Author's Note: I hope you don't find it too hard to follow. There are two stories being told simultaneously, one from Dean's POV and one from Beth's. I have separated the different "realities" with triple lines, hope this helps. Just pay attention to the POV notes as you go :) Enjoy!

And I wonder if you know
How it really feels
To be left outside alone
When it's cold out here
Well maybe you should know
Just how it feels
To be left outside alone
To be left outside alone

All my life I've been waiting
For you to bring a fairy tale my way
Been living in a fantasy without meaning
It's not okay I don't feel safe
I need to pray...

WHAT IS AND WHAT SHOULD NEVER BE

Illinois (Present Day)
Beth's POV

My pocket was vibrating, the thrum going through my whole thigh. I pulled the motorcycle over to the side of the road and answered it.

"Hey Sam," I said, pulling my helmet off and tucking the phone under my hair.

"Hey, I got you on conference with Dean," Sam said.

"Hey Dean," I said with a smile, listening to the sound of the Impala in the background, he was driving around somewhere on the other side of town. It felt good to be back in the saddle of my bike, we'd picked it up between our last job and this one.

"Hey baby." Dean's voice said over the phone. "How's it feel to be back out exploring on that thing?"

"Awesome!" I said with a grin, looking around me at the dark warehouses.

"Yeah, well that's not why I called," Sam said, sounding stern. "There's a cop car outside," he finished.

"You think it's for us?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Sam answered, but there was a worried tone to his voice.

"I don't see how. We ditched the plates and the credit cards," I said, and Dean murmured his agreement.

"They're leaving. False alarm," Sam said over the phone and Dean chuckled.

"See? Nothing to worry about." He said to Sam.

"Yeah, being fugitives? Freaking dance party," Sam muttered, he had been so stressed out the last week or so that we'd been on the run. We hadn't seen any evidence that the Feds knew anything about where we were, but that didn't stop Sammy from worrying.

"Hey man, chicks dig the danger vibe," Dean said over the phone and I laughed. He was right about that. Sam didn't respond, I imagined I could see him staring stonily at the wall, imagining it was Dean he was glaring at.

"So you guys got anything yet?" Sam asked.

"Are you kidding me?" Dean asked incredulously. "You got us sifting through like fifty square miles of real estate here."

"Well, that's where all the victims disappeared," Sam said.

"Yeah well, I get at least squat. What about you Beth?" Dean asked.

I was looking around, there was a lot of places to hide in this area. It was literally like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"A few warehouses I was about to go look in, but nothing much standing out in particular." I answered.

"Well, I'm pretty sure we're hunting a Djinn," Sam said over the phone.

"A freaking genie?" Dean asked, surprised. Sam voiced his agreement. "What? You think these suckers can really grant wishes?"

"I don't know. I guess they're powerful enough. But not exactly like Barbara Eden and the harem pants. I mean, Djinn have been feeding off people for centuries. They're all over the Koran." Sam said, filling us in briefly on their history.

"My God. Barbara Eden was hot, wasn't she babe?" Dean said over the phone, addressing me by the sounds of it. I grinned, that was a statement I could agree with. "Way hotter than that Bewitched chick." I laughed.

"Are you even listening to me?" Sam asked pointedly.

"Yeah Sammy, we're listening," I said to him. "Where do they have their lairs?"

"Ruins, usually. Uh. The bigger the better, more places to hide." Sam said. I looked over at the warehouse in front of me again, contemplating.

"I'm looking at a place that might fit that profile," I said to them, "I'm gonna go check it out." I climbed off the bike and put my helmet on the handle bar.

"No, no, no, Beth, you wait for me," Dean said over the phone.

"Dean, I'm sure it's nothing. I just want to take a look around," I said to him, "I'll call you when I'm done ok?" I didn't wait for a confirmation, just hung up the phone and put it back in my pocket. It vibrated again, Dean calling me back no doubt, but it was no big deal, I could do this. Dean would track my GPS anyway, I always had it on during a hunt, he'd be here in about ten minutes if I needed help.

I wandered down the side of the building finding an open door, and let myself in. The old factory had a lot of long hallways and I wandered down the closest one, looking around with my flash-light. Suddenly I was grabbed from behind, something was pulling me backwards. I reached and grabbed at its arms, trying to break the hold and then everything flashed a bright electric blue, and I felt myself sinking to the floor.

Old Warehouse (Present Day)

Dean's POV

She had about a ten minute start on me, I wasn't impressed. I pulled the Impala up next to her bike and phoned Beth again, listening to the ringing as I went looking for her. It rang out to voicemail and I sighed, flipping my phone shut and shoving it back in my pocket.

I took out my flash-light and hurried down the side of the building, finding a door wide open. I entered and followed the first hallway I came to. It was fairly lit up from the streetlights outside, however there were lots of shadows for something to hide in. I noticed a figured slumped on the floor, and recognised the lines of Beth's body. Damn. I hurried over and knelt down beside her, rolling her on to her back and feeling for a pulse. It was there, faint but steady. I breathed a sigh of relief.

I sensed the creature behind me before it reached me and pulled the silver knife from my jacket while I pretended to be fussing over Beth. It moved on me and I spun, attempting to stab it, but it was fast; way faster than I expected. It grabbed me and swung me into a wall, pinning my wrist holding the knife against the wall, he slammed it a few times and the pain caused me to drop the knife.

The Djinn opened it's left hand and there was an electric blue glow that started to flow from the palm of his hand, it matched the colour in his eyes. He put the glowing hand to my forehead and I felt myself starting to slump to the ground.

Bedroom

Dean's POV

I woke up with a start, the TV in the room was playing an old black and white movie that Beth liked so much. I looked over and saw that she wasn't on the floor in an old factory, but lying right next to me in bed... naked. I frowned and reached over to touch her, suddenly not sure what the hell was going on. Where was I? Didn't look like a motel. Beth murmured at my touch and rolled over to look at me with sleepy eyes.

"Hey," she said softly, reaching out to wrap her arm around my waist. "You ok?"

"Uh, yeah, no... maybe. Are you ok?" I asked, looking at her with a worried expression.

She frowned, leaning up on an elbow, tucking the blanket around her torso. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You don't remember that Djinn attacking you?" I asked, looking her over.

"Djinn? What are you talking about babe? Did you have another nightmare?" She asked with a yawn.

"Yeah, yeah I guess I did. Crazy huh?" I said to her and she smiled, leaning up to kiss me.

"I bet I can make the big bad dream go away," she said, licking her lips and then grinning at me. I felt my mouth go dry at the idea and leaned in to kiss her softly.

"I bet you could." I said with a grin. "I just gotta go do something first, ok?" She looked a little disappointed, but nodded, lying back and pulling the blanket up over her.

"Well don't be long," Beth said with a smile. I groaned and nodded, getting out of bed and tossing her another grin.

I walked into the living room and found my phone on the side bureau. Flipping it open I scrolled through the contacts, finding an entry for Sam Winchester. I dialled it, and waited impatiently for Sammy to pick up.

"Dean?" Sam's voice came over the phone, he sounded tired and I realised I'd probably just woken him up.

"Sam?" I asked, checking it was really him.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, a confused tone to his voice.

"I don't know. I don't know where I am."I said to him, hoping he could make some sense out of what was going on with this Djinn.

"What? What happened?" Sam asked.

"The uh, the Djinn. It attacked Beth and me."I said, pacing the room.

"The gin? You guys are... drinking gin?" Sam asked sounding amused.

"No, asshat. The Djinn. The uh, scary creature. Remember? It put its hand on me and I woke up next to Beth, and we were in bed."

