A/N: It's been a while since I tried to write a story for this, but I decided to give it another shot. Hopefully this brand new story will be as fun to write as the last two! Quite a few characters from Smallville and Supernatural will appear in this one, but Sam will be a main character once again. The last story felt a bit empty without him in it.

THEN

The last fight Sam and his father had was a bitch. No matter what, he was determined to get into Stanford, with or without his family's approval, but he still felt guilty for how he left them. It had also been a while since he got in touch with Clark and the Kents, but he figured they had better things to do than worry about him anyway.

It was late May in 2002, and he was passing through Colorado on a bus as he made his way out to California. He was one of only a handful of other passengers, most of whom were sleeping, but he was wide awake as he stared out the side window, watching rain drops run down the glass pane beside his head after falling from the cloudy, night sky above. Up ahead, the driver coughed and cleared his throat, but was otherwise totally silent, so Sam paid him no attention.

The last words John had said to Sam remained stuck in his head, "If you walk out that door, don't you ever come back!"

Since that day, he had made the decision to stay gone forever, but now, as he sat there alone in his bus seat, Sam couldn't help but sigh. He'd also said some nasty things to John and to Dean just days before his brother returned to Smallville to help Clark hunt the demon that possessed Sasha Woodman. Sam didn't know about any of that of course, but if he had known about it when it happened, he probably would've felt much worse about the situation. If he would've known how frustrated and lonely his brother had felt through it all, he probably would've given up on college completely.

At some point during the trip, he drifted off to sleep. It was a restless sleep filled with nightmares of demons, monsters, and blood, but eventually he awoke with a start and realized the bus had stopped, and that the driver was gone. The side door at the front was wide open and the other passengers on the bus were still sound asleep all around him, but something about the situation felt wrong.

Realizing he needed to figure this out, Sam called out to the driver, "Hey! Is everything alright up there?"

He received no answer from either the driver or the other passengers, so he got up out of his seat and strolled up to the front of the bus, seeking answers. As he approached the driver's seat, he noticed a trail of dark red droplets passing from the seat to the bottom of the steps by the wide-open door.

"What the hell?" Sam asked aloud.

He knelt cautiously and put the tip of his pinky on one of the droplets. When he lifted his hand to inspect the strange liquid, he discovered that it was blood, possibly the bus driver's blood.

Standing up in a hurry and spinning around, Sam cried out, "What the hell?!"

Then he hurried down the center aisle until he reached the fifth seat back from the front of the bus, where an elderly woman with light-gray hair was still sound asleep.

"Ma'am," Sam said to her quietly at first, but then he repeated the word a little louder to get her attention. "Ma'am! You alright?"

The elderly woman didn't respond. She continued resting her head against the window, but she didn't appear to be breathing. Fearing the worst, he gently touched her neck to see if he could find a pulse, but there was nothing.

"Damn it!" Sam cried when he yanked his hand back and realized that the elderly woman was dead. "What the hell is going on here?"

Looking around at the other passengers who appeared to be sleeping, Sam grit his teeth and slowly approached each one, feeling for a pulse and finding none. Once he realized that everyone on the bus was dead, he hurried back to his seat and retrieved the backpack that held all of his personal belongings and carefully unzipped it. He pulled out a silver knife and stuck it in one of the pockets of his jeans, and then he retrieved his cellphone and a 9mm pistol. After cramming the phone into his pocket and the gun into the waistband of his jeans, he covered it up with his shirt and jacket before taking out a flashlight, closing the backpack, slinging it over his shoulder, and returning to the front of the bus one last time.

After descending the front steps, Sam stopped to look around for the bus driver, but there was no sign of him. Realizing that all this may have been the handiwork of something evil and supernatural, he turned to the left and started walking along the side of the road, hoping to find the bus driver alive. He scanned the surrounding area with his flashlight, but the ditch on the right side of the road was empty for as far as the eye could see, except for a few puddles of water here and there. Then he glanced in both directions hoping to see a passing car that he could flag down for help, but saw none, so he headed over to the left side of the road and found a giant pool of blood and another trail leading down into the ditch.

