Chapter One:

As the farmer's truck reached a crossroad where the kid's eyes finally got to feast themselves on traces of civilization after hours of being deprived of it; seeing but nothingness for stretches of it awhile back, after the kid was able to land his pair on buildings, other vehicles and people walking along the sides of the road, that's when he asked the driver to let him off there.

He thanked 'Luke' the old man. The kid even offered to pay him like he told him before he got in the truck, but Luke refused the offer of payment. So instead, what Jake did was thank him profusely--even giving the old man a nice big hug before he eventually got off the truck; to which the old man returned ever soappreciatively after seeing traces of his grandson in the boy.

As he was walking towards 'civilization', seconds after he watched Luke's truck disappear down the end of the dirt road, he looked further down end of the opposite path from where the old man's truck had drove off too. Trucks and small cars drove past him until he got to the the end of the dirt road where it merges with the introduction of concrete. As he walked further down, that's when he realized what it was about that place that was familiar to his senses somehow.

He smirks.

"Wow, welcome to Smallville, Jake!" he says to himself as he stood at a street corner, in front of a cafe. Basically mocking the all too picturesque feel of the place. "Welcome to Smallville!" he scans around further with his eyes and can't help but smirk even more. "Man, this is just too...creepy. I wonder if I should run into Clark any minute now..." he grins wrly. "Or that hot lil chick, Chloe..."

He looked inside casually through the clear glass mirror before he eventually went in. As he was making a feel for his wallet inside his jacket pocket he can't help but thank himself mentally for the judgment call in changing out of the hospital clothes he was wearing, into his own. It was an ordeal to do since there were two girls in the room watching over him, but he somehow managed to do it. Should he have neglected to change into normal clothes, he'd have been whisked out of there and woke up at the back of Luke's truck in his hospital clothes--without money and foot apparel.

He sat at the stool behind the counter as he waited to be waited on; scanning the place with his eyes, he was heightening his senses at the same time for and of anything that could come at him at any moment and attack him; knowing his luck being a Winchester.

The boy sees an old couple at one corner, an elderly man drinking his coffee at the table near the door, a couple of waitresses roaming around with pitchers of coffee on hand, and lastly, two teen-aged girls giggling at the other end of the diner while looking at his direction. That made the boy's mischievous side perk up. He smugly puffs himself up after deciding to play hard to get; giving the girls not even a small nod nor a smile. After he gave them a quick gaze, he then swivels the other way and gave his order nonchalantly to the middle-aged lady that came to wait on him.

"A BLT and two beers please." the boy says casually with a nod and a single knock of his knuckles on the counter to punctuate his order. The waitress gives him a pursed cheek and a 'what do you take me for' look, making the kid give out a cry chuckle. "Would you believe me if I told you I'm 21?"

"Not a chance, kid." she tells him, "You're how old 14?"

"Bite your tongue, madam!" Jake cuts in, but still in a polite manner, "I'm 19 years old!" he says.

"And I'm 23!" the lady says sarcastically.

"You could pass up for 23 too." Jake quickly points out.

"Nice try, hun." she replies. "I'm 43."

"You actually look younger than 43." he says. The lady narrows her eyes at him, "Okay, owkhay...since we're being honest here. I'm actually 18." he goes on to say.

"I got all day, kid."

"17...I'm 17." Jake bargains.

"Just holler if you're ready..." the waitress says as she was quasi-turning away.

"Okay, I'm 16!" Jake finally says to which the lady narrows her eyes at him again, for, "What? I am actually 16 here! Reeaally. Really. I'm telling the truth this time!" he crosses his heart. "And I don't drink beer. Anymore. I was just messing around earlier...with the beer...and stuff." he added. "Just give me anything non-alchoholic that you got! Besides water."

"I'll get you chocolate milk instead, how's that?" she says.

"That was actually my second choice there!" he spunkly blurts out while snapping his fingers in the air.

The lady gives him a smirk and a crisp, "Mmhm." as she tucks the pencil she was taking down Jake's order with to the back of her ear. The boy gives her a soft chuckle. "I'll be back with your breakfast in a minute."

"Thanks big time!" Jake says gleefully while drumming his fingers on the counter top. "You're a life-saver, ma'am!" he calls out at the lady who looks at him over his shoulder.

"Mmhm?" she perks her brows at him before walking away. The kid could just chuckle even more; he can't help but see traces of his grams in her somehow. As he sat there after she disappeared behind the swinging door to the kitchen to get his order ready, he suddenly missed Amaliah. Minutes later as he dug his wallet out and checking his available cash in there--his eyes found pictures in there too. A couple of them.

His fingers traced the surface of one of the photos longingly; it made his heart hurt looking at it.

"Girlfriend?" came a voice that made Jake look up. It was the waitress, she just got back with the boy's short order and placed them in front of the boy, beside his wallet and photos. He shakes his head in response and turns the photo to show off who was in it.

"My little brother..." he says quietly, "...twins, but he's younger. Half an hour. Makes him the baby." he sighs heavily. 'My baby...' he adds in his head. 'That's right, Dean! He's my baby too!' he declares smugly mentally.

