That which does not kill us…
By: Montez
Chapter 1

Disclaimer: still not mine, borrowing Kirpke's Winchester boys and Ridley's Brotherhood. Hope you enjoy.

A/N: Again I'm delving into the world of the Brotherhood and if you have read any of my previous stories you will know I am particle to the characters of Caleb and Mac (Thanks again to Ridley for her awesome universe). So again they will be the main focus of this story-sorry to the WeeWinchester fan's but they are a passing mentions in the background of the events. I'll go ahead now and put in a warning for language and mild torture, though most is mental, there is a little physical, but nothing graphic, I don't like to read graphic, so I don't like to write graphic. Well I guess I should stop here before I give anything away. I hope you give this a chance and enjoy my story. Thanks in advance for your time and support!--Montez

"Look Dad, I think it's a shape shifter, several people have gone missing, then show back up a few days later, doing things completely out of character, before disappearing again. A couple of bodies have turned up." Caleb stopped his movement around the small hotel room he had gotten when he reached Carrolton, Arkansas. "I know Mac, I'm just doing research right now, I'm not going to look for it until I have more proof, then Johnny's meeting me here." It was summer break for Caleb, he would be entering his final year at Auburn in the fall, but any breaks or holidays he got he would use that time to hunt. "I'll be careful, promise. Bye Dad." Hanging up the phone the hunter shook his head, whispering to himself, "gesh, I'm not a kid anymore." as he walked around gathering up the pictures of the last victims. He was going to hit a couple of the local bars, see if anyone remembered the twenty-something's and if they had been seen with anyone. Grabbing his black leather jacket Caleb headed out.

It was still early evening; the bar wasn't very crowded as the after-work crowd hadn't shown up yet. Caleb had gotten no where showing the pictures to the bartender or the waitress, he sat nursing a beer, hoping as the 'regulars' started coming in, someone would remember the victims. A young woman caught his attention as she took the seat next to him, he smiled at her, noticing her sandy brown hair braided along the side of her head, meeting, what he was sure was a matching braid in the back. Her blue eye's sparkled as she gave him a coy smile, the faded jeans and low-cut blouse only helped to keep his attention. "You come here often?" she smiled again as he laughed.

"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" He turned slightly toward her.

"I thought I'd beat you to it." She replied, "My names Karen." she held out her hand.

Turning on the charm Caleb took her hand, bringing it to his lips, kissing the back. He watched as the young woman blushed, "I'm Caleb, can I get you something?"

"I'll have what you're having." She turned to face the bar as a beer was placed in front of her. "So you didn't answer me, you come here often?"

"Ah, no, just passing through…actually I'm looking for a couple of friends of mine…" He pulled the photos from inside his jacket, "You haven't seen them have you?"

The girl took the pictures, studying them a minute, before handing them back, "Sorry, did something happen to them?"

Her concern sounded genuine, but there was something off, only Caleb couldn't put his finger on it. "They went missing a couple weeks ago, their families are worried, so I offered to come down here and look for them."

She turned toward him again, her body language and voice taking on a more suggestive tone, "Well, I hope if I ever go missing, you would come looking for me." She smiled as she placed her hand on his leg.

Caleb smiled, who was he to refuse a beautiful woman, "I think I would have to get to know you a little better first."

Karen leaned in closer, whispering in his ear, "We can remedy that." she pulled back, her face just inches from his.

"I think I could use a little break." Caleb smiled, standing; he threw a twenty on the bar, then left with Karen at his side.

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Mac had a bad feeling from the moment his son told him he was looking into a possible shape shifter in Arkansas, now with the phone clinched tightly in his hand, what he was hearing for the man on the other end wasn't helping, "Are you sure Caleb hasn't contacted you? Look I know John, I know you would let me know, but he said he was going to finish doing some research then contact you, that was almost twelve hours ago and I haven't been able to reach him." Mac listened as the other hunter continued talking. "I've called Jim and Joshua and even Bobby, nobody has heard from him. I've got a flight out in two hours…okay I'll meet you at the hotel Caleb was staying."