Sam chuckled. "Dean, you're drunk. You're drunk-dialing me."

"I'm not drunk. Quit screwing around!" I said angrily at him, what the hell was going on?

"Look, it's late. All right, just get some sleep and I'll... see you tomorrow, ok?" Sam said, hanging up on me before I could respond.

"Wait, Sam! Sam!" I called out but the line was already disconnected. I sighed and looked at the phone. I put it back on the bureau and saw some mail, it was addressed to Beth. Elizabeth O'Malley, 53 Barker Ave, Lawrence KS 66044. I flipped through the pile, seeing a couple of letters addressed to myself too, same address. What the hell was going on?

"Lawrence?" I questioned out loud with a frown. "What the hell?"

"Honey?" Beth's voice sounded behind me. She'd gotten up and was wearing a silky little robe cinched at the waist. "Are you coming back to bed?"

"Hey, Beth. Uh, I just uh..." I didn't know what to say, stuttering over the sight of her in that little pink robe and absolutely nothing else. She smiled and came over, cupping my cheek with her hand.

"Come on, come back to bed Dean." Beth said, kissing me softly on the neck. I groaned, thinking I wanted to do nothing more than go back to bed with her. But I wasn't sure what was going on here. Why didn't she remember the Djinn attacking her? And where had that pink robe come from?! Why were we living in Kansas?

I pulled back and smiled. "Sure, yeah. In a minute. You, you go ahead." I said to her and she smiled.

"OK, well don't be too long, or I'll start without you," she said with a grin, sashaying back through the livingroom toward the bedroom.

When she was gone I took another look around the house. A bookshelf had a bunch of photos of Beth and me in them, at various places in the country, one of us standing in front of the Grand Canyon, another at Niagara Falls. We looked happy. There were older ones from our high school days, we'd been together for a long time. Some with Dad, some with Sam. Suddenly I saw a photo I wasn't expecting to see. I picked it up, it looked recent, and we were all in it, all of us – Sam, Beth, me, Dad... and Mom. I dropped the photo on the floor and near ran out the door, grabbing my car keys that were in a dish by the front.

Livingroom

Beth's POV

I woke up to the sounds of a phone ringing, and I reached for my pocket, it would be Dean wanting to know where I was. I answered it, at the same time realising I wasn't in a warehouse any more. I was in a living room, lying on the couch. I sat up quickly and got a head spin, groaning.

"Hello?" I said on the phone. Cole's voice on the other end surprised me.

"Hey girl. Now, I'm not supposed to have access to this sort of thing, but something just came to my attention and I thought I'd give you a call, see if you needed to... tell me anything... before I accused you of deliberately keeping secrets." I frowned.

"Cole what are you going on about? What secrets? Did Sam call you about the Djinn?" I asked her, confused.

"Gin? What the hell are you talking about girl? You haven't been drinking have you? You better not be in your condition!" Cole's voice chided me over the phone.

"What? Condition?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Yeah, when were you going to tell me you were pregnant again?" Cole asked and I nearly dropped the phone.

"Pregnant?" I asked, feeling my face pale.

"Yeah, you know, that's generally why one comes in to the clinic to be tested with a pregnancy test. You're like a damn rabbit!" Cole said, laughing over the phone.

"I'm pregnant?" I said, looking down at my stomach. If I was, I wasn't very far along.

"Yep, about 8 weeks, mazel tov!" Cole said to me. "John is going to be soooo excited! Does Dean know?"

"Uh, I don't know if he knows," I said, stunned, staring out the window. Something very weird was going on here.

"Don't know if I know what?" I heard Dean's voice sound behind me and glanced back to see him leaning casually against the archway leading into the kitchen. I smiled at him, relieved there was at least one familiar face, maybe now we could get to the bottom of this Djinn attack.

"Uh, Cole, I gotta call you back." I said into the phone.

"Yeah yeah, you won't call me back, you know you're in trouble. Don't worry, I'll get you tomorrow, see you then!" Cole said, hanging up on me.

I turned to Dean, getting up and crossing over to him. He was watching me, a beer hanging from one hand, he was covered in grease and wearing a ratty old t-shirt.

"You feeling any better?" He asked me, "you've been asleep for hours."

I nodded, staring at him. I reached out a hand and ran it along his face, he leaned in to my touch and smiled. I froze, looking at my hand, there on my left ring finger was a beautiful gold band, simply and elegantly studded with three small diamonds. I looked down, grabbing Dean's hand, he had a matching band on his only without the diamonds.

"What did Cole want? They're not cancelling on us are they?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Huh? Oh, no, she said she'd see us tomorrow." I said quietly, still looking at his wedding ring. He nodded, pleased.

"Good, because Dad is so not getting out of that game of poker we have planned. I don't care if he did lose the Impala to me last year!" I gaped at him. John? Impala? What the hell was he talking about?

"Uh yeah, well, I uh, I don't know Dean." I said to him, looking around the house and spotting a wedding photo on the wall, we were young, really young... like twenty in the photo. Dean shrugged his shoulders at me and took a drink from his beer.

"If you ask me he just wanted to get rid of it, it's a lot of work to maintain her in pristine condition," he said, looking at the grease on his hands. I smiled.

"Yeah, but you love it," I said to him, which earned me a smile.

I frowned a little at him, still holding his hand. "How long have we been married?" I asked. He stopped, beer bottle raised half way to his mouth, turning to look at me.

"Uhhh, is that a trick question?" He asked. I shook my head. He frowned at me. "Five years next month," he said. "I haven't forgotten." I kissed him softly.

"I know you haven't," I said to him, reassuringly. He smiled and kissed me back.

"So what don't I know?" He asked again, raising an eyebrow at me.

I opened my mouth to try and answer him, but no words came. I was saved by the door bell ringing and I smiled at Dean, slinking away to a cheerful laugh and a comment from him.

"Don't think I won't find out!" He said as I reached the door. I opened the door and swung it open, turning to look out, who I saw standing there nearly made me faint on the spot.

Old Winchester House

Dean's POV

I was in front of our old house in record time. I shut off the engine and looked at the house. There were still lights on. Crossing the street, I thumped on the door loudly. When no one answered right away I rang the doorbell a couple of times. The door opened and I nearly did a double take.

"Dean?" Mom said, looking at me with troubled eyes.

I stared at her, barely believing my eyes. I felt my throat start to ache, and just took her all in, the proud stance, the long wavy blond hair, the caring blue eyes.

"Mom?" I said, my voice breaking slightly with emotion.

"What are you doing here? Are you alright?" Mom asked me.

"I don't know," I admitted to her, not daring to move.

"Well... come inside," she said, waving me inside. She closed the door behind me and I turned to watch her.

"Beth just called and said you took off all of a sudden..." Mom said to me.

"Beth? Right... Let me ask you a question. When I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed?" Mom looked at me confused and worried all at the same time.

"Dean, I don't understand..." Mom said.

"Just answer the question," I said firmly to her.

"I told you angels are watching over you," she said softly, tilting her head to the side.

"I don't believe it," I whispered, it really was her. I walked up to her and enveloped her in a big hug, holding her tight.

"Honey, you're scaring me," Mom said, patting my back. I pulled away. "Now just tell me what's going on." She said.

"You don't think that wishes can, can really..." I trailed off, it sounded ridiculous even thinking about it.

"What?" Mom asked, looking at me with concern.

"Forget it," I said, pulling her in for another guy. "I get it. I'm just uh... I'm happy to see you, that's all." I felt tears come into my eyes, but I pushed them back, taking a deep breath and letting go of Mom. "You're beautiful," I said, looking at her, laughing a little.

