Disclaimer – None of the character belong to me, any dialogue you recognise has come from the pilot episode which was written by Eric Kripke not by me.

2nd November 1983

The Winchester House

Lawrence, Kansas

She knew she was lucky.

Mary Winchester felt a small smug smile come to her face as she leaned forward, resting her lower arms against the cool wooden side of her six month year old son Sam's cot. He was still wide awake, watching her with a large gummy smile plastered on his face, cooing to himself happily. His Dark blue eyes moved around the room, attracted by the shadows which the light from the landing provided. He always wore a similar expression she had noticed. It was as though he was absolutely determined not to miss anything which was going on around him. People had often commented to him how observant he seemed. It was just a shame that the same quality they complimented him on made it such a nightmare to get him to go to sleep at night.

Mary shook her head slightly, reaching forward and running her hand over his soft blond hair. Somehow she doubted that Sam's eyes would remain blue, already they were changing from the pale blue eyes he had as a baby to a darker shade. It wouldn't surprise her if he ended up with dark eyes like John did.

"You're such a good boy Sammy" she whispered to him, her hand still stroking his hair. She would have been content to stay with him all night, watching him kick his chubby legs into the air, small dimpled hands grabbing at nothing as he babbled to himself but the sound of childish laughter quickly muted caught her attention and held it. Her smile widened "I'll be right back sweetheart to finish tucking you in" she promised Sam giving his hair a final pat before she straightened. Her eyes swept the room out of habit but everything appeared to be normal so she turned and walked out of the pale blue room into the corridor, swiftly making her way to the end of it. Her attention fixed on the half opened door just before the stairs.

She quietly pushed the door open, peering through the gap with a rueful smile. It shouldn't have surprised her that Dean was up, sitting on his floor, dressed in his pyjamas as he crashed two of his toy cars into each other, making random explosion noises as he did. She should have realised that he went down far too easily earlier when she had tucked him into bed. Normally it was much more of a fight. Shaking her head she reached up and pinched the bridge of her nose. She had been sure that he had tired himself out enough during the day to fall straight asleep but clearly the four year old had other plans. Plans which didn't involve him sleeping anytime soon.

"Dean Honey" Mary remarked, keeping her voice quiet so she didn't startle him. She pushed the door open, slipping into the room "Why aren't you in bed? Its past your bedtime, you should be asleep" She tilted her head, her eyes fixed on Dean as he froze, his green eyes rising from the car to peer at her through his long fringe of blond hair. She would have to take him to get it cut the next day; having it in his eyes so much couldn't have been comfortable. As if proving her point he reached up and swiped the hair away from his face.

"I couldn't sleep Mummy" Dean answered after his initial pause.

"Well" she replied "What did I tell you to do if you couldn't sleep?" she asked, she knelt down on the floor, leaning towards him as she placed her hands on her thighs to support her as she waited for her son's answer.

"You said that I should stay in bed and rest Mummy" he said, tilting her head at her, his eyes quizzical as he waited in silence to see whether he had answered her question correctly. Mary nodded, a smile coming to her face in answer to the one which bloomed across Dean's face. She reached up and hooked a stray curl behind her ear.

"And is playing cars resting in bed Dean?" she queried, Dean scrunched his face up before he bit down on his lower lip

"I guess not" he admitted quietly. Mary shook her head with a soft sigh.

"What exactly am I going to do with you baby?" she asked him warmly. She leaned across, pushing his fringe out of the way and kissed his forehead softly. She would definitely take him for a haircut the next day; Sam was already outgrowing his baby suits so she might as well kill two birds with one stone. Not only that but Dean also had a birthday party to go to which meant she would have to pick up a present for him to bring with him. Tomorrow was beginning to shape up as a busy day.

"Kiss again Mummy?" Dean demanded, his voice breaking her out of her thoughts. Mary laughed, planting kisses all over his face, her fingers digging lightly into his sides as she tickled him, a laugh escaping her as she heard him laughing, struggling to escape her fingers. "Mummy stop" he pleaded through giggles.

Mary removed her hand, planting another kiss on Dean's freckled cheek before she moved back

"Since you're up how about we both go and say goodnight to your brother? Then we'll come back and I'll tuck you into bed again and this time mister you shall stay in bed. Deal?" Dean considered her offer, his face morphing into a serious look before he nodded.

"Bed time story?" he said hopefully

"We'll see" Mary replied pushing herself to her feet "You have already had one after all" she pointed out. She held out her arms, grunting when Dean leapt into them. She shifted him to her side for comfort before they left the room, making their way down the corridor towards the nursery.

"Come on, let's say goodnight to your brother" she commented, reaching out and flicking on the switch flooding the dark room with light. She smiled when Sam automatically moved his head towards them with a quizzical look. Dean wriggled in her arms so she placed him down, watching them both fondly when Dean raced forward towards the cot, pulling himself up using the cot to support himself and brushed s kiss across Sam's forehead.

