Sam was the calmer of the two brothers, especially when it came to their kids. It was his omega who roared and doled out punishments, namely chores. When the twins were 10, they decided it was fine to take their bikes and go exploring during a monster filled apocalypse. When the pair returned to the cabin, Dean made them pull weeds and when Nick and Emma ran out of weeds in the Winchester gardens, he brought them over to Bobby's house and they pulled weeds in his garden. Sam could still hear his brothers stern voice, "Now you won't have time to run around and get yourselves kill. No way, not on my watch." He threatened to kick their asses occasionally, but he never actually did.

Dean was all bark, no bite unless of course that person was Sam and only if Sam begged for it, then his brother turned into a tiger.

Now, looking at Nick with that big dopy grin on his face because he thought he was clever sneaking into the facility, Sam wanted to slap that cookie out of his hand and shake him. The hunter spent the last fourteen years protecting the twins from every threat, real or imagined and Nick had tossed caution to the wind, ignored Sam's direct orders, and put himself in grave danger. No one could know what he was capable of.

The teen dropped the cookie on the plate he was holding, cocked his head and frowned, "You don't look happy to see me."

Sam growled, "I'm not. You don't realize what you've done, do you? Other people, especially the ones here, cannot know about you and Emma. How did you get in here?"

The teen dropped his head so he didn't have to look his dad in the eyes, "No one saw me except the two people on the patio. I did the eye thing on them and got a keycard. I wanted to help. Mom would have never left you here all alone."

Sam grabbed him by the shoulders non too gently and squeezed, "Get out. No back talk, no argument, go home with Zola and Petra and stay at your grandparents until I get back. Tell Dean…tell Dean I'm ok and to stay put when he gets there. Tell the family I love them and not to worry."

"If you are not home in a reasonable amount of time, Mom will come to get you. In fact, he won't wait a reasonable amount of time. Telling him to not worry is like telling water not to be wet."

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh, "I know, just do the best you can."

…

Things happened so fast, first Emma was knocked out, the monster collapsed, it got a gut full of lead and finally Dean sawed off its head for good measure. Once the creature was dead, the storm came to an abrupt end, and the snow melted rapidly from the summer sun. The worried mother took Emma in his arms and gave her smelling salts and was relieved when she opened her pretty green eyes and croaked, "Did I get it, Mom?"

"You sure did, angel. Got that bugger right on the ground for us so we could finish it off. Couldn't have done it without you."

Now she was safe in Baby's backseat where the rumbling from her engine had put Emma to sleep like a lullaby. Dean glanced in the rearview mirror at his daughter wrapped up in an old blanket, the big bruise on her forehead had turned ugly shades of purple and black. Dean forgot about the mansion and Landon Pharmaceuticals for the time being. He was not a praying type of man; he left that Sam but this was an exception.

"Whoever is up there, you damn well better make sure my kid is ok…maybe she's healing herself from the inside out…at least I think she can do that…"

The ride to Bobby Singer's place was uneventful. No skies opened up along the way just sunshine filled days, balmy clear nights and summer stretching out before them. Emma was sitting up now, her head lolling from side to side with every bump in the road. The windows were all down and Dean kept the music off not knowing how bad her head was hurting.

"Hang in there, sweet pea, we got maybe a half hour to go. How yah doin'?"

She cracked her eyes open, "My head hurts."

"Are you working on it…I mean are you healing or can't you do that?"

"Kinda."

"Well, kinda is better than not at all. Love you, Emmy bee."

She smiled, thinking of all the pet names her mom called her over the years and there were plenty of them.

"Emmy bee is a new one."

"Is it? Huh, it fits, you are sweet as honey."

…..

Bobby was never so happy to see the Impala in his life. He didn't even wait for Dean to come to a complete stop before knocking on the window. As soon as the hunter got out, a usually not touchy-feely Bobby hugged him.

"Glad your back son." He peered in a window to find Emma bundled up in the back. He flung the back door open, took a gander at the goose egg on her forehead and had himself a hefty dose of inner panic. This was his grandbaby, after all.

"She'll be ok, Bobby. She was talking a few times on the way back but mostly sleeping, Em is trying to heal herself and it takes a lot of energy."

"Mind filling me in on what happened?"

