CHAPTER 5 - Two and a Half Men

It was three weeks later when Mark and Christian returned to the compound to hear Sam and Dean were on their way over with a baby shifter.

"I thought Dean was out," Christian sneered.

"He is," Samuel informed them. "He's just helping Sam out with the baby."

Gwen and Christian both laughed. Mark couldn't help but smile also, picturing Sam trying to change a diaper or soothe a baby to sleep. It wasn't surprising he would call for help.

"Great," Christian rolled his eyes. "But Mr. Mom actually agreed to bring the thing here? 'Cause I wasn't exactly feeling the warm and fuzzy family cheer from him last time we saw him."

"You mean the time we saved his civilian ass?" Gwen added snidely.

Samuel sighed, loudly enough to silence the derogatory remarks towards his eldest grandson.

"He's family," he warned sternly. "And he's Sam's brother. Just let me know when they get here. We could learn a Hell of a lot from a shifter baby." He left the room, heading to his office where he spent most of his time these days.

"I suppose that means we have to be nice," Gwen griped.

Christian snorted, making it clear he was going to find that difficult.

Mark didn't fully understand their blatant dislike for the elder Winchester. It wasn't his fault Johnny had died. Of course these days, Christian didn't seem to like anybody. The stress of Crowley's threat to his wife seemed to be weighing heavily on him for the past couple of weeks, he had been different. He was normally sarcastic but these days he was downright nasty. More lude and crude and generally unpleasant company. He was, however, increasingly gung-ho to nab the monsters, obviously eager to satisfy Crowley and get the demon off their backs. Couldn't really blame him for that.

In fact, since the threat from Crowley to Brand and Kayla, Mark felt closer to his family than ever before. They weren't the bad guys Brand had thought they were. They were all in the same boat as him, doing this for the sake of people they cared about. Some, like Gwen, were simply going along with everything out of a blind trust for Samuel, the family patriarch miraculously brought back from the dead. Mark, Christian, and Samuel were being bullied by demons but were still looking out for each other. He liked the feeling of having family around to have his back. He hadn't had that comfort for a long time.

He was determined to get them out of this mess.

As for Dean Winchester, it was for the best that Christian and Gwen hadn't taken to him. Better for Dean if he stayed out of this. Mark was surprised that Sam now seemed so eager to drag his brother into it, after a year of insisting he was strictly off limits. He couldn't understand why Sam didn't just let Dean go back to his girlfriend and the kid. The hunters at the compound were all in this shitstorm already but there was no need to suck somebody new into it. Lisa and Ben would be the perfect collateral to force Dean to become Crowley's next finger puppet. Bringing Dean into this was endangering them, innocent civilians, and even though Mark had hinted that point, Sam didn't seem too bothered by it.

On the other hand, a shifter baby was quite the find. For starters, it meant shifters bred, like humans, rather than just … happening. A shifter baby was already in the life, there was no chance of normal for it. If it turned out that nurture could win over nature, this might be a monster they didn't have to kill. Heck, it could mean they'd have a super-strong ally that could only be killed by silver. How many of the monsters out there carried silver blades or bullets? He'd be almost invincible. He could do a hunter's work without meeting an early grave like most. Not to mention the endless possibilities for gathering information and getting other hunters out of legal jams with a shifter on the payroll that could impersonate any Fed or law enforcement officer and gain their memories without breaking a sweat. The prospect was actually kind of exciting.

Sam had told his grandfather that a grown shifter had shown up at their motel room to try and take the baby back. It had mentioned their 'father' and Sam had thought he may have been referring to the Alpha shifter. This could be the big break they were looking for. This could lead to the capture of an alpha, which in turn might mean finding Purgatory and removing the threat of Crowley. Oh, they'd still hunt him down and kill him, that much Mark knew for sure, but at least Brand and Kayla and Arlene would be safe.

It wasn't long before the Winchesters rolled into the yard in Sam's sleek, black Dodge Charger. Mark, Gwen and Christian were in the armoury when they heard the brothers coming down the hall.

"You need to relax, Dean," Sam was saying. "I know them. I trust them, okay? Mark and Christian have saved my ass more than once."

