Good morning dear colleagues, i´m here to present you, my newest story on Downton Abbey.

The story bellow, its an Alternative universe having its beginning at the end of the season and ending roughly in the middle of the fourth in mind that everything that happened in the third season, to the present time, has not changed, like Sybil´s death, Edith´s failed wedding and Bates impriosionament.

The changes started in this story... First, as the summary said, Mary makes a deal with the devil to bring Matthew back, so, therefore, he is alive in this story, with no memories from the accident.

Then, let´s pretend that instead of George, they give welcome to a lovely little baby girl named Helen.

Other then that, Michael Gregson and Marigold story will be exclude, instead, Lady Edith will bring us a shocking surprise for the time the story takes place (1921-22)

One more thing... i decided to add in this story, two extra characters, to make the action work.

First one, is a special guest from the Tv Show Supernatural - Fergus McLoad, AKA Crowley, a crossroad demon, who plays a small part at the first chapter of this story (note, this story isn´t a crossover between the two shows, i just used the character, for this unusual idea)

The secound one is Fiona Woodley, daughter of Gerald Woodley, the Ireland Ambassador and friend´s of Rose

Anyway, this is the only clue i can give you about this story, i hope you enjoy it and feel free to leave a comment, it will be appreciated

Dr. Serpico


CHAPTER 1 – A DEAL CHANGES EVERYTHING

When the news of Matthew´s accident reached Mary´s ears, she didn´t cry, at first, she thought her family was just playing tricks on her. But when her father Lord Grantham told her that Matthew was probably dead, she went into a shock, denying the cruel truth

She demanded to see him, of course, despite of her mother´s protest, after all she was still weak after give birth to little Helen. But still they knew it was useless talk to Mary, once she was stubborn enough, so Anna and Cora helped her into some other cloths and Tom lead her to the morgue, where Matthew lies, waiting to be prepared to his funeral.

Isobel was there, when Mary arrived, sitting beside her only son, grieving as she should. Once Mary approached with Tom, the old lady give her a watery sad smile and walk away, supported by the young man, giving the couple a few moments of privacy.

''oh my darling!'' Mary managed to whispered, caressing her husband´s handsome face. He was still wearing the same cloths he has when he came to meet his newborn daughter not an hour earlier; if not for the deep wound in the back of his head, Mary could have sworn that he was just sleeping ''why this had to happened?'' she hold back a sob ''how I suppose to live without you, Matthew, I wish I could turn back the time and prevent you to go away'' Mary couldn´t hold it anymore, weak and tired as she was Lady Mary Crawley seat down in the chair Isobel was previously seated and started to cry.

Suddenly, Mary heard the morgue´s door opening and a slight older man entered the room, wearing some strange cloths and a warm smile on his face.

''are you alright, Milady?'' he asked, offering her his handkerchief ''here, dry your eyes''

''you are from the Funeral home, I thought I asked Tom or Mamma to warn me.'' Mary said ''please, can I have just a few more minutes with him?''

''Milady, if I say I'm actually here for you… or more specific, for this poor young man here'' he said walking toward the bed. ''I can bring him back to you, if you want me''

''this is a joke, isn´t it? Please today is neither the day nor the time to make jokes, I just lost my husband and my father lost his heir, so I ask you to leave and let me grieve''

''Milady, I can offer you a deal, I do can bring him back, I have the power for it.''

''who are you, then, why do you claimed to have the power to bring him back?''

''my name is Crowley, Milady, I'm a demon'' he said and in response, Mary paled

"A demon?" She gasped and immediately, Crowley go to the counter, came back with a glass of water and give it to her ''why did you came for me?''

"I can tell you don't want to lose this gentlemen and I can bring him back to you, Milady''

"How?" Mary asked her mind thinking of the Lord's praying to him protect her from this 'demon'.

"Just wish it and seal it with a kiss''

''what will happens, if you bring him back?''

''he will be alive by the tea time and exchange you will be mine, your soul will be collected due time. The choice is yours''

''Give me just two weeks then'' she said, looking at the dead body of her husband and in response, Crowley looked down at her in pity

''are you sure, Milady, I can tell you hell isn´t a pleasant place.'' He said

''Mr. Crowley, I can assures you I will live in hell if I can´t have Matthew by my side, it´s took a lot of time to me to realize how much I love him and I don´t want to lose him.'' She said ''besides, I have done a few horrible things in my life, so one day I will go to hell sooner or later, two weeks will be enough for me to make peace with everyone else and make sure my daughter will be loved. With one condition '' she demanded ''you will make sure no harm will come to my family, Downton will be safe and the Crawley´s fortune will never be lost''

''fair enough. Well then, with your permission Milady'' the demon bent down and give Mary a slight kiss and as soon as their lips touched, Matthew´s eyes opened and he gave a frightened gasp.

''MATTHEW!'' Mary departed the kiss and turns her attention to her frightened husband

''M-Mary… w-what happened, why… why are you here? What's happened?'' he gasped as his wife and the strange man at her side tried to calm him down

''oh my darling, my darling'' Mary couldn´t help but cry, but this time tears of joy

''I will call your family, Milady'' Crowley announced and get out the room

''Mary, please, tell me what´s happening'' he asked again, trying to seat up, but Mary once again stopped him

''be careful darling, you have been on an accident, you need to stay still'' she said, not deciding to tell him the truth.

''and where is Helen? Our little girl, where is she?''

''she´s fine, she is with Mamma right now''

''good'' he agreed ''I can´t wait to hold her in my arms again''

''you will my darling'' she said as the rest of the family entering the room, followed by Tom and Dr. Clarkson.