"You got separated somehow?" she asks emphatically as she watched Jake look at his twin's photo with teary eyes. Jake's thought bubble just popped when she spoke. "Did your parents somehow get divorced or something, hun?"

"No...our mom died when we were kids. And yeah, me and my baby brother got separated...somehow." Jake says, his brows arched as he momentarily tried to think back on the earlier events that led to place him where he is at the moment. But then he got nothing.

The lady cranes her neck to look at the other photo on the counter top. Jake saw her do this. He picked it up and handed it to her after tucking Sam's photo back inside his wallet leaf.

"Who are these handsome-lookers with you, hun?" she asks while looking at the people in the photo. "You all look really sweet. Just like freshly baked cookies."

"My brothers...those are are our big brothers." he says, "And we are just as sweet too, ma'am! Especially my big brother Dean!"

"Which one's he?"

"The real looker in the middle!" Jake points out.

"He's beautiful, sweetheart..." she comments.

"Yeah, he is." Jake quickly replies, "And when I grow up, I'll just be like him too! I'll be all beautiful too!" he goes on proudly. The lady can't help but muse fondly to that as she pinches the boy affectionately on the cheek.

"I'm sure you will, hun!" she says. "Okay, now eat your sandwich, sweetie? If you need me for anything, just holler?"

"I appreciate that, ma'am..." Jake says.

"Call me Theresa."

"Hey my mom's second name was Theresa!" Jake says bubbly, "I'm Jake, by the way...and nice to meet you, Theresa, ma'am." he offers his hand which she took.

"Nice to meet you too, Jake, hun." she says warmly. "Now eat."

"Yes, ma'am." the boy says, "Right after I put this away." he says while tucking the photo Theresa handed back to him into his wallet. And then he puts the whole thing away altogether. After saying grace, the kid does begin eating. As he was in between chewing his food, his mind can't help but wander to his baby twin. The last thing he heard about him was Sam suffering the same--if not worse, pain that he had just suffered back at the hospital. 'I'm coming back to you, Sam. If this is part of our punishment to the disruption we did to the traversal...we're getting around it somehow. I'm gon'na hang on. You should too, okay? I know you're strong enough when you need to be. You're even stronger than me sometimes. We're getting out of this okay, baby. I know it. I'm finding my way back to you. I am' "And I will." he softly muffles to himself verbally. Definitively.

--

The sun was scorching hot. It's making the trek along the road even harder. The kid's brown pair looked over his shoulder at the stretch of road behind him; nothing has changed, it's still carless. When he averted to the opposite end in front of him--it yielded the same result. It was just as carless.

He could feel his parchness start to contribute in making him want to pass out already; but somehow he finds himself still willing himself to stay upright and mobile.

Minutes earlier, he had already managed to shrug out of his jacket and use it to cover his head with; if only to shield himself from the glaring intensity of the sun on him. And it worked. The jacket kept the sun from burning his skin and his head; only, the apparel doesn't protect his eyes at all; from the glare the sun made as it bounces off the concrete and onto his eyes.

Seconds later, the kid starts to sob. His feet hurt, he was parched and his eyes hurt too now.

"I want to go home..." Sam says. "...I just want to go home..." tears streaming down the sides of his face.

He tried several times to use his cellphone earlier and call Dean, call home. Only he didn't get the response he expected. There was just ringing on Dean's phone and nothing on the home phone. After he got only incessant ringing on Dean's unit, the fifth time he tried calling him, right after he called their landline, and also getting nothing; Sam gave up.

What Dean said to him, their earlier conversation came back to him somehow and it made him cry even harder.

"What I say doesn't f***in' mean anything to you anymore, is that it?"

"You know that's not true, Dean...not true. I just didn't want anything bad to happen to you again, Dean. That's all. I was trying to keep that from happening."

"I don't f***in' see it that way, Sam...I'm sorry..."

"Everything you say, you've said to me...everything you've told me since long before I could start to talk and understand stuff, Dean...I've kept it. I keep them all in here. You know that."

"You hurt me, Sam. I can't believe you could give me this much pain."

"I didn't mean to, Dean."

"Well you did."

"It just hurt so much when we lost you the last time, you know? I knew that if that happened again that I won't be able to go and bring you back anymore...I could've lost you again, Dean."

"I gave you my word, didn't I? There was supposedly a matter of trust between us, kiddo. You obviously don't believe in it."

"I do trust you, Dean. Always have. Always going to."

"No, you obviously don't!"

"You look really disappointed with me, Dean..."

"Like you wouldn't believe, Sam."

"Dean didn't even say he loves me back..." Sam says out loud to himself, 'I made him really mad this time...I hurt him. Big.' he hugs himself after saying that mentally. 'I ran his patience out. I ran Deanie's patience with me out...' he goes on.

Several more minutes, he found a spot under a lonely tree in the middle of a field by the side of the road he was walking beside of. He immediately willed himself to run towards it to take shelter under its shade. As he sat there, all shrugged in his jacket--that's when he started to feel cold.