"Night Sam" he stated cheerfully, causing Mary to grin. If she knew Dean at all then she knew that his mind was already racing ahead, trying to figure out how he was going to get her to read him another story. He was surprisingly smart for a four year old. She walked over to the both, placing her hand on Dean's back to help steady him as she leaned over the top of the crib.

"Goodnight love" she crooned to Sam, running her hand over his head and kissing his forehead. His hand grasped at her blond hair as he made happy sounds before he let her go.

"Hey Dean" Mary glanced around at the same time as Dean did to see John standing in the doorway watching them with a wide grin. He looked tired she noticed and wondered whether he had been sleeping badly again. He seemed to go through stages of it. He had mentioned over dinner a few days back that there was some sort of trouble at the garage but she had assumed that whatever it was had been sorted since he hadn't mentioned it again.

"Daddy!" Dean cried happily, turning away from the cot and running across the room, leaping into John's arms with an identical wide grin.

"Hey buddy" John replied, hugging Dean close to him, the smile still on his face as he adjusted his son in his arms "So what do you think, do you think that Sam is ready to toss around a football?" he asked, his grin widening at the expression which came to Dean's face.

"No Daddy" he replied, laughter reflected in his voice as he shook his head, his hair flying around him at the movement.

"No" John scoffed, his eyes meeting Mary's as she walked over to them, placing her hand on Dean's back again. She couldn't help the smile which came to her face at the pair of them. They were so alike sometimes that it amused her.

"You got him?" she asked waiting only for a moment to hear John's reply

"I got him" she nodded and left the nursery, a quick glance over her shoulder showed Dean snuggling his face into John's shoulder, his arms wrapping around his father's neck tightly as John spoke "Sweet dreams Sam."

Mary made her way back to Dean's room, entering the room and heading straight over to the bed. She pulled down the duvet covers in preparation. Standing back and looking towards the door just as John entered, Dean still clutched to his shoulder with his face squished against John's neck.

"Asleep" she said quietly. John twisted his head, pulling back slightly so he could peer into Dean's face. A slight smile came to his face as he turned back to Mary and nodded. He walked over to the bed, stepping over the stray toys left on the floor, and lowered Dean gently onto the bed. Dean stirred for a moment before he shifted onto his side, his arm wrapping around one of his toys as he settled back down to sleep with a contented little snuffling sound.

Mary bent over, covering him with his duvet before she kissed his exposed cheek, her mouth moving to his ear as she softly whispered her nightly oath to him.

"Angels are watching over you baby"

John's hand wrapped around her wrist and he gently led her out of the room, pulling the door behind him so it was still open a slither to allow the light in.

"What now?" John asked her.

"I'm going to turn in for the night I think" Mary answered, keeping her voice low.

"Bed? It's only ten past eight" John pointed out with a look of disbelief when Mary shrugged her shoulders.

"Don't give me that look" she stated, wrapping her arms around his waist, resting her head against his chest as she breathed in his scent, he always smelt of car oil, soap and coffee. It was a strange combination but one which never failed to sooth her. "I'm knackered; you weren't the one who had to take Dean to his T ball practice today. Plus Sam is beginning to teeth and that had me up most of last night with him, it's been a long day and tomorrow is going to be exactly the same. I need sleep John"

"Ok, Ok" John stated, holding up his hand with a laugh, his other arm wrapping around her waist "I get it, I'm going to stay up a bit longer, maybe watch a movie. It's too early for me to turn in. Try not to take over all my side of the bed like you normally do Mary" he said with a wink at her.

"I can't promise that" she teased him, reaching up and kissing his cheek. "Don't be too late tonight John, you've got work in the morning and I know you overslept today and were late" she tilted her head to the side and gave him a soft, lingering kiss on the lips.

"And whose fault was it that I was late in the first place?" he asked her with a mock growl before returning her kiss.

"I've no idea" she replied innocently, dropping her arms from his waist as she stepped past him. She glanced over her shoulder with a laugh when he lightly smacked her ass before pushing her towards their bedroom "Night John" she called out to him, stopping at their door. They shared a quick glance and smile before she entered their bedroom intent on getting some much needed rest.

Mary stirred with a groan as the sound of Sam fussing through the baby monitor penetrated her sleep filled brain forcing her awake. She had hoped that Sam would have slept through the night considering how badly he had slept the night before but clearly that wasn't going to happen. His teeth must be bothering him again or perhaps he was hungry. She had noticed that he hadn't had much of his milk before he went to bed, normally her boy would guzzle it down like there was no tomorrow.

She shifted on the bed, reaching out blindly for the light as she tried to force her heavy eyelids open, her gaze focusing on the monitor.

