Disclaimer: Sad to say, but I do not own any part of Supernatural or Lost

Chapter Twelve:

"Valhalla?" Dean repeated.

"Yes," John told his son.

"Then we are dead," Sam said quietly.

John shook his head thoughtfully. "I don't think so," he replied.

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Well, for one, if you were," John told him. "You'd remember everything about the island."

"I'm not so sure about that," Dean told his father. "Jack and his people don't remember."

"None of them?" John asked.

Sam considered it, nodded and replied, "I think maybe John Locke knows something."

"What difference does it make?" Dean asked. "Why would we know about the island if we were dead, but the people on flight 815 wouldn't? It makes no sense."

"Come on," John said leading his son's back to the fire. "We have a lot to discuss and I think my dinner is burning." He went to the fire, removed the slightly blackened bird from spit and sat on a log near his bedroll.

"Dad," Dean asked sitting on a rock across from his father. "What the hell's going on?"

"And why are you so sure we're not dead?" Sam asked sinking to the ground and leaning against a tree.

"I haven't worked everything out yet," John told Dean. "I know there are demons on this island and that's something that's never happened here before."

Dean nodded. "We know," he said. "We've already sent one back to hell."

John's eyes widened as he looked from one son to the other. "How?" he asked.

Sam shook his head and muttered, "We're fine dad, thanks for asking."

John looked at Sam his facial expressions going from confusion to near laughter before settling into a more serious almost blank look. "This is so confusing," he told his son. "You have no idea how difficult this is for me."

"For you?" Sam and Dean said together.

John put both hands up. "Yeah, okay." He ran his hand over his stubbly chin wishing for either a razor or for his beard to finally grow out enough to quit itching. "So how much do you know about Valhalla?" he asked.

Sam cleared his throat. "In Norse mythology Valhalla is the hall presided over by the god Odin. It's supposed to be a great hall."

"This doesn't look like a great hall to me," Dean said. Both John and Sam glared at Dean. He raised his eyebrows, "What?"

"If I remember the legend correctly its where the Valkyries bring the souls of the heroes that died in battles."

"Why?" Dean asked.

"To prepare them for final battle," Sam told his brother.

"Wait, that doesn't make sense," Dean said. "Jack is not a warrior, he's a doctor and come on… did you get a look at Hurley? These people aren't warriors. Why are they here?"

"They will be," John replied. "There are many different jobs in an army Dean. Not everyone is on the front lines but that doesn't even matter. What we see when we look at them, what you see when you look at me isn't a true representation of their soul. It's the residual affect of their last life."

"How do you know all this?" Sam asked.

"Their last life?" Dean asked at the same time.

John sighed. "This is harder to explain then I thought it would be and there's still a lot that I don't know," he said.

"Why not?" Dean asked.

"This island is like…," John paused looking for he right words. "… a training facility. Each time a soul comes to the island they learn something new, something more that they will need in the coming battle. But each time they come they also learn more about the island itself and the more they've been on the island the more they remember the next time they return."

"So Jack and his people don't remember because…," Sam said.

"Because they are still to young," John told him. "They are all young souls."

"What about the baby?" Dean asked. "What exactly is a baby supposed to learn here? For that matter how is it a baby can even be born here?"

"What baby?" John asked.

"Clair, one of the survivors…," Dean rolled his eyes and shook his head. "… or whatever. She had a baby, born on the island."

A grin split John's face. "I'll bet that pissed Ben off," he said.

"Dad?" Sam asked.

"Babies born on the island are new souls. New souls born to become warriors," John told his sons. "Ben has been killing all the mothers before they give birth preventing the creation of new warriors."

"Killing them?" Dean asked. "Dad, what happens to the people that die on the island."

"Normally they are reborn into the body of an newborn child," he said. "But when Ben kills them, the way he's killing them. Their soul and the soul of their child is lost forever."

"So if Sayid had died," Dean said quietly. "It would have really been the end for him?"

"Who's Sayid?" John asked.

"He's one of Jacks people," Sam said. "He was with us when we were attacked by a demon. It nearly killed him." He looked at Dean before continuing. "Dean saved him."

John grinned at his son. "Then he owes you a lot more then just his life," he said.

Dean shook his head. "I don't even understand how he survived," Dean said. "He should have died from his injuries."

