No Ordinary Boys ~ Chapter 16

[kc246]

Chapter Sixteen

“Dean, why don’t you sit down, buddy?” John suggested and he gently tried to manoeuvre Dean into one of the waiting room chairs. He didn’t think Dean’s body could get anymore rigid but the second John touched him, the kid tensed further and refused to be moved. John could feel the shivers working through him.

“I don’t want to sit down,” Dean snapped, shrugging out of John’s hold. “I want to see Sam.”

“I know you do.” John smiled sadly. “But we have to give the doctors room to do their job . I promise that as soon as Sam’s stable you’ll be able to go see him.”

“He stopped fucking breathing.” Dean resumed his earlier anxious pacing of the waiting room’s floor. “I should be with him not stuck in here.”

John frowned in concern as he watched Dean’s angry pacing. It had taken John three attempts before he’d been able successfully remove a protesting and struggling Dean out of Sam’s hospital room and into the family waiting room. And that struggle had been nothing compared to the one Dean threw when the paramedics had told Dean he would'nt be able to ride with Sam in the ambulance. John had been forced to pin Dean to him to prevent the teen from running after the ambulance as it drove off, and Dean’s breathing had become so laboured and erratic that John was worried they might end up having to call out a second ambulance. Thankfully though with help from Mary, they had been able to calm Dean down and John had driven the three of them to the hospital.

“Dean, sweetie,” Mary said gently from where she was sat. “Please sit down. You’re still recovering from your own injuries and you need to take things easy.”

“Take it easy?” Dean scoffed.“My brother is lying unconscious in a hospital bed and it’s all my fault!”

Mary shook her head. “That’s not true. This isn’t your fault.”

“Yes it is!” Dean clenched his hands into fists trying hard to control the trembling of his body but it was impossible to do when every fibre of being was screaming out for him to get to Sam. “I never should have told you anything. If I had just kept my mouth shut about the visions then Sam would be fine.”

“Dean...” Mary began at the same time John asked, “Visions?”

Dean shook his head, refusing to answer. He’d done enough damage already, he wasn’t going to add to add to it by filling John in.

Knowing he wasn’t going to get an answer from Dean, John turned his attention to Mary. “What’s he talking about?”

Mary sighed. “Not now, John.”

“Yes, now.” John was sick of being lied to and kept in the dark. “I deserve to know what the hell is going on.”

“This isn’t the time or place for this John.”

“I don’t care,” John snapped, his voice rising as he lost his temper. “I’m tired of being the only one not to know what’s happening. So, start talking.”

Mary ran her hand through her hair in frustration. “John please. I promise I’ll explain...”

“I don’t want hear that you’ll explain later. I just want the truth,” John demanded angrily.

“John!” Mary’s voice was stern and she nodded her head towards Dean.

John turned around to see Dean had plastered himself back against the wall, his eyes wide as they watched John warily. John immediately felt guilt flood through him, knowing that Dean was reacting to his anger. “Hey Dean, it’s alright, buddy.” John softened is voice and held his hands up in a placating gesture. “I didn’t mean to yell. Everything’s okay.”

“I...I want to see Sam,” Dean stammered.

John always hated seeing fear in Dean's eyes and it felt a thousand times worse when that fear had been put there by John’s own stupidity. John was about to apologise again when everyone’s attention was drawn to waiting room door as Sam’s doctor walked into the room.

“How’s Sam?” Dean demanded, edging his way past John so he could stand in front of the doctor.

“He’s doing well.” The doctor smiled kindly. “He’s still unconscious but all his vital signs have now stabilized and we expect him to be waking up very soon.” The doctor looked over at John and Mary. “We’re still not sure what caused him to stop breathing like that so we’ll be keeping him in a little longer while we run some more tests.”

Dean felt relief course through him at the doctor’s words but he knew that he wouldn’t be able to fully relax until he was back with his brother. “Can I see him?”

The doctor nodded. “Of course. If you all just want to follow me, I’ll take you to Sam’s room.”

