After fourteen long years of being apart. the opening of Bobby's creaky door was all it took for Mary to be presented with the sight of her sons entering the room together for the second time in only two days.
Fate when it kicked you in the ass, it did it with style, she sighed silently.

Never more glad of Bobby's stalwart presence at her back, she took a second to enjoy the presence of her two boys. Even with all the crap that was going to hit the fan, her heart filled with pride at the sight of her two beautiful babies, her expression soft as she contemplated them.

:
Unfortunately the expression in the eyes of her sons was anything but friendly, Sam was staring at her as if he was seeing her for the first time and not much liking what he saw, while Dean was watching her warily, a cold chill in his green eyes.

They stood there, facing each other for an interminable second, no-one wanting to bear the burden of uttering the first words, like two sets of gunslingers waiting for the first to draw.

In the end it was the one who had the lesser emotional entanglement who opened his mouth.
"Uh..I'm sure you boys must have a lot of questions," Bobby said, not even trying to deny the truth of Sam and Dean's brotherhood.
"But... it's... complicated," he continued, lifting his cap, giving his scalp a healthy scratch before settling it back on his head.

:

"It's okay, Uncle Bobby," Sam said, his voice gentle as he addressed the older man.
"The only one who has any explaining to do is mom," he continued, his eyes darting towards her, "And she'd better have a good one for having taken me away from my big brother and my...father."
He stumbled over the last two words.

Sam had no memory of him, had never even known John Winchester existed until he'd met Dean, so calling a perfect stranger 'dad' came difficult to him.
He turned his head to glance at Dean, but the older boy stood silent, eyes fixed on Mary, his expression indecipherable. He seemed happy enough to let Sam do the talking for now, so Sam concentrated his attention on his mother.

:

"Bobby says it's 'complicated', mom, so maybe you should just start from the beginning. Why did you take me and run off, staging an accident? If you and …..your husband didn't get on, why not just divorce? At least I would've gotten to grow up with Dean and my real dad."
Sam's voice was no longer as firm as it had been, the emotion of all that had happened in the last two days beginning to take its toll.
He felt Dean clapping a hand on his shoulder, then coming to stand in front of him and taking up from where he'd left off.

:

"Sam asked you a question," Dean declared, his voice cold. "Just what did dad and I do that was horrible enough to make you take Sammy and go off and leave us without a second thought.
You don't know the pain I felt when I went into Sammy's nursery that morning and his cot was empty. He always smiled and pumped his little fists when he saw me looking down at him. YOU took him away and I never got to see him growing up, never got to play with my baby brother. If you wanted to get away from dad why didn't you go by yourself and leave me Sammy?"

:
Unlike Sam, Dean's voice was a steady as a rock.
The woman in front of him was his mother, but she had wounded him in a way no other had, and Dean Winchester who was the nicest, easiest going guy one could hope to meet, felt his heart go hard as he waited for an explanation.

:

Mary's eyes filled with tears and she took a tentative step forward, but Dean stood still, his demeanour unyielding.
He'd found his mother, but he'd lived without her for fourteen years, he could manage just fine in the future too.
Whatever the reason, whatever the excuse she came up with, in his heart he knew he could never forgive her for what she had taken from him, and from dad!

:

"Dean, I can explain everything. I know it's hard to believe, but I didn't mean to cause you and John any harm. What I did, it was to protect you both."
Mary sighed, knowing she'd be forced to reveal many things to Dean if she ever hoped he'd begin to understand the reasons for what she'd done, and the irony of it all was that she'd acted on the words of Dean himself- well of another Dean in another time line, a reality she'd altered completely because of her eldest son's warning.

Dean tilted his head and snorted. "Well I sure wouldn't like to see what you might have done if you were REALLY trying to hurt us!"

:

"That's unfair, son " Bobby broke in. "Give your mother a chance to explain, but know that when she does, your life's gonna change forever, and if you don't believe me, you can ask your brother. What Mary has to say is all wrapped up in hunting, and Sam here knows what I'm talking about."

:

"What does he mean Sammy? What has 'hunting' got to do with all this?" Dean asked his brother, confused. "They take you out to shoot a rabbit now and then, so what?"
Now it was Sam who was at a loss for words.

He certainly didn't want to be the one to reveal to his civilian brother that the horrors in the crappy movies Hollywood regularly churned out, were for real, but he was an intelligent kid and it was obvious to him now that Mary taking him and running off had everything to do with the supernatural, and that made him feel even worse.

:
"It's complicated," Sam stuttered.
"Wow, that seems to be the word of the day!" Dean grunted, more confused than ever. Just what was going on? The more he was was hearing, the less he was understanding.

"Come on Sammy. You're the only one I trust in this room, little brother. Whatever you tell me, I'll believe you."
Sam sighed. "You know the things you were afraid of when you were a kid, the monsters in the closet, under the bed? Well they're all real. Monsters exist, and Bobby, mom and I hunt them."

:

He lifted his eyes to Dean.
His big brother was looking at him as if he had sprouted wings, but Sam kept his gaze steady and limpid and Dean realised his brother was telling the truth.

:
"You really mean what you're saying Sammy, but that's nonsense! Monsters don't exist. These two," he pointed to his mother and Bobby. "They've brain-washed you or something'" he insisted, unwilling to believe the truth in his sibling's eyes.
"No Dean. It's true. I've seen them myself, ghosts, vampires, shape-shifters... There's a parallel world out there that very few people know about."

:

Dean felt his legs turning to jelly. Whatever he'd been expecting, it wasn't this.
"Well, I'll listen, but hunting or no hunting," he frowned, looking over at Mary "You left me and dad, and took away Sammy and I still haven't heard why."

TBC