hello again everyone. here is my newest story. this story follows the evens of 'something lost' and 'eternal' and is part of the something lost series, which means it features kerri. you dont have to read the others to understand this one, but if you end up liking kerri, there are many more tales to enjoy. :)

D: I own nothing, this is all just for fun.

NOT ALL AS IS SEEMS

Chapter 1

The leaves swayed slightly in the gentle breeze, shadows moving through the dense underbrush of the dark forest, twigs snapping here and there. The thick canopy above cast an eerie light over the forest floor, a subtle green glow illuminating the overgrown landscape, shinning down through the leaves, making the sunlight sparkle like bits of jade. It was serene and quiet, the air hanging thick and heavy, thousands of wildflowers sending a sweet perfume through the trees. The deep silence was broken a few moments later, however, by the sound of ever nearing voices and heavy footfalls.

"Dude, you ever hear of a little thing called stealth?"

"Dude, you ever hear of a little thing called, shut your face."

"Nice come back."

"Sam, this hunt's a bust, can we just go?"

"This hunt was your idea. Besides, another couple was killed last night, same M.O. Camped here, six days later, they turned up dead."

"Well hiking all over god's green earth really isn't helping. And, as I recall, camping was not my idea."

"Searching their homes didn't turn up anything. Interviewing their neighbors didn't work. Scouring their pasts gave us a big fat nothing. So tell me, what else did you expect to do?"

"I hate camping." Dean mumbled, pushing ahead of his little brother.

"We're not camping, Dean, we're hiking."

"Same difference. We're still traipsing around the woods."

"Well, anything we may have found was probably scared off by your thunder steps."

"I'm just walking."

"You're stomping."

"Am not."

"Are too, and now you're whining."

"I don't whine."

"Shut up." Sam broke in suddenly, straining his ears to the forest around them.

"You shut up."

"I mean it, be quiet, I think I heard something."

"Sure thing, Spiddy."

Both brothers stood still and silent, waiting, ears and eyes strained, searching the green space around them. And, as Sam listened, he noticed something disturbing. Nothing. There were no birds, no crickets, not even mice, the forest was completely and utterly empty. But he was still sure he had heard something, positive that there had been something in the forest besides them. He scanned the dark area again, his sharp eyes taking in every shadow, studying every ray of light. He was just about to chalk it up to his imagination, when it happened again.

Sam looked over to Dean, his brother's senses kicking in instantly, green eyes scanning the dark forest around them, right hand moving for his gun. They both moved slowly towards the source of the noise, a small bush rattling and shaking so slightly, it was almost imperceptible, an odd sound rising up from the foliage. It was a stranger mixture of rustling and whimpering, the sound so faint that Sam was amazed he heard it in the first place.

Sam inched closer to the shrub, Dean taking point as he peered in to the small, quivering mass of leaves. The strange noise grew steadily louder as he approached, his senses all on high alert, ready for whatever may be hiding in the dense undergrowth of the forest. But, the moment he pulled back the leafy branches, his heart jumped up into his throat. Because there before him, sitting on the muddy ground, was a small child, and the very last thing he had expected to see.

"Sam, what is it?" Dean's voice broke through the deafening silence that had descended upon Sam when he saw the boy.

"It's a kid."

"A kid what?"

"What do you mean 'a kid what'? A kid."

"Holy crap." Dean breathed, inching closer and eyeing the child.

"Num?" The little boy sniffed, chewing on his small fingers, his big blue eyes shifting between the brothers. "Num, num?"

"What are you doing?" Dean asked as Sam kneeled, still smiling at the terrified child.

"I think he's hungry."

"Yeah, and?"

"And, I'm going to give him some crackers." Sam stated, rummaging through his back pack.

"You have crackers?"

"Yeah, can we focus here?"

"Whatever." Dean mumbled, grabbing a peanut butter cracker and throwing it in his mouth.

Sam just rolled his eyes, holding another of the cracker sandwiches out to the timid child. The little boy's eyes slid between the cracker and Dean before he reached out, tossing the entire snack into his mouth just as Dean had.

