Sam's Dreams were the focus of Mercy's worries. Or were they Visions? She had no clue just that they didn't mean anything good.
And yes, the capitals were needed.
Sam had never shown signs of being psychic before.
It was scary. Their family had no history of psychics, on either side. It didn't help that Mercy was sure that these Visions were caused by the yellow eyed monster. Call it a huntress' instinct. She knew they were going to cause nothing but trouble for them.
The first clue was that stupid tree he had been drawing. Oh, she recognised it all right. She had managed to ruin many dresses and trousers climbing up it when she was small. She just hoped to God it wasn't actually that tree Sam was seeing.
Denial always made things so much harder in the end.
"We shouldn't be here." Mercy said from her place in the back of the Impala.
They were outside her childhood home, or as she liked to call it, the house of nightmares and false dreams.
She could feel her chest tighten as flashbacks tried to force their way to the front of her mind. It was only the years of experience that let her keep them behind her mental block. Unfortunately it didn't stop the screams from ringing around her head or the blistering heat she could feel creeping up her back.
She had to keep a hand on Sam and Dean's shoulders to ground her mind. There was no fire or danger and Sammy and Dean were safe. She just needed to keep reminding herself of those facts.
"Mercy, there's a reason I had visions of this place. The owners could be in serious danger! Isn't that our job, keeping people safe?"
She knew he was right. Whatever the reason they were brought there, the family living there didn't deserve to go through the same suffering she had endured.
Dean wasn't doing too great either. She knew he had a few vague memories of the place, and a fire that managed to destroy your childhood wasn't something you could forget that easily. But he was better than Mercy.
"Well, there's no time like the present."
Before she knew it, she managed to force her body to go to the front door and knock. Sam and Dean stood just behind her, letting her take control of the situation.
A sarcastic "thanks" floated in her mind.
The woman who opened the door looked so much like their mum that it took a second for Mercy to speak. She could feel her heart pounding and adrenaline made her want to run far away from the house.
She forced down the lump in her throat enough to talk to the concerned looking mother.
"Hi, sorry for bothering, my name is Mercy Winchester and these are my brothers Sam and Dean. We used to live here; we were in the area and wanted to see how the old place was doing."
She gestured to the Winchester brothers in turn. The woman looked at the boys suspiciously but calmed when she figured that Mercy was the one in charge. Mercy thought that maybe she had had some bad experiences when it came to men.
She just hoped Dean didn't decide to hit on her. Judging by the woman's tan line on her ring finger she really didn't need any romantic attention at the moment.
Recognition flashed in her eyes and she looked the three of them up and down like she was seeing them in a new light.
"Winchester, it's so funny. You know, I think I found some of your old photos the other night. Oh, the name's Jenny, by the way."
"You did?" Dean asked. A spark of hope bloomed in her chest, maybe she could show the boys some more pieces of their past. Get to know their mum better.
"Come on in."
Mercy found herself tensing up as they made their way to the familiar kitchen. A firm hand on her shoulder let her know that Dean wasn't feeling well either.
The sight of a small boy jumping in a play pen chanting "Juice" distracted her from the oppressive feeling the house was giving her.
"That's Ritchie; he's kind of a juice junkie. But hey, at least he won't get scurvy!"
Mercy made a funny face at the kid, drawing a loud giggle from him. She missed the times when Sam and Dean were that innocent and cute.
Jenny moved to stand behind the older sister and introduced her to them.
"Sairie, this is Sam, Dean and Mercy. They used to live here."
The Winchesters said hello in their usual awkward fashion.
"So, you just moved in?" Dean started the conversation.
"Yeah, we moved from Wichita."
"You got family here, or….?"
Mercy slapped her brother in the stomach. He may be charming but the boy doesn't know the meaning of tact or subtlety. Said boy elbowed her back, hard.
The two glared at each other and Sam decided to change the subject. You could just tell from the look on his face that he was embarrassed to be related to his childish older siblings.
"So, how do you like the house so far?"
"Well, all due respect to your childhood home. I mean, you guys probably have lots of happy memories here. But it does have its issues."
She had no idea. Mercy felt a pang of hurt deep in her chest for all those happy memories which were now tainted with the pain of losing Mary.
"What do you mean?" Mercy asked.
"It's just getting old, you know? The faulty wiring, we get flickering lights almost hourly. The sinks backed up, and there are rats in the basement." A second passed when she realised what she was saying, "I'm sorry. I don't mean to complain."
"Nah, don't worry, it is fine. Have you seen any of the rats?"
"No, just heard the scratching actually."
There was definitely something in the house. All these were signs of some form of creature residing inside, usually not very good ones at that.
