Time seemed to slow. All Dean could see, all he could focus on, was the sharp silver knife plunging through his mother's back. The way her body arched, her face crumpled – how small and weak she felt in his arms. Never in that moment had he felt more weak, more useless than now.

"d-dad!" Dean cried out, his chest feeling hollow. "mom mom c'mon" he pleaded, lightly tapping at her face. She looked up at him blearily, blood leaking from the side of her mouth. "mom you're going to be fine. Promise me" he begged. She raised a shaky hand, finally placing it on the side of his face. Her hand was cold and clammy. Dean's heart was pounding, fear paralysing his body. Her face was pale, drained of blood. Her body feel eerily still.

"Dee" she breathed out painfully, her eyes slipping shut. Dean's world was thrown into chaos, a high-pitched whirring blared in his ears. Her eyes had shut – HER EYES HAD SHUT. "mom mom!" he began to yell frantically, tapping the side of her face with more vigour. "mom" he begged, tears flowing down his eyes. This was the woman who had practically raised him – she had loved him, held him when he cried, made him food. He loved tomato rice soup, it was his…but his mom didn't make that for him? Did she? Suddenly Dean was hit with flashes of a blond woman kneeling beside him, smiling cheekily as she ruffled his hair.

"mom, when's the baby gonna be born?" dean asked anxiously, placing his hands on the large stomach of his mother.

"not yet Dean, but he's excited to be here." She grinned widely down at him, running her hand through his hair. Dean smiled back up at her in happiness.

"and I'm excited to have him! He's gonna be my little brother. We'll play football and I'll read to him and-and ill sing to him and-"

"slow down honey!" she laughed, placing a kiss on his cheek. "Baby Sam isn't here yet, but baby Dean is" she winked at him.

"I'm not a baby" he grumbled.

"does my not-a-baby-Dean want some tomato rice soup and a sandwich?" she asked teasingly.

"With the crusts cut off?" he looked up pleadingly at her.

"with the crusts cut off" she confirmed, lifting him up beside her so he could help her stir the tomato rice soup.

"I hope you're not spoiling him" Dean turned to see his dad enter the room, taking off his jacket and throwing it on the sofa.

"dad!" he cried out excitedly. "We felt the baby kick! He felt so small!" he cheered, laughing as his dad grabbed him and swung him around.

"Dean, DEAN!"

The vision was beginning to blur. Sounds of struggle and pain intermixing with the laughter.

"What shall we name the baby?"

"I think we should name-"

"Dean, open your eyes!" He opened his eyes at the command, looking down at his mother in his arms. He didn't know why he had flashbacks of – of his biological mother, but it was something he did not want to focus on. At the moment, the only mother he ever knew or remembered was dead.

Dean opened his eyes, the vision destroyed. He looked up to see his father kneeled beside him, holding his mother gently in his arms.

"She's- she's dead" he choked out, pain filling up his entire body.

"No, she isn't. not yet" Mike replied forlornly, grabbing Lucy's body and lifting her slowly up. "Joey, get my bag. I need a table, some towels and water. Now!" he yelled out.

"she's – not dead?" dean asked shocked. His mother certainly looked dead. She was pale, her eyes shut – but there, he could see it, her body was faintly moving. He felt a spark of hope rise up inside of him. He stood there idly as everyone around him did as Mike commanded. Mike placed Lucy on the dining room table gently, placing her face down. He grabbed the medic bag Joey threw to him, ripping it open. Ellen and Sam entered the room, hands filled with a bowl of hot water and towels.

"Dean! Are you with me? We need to save your mom!" his dad yelled. Dean was snapped out of his stupor, suddenly on alert. His eyes were focused on his mother slumped over the table, the knife placed in her back.

"yeah!" he vowed, running over beside his dad. Mike took out a pair of scissors, cutting open the back of Lucy's t-shirt. Dean worked with joey, dipping the towels in water and gently wiping away the blood.

"okay, looks like we've got a stabbing in the dorsal. The knife has entered completely. I will now remove the knife, be prepared for surgery" he told Dean, undertaking a medical tone. Dean tried to do the same, tries to detach himself from his mom- from the patient, just as his father had done. It was the only thing that would help him get through it at the moment. As Mike removed the knife, Dean took out a canister of Morphine, slowly injecting the morphine into his mother's veins. The morphine would act quickly, erasing all sense of pain in Lucy's body. As Mike removed the knife, Dean instantly took a towel and pressed down on the wound to stem the flow of blood.