"What?" Mom asked, smiling.

I started to walk through the house, marvelling at how different it seemed. "Hey, when I was uh... when I was young was there ever a fire here?" I reached a bookshelf and started to look through some of the photos there.

"No. Never." Mom answered me, watching me as I prowled through the house.

"I thought there was," I said softly, glancing up at a picture of Dad and Mom with me and Sammy as little kids in front of them. "I guess I was wrong." I saw another photo of me playing in a big cap, looking at the camera. I grimaced at the picture of Beth and me at the prom, what a disaster! Sam graduating in a cap and gown. The next photo was one that really stood out to me. It was of Dad, dressed in baseball clothes with a cap and baseball bat in his hand, ready to swing, smiling at the camera.

"Dad's on a softball team," I said softly, turning around and looking at Mom. "Dad's... Dad's softball team. It's... that's funny to me." I explained.

She looked sad. "He loved that stupid team." Why was she referring to him in past tense?

"Dad's dead?" I asked, before I could stop myself. Mom looked at me confused. "And the thing that killed him was a..."

"A stroke. He died in his sleep, you know that." Mom answered, shaking her head.

"That's great," I said.

"Excuse me?" She asked, with a frown.

"That – that's great. That he went peacefully, I mean. That... that sure beats the alternative." I said, and I meant it.

"You've been drinking." Mom said to me.

"No, I haven't. Mom." I frowned, why was everyone saying that to me? Probably because I was acting like a drunk right now. Clearly something odd was going on. I just had to play the part for a little while.

"I'm going to call Beth and have her come pick you up, ok?" She said, reaching for the phone.

"Wait, no! No!" I said to her, placing my hand over hers, preventing her from picking up the phone. "Don't – don't do that. I wanna stay here."

"Why?" Mom asked.

"Because I – I miss the place. It's ok, you – you go to bed, ok?" I went over and sat on the couch, just taking it all in. Mom followed me and stroked a hand along my face, looking at me a little worried.

"Are you sure you're all right?" She asked. I nodded with a smile.

"I think so," I said to her.

"OK," she said dubiously, bending down to kiss my forehead. She turned and left the room, pausing by the living room entrance. "Get some rest. I love you."

"Me too," I said to her. She smiled and then went to bed. I stayed sitting on the couch, feeling lost and confused. Beth didn't seem to remember a thing about the Djinn, so why did I? Or more importantly, why didn't she? And why were we suddenly living in Kansas, and Mom was alive? It had to have something to do with the Djinn.

I looked over at a framed photo on the side table, it was of Sam's graduation, Dad and Mom both flanked him and I shook my head. Strange world this one.

Dean & Beth's House

Beth's POV

"Daddy?" I asked, staring at the man in front of me. He looked older, but not much had changed, he still had the same old crows feet at his eyes which creased when he smiled, his sandy blonde hair was shot through with grey which seemed to just make him more distinguished.

"Hey Bethie," he smiled, kissing me on the cheek and barrelling in the front door. "Sorry we're late," he said. I shook my head, watching him as he walked down the hallway toward the kitchen carrying a box full of fresh produce. "Your mother wanted to pick these from the garden," he explained as he placed the box on the kitchen bench. Dean had already moved to open a fresh beer and handed it to my dad with a smile.

"So you ready for this game tomorrow?" Dean asked with a smirk. My dad shook his head.

"I don't know if I should be getting involved this year, you Winchesters are a touch too competitive for my style of game." Dad said to him with a chuckle.

"Nahhh, we'll go easy on you this year, you gotta play." Dean said to him. I was still standing in the hallway watching them.

"You ok Bethie?" Dad asked suddenly looking over at me.

"She's keeping secrets," Dean commented to my dad, who raised his eyebrow.

"Is she now?" Dad asked with a chuckled. I threw my hands in the air and wandered back toward the front door to close it.

"Mommy! Mommy!" A little boy's voice called out to me as he barrelled in the door before I could close it. He wrapped his arms around my leg and squeezed.

"Patrick let go of your poor mom," an Irish accented voice sounded and I felt hot tears instantly spring to my eyes. I hadn't heard that voice in such a long time. I looked up and she was standing there, long, waist-length brown hair with a few of her own streaks of grey through it, though I suspected she was dying it at her age. Bright blue eyes met mine and she winked at me. "He's a little excited about tomorrow," she explained and handed me the baby that was in her arms.

I said nothing, just nodding, staring with shock down at the baby in my arms, she looked to be about six months old. Mum walked past me and down the hallway, taking the little boy with her, he looked like Dean at that age and I smiled.

Dean came around the corner from the livingroom, wiping his hands on an old rag. He saw us standing at the door and grinned, coming over to shut it.

"You know this house is gonna be bursting at the seams before long," he said, kissing me on the cheek. I smiled and wondered if he'd listen to reason. Something about the way he was looking at the baby in my arms, smiling in mild adoration and pride made me think that it was unlikely he would.

"You ok?" Dean asked, looking at me. "You look a little pale," he said, holding a hand up against my forehead.

I nodded with a slight frown; I hoisted the baby into my arms and went to sit down, holding her in front of me. She woke up a little and cooed at me, I felt my heart break at the sight of her. Little Patrick came running up to me with a cookie in his hand, it was homemade chocolate chip, just like mom had used to make.

"Hey champ, where's mine?" Dean asked, following me into the room. Without missing a beat, Patrick turned and handed his cookie to his father with a smile, then ran out of the room calling out for grandma to get him another one.

Dean munched thoughtfully on the cookie and sat next to me.

"What's going on?" He asked, looking me over.

"You know what, Cole phoned, said you had some news Ella," Mum called out from the kitchen. "Did you get that promotion?"

I had no answer for that, I didn't know. I shrugged at Dean. "No, I don't think that's what she was talking about Mom..." I said, handing the baby to Dean and standing up. I started to pace along the rug in the middle of the room. Dean frowned at me and looked over at Mom and Dad as they entered the room.

"What's wrong honey?" Dad asked, looking at me. I stopped, realising that I was coming across a little distressed. One didn't tend to do that when they were handed everything they'd ever wanted on a silver platter.

"Nothing, nothing's wrong." I looked over at Dean, holding the baby girl in his arms and my heart melted. This was how it always should have been, why then did it feel so wrong?

My mother was studying me in the way that she always used to, eyes taking it all in. I shifted uncomfortably and looked at her. She gasped all of a sudden, and then looked at Dean in delight.

"Did you know? Why didn't you tell me you naughty boy?" She said to him. Dean looked at her confused. I gaped. She'd just done it again, dammit, I swear she was near on psychic. She said the angels talked to her when I was a child, now I was an adult and seeing it, I was starting to wonder if they really did.

"What's going on?" Dean asked, confused.

"She has another wee one on the way!" Mom said excitedly and Dean looked a little pale.

"Really?" He asked, looking up at me with a twinkle in his eye. I nodded quietly, wondering whether it was going to freak him the hell out. He jumped up with the baby in his arms and came over to hug me.

"That's great," he said with a smile, leaning in to kiss me on the cheek. I smiled back at him, he looked so happy, and I so wanted to believe it. But … it just seemed too good to be true. And when something seemed that way, it usually was.

Professor's Office

Dean's POV

I decided to go visit a professor at the local college, he specialised in history and mythology. "I don't think I've seen you in my class before," the Professor said to me, giving me the once over.

"You kiddin' me? I love your lectures. You... you make learning fun!" He laughed with me and I relaxed a little bit. Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.