“Dean, you go ahead with the doctor,” John said, making sure he kept his voice as calm as he could. “Mary and I will be there in a minute.”

Dean hesitated briefly, he knew that John would start questioning Mary again once he left, and he felt bad about leaving her alone but his first priority as always was his brother. His need to see Sam outweighed everything else and after giving Mary an apologetic look, he followed the doctor out of the waiting room.

“John, please, can we not do this now?” Mary knew John was determined to know the truth and he deserved better than being lied to, but Mary really didn’t want to have this conversation in the middle of a god damn hospital. “Sam’s sick. Let’s just concentrate on getting on him home.”

“I just want to know what’s going on.” John threw his hands up in frustration. “I don’t think that’s too much to ask.”

“No, it’s not, and I swear that I will tell you everything but believe me when I say a hospital isn’t the right place for this conversation.”

John sighed deeply. “Fine. Let’s go see Sam.”

Mary nodded and started to make her way towards the door but she turned her attention back to John when he took a hold of her arm to stop her.

“Once we get home I want the truth. No more excuses. No more lies. Just the truth.”

“The truth,” Mary promised.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

They were just about to go to into Sam’s room when John suddenly stopped, his attention on something in the hospital corridor behind Mary. “You’ve got to be kidding me,” he growled.

“John, what is it?” Mary asked as she turned around. “Dammit,” she sighed when she saw her father making his way over to them.

“What the hell is he doing here?” John hissed and he tried to take a step towards him but Mary placed a hand on his chest to stop him.

“Just go and see the boys, I got this.” When John just scowled and tried once again to move towards Samuel, Mary continued, “John, I’ll get him to leave but I need you to let me handle this, okay?”

John stared unhappily at Mary for a few more moments before letting out an irritated huff and disappearing into Sam’s room.

“I see John is his usual charming self,” Samuel remarked with a smirk.

Mary rolled her eyes and chose to ignore the comment and instead ushered her Dad into the family waiting room. “What are you doing here Dad?”

“I heard about Sam and I wanted to make sure he was alright.”

“You heard about Sam? How?”

Samuel shrugged. “I have my ways.”

“Let me guess, you’ve been using your scanner to listen in on emergency calls.”

“You know me. Always like to keep an ear out for trouble.”

“Always searching out the next hunt, right Dad?” Mary replied sarcastically. “Well there’s nothing to hunt here so you might as well leave.”

“Would it kill you to just talk to me civilly for once?” Samuel huffed and he sighed in frustration when Mary just folded her arms across her chest and glared at him. “Look, you may not want me here but you need me here. You have no idea how powerful this demon is and if you want to help that boy in there then you’re gonna need to start trusting me.”

Mary was silent for a few more moments before asking, “You said before that all the children linked the demon had some kind of supernatural ability?”

Samuel nodded.

“Have you found a way to take away those abilities?”

“No, but we’ve able to help a few of the children learn to control them better and we are finally starting to make some progress on being able to keep the kids hidden from the demon. At the moment it can pretty much track them whenever it wants, most likely using some kind of psychic link but we’re confident that in time we can find a way to break it, maybe even use it to be able locate where the demon is.”

“What kind of abilities do the other children have?”

“It varies. Telekinesis, premonitions, emphatic abilities, even some forms of mind control,” Samuel replied. “So, what’s Sam’s?”

Mary didn’t answer right away, she was still reluctant about accepting her dad’s help, not sure if she fully trusted that all he wanted to do was just help Sam, but on the other hand she knew her dad was right, she couldn’t handle this alone and whatever she may think of her dad, he was one hell of hunter and knew all this supernatural stuff like nobody else. If she wanted to help Sam then she was going to have to work with her dad on this. “He has visions. Premonitions of people in trouble.”

“Do you know how long he’s had them for?”