Everything was scorching hot around him but he was feeling cold from out of nowhere. He decided to call Dean's phone again; the worry, fear and feeling of extreme disappointment towards himself inside him, have somehow managed to cloud his judgement; making him totally not think of resorting to call anybody else but those two means for him to connect to Dean--the older boy's phone and the landline.

It slipped from his head calling his other brothers' phone.

There was ringing. Again several of it. He waited. And waited. But still nothing. No Dean picking up on the other end.

"Please pick up, Deanie?" Sam sulks as he pleaded on the phone as it rang on the other end, his hands clinging onto the phone as if for dear life just then. "Please, Deanie? Please pick up..."

Nothing.

"I had to do what I did, Dean..." Sam says sadly as he takes the phone from his ear and just held on to it. He still got no response--just constant ringing at the other end. After awhile, that's when Sam decidedly cut the call. And instead of flipping his phone shut, from out of nowhere, he breaks his flip top unit in two before he flung it as far as he could.

'He doesn't want me anymore...' Sam says. '...Dean doesn't want me anymore...'he weeps bitterly, "...he doesn't want me anymore..."

Chapter Two:

Sam had somehow drifted to sleep after exhaustion, hunger and parchness took him over. And that is all on top of the worry, fear and self-loathing he was doing since he was whisked from the confines of him and brought to that place which was in the middle of nowhere. He hasn't drifted for that long when he heard movement around him.

When his eyes opened, his brown pair found that he wasn't alone anymore. He was in the presence of unfamiliar looking individuals. All guys. Big guys. Guys that are most probably his big brother Dean's age or older--only bigger. There was one on either side of him and a couple more just basically around nearby, goofing off with each other.

Just then, Sam felt the one to his left nudge him on the side; he's the smaller one in the group.

The kid turns to him warily.

"You a runaway or somethin'?" the guy asks him. Sam shook his head reluctantly. "You don't look like you're from around here."

"I'm not..." Sam's voice trails off.

"Yeah, he looks like one of those spoiled trust fund babies-type too." one of the two boys who are just messing around with each other in front of them says.

The one on Sam's right, reaches in to check the brand on the kid's jacket on the collar; making the littlest Winchester squirm away from the unfamiliar contact and touch. After getting a whip of the brand tag, the boy shrugs.

"I knew it!" he announces. "He is not from around here, guys. Cause I sure don't know of anybody from around here who wears this brand!"

"Where are you from, kiddo?" another one asks him. Sam looks up to the one who was talking to him at the moment.

"Why do you want to know?" Sam bats.

"Oooh, fiesty lil critter!" the one on Sam's left scoffs, "Kind'a like that kid in PruMonte, remember guys? Lil Marky-Mark?"

The rest of the newcomers recall the inside memory that was referred too and they get a laugh out; Sam however could only feel his insides turning. He was scared; even more than he was already before. He was thinking of getting up and running away. He knows he's a fast runner, he could get away from there guys easy. The kid could tell that he could outrun them because he has the advantage in weight somehow. Only his eyes caught their jeep pulled over a few feet away. Should he try to run off, he's going to be caught soon enough or killed. All they need to do is get on the vehicle and pick; either to drive after him or run him over.

Sam's mind immediately went to his Deanie. He was thinking of how his big brother could easily down these guys with no hitch whatsoever. No matter how big they are, it would not be a problem with the middle brother. Not even if a gun was involved. It will not even be a question whether Dean would engage or not; since whenever his Sammy is involved, he would always and always stand up for the kid. Doesn't even matter who's there to confront with. He'll stand up for Sam, no matter what; to whoever is threatening him.

Now if only his Deanie was around.

And if only he still cared; since at the moment, Sam is pretty much convinced that his Deanie is too disappointed to even take his call or say the elusive words 'I love you' back.

"So what happened to you, kid?" the smaller one in the group interrupts the kid's thought process just then. "What brought you here in the middle of nowhere? And by yourself no less?" he offers a hand to Sam. "By the way, the name's Trip." the littlest Winchester looks at the boy's hand and then he warily met that same boy's eyes. When Sam doesn't return the gesture, he ignores it anyways but thought nothing of it."These are my big brothers." he went on in reference to the other boys with him, "That's Chuck..." he juts his chin to the one sitting next to Sam.

"Hey-" the one named Chuck nods at Sam. The kid just looks at him, but doesn't even give out a nod. And then Trip gestures for the other two in front of them to come over, and they did.

"These are Ike--and the other one's Harry!" Trip says.

"I'm Harry!" the biggest of the group offers his hand to Sam, but just like Trip earlier, Sam doesn't extend a hand. But they didn't seem to mind. Somehow, they get where the kid was coming from. And that is even without the need for communication with each other anymore. At all. They just understand each other and the kid.

"What's your name?" the one named Ike says.

"Dean." Sam says. "My name's Dean Whitfield."

"Nice to meet you Dean." Harry says.

"So, Dean..." Trip says, "...did your ride break down somewhere?" Trip asks.

"Uh...no. Not really." Sam says.

"How did you get here then?"Ike asks again, "Did you actually run away?"