"Jay and Silent Bob?" Dean scoffed. "They don't …"

His comment was cut-off as the brothers rounded the corner and found the three Campbell cousins in the armoury to greet them. Dean didn't offer an apology but instead pulled the baby in his arms closer to him in a protective manner. Mark feltl his neck hairs bristle at the insinuation that the Campbells were the threat here. He didn't have a grudge against Dean, but the guy should at least show them some appreciation for saving his ass last month.

"Hey guys," Sam greeted them. "Where's Samuel?"

"In his office," Christian informed him stiffly.

Sam nodded and wandered down the hall to retrieve his grandfather, leaving Dean alone with the cousins he obviously didn't trust any further than he could throw. Dean stood defensively in the middle of the room, not even breaking a smile as Christian sidled past him and Gwen attempted, in her own way, to break the ice by cooing ever so sarcastically over the baby. Dean's clear discomfort was increasing with every second his brother was gone and when he caught Mark's eye, he turned the defensive into offensive.

"What, you got something to say?"

As usual, Mark didn't.

"No? Well alright, you just stand there and think at me."

Mark didn't bother with a comeback but just walked away. Distant cousin or not, the guy was being an ass. Sam and Samuel entered just at that moment but unfortunately, things just got more tense from there. Dean was openly belligerent towards Samuel and Christian lost his cool, calling the newcomer on his distrust and then throwing in a jab about Dean torturing souls in Hell. Dean apparently didn't think hunters were worthy of raising a baby, shapeshifter spawn or not, and it was rubbing them all the wrong way.

Mark had been raised by a hunter. His Mom had died when he was just a toddler but his father had loved him and cared for him and he didn't resent the man for teaching him the ways of a hunter, teaching him how to protect himself and help people in trouble. His older brother, Lee, had hated hunting and had always wanted out but their Dad had said as soon as they hit sixteen, the choice would be theirs. Hunters were good people. This guy and his one year of fluffy living in the suburbs certainly didn't get to judge Mark or his family and condone them and their way of life without even knowing them.

Besides, Dean was being stupid. The baby was a shifter. Normal wasn't an option for it. Better raised by hunters who could protect it and teach it right and wrong than by some shifter or worse, the Alpha shifter.

Even Sam was getting annoyed at Dean's refusal to even try to make things work with their new extended family. Samuel handed the baby over to Christian and Dean protested loudly, claiming he didn't have any business raising anything. Sam interrupted with a challenging "Why Dean? 'Cause he's a hunter?"

Mark was curious to see the how the brotherly showdown went but the guard dogs in the yard were suddenly silenced with sickening yelps and the family drama was cut short, everyone snapping into alert mode instantly.

Samuel handed the baby back to Dean and ordered him and Sam down to the panic room in the basement. Mark bolted the back door shut and scrambled to arm himself, readying his silver blade. If this was a shifter, silver was the only thing that would work.

The monster barged in seconds later and it was evident they were all taken aback by the fact that it was the spitting image of Samuel, right down to the clothes. Mark spared a second to hope this meant it had simply walked past the guards outside instead of killing them to get this far. Levi and Matt were good men.

It strolled boldly into the room and looked straight at Samuel. "You have something of ours."

They all just stood there staring at the shifter. Could it be the Alpha?

"I know he's here. I can feel him."

It was interrupted by a blast of silver buckshot from Gwen. She fired a second time, landing another shot squarely in its back.

Good girl, Mark thought, impressed. A double round with that much silver was enough to take down four shifters.

But it didn't go down. It simply cricked his neck and turned to face Gwen, and angry snarl on its copied face. How could it still be walking? It had to be the Alpha. It started moving towards Gwen, whose modified rifle only had the two shots. She was a sitting duck.

Mark strode forward, planting himself in between his smaller cousin and the monster. He wasn't losing any more family to these supernatural sons of bitches. He rammed his knife hilt-deep into its chest but again the thing barely flinched. He knew right then they were outmatched. He felt rather than saw Samuel's silver tranquilizer dart sink into the monster's back as its steely hand wrapped itself around his chin, lifting him up off the ground.