“Dean said he had the first one when he was about five,” Mary answered. “Whenever he has one it sends him into some kind of seizure and Dean told me that if he anyone touches him during one it cause things like the windows to shake and the lights to blow. They also seem to cause him a lot of pain.”

“Is that why he’s here? Did he get hurt having a vision?”

Mary shook her head. “No, I don’t think so. He and Dean were in their bedroom arguing and when I went up to check on them, I couldn’t get the door to open. It was like there was something blocking it and I could hear Dean pleading with Sam to stop, that he was hurting himself, so I’m guessing Sam must have somehow kept the door from opening. When we were finally able to get in there Sam was unconscious and bleeding on the floor. He...he wasn’t breathing.”

“He was probably using some kind of telekinesis.” Samuel rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “It's unusual but not unheard of for some of the children to display more than on type of ability. Having that much power though is really hard for the body to cope with and if it’s not controlled properly then it can have devastating effects.”

“But you can help him control it, right? So, that he doesn’t get hurt again?”

“We can try but it isn’t going to be easy. Some of the kids are struggling to get control of just one ability, and Sam is going to need to learn to control two.”

“So what do I need to do to help him?”

“You’re gonna need to let me take him with me,” Samuel stated. “I’ll take him back to our base in Iowa. It’s safer for him there while we try to get a handle on his powers. I have a team who can work with him and if the demon shows up then he’ll be protected by hunters.”

Mary immediately shook her head in instant refusal.”Absolutely not! I’m just gonna hand him over to you so you can do god knows what to him.”

“I’m not going to do anything but help him!” Samuel protested.

“And just what are the methods that you and your team plan to use when you’re ‘helping’ him?” Mary demanded.

“I’m not a monster,” Samuel snapped. “We aren’t planning on torturing him if that’s what you’re implying.”

“Sam’s not going anywhere alone with you and that’s final,” Mary stated firmly.

“Look, if you really don’t trust me then you are perfectly welcome to come along too. I’ve got nothing to hide.”

“What about Dean and John? Can they come too?”

“Christ, Mary,” Samuel huffed, “It’s not a freakin family vacation.”

“Sam isn’t going anywhere if we all can’t go with him.” Mary crossed her arms across her chest. “So take it or leave it.”

Samuel threw his hands up in exasperation. “Fine!”

Mary nodded. “Okay, I’ll think about it.”

“Mary...”