"So what can I do for you?" He asked me, leaning against his desk casually.

"What can you tell me about Djinns?" I asked. He looked intrigued.

Half an hour later we were standing over a bunch of books from all over the world.

"A lot of Muslims believed the Djinn are very real. They're mentioned in the Koran," the Professor said to me, flipping a couple of pages on one of his books. I'd heard a lot of this from Sammy, I had been hoping for something new.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know. Get to the wish part." I said to him. He looked at me confused.

"What about it?"

"Do you really think they could do it?" I asked, he looked at me a little oddly, but then, I was used to that.

"Um... Uh, no. No. I don't think they can really do it. You understand these are mythic creatures?" The professor said to me.

"Yeah, I know. I... know. I know. But uh...I mean in the stories. You know. Say you had a wish. But you never even said it out loud. You know, like that a loved one never died. Or that ah, something awful never happened." I said to him.

"Supposedly, yes. I mean they have Godlike power. They can alter reality however they want. Past. Present. Future." He said to me. Alter reality, now it sounded like we were getting somewhere.

"Why would the Djinn do it?" I muttered to myself. "Was it self-defense? Or maybe it's not really evil." I said, pondering.

"Son?" The professor asked, lost by what I was saying.

"Hm?" I asked, looking up at him.

"You been drinking?" He asked me and I sighed.

"Everybody keeps asking me that. But uh... No." I said with a shake of my head.

I frowned. So the Djinn could alter our reality, was that what was going on here? Why was it that I seemed to be able to remember who I was, but Beth couldn't? Was Beth in danger from this creature just as I was? Had she gotten away and was this all a figment of my own imagination, or the creatures illusions?

I left the professor and headed down to the Impala. Opening the trunk to have a look inside. No armoury, just old magazines, paper cups and a rag. I grinned.

"Who'd have thought baby. We're civilians," I said thoughtfully to the car with a laugh. I closed the trunk and looked across at the building in front of me. My eyes must be playing tricks on me. I could have sworn I'd just seen Beth in the crowd. Only unlike the Beth I'd just left, this one looked bedraggled and pale, sickly even.

I started to rush toward her, calling out her name. She startled and looked at me, starting to walk my way, and then a car nearly hit me. They screeched to a halt to avoid running over me, but it was enough to break my gaze from her. The driver hit the horn and I jumped out of the way of the car. By the time I'd turned back, Beth was gone. I flipped through my cell phone and found Beth's number, giving her a call.

"Hello?" Beth's voice sounded on the other end.

"Beth?" I asked.

"Dean, hey are you ok?" She asked, worry sounding in her voice.

"Yeah, yeah I'm ok. Hey where are you?" I asked, looking around for the girl I'd just seen. "You're not at the college are you?"

"What? College? No babe, I'm at home. I'm worried about you, why didn't you come home last night?"

"I uh, I don't know, I just wanted to be around the old house, you know? I'm worried about Mom, now that Dad's gone..." I came up with some random excuse she might buy until I could figure out what was going on.

"OK, well that's great Dean. You probably need to spend some more time with Mary." She said.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Yeah I think I might start visiting her some more," I said to Beth, in fact, I might go there right now. "I'll talk to you later huh?"

"OK, well I'll be here, don't forget Sam's coming later," she said and I nodded even though she couldn't see me.

"OK. I'll see you in a while." I hung up the phone and got in the Impala, starting her up. I cast one more glance around, just in case, but there was nothing out of the ordinary. My mind started turning, going through all the information the professor had given me about Djinn. Somehow I just knew this weird world was to do with the attack from it, I just didn't know what to do about it yet. I did the next best thing, I went to Mom's for lunch.

Mom placed a big sandwich in front of me and I grabbed it, taking a bite and chewing appreciatively.

"Mmm, this is the best sandwich ever!" I called out to Mom who had gone back into the kitchen.

"Thank you," Mom said back to me and I grinned.

"I tried to get hold of Sam earlier. Where – where – where is he?" I called out again. Mom returned from the kitchen carrying a pitcher of iced tea and a couple of glasses.

"Oh. He'll be here soon," she said to me, placing them on the table and pouring me a glass of tea.

"Good. Dying to see him," I said, chewing on another bite of sandwich. Mom looked at me with a slight frown on her face, there was some obvious concern in her eyes.

"Sweetie, I … don't get me wrong. I am thrilled you are...hanging out here...all of a sudden," she said, reaching out to stroke a hand along my face. I felt like a giddy little boy again, here I was with my mom, eating a sandwich and talking to her like I'd been doing it my whole life. "But uh... shouldn't you be at work?"

I frowned at her and swallowed my mouthful of food. "Work?" I asked.

"At the garage?" She prompted, looking concerned.

"Right. The garage. It's where I work, yeah. No, I-I've got the day off," I said with a snicker, and thought about it. Wonder who I was supposed to call that in to? "Good thing," I muttered, taking another bite of sandwich.

I looked out the window and noticed the grass was getting a little long.

"That lawn looks like it could use some mowing," I said to Mom, glancing out along the fenceline.

"You wanna mow the lawn?" Mom asked incredulously.

"You kidding?" I asked with a grin. "I'd love to mow the lawn." I said, and it was true, I'd never mowed a lawn in my life. Kind of no need when you lived out of motels or hung out at Bobby's house, which was mostly dirt around the house and car yard.

"Knock yourself out. You'd think you'd never mowed a lawn in your life." Mom said with an amused tone. I grinned out the window, this was going to be fun.

I started the mower up, it roared to life and chugged away in front of me. Gripping the handles I let the vibrations run up my arms, this felt like it should, a real life, doing real everyday things. I started to push it along in rows, making sure to get all the lawn. It was a sunny day, and everything just felt good.

The neighbour came out across the road and put some trash in the bin out front. I waved to him with a big smile, because that's what people do in normal worlds like this. He looked at me a little confused, but waved back. You'd think I'd never seen the guy before, surely I had seen him at some point? I kept on mowing, enjoying the moment.

Once the mowing was done, Mom brought me a beer from the fridge. I sat down on the front step and took a big swallow, letting the cool liquid amber run down my throat, it felt good, I'd done a good thing today. A car drove up and pulled to a stop in front of the house. Beth got out of the driver's seat and waved at me, I smiled and waved back at her.

I looked at the other people in the car, stunned. "I don't believe it," I muttered, standing up. Sam had gotten out of the passenger side, and the person getting out of the back was Jess. I walked up and gave her a great big bear hug, getting a curious look from Beth and Sam who were getting luggage out of the trunk.

"Jessica!" I said.

"You're uh... good to see you too, Dean," Jess chuckled, patting me on the back. I laughed, I couldn't believe she was alive! "Can't breathe..." she muttered and I pulled back, letting her go.

"Sammy!" I said with a big smile to Sam, he looked at me with an amused expression.

"Hey," he replied, closing the car trunk and raising an eyebrow at Beth.

"Look at you. You're with Jessica, it's... I don't believe it." I laughed.

"Yeah," Sam said, looking confused.

"Where'd you guys come from?" I asked, Beth frowned and came over to put a hand on my arm.

"I just picked them up at the airport, you remember?" She said gently. "They just flew in from Calif..."

"California!" I interrupted and she shook her head at me. "Stanford. Huh? Law school, I bet."

Sam motioned to the beer in my hand. "I see you started off Mom's birthday with a bang as usual," he said. I looked at the beer and felt a little hurt at the comment.

"Wait. Mom's birthday, that's today?" I asked.