Sam sighs heavily while hugging himself. "I d-don't know how I got here..." he says softly. "...the last thing I remember was that me and my big brother were sort of arguing really bad and...then...then the next thing was I'm here..." he says sadly. "...I don't even know where I am."

"You're in Dexter, Dean." Trip says.

Sam turns to him, "W-where's Dexter?"

"Near Brensville." Trip replies, then he quickly adds after studying Sam's reaction to his response, "You don't have any idea where that is either, do you?"

Sam shakes his head.

"Where are you from, Dean?" Harry asks. "If you don't mind my asking..."

"The Lincoln Plains." Sam says. The brothers after hearing that, toss each other unsure gazes.

"So, let me get this straight, Dean..." Trip starts, "...you and your big brother were arguing at one point and then the next thing you know you're here? In Dexter?"

Sam nods innocently.

"When was that?" Chuck asks, "I mean, when you and your big brother--"

"An hour ago..."

"Mmhm?" Chuck says, "And your big brother was with you in the Plains?"

"Yes, sir." Sam replies.

"Are you sure, Dean? I mean, are you really? Cause that is just not possible." Chuck says.

Sam looks at him with a question in his eyes; Trip tugs at the kid's arm, making Sam crane his neck to face him.

"Dean, you must have hit your head or something?" he says, "Cause there is just no way that what you said is a possibility."

"Dean," Ike says, the kid turns to him,"...you're a couple of towns away from the Lincoln Plains, kiddo."

"Two towns away..." Sam says.

"Yeah." Trip says.

--

Dean is standing in the window, looking out. He hasn't spoken a single word to anybody since Sam was taken and he told them what he saw that took the kid. Everybody has tried everything to get him to talk, but he just wouldn't. Sonja and the rest are in the den talking about what had just happened. It took Mary and Margha's help for them to figure out just exactly what it was that did happen and who took the twins.

Brandon found a spot next to his best friend and gave him a squeeze on the shoulder; but even that doesn't budge Dean. He just kept staring outside the window. As Brandon was about to walk away, that's when he saw the teardrop that fell from the Winchester boy's eyes.

"Dean, they're going to do it, you know?" Brandon says, "You just have to have faith here, man. Give those two more credit than that, okay? They're finding their way to each other, Dean. And then they're coming back home together real soon, you'll see."

"I hit him..." Dean says with a raspy voice. "... I f***in' hit my baby brother, B. He had just been hurting like hell and I lay a hand on him. I mean who does that but me, huh?" he says resentfully of himself with a bitter smirk, "I should just, I don't know get punished or something for being an ass! There should be a law against big brothers who hurt their little brothers, B..."

"Well there isn't, Dean."

"There should be."

"Dean, listen..."

"No--" Dean brushes past his best friend as he walks to the door with B right behind him; everybody turns to their direction.

"Dean, where are you going?" Pierce asks as he himself gets up from beside Sonja and JW on the long couch. He walks around to where his brother and the Mac boy are.

"I'm going to try and do something to help them.." Dean says, "..I can't just sit around and wait..."

"Dean, you can't help them. " Sonja says, calling out from the den. "They have to find each other on their own."

"They're kids, Sonja!" Dean says, "And Sammy--" he starts to break momentarily but quickly got his bearing back, it actually made his brothers sore. And his dad."--that kid..." he says, "...my baby gets lost in this house more often than I do. How the hell would he know where to go find Jake? How would he even know where to start? And two days? We have to wait for two days before we could see them again?"

"Dean..." Sonja starts but Dean cuts her in by turning towards the door.

"I can't wait that long...I'm not gon'na." Dean says before eventually heading out with Brandon.

--

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Jake is by the payphone outside of the cafe. After he found out from Theresa where he was, he immediately knew how far he was from the Lincoln Plains; being a big geography buff that he is. He knew he should call home automatically, but since he knew that Ike Anderson, his foster dad has a business nearby--a town outside of where he was, he decided to make a judgment call and contact him.

KKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTTTTT

It rang again, Isaac's private line. Jake was getting impatient as he counted the rings. After the fifth one, he was rewarded with the senior Anderson's familiar warm welcoming voice on the other end of the call; who at the sound of Jake's initial introduction, was more than ecstatic to hear from him. And it showed in his voice too. Jake can't help but feel his heart go to his foster dad.

"I've missed you too, daddy." Jake says, and then he starts to sniffle.

"Jacob, son...what's the problem?" Ike asks in concern at the reaction from Jake. "Is there anything you want to tell me? Need for me to do? Do you need daddy to fly over to you--"

"Dad, I actually need for you to do that." Jake says, "I need you to get me home."

"Jake, is there a problem at home? What is it?" as he was talking, Ike was at the same time calling for his secretary and having her get his private jet ready. "Is it your brothers? John?"

"No, daddy. It's not about them..." Jake says, "I want to tell you about it so bad, but it's more complicated this time than before..."

"I'll be there in a few minutes, son. Just wait for daddy, okay?" Ike says.

"Uh, dad...I'm actually not in the Plains at the moment. Which is why I need you to pick me up and get me back home." Jake says.