“I said I’d think about it. I’m not making any decisions until I’ve had a chance to speak to my family about it.” Not even giving her dad a chance to reply, Mary turned and walked out of the waiting room.

~~~~~~~~~~~

“You’re mad at me aren’t you?” Sam picked nervously at the hospital blanket, his head lowered as he looked at Dean from under his bangs.

Sam had woken up a few hours ago and the first thing he saw was Dean, which wasn’t all that surprising seen as it was sound of Dean’s voice that drew Sam out of the comfortable haze he’d been floating in and back to wakefulness. Sam had been tempted to stay in the calm and quiet he’d been drifting in, but responding to Dean’s voice is something that seems to have been imprinted in him from birth. So when that worried, gently coaxing voice pleaded with him to wake up, Sam had obeyed without question. When he’d finally blinked Dean’s face into focus, Sam had just smiled up at him dopily. Then he’d remembered what had happened, and the smile slipped from his face to be replaced by a frown as fear once again began to creep up on him. Dean had told Mary. Sam’s eyes had then anxiously glanced over at the other occupants in the room expecting to find a look of anger and disgust on John and Mary’s faces, but to Sam’s surprise their expressions held only concern and worry.

“It’s fine,” Dean had immediately soothed. “Everything’s okay.”

Sam had ran his gaze critically over Dean, searching for any sign that John or Mary might have hurt him, but thankfully he couldn’t find any and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Sam?” Dean’s hand had gently cupped his brother’s cheek. “Are you okay?”

When Sam nodded and gave Dean another small smile, Dean had placed his forehead against his brother’s and breathed out a shaky, “Thank god.”

Dean had stayed with Sam on the bed until the doctor had come in to check Sam over. The doctor was pleased with Sam’s responses and reactions now he was awake and had reported that all the tests they had done so far had come back negative. They still needed to perform a few other checks but as long as Sam ate something and returned the next day for some follow up tests then he was free to go home.

John and Mary had then left to search out something for Sam to eat, and Sam had been expecting Dean to join him back on the bed but Dean had just remained in the chair and Sam could see the tension in his shoulders and his expression was a mix of stress and what looked like it could be anger.

Dean gave Sam a stern look when he heard his brother’s question. “You mean am I mad at you for nearly killing yourself?” Dean’s voice was sharp and Sam could count on one hand the number of times that tone had ever been directed at him. “What do you think Sam? I saw you stop fucking breathing!”

Dean looked so tired and sad, betrayed even, and Sam couldn't deal with that. He tried uselessly to choke back a sob. He never wanted to make Dean look like that. “M’sorry, De,” he hiccupped, tears filling his eyes.

Dean was suddenly back by the side of the bed, his hands gently framing Sam’s face. “Aw, no Sammy, don’t cry. I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

Guilt had immediately replaced any anger Dean still felt when he saw Sam begin to cry. Dean hadn’t meant to be so harsh with him, but with the relief that had come with hearing the doctor say Sam was going to be okay came the realization of just how close he had come to losing his brother.

“M’sorry, De,” Sam repeated and he tugged on Dean’s hands until his brother finally climbed back up on the bed with him. Sam wrapped his arms tightly around him, burying his face in Dean’s neck. “I didn’t mean to do it. I just got so scared.”

“I know you did, kiddo,” Dean ran a hand gently up and down Sam’s back. “But Sammy you can’t ever do anything like that ever again, do you understand? You nearly died and if I had lost you then...I just...I just can’t lose you, Sam. I just can’t.”

“I won’t do it again, I swear.” Sam promised. “I don’t even know how I did it. I just didn’t want anyone coming in the room and hurting you. I don’t know how I kept the door from opening, it just happened.”

Dean held Sam tighter. “Well, we need to make sure it doesn’t happen again. I can’t watch you go through that again.”

Sam swallowed hard, unable to keep the fear out of his voice as he quietly asked, “Do you think me being able to do that thing with the door is what the yellow eyed man meant when he said he had plans for me?”

“I don’t know,” Dean answered honestly. “But whatever it means, you don’t have to worry, alright? Cause we’re gonna find a way to stop it.”

“Dean...”

“Look, I know you’re worried because I told Mary about the visions but I swear Sammy, she’s not mad or angry. She believes us and I think she can help us.”

“Has she told John yet?” Sam asked shakily. “About me?”