"Yeah. Yeah Dean, that's today." Sam said with a smirk. "That's why we're here. Don't tell me you forgot." I looked around at my family, all standing here. It seemed odd that they were all treating me like some social reject, was I really that big of a loser?

Beth smiled and kissed me on the cheek, brushing a hand along my forehead and through my hair. "Well, you've been under a lot of pressure lately with work," she said lovingly. "I forgot to remind you too." I smiled at her and slipped an arm around her waist.

"We'll leave you to it," Beth said to Sam and Jess with a smile, pulling me toward the car. "Time to get you home and in the shower mister," she said to me with a grin. I raised an eyebrow at her in a flirtatious manner.

"OK," Sam said with a nod. "Thanks for picking us up Beth. We'll see you for dinner tonight." I turned and frowned. Dinner?

I shifted uncomfortably in my chair, sitting at some fancy table in the middle of a fancy restaurant, dressed up in shirt and tie. A waiter put some tipi looking monstrosity that was supposed to be my meal in front of me and I gaped.

"Wow, that... looks awesome." I said sarcastically. Everyone laughed at the comment.

"All right," Sam said, lifting up his glass. "To Mom. Happy birthday." We all lifted our own glasses and reiterated the birthday wishes. Mom smiled at us, looking stunning with her hair all swept up in an fancy hair do on top of her hair, wearing a fancy black dress. She'd never looked better, I almost couldn't take my eyes off her.

"Thank you," she said with a smile. We all chinked glasses and too a sip of the wine Sam had ordered. Sam and Jessica smiled at each other and kissed, I couldn't help but grin at how happy they looked. Beth leaned in to me with her own smile and I looked over at her, she looked stunning too, her hair tumbling down her back almost to her waist, I'd never seen it so long. I reached out to absently run my fingers through it, letting it fall back against her bare back. I stroked my fingers along the pale skin showing from her open backed halter dress, licking my lips a little.

"I was really worried about you last night," she said to me, concern in her big chocolate eyes.

"Oh I'm... I'm good. I'm really good," I said with a grin, running my fingers down to her lower back, making big round circles. I loved the way she tensed and shivered under my touch.

"OK. What do you say, later we get you a cheeseburger?" She said with a smile, eyeing off my dinner.

"Oh God, yes." I groaned to her, and she smiled at me. "How did I end up with such a cool chick?" I asked, it was something I often asked myself.

Beth smirked and raised an eyebrow at me. "I just got low standards," she said with a grin. I laughed and kissed her, feeling happy inside.

"All right," Sam said. "Jess and I actually have another surprise for Mom's birthday. Ah..." he turned to Jess and smiled. "You wanna tell 'em?"

"They're your family." Jess said with a grin.

"All right." Sam said.

Mom was smiling at them. "What? Tell us what?" She asked.

Sam held up Jessica's left hand and we all saw what they were talking about. There was an engagement ring on her finger and Jessica was smiling. Mom laughed happily.

"Oh my God! That's so wonderful!" She exclaimed, jumping up and hugging Jessica. Beth stood up smiling and going around to give Sam a big hug. I watched it all unfold with a heaviness in my heart.

"Congratulations!" Beth said to Sam, smiling at him. He nodded and kissed her on the cheek. There were hugs all around and then Beth was pulling Jess away. "Let me see the ring!"

"Congratulations Sammy," I said, standing up to look at my brother.

"Hey actually," Jessica said, drawing our attention to her. "Beth and Dean have an announcement to make too," she said and I saw Beth shake her head at Jessica furiously.

"What?" Jessica said to her. "Go on!" Beth shifted uncomfortably and glanced over at me apologetically.

"What? What's... going on?" I asked with a smile, having no idea what they were talking about.

Beth looked back at Jess, glaring daggers at her. Jess just laughed and rolled her eyes. "You gotta tell them all sometime." She turned around and slipped her arm around Beth's waist.

"Dean's gonna be a daddy!" Jess squealed, and I felt my mouth drop in shock.

Sam laughed next to me, and smacked me on the shoulder. "Now you've done it," he said.

Beth was looking at me warily, I figured she hadn't told me yet. I felt a grin come on to my face and I rounded the table to give her a big hug. Mom was clapping all excitedly and exclaiming about how exciting it was.

"Really?" I asked her and she nodded with a smile. "That's great, that's great," I said to her, kissing her. "You'll make a great mom," I said and she sighed happily.

I pulled back and Mom grabbed us both in a group hug. "I'm gonna be a grandma?" She asked, eyes shining happily. Beth nodded, grinning from ear to ear. Mom grabbed me in a hug and held me tight. "I just wish your dad was here," she said. I felt a tug at my heart.

"Yeah, yeah me too." I said to her, pulling back. Jess had come in and was fussing over Beth again, I let them do the chick thing and stepped back over to Sam.

"I'm really glad you're happy," I said to him, he looked at me and nodded. A figure moved in the back of the room near the entrance to the restaurant and I glanced up. It was Beth again. I frowned, glancing back at my Beth, who was still talking animatedly with Mom and Jess. I looked back at this apparition, or whatever it was and frowned. She looked sick, worse than when we'd been in New Orleans, her hair was messy, hanging around her shoulders, and she was dressed in a dirty version of the same clothes she'd been wearing the night we'd been looking for the Djinn.

I rushed toward her, passing a bunch of people who had just arrived for their meal and were getting seated. I lost sight of her just once, and then she was gone again. I spun around looking for her, then turned back to look at my family, they were staring at me looking confused. I couldn't blame them, I was confused myself.

College Office

Beth's POV

I was a part time lecturer at the local college; I learned this when my colleague Ethan called me wondering whether I had time to come in and discuss one of the class programs. I found my way to the college, leaving the kids with Mom and Dad – it still felt odd just to say it – and now I was in the office, finishing up a plan around Christian mythology. Good thing it had been around that, and that I'd actually decided to major in religious studies, and now taught it, I don't know what I would have done otherwise.

"Are you ok Beth?" Ethan asked me, looking at me a little curiously. "You seem out of sorts."

"Yeah, I just uh... I didn't get a lot of sleep last night." I said to him, looking around the room. A copy of the Koran caught my eye and I went over, starting to flip through it. "Hey Ethan, what can you tell me about Djinn?" I asked, looking up at him. He frowned and crossed his arms.

"Uh, well, they show up in a lot of different cultures and religions, mostly the Koran," he nodded, gesturing to the book I was holding. "But others too."

"What do you think they do?" I asked, curious, scanning the pages in front of me for the word.

"Do? I don't think they do anything Beth, they're not real," he said with a frown.

"Yeah, uh yeah, I know that. I'm just talking hypothetically. Like, why are they so common? Do you think that if they were real, maybe they actually had had the ability to grant wishes, perhaps?" I bit my lip, maybe that was the crux of the situation.

"Wishes?" Ethan asked, confused.

"Yeah, like the genie in the bottle. What if you had a wish you'd never even voiced before? Or a desire that you'd never even given any thought to?" I said, looking up at him.

He paused, a frown on his face. "Well, theoretically..." he looked at me and I nodded. "Theoretically they were very powerful beings, like demi-gods. They would have the ability to alter the perception of the people around them. Whether they can grant wishes, well I don't know about that. But like I said, it's all theory anyway, they're not real."

I thought about what he'd said. The altering of perception seemed right, but why? "Why would they do it?" I asked thoughtfully, looking around. "What would be the reason? Is it self-defense? Maybe they put someone into a headspin when they're threatened? Maybe they're not evil at all." I said out loud.

"Beth, what are you talking about? Self-defense? Has that guy been hassling you again in class?" I frowned and looked at him, shaking my head.

