Now and Then

Chapter 2: Lemonade

It was two days later and Sam and Adam had again been permitted to wander the small town. Although John had threatened to handcuff them to each other if Damn wandered off again. Their dads were investigating something a couple of towns over and were busy doing research. Today the boys had been left to explore the small gathering of stalls that made up the town fete, with a plan to meet up with their dads at the clock tower in an hour.

Sam was distracted at a stall with darts and balloons when Adam noticed a small booth selling homemade lemonade. He wasn't too fussed about getting a drink but he felt a jolt of recognition as the teenager serving lifted a baseball cap to wipe his forehead before replacing it.

"Sam, I'm just going to go to the next booth and get some lemonade," Adam said. Sam looked at him, that big-brother protectiveness in his hard gaze. "It's right there, you can see me the whole time." Adam knew his brother was keen to practise his darts because throwing anything sharp could be useful.

Sam seemed torn for a moment but then relented. "Fine, but don't go anywhere else and don't speak to anyone," he said. Adam grinned and turned away, he really wasn't going far this time.

"Hey," he said, slightly breathlessly when the previous customer left and he was finally face to face with the teenager he'd met on the clock tower.

"Hey," the older boy said, smiling. His green eyes searched behind Adam. "You haven't lost your family again I hope."

"Nah, my brother's playing darts next door." Adam looked at the sign behind the booth. 'St Michael's Home for Boys.' Did that mean the boy was an orphan, he wondered?

"You want some lemonade?"

"Oh, I didn't get any money," Adam suddenly realised, glancing back towards his big brother. Sam was still focused on his game.

"Tell you what, this one's on me, as long as you don't tell anyone." The teenager winked.

Adam grinned at him. "Thanks. But I will pay, I just need to wait for Sam to finish."

"OK, well, you might as well have your lemonade while you wait." The boy handed over a cup. "So, did you get in trouble?"

"Some," Adam shrugged, tasting the drink. It was nice, sweet but cool. "I didn't get your name the other day," he said awkwardly.

"It's not important," the boy said. He smiled but there was a distance in his eyes. Adam's curiosity was interrupted by a loud cheering from behind him. He turned. Sam was being handed a stuffed toy as sever al spectators clapped. His eyes suddenly fixed on Adam and the boy. His face froze and, recognising when his brother was upset, Adam gulped.

"Shit," he mumbled, then looked back at the teenager. "Sorry, I'd better go, my brother can be a bit overprotective." The boy didn't look bothered.

"Don't worry about it, lemonade is on the house like I said."

"Thanks, you know for …" he meant for the other day as much as the lemonade. The boy seemed to get it. Adam gave a last smile and headed back to the dart booth. Calling back over his shoulder, "I'll be back with the dollar."

His big brother was still staring at the lemonade booth when he reached him.

"Sam, it's fine," Adam said with some exasperation.

"What did he say to you?" Sam demanded redirecting his stare to the younger boy.

"What?" Adam was feeling a knot of tension start to form in his stomach, Sam was really freaked out.

"Adam," Sam said, that intense glare at his little brother intensified by grabbing his shoulder. "What did he say?"

"Relax, Sam, I know him."

"What do you mean you know him? How do you know him?"

"He helped me the other day when I got … lost. He helped me find you."

"We need to find Dad." Sam grabbed Adam's wrist and started pulling him away through the crowd. Adam glanced back and saw the teenager frowning in their direction before turning to his next customer.

Adam knew they were looking for Dad John. Sam called Bobby Dad too, sometimes, but mostly for Sam it was John that was 'Dad'. However, there was no sign of either of their fathers. Sam looked at his watch.

"Dammit, we're not due to meet for another half an hour." He bit his lip and stared around.

"Sam what's wrong?" Adam asked. Sam looked down at him, that same intense look in his eye. He grabbed Adam's shoulders again.

"You need to tell me everything that boy said to you," he demanded.

"I met him when I climbed up the clock tower because I couldn't see you, and he was up there already so he helped."

"So he was just up the clock tower?"

"Yes, he was reading."

"And he helped you?"

Adam nodded.

