To Hell And Back

by belladonna78

Sequel to "Hell to Pay", and the fourth installment of my Supernatural fanfics. Check out my stories and AN for more info on where to start. This is Season 4 - How far will Beth and Sam go in order to save Dean's soul from Hell and be reunited with him? Dean/OC. Slightly AU but mostly follows the Supernatural show with my own spin. Rated MA for smut. Please read and review!

6. In The Beginning

Another memory and I'm asking myself
Why can't I let the past be the past
Once and for all take a hold of the future
And not let it control what I aspire to have

I see where my decisions have brought me
What's done is done and it's time to start again
Can't let it tear me in two or waste me away
I gotta believe

'Cause this is now
How can I change tomorrow if I can't change today
This is now
If I control myself I control my destiny

---

IN THE BEGINNING

---

1 week ago
The Four Corners
Arizona, Utah, Colorado & New Mexico

Beth's POV

Night had fallen in the four corners region and there was an eerie feeling running along my spine as Dean pulled the car up to the monument that marked where the four corners of the states were.

"Huh," Dean said, looking over at me. "You sure this is the place?"

I frowned and nodded, noting the abandoned monument. "That's what he said," I answered, thinking about the early morning call, via a dream, I'd had from Castiel to send us on a hunt to stop one of the seals being broken.

"Four children of four nations sacrificed upon the four corners of the Anasazi lands," I said, quoting the obscure angel. "Well that's the SouthWest, and why he couldn't have just said... go here... I don't know," I said, answering Dean's question before he even spoke it.

"Well, he's going to have to start speaking English, our English, if he wants us to get this stuff right," Dean commented, shaking his head at the empty monument.

"He is right," Sam said, looking up from his computer in the back seat.

"Huh?" Dean asked.

"This isn't the right location," Sam said and we turned to gape at him.

"Um, there's a monument right there that says otherwise," Dean pointed out.

"No, not according to this. According to this the original surveys were out by two point five miles. We're actually standing in Utah right now. We need to be east of Route 160 and northeast of the San Juan River."

Dean scowled and put the car into gear, getting back on the highway. "Dammit," he muttered as he floored it. As we neared the mile marker for the where the real corners were supposed to be, Dean eased the car to a crawl, turning the lights to low so we could creep along.

There was very little to see by, the moon being new, and we pulled the car over, killing the lights when we spotted a fire in the distance. We climbed out, grabbing our guns with rock salt, and extra holy water. Dean took Ruby's knife and led the way through the underbrush and into the woods near the river.

As we neared the gathering we could see five demons, all distracted by the task at hand. They had four children, all of different ethnicities and they were being held by a demon each in the four corners of the clearing where the fire was burning. A fifth demon was moving around the fire chanting in a language I didn't recognise as he took a nasty looking blade and started toward the first child.

The child whimpered and started to struggle against the demon that was holding her, and I couldn't help myself, I had to get to her before anything happened, this was one seal I wasn't about to let fall.

"Beth!" Dean whispered to me as I took off running, and crashed into the circle. I tackled the demon to the ground, rolling him away from the girl who screamed. I punched the demon in the nose and the kneed him in the groin as we rolled along the ground before finding our feet.

Sam ran in, grabbing the girl and pulling her into the woods while Dean advanced on the head demon with the knife. The demon smirked at him and looked at one of his companions.

"Get the girl!" She said, and the demon nodded, pushing the child he was holding to where a demon was still holding their sacrifice.

"Time to go back to Hell," Dean said confidently and rushed at the demon. The woman possessed moved easily on her feet and she spun around, black eyes glaring at him as she side-stepped his attack.

"You first Winchester," she said with a snarl and she waved her hand. I didn't wait to see what she was working at, attacking the demon in front of me again in hand-to-hand combat. I tossed some holy water at him and he flailed backwards giving me the opportunity to run at him, ramming him into a nearby tree, he went down and stayed down, unconscious. With a sigh of relief I turned to see bats swarming down on Dean and he batted at them.

When the beetles started to skitter across the ground I saw him pale and back away a little. The bats attacked again and Dean froze, the knife dropping to the ground.

"Dean!" I yelled, and I ran as hard as I could to beat the demon to the knife as Dean stared, unmoving. I dove for the knife, skidding along the ground and rolled to my feet when I grasped it in my hands, holding it out in front of me as the demon woman growled her frustration and ran at me.

I used her momentary frustration to my advantage, feinting and then attacking from the other direction, the knife finding its target as I stabbed her in the stomach. She looked shocked, and then fell backwards off the knife to the ground, dead. The bats and beetles flew into the night and I turned to eye off the other demons holding the children.

"You've lost this one. Leave the children and save yourselves, or I'll kill you one by one," I threatened, casting a wary look at Dean who was breathing hard and trying to catch his breath as he fell to his knee on the ground.

The demons smirked at me, and started to walk toward me confidently until something behind me caught their eye. Sam had returned, and he looked like he was out for blood. They hesitated, looking at him with fear, which I found curious because I was holding the knife, and then they ran, leaving the children behind.

I breathed a sigh of relief and looked at Sam who was watching Dean. "Get the kids back to the car, we'll be there in a minute," I said, and I didn't wait for a response, kneeling in front of Dean and lifting his chin to look him in the eyes.

"Dean... it's over, time to go," I said softly and he swallowed, looking at me with dark hazel eyes full of old painful memories. He nodded, and I stood, pulling him to his feet and slipping my arm around his waist. I'd seen that memory before, the one of being eaten alive for days by scarab beetles. That demon had been a witch, it knew how to summon the creatures of the earth, and it hadn't been afraid to use them.

I'd seen him hesitate, in the last few hunts, but nothing like this. Whatever had triggered that memory, it had gone deep, and Dean was looking pale and unhappy.

Sam came rushing toward us as we exited the tree line. "Are you guys okay? Dean, what happened to you?"

"Nothing," I said, "There were four against us, plus one of the demons was using earth magic. They attacked Dean the hardest," I said, exchanging a look with Dean who nodded quietly.

"You're all right though?" Sam asked, looking at Dean concerned.

"Yeah, I'm fine, quit fussing!" Dean snapped, stalking past him toward the car. Sam looked after him with a confused expression and I patted him on the shoulder.

"He's fine Sam, he's fine," I said, more for myself than for him. Dean was far from fine, but he was working through it, we were working through it; it was just going to take some time.

I slid into the centre of the front seat, leaving a space for Sam as the four children were in the back. Turning around to face them, I placed a hand against Dean's chest as he sat in the driver's seat, staring at the road ahead and catching his breath. I felt his chest start to calm as I came into contact with him and he visibly relaxed, tossing me a smile.

As Sam threw a couple of bags into the trunk to make room, Dean leaned over and kissed me quickly on the cheek. "Thanks," he said softly and I nodded, smiling back at him. "I don't know what I'd do without you," he added, starting the car up and I bit my lip with worry.

"You'll never have to find out," I promised, patting his chest softly. Sam climbed into the front seat and shut the door and I looked back at the kids again.

"Hey kids, you're safe now, we're going to get you back to your parents, all right?" I said in a reassuring tone, they were in shock, not even crying from their ordeal. They just nodded at me and I smiled. "Can you tell me your names and where you're from?" I asked, and Sam pulled out his laptop, looking up the local police. It would be best to drop them off at the nearest law enforcement centre and be on our way, midnight had passed and the seal was safe, we'd done our duty on this one.

---

Present Day
Albuquerque, New Mexico

Beth's POV

Dean's heart was beating slowly under my ear as he slept, and I lay silently listening to it as Sam moved around the room. I never opened my eyes, letting him do whatever it was he was up to as I pretended I was just as asleep as his brother. Sam hovered over us, watching us for a moment and I forced myself to keep my eyes closed, to resist the urge to take a peep and see what he was up to. Finally he moved, and I could hear him walk to the door, the sound of the hinges squeaking as he opened the door and then walked out shutting it behind him.

At the sound of the door closing Dean moved slightly, muttering in his sleep and then kissed the top of my head as he settled in against me once more. I waited a few moments before extricating myself from Dean's arms, and moved over to the window, peering out into the night. Sam was standing in the car lot, and a car pulled up beside him. Without hesitating, he got into the passenger side. I tried to see who was driving but it was too dark. It didn't matter, I already had an idea as to who it was.

"Beth..." Dean muttered in his sleep and I turned around to see Castiel sitting on the bed with him, watching Dean sleep.

"Castiel?" I asked, looking at him, he ignored me and I frowned, taking a step back towards the two men. Suddenly Dean cried out from a nightmare and sat up, jerking backwards when he saw Castiel.

"Hello, Dean. What were you dreaming about?" Castiel asked.

Dean looked around the room, stopping when he saw me standing a few feet behind Castiel. I shrugged and started to move around to his side.

"What, do you get your freak on by watching other people sleep?" Dean asked with a scowl, rubbing a hand across his tired face. "What do you want?"

"Listen to me. You have to stop it," Castiel said. I looked at him sharply and Dean frowned.

"Stop what?" He asked. In answer Castiel put two fingers to Dean's forehead and a second later we were the only two in the room.

"Hey!" I said, grabbing at Castiel, "what did you just do?!"

Castiel looked at me with a frown. "This is not your fight," he said, and I shook my head.

"Oh, no, no, no, no, no, don't you start that with me too. I go where Dean goes, now where have you sent him?" I asked. Castiel hesitated, looking at me curiously.

"I have sent him where he is needed," Castiel answered elusively.

"Well then send me too," I said urgently, feeling my heart start to race.

"You are not needed," he said. I grabbed the lapels of his coat and pulled him to his feet, glaring.

"What is it with you? Have we not given enough? Have I not prayed hard enough lately? We go everywhere you need us, we do everything you ask, and we do it together!" Castiel frowned at me and I faltered letting go of the coat.

"Please. Castiel. You don't understand. He's not ready to go out on his own," I said.

"He is healthy, strong," Castiel said.

"In body, sure, but … you don't understand, he's not …where the hell have you been that you haven't seen it?" I asked, feeling my fear of being separated from Dean rise to my throat. Castiel simply frowned at my anxiety, clearly not understanding.

