A/N - Fight! Fight! Fight! Ha, ha sorry coffee deprivation beginning to take its toll on my mental state! Just to clear up any confusing regarding timeline though I think it will be clear once you finish the chapters. We are now somewhere between the penultimate and finale episodes of season 5.

Enjoy

Chapter Twenty

The female demon before her smiled wickedly, blood dripping from her finger tips to the floor. Molly felt the anger building up inside her. She stood up; the demon waited watching her as she did so.

'You killed him,' Molly said accusingly, trying to keep her eyes on the demon and away from the body by her feet.

'You piss off Lucifer, you have to pay the price,' the demon said, looking down at the blood on her own hand before wiping it on the leg of the trousers she wore.

Molly put her left hand behind her back, tightening her grip on the knife that appeared in it the second she willed it. Nigel lessons had paid off, she barely had to think about it. The demon looked at her again, tipping her head to one side.

'It's taken me a rather long time to find you,' the demon said, taking a step forward. 'So it only seems fair that it takes me a long time to kill you.'

The anger taking over, Molly lunged forward slicing with the knife. She managed to cut the arm of the demon, for all the good it did. The demon didn't even wince, instead pushing Molly across the room without even touching her. Molly grunted as she slid across the kitchen table, the plates on it sliding off and crashing to the floor. She landed on the floor herself, pain shooting through her ribs as she hit the linoleum.

'You think you can hurt me with a toothpick like that?' the demon sneered.

From her position behind the table, the only thing between her and the demon, Molly could see the demon's feet stepping slowly around the floor towards her. She looked down at the knife in her hand; she needed to do something else. Scrambling back around the table in the opposite direction to the demon, she jumped to her feet and with a click of her fingers a shotgun with rock salt rounds materialised in her hand. She pointed it at the demon and fired.

The demon stumbled backwards, startled for a moment but she knew it wouldn't be long enough. Molly ran out of the door behind her, turning for a moment to look back towards the kitchen. A brick wall filled the doorway. Having no idea how long the illusion would last she ran into the hallway aiming for the front door, just to escape.

'Nice trick,' the demon said, appearing before her. Shit, she had forgotten they could do that.

Before Molly could react, a hand was around her throat, squeezing hard, lifting her into the air and slamming her back against the wall. She gasped, her legs flailing helplessly. She couldn't breathe, let alone concentrate to do anything to help herself. As the dark spots appeared in front of her eyes she began to realise this was it…again. She desperately wished she had told someone where she was.

'See, if you had co-operated the first time around,' the demon grinned, black eyes boring into Molly's blue. 'This would not have been necessary. Lucifer would have been your master. You could have had so much power…so much protection…'

The demon squeezed harder and Molly let out a strangled cry of pain.

'She's already got enough protection!' a deep voice bellowed, interrupting them.

Molly moved her blurring eyesight in the direction of the voice. The demon's arrogant grin fell and she turned her head to look.

'Dean Winchester,' the demon practically spat the words out.

'Got it in one,' Dean raised his eyebrows and shot a sarcastic grin at the demon.

The grip on Molly's throat was gone instantly and she fell to the floor as the demon let her go and focussed on Dean. Rubbing her throat she watched as Dean engaged in a fist fight with the demon though it hardly seemed a fair fight. Dean was being thrown around the room with a wave of the demon's hand. When he did manage to get some hits in however, he gave as good as he got.

Molly swallowed, her throat burning and looked around her, searching for a way she could help. Standing up, she waved her hands blocking each end of the hallway with another brick wall illusion, trapping the three of them in the space between. The demon would be unable to escape but then neither could she or Dean.

Dean who now stood at the kitchen end of the corridor she had created shot a quick look of surprise before turning his attention back to the demon who he had sent flying in the opposite direction to him with a particularly powerful kick. The demon stood, brushing herself off before marching towards Dean, ready for another blow. The demon seemed to be particularly enjoying the fist fight and had clearly forgotten about Molly for the time being. The possibility of killing a Winchester was probably too much of an opportunity to resist.

Molly glanced down at the demons feet clad in formal lace up shoes. She stared at the feet and in the next second, the demon was tumbling forward, the laces of each shoe having been instantly tied together. Dean took his opportunity, running forward and jumping onto the demons back, mumbling the exorcism rite at record speed.

With a howl, the demon's soul evaporated from the mouth of its host and crashed against the ceiling, vanishing from existence. Dean looked at Molly, his breathing heavy from exertion.

'Nicely done,' he said.

'I've been practising,' Molly said, exhaling sharply before her mind went back to Nigel.