"Then what did he do?"

"I dunno, he went home I guess." Adam couldn't understand why his brother was so intense but he made him oddly defensive of his new friend.

"Home?"

"Sam … What's with the twenty questions?"

"What did he say to you?"

"When?"

"Whenever … the other day, today, both." Sam was gripping Adam's shoulders a little too tight.

"Ow," Adam protested. "Nothing, before he asked if I was lost, today he gave me some lemonade. Sam, what's wrong?" He was getting really scared.

Sam seemed to freeze. He looked at the small white face before him and registered the slight glistening in the eyes. Then he let go.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean … are you okay?"

Adam nodded but rubbed his arm where his brother had grabbed him.

"What's going on?"

"It's nothing, I just … I'm sorry Damn, it's okay, really." Sam ruffled the younger boy's hair then left his hand resting on his head and looked around, his eyes searching the crowd, taking in the landscape, even lingering on the clouds. "Let's go back and get some more lemonade," he finally suggested looking back at Adam.

Adam frowned at him. "Why? I didn't even pay for the last one yet."

"Well then, we should go back and pay. Come on." Sam forced the tension out of his shoulders and smiled but it didn't lessen the intensity in his eyes. Adam was sure there was something going on.

"Did you see something, you know, like a …" Adam glanced around them and lowered his voice, "monster?" Adam knew there were monsters and he knew his dads fought them. Sam was going to do that too, so he said, but Adam had never seen one and didn't think he ever wanted to.

"Of course not." Sam's face softened and that weird distance left his eyes as he looked gently at his little brother. "I just got a little … I got the time wrong and thought we were late, but it's fine. Let's go pay for your lemonade then we'll find Dad, okay?"

"Okay." Adam felt better, if only because Sam seemed like Sam again. "You can meet my friend, he's nice, really."

"I'm sure he is," Sam said kindly, though his eyes were weird again. "What did you say his name was?"

"I didn't, he didn't say."

"Oh," Sam looked down at Adam's change of tone and softened his eyes again. "Well, we can ask him when we get there."

"Okay." Adam grinned. He hadn't managed to get the teenager's name but he was sure his big brother would.

Unfortunately, when they got back to the booth there was a different boy serving.

"Excuse me, what happened to the other boy?" Adam asked politely, keeping his dollar bill clenched securely in his hand. The new boy looked at him and there was something unfriendly in the glance.

"Other boy?" he asked obtusely.

"Yeah …" Adam felt Sam's hand brush his back and understood the warning. Don't trust this kid, don't say too much. Sam gave him similar signals when he encountered bullies at school, or nosey adults who had issues with their dads.

"You got a name for this mystery boy?" The rude boy asked with a sneer. It was like he knew they didn't know the other boy's name. Adam glanced at his big brother. Sam's slight shake of the head was all the conversation needed.

The rude boy glanced at the money in Adam's hand and Adam clutched it more tightly.

"If you've not got a name then move along, you're blocking the queue." The rude boy said. Adam looked around, there was no one else waiting. Sam's hand lightly brushed Adam's back again and Adam got the message.

"Never mind," he said, turning and leaving. From the corner of his eye, he caught the triumphant smirk on the rude boy's face but it didn't bother him the way that sort of thing used to. He knew better now.

"Come on squirt, let's find Dad," Sam said.

Always attentive to his brother's moods, Adam tracked Sam as they walked back to the clock tower. The nervous tension gradually gave way to something dejected and for a while Sam seemed miles away. Then he seemed to move on to resigned, before eventually, and slowly, he returned from his introspection. By the time they caught up with John and Bobby, Sam was almost himself again. Almost.

now&then

The following day, Bobby raised his eyebrows at John as the door closed behind the boys. They'd been aware that Sam was out of sorts the day before. Then they'd heard him yell out in the night and the quiet murmur of voices for a while afterwards. It had been some time since he'd had a really bad nightmare but they hadn't intervened. Something had happened at the fete the boys had gone to but both men knew that trying to push Sam into talking before he was ready rarely went well.