"Hello?" Sam said softly as he shone his flashlight into the ditch. "Driver? Are you out here?"

About twenty feet to his right, he suddenly heard someone gasping, but the sound was quickly followed by a strange gurgling noise. When Sam turned to look, he was surprised to find the bus driver lying face down in a puddle of water at the bottom of the ditch.

"Hey!" Sam cried, just as he yanked his gun out of the waistband of his jeans. "You alright, Mister?"

The driver made another gurgling sound in reply, so Sam jumped down into the ditch, aiming his gun out into the darkness with one hand and using the other to point the flashlight out into the trees by the side of the road. He crossed his forearms over each other like a police officer on the lookout for a suspect at a crime scene, but he saw nothing. Still, he had a bad feeling that he wasn't alone out there.

Turning his attention back to the bus driver, Sam got down into a crouching position and inched his way towards the place where the poor guy was still lying face down in the mud. When he got to the driver, he put the safety lock back on his gun and holstered it in the waistband of his jeans again, before lowering his hand towards the bus driver's shoulder.

Sam gently shook the driver and whispered, "Mister, are you alright?"

The bus driver groaned, hinting at the possibility that he might still be alive, so Sam carefully rolled him over so he could see his face. When he did, he was shocked to see that the driver's throat had been torn wide open and he couldn't help but cry out in shock and cover his mouth with his forearm. The man's eyes were wide open, and his face was still contorted into an expression of horror from the moment he was killed, so it was obvious that the sounds he'd been making were involuntary.

Turning away and breathing heavily, Sam climbed back up the ditch bank, retrieved his gun from his waistband the moment he stepped on the pavement, and looked around at the trees again. "Damn it."

Just like before, Sam saw nothing, but now he knew that something evil had definitely attacked the bus. Why it left him alive, he had no idea; all he knew for sure was that he either needed to get out of there fast, or he had to find the thing that killed everyone and put it down. For the first time since leaving John and Dean behind, he wished they were with him, to help him solve this case. Sam briefly considered taking out his phone and calling the Kents. He knew that Clark would be willing to help, but it wasn't yet safe enough to let his guard down because the monster he was hunting was still out there somewhere, possibly hunting him.

He scanned the trees with his flashlight once more while pointing his gun out into the darkness, but when he turned back towards the high beams of the bus, he saw the shadowy figure of someone standing there, so he threw down his flashlight and gripped his gun with both hands as he aimed it at them. "Hey! Who are you?"

The shadowy figure laughed at him, and the voice was feminine. "I could ask you the same thing, but I already know who you are, Sammy Winchester."

Sam took a few steps towards her and kept his gun aimed straight ahead. "How do you know my name?"

The figure took a few steps towards him, and he started to notice more of her features as she stepped out of the blinding beams coming from the bus. He soon discovered that the stranger had short, blonde hair, and she was wearing a leather jacket, jeans, and sneakers. Her jacket was zipped up most of the way, but where it was open at the top, he could see that she was wearing a black shirt underneath.

"Okay, that's close enough!" Sam told her in a commanding voice. "Not another step!"

The blonde girl smiled and put both of her hands up in the air. "Okay, you got me right where you want me."

"Who are you?" Sam asked again.

Laughing, the girl took a few steps closer to him and grinned, while still keeping her hands raised. "My father has big plans for you, Sam. He sent me out to find you."

Realizing he wasn't going to get a straight answer, Sam glared at her. "You're a demon, aren't you?"

"I was beginning to wonder when you were gonna figure it out," the girl said, right before she flipped her raised hands back in the direction of the bus, yanking the gun out of Sam's hands with telekinesis.

"Son of a bitch," Sam said, suddenly realizing that he was out of his depth with this one.

