Disclaimer: Not mine. This will also be the only disclaimer for the entire work.

That being said, enjoy!

Chapter 1:

When John found out that he had been resurrected with full knowledge of what his sons had been up to in his absence, it took him a few moments digest it all. After the very annoying chick-flick moment, as Dean would have put it, which lasted a whole of three minutes, a personal record for John, they got back into the swing of hunting. It was during the middle of one such hunt, a supposedly simple salt and burn, when disaster struck. The ghost turned out to be a surprisingly cheerful five year old who had made it her life mission, sorry, death mission to harass any and all sadists, child abusers and rapists she came across. While the story was tragic, despite the sunny disposition of the ill-treated child, she was a ghost and a threat or that's what John said. Sam merely took in a few deep breaths and bit down on his tongue to make sure he didn't accidently vocalize his opinion on the matter. John was already acting like an insufferable sanctimonious bastard over Sam's decidedly poor choices. He already knew that the apocalypse and the rest of the shit-fest was his fault, okay? He didn't need John rubbing it into his face every other moment. He reined himself in and let it all out in a drawn out exhale. He wouldn't let John's attitude goad him into giving the old hunter a piece of his mind or even worse, give into the urge to set up a date between John's face and Sam's fist. No, he wouldn't do that. He owed Dean at least that much. Sam's struggles were interrupted by the trilling of his cell phone. He pulled it out and smiled, all his troubles momentarily forgotten. After all, this was the one person he could count on no matter what, even more so than Dean.

Mary couldn't get rid of the worried frown from her face. She had left hunting in order to have a relatively normal life, but her sons had been pulled deep into the very world she had tried to leave behind. While she was definitely proud of the men her two sons had become, she couldn't really condone John's actions. He had let revenge get in the way of being a proper father to her boys. Even worse, he had thought that handing a gun to a six year old child was an excellent idea. While Dean might have thrived in the horrible life style, Sam had withered. And who in this age would practically disown a teenager for wanting an education? John, apparently. The constant blaming wasn't helping either. John blamed everything that had happened on Sam, and Dean was unconsciously doing the same. Even worse, Sam himself seemed to think the same. Seeing her son sitting in the near darkness of the horrible motel room, eyes fixed on some point on the dirty floor, she decided to step up and speak to him. At least to try and cheer him up from the gloomy mood he seemed to be in. But before she could approach him, his phone went off and a rare smile crossed his face. She hadn't seen him smile genuinely since she had come back. Wondering who it was she slipped back into the shadows to observe him. After a very short conversation on the phone, filled with stilted and vague replies on Sam's part, he stood up and suddenly turned to where Mary had been hiding.

"Hey, I've got somewhere I've got to go. It's a bit urgent. Would you mind telling the others I'll be back soon?" Sam asked Mary, as though he had been aware that he was being watched the entire time. He most probably was, Mary mused. Power like his, no matter the origin doesn't just go away like that. He most probably stopped actively using it, not wanting to attract the wrong kind of attention from others. Especially Dean's. The thought brought about a wave of sadness through Mary.

"You alright?" Sam asked, cutting through her thoughts. Realizing that she had been spacing out, Mary smiled and answered "I'm okay. Where are you going?"

"Someone I know is in town. Don't know how long they can stay here, so it is better if I find them as soon as I can."

"Oh, okay. Stay safe, Sam." She received a small but genuine smile for that.

"I will." She couldn't help the smile that crossed her face at that.

Half an hour later, Dean and John returned. Dean had managed to get drunk and with a curt greeting towards Mary, had crashed on to one of the beds in their motel room. John returned a few minutes after and had proceeded to do the same, while completely ignoring Mary's presence, almost as though he had forgotten about her existence. Mary frowned but held her tongue. If he was going to act like she had betrayed him because she hadn't told him that she used to be a hunter, them it's his issue. For one, she was trying to leave that life behind and secondly, would he really have believed her if she had told him that the supernatural exists? She was going to give him a day more. It's been a month of him ignoring her presence and if he continued to do so, she was going to give him a piece of her mind, of what she really thought of his excellent performance with her children. He only became a hunter after her death. She's been hunting for almost her entire life. He better watch out. Huffing in annoyance, she turned towards the window and waited for her youngest.

A/N:

1. Star of Bethlehem stands for atonement and reconciliation.

2. Sam returns with his soul intact. Lucifer does torture Sam for the first few years but gives up due to boredom. They get along after that.