"It's nothing, just something I've been doing some research on, caught my interest." I explained. "I gotta get back to my family, Mom and Dad are over today," I said to him and he nodded, shooing me out the door with a laugh.

I wandered down to the front of the building where I'd parked my car. I was crossing the flat area out the front of the door when I looked up and saw Dean. He looked pale and had dark circles under his eyes. He was staring at me, unmoving. I stopped dead in my tracks.

"Dean?" I said quietly, frowning. I started to move toward him, he was just staring at me. I waved at him but he didn't even acknowledge me. I started to run down the stairs toward him and then heard a car horn and the sound of brakes squealing.

"Hey lady, watch it!" An angry voice called out to me. I glanced at the driver apologetically and stepped back on to the pavement. When I looked back up again, Dean was gone and I was left standing there on my own, a sea of students moving around me.

When I got back to the house I found everyone on the back deck, enjoying the sun shine. Dean was gulping down a beer and I went up to him, putting my hand on his arm. He looked at me, seeing the concern in my eyes.

"Hey, were you at the college earlier?" I asked him.

He frowned and shook his head. "No, I've been here mowing the lawn," he said, looking at me. "Why?"

"Oh, nothing," I said quietly. "I thought I saw you was all." He grinned and pulled me in against him, hands coming around my waist.

"Did you miss me?" He asked, leaning in to kiss the soft skin on my neck, just below my ear. I groaned.

"All the time, whenever I'm not with you," I said honestly to him. He chuckled and then pulled back to look me in the eyes.

"Well, good thing we have such boring lives which means we can spend all our time here with the kids, huh?" He said, and I laughed, nodding.

"So did you tell Ethan?" He asked. I stared at him uncomprehendingly.

"Tell him what?" I asked.

"That he's about to lose you again, to another baby," he laughed, the corner of his mouth upturned in amusement.

"Oh!" I said, chuckling a little. "No, it uh... it didn't come up." I said with a frown.

There was a commotion out the front of the house, lots of happy laughs and loud talking. I looked up to see a bright eyed boy about Patrick's age come in. He had dark brown hair and was smiling broadly.

"Patrick!" He yelled out and I saw my own son came out running from the bedrooms, looking excited.

"Look honey, it's JJ," my mom said from her place on the couch. I stared at the boy in front of me. It couldn't be. Dean shifted a little uncomfortably next to me, shaking his head.

"Never get used to seeing that kid," he muttered, taking another swig of his beer. I raised an eyebrow at him. "Well, I still blame you – bringing home your college buddy to seduce my poor old man, I got a brother who is the same age as my son!" he smirked. I gaped. College buddy?

"Hey, there she is! Big secret keeper!" I looked up at the voice and saw Cole waltz into the room. She was carrying an overnight bag, and dropped it on the floor when she saw me, crossing the room to envelope me in a big hug. "You are a baby machine!"

I laughed a little awkwardly, and Dean rolled his eyes, heading toward the kitchen. "Can't believe you got pregnant again," he chuckled. "How much do you think Dad and I earn running that garage?" He laughed at me. "We're gonna have to put on a couple more men to take extra business!"

When John entered the room I couldn't help but stare. He looked good, bright and cheerful, an actual smile on his face. I hadn't seen him smile, a genuinely happy smile, in a long, long time. He looked younger for it. "Dad..." I said quietly, he heard me and looked over with a broad smile.

"Hey Bethie," he said in his low, husky voice. I pushed past Cole and crossed the room to him, wrapping my arms around his neck and holding him close. John's arms enclosed around me and he laughed heartily at the sudden embrace.

"Everything ok?" He asked, his voice suddenly full of concern.

I pulled back, running a hand through my hair and nodding. "Yeah, yeah. It's just good to see you Dad," I said to him, reaching up to touch his face softly.

He looked a little confused at me, raising an eyebrow. "Well, that's new... but I kind of like it." I looked at him quizzically.

"The 'Dad'," he explained and I looked surprised. "It's nice, just don't do it too much around your old man or he'll start getting jealous," he said with a cheeky grin, just like Dean would give me.

I smiled and hugged him again. "I've missed you so much," I said to him, squeezing my eyes tight and fighting off tears.

"Hey, it's only been a month," he laughed. "A couple more and Cole's travel assignment is up and we can come back to Lawrence."

I smiled, nodding at him. "Congratulations, by the way," he said with a twinkle to his eye. "Never thought Dean had it in him to start a massive family. You've been good for him." Dean snorted from the armchair he had parked himself in, our little girl bouncing on his knee. I raised an eyebrow at him, now that was just something I was never going to get used to seeing – Daddy Dean.

My breath caught, sure there was something I was forgetting. Something from a long time ago. I frowned, and then looked around at everyone gathered. There was only one person missing.

"Where's Sam?" I asked, looking around.

"Who?" Cole asked, looking over at me.

"Sammy..." I said with a frown. "Your brother..." I said turning to Dean.

Dean looked at me, confused. "What are you talking about? Only brother I got is JJ." I stared at him, and then I shook my head. "You ok?" He asked. "Where would you get such a weird idea?"

"Nothing, I just... I dunno...must be the pregnancy, my brain is all fuzzy. So you never...had another son with Mary?" I asked, looking at John. He shook his head.

"No, there was never time... Mary, she got sick when Dean was the same age as JJ... cancer, so it was just Dean and me on our own after that." John said looked a little nostalgic, but his eyes picked up when he looked at Cole. She smiled at him and came to slip an arm around his waist, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"So are you going to go get ready or what?" Cole asked me, looking down at my clothes.

"Ready?" I asked. She rolled her eyes at me and chuckled.

"You're not getting out of it, we've all come here for your birthday, and we are going out and we're going to have a good time. I've organised Katie to babysit, so there's not going to be any kids around. We are going out!" Cole declared, looking at me.

Dean laughed from behind me. "Been told," he commented with a snicker. I shook my head at him.

Mom had made the booking, and I think she'd chosen the fanciest eatery in town. This was nothing unusual for my mom no doubt, but where the Winchesters were concerned, eating at such expensive establishments weren't really in the budget for a bunch of mechanics – it wasn't really for a minister either, but apparently Mom budgeted well. I felt a little uncomfortable myself, staring at the weird concoction of a meal in front of me.

"Man, I'd kill for a burger," I muttered to myself. Dean heard me and chuckled, leaning in to my ear and kissing behind it.

"You know I love you even more for saying that," he said with a grin. I smiled back and kissed him.

"How'd I get so lucky?" I said to him, staring into those amazing hazel eyes. He grinned at me.

"Well you know, you had me at the first handful of sand you threw in my face," he chuckled. I laughed, and he sobered looking at me with a twinkle in his eye. "I might have asked for it though."

I smiled and Cole cleared her throat. "So... while we're all gathered here. John and I have an announcement to make." She looked over at John with a grin. "You want to tell them?" John leaned back in his chair, looking at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh I think you're doing just fine on your own sweetheart," he said with a twinkle to his eyes. Cole licked her lip and narrowed her eyes at him, then chuckled.

"What?" I asked, looking around at the table of people. Everyone looked as confused as me except for John.

"We're getting married!" Cole said, holding out her finger and flashing around a diamond ring. Dean spluttered next to me, nearly choking on the mouthful of beer he had in his mouth, and I handed him a napkin to cover his mouth while gaping at Cole.

"Wow!" I said, jumping up to hug her. "That's great!"

"About time you made an honest woman of her John!" Dad said to her, clapping him on the back. John looked slightly uncomfortable but nodded at Dad. Dean was standing and moving around toward us. He shook John's hand and smiled, nodding at him.