This thing was going to beat them. Shit. Please don't let it beat them. His family needed to get out of here. "Run!" he managed to cry out before his world went black.

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Mark looked over towards the driver's seat of the old Cutlass, squinting in the bright afternoon sun. Lee was grinning over at him, his mass of bright blond curls blowing wildly in the wind from the open window.

"Earth to Little Brother," Lee jeered. "So, are you in or what?"

"What about Dad?" Mark replied, wondering where his question had come from since he was suddenly not sure what the conversation was even about. He had a vague notion of fighting a shifter and his hand came up to absently rub his neck.

"Hey, it's Dad's own rule," Lee pointed out. "When we turn sixteen, we're free to leave, remember? Well, I'm now sixteen."

"Yeah, but I'm only fourteen," Mark pointed out, realizing as he said it that it was true. He was only fourteen. He sensed a multitude of memories tumbling about in the back of his mind, good and bad memories and, quite disturbingly, memories of his older self. He couldn't seem to quite focus on them though, no matter how hard he tried.

"That's okay, squirt. You know I'll wait for you. Less than two years to go and we're homefree."

"Where'll we go?" Mark chirped, looking out the window at the dry Arizona landscape. This was Lee's first solo hunt, he realized, the first time Dad had agreed to let Lee take the lead without him there. Naturally, Lee had argued to take Mark with him. It was just an angry spirit, an easy job, and Gary had finally agreed to let his youngest go too.

"That's just it," Lee laughed. "We can go wherever we want!"

"Can we go to LA?"

"Sure." His brother gave him a curious look. "What's in LA?"

Mark snorted. "Are you kidding? Alicia Silverstone, for one."

"The chick from the Aerosmith videos?"

"Yeah, she's smokin'."

"As if you'd have a chance with her," Lee teased. "She's like nineteen."

"You got a better plan?"

"Yeah, only in my plan, I'm the one making out with Alicia."

Mark snorted. "In your dreams. Last time you made out with a chick she slapped you, remember?"

Lee nodded, his grin growing wider. "Yeah, right. Mellie Conrad. She was a tease. LA girls are different."

"Maybe we could be actors," Mark offered, his smile fading slightly as another vague thought drifted through the dark corners of his mind. An image of Lee being ripped apart by a skinwalker only a few months from this day. He shook his head and rid himself of the horrifying notion.

"Actors are dweebs," Lee dismissed, reaching forward to turn up the radio. Oasis's Wonderwall blared from the crackly speakers. "We should be rock stars. I can play a mean guitar."

Mark nodded excitedly. "I could be the singer!"

"Yeah, you'd definitely be the singer. That way you could listen to yourself all day long. Maybe then you'd stop your constant yammering."

Mark ignored the familiar tease. He did talk a lot. He brushed away a sneaking suspicion that he no longer did so and looked back over at his grinning brother. This was the day he and Lee had planned their futures. Their futures after hunting. Strangely, he had known at the time that this would be one of his fondest memories.

Lee's wild hair and goofy grin beckoned to him. His brother was now singing along to their favorite band's new release, out of tune and way off key as usual. The nagging memories of the harsh and lonely fifteen years following this day suddenly faded and he allowed himself to be completely lost in the moment, thoughts of traveling the country with Lee and Alicia Silverstone filling his mind.

Life was great.

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Author's Note:

Thanks for reading! I've never killed off my main character before (I actually hate tragedies) so I hope I softened it a bit with the Heaven scene.

Hopefully this story has helped you not hate the Campbells as much as you might have beforehand. It worked for me. Of course, I can't really explain why none of them seemed to care much when Mark got killed, except that Gwen was quiet in that one scene afterwards so maybe she was keeping it bottled inside. She did cry out his name when he got killed so she obviously did care. And Christian was possessed by then in my version so that explains him not caring. And Sam had no soul so we already know why he didn't bat an eye. As for Samuel … well, I have no excuse for him. Without going AU in this little story, I couldn't find a believable way to fully redeem him from his canon douchiness. I LOVE Mitch Pileggi but just couldn't warm up to Grandpa Campbell.

I would love to hear what you thought of the Campbells, canon version and my version.