"You have to send me wherever you've sent him, please," I said. He looked contemplatively at me.

"Please. Just... do it for me," I said, holding my hands in front of me in a prayerful gesture. I wasn't above getting on my hands and knees and begging if that was going to move him to action. Fortunately it didn't come to that. He nodded.

"Very well," he said, and he reached out to place two fingers against my forehead while everything went black.

---

Approx 35 years ago
Lawrence, Kansas

Dean's POV

"Move it buddy – you can't sleep here," someone said to me, shaking me awake. I looked around, my mind a foggy mess, and tried to gain my bearings. I found myself looking at a police officer.

"Okay... sleep... where?" I asked, shaking my head and sitting up. I was on a bench.

"Anywhere but here," he said to me, and he moved along.

I looked around and reached for my phone, wondering where on earth Cas had zapped me to, and where was Beth? I pulled my phone out and dialled her number, but there was no signal. I held it up for a bit but it didn't seem to help, so I snapped the phone shut with a sigh.

"Perfect," I muttered. Beth was going to be going nuts, that freaking angel had a lot of explaining to do whenever I got back from where I was now. I looked across the street and saw a diner; shrugging I climbed to my feet and decided to see what the locals had to say for themselves.

They had a bit of a retro theme going on, that was for sure as I sat down at the counter, feeling a little worse for wear. I looked over at a young man sitting next to me, groaning.

"Hey, where the hell am I?" I asked, and he looked at me with a smile.

"Jay Bird's Diner," he replied.

"Yeah, thanks," I said, shaking my head. "I mean, uh... city and state."

The guy looked at me a little amused, raising an eyebrow. "Lawrence, Kansas."

"Lawrence..." I said, looking around. What the hell was I doing here?

"Are you okay buddy?" The guy asked.

"Yeah," I said, nodding. "Tough night," I added, trying to explain away my state of confusion.

"Hey, uh, coffee here, Reg," he said to the man behind the counter.

"Okay, coming right up," came the reply. I pulled my phone out of my pocket again, intent on calling Beth and telling her where I was before she started ripping Cas a new one.

"Can you tell me where I can get reception on this thing?" I asked the guy next to me.

He smirked and raised his eyebrow at me again. "The USS Enterprise?" I glanced at the man with an amused look, what the hell was he talking about? Reg walked up with my coffee and placed it in front of me, for the first time I noticed what the hell he was wearing. He was dressed from head to toe in honest-to-god Sonny Bono hippie gear, I stared in amazement.

"Thanks... nice threads. You know Sonny and Cher broke up, right?" I said with a chuckle.

The man next to me looked surprised. "Sonny and Cher broke up?" He asked, exchanging a confused look with Reg.

I frowned, how the hell could he not know that? I cast an eye around the diner, something seemed very out of sorts here. As I looked closer, I noticed everyone was dressed in clothes out of the 70s. I looked over at the newspaper the guy was reading and the headline was talking about Nixon and the date... the date was April 30... 1973.

1973?! Oh shit.

A man entered the diner. "Hey Winchester," he said and I spun around at the same time that the guy next to me did. The man who had addressed me walked straight past , clasping the hand of the young man next to me and shaking it vigorously.

"Son of a bitch," he said to the young man. "How you doing Corporal?"

"Hey, Mr D." My companion said with a smile.

"I heard you were back," Mr D. said and I took a closer look at the man he was talking to... Winchester? Surely not?

"Yeah, a little while now," he said with a nod.

"Good to have you home, John, damn good," Mr D. said.

"Dad?" I said softly, staring at the man next to me now. Man, where the hell was Beth now? She'd die to see this!

"Well, say hello to your old man for me," Mr D said, starting to walk away.

"You got it, Mr D." Dad said to him and then he noticed me staring at him.

"Do we know each other?" Dad asked me and I shook my head slightly.

"I guess not," I said, trying to cover up my shock by taking another drink of my coffee. Dad hesitated, looking at me and then he stood up.

"Take it easy, pal," he said, getting up and walking for the door.

"Yeah," I said with a nod, watching as he left. What the hell was going on here?

As soon as I was sure Dad was out of range of noticing me I left the diner, following him. He walked around a corner and I hurried to catch him just in case he got out of sight. As I turned the corner someone bumped into me and I found myself looking into the blue eyes of my newest least favourite angel.

"What is this?!" I snapped, watching Dad walk away.

"What does it look like?" He asked.

"Is it real?" I questioned.

"Very," he answered.

"Okay, so what? Angels got their hands on some Deloreans? How did I get here?" I asked, starting to feel a little panicked, I was back in a time before I'd even been born, what the hell?

"Time is fluid, Dean. It's not easy, but we can bend it on occasion," Castiel answered in his infuriatingly even toned voice.

"Well bend it back or tell me what the hell I'm doing here! And where's Beth?!"

"I told you, you have to stop it," Castiel said.

"Stop what? Huh? What, is there something after my Dad?" I asked. A car's horn sounded loudly behind me and I jumped. When I turned back the angel had vanished.

"Oh come on! What, are you allergic to straight answers, you son of a bitch?!" I said to thin air.

Beth's POV

I found myself standing in a park, a little pond nearby as children fed bread to some ducks. I glanced around, looking for Dean, but he was nowhere to be seen. Nor for that matter was Castiel, I was alone. I sighed and started walking along the path that followed the pond and led toward what appeared to be the town square.

Pulling out my phone I looked at the screen, noticing that there was no reception where I was standing. That was weird. I turned the phone off, and then back on again, but still there was nothing, even when I waved it around in the air, which earned me a few odd stares from people walking by.

A young man came up to me with a smile, and I smiled back, noting the seriously out of date clothing he was wearing, he looked like he was on his way to a 70s disco. "Are you all right?" He asked with a concerned look. "You seem a little lost."

"Uh, no, I'm all right, I'm just... okay maybe I am a little lost. Can you tell me where I am? I think I took a wrong turn on the map," I said. He chuckled and nodded.

"You're in Lawrence, Kansas," he said.

"Lawrence?" I asked, raising my eyebrow. Well I certainly hadn't been back here since trying to break Dean out of Hell. Funny, it hadn't looked like this so much when I'd driven through a few months back.

"Are you sure you're all right? Can I get you something from the diner perhaps?" He asked, and I shook my head.

"No, thank you. I'm fine now, I'm just going to uh... wait for my husband who is around here somewhere... and we'll get back on the road." I said. He nodded and smile.

"Well, have a nice day," he said as he walked away.

"Yeah... you too," I said softly, watching as the polite man continued along the path. Weird, how often did you get guys genuinely checking if you were all right? Most of the time it was an excuse to try and jump in your pants. He hadn't even batted an eye at the husband comment. Strange.

Suddenly my eyes caught sight of a young man who was walking across the park and I stopped dead in my tracks, stunned.

"Dad?" I asked, looking at him. I'd have recognised him anywhere, he was younger, a lot younger, but he was still the same man I'd known as a little girl. I started to jog after him, yet kept my distance so that he wouldn't be aware that I was following him. He cut across a side street and into a church and I followed, curious as to what he was doing. The chapel was brightly lit by the mid-day sun, its stained-glass windows casting beautiful patterns across the interior as I stepped into the aisle and walked down to the middle of the pews.

My Dad had disappeared from sight, so I took a seat in the pew nearest me, kneeling and pulling out my rosary. I knew he hadn't left, so I would simply wait for him to show himself again. "Castiel," I said softly. "Where the hell have you landed me? Or should I say 'when the hell?'... and where's Dean? You were supposed to be sending me to him!" I whispered urgently. I got no response, sighing and leaning my forehead against the pew in front.

"Now surely things are not so bad that they require such an intense face," a voice sounded next to me, and I looked up into my Dad's eyes. They twinkled cheekily as he sat next to me, I noticed he had changed his clothes and was now wearing a sweater with a minister's collar around his neck.

"Sorry," I said, finding it hard not to stare at him. "I have a lot on my mind."

"I can see that," he answered with a nod. "'Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God..."

"...And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus," I finished, and he looked a little surprised at me.

"So young to know such a phrase," he said with curiosity. I raised an eyebrow at him, I had to be older than him.

"Older than you, I would suspect," I said to him.

"Ah, but I am a trained minister, I'm supposed to know my scripture. Not many can quote Isaiah back to me however," he said with a chuckle.

I smiled, wanting to just reach out and touch him, to have him hold me and tell me everything was all right. "Well... my Dad was a minister too, he taught me everything I know," I said quietly, looking down at my hands.

"I'm sure he's very proud of you," he said with a smile and I nodded slightly, staring at my wedding ring.

"I hope so," I said with a smile, looking up at him again. "He's been dead for some time now, I've been without his guidance for many years."

"I'm sorry to hear that, but if you pray to Heaven, he will hear your prayers and be gladdened," Dad said and I smiled tearfully, nodding.

"I do, every night," I said.

Dad's eyes softened as he looked at me, and he looked at the rosary hanging around my neck. I held it in my hands, conscious that he might recognise it, and then I remembered that they hadn't even been created at this point.

"That is a very unique rosary," he said, gesturing toward it. I nodded, taking it off and letting him hold it.

"My father had a matching one," I said, and he gazed curiously at it.

"Iron fittings, can't say I've ever come across that before," he murmured as he rolled the beads through his fingers. I glanced at his left hand and noticed a plain gold band on his ring finger, my breath catching as I stared at him. He was married, that had to mean... I froze, unable to even consider what that meant.

Mom. She was here, and she was alive, and it was before I was born... if I could just warn them somehow...

Dad smiled and handed the rosary back to me with a nod. "It's lovely," he said, standing up and moving into the aisle.

"I will leave you to your prayers, but if you should need me, I will be in the office," he said and I nodded, watching as he walked away. How was I going to tell them that in fifteen years my Mom was going to be possessed by a demon and taken from us? Was my Dad even a hunter now? I hung the rosary around my neck and resolved to keep following Dad until I could either find Dean and get his opinion on the whole thing, or find my Mom and see if inspiration hit.