The Scholar hung up the phone, running his hand over his face. Yes he had gone hours, even days without hearing from his son before, but something was different, it didn't feel right and that was gnawing away at the pit in Mac's stomach. Grabbing his stuff the older man headed toward the airport.

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Awareness came back slowly as the pounding in his head hindered his concentration. "Well, well, well, about time you decided to wake up, I was beginning to think you didn't like my company."

The face that greeted him caused Caleb to become alert immediately, "Son of a bitch." He growled out, "I should have known. I thought something was off about you, but I couldn't figure it out."

The person stepped up and knelt in front of the restrained hunter. "Maybe next time you should look past the pretty face and nice ass and listen to your instincts." a hard pat on the cheek emphasized the point.

"It's never going to work, I've got people who will come looking for me and they know exactly what to do with the likes of you." Caleb tried to control his reflex to pull back when the creature in question leaned into his face.

"You're not the first hunter to come looking for me, and I'm still here." standing the thing threw its arms out in a welcoming gesture, "Actually, I'm counting on someone looking for you that will make things more interesting."

Caleb didn't like the sound of that as the creature approached again, standing over him, "Now if you don't mind, I have a hotel room to get back to." he leaned down toward Caleb's ear, "And you have such a wealth of despair to draw from, this is going to be fun."

Before Caleb could react a fist connected with the side of his head, the last thing he saw was the white flicker that flashed in the creatures golden eyes sneering at him, eye's that matched his own.

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Mac threw down the handful of papers he had just picked up that were spread out across the bed, "This doesn't tell us anything." Worry filtering through his voice.

"Look, maybe he found something, is watching the thing. You know sometimes you can't make contact if you're tailing what you're hunting." John Winchester wasn't helping Mac's mood any. He had told his son, not to hunt the thing alone, in fact that was number one on the 'John Winchester list of things to not do on a hunt'. So Mac couldn't understand why John wasn't more worried. "If he said he was doing research then that's what he's probably doing. Just because he's doing recon, doesn't mean he was actively hunting the thing. I've drilled that into his head from day one, to never hunt alone."

"I know, but something doesn't feel right about this, he wouldn't just stop answering his page, even if he was following the thing and if he found something he should have called you, right?" Mac watched as worry flashed across John's face for an instant, then was gone.

It was the sound of a key turning in the knob that had both hunters turning toward the door, guns drawn. Caleb looked up as he entered the room, "Whoa…" He threw his hands up, "Dad, Johnny what are you guys doing here?"

Mac lowered his gun, taking a step toward his son as John returned his gun to the back of his jeans. "I was worried; I've been trying to reach you for nearly eighteen hours."

"Where ya been Junior? It's not easy trying to keep your Dad from calling out a search and rescue team." John took a seat on the edge of the bed.

"I picked up a trail and thought I should check it out; when I knew something for sure I was going to call." Caleb turned and looked at Mac, "Sorry Dad, but you know how it can be; sometimes you just can't breakaway to check in." The younger man removed his jacket, tossing it on the bed beside John, as he headed toward the bathroom.

"What did you find out? Is it a shifter?" John asked as Mac watched the retreating back of his son, something was off, but Mac just couldn't put his finger on it.

"Are you okay Son?" Mac walked over, standing in the doorway as Caleb splashed water on his face, grabbing the towel next to him.

"I'm fine, just a little tired." Caleb turned and looked over at John, "It's definitely a shape shifter, harder than I thought to track though, but I think I figured out where the entrance to its lair might be."

John stood, "Well let's go check it out, maybe we can catch it by surprise." The older hunter walked toward the door.

"John, it can wait another day, Caleb just said he was tired, maybe he should rest a while." Mac watched the reaction of his son, who in true Winchester training fashion grabbed his jacket to follow the hunter out.

"I'm all right Dad, me and Johnny can go check it out." Slipping the jacket on he grabbed the gun he had laid on the side table. "I think it's a good idea to try and surprise it, we need to take care of this before anyone else gets hurt."

Mac pulled his gun from its holster, checking to make sure his had the silver clip in, "I'll come to, the sooner we're done with this the better."

Caleb held the door open, "After you Dad." Mac walked past his son, but missed as the white flashed in the creatures eyes, accompanied by the evil smirk that crossed its face.