“No, I don’t think so but John knows something is going on, so I don’t think it will long before she tells him.” Dean stroked a hand soothingly through Sam’s hair. “It’s gonna be okay though Sam. Nothing bad is going to happen.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.” Dean really hoped he wasn’t lying.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The drive back to the house was a pretty much silent journey. Sam fell to sleep within moments of John pulling out of the hospital parking lot, his head lolling on Dean’s shoulder as Dean carded his hand gently through his brother’s hair. Apart from murmuring soft reassurances whenever Sam made the occasional sleepy noise, Dean showed no interest in talking, clearly not wanting to interact with John or Mary, all his attention reserved solely for his sleeping brother.

Mary stared absently out of the car window, clearly lost in thought and you could cut the tension that hung between her and John with a knife, but knowing that nothing would be resolved until Mary told him the truth and that wouldn’t be happening until they got back to the house, John just concentrated on driving and wondered when he hell everything had got so screwed up.

John was sure the uncomfortable silence in the car made the drive home seem twice as long as normal but finally he was pulling up outside the house. Mary got out without a word and proceeded to open the front door while John made his way to the back of the car and reached in to take a sleeping Sam from Dean.

As soon as Dean realised John’s intention, he pulled his sleeping brother back against his chest, wrapping his arms around Sam until they were totally entangled. “I got him,” Dean grumbled, not happy with idea of John being the one to carry Sam into the house.

“Dean,” John sighed. “You can’t carry Sam. You’re still hurt yourself. Just let me help, okay? I promise I’ll be extra careful with him.”

Dean scowled and he tapped a rhythm with his fingers against Sam’s chest as he tried to decide whether or not to trust John with Sam. A few more moments passed before Dean finally nodded and he reluctantly released his hold on Sam.

“Thank you.” John gave him a reassuring smile and he gently scooped Sam up into his arms and lifted him out of the car being careful not to hit the kid’s head on the car door on the way out. He really didn’t want to think about how that would go down with Dean if John accidently did that. “Come on buddy, let’s get you both inside.”

“You better not drop him,” Dean warned as he scrambled out of the car and followed John into the house.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
John found Mary waiting for him the living room when he came back downstairs. She was sat on one end of the couch looking more nervous than John had ever seen her. She looked up when she heard him walk into the room.

“The boys okay?”

John nodded, sitting down on the opposite end of the couch. “Sam’s still asleep and it doesn’t look like Dean’s going to be able to stay awake much longer.”

Mary took a deep breath. “John, I’m sorry...”

“I don’t want to hear sorry,” John said tiredly. “I just want the truth.”

Mary nodded. She knew it was time for the truth but she'd been keeping this from John for so long now that she had no idea how he would react to it. To find out not only that the Supernatural existed but that your wife has also been lying to you since you met was not going to be an easy thing to hear. She had no idea where to start, no clue as to what the best way to try and ease John into this would be, so it shouldn’t have been a surprise to her when she found herself just blurting out, "I’m a hunter.”

John looked up at her in total bewilderment, like she had just said the craziest thing in the world. “Mary, you’ve never been hunting in your life. You can’t even watch those wildlife shows without getting upset when the animals die.”

Mary shook her head slowly. “Not that kind of hunter, John.”

“What other kind is there?”

“The supernatural kind.” Mary bit her lip anxiously as she watched John closely for his reaction.

John’s raised his eyebrows, sure he must have misheard. “Excuse me?”

“There’s no easy to say this so I’m just gonna say it.” Taking a few deep breaths to try and calm her nerves, Mary continued, “The supernatural is real. There are monsters out there, John. Nightmare things and my dad...my whole family really, they hunt those things. I do too, well I did. I left when I met you. That’s what my dad and I were always arguing about. He didn’t want me to leave the life. Hunting is all he’s ever known and after my mom got killed, he became even more obsessed with it. I didn’t want that kind of life. I wanted a normal life. A safe one. I wanted a life with you.”

Silence reigned over them for long uncomfortable moments, John staring at Mary like she had grown a second head.

“John, please, say something.”

Mary was slightly taken aback when John suddenly chuckled.

“That’s insane,” he laughed although there was no real humour to it. “You can’t honestly expect me to believe that.”

“It’s the truth.”

John’s laughter faded when he realised Mary wasn’t joking. “Oh my god, you’re serious. You actually believe what you just said.”