"okay, Joey pass the stiches and needle" his dad commanded. "as long as we get it stitched up quickly, she should be okay. Rig up an IV line to give her some fluids, maybe a blood transplant? Nothing vital has been hit" Mike spoke quickly. Joey got to work setting up an IV line whilst Dean helped his dad to wipe away the blood whilst Mike began stitching the wound. "this will require a lot of stitches" he murmured to himself, gritting his teeth as he worked on the one person he never thought he'd have to – his wife. Joey passed dean the IV line. Dean nodded in thanks whilst he got to work. He made a light tourniquet above his mom's veins before he inserted the IV, immediately placing the bag upright on a stand so that she could get the nutrients needed.

When mike turned around to face the room of quiet and staring occupants, he let out a sigh.

"how is she" John asked, looking stricken. He and the others had felt useless as they watched Mike, joey and Dean work together to help Lucy. Although he hadn't known them long, he was fond of Lucy. She was a spitfire, always quick to call him out on his bullshit. More importantly, she was a good hunter and loved his son – something he could definitely see in himself.

"She's stable. We'll need to wait until she wakes up, there's nothing more we can do." It was only once it was quiet that Dean realised the demons were gone.

"where's the demons? And their hosts?" he asked, trying to distract himself from the way his mother lay on the table.

"we managed to exorcise the remaining ones. There are two hosts alive, Ellen's gone outside with them" Bobby informed the room. It was only then that Dean noticed Ellen wasn't in the room.

"what happened son?" john asked. Dean looked up immediately, faintly shocked to see John talking to Sam. He hadn't forgotten the earth-shattering revelation he had just learnt from the demon – and from his flashback. John Winchester was his father. Sam was his brother. The blond-haired lady from his vision must be his mother. John must've known, was that why he couldn't stop staring at dean? But why hadn't he told Dean of his true nature? Dean didn't know what to do. He had no memory of his previous family, not really. He grew up with Lucy, mike and joey. But did this one flashback he had mean he was going to have more? Dean had more important things to work on at the moment. Like the fact that Sam was a special child! Like the fact that his mother, the only mother he truly remembered, could be dying right now! He snapped out of his thoughts to focus on Sam's response.

"well we came here to check on a Scott Carey. He was linked with two murders. I got here and found him- "

"Where is he?" john asked quickly. "Special child! C'mon Sam you should've told us. Is he dead?" john asked. Dean looked around the room at the dead bodies. None of them were Scott Carey.

"you…" dean started "you said Ellen was outside with two survivors? What do they look like?" dean asked warily. The question was triggering enough as Bobby and John ran outside. Was Scott Carey outside with Ellen? Worse, had he done something to her?

"don't you dare touch her you son of a bitch!" dean heard Bobby yell out. Dean wished he could go out and help, but he didn't want to leave his mom's side. A sentiment Joey and Mike shared since they both sat on the floor beside Lucy's body, both looking pale and despairing. Dean heard a thump outside, before sounds nearing the door. He looked up to see Ellen enter, looking shaken. Behind her were John and Bobby, followed by – Cas! who was carrying the unconscious body of who Dean assumed was Scott Carey.

"I apologise for being late" Cas told the group, before his eyes slowed and lingered on the form of Lucy. He dropped Carey's body, striding towards Lucy. He raised a hand "I'll heal her" he intoned, before Dean jumped up and grabbed him.

"We did all we could Cas" dean told him pointedly. "there's nothing else we can do at this moment. But do you think she'll be okay? You know, medically if you take a look" dean asked him desperately. Cas nodded, before leaning down and peering at Lucy's body.

"she should be fine. A big wound, but it didn't touch anything major. Some bed rest for a few weeks and she'll be good." At his words, Dean let out a huge sigh of relief. His mom would be fine without Cas' help. But the moment the Winchesters were gone, he was going to have Cas work his mojo to heal her up completely.

"Sam, you didn't finish your story. What happened?" John prodded Sam once more.

"like I said, I came here and it was an ambush. A couple demons" he shrugged.

"What did they want?" Joey asked. "what did they say?"

"…nothing much" Sam shrugged once more. Dean eyes narrowed at the eye contact between Sam and john. Sam was lying. "they just wanted me here to question me. They know I'm a Winchester and am after yellow eyes. Nothing else" he told the group. Well that was definitely a lie.

"and you, dean. What happened?" Ellen asked him.

"I went to the therapist. The guy said Carey's been dreaming of yellow eyes. That the man was protecting him by sending him demons, because a hunter was coming after him. I don't think he meant us either" he added, watching as the hunter's eyes all narrowed.

"A hunter, huh" Ellen stated, hands on her hip. "why would the hunter be after him? You know, besides the electrocution"

"because he's a special child" dean stated bluntly. "Azazel has plans for special children. They have powers. Not for anything good" he growled out, suddenly feeling angry. Angry at john for not telling him the truth. Angry at Sam for being a special child – for lying to them. Dean and his family had been dragged into this by the Winchesters and all they had got from it was a stabbed Lucy. They hadn't gotten any closer to yellow eyes.