He turned to run but stopped immediately when he discovered another demon staring at him with black eyes. The newcomer was wearing a light-gray business jacket, and he had short, dark hair on his head, and a very evil sneer on his face.

"Going somewhere?" the second demon asked.

Making a last-ditch effort to get away, Sam tried with all his might to recite an exorcism spell from memory, since he'd taken the time to memorize one of the incantations in his father's journal in the past, but the words wouldn't come to him, so he stuttered a bit and gave up.

"Cat got your tongue?" the possessed man in the business jacket asked him. "Perhaps you're not as special as we once thought."

"What the hell do you want?" Sam demanded.

Approaching him from behind, the blonde girl said, "We want you, Sam. You're coming with us whether you like it or not."

Sam wasn't sure what to do. He was unarmed, but he still had his cellphone in his pocket, so he reached inside and grabbed it. The battery was low, but it was on, and he had the Kents' phone number saved as a contact. He tried to dial it, but with the wave of his hand, the guy in the business jacket sent the phone flying into one of the nearby ditches, where it landed in the water with a splash.

"Trying to call Clark Kent, are you?" the second demon asked. "And just when I was starting to like you."

Sam froze in terror but did his best not to show his fear. "No, I don't know a Clark Kent."

Chuckling, the second demon informed him of who he was possessing. "I know a lot more than you think, Sam. At this very moment, I'm possessing the body of Roger Nixon. He's a reporter who knows there's more to Clark than meets the eye."

Sam was horrified when he realized who he was up against. "How?"

"Come with us," the blonde girl said, causing Sam to turn back towards her. "Come with us, and we'll leave that wholesome family alone. If you don't, we'll tear all of them apart, piece by piece. Trust me, Clark Kent might be strong, but he can still die. If that happens, I'll have the honor of finishing him off myself."

Sam wasn't sure what to do. He was currently stuck between a rock and a hard place, and if he didn't do what the demons wanted, Clark and his family would pay the price.

"No, I don't believe you," Sam said, trying to convince himself they were wrong. "I've seen what he can do! You can't touch him, and you know it…"

"Perhaps not," said the demon possessing Roger Nixon. "But it doesn't matter. We'll torture him and his family either way."

Sam turned back towards the second demon, still feeling unsure of what to do. For now, he knew that he needed to play by their rules, but that didn't mean he was willing to do their dirty work. If anything, he needed to surrender and earn their trust before he could find a way out of the situation and send them back to Hell where they belonged.

"Alright!" Sam finally said. "I'll come with you, but you have to promise that you won't hurt the Kents!"

The blonde-haired demon laughed and made a little cross gesture across her chest with her hand. "Cross my heart and hope to die!"

The second demon just laughed, and then he grabbed Sam by the shoulder and teleported away, leaving the blonde-haired girl alone by the bus. Down in the ditch by the road, the bus driver's deceased body let out one final sigh, causing the demon to casually stroll over to him and smile.

As soon as she could see the driver down in the ditch, she grinned. "Why thank you, Mister bus driver. Glad to see someone appreciates my handiwork!"

Then she gathered up Sam's gun and flashlight, right before she teleported to the place where her comrade had gone.

Lex just couldn't believe how terrible his luck had been for the past few days. Not only had he lost Pamela Jenkins to cancer, but his father had shut down the fertilizer plant just to spite him. At the church in Metropolis where her casket was being shown to all the guests that afternoon, he stood beside his former nanny with his arms folded over the front of his tux. Though he had been heartbroken when he watched her die in the hospital with Tess sitting in the chair beside her bed, now he was just angry.

He was mostly angry at his father for sending Pamela away until she came back seeking forgiveness, but he was also angry at himself for not listening to her sooner, and nearly throwing away any chance he might've had of being with her at the end. If he had listened earlier, then he might've been able to mend things and have more time with the woman who took care of him after his mother died.