"Mum." Sairie called. "Ask them if it was here when they lived here." She whispered.
"What, Sairie?" Sam pushed. Mercy felt the urge to hit him in the stomach as well. Couldn't he see the girl was terrified of strangers?
"The thing in my closet,"
Sam and Dean instantly checked to see if Mercy reacted negatively, ready to calm her down if she began having another panic attack.
To their surprise she stayed calm and looked at the young girl curiously.
"I'm sorry. The move has been very stressful on her and she's been getting nightmares."
"I wasn't dreaming! It came into my bedroom. And it was on fire!"
Jenny apologised again. Mercy just smiled kindly, she knew how stressful kids could be.
"Don't worry. It's healthy for kids to have a monster in their rooms. It helps develop their imagination and teaches them to overcome their fears. I remember Dean was terrified of the werewolf in the kitchen at night. Even Sam was scared of the monster under the bed."
The two women laughed at the indignant squawks that came from the men in the room.
"Well thanks for everything. We'll be getting out of your hair now."
The door slammed behind them just as Sam started with his wild gestures and loud voice.
"Did you hear that?!" Sam practically yelled down her ear. "A figure on fire,"
"And that woman, Jenny, she was the woman in your dreams?" Dean yelled down her other ear.
"Yes! The scratching in the walls, lights flickering? Those are both signs of a malevolent spirit!"
"Yeah well I'm just freaked out your weirdo visions are coming true."
"Well forget about that! That thing in the house, do you think it's the thing that killed Mum and Jessica?"
Mercy stopped them from going any further by grabbing them each by their jackets. She made them turn around and stared them in the eyes.
"I know how much you want this to be the yellow eyes. But think about this logically. We don't know what it is; we don't know why it's here. So we need to do this like any other case or we're calling another hunter to take care of it."
The brothers' faces turned determined.
"We need to get that family out of that house." Sam's voice deepened.
"And we will." Replied Dean, his voice equally as steely,
Mercy nodded in approval. This wasn't a case they could let their emotions control, so they needed to do this professionally. No matter how scared she really was.
The discussion continued as Dean filled the car with Gas.
"Right, normally we'd figure out what we're up against. Look into the history of the house."
"Exactly," Dean continued, "except we already know what happened."
"How much do we know? I mean, how much do you guys actually remember?"
They knew it was coming. It was a case and they were the witnesses, Sam didn't remember what happened so he needed to know.
Dean spoke first. His voice was calm and stable, but they could tell he was upset thinking about the night by his still posture. When he was happy or calm he would never stop moving, when he's sad or irritated he stays almost unnaturally still.
"Not much. I do remember the fire, the heat, and running with you guys. I fell over. I can't remember how I got out."
It made sense, Mercy thought. He was only four, it's a surprise he could remember that much.
"I remember it all." Mercy said when the two looked at her expectantly.
The shocked looks were expected. She was young when it happened, but it wasn't the kind of thing you'd forget.
"I woke up to Mum screaming. Not that I thought she did, I just thought it was a dream or something. But I got scared and went to check on you, Sam. You were shockingly calming for such a fussy baby." She teased, easing the pressure of the atmosphere in the room.
"Dad came running in late, and we saw Mum on the ceiling. I ran out with you," She nodded towards Sam, "and went to find Dean. You were right when you said you fell over." She ruffled his short hair, "Scared the hell out of me. You couldn't even run anymore because you managed to cut your knees. So I carried the two of you out straight into a fireman's arms."
"You carried the both of us?! But you were eight years old! You shouldn't have been physically able to carry that much weight!" Sam asked.
Mercy couldn't hold in her bitter snort.
"I collapsed as soon as we were clear of the house. Took months before my muscles worked properly again."
"Did Dad see what did it? I mean, we know it had yellow eyes." Dean asked.
"No, that was me. I saw whatever it was leave before Dad came in. Those sick yellow eyes followed me everywhere after that."
"And Dad never had a theory on what it could be?"
Dean and Mercy made eye contact. Both of them knowing, that even if he did have a theory. He would've kept it to himself.
"We should go see Dad's old co-workers. See what he said to them after the fire."
Mercy almost felt insulted. Here she was, a fountain of knowledge of what happened, and they wanted to go see old Mike.
"Or, my stupid younger brothers, you could listen to me and go see Missouri."
The two of them turned around to stare at her in the back of the Impala, the looks of confusion and insulted made Mercy want to laugh out loud.
"Who's Missouri?" Dean questioned.
"She's the psychic that told Dad the truth of what's out there. You loved it when we were there, couldn't stop laughing."
Mercy thought back to the time where Missouri helped her family. It was such a bright part of a dark time. She would be forever grateful to the woman for putting them back together.