"John?" she called out sleepily, pushing herself onto her elbow and twisting on the bed so she could peer over to John's side of the bed. It was empty. For a moment she thought about going back to sleep, if John wasn't in the bed with her then it probably meant that he was in the nursery with Sam comforting their youngest.

She glanced again at the monitor. She couldn't hear John talking to Sam and Sam was still fussing. With a sigh she slowly made her way across the bed forcing herself to her feet. She yawned making her way across the cool flooring, rubbing at her eyes as she exited the room. Sam's nursery was situated right across the hall from their room. She pushed the partly closed door open, tilting her head slightly ass he saw the shadowed figure standing over her son's crib in the darkened room.

"John?" she called out "Is he hungry?" She hoped that he wasn't. She couldn't remember whether she had made any bottles up before going to bed. If she hadn't then it would take time to make the formula up, time in which Sam would express his displeasure at being hungry loudly to the world, probably waking Dean up in the process.

She watched as John tilted his head to the side as he hushed her. She raised an eyebrow before shrugging her shoulders. If he wanted to deal with this then she was more then happy to let him. She could use the extra sleep.

"Ok" she said turning and walking back towards her room, she rubbed at her eyes again wondering vaguely what time it was when a flickering light at the end of the hall caught her attention. She frowned making her way down the hall to it. Stopping by it, she reached up and tapped at the glass covering with her finger until the light stopped flickering.

No doubt the light bulb was beginning to die which meant that they would have to replace it the next day. The light was outside Dean's doorway and he always needed the light on to sleep. She would have to add onto the list of things to do the next day.

The sound of explosions and shouts caught her attention. It sounded like it was coming from downstairs. Perhaps John had been downstairs watching the TV when he heard Sam cry out and had gone to investigate. Mary swallowed deeply, she couldn't remember John having hearing that good that he would be able to hear their son over the noise she could hear.

She frowned, an uneasy feeling blossoming in her stomach as she made her way down the stairs. She glanced round the corner, her mouth falling over as her heart slipped a beat in her chest. John was asleep in front of the sofa. If he was asleep there then that meant… her breath caught in her throat as her eyes widened.

She twisted on the stairs running up them as fast as she could.

She had to get to Sam.

"Sammy" she called, running down the hall way "Sammy" she ran into the nursery and stopped as she caught sight of the figure.

"Oh God"

"No, there's no God here tonight I'm afraid Mary" the man said with a wide smile that froze the blood in her veins. The next thing she knew she was thrown from her feet and slammed into the ceiling. The force breaking her ribs as she fought against the invisible bond holding her in place.

She had to get to Sam. She had to get out of here. She tried to control her thoughts and emotions and had nearly succeeded when a movement at the door caught her eyes. She managed to move her head enough to look. A pained moan escaping her when she saw Dean standing in the doorway staring at her with wide frightened green eyes.

God he couldn't get Dean as well, not Dean.

"Run" she mouthed at him "Run Dean"

She didn't have time to see if he obeyed as her head was whipped back into position by the force.

"It didn't have to be this way Mary" the demon said softly, sounding almost as though he regretted that they had ended in this situation "You could have lived if you had only listened to the terms of the deal."

The pain across her stomach was agony as she opened her mouth and screamed.

John Winchester came awake with a violent start, the sound of screaming echoing in his ears.

That had sounded like Mary.

"Mary?" he called out, looking over the back of his chair towards the stairs as he bounded to his feet. "Mary" he called again racing up the stairs and down the corridor, his heart caught halfway up his throat. The scream had sounded like it was coming from Sam's nursery. He slammed open the door, looking around him with frantic eyes. The room was empty except for Sam lying awake in his cot.

He looked around him again to be sure but there was no sign of his wife. The screams must have been a dream. It was his own fault; he should stop watching so many war films just before he went to sleep. They always brought back bad memories of a time which he would rather forget if he was being honest with himself.

He walked towards the crib, drawn and soothed by the normal gurgling sounds which Sam made.

"Hey Sammy" he said pulling the side of the cot down and resting against it for a moment. He took a deep breath content to watch his youngest for the moment.

It had just been a nightmare. Mary would be fast asleep in their bed across the hall, most likely flung across his side of the bed like usual. She had always been a sprawler, taking up as much room as possible on their bed as she could.

"Ok" he said, a smile coming to his face as he allowed the last of his fears to melt away.

Everything was ok. It had all just been his overactive imagination playing tricks on him. His eyes softened as they focused on Sam again watching as the young boy happily entertained himself.

John stopped suddenly, a slight frown coming to his face when he noticed a splodge of something on Sam's white pillow case, just a small circle of some sort which looked like liquid. He reached out for it curiously wondering whether Dean had come into the room earlier when they were unaware and split some of his blackcurrant juice. It wouldn't be the first time Dean had done that, except it didn't quite look like a juice stain. If anything it looked liked a splodge of paint.