"Jake, where are you exactly?"

"I'm in Brensville, dad."

There were a few minutes of silence on Ike's end before he spoke again.

"Son, did you run away again? I thought you gave me your word about not doing this again..."

"Daddy, I didn't run away." Jake says, "Remember I said it's more complicated somehow? Than before? It actually is."

"Jake--"

"Daddy, I was at the hospital one minute, recuperating. The next thing was I woke up at the back of Luke's truck. That's what happened, dad. I didn't run away, believe me? Besides, why would I want to run away when my life is back in the Plains, dad?" he goes on, "My baby's there, dad. I would never leave him."

"I believe you, son." Ike says, "I'll be right there, okay? Jarod and I will meet you there in 20 minutes."

"Thanks, daddy."

After the call from Jake, Isaac Anderson decided to place a call to the Winchesters. But then he got the same response from Sam. A big deafening blank. Meanwhile, Jake, after the call to Ike, places another call somehow. This time to Sam's number. He got ringing. As he waited to hear Sam's voice, Jake was actually waiting with bated breath. He knew they were not supposed to see each other, but he never got the order to not talk to him.

KKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRTTTTT

"Come on, baby? Pick up...pick up..."

Three rings, and...

"Hello..." came the introduction. It was an unfamiliar voice, answering his baby twin's cellphone. Jake's breath caught. He had to actually check the number he dialed just then. "...Dean's cellphone...who's this?" came the voice again.

"No, this isn't Dean's cellphone. This is Sam's I'm calling. Who are you? Why do you have my baby brother's phone?" Jake's brows arched on his forehead. "Why do you have Sam's phone? Who are you?"

"I asked first, kid. Who's this?"

"This is Jacob!" Jake angrily spat. "Why do you have my baby brother's phone? What have you done?"

There was muffled voices in the background before Jake was able to make out one distinct voice in the midst of the unfamiliar ones. His breath caught again; but this time, it was because he was happy. Happy to hear that particular voice in the background.

"J-jakey?"

The tears automatically streamed down his face after he heard Sam's voice.

"Baby...oh god, Sam...it is so good to hear your voice..." Jake says, "...I've missed you so much. I really really have."

"I've missed you too, Jakey...I really have. And it really hurts." Sam starts to sniffle, Jake can't help but feel his heart clench after hearing that from Sam."I wanted to see you, but they said I can't do that cause we're going to die..."

"I know, Sam. They told me that too..." Jake says sadly. "

"Jake,"

"Yeah, Sam..."

"Dean is mad at me..."

"What? Why?"

"I used my ability when he told me not to." Sam says, the kid is by the brothers' jeep, curled up into a ball as he talked to Jake using Trip's unit with his sim in it. Trip and his brothers meanwhile are a few feet away; they wanted to give Sam privacy somehow.

"Baby, why did you?" Jake says, "I thought we were not supposed to use? We were being punished, remember?"

"Brandon was in trouble, Jake." Sam says, his voice trailing off, "I had to. Dean was going to go after the guy who took B and he could have gotten hurt and I didn't want to lose Dean again like the last time cause that just hurt so bad that I had to do use my ability to help..."

"Brandon was taken?" Jake asks, "By who, Sam?"

"It's not important, Jake..."

"Dean can't blame you, Sam..."

"He's disappointed with me..." Sam says sadly, "...you should've seen the look on his face when he looked at me, Jakey..." he goes on, "...he didn't even say he loves me back..."

"Sam, just cause Dean didn't say it back it don't mean he doesn't, okay?" Jake says, "That guy would go to hell and back for you!"

"I called...I called him, Jake--he didn't pick up..." Sam says. "...he doesn't want me anymore."

"Sam, that's crap, you hear?" Jake says, "How can Dean not want you? You're that guy's life in case you forget? His phone is probably in vibrate or silent or something...besides, you can just look for him? I'm sure he's just nearby...you know he wouldn't be anywhere far when you're there. How big can the house get anyways, baby?"

"I'm not at home, Jake."

Jake's breath caught after hearing that; for the fifth time that hour alone. He was dreading Sam's response somehow. When he woke up in Luke's truck earlier, it never really crossed his mind that his baby twin would be sharing the same predicament as he is.

"Sam, please tell me you just took a stroll somehow?" Jake says, "Please?"

"Jakey, something took me away from home..."

"Oh god, Sam..." Jake gasps, he actually felt his knees buckle from under him. He finds himself curled up to the phone booth floor after hearing Sam's response. "...not you too..."

"W-wait..." Sam's breathing hitched, "...you were snatched away too?"

"I was, Sam..."

"Are you okay?" Sam asks in concern, "You're not supposed to be out of the hospital yet...oh god, Jake...oh god..." the kid starts to ramble on the other end of the call, making the brothers who are nearby watching him and waiting dart towards him in concern. Jake heard them in the background talking to Sam. He heard Sam tell him he's okay. They back off.

"Baby...baby... who's with you? Who are they?" Jake asks. "Who was the guy who answered the call earlier?"

"That was Trip, Jakey."