---

Dean's POV

Given I had nothing else to go on, I trailed Dad to a car dealership and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Baby sitting in the car lot. Really? I nearly had a heart attack when I saw the Scooby Mobile Dad was planning to buy.

"A fine young man like yourself, just starting out? How about I take off another 250?" The salesman said to Dad and he considered before nodding.

"Let's do it," he said with a smile.

"I'll get the paperwork," said the salesman as he wandered off into the office. I leaned against the Impala, shaking my head and watching Dad rubbing at the headlights of the VW van.

"That's not the one you want," I said eventually and he looked up in surprise.

"You following me?" He asked.

"No, no, I was just passing by. I never got to thank you for that cup of coffee this morning," I said casually. "I was a little out of it."

"More than a little," Dad said, coming over to look at the Impala.

"Let me repay the favour," I said, patting the hood of the car. "This is the car you want," I insisted.

"Oh yeah, you – you know something about cars?" Dad asked and I smiled, thinking about all the good times I'd had working on the car with Dad, and then working on the car with Beth, and then in the car with Beth. I shook my head.

"Yeah… yeah, my Dad taught me everything I know," I said softly before turning to open the hood of the Impala. "And this - this is a great car," I added, leaning in to look at the engine.

"327 four barrel, 275 horses… A little TLC and this thing is cherry," I said with another smile.

"You know man, you're right," Dad agreed. I nodded over my shoulder at the van.

"Then what are you buying that thing for?" I asked.

"I kinda promised someone I would," he said and I snickered.

"Over a '67 Chevy? I mean, come on, this is the car of a lifetime. Trust me, this thing's still gonna be badass when it's forty," I said, staring at the engine.

Dad looked at the car, considering what I'd said and I could have rung his neck, he had to get this car! Finally he looked at me and held out his hand.

"John Winchester. Thanks," he said. I took his hand and shook it.

"Dean Van Halen – and... thank you," I said with a smile. Dad moved off to look through the window of the car and I followed him, just wanting to keep the conversation going and maybe get some answers.

"I was in pretty rough shape this morning, huh?" I said, leaning against the car.

"No kidding," Dad said with a nod.

"I've been hung over before but, hey, I was, I was getting chills in that diner. You didn't feel any of those cold spots, did you?" I asked.

"Nope."

"I swore I smelled something weird too, you know? Like… like rotten eggs. You didn't happen to smell any sulphur by chance?" I pushed.

"No," Dad answered, giving me an odd look.

"No… there been any cattle mutilations in town recently?" I asked, pushing a little further and then almost kicking myself as soon as I said it.

"Okay, mister! Stop it," Dad said and I shook my head.

"Yeah, if only I knew what to stop…" I muttered, this was getting me nowhere. "Listen, uh – watch out for yourself, okay?" I said.

"Yeah, sure," Dad said, nodding and starting to look a little freaked out. I patted the Impala once more and then walked away as the salesman came back up to Dad.

"So?" Asked the salesman and I stopped briefly behind another van to listen in.

"I'll take this one," Dad said, and I chuckled when he pointed at the Impala. Score one for me!

A few hours later I was in a stolen car following the Impala down a quiet neighbourhood street. Dad pulled up in front of a neatly kept house and a young blonde woman came running out to greet him.

"Hey," Dad said as he got out of the car.

"What's this?" She asked, looking at the Impala.

"My car," he said and she walked around the back of the car, looking it over.

"What happened to the van?" She asked.

"Mary, this is better than the van! This has got a 327 barrel, a four barrel carburettor," Dad said and I swear my mouth dropped open.

"Mom?" I said softly, staring at the woman with him. Serious? Just what the hell was going on?

I watched her laugh and shake her head, frowning.

"Sammy, wherever you are, Mom is a babe…" I muttered, watching as she teased Dad about his choice in buying a muscle car. "I'm going to Hell… again."

---

Beth's POV

I'd followed Dad to a local diner where he was chatting to a couple of local youths in a booth about how it was important to attend church in order to look after our souls. I rolled my eyes a little and when he looked up at me I smiled.

"Hey, small world," he said as I walked past the booth.

I stopped and nodded, looking around. "Thought I'd try out the local food," I said with a smile.

"Going to be getting pretty late soon for you to be out on your own isn't it?" He asked and I fought the instant daddy-daughter reply to snap back at him. Even now he was lecturing me.

"Uh, yeah, well I'm meeting my husband, he seems to be running late," I said. He seems to be freaking missing in action was more like it.

Dad looked down at my wedding ring and smiled with a nod. "Well, I hope he doesn't keep you waiting too long," he said. I agreed.

"Yeah, me neither," I said with a sigh as I wandered over to another booth and sat in there, hiding in the corner.

A young couple walked into the diner and ordered milkshakes, stopping to talk to my Dad as well before taking a table nearby. I couldn't really see them over the high backed booth I was sitting in but I could hear them talking, and soon enough I realised with a start just who it was I was listening to.

"I should just talk to him," the man said.

"My Dad's being my Dad, John. It's not you," said the girl, trying to comfort him.

"Mary, how is it not me? He's been like this for how many years?"

"He's just protective over me, that's all. He doesn't want me to…"

"Hook up with a mechanic from a family of mechanics?" He asked and I raised my eyebrow, trying to listen a little more.

"No! Hey, I love you, for exactly what you are," Mary said. "I'll be right back," she added, standing up and heading past me toward the bathroom. I got up and followed her, curious about the woman who I assumed was one day going to be Dean's mother.

Curiosity grew as I reached the bathroom, entering to find that the window was now open and Mary was nowhere in sight. I hurried across and climbed into the alley myself, spotting a couple of figures in the distance.

I saw a man turn to face Mary and she attacked, kneeing him in the stomach and throwing him against a metal container next to the building. She threw a punch at him and he dodged.

"Are you crazy?!" I heard him say and I snickered, I would have recognised that voice anywhere.

Mary continued to attack Dean despite his protests as I jogged along the alley to where they were. Dean backed away from her as she came at him, and he eventually managed to grab her arms, halting her for a moment.

"You've been trailing us since my house," Mary accused and I crossed my arms, watching and leaning against a dumpster as they argued.

"I don't know what you're talking about…"

"Really?!" Mary snapped, and she broke free of his grasp, kicking him in the gut. He doubled over and she took the opportunity to knee him in the head, sending him flying against a chainlink fence. She was about to punch him again when I grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side as she struggled against me.

"Beth?!" Dean exclaimed as he stood up, shaking his head.

"Hey, looked like you could use a little help here," I said with a grin and he shook his head, smiling at me then looking at Mary.

"I had it under control," he insisted and I snickered while Mary went still, assessing the situation.

"Okay, how about we talk about this, huh?" Dean asked, looking at her.

"Let me go!" Mary said, but I just tightened my grip on her.

"How about you do what the lady says?" A voice sounded behind me and I groaned, looking at Dean as a knife came up underneath my chin. I released Mary, raising my hands in the air and stepping back a little from the knife and finding myself pressed against the person wielding it.

"Patrick!" Mary said, moving away from Dean and toward my father.

"Patrick?" Dean asked, looking at me in surprise. I shrugged and raised my eyebrow at him.

There was a glint of silver at Mary's wrist which caught my eye and I ignored the danger of the knife, grabbing at her and lifting it to look closer. It was a charm bracelet with protective charms all over it.

I looked at her as Dad tightened the knife, pulling me away from her again. "Wait…" I said, staring into her eyes. "Are you a hunter?"

She looked surprised and I felt Dad soften, lowering the knife and I pulled away, crossing to Dean who put his arm around my waist protectively.

"Hunter?" He asked, surprised. "Both of you?"

"What do you know about it?" Patrick asked, eyeing me carefully.

"Enough to know a hunter when I see one," I said, suddenly very curious about this part of my Dad's life which had been kept secreted away, I had no idea he'd been hunting this early.

Dad looked at Mary and she shrugged, shaking her head. "We can discuss this later," he said to her. "John is inside waiting for you." She nodded and left us standing there and I cringed, we were getting the same stern looking lecture expression from Dad now that I would be getting from him as a teenager.

---

Dean's POV

A few hours later we'd managed to convince Patrick we weren't any harm, and had watched from outside as Dad and Mom left the diner. We followed them back to Mom's house, arriving in time to see Dad drive off and she start walking inside. We got out of the car and walked up to her, she spotted us right away.

"Dean and Beth, right?" She said, clearly having caught up a little with Patrick before he'd left the diner. "I'm not sure you should come in," she said, glancing at the house.

"You can trust us. I mean, come on, we're all hunters right? I mean, we're – we're practically family," I said, slipping my arm around Beth who gave him an amused look.

"Yeah, thing is, my Dad, he's a little, um…"

"Oh I gotta meet him," I said eagerly, curious about the grandfather I'd never known.

"You've heard of him?" Mom asked curiously.

"Clearly not enough," I said with a frown.

Mary sighed and nodded, and the next thing we knew we were inside the Campbell house getting grilled by a rough and tough hunter.

"So, you're a hunter?" He asked us, clearly not convinced. "Well tell me something, Mr and Mrs Hunters… you kill vampires with wooden stakes or silver?" He asked and I exchanged an amused look with Beth.

"Neither, you cut their heads off," I answered with a smirk.

"Yeah, silver works better on werewolves," Beth said with a raised eyebrow, crossing her arms and looking at him, refusing to be intimidated.

Mom smiled, biting back a laugh. "So, did we pass your test?" I asked.

"Yep. Now get out of my house," he said.

"Dad!" Mom exclaimed.

"I don't trust other hunters, Dean, don't want their help, don't want them around my family," he said.

His wife was setting the table in the dining room next to us and she stopped, frowning and looking at her husband.

"Knock it off, Samuel," she called out.

"They're hunters," he snapped back and she walked into the room.

"They passed your little pop quiz, and now I am inviting them to dinner. Are you hungry?" She asked, turning a smile toward us.

"Starving," I said with a grin.

