options son."
Alec didn't say anything; he just had to hope that the heater would actually work. Even if it didn't, he was not going to the hospital. They would have to knock him out to get him there.
"I know something's wrong…I'm gonna call Bobby just to make sure, but I'm gonna find out what's going on and I'm gonna find ya."
More soon...