Time to Be a Kid Again (Book 3)

Chapter One

Sam sat in the den in the big comfy Lay Z Boy chair reading a book. It was 8am and the entire bunker was quiet. As much as he loved his family, he also enjoyed these moments of silence. Unfortunately they never lasted long though. Around 8:15 Dean came stumbling in with a cup of coffee in his hand.

"Mornin' Sammy" He said in a gruff voice still filled with sleep.

"Morning Dean" Sam responded peeking at him over the top of his book. Dean sat down on the couch and picked up the paper. Knowing he had a few more moments of silence before Dean got woke up, Sam returned to his book.

Finally Dean laid the paper down and looked at Sam.
"Whatcha readin'?" Dean asked.

"A Game of Thrones" Sam said, again peeking at Dean over the top of the book. Dean smirked.

"Really? Such a nerd." Dean teased.

Sam rolled his eyes and laid the book down on the end table beside the chair, giving up on reading for the day.

"Jerk" Sam said

"Bitch" Dean responded, with a hint of joy in his eyes.

Sam rolled his eyes.

"Find anything of interest in the paper?" Sam asked.

"Nope, nothing that screams monster anyways" Dean said, "How about you? I assume you've already scoured the internet this morning?"

"Yep. Not a thing. Things appear to be quiet" Sam said.

Dean nodded and sat there with a thoughtful look on his face. Sam waited for Dean to work through whatever was on his mind. Finally Dean spoke.

"Has Jo seemed different to you lately? You know, since...Lucifer?"

"Yeah. Of course she does. She went through a traumatic event." Sam said.

"Yeah I know. I'm worried about her." Dean replied. Sam nodded.

It had been six months since Lucifer had kidnapped her, and Jo had been more withdrawn and quiet since it had happened. No longer arguing with her Father about going on hunts, no longer happy and smiling. She spent most of her time in her room.

"We've got to do something to pull her out of it." Dean said.

"Their birthday is coming up in a couple weeks. Maybe we could have a birthday party for them." Sam said.

"Tell you what, you work on putting that together, I need to run an errand" Dean said. Sam cocked an eyebrow at him. Dean just grinned, and headed for the stairs.

"What are you up to, Dean?" Sam called to him.

Dean chuckled, "You'll see!" He called back, and Sam heard the door close as Dean left.

Sam got up from the chair and walked through the Library, heading for the kitchen. He found Bobby sitting at one of the tables, cup of coffee sitting next to his laptop, which sat open as he scrolled through something. A serious look was plastered on his young face, a face that looked so much like Dean when he was that age. Sam stopped and walked over to him.

"Hey Bobby, what's up?" Sam asked. Bobby jerked his head up and looked at Sam as if surprised.

"Oh, hey Uncle Sam. Did you and Dad notice that there have been men going missing right here in town?" He asked.

"What? No! Let me see that!" Sam said. Sam spun the computer around so he could see it. Sure enough, Bobby had found some articles that somehow he himself had missed. Five men had recently vanished right there in Lebanon, Kansas.

Sam's eyes went wide as he continued to read. These men were fit and muscular, all around the age of 40, and all looked eerily similar to Dean. Sam's heart began to thud, and worry began to creep in. He looked at Bobby.

"Your Dad just left, and I think he might be in danger." He told him. Sam pulled out his phone and dialed Dean's number. Dean answered on the second ring.

"What's up?" Dean answered.

"Dean, thank God!" Sam said.

"What's wrong Sam?" Dean asked, immediately picking up on his brother's tone.

"Bobby found some articles I missed in my search this morning. Five men have gone missing in town, looks like they left their homes, and vanished without a trace. All were around the same age as you, all of them look a lot like you." Sam explained.

"So...you thought, what? That I'd been kidnapped? C'mon Sammy, you should know better than that!" Dean laughed at his younger brother.

"What even makes you think this is our thing?" Dean asked.

"Dean, they vanished. They're just gone." Sam insisted.

"Yeah, but they could have decided to just up and leave" Dean said.

"They left their cars behind, Dean. At home." Sam argued. Dean went silent.

"Dean?" Sam said, feeling anxious.

"Yeah Sam, I'm here. We can look into it if you want, but I don't think we're going to find anything." Dean said begrudgingly.

"Alright, see you when you get back, just...be careful" Sam said.

"Yeah yeah" Dean said, and hung up.

Sam turned to Bobby, "I'm going to go talk to some of the relatives and the police. Keep looking into it, and let me know if you come across anything else. It may be nothing, but something doesn't feel right to me."

Sam turned to leave, then stopped. "Oh, Bobby...don't let your sister sleep all day. Maybe try to get her to come out of her room." Sam said with a worried half smile on his face.

"Okay" Bobby said with a nod. Sam nodded back and headed for the stairs to the garage.