"Who's he?" Jake's brows arched on his forehead. "What was he doing with your phone?"

"I had to use his phone cause I broke mine..." Sam says, "...he and his brothers pulled up alongside the road when they say me...to--to check on me."

"Roadside..." Jake gasps, "...hitch hiking, Sam? Oh god, baby..."

"I woke up in the middle of nowhere, Jake." Sam says, "They pulled up, what was I supposed to do? And it wasn't like I pulled them over, they pulled over on their own..."

"Sam, you don't even know these people..." Jake worried says.

"They offered to drive me home, Jake."

"Sam, you can't ride with people you don't know, okay?" Jake says, "Use your porting to get home..."

"I can't..."

"What do you mean you can't?"

"I can't port, Jake..."

"Why not?"

"It won't work..." Sam says sadly, "...I've tried but it won't work..."

"Alright, just--just don't go anywhere with these guys, okay, Sam? I'll get to you somehow, okay?" Jake says, "Where are you?"

"I'm in--"

Just as Sam was about to respond to that, that's when a piercing noise came in from the phones the twins were using. And then there was silence. When Jake tried to call Sam back, he couldn't connect with him anymore.

'Sam...' Jake sat in distress mode on the phone booth floor; hands fisted onto his hair in frustration.

--

As Dean was headed to get the mustang out of the garage, something was pulling him to dig for his pocket to check on his phone. He didn't mind it at first, but after awhile, he does do it. He digs it out. His eyes widened at the missed calls reflected on the screen.

He even got a lonely text message from Sam.

'Dean, I just don't think I'd have it in me anymore to go through losing you like the last time. I hurt you and I made you think that what you say don't matter to me anymore...I'm sorry for that. It's not true, Dean. I'm sorry for everything, i hope you don't stop--'

And then it stops there. Dean's breathing stopped.

'Stop what, Sam?' he questions, and then he scolds himself over and over for having his phone on silent and missing Sam's calls. The next thing that happened, he is pulling the mustang out of there with Brandon riding shotgun and Pierce on the backseat.

'You don't want me to stop what, baby?' Dean asks in his head. 'Loving you kiddo? Cause if that's what you were going for--it's not even a question, princess!' he revs the engine, "That's never gon'na happen, Sammy!" he declares out loud, making Pierce meet Brandon's eyes on the rearview mirror up front.

--

Sam is about to walk over to the brothers when he heard the phone ring in his hand. Reading the screen, his heart actually skipped a beat. On the screen, read 'Deanie'. The kid quickly takes the call.

"Deanie?"

"Baby..."

Chapter Three:

Sam almost drops the phone after reading Dean’s name on the screen. For almost half the day he has managed to convince himself that his big brother doesn’t want anything to do with him anymore; not after what he did, which came out to Dean as big time subordination against him from his end.

Even if Sam and Jake aren’t like any helpless ordinary teenagers when things call for it; not since they were introduced to their extraordinary abilities; for Dean, they are always going to be his little brothers; hence they are his’ and the other older boys’ responsibilities to take care of. So when Sam did what he did—go around and save Brandon, behind his big brother's back after Dean specifically told him to stay put—Dean saw that as nothing else but Sam’s disrespect towards him.

The middle brother overlooked the selflessness behind the kid’s actions due to the concern and worry. Dean neglected to read behind what Sam’s actions were really all about; and that was to keep him safe and be both a brother and friend to both him and Brandon respectively in a time of need. He was just pulling his own end of the rope to help out; which he seldom gets to do since they all do not allow him to.

When the kid does read the name on the screen, he felt his spirit lift. All the feeling of depression, frustration, fear and worry—seemingly all faded into the background after his eyes landed on that particular name flashing on the phone screen.

‘Deanie’

He wasn’t even going to mind should Dean start to yell at him or cuss at him the second he picked the call up; Sam was going to so willingly accept that. If only for him to know through that call that Dean still cares about him enough to bother to make the call.

“Baby…”

When Dean called him by the moniker, Sam may be feeling tears running down the sides of his face, but they were that of joy; his Deanie still cares; he still loves him. That moniker alone sealed it. Oblivious to Sam, Dean was thinking the same way. The minute Sam called him by the title that only the kid is allowed to call him by--he could not help but feel the same way that Sam did; both brothers are being filled with an overwhelming extreme sense of gratefulness to still be allowed to call each other their terms of endearment.

It took several minutes before either of the brothers was able to utter another word other than saying their respective titles to each other. After a deafening silence overtook them for that amount of time, the older of the two decidedly chose to break the ice first. As he was dividing his attention between talking to Sam and focusing on the road ahead as he drove, Dean was silently crying as well. Brandon and Pierce who are both witnesses to this, cannot help but shake their heads in distraught. They very well share the same emotions the boy behind the wheel was feeling at the moment.

"Baby...I'm sorry..." Dean finally says. "...I'm really sorry, Sammy..."

"Dean, no." Sam replies.

“No?” Dean felt a pang hit him after hearing Sam say that. Just as he would have started to question that further, Sam beats him to it.