"Whoa, kid, not so fast." Sam jumped forward when the boy began to cough, trying to get some of the cracker out of his mouth before he chocked. But despite his close call, the boy still chewed on the snack, most of the cracker falling to to the ground.

"Way to go, Dean."

"Hey, I never told him to follow my example." Dean defended, bits of crackers falling from his mouth as well.

"Num." The baby began again, standing and pushing Sam's hand away, completely content to rummage around the back pack on his own. He smiled a moment later, pulling a water bottle from the bag in triumph. He then leaned back against Sam and, much to the younger Winchester's dismay, placed his entire spit and cracker soaked mouth over the top of the bottle and drank.

"Dude, you're like the big friendly giant." Dean mused, taking a sip from his spit free water bottle.

Sam just shook his head, grabbing the bag of crackers and securing the water bottle to the side of his pack before slinging it over his shoulders. He then scooped up the kid, following his brother out of the forest as the little boy continued to munch happily on the crackers.

They walked on like that for the better part of an hour, the boy periodically asking Sam for 'num, num' and 'ba,ba'. Dean snickered ahead of them, glancing back at the awkward pair, the front of Sam's shirt covered with a gross looking mixture of water, drool and cracker crumbs.

They had entered the forest in search of a spirit, but they came out with a child and a hell of a lot more questions. By the looks of the baby Sam guessed that he had been missing for at least a day, maybe more. But there was nothing about it on the news, no search parties combing the area, and that was something that Sam just didn't understand. After all, the kid couldn't have been more than two feet high, how far could he possibly walk?

As soon as he was sure the kid was fed and content, Sam shoved the crackers into his pocket, shifting the baby against his chest as he searched the back of his shirt and coveralls for a tag.

"I don't think it will fit you, Sam."

"I'm looking for a name tag, smart ass."

"People put name tags on their kids?"

"Some do."

"Why?"

"In case they get lost. You know, like right now."

"Find anything, jerk."

"Uh yeah. There's a name, but no address and no phone number."

"Well how the hell is that supposed to help?"

"Got me."

"So, you building up suspense or something?"

"No, why?"

"So you're just gonna keep his name a secret between the two of you."

"Oh sorry. Jacob Robinson."

"Alright, so cracker kid's got a name, but no address and there's no one looking for him."

"Yeah, that pretty much sums it up."

"Is he alright?" Dean asked suddenly, breaking his way through a heavy group of branches.

"Of course he's alright, why?"

"He's quiet. Are you sure he hasn't stopped breathing or something."

"What! He's still breathing, Dean."

"Then why's he so quiet?"

"Because he's sleeping."

Dean turned to face his brother, baby Jake being held tightly against the large man's chest, his little arms wrapped around Sam's neck, face pressed into his shoulder, fast asleep.

666666666666

Jake was still sound asleep in Sam's arms two hours later as the impala charged down the highway. They hadn't passed a single ranger station on the way out of the forest, hell they hadn't even passed another human being along the road, and so, they decided that the best course of action was to keep the boy with them. Yes, they could have dropped him off at a police station or hospital, but Sam just couldn't shake the feeling that the kid was somehow involved. And Dean, for reasons he wouldn't share with Sam, agreed to keep the little guy around.

"Dude, 5-0."

Sam quickly pulled a blanket up over Jake, concealing the sleeping toddler from view as the cop car raced by.

"Yeah." Sam began, lowering the quilt. "We're the poster boys for child safety."

"Yeah well, it's better than letting him roll around in the back seat. It's not like we have a kiddie-seat for him or anything."

"Point taken. We're we going?"

"Valley."

"What, why?"

"Because, it's not that far and there's plenty of room. Besides, what if there is an APB out for the kid. We'd look real good checking into a motel with a missing baby."

Despite his brother's very logical thinking, Sam wasn't buying it. "You're gonna try to pawn him off and Kerri, aren't you?"

"I'm not gonna pawn him off on anyone. I just figured she could help."