Raising two hunters was not an easy feat. It was only natural that they would be curious, inclined to secrets, and have a knack for finding trouble. And it was necessary to allow all those traits to develop into skills that could be used, not only to help them do the job but to protect them while they were doing it.

So John and Bobby had decided to ask no questions and let the boys go out the following morning. Hiding their smirks at the way the boys did not want to tell them where they were going or why. The men would follow at a distance, keep an eye while not interfering unless something dangerous came up.

now&then

"Are you going to tell me where we're going?" Sam asked.

Adam had suggested they go on an adventure to distract Sam from the nightmare he'd had. Sam played along, appreciating the effort even if his little brother's 'adventures' tended to be tame even by layman's standards, let alone by Winchester ones.

"I need to pay a debt," Adam said, holding out his hand to show Sam the coins in his palm.

"Where did you get that?" Sam knew he had taken back the dollar he'd given his little brother the day before. Along with any other money they'd not spent, it had been returned to their dad.

John rarely gave them cash. They didn't go without, but John liked to keep them close and equated cash with freedom. Generally, it wasn't a problem for the boys anyway. If Adam wanted something he'd just bat his eyes at Dad Bobby and get it. And Sam had long since learnt how to get things for himself.

"I saved it," Adam shrugged a little smugly and put the money back in his pocket.

"Why? If you need money, I'll get you some."

"You mean you'll steal it or hustle for it, not exactly honest," Adam lectured, giving his big brother a severe look. Sam never worried much about breaking the rules as long as it got him what he needed. Adam often found himself pointing out a moral challenge to this approach. Though his dads seemed to share Sam's tendency to walk the far side of the honest line, they always got this soft smile on their faces whenever Adam pointed this out. "And this is for charity, I can't give ill-gotten gains to charity."

"Ill-gotten gains?" Sam scoffed. "Have you been talking to Pastor Jim again?" Adam shrugged. "And what do you mean it's for charity? What charity?" Adam was vaguely aware that rather than distracting his brother, the adventure seemed to have suddenly put him on edge. But his destination was already in sight.

"St Michael's Home for Boys." He pointed to it. "I need to pay for my lemonade."

Sam stopped dead and grabbed Adam's arm to halt him too.

"You're going to look for that boy, the one who helped you?" Sam said, looking spooked. Adam was taken aback by the strong reaction.

"Yeah, why?" Sam looked lost for a moment and Adam scowled at him. Surely Sam didn't really think the teenager was some sort of monster? Well if he did, Adam would show him he was wrong. "Look, just because someone is nice doesn't mean they're a werewolf or a poltergeist trying to trick me. Some people actually are just nice, you know." Sam didn't like people as a rule and trusted almost no one. To him, kindness was a red flag, even though he was incredibly kind himself. Adam could see the conflict on his brother's face and wondered at it. Why was this such a big deal?

now&then

Adam was glad he'd convinced Sam to let him come. When they approached the office, an argument could be heard.

"… I bet he stole it or something, everyone knows he's weird," one boy was saying, sounding angry.

"If I was going to steal, it would be more than a buck," another boy was saying, sounding amused.

As Sam and Adam turned the corner, they saw the two boys standing with a tall woman who was looking between them exasperatedly.

"What makes you think the amount is wrong Malcolm?" She asked, trying to mediate calmly.

"Because I counted the cups and there was one cup not accounted for." Malcolm was looking smug.

"Well maybe one blew away, or two got stuck together or something," the woman tried.

"Or maybe it's because I still owe for my cup," Adam said walking forwards. All three turned to him, looking surprised. He held out his hand with the four quarters balanced on his palm. "I was meant to come back yesterday and pay but …" he gave the boy Malcolm a pointed look. He could say that he didn't hand the money over because of how rude Malcolm had been and by the look on his face, Malcom knew it. "But we had this family thing and I had to go," he said instead. "So, I came over today to pay. I'm really sorry."

"That's very good of you, not many people would go to such bother over a cup of lemonade," the tall woman said with a side-glance at Malcolm. "Well since that has all been straightened out, I have work to do and you boys should go and do your homework." The order was mostly aimed at Malcolm and her gaze softened when she turned to the other boy. "After you've seen to our guests, of course."