She clapped her hands and the two walls she had constructed disappeared. Molly ran into the kitchen and dropped down beside Nigel's body again. His face had paled and the blood pool was starting to go tacky. She held his hand and pressed it against her face, sobbing harshly.

'Molly,'

She vaguely heard Dean's voice behind her. Normally she would have been ecstatic that he was there, it had been so long since she had seen either Winchester. Molly just continued to cry, the pain in her chest from the sobbing causing her to bend over double.

Dean put one hand on her shoulder, using his other to remove her grip on Nigel's cold hand. He turned her so she was facing him.

'Molly, I'm so sorry,' he said, gently pulling her close to him and wrapping his arms tightly around her as she sobbed into his chest.

After she had revealed her location in her message which he suspected had been an accident, he hadn't prepared himself for this. A dead father and a demon had been the last thing he had expected to see.

Molly was, understandably, devastated and Dean was just glad he had made it here in time, to stop anything from happening to her. He tightened his grip around her as her crying continued wishing he could take away her pain somehow.

'It's OK, I'm here now,' he said, hoping his words were more comforting than they sounded.

X X X

'How did you know where I was?' Molly asked, as Dean handed her the coffee he had made her.

It had taken some time but she had finally calmed down enough to allow Dean to lead her into the living room. He had watched, slightly in awe as she wiped her eyes and resumed her tough composure the minute she stood and left the kitchen. Since then she hadn't shed another tear, perhaps having grieved enough for the time being.

'Your message,' Dean said, sitting down beside her. 'You mentioned your father.'

Molly laughed softly. 'That was pretty stupid of me, huh? So much for laying low.'

Dean shook his head 'I'm glad you did. I got here just in time.'

Molly's face dropped slightly and Dean mentally kicked himself. He hadn't exactly gotten here in time. If he had he might have saved two people instead of one.

'I'm sorry,' he said looking down at his coffee.

'Hey,' Molly said, placing her hand on his. 'You can't save everyone, I'm glad you came.'

Dean looked at her incredulously. Here she was grieving, her birthday ruined and she was reassuring him?

'I got in the car as soon as I got your message,' Dean said. 'I needed to talk to you.'

'To get me to come back?' Molly asked although she had no intention of staying here now.

Dean nodded. 'Kind of…I don't know. It's still your call but you need to know some things have changed.'

'Like what?' Molly looked at him as though she had sensed the tone in his voice.

He sighed and looked her in the eye as he spoke. He wanted her to know he was deadly serious.

'Sam's going to say yes and I'm not going to stop him,'

The look of shock on her face was as he had expected. The punch to his face he had not considered, nor did he know she could punch so hard. His coffee sloshed over his leather jacket as he fell back with the force before he righted himself.

'I can't believe you. Why are you letting him say yes?' Molly screamed, slamming her mug down on the table. 'You have to stop him.'

'I am not letting him do anything!' Dean shouted back. 'Just give me chance to explain.'

Molly was looking at him fiercely, her blue eyes blazing with anger. Before she had chance to speak – or hit him – again, he started to tell her everything that had happened since they had last seen one another. He explained about the DVD message Gabriel had left them, about what they had been through to get the remaining rings and how they planned to use them to re-open the cage and get Lucifer back in hell, how Sam planned to say yes and try to keep control long enough to achieve the impossible.

By the time he had finished explaining, Molly had gone a deathly shade of pale and look as though she were fighting hard to keep her emotions in. Dean looked at her, wondering if he should say something else or wait for her to speak.

'So he's really going to do it?' she said, her voice barely above a whisper.

'Yeah,' Dean said, hating how painful it was to know Sam's days were numbered.

'Great,' Molly said, sarcasm rife in her voice as she looked down at the floor.

Dean took her hand and squeezed it.

'Sam doesn't know I'm here, I didn't tell him.' he said.

'So why are you here?' Molly looked up; her eyes had glazed over though her face was still determinedly neutral.

'Because I know how Sam feels about you. We all know that if he pulls this off, he isn't coming back and...' Dean stopped and looked down not wanting to see her face or for her to see his.

Molly put her hand on the side of his face, tilting his head up so he had to face her. He tensed his jaw, adamant that he was not going to break down about this when there was no other option and Molly had just lost her Dad.

'You're a good brother Dean,' Molly said, gently.

'How do you figure that one?' Dean retorted.

'You came to take me back to him before it's too late, I think that qualifies.' Molly smiled

Dean shrugged, embarrassed. 'Yeah, well, I'm awesome.' He quipped.

Molly dropped her hand and glanced towards the kitchen.

'We need to deal with…' she gestured with her hand. '…before we go.'

'We can take him with us to Bobby's,' Dean said. 'Give him a proper burial.'