"Good. I'm Deanna," she said, shaking my hand. "You've met my husband Samuel, now wash up," she added with a smile.

I looked at Mom and then Beth, who raised an eyebrow at me and smiled.

"Samuel and Deanna?" I asked. Mom nodded and Beth shook her head in amusement. "Really?" I asked, surprised.

"Mhmmm," Beth said, sidling up to me as everyone walked down the hallway toward a bathroom. "Looks like you're named after a girl, baby," she said quietly and I shoved her gently, shaking my head.

"Shut up!" It was more than a little disconcerting.

A short while later we were sitting around the dining table when there was a knock at the door. I looked up, not at all surprised to see Patrick walk into the room with a broad smile on his face, carrying a bottle of wine.

"Samuel, Deanna, sorry we're late," he said and Samuel actually smiled at him, shaking his hand.

"Not at all Patrick, you're just in time," he said.

Deanna fussed over Patrick, taking his jacket and then hung it up on a nearby coat rack. I heard Beth's breath catch and turned to see a beautiful young brunette walk into the room with bright blue eyes. Beth grabbed my hand under the table, squeezing it hard and I squeezed it back, realising who it was that had just joined us.

"We have some visitors. This is Dean and Beth," Deanna said to Patrick and he nodded.

"Yes, we met earlier," Patrick replied, smiling and putting an arm around the other woman. "This is my wife, Grace," he introduced and Beth nearly broke my finger she was holding on to me so hard.

"It's nice to meet you," Beth said, staring at her mother.

"Likewise," Grace said with a smile, turning to me. I patted Beth's knee a little, urging her to calm down and she looked down at the table, nodding ever so slightly.

Everyone took a seat as Deanna started to bring plates laden with roast beef and vegetables to the table.

"First time in Lawrence, Beth?" She asked, placing a plate in front of Beth.

"Well, it's been a while," she answered with a smile. "Things sure have changed… I think."

"You working a job?" Samuel asked, looking directly at me.

"Yeah, maybe," I said cryptically.

"What's that mean?" He asked.

"It means I don't trust other hunters either, Samuel," I said with a smirk, earning me a glare from the man. Patrick chuckled and shook his head.

"So care to explain why you were following John and Mary?" Patrick asked, lifting a drink to his mouth.

"Hmmm," I said, looking from Beth to Mary. "I thought something was after your, um, boyfriend. But … I don't think that anymore."

"John Winchester mixing it up with spirits, can you imagine?" Grace said with a smile, shaking her head and Samuel sighed heavily, rolling his eyes.

"I saw that," Mary said, narrowing her eyes at him.

"What?"

"That sour lemon look," she said. I snickered, now we knew where Sam got his from.

"Now hold on, John is a really nice guy," Grace said, interrupting and looking at Samuel pointedly.

"Yeah, a really, really nice… naïve civilian," Samuel countered.

"So what? You'd rather me be with a guy like Patrick?" Mary asked, "Or like this guy?" She nodded toward me.

"What? No, no. Noooo." I said, shaking my head. Beth raised her eyebrow in amusement, looking silently at me. "Nothing personal," I said softly and she chuckled.

"Mary, of course not, it's just that I…." Samuel's argument was interrupted by Deanna.

"That's enough, both of you, we have company," she said and everyone fell silent. I watched as Patrick and Samuel exchanged a look and it dawned on me, these two were very chummy. I looked again at Mom and I started to wonder, maybe Samuel had gotten it into his mind about her being with someone like us… only he'd married someone else instead.

"So, what about you, Samuel, you uh, working a job?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Might be," he said, just as cryptically as I had been, taking a sip of whiskey from his glass.

"He's working a job on the Whitshire Farm," Mary said and Samuel gave her a dirty look.

"Whitshire, why does that name sound familiar?" Beth asked, looking at me.

"Well, it's been all over the papers. Tom Whitshire. Got tangled up in a combine a few towns over," Grace said, looking around the table.

"That kind of thing happens," I said, shrugging. It wasn't exactly hard core evidence of something supernatural going on.

"So why was he on it in the first place when his crops are all dead?"

"Demonic omens?" Beth asked, looking up at Samuel.

"That's what I gotta find out," he muttered, taking another drink.

"What about the rest of the town?" I asked. "Did you find anything on the web... of information that you have assembled," I said quickly, catching my mistake as everyone looked curiously at me.

"Electrical storms, maybe," Deanna said. "The weather service graphs should be here on Friday."

"By mail?" I asked incredulously.

"No, we hired a jet liner to fly 'em to us overnight," Samuel said sarcastically and Patrick snickered, shaking his head.

"You know, it sounds to me like we might be hunting the same thing. You know if we go in there in numbers, we could take care of this real quick," I said.

"What part of 'we work alone' do you not understand, son?" Samuel asked. I looked at Patrick and raised an eyebrow.

"And them?" I asked, nodding at Patrick and Grace.

"Well... Patrick is my son, and this is a family business," Samuel said. Beth almost spat out her drink, instead inhaling it the wrong way and starting to cough and splutter from water going down the wrong way.

"Sorry..." she said, jumping up and holding a napkin over her mouth. "Sorry, I just... can I use your bathroom?" She didn't wait for an answer and almost ran out the door and down the hallway.

"Is she okay?" Deanna asked and I stared after her, gobsmacked.

"Uh, yeah, she'll be fine..." I said nonchalantly, leaning back in my chair and peering at Patrick – oh this couldn't be good. How did we miss that? Surely Dad would have known? Wouldn't he have said something?! Was this why he didn't want us getting involved? Well why did he give us his blessing then?!

Grace stood up and smiled. "I'll just go check on her, she looked like she'd had a bit of a start," she said. Deanna nodded and stood up, starting to clear the plates with Mom's help.

"No, uh, Grace, that's okay... I'll go and check on her," I said, jumping up. The last thing Beth probably wanted to see was her mother walking in on her right now. Then again, I wasn't so sure she'd want to see me either. I took a breath and started down the hall.

"I'll be serving dessert soon, peach cobbler!" Deanna called after me.

Normally I'd be jumping at the idea but my stomach was suddenly in knots. I sighed, running a hand across my face, just not what we needed thrown at us right now.

---

Beth's POV

I dashed cold water on my face and stared into the mirror, trying to calm down my breathing. 'Okay, think...' I thought to myself. 'If Dad was a Campbell, why had we always gone by O'Malley? Well he's a hunter, it's obviously fake!' I blinked, shaking my head. Oh God, oh God, oh God. Damn, that certainly hadn't been been the reason I'd been saying Oh God a few nights back... I looked down at my wedding ring again and groaned. Shit!

There was a knock on the door and I jumped, looking over. "Dean?"

"Yeah," he mumbled from behind the door and I crossed to open it, pulling him into the bathroom with me.

"Hey, now I've been thinking... it's not as bad as it sounds, and we don't have to actually tell anyone... I mean, everyone who knows is … well... dead, except us," he started and I looked at the expression of concentration on his face and everything suddenly seemed hysterically funny. I sat down on the toilet lid, covering my face with my hands as my shoulders shook in quiet laughter.

"God why does this always happen to us?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Hey, look at it this way... at least one of us has already been to Hell..." he said with a grin and I looked incredulously at him.

"That isn't funny Dean."

"Oh come on, it's a little funny..." he said, pulling me to my feet and into his arms. "Beth, this doesn't change how I feel about you, they could have told me you were my full blooded sister and I'd still feel exactly the same way as I always have," he said, brushing a thumb along my cheekbone.

"Instead we're kissing cousins?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it worked for Elvis," he said, leaning down to kiss me tentatively, almost like he was expecting me to pull away. I sighed, taking his face in my hands and softly kissing him back. He was right, this didn't change how I felt, he was still my husband, I still loved him beyond life itself.

Dean grinned as we pulled back from the kiss. "There, not so bad, we didn't burst into flames. Let's just not... uh... let's not tell Sam, huh?" He said with a grin. I laughed and nodded.

"It can be our little secret," I said, biting my lip. "Do you think we could just get out of here? God it's been a big day...I'm exhausted."

Dean nodded, looking at me with concern. "Yeah, all right, we'll go get a room somewhere, huh?"

"And pay with what?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Dean grinned, pulling out John's journal from his jacket and flipping to the back. Tucked in the back along with a bunch of photos was a wad of cash.

"This ought to do it, the rainy day cash stash," he said.

"I didn't know you'd done that," I said, frowning.

"I do a lot of things when you're not looking, I'm full of surprises sugarpie," he said with a grin and I smiled: indeed he was.

---

The Next Day
Whitshire Farm

Beth's POV

I frowned at Dean as he adjusted his collar and grinned at me. "How do I look?" He asked, looking in the mirror of the borrowed car we'd acquired earlier in the morning.

"Hmmm. Like I'm already going to Hell for kissing my cousin, now I'm having impure thoughts about a priest," I said with a grin. "But you're gonna have to lose that," I added, gesturing to his wedding ring.

"Oh yeah," he said, starting to tug at it. He looked at it hesitantly and then handed it to me. "Take care of it," he said and I smiled, slipping it over my own wedding ring with a nod.

"Too bad they didn't have any nun costumes, huh?" He asked and I chuckled.

"As if getting caught kissing last time wasn't bad enough, now we really would be in a bad way," I said with a laugh and Dean chuckled.

"So I'll check indoors with the family, you canvass the outside," Dean said, nodding to the fields.

"Okay, be careful," I said. Dean leaned across and gave me a relatively chaste kiss before leaving the car and heading up to the front porch where he knocked on the door. A woman answered and after a brief discussion they went inside while I started to look around.

After a little while I heard another car coming up the driveway and turned to see that it was Samuel and he had Mary and Mom with him. I ducked behind a tree and watched as they got out of the car, Mary was arguing with him about why they were even there.

"Family business, Mary... family," Samuel said. Mary looked at him sullenly. "What? You'd rather be waving pom-poms at a bunch of jocks?" He asked and I snickered. I knew what I'd rather be doing.

"And what about Grace, Dad? And where is Patrick anyway?" Mary asked.