"Yes Ma'am," both boys said. The woman left and Malcolm walked away after a resentful glare at the other teenager. The other teenager turned to Adam.

"Thanks. You didn't need to do that."

"But I owed the money," Adam said earnestly, looking up at the boy, happy to have found him again.

"Trust me, a buck is a bargain to see Malcolm lose his shit like that. Hell, I'd have paid double."

"Well at least you're not in trouble." Adam wanted to feel he'd been some help after how nice the boy had been to him.

"I could have handled it," the boy shrugged. "What's that guy's deal?" He pointed his chin to someone behind Adam. Adam turned to see Sam staring and white.

"Oh, that's my brother," Adam frowned, not sure what was wrong with Sam. "Come on, I wanted you to meet him." Adam led the way and the teenager followed.

"Hey," the older boy said when they reached Sam. Sam was still just staring at him. "You catching flies?" The teenager asked, indicating Sam's open mouth. Sam closed it.

"No, sorry, I just … hi." He was searching the older boy's eyes for something. After a moment he put his hand out. "I'm Sam," he said, like a verbal nudge.

"Nice to meet you Sam," the teenager took the offered hand and shook firmly.

"Hey Kid, I need help with my math," called a young voice from behind them.

"Be right there," the teen called back over his shoulder. He looked seriously at Sam who hadn't released his hand. "You shouldn't drag your little brother around like you do, you could hurt him," the older boy said. The tone was mild, but there was a warning under the words, a hint of a threat even. Sam looked taken aback. Finally, he released the other boy's hand.

"See ya Adam," the teenager clamped Adam on the shoulder then turned and left.

now&then

Sam's head was spinning. When he'd seen him yesterday it had been like a gut punch. He'd know that face anywhere, even four years after he'd last seen it. But then, when the boy had disappeared, he'd convinced himself he'd been wrong. The face had been shaded under a cap. There might have been a resemblance maybe, but that was all it was. His big brother was dead and it was nothing but more pain to pretend otherwise.

But seeing him again, closer, clearly, all that initial certainty had come back. It was more than he looked like, Dean, he felt like Dean, the way he spoke, the way he moved, the way he …

Except it was very clear that this boy had no idea who Sam was, whereas his big brother had always said he knew Sam's face better than his own "… which is a shame really, because I'm much more handsome than you." A corner of Sam's brain smiled fondly at the memory of Dean's teasing smirk but the rest was still stuck. How could this be Dean and not be Dean at the same time?

Sam was vaguely aware Adam was leading him out, mumbling worried questions as they walked.

now&then

John and Bobby stood across the street from St Michael's and gave each other quizzical looks. Why would Adam and Sam come to a boys' home of all places?

They saw Adam guiding Sam down the steps and rushed forward instantly, something was wrong, the older boy looked ill. Whenever they went to any town with the kids, the men did a cursory search to check for any known 'mysteries' or 'myths' in the area. Nothing on the boys' home had come up, had they missed something?

"What happened?" Bobby demanded as John felt Sam's forehead.

"I don't know. I just wanted to pay for the lemonade and then …" Adam waved a hand at Sam, the younger boy's face as almost as pale as his big brother's, he was close to panic.

"He drank something?" John asked, his eyes searching the twelve-year-old for signs of what might be wrong.

"No, yesterday, I –"

"Dad," Sam interrupted, grasping his father's wrist. He turned his head to look back at the building then focused back on his father. "I saw, I think I saw …" he couldn't get the name out but he didn't need to. Knowing there was only one topic that would make Sam react so strongly, John gasped. Bobby looked concerned. Adam frowned, not understanding.

John's eyes scanned the building but he didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Still, he grabbed the other man's shoulder, perhaps to get his attention or perhaps to keep himself steady. "My God, Bobby." He was looking almost as ill as Sam.

"Let's go back to the motel," Bobby said. "We need to think, to regroup," he added firmly.

now&then

Through the upper window of the orphanage, the teenager watched the family of four. Eventually, one of the two men led the others away.

To be continued …