“Kinda hard not to believe it when it’s the life you were born into,” Mary remarked. “Look, I know how crazy this sounds. I lied to you because I never wanted you to find out. I wanted to keep you protected from all this. I’ve seen this life destroy so many people, good people. I didn’t want that to happen to you. It’s why I lied to you about going to meet up with my dad. I just wanted to keep you safe. I wish I didn’t have to tell you any of this but you deserve the truth and with the boys being involved...”

“What? How the hell does any of this involve the boys?”

“It’s why my dad is here,” Mary explained. “The demon he’s hunting is after Sam. It’s what killed Dean and Sam’s dad...”

John stood up, shaking his head. This can’t be real. It just can’t. “Demon? Mary, do you hear yourself? This...this is just...there’s not even a word for how messed up this is! Demons, demons aren’t real, Mary! I asked for the truth not more lies!”

“Why would I lie about this John? If I was going to make something up don’t you think I’d chose something that makes me sound a little less like a lunatic?” Mary ran a hand frustratingly through her hair. “Think about it John. You said yourself that there was something weird about how the boys dad died. That there was no way Sam could have done it. You wanted to know how I was able to fight Mick the way I did? It’s because my dad trained me to fight. As soon as I was old enough to walk my dad started training me how to fight, how to be the perfect hunter.”

“Then there are Sam’s seizures. They aren’t seizures, John, they’re visions. It’s why Dean wouldn’t let you touch Sam when he had one, he was terrified of us finding out.” Mary could see the colour draining from John’s face and she hated having to do this to him but there was no choice now. He had to know. “The time you caught Sam trying to salt the bedroom? It’s because he was trying to protect himself from something supernatural.”

“She’s telling the truth.”

Both John and Mary turned and were surprised to find Dean stood in the doorway.

“Well about Sam’s visions and the salt.” Dean shuffled a little awkwardly on his feet. “I can’t vouch for the stuff about how she grew up but I can’t see why anyone would want to lie about that.”

“So you’re telling me that a demon killed your dad?” John asked.

Dean moved to sit down in one of the chairs, his eyes glancing cautiously back and forth between John and Mary. “Well, Sam didn’t use the word demon, but he did say that whatever it was it wasn’t human and that he could sense how evil it was, so, um yeah, I guess you could say demon.”

John slumped back down onto the couch and shook his head again. There was no way all this could be true. I mean it was just so...

“I know it’s hard to believe,” Dean said quietly. He hesitated, still conflicted on how much he should share with John and Mary. “Sammy’s been talking about seeing freaky stuff in his visions for years now and even I wasn’t sure what to believe at first. I mean the supernatural being real? That’s impossible right? But after seeing your kid brother holding a door closed using only the power of his mind? That’s kinda hard to ignore.”

John’s eyes went wide. “That...that was Sam?”

Dean nodded. “I don’t know how he did it, even Sam doesn’t know how but yeah it was Sam.”

“My dad might actually know something about that,” Mary said and Dean immediately turned his focus on Mary, his gaze curious and wary.

“Your dad?”

“I don’t know how much you overheard when I was talking earlier but my dad is a hunter. He hunts the type of things Sam sees in his visions. He helps save people. He’s been tracking the demon that killed your dad,” Mary explained, trying to word things out carefully so as not to freak Dean out too much. “He says that the demon is connected to a group of children, all of who display some kind of supernatural ability. Children like Sam.”

“And you’re saying the demon is connected to them? Connected to them how?” Dean demanded. He really didn’t like the sound this.

“My dad doesn’t know for sure but he has been able to help some of the other children get control of their abilities and he thinks he can do the same for Sam,” Mary replied. “To do that though we would have to take Sam to where my dad lives in Iowa. He has a place there that will help keep Sam safe from the demon while we try to get a handle on his abilities, and find a way to stop the demon for good.”

Dean bristled at the idea taking Sam away somewhere. His first instinct was ‘No way in hell’. He didn’t know Mary’s dad. All he knew about the man is that he hunts the supernatural. What if this was a trap? What if he considered Sam to be something supernatural and wanted to hurt him? But on the other hand Dean knew he couldn’t handle this on his own. Sam had nearly died today by using whatever power that was, and Dean had no idea how to make sure that it didn’t happen again. If Mary’s dad was telling the truth then this could be what Dean had been searching for. A way to stop the visions and anything else from hurting Sam. “Will I be able to stay with him?”