"How?"

"I don't know. He's a baby, don't women have some kind of built in radar for that or something?"

"Have you ever actually sat down and had a serious conversation with a woman?"

"Yeah, I mean, I'm sure it's happened a couple of times."

"Whatever, dude." Sam smiled, sliding further into the seat, his arms tightening around the boy. "What?"

"What?"

"What, what?"

"What, what, what?"

"Dean, what the hell do you want?"

"Why're you smiling?"

"I'm not smiling."

"Yeah, you are. A big, stupid, smirk kind of smile."

"You do know that she's not just gonna take him and let you go on your merry way."

"Dude, I know."

"You're gonna have to feed him and change his diaper."

"Not me, you're the one that found him, Sasquatch."

"Huh?"

Before Dean, would answer, Jake stirred, hiccuping a few times before turing towards the window and settling back down to sleep. And Sam followed suit, leaning back into the seat and allowing the rhythmic rumble of the impala's engine lull him to sleep.

The pair laid like that for several hours, their breathing slow and even as the day slowly turning into night. Dean relaxing as he drove, glancing over at his brother and Jake, watching the two as they slept. Dean couldn't get over how much the toddler resembled his brother, the little boy having the same moppy brown hair, and the same mischievous smile that Dean remembered as patented Sammy. Hell, had it not been for the kid's blue eyes, he would have thought his baby brother had stumbled upon a time machine.

He eyed them one more time before turning back to the road, following the exit for Valley, and for Kerri. After their last hunt he'd promised that he wouldn't stay away, wouldn't cut her out of his life again, and it was a promise he was determined to keep. After all, he had once promised to keep her safe, and he had failed miserably, so now, he was more determined than ever to keep his promise, to not let her down. Kerri had lost her entire family during his twelve year absence, had been forced to watch the Yellow Eyed Demon rip her sister from her arms, pinning her to the ceiling as the room burned. And her father, well he just wouldn't leave without his baby girl.

To be honest, Dean hadn't been at all surprised to hear of Tom's reaction to Evelyn's death. He was a good man, he really was, but something changed in his mind when his wife died. Evelyn became his world, his life, his soul, and even though he didn't consciously mean to, Kerri got pushed to the side. She was just so quiet, so self reliant, so mature for her young age, and that made it all the easier to forget her. And, even though Kerri pretended that she didn't care, Dean knew that it was slowly killing her.

The impala wove its way through the streets of Valley, Dean following a path he had memorized over twenty years before. It was like going home, like waking from a long nightmare. And it had been that way ever since he was small. As soon as his father turned off the highway, Dean knew he was mere moments from the house, and from Kerri and her family. It was the one place in all the world where he felt normal, where he was accepted, appreciated. The only place he knew of where he could really be himself.

Because, no matter what, Kerri had never once judged him, and he knew that she never would. But there was more to it that that, and Dean just couldn't wrap his mind around that simple fact. It was more than having a friend, more than being normal. There was something about Kerri, something about Valley that he missed, whether he was on the other side of the country, or just beyond the city limits. There was something about going back there that made his heart ache. And that was something time and fate didn't stand a chance against.

He turned onto the long drive, the broken fence and lopsided mailbox the only clue that a house was at the end of the road. Kerri's home was secluded to say the least, and that was something Dean both loved and hated about it. He loved it because it was like a different world, a place where everyone was a hunter, where he didn't have to hide the truth about who he was. But then, it was also lonely and terrifying at times, help being miles away if needed. But, like everything else in his life, Dean took the good with the bad.

He parked the impala by one of the old sheds, sitting in the car for a few more minutes, taking in every inch of the house. It was falling apart. Kerri had been alone in it for far too long, the old house requiring far more work than she could do. He could see patch jobs here and there, but it wasn't nearly enough to cover up for the structure's lack of up keep. And Dean couldn't help but sigh. It had been so different all those years ago, so full of life, so welcoming. But now, well now it was crumbling and fading, and Dean was afraid that someday, it would be gone for good.