"Deanie, right now, I just want to go home so bad. And you don't need to apologize to me for anything. Cause you didn't do anything wrong...you just did what you had to do and I just did the same thing. I did what I had to do too." the kid says in between sniffles. At the moment, he is back to the rear end of the jeep belonging to the brothers from Dexter.

"Sammy, the second I get you back--" he tosses the other two boys in the vehicle with him a sidelong glance, "--we get you back, you can take a swing at me all you want, you hear? And I won't take no for an answer, baby. You really have to hit me."

"Wow that sounds inviting enough!” Pierce voices out, “Is there anyway I can sign up for that too, somehow?" he goes on to say.

“Ugh??” Brandon gasps indignantly at Pierce; coupled with a ‘you have a death wish’ look.

“What?” Pierce bats innocently as he sat back in his seat.

But fortunately enough that remark from Pierce didn’t result the outcome that Brandon feared. Instead, what he did broke the tension somehow; it made both Sam and Dean snicker. The Mac boy earlier had been so sure that that had owned Pierce a punch from Dean, only that was not the case at all. It made Brandon see a change in his best friend somehow; a good change. Even if it’s only for that instance, Brandon was still glad to have known that Dean was capable of it.

The vehicle pulls over and the middle brother turns to Pierce, still holding the phone to his ear.

"Sam says 'no'." Dean relays the message, "Sorry, buddy!" he gives his brother a pat on the knee. "Baby gets dibs on the 'Let's slug Dean fest.'"

"I figured." Pierce says. "Worth the shot asking anyways!"

"Is Sam okay, Dean?" Brandon cuts in. "Where is he anyways?"

Dean, after taking those cues from Brandon turns his focus back onto Sam.

"Baby..." he starts, "...where are you at?"

"Dean...I'm two towns away. I think it's Dexland...something. I forget." Sam says. "I'll ask the guys, Deanie. They're from here...they'll know the name of the place I'm at…wait..." he pulls the phone away from his ear and looks up at Trip who came over after Sam, as politely as he could calls him over to where he was.

"Sam, wait!" Dean calls out to Sam, but the kid had already pulled the phone away from his ear. 'Guys?' he groans, 'What guys?'

"What's up, kid?" came Trip's intro. Dean, after hearing another voice on the background; and unfamiliar at that--it raised some concerns on his end; hearing somebody else being there with his baby brother, not only did it concern him. From out of nowhere, he suddenly felt insanely jealous. And to top that up—he was scared. Should this guy Sam is with right now turn out to be a baddie—he’s too far to do anything about it. And Sam just mentioned 'guys'; hence it meant more than one 'could-be threats'.

--

Kel is at the porch, sitting up the top step. Ericka and Allison just arrived earlier with Brandon after the Mac boy picked them up from the hospital. Allison, as she got off the cab after Ericka and saw Kel where he was--she suddenly felt nostalgic. And it wasn't the good one.

'Kel...' she mutters to herself.

It was as if it was just yesterday that she'd seen the older boy around Sam back at Aaron's house in the Valley. She clearly remembers the same boy being a big meanie to the littlest Winchester. It made her groan inside and clench her fists to her sides, somehow. And if it had not been for Ericka who took her by the hand; and for Brandon who nodded at the two of them to start walking--she would not even have started towards the house at all.

The Winchester boy caught the girl looking at her; he breaks the connection first.

--

"Uh--" Sam starts,"...my big brother wants to know where I am. What's this place called again?" Sam asks. "Was it Dexland?"

"Dexter, kiddo." Trip replies, "We're in Dexter."

Dean, on the other end of the call—wanted to so much to be there with Sam, but since he couldn't--he just had to make-do with eavesdropping at the moment. But not without gripping onto the phone and the steering wheel harder than he already was doing earlier.

"What's going on, Dean?" Brandon asks, but Dean ignores him.

‘Sam, what did I tell you about talking to strangers, baby? Damn it!’ he growls mentally as he grips the phone and the wheel even tighter; ‘And Trip?' he scoffs, 'What loser is named Trip anyways?'

Pierce and Brandon noticed this and could just catch each other’s gazes before turning to Dean; who at the moment is staring murderously ahead—at the road.

Trip leans against the jeep next to Sam.

"Near Brensville, Dean." Trip added, "So is that your big brother?" he refers to the call Sam is on at the moment.

‘Dean?’ Dean heard the unfamiliar voice refer to his baby using his name. ‘Did he just call him…Dean?’

"Yeah, it's him." Sam replies, popping Dean’s thought bubble just then. “It’s my big brother...Sam.”

Dean’s brows rose, ‘Did baby just call me ‘Sam?’

"Oh. So it means you're good now huh?" Trip says, "He called you--so it ought to be, right?"

Dean, hearing the conversation between his Sammy and this guy made his ears warm; ‘Who the f*** is this guy? And what is he doing being all chummy with my baby?’

“Dean, are you alright, man?” Brandon nudges his best friend this time with the question, but still he got no response. Dean was far too caught up eavesdropping on Sam and Trip to even hear Brandon at the moment.