"so, what, all of them are bad?" Sam asked, eyes narrowed on Dean's.

"depends on what they're doing with their powers. When you've got ones killing people, that's not good" he told Sam.

"and the good ones?"

"are there good ones?" he asked spitefully.

"you sound like you think they're all bad when you haven't met all of them!" Sam snapped at him.

"my" dean held a hand to his chest in mock shock. "you sound awfully defensive about the special children. Got something to add there Sammy?" he asked, taking delight in the way Sam winced at the nickname.

"hey hey!" Ellen snapped. "don't get all riled up. We got bigger things to focus on"

"I agree" Dean turned back to his mom. "We should get her back to the motel, get her some rest" he told his dad who nodded along with him. Castiel stepped forward, picking up the small frame of Lucy and walking her slowly to the door. Dean saw Cas place a hand discretely on Lucy's back. Dean smiled wryly, knowing Cas had instantly healed her.

"Good idea, John and I will take this one down to the station for his crimes" Bobby told Dean, casting a look at the unconscious Scott Carey.

"We'll meet you back at the motel" dean told the room quickly before walking out to follow Castiel and his mother.

- MOTEL

Lucy was now awake in her motel room, laid up against the motel bed. Although dean knew she was fine, she still didn't look it. He knew logically she was acting ill for the Winchester's benefits, but it still hurt him to look at her in that state. He wasn't quick enough with the knife. He was able to change the direction of the knife so it hit her upper back instead of her chest, but he wasn't able to get rid of it completely. If Cas wasn't there, if his dad wasn't there, she could've died. Something he would not allow to happen. This was why he had called a meeting in Lucy and Ellen's motel room. Everyone was gathered.

"thanks for coming everyone. I've made a decision – one that you can't change" he begun. "mom, dad, Joey…I don't want you to hunt with us anymore. Listen listen!" he cried out, holding up a hand before they could interrupt. "mom, you got stabbed today. Could've died if not for dad. I won't risk your life, or yours" he looked at Mike, "or yours" he looked at joey. "I'll stay with the Winchesters, I'll hunt with them, I'll find and kill yellow eyes. But you- all of you, wont. Joey, you've got college soon. Focus on that, have fun with the summer and be a teenager. Dad, work more hours at the hospital. Mom, keep being a badass. You're well known in the hunting circles. Help out hunters by giving them information, writing fact files, you're good at that" he told her smiling.

"dean, you cant really expect us to just drop this. To let you hunt on your own" Lucy told him, her eyes wide.

"I do. And I won't be alone" he gestured to the hunters gathered in the room. "I'll have backup"

"he will – we promise that" John started.

"-shut up" Lucy snapped. "Dean" she said brokenly, prompting him to kneel beside her bed. She took his face in her hands. "baby we raised you. We saw a little boy with no home, but so much spirit, and we loved you. We raised you as our own because you ARE our own, you are our son. You understand?" she asked him.

"mom -mom I know. I know you love me. You prove it all the time, everyday. You proved it when you – you all – dropped your lives for me, to protect me. But the Same way you want to protect me is just how I want to protect you. If something happens to you i…I couldn't bear it. Not with you guys" he muttered, eyes downcast as he attempted to hold back the tears in his eyes.

"Dean, we don't want you to be out here unprotected" Mike spoke now. Dean clapped a hand on his shoulder.

"I know you don't. but you gotta understand – this is for your safety. You don't want mom or joey to get hurt – again- do you?" he asked. Mike shook his head.

"but I also don't want you to get hurt"

"I won't. I'm a good hunter, but Cas and the others will also have my back" he vowed.

"Dean, if this is what you want – then I'll support you with this" his mom said, her eyes shining with trust but her face still downcast. "but the moment you need us, the moment dean! You call us and we will be there, always. No matter what" she promised him.

"I know. I know" he told her, kissing her on the forehead and grabbing his brother and dad in a hug. "I think we're gonna move out now. We've got a lot to do" he winced apologetically. "I love you all" he told them, grinning as his mother blew kisses back at him.

Dean waved once more, leaving the motel room with Sam, John, Ellen, Bobby and Cas in tow. They all walked in silence, Dean in particular frowning. As they walked towards the cars, Dean stopped. He turned around to face the hunters. "Cas and I will ride with Bobby and Ellen. Let's get it straight" he looked up stonily at Sam and John. "I know you're a special child, and lied to us about that" he said pointedly. Sam paled rapidly, opening his mouth to make an excuse. "and" he looked to john, "I know you're my biological father, that Sam's my brother. This is not a topic I want to discuss at the moment" he ended it quickly, walking off away from the group and waiting at Bobby's car to get back on the road.