"I'll tell you later."

Dean noticed the state of the yard, "Whose vehicles are those and why is there blood everywhere?" there was a small crater where one of the sheds used to be, "Why are you missing a building?"

"They came lookin' for Sam. Took 'em all out, hauled the bodies far away. There were casualties and one explosion. I kept one alive for yah. I'll fill you in later. Let's get Emma upstairs so Cayden can take a look at her."

Bobby looked over to the big old maple where his wife was on his knees crying next to a pile of dirt. The omega hadn't moved an inch when the Impala drove in. Ginger sat next to him, mourning in her own feline way over the death of the dog she came to grudgingly love.

"Cay will be along in a bit. They shot and killed Tippy. I'll miss that little bugger. I guess we all gotta grieve in our own ways."

Dean watched as his fellow omega stood up and shuffled over, looking more like one of the infected than a person. Cayden's torn, blood stained tunic hung off one shoulder and his nails and hands were filthy as though he'd been clawing at the dirt. Tears cut a path down both cheeks. He looked like he'd been through a war and so did Bobby.

….

Zola and Petra took turns glaring at the sullen teen in the back seat until they got their fill of glaring. He'd gotten the scolding of a lifetime from Petra and a hard slap on the ass even though he was much too old for such a thing and he was a heck of a lot bigger than either of them. He got it, they were angry. He'd put them both in danger having to wait around while he went to find his dad.

The teen apologized over and over. As for slap, Nick honestly didn't mind at all, he found the sensation very interesting and not at all unpleasant but then his mind was all over the place these days. He knew why he was having certain thoughts and mood swings not to mention the vivid dreams, and amalgamation from the old porn magazines of his moms. A confusing blend of titles such as Busty Asian Beauties, 9 and Above Alphas, Barely Legal Omegas and Alpha, Beta, Omega, Female Nudes.

"I'll be safe at Grandpa's…will dad be safe? What about Mom and Em…I miss my family, I want this to be over…I should have stayed…"

As a Winchester, the guilt of leaving Sam behind was eating at him but then he wouldn't be a true Winchester without a heavy dose of guilt.

They only stopped to toilet and a few times went scavenging. At one driver switch off, they even let Nick practice driving. Mostly because the ladies felt bad about the slap, the glaring and the scolding.

When the entrance to Singer Salvage appeared like a glowing sign from God, Nick, who was on a try out different deities, kick, silently thanked him just in case he happened to be listening.

"I wonder if God is an omega…"

….

Having to spend the night in a sterile hospital room drove Sam up a wall. He found when he exited the room, he was immediately approached by security dressed like orderlies in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. He was told he wasn't allowed to wander around the facility on his own and it would be best to stay in his room. On day four, and two more blood draws later, Sam was taken to a meeting room for what he hoped was the results of his tests.

"Let it be good news, an end to this so the world can breathe again…so my kids can learn how it used to be…it was far from a perfect world but it was ours…we can rebuild…."

….

Edgar dragged his leg, using a broom he found in the strange room for support. There was no way out and who ever built it knew what they were doing. He assumed it was the surly hunter who threw him in here. The one who told him the only reason he was alive was because they were waiting for Dean. He knew Dean, the one from the mansion who came to save his baby brother. Edgar had some fun memories from his time with Sam and he was sure the then teenager had nothing but hatred for him. It was well deserved. He wondered what the kid looked like now. His graphic thoughts of Sam Winchester were interrupted by the sound of heavy boots on concrete.

A face appeared before the barred opening in the steel door, it was Dean. The hunter held up a tool bag which he then dropped on a table. Morbid curiosity got the best of him so Edgar went to the opening and watched the eldest Winchester remove and carefully lay out an assortment of things. Knives, pliers, hammers, chisel, scalpel, small torch, and the like. Instruments of torture, the man was not here to build anything, that was for sure.

Dean turned; a ballpeen hammer clenched in one fist. He winked at the pale man.

"So, you're the creep who roughed up my brother at that monster lab and destroyed the omega compound." He held the shiny new hammer up the overhead light, "We need to have a long talk."

The man barked out a laugh, "I did more than roughed him up. How does it feel to know I cracked open that sweet ass before you?"

TBC