"It wasn't his time," John told Dean. "Injuries heal quickly on this island, even the most grievous of wounds can be cured if it's not your time to be reborn."

"How many times have you been here?" Sam asked his father. "How many lives on earth have you lived?"

"Hundreds," John answered, "Maybe thousands."

"And you remember them?" Dean asked.

"Some of them," John answered nodding his head. "Some of them are very clear memories, others are vague."

"So who were you?" Dean asked.

John smiled. "Those lives aren't really important," he replied. Then looked from one son to the other and continued. "In one lifetime I was William Wallace, in another I was General Robert Lee."

Sam's eyebrows rose, "As in Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the civil war?"

"Wait, William Wallace? You were Braveheart?" Dean asked.

John smirked and nodded at both his sons.

"Whoa," Dean said. "That gives a whole new meaning to the term, Career Military."

John said with a frown. "Yeah well, I've also led some lives I'm not proud of like the time I was nothing more then a thief and a cutthroat thug."

"Dad," Sam asked. "What about…" He paused unsure of how to ask his question without upsetting his father. "What about mom?"

"Mary's here, on the island," he replied. "I haven't seen her yet, but she's one of us so she is here. We'll find her, I promise."

"One of us?" Dean asked.

"We tend to stay together," John replied. "The soul's that are related to one another. They have a tendency to be connected somehow on earth. Sometimes they're siblings or they are husband and wife. Sometimes they're just very close friends."

"We should look for her," Dean said. "We should find her now."

"Dean, we will, I promise," John said. "But not yet, first we have a job to do."

"What?" Dean asked. "No! This is mom we're talking about. We need to find her. Make sure she's safe."

John sighed. "I already know where she is," he told his son.

"Where?" Sam asked.

"She's with Ben," he told them.

Dean stood and grabbed his duffle bag. "Come on Sammy," he told his brother. "Let's go."

"Dean wait," John said standing and grabbing Dean by the arm. "We can't, not yet. There's something we need to do first."

Sam stood preparing to leave with Dean.

"What's that dad?" Dean said stiffly his temper flaring.

"We need to find Jacob," John said. "Now, more then ever."

"No dad," Dean said. "God, you're acting like this Jacob person is more important then mom!"

"Right now he is," John said shocking both Dean and Sam into silence.

Dean shook his head and all the anger he had built up over the past year came boiling out of him in a single powerful punch to his father's face. John went down hard and Dean jumped on top of him pinning him to the ground. "I am so tired of all your self righteous crap!" he shouted slamming another blow into his fathers face. "Mom dies and you drag us all over the country on a crusade to destroy the thing that killed her. You give up our childhood, our lives for your fight."

"Dean," Sam shouted and lunged for his brother. "No!"

"We did it Dad, everything you've every asked us to do! Then what!" Dean continued his tirade ignoring his brother. "Then you make a deal with the damn thing! You make a freakin' deal with the demon when you should have killed it! You could have killed it, you were that close and you had the colt!"

John remained silent taking the blows his son reined down on him and making no move to stop him.

"Dean!" Sam repeated grabbing his brother and pulling him from their father.

"And were you done then? No, because after your deal, you had to go and tell me your secret. The thing you couldn't bare to do. The thing you knew you wouldn't be able to do if it came down to it. So what did you do Dad? You took the cowards way out! You left it for me to do. You made me promise that I'd do it and then you let that damn yellow eyed freak kill you and take you to hell!"

"Dean!" Sam shouted pushing his brother against a tree. "That's enough!"

"I quite agree," said a masculine voice from the darkness of the trees.

All three Winchesters reacted immediately and before the final word floated out of the darkness three guns were pointed in the direction of the sounds. Two forty fives and nine millimeter followed the darkly clad figure out of the woods and into the circle of the camp.

"You," the winged figure said pointing at Dean. "Are hardly one to talk about making deals with demons. As I understand it you yourself have less then a year left on your own deal."

A/N - Hmm... not many reviews for the last chapter. Does that mean y'all don't like the answers?

In this chapter there's a lot of lure about Valhalla and it took a while for me to compile all the different versions of legends of Valhalla, sift through it and pick out the parts I wanted to use for this story. However, all the things I say in this chapter are mentioned in the different legends with one exception. The legends say that all the Valkyries are female that part I altered to fit the story. Besides, if females can be warriors why wouldn't there be male Valkyries to service their needs too!