Mary nodded. “We would all go. Sam would be completely safe.” Mary tried to keep any uncertainty out of her tone. She couldn’t be completely sure that her dad wasn’t hiding something but they really didn’t have any other choice right now, and Mary was confident that she would be able get Sam out of there at the first sign of trouble.

Dean looked over at John who was looking every bit like a man who had just had his whole world turned upside down. “What do you think, John? Do you trust Mary’s dad?”

John didn’t know what to say. His brain still trying to digest the fact that monsters were real. That all of this was real. He glanced at Mary and her eyes were pleading with his to back her up, and Dean was looking at him in a mixture of uncertainty and hopefulness. With a sigh, John finally nodded. “If Mary says we can trust him then we can trust him.”

The relief on Mary’s face was clear and she gave John a small smile. “Thank you.”

“So, how is this going to work? When will we be going to your dad’s?” Dean asked.

“It’s really late so for now I suggest we all get some rest and we'll discuss what’s going to happen in the morning, okay?” Mary replied.

Dean nodded and he once again looked from Mary to John. “But things are okay, right?” he asked, warily. “Between you guys? You’re alright?”

“Everything’s fine, Dean,” John assured, hoping his voice sounded more convincing than he felt. “You don’t have to worry. We’re going to figure this out and we’ll do it together, as a family.” John promised. “You’re not alone in this anymore. We’re a family and whatever happens we will find a way to keep you and Sam safe. Nothing is going hurt either of you again.”

John was surprised when he suddenly found his arms full of Dean, the kid wrapping his arms around John in a tight hug. “Thank you,” he whispered into John’s ear.

“You’re welcome.” John patted Dean’s back a few times before pulling away. “Mary's right, it’s late, so why don’t you head back up to bed and get some sleep.”

Dean nodded. “Okay” he stood back up and after saying goodnight to both John and Mary, and giving Mary a quick hug too, he headed back upstairs to Sam.

“Thank you again,” Mary said once Dean had left and it didn’t look like John was going to say anything. “For backing me up on my dad and for what you just said to Dean.”

“I only said that for Dean’s benefit,” John remarked. “Kid’s been through enough already.”

Mary almost flinched at the hard tone of John’s voice. “John...”

“I meant what I said about keeping them safe and helping them, but Mary things between us are not okay,” John stated. “You’ve been lying to me our entire marriage, hell you’ve been lying to me since I met you, and I’m sorry but not that’s not something I can just forgive.”

Mary felt tears prickle at her eyes. “But...”

“Look, I can kind of understand why you wouldn’t want to tell something like that,” John sighed. “But Mary being lied to like that, it hurts and I...I’m gonna need some time, alright?” John stood up from the couch. “I’m going sleep in the spare room tonight. I’ll just...I’ll see you in the morning.”

Mary wanted to call him back, beg for his forgiveness but she knew she had to let him go. He’d asked for time and he deserved to be given that. Mary buried her head in her hands and desperately tired to fight back her tears.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean smiled as he climbed back into bed, being careful not to jostle his brother too much. For the first time in a long time, Dean felt hopeful that things might just work out. That he finally might find a way to really help Sam. Gently pulling Sam closer to him, Dean wrapped him tightly in his arms and his brother made a happy snuffling noise as he wriggled deeper into Dean’s embrace. “Everything’s going to okay now, Sammy,” Dean whispered, placing a soft kiss on the top of Sam’s head. “I promise.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Three hours later and John was in the spare room, tossing and turning in the bed unable to sleep. His mind was on a continuous loop, going over and over everything he had just found out.

He didn’t know how to feel. A huge array of emotions were flooding through him all at once. On some level he did understand why Mary had lied to him but he still felt betrayed and angry. Why didn’t she feel he could be trusted with the truth?

And then there was Dean and Sam. Above all else John just wanted to protect them but he was so out of his depth with all this that he was terrified. Terrified that he was going fail and end up hurting them.

Kicking of the blankets in a huff, he swung his legs out of bed and headed downstairs in search of a late night drink to try and help him calm down.