"He's investigating the other farms, you know that, and Grace is here in case her little angel friends decide to have something of interest to say," Samuel answered. "Plus, she doesn't give me a hard time like you do!"

Mary scowled and marched up the stairs to the house carrying a cake, Samuel followed. I watched curiously as Mom said something to Samuel and then walked off toward the barn at the back of the house. I decided to follow her, wondering what she was up to.

As I was rounding a corner of the barn I ran into her, she looked as if she'd been waiting for me.

"Hi Beth," she said with a smile. "How are you feeling?"

"Uh...fine," I said, trying to appear casual even though I was having another conversation with my own mother, who was currently younger than me, in less than twenty-four hours.

"I just wanted to check that you were all right," she said and I raised my eyebrow, running a hand through my hair. "You seemed a little upset, last night."

"Yeah, well, I was just a little..."

"Surprised to hear about your father being your husband's mother's brother?" Mom asked and I almost fell over.

"What?" I asked, not sure which part I was supposed to be more surprised over.

Mom chuckled and took my hands, her touch instantly calming me. "It's all right Beth, it's not what you think," she said.

"I have no idea what I'm thinking right now..." I said, shaking my head. "In fact, I'm fairly certain I don't even know where to start with that statement."

"Beth, you don't need to worry, Patrick isn't Samuel's real son," she said.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Samuel adopted Patrick after his parents were murdered by demons," Mom explained and I opened my eyes. "He raised him as his own from the age of eight."

"Oh," I said, feeling an immense sensation of relief wash through me. Even though Dean and I had put on a brave face, I was still slightly weirded out by the idea that we were supposedly related, and then I thought about what she'd said about Dad and I frowned. "Talk about history repeating itself..." I said softly, thinking out loud.

"What?" Mom asked and I looked at her, slightly panicked.

"Uh, nothing. Just thinking about family. So..."

"So you and Dean aren't cousins," she said with a laugh.

"Well thank God for that!" I said, smiling broadly.

"Yes, I can imagine," she said and then she grew serious again.

"So it's true," she said softly, looking at me. "You're my... you're my daughter?"

I looked at her and nodded, biting my lip. I didn't know what to say, I couldn't lie, could I?

"How did you know?" I asked.

Mom smiled and closed her eyes, taking a moment. "Castiel," she said eventually, and suddenly a breeze caressed our faces and standing next to us was the angel in a trenchcoat.

"Oh... Jimmy," Mom said, looking at my uncle with a certain amount of sadness. "Castiel what has become of my family that my own daughter doesn't know her family history, and you're now using my brother as a vessel?"

I expected the same abrupt answer from Castiel that Dean and I always got, but he looked at her sadly and sighed.

"You weren't supposed to talk to her," he said to Mom and she grinned.

"Like I was going to listen to that!" She said, shaking her head.

Castiel turned to me. "I didn't allow you to come here to cause problems!"

"Hey, I'm not the one who told her!" I said, holding my hands up. "Seems someone on the angel talkback radio has been talking a little too much."

Castiel sighed again and looked at Mom. "We can't tell you what is to come, it could create a paradox, it is not allowed."

Mom nodded and patted him gently on the cheek, leaning up to kiss him. "Relax, Cas, I'm not here to cause problems. I just wanted to see a little bit of my daughter. You can hardly blame me..."

I smiled and nodded. Castiel turned to me. "You cannot tell her anything." He said, frowning at me. "It could cause many problems. A change now might result in none of you even being born, it is impossible to tell!"

I frowned, and bit my lip. "Well what the Hell are we here for then?" I asked, feeling an ache in my heart. I wanted to tell her, to protect her from the fate I knew awaited her, but it could change everything.

"It's okay Beth," she said. "I don't want to know."

"Ella," I said.

"Hmmm?"

"You always called me Ella," I said and Castiel sighed. "That's all I'm saying," I said, looking at him with a frown.

"Ella," she said with a smile. "Well at least I know what to name you," she added with a laugh and I nodded.

---

Dean's POV

By the time Samuel and Mary showed up on the Whitshire doorstep I'd already established myself as a local priest doing the rounds. I was just being shown out, getting to the door in time to see Samuel dressed as a priest. He took it all in his stride.

"Father, I see you beat me here," he said, looking at me.

"The Lord is funny that way," I said. "Beth Whitshire, this is my associate, our senior, senior priest, Father Chaney."

I stepped out on to the porch to join Samuel.

"Please accept our deepest condolences on behalf of the county diocese," Samuel said and Mary handed her a cake that she was holding. Beth accepted the cake with a reserved look, she was exhausted from grief.

"Thank you," she said.

"Mrs Whitshire was just telling me all about Tom, and how normal and ordinary things were the day before his death," I said to Samuel.

"I see, so you didn't notice anything unusual, ma'am?" Samuel asked, looking at Mrs Whitshire.

"You mean like my husband's guts fertilizing the back 40?" She asked in a macabre manner, fighting back tears. Samuel looked at her stunned and I tried not to chuckle at him. I'd made the same mistake. I looked around and saw Beth and Grace talking to a teenage boy over by a tree.

"Excuse me," I said, patting Samuel on the shoulder and leaving him to it.

As I got closer to the little group Beth turned to acknowledge me.

"Charlie, would you like to tell the Father here what you just told me?" She asked, giving me a concerned look. The boy looked a little frightened, glancing down at the ground and then back at me.

"Dad drank sometimes," he said. "Sometimes he got rough with Mom."

"And that's when the stranger came?" Grace asked, looking at me pointedly. I found it strange seeing Beth's mother in this light and tried not to get distracted, turning my attention to the boy.

"I just thought he was some Bible thumper, like you all. He showed up about a week ago," Charlie said.

"Saying what?" I asked.

"Did I want the beatings to stop? I just thought he was crazy, I didn't think – and the next thing I know, Dad's dead. Am I going to jail?"

"You didn't do this Charlie," Beth said quickly, patting him on the arm.

"Did the stranger want something in return?" I asked, not liking the way this story was sounding.

"He didn't want anything," Charlie insisted.

"Come on, Chuck, he wasn't just handing out freebies now, was he?" I asked with a grin, raising my eyebrow at him.

The kid shifted uncomfortably and then nodded. "He did say something about comin' a callin' ten years from now. Maybe he'd want something then."

"Something like what?" Grace asked.

"I don't know, okay? Look, I told you he was nuts," he said. I glanced at Beth and she took my arm, leading me away. Grace stayed to talk to the boy while I turned to look down at Beth.

"What do you think?" She asked, but it was clear in her eyes what her conclusions were.

"I think he just pimped his soul to a demon and he doesn't even know it," I answered and Beth nodded.

"Yeah, me too," she said sadly. We walked back to Charlie and Grace and I looked at the kid with a sadness.

"Charlie, do you remember what this stranger looked like?" Beth asked.

"Yeah, he was about 5'10, white, normal looking guy," he answered.

"Anything else?" Grace asked.

"There was one thing," he said, looking at me.

"What?" I asked.

"It's just, the light hit his eyes in a weird way and...for a moment I coulda sworn..."

"What? That they were black? Or red maybe?" I asked.

Charlie shook his head. "No, they were yellow. Pale yellow."

I glanced over at Beth and I paled at the thought. The Yellow-Eyed Demon, here, in Lawrence, now? She was wearing the same facial expression I was, but I think she recovered a little quicker, thanking Charlie for his time and then taking my arm and walking away.

"What is it?" Grace asked, and Beth glanced at her, frowning.

"You know what Castiel was saying? This might be one of those things we're not allowed to talk about," Beth said and I stopped to look at them.

"Cas was here?" I asked and Beth nodded. "Well where the Hell is he now? We could use a little help!"

"I get the impression we're kind of on our own here, I had to beg him to even bring me along for the ride," Beth said and I sighed. Great. Just great.

---

Campbell House

Beth's POV

Dean slammed a map down on the dining room table and I jumped, looking up from the kitchen where I was talking to Deanna who was chopping bananas. I was starting to get a little worried for him.

Samuel walked into the dining room, staring at Dean. "What do you say we just slow down and talk this thing through?"

"There's nothing to talk about," Dean said, looking at the map.

"Except you're saying it's a demon, and none of us has ever heard of a demon with yellow eyes," he countered, looking sceptically at Dean.

"Yeah, well I have. This thing killed my family," Dean said, looking up at me.

"Just calm down, son," Samuel said.

"You don't get it, do you? You are in danger, we are all in danger. In fact, you need to get yourself someplace safe," he said as I walked into the dining room and lay a hand on his arm, trying to calm him down.

"Not until we know what we're dealing with here," Samuel said. Deanna came into the room carrying the fruit salad she'd been making.

"Sam's right, Dean, it could be a demon, it could be a shapeshifter, it could be any number of things," she said.

"I know what this thing is!" Dean snapped and she rolled her eyes at him, walking back into the kitchen. "And I'm gonna kill it, that's all the talking I need to do."

"You're gonna kill a demon? How?" Samuel asked, a sceptical look on his face.

"There's a hunter named Daniel Elkins. He lives in Colorado, he has Colt's gun. The Colt," Dean said, looking at me and I nodded.

"Yeah, I heard about the Colt, used to tell it to Mary as a bedtime story," Samuel said.

"Well, it's real," I said, starting to think Dean might be on to something. "You really think this will work?" I asked, looking at him.

"Yeah... yeah I think it might," Dean said, looking at me a little hopefully. I swallowed and nodded, Castiel's warning in the back of my head. If we changed things, what would happen, what if we managed to kill the demon before it killed Mary?

Samuel looked at Deanna and then back at us. They clearly didn't know what to think about what we were saying.

"All right, say this is true. You got some kind of crystal ball telling you where this demon's gonna be?" Samuel asked.

I nodded, pulling out John's journal. "Yeah... maybe we do," I said, flipping it open on the table.

"What's this?" Samuel asked.

"It's a list," I said, looking for the page that Dean and I had read more than a dozen times.

"Of what?"

"My Dad wrote down anyone he thought ever came into contact with the Yellow-Eyed Demon: who, where and when," Dean said.