He jerked back automatically when he felt something splash over the top of his hand.

One, two three.

What the hell?

His frown deepened as the hairs on the back of his neck suddenly stood to attention. Swallowing he slowly turned around.

John's eyes widened as he stumbled back, hitting the side of the crib as his knees gave away, his brain slammed to a stop, unable to grasp exactly what he was seeing with his own eyes.

Mary.

His Mary was on the ceiling, terrified eyes fixed on him as she tried desperately to breath. Her stomach was slashed open, her white nightgown stained red with her blood.

"No" he called out in horror, his eyes meeting hers. Her skin was so pale; he had seen that sort of paleness before. He knew what it meant but he couldn't accept it.

What was happening?

This couldn't be real; this had to be some sort of crazy nightmare he was having.

"Mary" he called out again in denial. He could only watch as she suddenly combusted into flames, flames which spread across the ceiling as though they were alive with a mind of their own.

What the hell was happening?

The sounds of Sam's screams jerked him out of his horrified stupor. He pulled himself to his feet, grabbing Sam still wrapped in his blanket from the crib and raced out of the door away from the flames.

"Daddy?" John's eyes snapped up at the voice to see Dean standing in front of him still dressed in his pyjamas.

"Take your brother outside as fast as you can. Don't look back. Now Dean go" Dean didn't hesitate, a look in his eyes which John has never seen before. He watched only for a second, seeing Dean run down the stairs with Sam cradled tightly in his arms before he turned back to face the nursery, hesitating only for a moment before he rank back into the nursery. His arms coming up to cover his face from the sheer heat.

"Mary?" he called out again. He couldn't see her, all he could see were the flames, his ears were filled with some strange noise he had never heard before "No" he called out in despair, his eyes finally landing on Mary as her body fell from the ceiling. He wanted to grab her but a massive ball of flame came straight at him forcing him out of the room and away from her.

Dean ran.

His heart pounding in his chest as he cradled Sam to him, his brother was heavy and Dean could feel his arms shaking from the strain but he wasn't going to let him go. Daddy had told him to take him and that was what he was going to do. Until Daddy came back Sammy was his responsibility.

He ran down the wooden steps onto the grass ignoring the stone and twigs that he stepped on, his eyes automatically turned to the window which he knew was Sammy's nursery.

There was fire everywhere. He didn't understand where it had come from. He didn't understand what he had seen.

He had only wanted to see what was going on. The sound of his mummy running and calling out Sam's name had woken him and he had crept out of bed to see if he could help her. Mummy was always telling him what a great big brother he was to Sam. He knew that Big Brothers were meant to help out.

He had walked down the hallway stopping in the doorway and that was when he had seen it.

Mummy was on the ceiling and the scary tall man was standing in front of her with his back to Dean watching her.

He didn't know who the man was but Mummy looked like she was in pain. Why hadn't the man helped her or had he been the one hurting her?

Dean had stared up at her unsure what to do when Mummy had looked at him, her eyes widening as they caught sight of him. He watched as she told him to run. She told him twice, then her stomach had suddenly gone red and she had screamed.

Dean had turned and ran back to his room closing the door behind him.

He had hidden behind it, hunched up with his arms wrapped around his knees, his ear pressed to the door as he rocked back and forth. He waited until he heard his Daddy race past the door, calling to his Mummy. His Daddy would fix it. He would fix everything. Dean had slowly opened the door and gone outside only to be handed Sam by his Daddy and told to run.

Dean didn't understand it.

Did he do wrong?

Should he had stayed and tried to help Mummy down from the ceiling instead of running?

"It's ok Sammy" he said to his brother, the sound of his own voice comforting as he stared up at the flames.

He didn't even make a sound when two arms wrapped around his body and he was picked up still clutching at Sammy as his Daddy ran with them both away from the house.

"I gotcha" he called out to Dean just as the window exploded behind them, flames racing out like Dean had seen on TV.

Where was mummy?

The fire department got to their house quickly.

John wasn't sure who had called them in, a neighbour perhaps who had seen or heard the explosion. He didn't care either way. Mary was gone. His wife was dead and he couldn't figure out what had happened.

It was impossible for her to be pinned to the ceiling. Impossible that she would just burst into flames.

The whole thing was impossible.

He could hear the fireman calling out to each other the same way he could hear the neighbours talking to each other, expressing their horror as they stared up at the ruin of his house and life. John ignored them all from where he sat on the bonnet of the Impala, holding Sam to him while Dean sat pressed against his side, small shudders shaking his small frame.

John looked up his gaze going to the window.

One way or another he was going to find out what happened to his wife and he wouldn't stop until he had the answers.