"I'm glad you're happy Dad," Dean said, looking at his father with a smile. He didn't really hate Cole, in fact, they were great poker buddies, he just found it a little odd thinking about his father with someone who was his own age. It had taken the family a little while to open up to her, but when they did, she'd been adopted by everyone, my mom included. In fact, my mom and Cole probably had a closer relationship than we did.

I paused, suddenly thinking where did all that history come from? How did I know that? I excused myself and headed for the restroom, walking through the restaurant. I came across another table of people and froze. There was the same Dean I'd seen earlier, standing in the middle of the bustling room, seemingly invisible to the other diners.

He was still sick looking, his hair unkempt, a pallid colour to his skin. I glanced back and saw Dean sitting back down at the table exchanging some banter with my dad. When I turned around the other Dean was moving toward me, staring at me. I backed away at first, running into a busboy carrying a tray of empty dishes. They went falling to the ground with a crash. I spun around, but Dean was gone. All that was left was a weird buzzing in my ears.

I felt the room start to spin and then I hit the ground to the startled gasps of people around me.

Winchester Home
Dean's POV

We went back to Mom's, it was good to listen to the laughter of the girls as we walked into the comforting surrounds of the home I grew up in.

"So, Dean, what was uh.. what was all that back at the restaurant?" Sam asked me, turning to look.

"Ah...I thought I saw someone I knew. Sure it's nothing." I said to him, he seemed to accept the explanation.

Mom turned to look at us all with a smile. "Well, I had a lovely birthday. Thank you. Good night." We all wished her a good night and watched as she headed upstairs to the bedroom.

"Well, I'm beat," Sam said, looking at Jessica. "Ready to turn in?" I gave him a stunned look.

"Sure," Jess said with a shrug.

"All right, good night guys," Sam said to us, turning toward the stairs. I reached out a hand, trying to stall for time. I'd barely even had a chance to talk to Sam, let alone ask him what he thought was going on with the Djinn, that's if he'd believe me. I couldn't understand why he was so keen to get to bed.

"Wait a second," I said. "Wait a second. Come on, it's not even nine o'clock yet. Let's uh... let's got have a drink or something," I said to them.

"Yeah, maybe another time," Sam said to me.

"Come on, man. Look at us. Huh? We both have beautiful women on our arms. You're engaged. Beth is pregnant..." I turned to her, "...which means no drinking for you by the way." She shook her head at me with a smile. "Let's go celebrate!" I said, thumping Sam in the chest with an open hand.

Sam looked at Jess and Beth. "Girls, can you excuse us? I just want to talk to my brother for a sec." The girls shrugged and headed out to the kitchen.

"Come here," Sam said, leading me further into the living room.

"What?" I asked, following him.

"OK. What's gotten in to you?" Sam asked, looking at me sternly. I was taken aback at the tone in his voice.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"I mean this whole warm, fuzzy ecstasy trip thing." Sam said, blowing out a hard breath. He looked frustrated and confused.

"I'm just happy for you, Sammy," I said honestly to him, patting him on the arm again. It was all I ever wanted, to see him happy and enjoying life, to be able to live a normal life and have a family. He looked at my hand and stepped back again, shaking his head.

"Yeah, right. That's another thing. Since when do you call me Sammy?" He looked at me and I had no answer. "Dean, come on. We don't talk outside of holidays."

"We don't?" I asked, surprised. "Well we should. I mean, you're my brother."

"'You're my brother?'" Sam quoted at me with a raised eyebrow.

I laughed at him. "Yeah."

Sam ran a frustrated hand through his hair and looked away. His eyes were angry when he looked back at me.

"You know, that's what you said when you snaked my ATM card, or when you bailed on my graduation, or when you hooked up with Rachel Nave." He said to me.

"Who?" I asked, not recognising the name.

"Uh, my prom date," Sam said. "On prom night."

"I wasn't with Beth?" I asked, confused. Sam scoffed.

"Dude, why do you think you guys broke up? It wasn't because you forgot to feed her goldfish!"

"We broke up?" I asked him. "Wait, why would I cheat on Beth?" I was genuinely surprised.

"Dude, what are you drunk? I'd like to know that too, I'd also like to know why she ever gave you a second chance!" Sam said to me, fuming.

"Whoa, hey man, I'm sorry about all that." I said to him, apologising for something I very much doubted I'd ever do. But then again, I suppose Beth and I had had our ups and downs getting to where we were now.

"Look, that's all right man. I just... you know I'm not asking you to change. I just... I don't know..., I guess we just don't really have anything in common. You know?" Sam said to me, and there was a sadness in his eyes. It hurt me a lot to hear him say that, after everything we'd been through.

Sam started to walk away and I reached out to him. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Yes we do. Yes we do," I said with a short laugh.

"What?" Sam asked with a heavy shrug.

I paused, thinking quick. "Hunting." I said; it was the only thing that came to mind.

"Hunting?" Sam scoffed. "Dean, I've never been hunting in my life."

"Yeah, well. We should go sometime. I … I think you'd be great at it." Sam started to walk away again, then turned to look back at me.

"Get some rest," he said quietly, giving me those puppy dog eyes. I stared at his retreating back. This wasn't exactly my idea of an ideal world, what sort of a damn wish was this?

I was sitting on the couch, thinking hard about all that had happened in this short amount of time. Beth came in and offered me a beer. I took it with a half-smile, looking at the label.

"My favourite," I said to her and she smiled. "I guess you know me pretty well." She sat down on the couch looking at me.

"Afraid so," she said with a smile. "You all right?"

"Sammy and I... you know we don't get along." I said to her.

"Well you don't spend a lot of time together Dean. I mean, I just think you don't know each other all that well." Beth commented.

"Hmm," I said, thinking hard again.

"For the record: he doesn't know what he's missing," Beth said to me, reaching out to run her hand along the side of my face.

"I can fix things with Sam. I can make it up to him. To you. To everyone." I said, looking at her, I could almost feel the urgency in my eyes. Maybe this was the way, maybe this is how I could fix things. Maybe this is how it should have been all along.

"OK. What's gotten into you lately?" Beth asked me, looking slightly concerned.

"This isn't going to make a lick of sense to you. But I kind of feel like I've been given a second chance. Like we have been given a second chance. And I don't want to waste it." I said.

"You're right, that doesn't make any sense," she said to me. "Are you talking about prom night?" Her eyes looked a little sad and I shook my head.

"No, although, maybe it applies. I have been a complete ass to you sometimes, many times, I'm just lucky you stuck around," I said to her. I'd never said anything quite like it, and yet there it was. She smiled at me, looking at me with those innocent eyes that never held any judgment toward me. I leaned in and kissed her. "I get it."

"Get what?" Beth asked.

"Why you're the one," I said to her.

Beth smiled at me. "Well..." she said, and I silenced her with another kiss. She was breathless when I pulled away. "Whatever's gotten into you... I like it," she said with a grin, pulling me down and kissing me again, this time I leaned into her, taking it deeper. When I started kissing my way down her neck Beth pulled away with a groan.

"Ohhh... come on. Don't do this to me now." She said, pushing me back a little. "I've gotta get ready for work." She untangled from me and got off the couch, leaving me sitting with me hands out as if I was still holding her.

"Go to work now?" I asked her with a frown.

"Yeah, I told you. I've got the night shift on Thursday," she said, wandering into the bedroom. I got up off the couch and followed her. Night shift? I grinned, wondering just what she did at night for work.

"You work night at the, uh..." Strip club? I wondered curiously, but then felt a stab of jealousy run through my stomach. How was that a good thing? Beth was standing at the closet pulling out some scrubs. I looked at them and realised.