"Why?" Samuel questioned.

"'Cause the more he could learn about the son of a bitch, the more he could figure out why it killed my Mom," Dean answered as I found the entry we were talking about.

"Look, Whitshire Farm," I said, pointing to John's handwriting. "I told you that name sounded familiar."

"Whitshire Farms, that was two days ago. How the hell is that on your Dad's list?" Samuel asked and I raised an eyebrow at Dean.

"Uh... my Dad could see the future," Dean said quickly. "Look at this, it says he's gonna hit here tomorrow night."

"Liddy Walsh?" Samuel asked, frowning.

"Haleyville, that's close," Dean said, looking at him.

"I mean, yeah, it's about three miles, but..." Samuel stopped, looking over at Deanna and she shook her head slightly in disbelief, then he looked back at us, clearly in agreement: they didn't believe us.

"I know, you guys think we're crazy," Dean said.

"You seem like really nice kids, Dean, but yeah, you're both crazy," Samuel said with a nod.

"Yeah, maybe," Dean said, looking at me. "But I know where this bastard's gonna be, and I'm gonna stop it, once and for all," he said determined. He grabbed the journal and walked out of the room, leaving me standing there. I sighed, and shrugged.

"You need to reign him in Beth, before he gets himself, or worse – you, hurt," Samuel said, looking at me with concern.

I sighed again and looked toward the front door where Dean had walked out.

"Well there's not much on this earth that can do that once he sets his mind to something," I said, shaking my head. "But I'll try, it's just..."

"Just?" Deanna asked.

"I'm kind of in agreement with him on this one," I said quietly, shrugging and walking toward the door.

Dean was leaning against the porch railing when I came out and he turned to look at me.

"You're with me on this, right?" He asked, and I smiled, walking over to him. I took his hand, sliding his wedding ring off my own and back on to his finger.

"For better or worse," I said, kissing the palm of his hand. I moved my hand to his chest and then leaned in to him, my forehead pressed against his shoulder.

"But...?" He asked, sliding his hands around my waist.

"But... Castiel said I wasn't allowed to tell Mom about what happens to her, and to Dad. That it might change the course of history. How is this any different?" I asked, looking up at Dean.

"Well he also said I had to stop it, and if he didn't mean this, then what the hell did he mean?" Dean asked and I shrugged, I had no answer for that.

"I don't know, but I'm a little scared Dean," I said.

"Once we have the Colt, we'll be fine," he said confidently.

"That's not what I'm scared of," I said softly, looking down at my hand again.

"Then what?"

I sighed. "Well, I mean, our whole lives are kind of built on the foundation that Dad started hunting...Dean... what if he never had a reason to? What if you grew up normal?"

"You mean what if we never saved you from that demon?" Dean asked, frowning. I nodded, not wanting to voice such a selfish thought.

Dean sighed and pulled me into him. "We'd grow up in the same town, Beth. Go to the same school... and I'm not likely to let you get away... even if your Dad did move you to Wisconsin for whatever reason," he said, lifting my chin. "I'm always, always gonna come for you, okay?"

I bit my lip, not entirely convinced. But at the end of the day, wasn't it more important that he and Sam were safe? I'd been willing to sell my soul to ensure that, why was it now that I was faced with never having known him that I baulked? I stroked my hand along his familiar face, taking in those eyes, the concerned furrowing of his brow.

"So... Colorado?" I asked, and he nodded, letting out a sigh of relief.

"God I'm glad your mother cleared up that little family history issue," he said, leaning in to kiss me. "That was just plain...weird," he added and I laughed, nodding. "Come on, let's go."

"Go?" Mary asked, stepping out on to the porch and looking at us.

"Yeah," Dean said, shrugging. "We're shoving off, was just about to come say bye."

"Really?" Mary asked, looking surprised. "So soon?"

"Yeah – job to do," Dean said with a nod. "Hey, I wanted to – to tell you, you know for what it's worth. Um... it doesn't matter what your Dad thinks, I like that John kid." I smiled, nodding my agreement and Mary smiled.

"You do?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I think you two are meant to be," he said, looking down at me as he pulled me a little closer. "Hell I'm depending on it," he said a little softer and I snickered.

"What?" Mary asked, not really understanding the last comment.

"Nothing," I said, shaking my head. "Hey, um, can I ask you a question?" Mary nodded at me, looking curious.

"What's he like? John?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?"

I shrugged, putting my arm around Dean's waist. "Just curious."

Mary looked a little dumbfounded, shrugging and smiling at the same time. "I don't know. He's sweet, kind. Even after the war, after everything, he still believes in happily ever after, you know? He's everything a hunter isn't..." she said, then looked at us. "No offence."

"No, none taken," I said, shaking my head.

"Can I tell you guys something?" Mary asked. We nodded at her.

"He's gonna ask me to marry him. Tomorrow, I think!" She said, looking excited and giddy.

"Yeah?" Dean asked, with a smile, looking down at me.

"Oh, Dad's gonna explode!" She said smiling. "But I don't care, I'll run away if I have to, I just... I love John, and..."

"And what?" Dean asked.

"I wanna get out," Mary said. "This job, this life, I hate it. I want a family, I wanna be safe." Dean's arm tightened around my waist, I felt him stiffen a little at the statement. "You know the worst thing I can think of? The very worst thing? Is for my children to be raised into this, like I was. Like Patrick was. I can't stop Patrick from doing it, but me? No, I won't let it happen," she finished.

Dean shook his head, blinking back tears as he glanced down at me and I squeezed him a little, smiling sadly at him.

"Yeah..." he said, nodding and running a hand across his mouth.

"Hey, are you okay?" Mary asked, seeing Dean's discomfort.

"Yeah, no, I'm – I'm fine," Dean said, nodding. "Hey, uh, Mary, can I tell you something?"

"Sure," she said with a nod.

"Even if this sounds really weird. Will you promise me that you will remember?" Dean asked. I frowned, looking up at Dean.

"Dean..." I said warningly, recalling Castiel's caution. Dean shook his head at me.

"On November 2nd, 1983, don't get out of bed," he said to Mary and I sighed softly, shaking my head. He fought back tears and I felt my own welling in my eyes. "No matter what you hear, or what you see. Promise me you won't get out of bed."

Mary smiled at him, a look of concern on her face. "Okay..." she said softly and I watched him wipe a tear from his cheek as he turned, taking my hand and walking toward the door. We left without another word, Dean visibly shaken and upset by what he'd just heard from Mary.

I slipped my arm around his waist again as we walked down the street toward the car we'd been using.

"Hey," I said, looking at him. "You okay?"

He paused, pulling me to face him, shaking his head. "No, not really," he said. "You heard what she said... her worst nightmare is for me and Sam... for us to be raised as hunters..."

"Yeah, I know," I said softly, raising my hand to cup his cheek. "Dean, things happen. I'm sure my parents didn't want this either, but … life is what happens when you're busy making other plans."

Dean sighed. "She'd be proud of who you are Dean, you're strong, you're loving, you look after your family and other people, you're everything she is," I said, smiling at him.

He sniffed back another tear, the corner of his mouth tugging up a little as he leaned his forehead to mine and took a deep breath. "Beth, I promise you, when we get through this... and the time is right... we're gonna get out, okay?" I frowned, pulling back just enough to stare into his eyes.

"What are you saying?"

"You, me, we're gonna go find somewhere to settle down and we'll have a family, and we'll... we won't make the same mistakes Dad made, okay?" He said and I nodded.

"Yeah, yeah sure Dean, whatever you want to do," I said softly, feeling worried for him.

"I just want to be with you, I feel like I've spent a lifetime apart from you and I want to spend the rest of my life making that up to you," he said. I sighed, kissing him and nodding.

"Okay," I said, smiling. "Let's just... let's get through the next few days and see where we land, huh?" I didn't want to voice my fears again. That if we managed to kill this yellow-eyed bastard we ran the very likely chance of not even being married, of not even knowing each other. I had him now, and that's what mattered, the future could wait.

---

Dean's POV

Beth was asleep, leaning against my shoulder as I drove the long stretch of highway to Colorado. I glanced down at her and she shifted in her sleep, smiling. I looked up at the highway again and heard her mutter in her sleep about Castiel and when I glanced at her again the damned angel was sitting on the other side of her. It was getting more than a little crowded in here.

I took in a sharp breath and looked at him. "So what? God's my co-pilot, is that it?" I asked, chuckling internally at the pun. Castiel just looked at me and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, you're a regular Chatty Cathy," I said, looking back to the road. "Tell me something. Sam would have wanted in on this, why not bring him back?"

"You had to do this alone, Dean," Castiel said and I glanced down at Beth in my arms. Castiel noticed the look and turned to the highway. "She put forward a very convincing case," he added and I snorted. I bet she had.

"And you don't care that Sam's tearing up the future looking for us right now?" I asked.

"Sam's not looking for you," Castiel said and I found that a little surprising.

"All right, if I do this, then the family curse breaks, right? Mom and Dad live happily ever after, and – and, Sam and I grow up playing little league and chasing tail?" I asked.

"You realise, if you do alter the future, your father, you, Sam – you'll never become hunters. And all those people you saved, they'll die," Castiel said.

"I realise," I said, swallowing. I'd done nothing but think about that since Beth had fallen asleep.

"And you don't care?"

"Oh, I care. I care a lot, but these are my parents. I'm not gonna let them die again. I can't. No, not if I can stop it," I said.

"And what about Beth? Have you asked her how she feels about this? What do you think will happen if you're not there when the demon comes visiting her father?" Castiel asked. I shifted slightly, looking down at the woman sleeping soundly on my shoulder.

"Well I'll uh... maybe … well maybe that won't happen either," I said stubbornly. Castiel just looked at me. "She wants me to do this, she doesn't want to see Sam raised into this life anymore than I do. Besides, apparently we have a connection, a bond... that's gotta be strong enough to get us through something as simple as a change in history," I said. I had to believe that, or I wasn't going to go through with this.

"Right?" I asked, but when I looked back at where the angel had been sitting, he'd vanished. I sighed. Great, just great.