Sam nods and smiles warmly. Chuck who was with the rest of the brothers--under the tree flings a seedling at their brother, hitting him on the arm. That made both him and Sam look up towards their direction.

"Doofus, give the kid some privacy will yah?" the older boy calls out; Trip turns to Sam and grins wryly.

"Oh, right." he says, scratching his head while getting off leaning against the jeep, "Just call me if you need me for anything again, kid?"

"I will, thank you." Sam says as he watched Trip walk away. And then he goes back to talking to Dean, who at the moment is sporting a major scrunched-up brow and curled-up upper lip; which are all unknown to Sam but not to the two boys in the mustang with Dean. "I'm in Dexter, Dean."

"Sammy, who the hell was that?" he began, "Who was that huh, Sam? Tell me. Tell me who that was?" Dean asks Sam curtly. "Tell me. Right now!"

“I bet he would if you stopped talking for a second and let him!” Brandon interjects, that owned him a glare from Dean. He holds up both hands in mid-air in mock surrender. “Just pointing out the obvious…”

Pierce leans forwards in his seat. "Sam's not by himself?" he asks. Dean ignores his brother and Brandon when he saw his best friend about to say something again. Sam meanwhile, heard Pierce in the background and answers for Dean.

“That was Trip, Deanie.” Sam says, “He and his big brothers found me where I was. They’re from around here.”

‘Damn it!' Dean inwardly groans, “Brothers, huh?” he asks Sam. Pierce and Brandon after hearing this can’t help but smirk at the look Dean was wearing on his face.

“There’s Trip, his big brothers Chuck, Ike and Harry…”Sam says.

“So he's your hero now, huh?" Dean says petulantly,

“What do you mean Dean?”Sam asks innocently, “Who is?”

“Dean, what are you doing?” Brandon can’t help but cut in; Dean punches him on the knee for it.

"This Trip guy?” Dean spat on the phone as he resumes talking to Sam while giving B an angry stink eye; "He's like you're big hero and what not now, huh, Sam? Is that it?"

Sam, instead of getting scared to that response from Dean right there, instead found himself smiling warmly and happily. He doesn't say anything right away; he just allowed Dean to ramble and get it out of his system first; whatever it was.

"And you’re ‘Dean’ now too, Sammy?” Dean asks further, “You're Dean and I'm Sam?" he goes on to ramble, "What’s going on back there, Sammy?”

“Dean." Sam starts.

"What?" Dean growls.

"You're still my hero. That will never change." Sam says, making Dean's cheek warm-up.

"Yeah well..." he says petulantly.

"Whitfield, Deanie…" Sam spoke again, "...I told them I was Dean Whitfield.”

“That’s real cute, Sam. And I am flattered that you’d use my name to pass up as yours…what want to know more about is who this Trick person is and who his brothers are?”

“Trip, Dean.” Sam corrected, “His name is Trip.”

“Not helping Sam.” Dean snaps.

"Dean, they seem to be okay.” Sam says while watching the brothers from Dexter from afar; basically doing nothing but goof around each other—just like what Sam remembers his big brothers would do back home. "Especially Trip, Dean. He’s like you.”

“Mmhm.” Dean says, “Well don’t get too attached, Sammy. Cause when we get there, the original big brother is getting you back!”

“Dean, they’re just helping me out.” Sam says, “I wasn’t planning on replacing you with him.”

“You’d better not!” Dean says petulantly. Sam could just chuckle. Much much later, in a more serious note, "Baby, I know you only got two days but it's going to be okay. When we get there we're helping you find him."

"Dean, you said it yourself..me and Jake? We need to do this on our own...it won't work if we got help." Sam says quietly.

"Sam, we're riding shotgun the whole time, don't worry." Dean says. "It's not breaking any rules whatsoever, don't worry?"

"Does that mean you're going to be with me the whole way, Deanie?" Sam asks hopefully.

"You bet your ass, baby!" Dean says definitively. "So I'll see you in a couple of hours alright, baby. Or sooner."

Minutes later, after Dean has wrapped up the call with his baby and they have turned around to head back home to report the news to the rest of the family; that's when the silence was broken in the mustang.

"You're asking Sonja's help, Dean?" Pierce asks from the backseat.

"We have to." Dean answers his brother. "Something doesn't feel right about those brothers from Dexter somehow..." his voice trails off.

--

Middle of nowhere, in Dexter.

Sam is tying his shoelaces after the call from Dean; the phone is safely tucked in his jacket pocket. When he looks up and was about to head back to the brothers from Dexter, that's when he noticed something off somehow. They aren't goofing around anymore this time. Instead at the moment, the four brothers are standing under the tree, facing Sam's direction; and they have on their faces--serious looks that not only weirded out Sam, but actually scared him.

Their eyes were nothing but black.

He starts to step back. Seconds later, Sam finds himself scrambling to get behind the wheel of the jeep and driving away from there as fast as he could. When the kid's eyes caught the brothers' on the rearview mirror as he was driving away--he found them to have remained immobile on their spot; right under the tree.

'What the hell was that?' Sam says over and over to himself in his head. 'What the hell was that?'