"Hey, Lex," a voice behind him said, causing him to turn around.

As soon as he turned towards the source of the voice, a faint smile formed on his lips. "Clark! Thanks for coming, it means a lot."

Clark nodded at his friend, but didn't smile, as he stood there wearing the very same tux he was planning on wearing to the Spring Formal. "I wish there was something I could do to help. First this, and now your dad closing the plant… It's too much all at once."

Lex couldn't help but smile at his friend. "You being here is all the help I could possibly need, Clark. Are your parents here too?"

Clark shook his head. "No, they couldn't make it, but my dad let me borrow his truck."

Patting Clark on the shoulder, Lex chuckled. "That's great. So, did you ask Chloe to the dance yet?"

Clark smiled. "Yeah. She's really looking forward to it, but she's worried because her dad lost his job, and they might have to move back to Metropolis."

When Clark's smile faded away again, Lex took it upon himself to express his feelings on the matter. "Gabe's a good man. It's been a pleasure working with him this past year, so it's gonna be hard losing him as an employee. He talks about Chloe a lot."

"I'm sure he does," Clark said. "Anyway, I talked to Ryan before I got here. It sounds like he and his aunt are on the way."

"Is Ryan still doing okay?" Lex asked, hoping to distract himself from his own problems.

"Yeah, but he's been getting migraines," Clark told him. "His Aunt Diane wants to get him checked out, but she's having a hard time finding a specialist in Edge City that can help."

"I'll make a few calls and see what I can do," Lex told him. "I might know an expert."

Clark smiled at Lex once more. "That would be great. Thanks."

Then the young farmer hugged his friend and Lex hugged him back. At the far end of the sanctuary, Lex spotted Tess, Ellen, and Jo entering the room. As soon as his half-sister noticed him, he made eye contact with her before letting go of Clark.

"Oh, Clark, there's someone I'd like you to meet," Lex said.

Clark turned towards the Harvelles when Lex gestured towards them with his hand, and then the two of them headed over to the ladies, who smiled sadly at him.

"This is my half-sister, Tess, and the family who adopted her."

Clark extended his hand towards Tess. "Hi, I'm Clark. Sorry about your mom."

Tess shook Clark's hand but said nothing. Then she and Jo passed the guys as they approached the open casket.

Ellen hugged Lex and shook Clark's hand. "I'm Ellen. Tess is having a hard time."

"I can imagine," Clark said. "How are you holding up through all this?"

Ellen sighed while she watched Tess look down into the casket, at the same time that Jo gently massaged her back with one hand. "It's been hard. I'm doing the best I can to help her, but I'm at a loss."

Clark glanced back, just as Tess put a hand over her eyes, causing Jo to put an arm around her sister's shoulders. "Who's that with her?"

"That's my other daughter, Jo," Ellen told him. "Those two are inseparable. As long as Tess has us, she can get through anything."

Clark turned back towards Ellen and smiled. "I can tell you care a lot about her. I'm adopted myself, so I can kind of relate to her situation."

Ellen raised her eyebrows at Clark in surprise. "Really? Did you ever get to meet your real parents?"

Clark shook his head. "No. They're probably a million light years away from my life now."

Ellen stepped past the guys but paused to put a hand on Lex's shoulder. "Lex, if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call us."

Then she headed off to be with her daughters, leaving Clark and Lex alone once again. Watching the girls grieve for Pamela and Bill Harvelle showed how close they really were. Tess and Jo had both gone through similar losses, and it showed on their faces when they turned towards each other and hugged.

"I think I'm gonna get some air," Clark said. "You coming, Lex?"

Lex glanced at Clark. "Yeah, I'll be out in a second."

Clark smiled and put his hands in the pockets of his tux, before turning away and leaving the sanctuary. Lex glanced back at Tess and Jo one more time, sighed, and then he turned and followed his friend back outside.