By the time dawn hit we were in Colorado at Elkins' cottage, the same one we'd found smashed up years ago. I was kneeling in front of the safe, pulling out the Colt when I felt the prickle in the back of my spine that told me someone had a gun pointed at me. I turned to find Elkins with a shotgun pointed at me.

"Hold it right there, friend. Drop the gun, be on your way," he said. I made like I was going to lay the Colt down but at the last second I pointed it at Elkins, spinning to face him.

"Can't do it, Daniel," I said with an apologetic look.

"Who the Hell are you?" He asked.

"We're hunters," Beth said, coming up behind him with a sidearm pointed at him. "Just like yourself." He froze, lowering his gun slightly and glancing warily at her.

"Thieves is more like it," he said.

"We just need it for a few days," I said to him.

"Not happening, mister," he said and he stubbornly raised the gun to me again.

"Look," I said, exasperated. "I have a chance to save my family's lives. My family. But I need this gun to do it." Elkins frowned and I decided to push it, nodding to Beth to lower her gun, which she did, stepping away from Elkins. He turned his back to the wall where he could watch us both. "So if you want to stop us? Kill us," I said, lowering the Colt and walking toward Beth, placing her behind me as I backed us toward the door past Daniel.

Elkins hesitated and then lowered his gun, looking at us conflicted.

"There's some hunters in Lawrence, the Campbells," I said.

"Never heard of them," He answered.

"That's where she'll be," I said and he nodded at me.

---

Mary's POV

Dad had me helping out with cleaning the guns, they were piled high on the dining room table. I wistfully stared at the wood of the table wondering what it would be like to have a dining table just for family dinners, and nothing else. I thought about John and how I might have a chance at that with him, and Dean's encouragement to pursue that – it had seemed odd coming from a hunter who was married to a hunter. But then, the way he'd looked at Beth before they left, made me wonder if perhaps he didn't want to get out of the life too.

"Dean say where he was going?" I asked Dad casually, assembling the shotgun I'd been cleaning.

"Said he was gonna kill a demon," he answered and I scoffed, shaking my head.

"Kill a demon? That's impossible," I said.

"Yep," he said with a chuckle.

"Where?"

"Uh, … oh I don't know, over in Haleyville, uh, Walsh's maybe," Dad answered and I felt my blood run cold.

"Wait, not Liddy Walsh?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, I – I – I think so," Dad said.

"Dad! She's a friend of mine! We gotta help her," I said, getting up from the table.

"What's wrong?" Mom asked, coming in from the kitchen.

"I'll be in the car," I said, and I walked toward the door.

"Hey!" Mom called out.

"I mean, she wants to hunt, she doesn't want to hunt, is this some female time of the month thing?" Dad asked Mom just before I left the house. I shook my head and walked over to the car, getting in the passenger seat.

We got to Liddy's in about ten minutes, and I could see her sitting on the couch in the living room as we raced up to the door. Dad didn't wait, just kicked in the door and ran into the living room, shooting the demon in the chest. Liddy screamed, jumping up and cringing my the lounge. The demon's eyes opened again and Dad cocked the shotgun, aiming at the man. He waved his hand and the gun flew from Dad's hands, hitting the wall, Dad soon followed the gun, and I watched as he was pinned to the wall by the demon.

"Oh! Oh God!" Liddy cried out.

"Hold that thought," said the demon as he stood up and walked toward Dad.

"You son of a bitch," Dad said as the demon leaned in to him. I took that moment to move in behind him with a knife, but he sensed me, spinning and grabbing me by the throat.

"Hello there," he said, and I broke his hold, slicing along his arm and moving back a step.

"Where the Hell have they been hiding you?" He asked.

I attacked him again, this time the demon grabbed my arm and forced the knife out of my hand. I fought back, breaking his hold on my arm and punching him. It didn't do anything, he just smiled.

"I like you. You got a lot of spunk," he said. I smirked, I'll show you spunk. I lashed out with a kick at him, he countered, blocking the kick and grabbing me around the throat, slamming me against a picture hanging on the wall.

"Mary!" I heard Dad yell as Dean burst into the room with a gun drawn. The demon pulled me in front of him as a shield, looking at Dean.

"Let her go!" Dean yelled.

"Where'd you get that gun?" The demon asked, looking at Dean.

Dean cocked the gun, looking me in the eyes. I knew what he was going to do and when he nodded at me, I elbowed the demon in the side, breaking away. Dean went to shoot but the demon suddenly poured out of the body it was possessing in a black cloud of smoke.

"Damn!" Dean cursed, dropping the gun to his side.

---

Beth's POV

Dean, Mary and I were standing on the front lawn waiting for Samuel to finish briefing Liddy.

"Mary, what else did he say to you?" I asked the young woman who was looking a little shell-shocked.

"I told you, just that he liked me," she answered. She looked up at me with fear in her eyes and I swallowed, nodding. "What did he mean by that?"

Dean exchanged a look with me as Samuel walked up to us.

"Liddy's a strong kind, she'll be fine," he said, oblivious to our conversation. He looked over at Mary, concern on his face. "Are you okay?"

"No, Dad. I'm pretty far from okay. Can we go?" Mary asked, turning on her heel and walking back to the truck. Samuel turned to us, looking at Dean.

"Nice job in there," he said, but Dean shook his head, obviously angry with himself.

"I missed the shot," he said.

"Take the compliment, son. I'm saying that I was wrong about you," Samuel said. Dean glanced at me and then toward Mary who was in the truck. He turned to Samuel.

"We need to talk, alone," he said, taking my arm and leading me to the car we were using. Samuel stared after us, obviously confused.

---

Campbell's House

Beth's POV

When we got to the Campbell House Dean led the way into the living room, nodding for me to follow. Samuel joined us, sitting at the dining table. Mary had disappeared upstairs, and so Dean took the moment to have that conversation with Samuel.

"We have to kill this thing now, or Mary dies," he said. Samuel looked up at him, surprised.

"What? How do you know that?" He asked, looking from Dean to me.

Dean pulled out John's journal and looked at his grandfather. "I just do, okay?"

"When?" He asked.

"I don't know, maybe today, probably years from now, but it's happening, trust me," Dean said.

"So what, are you some kind of psychic now too?" Samuel asked sceptically.

"No," Dean said, looking up at Samuel and then at me. He looked hard at Samuel and then frowned, moving toward the table and sitting down. "All right listen to me. Now this is gonna sound a little..."

"Dean!" I said, shaking my head.

"No," he said to me. "No he needs to know," he turned back to Samuel, sighing. "Actually it's gonna sound massively, massively crazy," he said.

"Okay," Samuel said, glancing from me to Dean.

"Mary is my mother," Dean said and I cringed, rubbing my forehead with my hand. I just hoped Castiel wasn't listening in right now.

"Excuse me?" Samuel asked incredulously.

"And I am your grandson, and I know what the hell I'm talking about," Dean said. Samuel stared at him in disbelief.

"You wanna run that by me again, son?" He asked.

"My real name is Dean Winchester. I was born January 24th, 1979. My parents are Mary and John Winchester," he said, looking at Samuel.

"I don't have to listen to his," Samuel said, and I sighed, walking behind Dean and putting my hands on his shoulders, squeezing them.

"Mary gets killed by a yellow-eyed demon in 1983, and we think that this – what happened tonight – we think this is the moment he caught her scent," I said, looking at Samuel sternly. He stopped and looked back at me, hesitating.

"Right," Dean said, nodding. "Now, if we don't catch this thing now, and kill it, and it gets away? Then Mary dies. So I am asking you, please."

Samuel looked at us sceptically, shaking his head. "How did I know about the Colt?" Dean asked. "Huh? How did I know about the Yellow-Eyed Demon? Or where it would be? We're not making this up, Samuel."

"And are you really his wife, or are you some long lost granddaughter?" Samuel asked me, frowning.

"Uh, wife, but you do know my parents," I said cryptically. He looked curiously at me before turning back to Dean and shaking his head.

"Every bone in my body is aching to put you six feet under, but there's something about you – I can't shake it. Now, I may be crazier than you, son, but I believe you." I sighed with relief, squeezing Dean's shoulders.

"Thank you," Dean said, his shoulders sagging as he relaxed.

"How do we find this bastard?" Samuel asked. Dean opened John's journal, flipping the pages.

"Right here, the list," he said.

"And with the Colt?" Samuel asked. Dean pulled the gun out of his jacket and put it on the table.

"Yeah," he said with a nod.

"Here, let me see it," Samuel said and I felt a Dean stiffen, sliding the gun away from Samuel.

"Sorry, I don't let anybody hold it," he said.

"I'm your grandfather," he said and I looked at him, feeling suspicious. We'd heard that before from John.

"Nothing personal," Dean said as I moved away slightly, giving Dean space to move if needed, something didn't feel right.

"Sure it is," Samuel said, "especially when it's me you're trying to kill," he said, his eyes turning yellow. I gasped as Dean's chair slid across the room, hitting the wall, and the Colt fell to the floor, knocked by Dean's arm. I dove for the gun, but didn't get there. I felt myself hit the wall with Dean, pinned beside him.

"Future boy and girl, huh?" the Yellow-Eyed Demon asked, walking over in Samuel's body and looking curiously at us.

"I only know one thing that's got the juice to swing something like that. You must have friends in high places," he said. "So I kill your Mommy? That's why you came all this way? To see little old me?"

"Oh, I came here to kill you," Dean said with a glare.

"Hey, wait a minute, if that slut Mary's your Mommy, are you... are you one of my psychic kids?" He leaned in and sniffed at Dean, pulling back.

"No, not you. Maybe you got a sis, or a bro. We've established she's not your sister, so they must be elsewhere... that's terrific, means it all worked out. After all, it's why I'm here," he said with a smile.

"So that's what this is about, these deals you're making," I said. "You don't want these people's souls..."

"No, I just want their children. I'm here to choose the perfect parents, like his Mommy... and maybe yours," he said, coming in closer, this time sniffing me. He stopped, staring at me and then backed away. "Interesting, you're something else indeed. Who do you belong to? I wouldn't mind making a deal with your mommy..."

