A/N: I've always loved John Winchester, so this story is a way to still have him in the show, but on the sidelines! He will follow his boys through the seasons (I'm not sure how many yet), and explain his thoughts about things that happen. I might go a bit out of the storyline once or twice, but not much if that is the case.

In this chapter there will be spoilers for season 1 and 2!

(Oh, and the title of this fic is borrowed from a song by The Pogues, just FYI.)


Boys From the County Hell – chapter 1

You know, I've been to Hell. Spent about a hundred years down there, and it's worse than it's given credit for. The torture they put me through, those bastards. Alastair was the worst; he had these very, very disturbed ideas and performed them all on me. Then there were the poor, tortured souls who had given in, who had saved themselves from physical torture by giving in to the mental, agreeing to torture others. I pitied them. But I have to admit, every time I was offered the same deal as they had agreed to, I gave it a serious thought. If it hadn't been for the smug look Alastair got each and every time he asked, I would have said yes. Blame it on my pride, or my stubbornness, but I would not let that son of a motherless ogre win.

So anyway, days, months and years passed, every day the same as the day before and the next. And then something happened.

The first thing I noticed was a warm breeze of some sort. You'd think Hell is warm enough, but it's not, really. Think of the warmth of Hell as the warmth just before a massive thunderstorm is about to break loose. The sticky, headache producing, there-is-no-sun-but-yet-it's-extremely-hot warmth. And then think of the relief you feel when a sudden wind appears, cooling you down. That's what I felt that day.

My demon guards felt it too, and honestly, I think they liked it just as much as I did. They stopped, just for a second, and loosened their grip on me. But that was all I needed. I broke out of their holds and ran. First, it was just a panicked escape. I had no idea where to go. But then I saw the multiple clouds of demon smoke, all going the same way. Voices from all around me were heard, some whispers, some shouts:

"It's been opened!"

Yes, I followed the demons. Probably not a good idea, but I had nowhere else to go except back to the clutches of Alastair and that was not the first thing on my wish-list. And it turned out I was lucky, for once.


It's kind of hard to explain Hell to someone who hasn't been there, but I'll do the best I can. You see, Hell is not just "under ground", even though that's what you associate it with. Because, well, Heaven is of course in heaven and the opposite of heaven should be down in the dirt. But then again, Hell is freakishly hot, so as the opposite of that, Heaven should be freezing. And it's not. No, Hell is sort of in the middle of nowhere, a collection of every ruined thing that has ever been on Earth. Every person has their own little Hell, where the things you fear the most come true. Then there is the public room, where you're tortured. Since I was Alastair's little bitch, I actually spent most of my days in there. And believe it or not, I think that's how I managed to even remember who I was.

The reason I'm trying to explain Hell to you, is to try to explain how I got out. The thing that had been opened was nothing less than a door that led to the "normal" world. You'd think I'd have to climb out, because of the "Hell is underground"-idea. As a matter of fact it was more like jumping, falling, rolling, dodging , running and then climbing out of Hell. But I got out. And I was met with a sight I'd never thought I'd see again. My sons.


I know I wasn't the best of fathers. I might even have been one of the worst. But I always loved my boys, I still do. So when I saw that filthy yellow eyed demon, the one I had been hunting for so long, standing over Dean… I didn't think, I just reacted.

All of my anger, all of my love just came flooding out. Every inch of me wanted to protect Sam and Dean, and kill that bastard. I flung myself at the demon, wrapping my arms around him in an attempt to at least distract him from shooting Dean. I was just as surprised as Yellow Eyes was when it actually worked, so he could quickly toss me away. But my distraction was enough, and Dean shot the sucker, right through the heart.

Damn, I was proud.

I couldn't really speak to any of them, but I needed a good look at Dean, to know that my sacrifice wasn't in vain. His eyes met mine, and I knew that I had nothing to regret. He would forever protect Sammy, and I knew that Sam would look after Dean. I smiled.

Suddenly I felt tired, I mean seriously worn out. I guess displaying your feelings that much does that to you. I could no longer hold on to my physical form, and vanished from sight. But I kept watching them for a long time. And I am a bit ashamed to admit it, but I've been around them - just keeping an eye on them from time to time - ever since.