A few days after Pamela's funeral, Clark went to the Spring Formal with Chloe, but the dance was ruined by a tornado of all things, a massive wedge of clouds and swirling debris that missed the town of Smallville by a few miles. Still, he had to take off to save Lana after it nearly killed her, just after Whitney and Bobby Singer left town to hunt together. He got there just in time luckily, but he feared that she had seen him use his abilities, and now he wasn't sure what to do.

The evening after the tornado and the disastrous ending to his date, Clark was up in the loft of the barn, thinking about everything that happened, and trying to come up with a way to discuss what happened with Lana, when Dean suddenly called him on his cell.

As soon as Clark saw who was calling him, he raised his eyebrows in surprise and answered it right away. "Dean! Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, Clark, I'm fine," was Dean's answer. "My dad and the British guy are okay too."

"What happened out there?" Clark asked, suddenly terrified that the tornado had been caused by demons. "Did you find the demon that killed your mom?"

Wherever Dean was, Clark could hear rain falling, but it sounded like he might've been sitting in the Impala. "No, we didn't. Constantine said he thought the demon was in Metropolis. We tried to summon the son of a bitch, but uh…"

Clark took a deep breath and got up from his couch as he started pacing the loft anxiously. "But what? What happened?"

"It didn't work," was Dean's answer. "I know Constantine saved our asses in Sasha's barn, but I'm not sure I trust this guy. He said he knew who the demon was and how to summon it, but we got bupkis. Now he wants to go back to the UK to talk to his hunting buddies over there."

"What's the plan now?" Clark asked. "Are you and your dad going with him?"

"My dad's gonna go meet up with Dan Elkins before he heads out there, but I'm coming back to Smallville," Dean replied. "My dad wants me to keep an eye on things over there, because he's worried."

Clark stopped pacing and clicked his tongue anxiously. "I'm worried too. What does he think's gonna happen?"

Dean was silent for a moment, but when he answered, his voice sounded anxious and a little sad. "I dunno. Something big might be going down. That tornado that almost hit Smallville was a son of a bitch. It was already dying out when it passed by you, but it was down for a hundred freaking miles."

Clark stopped pacing and strolled over to the barn window. He looked outside at the stars, since it was nighttime now, and he sighed. "It was a demonic omen, wasn't it?"

"Probably," was Dean's answer. "Anyway, I can't wait to head back out there. Hanging out in a library with a bunch of old British dudes just ain't my idea of a good time."

Clark chuckled at Dean's joke. "Really? I wouldn't mind hanging out in a library with em."

Dean chuckled. "And neither would Sam. You guys are like two geeks in a pod."

"Whatever you say, Dean," Clark said as a faint smile crossed his lips. "Anyway, about the tornado..."

Suddenly sounding worried, Dean asked. "What happened? Is everybody okay? My dad said it missed town."

"Mostly, yeah," Clark told him. "Lex's mansion got hit by a second, smaller tornado from the same storm, and his dad's in critical condition. Lex got some minor cuts and bruises, but other than that, he's fine."

"Son of a bitch," Dean grumbled. "How's the farm? How did things go with Chloe?"

Clark turned away from the barn window and headed over to his couch, where he sat down once again. "We got some light damage out here from the wind and hail that came before the twister passed us, but other than that, the farm is okay. Mom and Dad made it to the cellar, and they came right back out once it was over. They're okay."

"What about the dance?" Dean asked. "How did that go?"

Clark put his hand over his eyes and shook his head. "The dance… Was a disaster."

Dean chuckled. "What happened? You told her about being a meteor freak, and she ran for the hills, didn't she?"

"I wanted to tell her," Clark explained. "But I couldn't get the words out. Then we heard the tornado was gonna pass south of town, where Whitney met up with Bobby. Lana was there, and…"

As soon as Clark's voice trailed off, Dean figured out what happened right away. "Lana saw you do something, didn't she?"

Clark lowered his hand from his eyes and nodded. "Yeah."