After knocking back a shot of whiskey in the kitchen, John poured himself another and then made his back up to the spare room. He sat down on the edge of the bed and drained the amber liquid in one go, placing the empty glass on the bedside table. Closing his eyes, he flopped back on the bed with a exhausted sigh. A second later he felt something drop onto his forehead, first one drop, then another, he flinched and opened his eyes.

John’s mouth fell open and he gasped in horror. Mary was sprawled across the ceiling, pinned to it. The stomach of her nightgown slashed open and stained red with blood. She was staring down at him, struggling to breathe.

“No!” John screamed.

Instinct had John raising his arm to shield his face when Mary suddenly burst into flames. The fire quickly spread over the ceiling, and John stared up at it, frozen.

“Mary!”

The screams that shattered the silence of night had Dean and Sam both jumping up out of bed before they even fully opened their eyes. Sam stared wide eyed and fearfully at Dean as John once again desperately yelled out Mary’s name.

“Stay here,” Dean ordered and before Sam could reply, Dean rushed out of the door, towards the direction of the screams. As he reached the doorway to the spare room, he was stopped dead in his tracks by the scene that met him. For a few moments all he was able to do was stare up horrific image on the ceiling, but finally his body kicked back into action and he hurried over to grab John off the bed. “Come on, we gotta out of here.”

John struggled against Dean. “No! Mary! Mary! No!”

Dean frantically tried to pull John off the bed, but he was a lot heavier than Dean and he was fighting him so much that it was nearly impossible to get the older man up. “John!” Dean shouted. “We gotta go! John! Please!”

Suddenly Sam was in the room and grabbing a hold of John’s other arm, and between the two of them they were able to get John up and bodily shove him out the door. Thankfully once they got into the hallway, John stopped struggling so hard against them and the three of them stumbled down the stairs and outside.

John’s not sure how long he stood there on the front lawn as he numbly watched the fire fighters try to get control of the fire that had engulfed his house along with his wife. Windows had exploded from the intense heat, and police had started moving people back to keep them at a safe distance but John just stood there unable to do anything but watch. It was Dean and Sam that finally snapped him out of his daze. They were sat beside him on the lawn, Sam in Dean’s lap as they both stared blankly ahead, when John noticed they had started shaking badly, he realised that shock was setting in and it was time to move them.

“Dean,” John said as gently as could, willing his voice not to crack. “Take Sam to the Impala, okay? I’ll be there in a minute.”

Dean nodded and without saying a word he coaxed Sam back up to standing and led him over to the car before helping him to climb into the backseat.

John looked back towards the house, despite the fire fighters best efforts the fire raged on, destroying everything in its path, nature at its worst but John knows nature had nothing to do with this. This fire wasn’t started by anything natural or a random electrical fault. It was started by evil. Something evil had taken his Mary, and John had been powerless to stop it and now the love of his life was gone. Setting his moth into a grim line of determination, John turned away from last remains of his life with Mary and headed towards the Impala.

John’s hands shook as he got into the car and took a hold of the steering wheel. The boys were sat in the back, silent and in shock, holding on desperately to each other. John wanted to say something, anything to comfort them but right then he just couldn’t find the words. He knew one thing though and that was that those boys were all in had left in the world, and nothing and no one was going to take them away from him.

“Are...are we going to Ma..Mary’s dad’s?” Dean asked shakily when John started up the Impala.

“No,” John answered. “We’ve got work to do.”

As John drove off, he had no idea where he was going but he knew what he had to do. He had to find the thing that killed Mary and end it. He wasn’t going to let it hurt anyone else. He wasn’t going to let it hurt the boys. Protecting them was all that mattered now, and John needed to learn the game fast if he was going to keep them safe. John didn’t care who tried to come after them, demons, social services even Mary’s dad, John would stop them all or he would die trying.

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Azazel smirked as he watched the Impala disappear off into the distance. Everything was back on track. Destinies were falling into place to be fulfilled. Dean and Sam were finally where they should have be from the start, with John Winchester as their father.

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The End

Author’s Note:- For those of you interested I have already started work on a sequel to this story. The sequel will tie up the lose ends of this story and start John and the boys on the next part of their Journey. The first part should be posted soon. :)