"Leave her alone," Dean said angrily, fighting against the invisible restraints the demon had applied to us.

"Why Mary? Why any of them?" I asked, glaring at the demon.

"Because they're strong," he said. "They're pure, and they eat their Wheaties. My own little master race – they're ideal breeders." Dean frowned and the demon laughed.

"Oh get your mind out of the gutter. No one's breeding with me. Though, Mary? Man, I'd like to make an exception. So far, she's my favourite," the demon said and Dean looked furiously at him, struggling but unable to move. He looked behind Samuel and I followed his gaze, seeing Deanna watching us from the kitchen.

"So why make the deals?" Dean asked, trying to distract him.

"I need permission," he answered simply. I swallowed, watching as Deanna peeked around the wall dividing the kitchen from the dining room and came quietly into the room. "I need to be invited, into their houses. I know, I know, the – the red tape'll drive you nuts, but in ten short years, it'll all be worth it. 'Cause you know what I'm gonna do to your sibling? I'm gonna stand over their crib and I'm gonna bleed into their mouth. Demon blood is better than Ovaltine, vitamins, minerals – it makes you big and strong."

"For what? So they can lead your discount demon army? Is that your big plan?" Dean asked, looking at him with disgust.

"Please," the demon scoffed, looking at Dean. "My end game's a hell of a lot bigger than that kid," he said.

'End game?" I asked. "What end game?"

"Like I'm gonna tell you, or those angels sitting on your shoulder," he said, looking pointedly at me. "No, I'm gonna cover my tracks good."

"You can cover whatever the hell you want, but I'm still gonna kill you," Dean said.

"Right. Now that, I'd like to see," he said with a snicker and I smirked.

"Maybe not today, but you look into my eyes, you son of a bitch, 'cause I'm the one that kills you," Dean said. The demon hesitated and then laughed.

"So you're gonna save everybody, is that right? Is that it?" The demon asked. "Well, I'll tell you one person that you're not gonna save..." he took a knife and I gasped with shock as it plunged into my stomach, warm blood seeping out over his hands.

"No!" Dean yelled, fighting against the demon's hold.

"Your beautiful wife... and just for good measure, your grandpappy!" I fell to the floor with a searing pain as the demon turned the knife on himself, stabbing into his gut.

"No!" Deanna yelled as the knife sliced into Samuel's stomach. The demon turned, noticing her for the first time and flung out his hand, sending her flying through the air and crashing into a table. Dean struggled to get free as I felt myself slipping from consciousness and the demon stalked after Deanna while she tried to crawl away. There was the sound of a shout from Deanna and then Dean broke free, running for the Colt, chasing after the demon. He stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, cursing and then running back to me.

"Beth... Beth!"

"Go," I said, shaking my head. "Kill him."

"No, I'm not leaving you," he said and I looked at him, feeling weak. His eyes filled with tears and he grasped my face, looking in my eyes.

"Castiel!" He said angrily and there was a breeze as suddenly the angel was standing beside us. "Do something!" He said, looking at the angel.

"You must go, Dean, this isn't over," Castiel said, looking at us both.

"Not until you heal her," Dean said, shaking his head. "And Deanna."

Castiel sighed and pulled Dean to his feet. "You have to go," he said. "I will do what I can," he said.

"If she dies, I will come and kill you myself for bringing her here, you hear me?!" Dean threatened, and he looked down at me, conflicted. He knelt down, kissing me quickly and I smiled, reaching out to stroke his face.

"I'll be okay, you need to go Dean," I said and he nodded, turning and running out the door.

I looked up at Castiel, feeling myself turn cold. "This is it, isn't it?" I asked, and he sighed, reaching out to touch my forehead.

"I'm sorry Beth," he said, and I felt a blinding white light claim me.

---

Mary's POV

I'd run off with John as soon as we got back, climbing out my window and down the gutter. It couldn't take this anymore, that Demon, whoever it was, it hadn't felt good the way he looked at me, and I knew, I just knew I had to get away.

John had pulled over by the lake and he was looking at me nervously. "I uh, guess it's no secret why I brought you all the way out here..." he said.

"John..." I said, looking at him.

"I just – just let me get through this, okay?" John asked, and I frowned.

"Okay, wait. There's things you don't know about me, John," I said, ready to confess everything and run the risk of losing him.

"So?" John asked, he pulled a ring box out of his pocket, opening it and showing it to me. "I will always love you for exactly who you are," he said. I felt my heart skip a beat and then there was a banging on the window next to me.

"What did I tell you?!" Dad said, looking in at us.

"Dad!"

"Sir, just listen!" John said, but Dad yanked the door open, pulling me out of the car. John got out the other side, coming around to confront him.

"Ow! Dad! You're hurting me!" I said, struggling against his grip on my arm. He pulled me away from the car as John chased us, trying to break Dad's hold on me.

"Hey, take it easy!" John said. Dad spun on him, letting me go and grabbing John's head, wrenching it sideways and there was the unmistakable sound of a neck breaking as John fell to the ground dead.

"No!" I yelled, falling to my knees beside him, holding his head in my lap as Dad kicked his legs.

"You killed him!" I said, looking up at the man who was supposed to be my family watching as his eyes turned yellow.

"Oh, not just John, sweetie-pie. Mommy and Daddy too," he said to me, unzipping his jacket where I saw a fatal stab wound in his stomach.

"No..." I said, shaking my head.

"Yup, afraid so. You're little orphan Mary now," he said with a smirk.

"You son of a bitch!"

"Oh, sticks and stones may break my bones, but they won't bring your family back either," he said.

"I'll kill you, I swear to God," I said, glaring at him.

"Oh, let's not get nasty," the demon said, sitting next to me. "Now look, we both said some things that we regret. Let's um... kiss and make up," he said. I felt the tears falling down my face as I looked at John, realising what a mess I was in.

"I'll tell you what, I'll arrange to have lover boy here brought back breathing," he said.

"My parents too?"

"Nope, sorry doll, that's not on the table. But, think about it, you could be done with hunting forever. The white picket fence, station wagon, couple of kids... no more monsters or fear. I'll make sure of it." It sounded way too good to be true.

"What? And all it costs is my soul?" I asked, glaring at him.

"Oh, no, you can keep your soul, I just need permission," he said, and I looked at him suspiciously.

"For what?"

"Mmm, in ten years I need to swing by your house for a little something, that's all," he said.

"For what?!" I snapped, sick of the games.

"Relax. As long as I'm not interrupted, nobody gets hurt, I promise," he said, looking at me as I hesitated. "Or, you can spend the rest of your life, desperate and alone." I sobbed, looking at John in my lap, I couldn't do it, I couldn't let him go.

"Mary? It's a good deal. So what do you say?" The demon said to me with his yellow eyes flashing.

I looked at him and nodded. He grabbed me and kissed me, I felt the bile rise in my throat as headlights hit us and Dean got out of the car.

"No!" He yelled, rushing forward with the Colt drawn. He aimed, but before he could shoot the demon left Dad's body in a rush of smoke and Dean lowered the Colt, looking at me in desperation and disappointment. I stared at him, daring him to question me, and then I looked down, seeing John come back to life.

"Mary?" John asked, looking confused.

"John..." I said, pulling him close. There was a rush of wind, and when I looked up, Dean was gone, and my Dad lay dead on the ground.

---

Present Day
Motel Room

Dean's POV

I woke with a start, gasping for breath, I rolled over on the bed. "Beth?!" I called out when she wasn't there. I looked around and saw Castiel standing at the end of the bed. "Where's Beth?" I asked, sitting up. There was movement from the bathroom and I sighed with relief when I saw her come through the door.

"Dean!" She said with a smile, hurrying around the bed. I stood up and grabbed her, pulling her into my body and holding her tight.

"Oh, thank God," I said, even though why I was thanking God was beyond me. Beth squeezed me tight, her arms locked around my waist. I pulled back, grasping her face between my hands, looking into her eyes. "Are you okay?" She nodded, smiling.

"Yeah, I'm fine, are you?" She asked, looking at me with worried eyes.

"I couldn't stop any of it. She still made the deal," I looked over at Castiel who hadn't moved since I woke up. "She still died in the nursery, didn't she?" I asked.

"Don't be too hard on yourself. You couldn't have stopped it," Cas said, refusing to look at me.

"What?!"

"Destiny can't be changed, Dean. All roads lead to the same destination," Cas said, turning to look at me.

"Then why'd you send us back?" I asked, and

"For the truth. Now you know everything we do," he said.

"What are you talking about?" Beth asked.

Castiel looked at the bed next to ours which was untouched.

"Where's Sam?" I asked Beth, and she bit her lip.

"He left earlier, right before Castiel sent us back, I've only been back about twenty minutes myself," she said to me and I frowned, looking at the angel.

"We know what Azazel did to your brother. What we don't know is why – what his endgame is. He went to great lengths to cover that up," Cas said.

"Where's Sam?" I asked again, sick of the roundabout answers.

"425 Waterman," Cas said, looking at us. Beth nodding, moving toward the door and grabbing the keys. I grabbed my jacket and followed, stopping as Cas spoke again.

"Your brother is headed down a dangerous path, and we're not sure where it leads," he said, following us with his eyes. "So stop it. Or we will," he said in a tone that was a promise, not a threat. Beth swallowed, looking at me, and I sighed, nodding.

"Let's go," I said to her, opening the door. It was time to see just what our little brother was up to in the dead of the night.

~To Be Continued~

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

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Song for this chapter is: This is now by Hatebreed

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Metamorphosis is up next, and then maybe an original piece if I get inspired. Would like to explore Cas and Beth's relationship a little more at some point, so might delve into that. If there's something you'd like to see, let me know :)

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Don't forget there's a Facebook page where I post different fan art and update info about the stories as I'm working on them and other SPN sort of things there. Just search for Dean & Beth – Supernatural Fanfic and it should come up or PM me your email address for the link.

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Hope you all enjoyed this chapter and the foray into the past. Please leave a review, they totally make my day!