"What did she see?" Dean asked.

"She saw me appear in the middle of the road when her truck was lifted," Clark told him. "And then she saw me pull off the door, right before I put my arms around her. She still got hurt, and she hit her head, and… And…"

"Whoa, whoa, is she okay?" Dean asked. "How bad was it?"

Clark suddenly he felt a pang of sadness, and tears formed in his eyes. "Even knowing what I can do… I'm still amazed that she walked away from that. All she got was a mild concussion. I'm surprised she isn't disabled at this point."

"Have you talked to her about what happened?" Dean asked curiously. "Does she know you're meteor infected? Like Sasha?"

Clark leaned back where he was sitting and tried to relax as he settled into his couch a bit more. "She probably suspects it, but I haven't talked to her about it yet. I want to, but I'm scared."

"Look, man," Dean told him. "I don't blame you for being nervous. I went to a few different high schools, so I know what it's like. I lied to all my friends too."

"Do you regret not telling em the truth?" Clark asked. "All of the friends you have now are hunters anyway, besides Lex and I."

Dean chuckled, just as the engine in his Impala fired up. "Good point. I'm actually on the East Coast right now, but when I get back to Smallville, I'll help you with your dating technique. How does that sound?"

Not feeling the least bit enthusiastic, Clark shook his head. "Sounds good, I guess."

"Dude, you're never gonna get another date with that attitude," Dean said with a laugh. "I'll see you around."

"Okay, see ya when you get here," Clark said, before hanging up.

Setting his phone aside, he leaned forward while he sat there, and buried his face in his hands. For a few minutes, he stayed like that, lost in thought, until he heard footsteps climbing the stairs to the loft. Believing it was one of his parents, or Lex possibly, Clark glanced up, but he was surprised to see Lana standing at the top of the steps, looking nervous.

Panic immediately filled Clark's chest and he jumped up, preparing to explain himself. "Lana, I-"

Lana forced a smile, but she had tears in her eyes. "I can come back if this is a bad time. I heard you talking to someone, but I didn't want to interrupt."

Clark stood there in silence for a moment, his heart pounding, but then he said, "I was talking to Dean. He had to help his dad with something, but he's coming back when he gets a chance."

Lana's smile faded as she took a step towards him, but then she stopped. "I heard what you said, about being with me in the truck. Is that true?"

"Lana, I-I, uh," Clark stammered.

Lana took another step. "I saw you in the truck. At first, I thought it was just a dream or a hallucination, but it was real. You don't have to lie to me, Clark. If the meteors changed you, then you can tell me."

Clark felt an ache form in his throat and his vision became blurred with tears when he realized that the cat was out of the bag, but there was no point in trying to shove it back in. Still, he was afraid to let her in.

"Lana, I don't know how to explain what happened," Clark told her. "But I'm not meteor infected."

Suddenly looking deeply hurt, Lana wiped away the tears that had started running over her cheeks and down the sides of her face. "I heard you tell Dean that you're scared. I heard you tell him about saving me from the tornado."

"I know that's what you think you heard," Clark said as he prepared to gaslight her once again. "But I think you just got lucky. You-you hit your head, so you had a dream about me saving you."

His attempt to backtrack totally failed, and he could tell from the look in her eyes that she wasn't falling for it. "It's okay if you don't want to talk about it now. When you're ready, I promise to keep an open mind."

Clark shook his head and faked a smile of his own. "I'm not meteor infected. I'm sorry."

After that, she turned away and headed back down the stairs without saying anything else. It was obvious from the pain that Clark saw on her face, that she wasn't buying his crap anymore, but he was still too afraid to open up to her. In all honesty, he wanted to tell her about everything, including the ship in the cellar, but after the things he'd seen while helping the Winchesters, he knew that Lana knowing his secret would only put her in danger. Demons, monsters, Roger Nixon, and all of the other evil things and people out there would always be a threat to the ones he loved most.