Dean and Sam had long since went their separate ways after Dean's run with the Mark of Cain. After all that was taken care of, he went on to find a woman that he settled down with. They got married, bought a house, and had three children, Sam, Henry, and Lucy. Though Dean wasn't too fond of the name Lucy, however Alexandra had been more than willing to let Dean name the boys, so he didn't argue with her on it. The oldest Winchester had finally settled into the apple pie life and left the life of a hunter behind, even having gotten a job working as a mechanic at a local shop there on the outskirts of Des Moines, Iowa. Life was perfect, almost too perfect.
One night, tragedy struck as always in the life of a Winchester. Sam was only 8, Henry was 3, and Lucy was just 4 months old when it happened. Dean came home from working late in the garage and went inside the house to clean up. Everyone was in bed, as Alex worked early in the morning and the kids had school and daycare. Not wanting to wake anyone up and not being tired yet, Dean made himself dinner and went to watch TV in the living room for awhile.
Around 10:30pm, the baby started crying and he heard Alex get out of bed to go check on her so he didn't get up right away. "DEAN!," Alex screamed from the nursery. Dean hopped up from the chair and bolted up the stairs, heart racing as he ran into the room. Alex was pinned against a wall by a demon, she had Lucy clutched to her chest, "I c-can't move." Dean slowly reached for a flask of Holy water he kept by when the demon spun around and wagged his finger at the former hunter. "Ah-ah-ahhhh, Dean-o, I don't think so," the man purred and suddenly was holding the flask, "That's just rude." Dean didn't know what to do, his mind was racing a mile a minute. The demon flicked his wrist and slowly started dragging Alex up the wall, Lucy still in her hands, "I'm disappointed in you, Dean. You thought you could just escape the hunter life with no repercussion? I thought you Winchesters knew better." Alex looked terrified, Lucy was crying, "What do you want, you sonuva bitch?" The demon just smirked at him, "That's the thing, nothing. I just want you to suffer."
Alex was now pinned on the ceiling, unable to speak at this point, even though Dean could see her mouth moving. That's when the entire ceiling engulfed in flames, taking Alex and Lucy with it. Dean ran and tried his best to pull her down, to do something, but it was to no avail. He should've been quicker and more prepared. Dean ran out of the nursery and down to the kids rooms, "Wake up, come on. We gotta get out," he picked Henry up and then ran into Sam's room and did the same. The three of them ran out of the house, Dean put them in the Impala since it was warded. The two kids were tired and grumpy, unsure of what was going on.
The Winchester called 911, "My house is on fire an' my wife and baby are in there. I can't find them. Help, please for the love of God help," Dean said, not wanting them to suspect he had something to do with it for the other two kid's sake. Though, he did blame himself, this was all his fault. "Sir, what's your address? Stay calm, we're sending out units now," the lady on the other end said. Dean gave her the address and waited, he was numb. So, this is what his dad felt when he lost their mom. What was he to do now? The man hadn't talked to Sam or Castiel in quite a few years now, really. He didn't have any family or anyone to really turn to at this point, or so he thought.
Dean had been living out of a motel in town with the two kids. He had taken them away from school and day care to give them time to process the grief of losing their mother and sister, though Henry didn't quite understand yet. It broke his heart when he would ask where momma and sissy were. Sam was taking it as well as you would imagine, he withdrew from everyone and began sticking to himself. It was hard for a child to understand why one minute someone was there, then the next they were gone. Dean didn't really have a way to explain it, either, except that he knew Alex and Lucy were both in Heaven. Though this conversation prompted a lot of questions like 'how do you know Heaven's real?' It wasn't like Dean could tell them, he couldn't expose them to that yet. Or should he?
They had just gotten back from the funeral, though there were no bodies, only bone shards they found on the nursery floor. Everyone gave their condolences to the small, broken family. Dean didn't care, however, them saying sorry wasn't going to bring Alex and Lucy back. Sam and Henry fell asleep in one of the beds, they had a long and rough past few days and he was thankful they were actually getting some sleep finally. The Winchester poured himself a glass of whiskey and stared at his phone before sighing and dialing Sam's number. Of course, it went straight to voicemail. So, Dean called every number he knew for Sam until he got ahold of him finally.
"Hello?," Sam said into the phone.
"Heya, Sammy...," Dean started out, unsure of what to say exactly, "I...Sam, I need you, man. I'm completely...my life...just..."
Sam took in a breath, it had been years since Dean and him actually really spoke, though he wasn't entirely sure why. Perhaps that's just how life worked out, "Dean, slow down. What's wrong? Are you okay?"
"Truthfully, no I'm far from okay," Dean said, quietly, "I can't explain it to you over the phone, I need you to come here. Comfort Inn in Des Mointes, Iowa...Please...I know we haven't spoken in awhile, but I need you."
"Yeah...Yeah, I'll be there Dean," the younger Winchester said, "I'll be there in like 3 hours, what room number?"
"538," he said, "Thank you...Be safe, I'll see you when you get here." Dean's voice sounded so defeated, Sam was very worried on what could've happened.