The poor old physician was indeed very confuse, when he saw Matthew awake, after all, he was the one who proclaimed the young man´s death. On the other hand, isobel doesn´t seemed to mind the doctor´s amazement, she was more than happy to see her son alive. And to be fair, everyone had a mix of surprise and delighted on their faces

_/_

''my dear chap, what exactly happened to you?'' Lord Grantham asked amazed a few hours later, when the whole Crawley family was gathered together at Mary´s hospital room

''I honestly don´t know, the last thing I remember was been hit by something and in the next time, I was gasping for air in that morgue and Mary and a man I do not recognize, was trying to calm me down'' he explain, looking down at his daughter

''don´t be silly my darling, there was no one there, just me'' Mary lied, taking Helen from her father´s arms

''You must be referring to the medical examiner'' Isobel concluded ''that man with strange cloths, who was kind enough to warn us what happened''

''what a strange little man'' the Dowager countess ''where did he came from?'' the old woman asked

''it´s don´t matter right now, Mamma, let´s enjoy this happy moment'' Robert smiled ''i´m so glad everything went well''

''I agree, congratulations to you both, I'm sure Sybbie and Helen will be great friends and playmates'' Tom smiled ''I can´t to see their two, running around the Abbey, giving Mr. Carson a bunch of white hair''

''poor Carson'' Cora shakes her head ''now we must go, Edith is waiting for us back in the house, besides, we need to let both of you rest.''

''I think you´re right.'' Mary said, placing the baby on her bassinet ''see you tomorrow, Mamma, Papa''

''tomorrow will be in home due time, my dear child, till there, try to rest. And you too, Matthew, i thought I have heard Dr. Clarkson recommend you to have a rest'' Robert give his daughter a kiss and gone away with his family

_/_

It was later that night, while both her husband and daughter were sleeping, , Mary woke up with someone knocking on the door of her hospital room, it was Crowley again, who came to say good bye.

''Milady, I hope you do understand the height of your deal'' he said ''there´s no come back from this… are you sure you want to do this?''

''yes I do'' Mary said ''I do not regret what I have done'' Crowley was surprised by that ''there is whatever a problem''

''which is?''

''you cannot came to my house calming for my soul out of nowhere, it will not be good for any of us''

''I do understand Milady'' the demon agreed ''in other cases I would use a hellhound… a dog from hell, to collect your soul'' he said ''but, in this case, I will be more gentle'' he finished and snap his fingers. Immediately, Mary grabbed her abdomen in pain

''what is it?'' she asked, trying not to be afraid

''don´t worry, Milady, you are fine for now'' he said, helping her into her bed ''here´s what I have done… two weeks from now, you will be suffering for an appendix burst, your family will bring you here unsuspiciously and good Dr. Clarkson will try to save you''

''and it will not work'' the woman concluded

''exactly'' the demon smiled ''when your soul leave your body then, I will be waiting for you to escort you down there''

''I understand, Mr. Crowley'' she said ''thank you whatever, for bring Matthew back''

''I hope you do, Milady'' he said, giving a kiss on her hand ''it was a pleasure makes business with you. Enjoy your family, in the time you have left'' he said and gone away.


Next day by the morning, Mary and Matthew brought little Helen home and the whole Abbey were delighted, Aunt Rosemond came from Yorkshire and Lord and Lady Grantham hosted a fancy party to welcome their second granddaughter. Everything was more than perfect, despite of the fact that Matthew complained about a headache, which Dr. Clarkson assures him that it was completely normal, once he had bumped his head in the accident

On the other hand, since Mary and Matthew had a girl, Lady Violet, couldn´t stop but complain that Helen should be born a boy, to ensure the state security.

''Granny, please, don´t be so hard on Matthew'' Edith defended her brother - in-law

''what I can say? I couldn´t help myself for have a lovely girl, who is the slip image of her mother'' the man laughed, but in response, the old countess, just reproved his comment

_/_

By the time passed, Mary wrote a few letters and tried to make peace with everything and everyone around her, she spend a lot of time with her parents and daughter and tried to be a little nicer to Edith.

Two days before the fateful day, as Crowley had warn her, Mary started to see and hear things she wasn´t supposed to hear and see and suddenly, she regretted made that damn deal. But as a delicate lady she was, Mary immediately, composed herself, saying that everything was okay

The next day, only a day before her death, Mary started to feel unwell, she felt tired and her stomach was hurt horribly, but still, she was stubborn enough to deny an appointment with Dr. Clarkson, so at least, Lady Grantham convinces her to stay in bed all day.

''are you alright my darling?'' she looked at her side and a hideous creature meet her eyes; frightened she blinks and Matthew´s handsome face comes into view

''quite alright'' she lied as he lie down beside her that night ''I can´t stop thinking how lucky we are, we build the kingdom for our little princess and… despite of Granny´s complains, I'm more than happy, to bring Helen into the world, I know she will safe Downton and our legacy will endure toward the years to come''

'"Do have any idea how happy you made me Mary?'' he said kissing her ''you and Helen, make me the happiest man in the world''

''I'm glad to hear that'' she whispered weakly'' I hope to be your Mary Crawley for all eternity, not Edith´s version, or anyone else´s'' she said, realizing the mistake she had made, dealing with the demon

''you will be always my Mary Crawley, because my Mary is the true Mary'' Matthew said, but in response, Mary gives him a worried look

"Matthew, if anything ever happens to me, promise me that you'll take care of Helen. Please don't be angry and shut yourself down, she will need you" she said quickly while his mouth was pressed against her head.

"my darling, what are you talking about? You aren't going anywhere." He said with concern

"I know. I just want you to promise," she said, her sad brown eyes looking up at him.

"alright than, i promise." He said and held her in a tight embrace.

_/_

Next day, as Crowley had said, they took a very ill Mary to the hospital, Dr. Clarkson, Isobel and another nurse, has tried to save her, but it was too late, her soul was already taken.