Molly stood up and exhaled with finality.

'I'll go pack my stuff' she said.

X X X

Molly wanted to help but couldn't find the strength to. They had made it back to Bobby's just as night fell and Dean had driven straight around to where the salvage yard backed onto the cemetery. Dean had unloaded Nigel's body from the back seat of the Impala and placed him on top of a funeral pyre that looked as though it had been used recently. During their brief conversation in the car ride over, Molly had taken Dean's advice that salt and burn was better than burying him. It prevented any possibility of anything supernatural occurring afterwards and the last thing she wanted was for him to return as a zombie like Bobby's wife – Dean had explained the message he had sent about pie – or an angry spirit.

'You sure about this?' Dean turned to her, concern on his face.

'Absolutely, it's for the best right?' Molly said, pulling her jacket closer around her.

'I meant doing this before you see Sam. I could go get him,' Dean offered, taking a step away from the pyre and looking at her.

'No, I want to deal with this first then I can concentrate on Sam.' Molly said, firmly. 'The sooner the better.'

'You got it,' Dean said, taking his lighter from his jacket pocket and lighting the wood in front of them.

He took several steps back and joined her as the wood slowly started to burn, the orange flames flickering in the gaps between the logs, quickly catching on the sheet the body had been wrapped in. Molly wiped a stray tear from her face and took a deep breath.

'Thank you for this, Dean,' she said quietly.

He turned his head slightly and nodded solemnly.

X X X

Sam exhaled heavily and looked down at the glass of whisky in his hand. One glass was never going to be enough, one bottle wouldn't be enough. He was beyond scared but it was the only thing he could do to make sure Lucifer ended up back where he belonged. It was his fault, it only seemed right that he was the one to put him back.

He just wished he knew where Molly was. He understood why she left, but to go ahead with his plan without being able to see her one more time made it even harder. Lifting the glass to his mouth and tipping the liquid back he swallowed, feeling the burn in his throat as it went down.

Deciding he didn't want another drink, Sam turned around to put the glass in the sink. As he rinsed the glass slowly beneath the running water, something caught his eye. Looking up and out of the window he could see an orange glow off in the distance. It appeared to be coming from just beyond the end of the salvage yard.

'What the – '

It was a fire.

Sam turned and ran out of the kitchen, shooting past a confused looking Bobby sitting in his study talking to Castiel who was busy moping about his lack of powers. Thundering down the steps leading down from the front door, Sam ran around the back of the house and through the salvage yard, passing the piles upon piles of scrapped cars. Halfway through his trek to discover the source of the fire he realised he hadn't grabbed his gun from his jacket pocket which was still hanging on the back of a chair in Bobby's kitchen. He was also aware of how cold it was out being in just a t-shirt and his jeans, in his haste he really hadn't cared about wrapping up.

The glow became larger as he got closer and he was about to duck behind an old Ford pick up truck when he spotted the Impala parked nearby. Sam slowed down to a walk, his defences lowering as he came nearer to the car, knowing Dean must be nearby.

He discovered he was right as he spotted Dean standing in front of the pyre Bobby had used a few weeks ago for his wife. The glow from the flames cast his brother into a silhouette and he was motionless as he appeared to look up at the fire.

'Dean?' Sam called, causing his brother to turn. 'What are you - ?'

That was when he spotted the person beside him, previously obscured from view by Dean's height. Molly turned away from the fire and looked at him, the blaze of the fire highlighting the silver streaks on her face.

Sam opened his mouth to speak and then closed it, unable to think of anything to say. The corner of Molly's mouth twitched into a sheepish smile as though she were almost unsure as to how he would react. Sam felt a smile curl on his own face and he nodded, finally finding words.

'Get over here.'

Molly broke into a run and he stepped forward to meet her halfway, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her off the ground slightly as she threw her arms around his neck and squeezed him tightly. Sam exhaled the sigh of relief he felt he had been holding in for the last month and a half. Glancing towards Dean he mouthed 'thank you' to which Dean nodded in acknowledgement before walking back towards the Impala.

'Where the hell have you been?' Sam said as Molly leaned away from their embrace to look at him.

Molly looked towards the fire and then back at him, a tear in her eye again.

'With my father,' she said, the sadness on her face telling him everything he needed to know. 'He's…he…'

She didn't finish the sentence as she broke down. Sam pulled her close to him, stroking her hair as she clutched his t-shirt and sobbed into his chest.

'It's OK, you're here now,' he said and let her cry.

A/N - Ack, I love a reunion, think I'm going soft in my old age! Hope ur reaching for Kleenex and not the sick bucket!