"... hospital." I said, with a grin. "I'm dating a nurse. That is so... respectable." I said taking a sip of beer as I checked out her rear end as she reached up for some shoes in the closet.

She noticed the look and turned to kiss me again. "I gotta get going, but hold on to that thought for when I get back," she said with a grin.

"Quickie?" I asked hopefully and she laughed, shaking her head.

"Cole is picking me up in..." she glanced at her watch. "Five minutes!" I sighed, shaking my head in disappointment.

I was sitting alone on the couch, Beth having gone to work hours ago. The TV was droning on in front of me as I sipped at another beer; Martha Stewart was discussing olive oil and cooking technique with the guest chef on her show. I flipped the channel a couple of times, landing on the news.

"And today marks the anniversary of the crash of United Britannia Flight 424," the reporter said on the TV. I leaned forward, stunned. "Indianapolis residents held a candlelight vigil in memory of the hundred people who lost their lives..."

"No, no, we stopped that crash." I said out loud. Getting up I went to the laptop on the table and started scrolling through the news headlines from the last few years from hunting. The people at the lake, Blackwater Ridge, the little girl who had nearly drowned that bed and breakfast, the children in that house with the skinhead when I'd nearly died. Even Reverand Le Grange was still handing out miracles.

I sat back with a sigh. A shadow passed me and I looked up, seeing a retreating figure move to the bedroom. Beth? I got up, moving after it, but it was gone by the time I reached the bedroom. I stared into the mirror on the closet door and hesitantly reached for the handle, yanking the door open.

The sight in front of me was startling. People hung suspended from the ceiling, drained of life, nothing more than corpses. The mirror showed her reflection behind me and I spun around. Beth! She stared at me, blood dripping from a gash in her forehead. Her lips were pale blue, and she was deathly white. She reached for me and I stepped forward, then suddenly she was gone, vanishing like she had never been there.

I turned around, looking back into the closet, neat rows of clothing hung where dead bodies had just been. My breath was coming fast and hard, I felt panicked. This really wasn't good, something bad was going on. What was I supposed to do now?

An hour later I was standing in front of Dad's grave, the headstone was simple enough. JOHN E. WINCHESTER. 1954-2006. LOVING HUSBAND & FATHER. REMEMBERED FOREVER.

"All of them," I said to the stone, like I was actually talking to Dad. "Everyone that you saved, everyone Sammy, Beth and I saved, hell even the ones Cole saved with you. They're all dead. And there's this sickly image of Beth that's haunting me. I don't know why. I don't know what the connection is, not yet anyway. It's like my old life is coming after me or something. Like it... like it doesn't want me to be happy." I paced in front of the grave, running a hand over my face.

"Course I know what you'd say. Well, not the you that played softball, but..." I stopped and sighed. "You'd say go hunt the Djinn. He put you here, it can put you back. Your happiness for all those people's lives, no contest. Right?" I frowned, starting to pace again, talking loudly at the headstone.

"But why? Why is it my job to save these people? Why do I have to be some kind of hero?" I felt the tears coming back to my eyes, emotions that I'd held on to for years and never let show. "What about us, huh? Mom's not supposed to live her life? Sammy's not supposed to get married? Beth doesn't get to have our baby? What, I can't give her a real life? Why do we have to sacrifice everything, Dad?" I looked down at the grave, pausing. "It's..." I had run out of words. Thunder rumbled overhead and the tears started to run down my face. "Yeah..." I shook my head. I knew the answers to all that. I knew deep down what I had to do.

Dean & Beth's House
Beth's POV

I woke up to Mom's concerned eyes. "Hey," I said, trying to sit up. I looked around and saw we were in Dean's and my bedroom.

"How are you feeling?" Mom asked me, brushing the hair out of my eyes.

"What happened?" I asked, slumping back into the pillow feeling weak.

"You fainted," she said to me with a frown. "Dr Monroe is on his way over to check you out."

"I feel fine Mom," I said to her, but I was lying, I felt sick and tired.

"You're not fine," she said sternly to me. "You look pale, you're clammy, and you fainted in the middle of the restaurant."

"Yeah ok, fine." I said with a sigh, looking up at her and taking a hold of her hand. "Will you stay with me?"

"Whatever you want Ella," she said, using the name she used to call me when I was a child.

I started thinking about all the things that had happened in my life, the good things, mostly the bad things though. "Mom...?" I asked her, looking over at her with her long brown hair hanging dead straight down over her shoulders.

"Yes honey?" She said, looking at me and squeezing my hand.

"Do you still pray to angels?" I asked, tears coming into my eyes.

"Of course baby girl; Why? Don't you?" She asked, looking at me with concern. I shook my head negatively and her eyes softened.

"Why not?" She asked.

Because where were they when Dean and I nearly died in that car crash? Where were they when John sold his soul to bring Dean back to life? Where were they when Sam got possessed? When I lost my baby?

I sighed. "You wouldn't understand," I said to her instead, looking away.

"Ella girl, you don't only pray to your angels when there are blue skies overhead. You have to be grateful, and give thanks every day to your angels for seeing you through the hard times, and blessing you with the good ones." I looked at her, tears building in my eyes.

"What if there are only bad times Mom? What then? Where are they when you need a little good to happen?" I asked, feeling the despair rise into my chest.

"Ella what are you talking about? You have a beautiful life here with Dean and the kids. You want for nothing. You think these things are just handed to you on a platter? Where is your gratitude?" She reprimanded me and I felt the tears start to fall down my face.

"You don't understand!" I said, sobbing, standing up and pacing along the carpet. Mom watched me with a sigh.

"Ella, don't go upsetting yourself now, we all have times where we lose our way," Mom said and I spun away from her. My head started to ache again and I looked up into hazel eyes. I staggered back.

"Dean..." I whispered, startling at his sudden appearance.

"What?" Mom asked, looking over at me.

He was the same as I'd seen him in the restaurant, only his skin looked a little paler.

"You don't see him?" I asked mom, not taking my eyes off him in case he disappeared.

"What are you talking about Ella?" Mom said, standing up and coming over to me. I stopped her before she walked in front of him and she sighed at me. "I'm getting your father! Maybe he can talk some sense into you!" She walked behind me and out there door.

"Dean?" I said again to the apparition before me. I reached out to him and he looked startled, then he moved toward me. Suddenly a searing pain stabbed through my forehead and I grabbed at my head with my hands, doubling over in pain. I reached for the handle on the closet to steady me and I saw more reflections in the mirror, this time of other people. They were strung up from the ceiling, some looked dead, others were dying. I spun around, but there was nothing there. When I looked back in the mirror, they were gone.

Dad came to the door and looked in on me.

"Bethie what's wrong love?" He asked, coming over and leading me back to sit on the bed. I felt him lift me into his lap and wrap me up in his arms like he used to when I was a child. I leaned into his chest and cried hot tears. Mom stood in the doorway, looking over at me with her arms crossed. I realised for the first time that as much as I loved her as a child, she had been so stern, it had been Dad who had been the comforter.

"She is just emotional from the pregnancy perhaps?" Mom said, and shook her head. "I will call Dr Monroe again and make sure he is still on his way. Just to be sure." She left the room and I looked up at dad who was rubbing my back.

"You want to talk about it?" He asked me, and I chewed on my lip.

"Dad, what is that passage in Corinthians? About the mirror?" I asked, looking up at him, my tears fading.

"Corinthians 13:12?" He asked, looking at me. I nodded.

Dad thought about it and then started to speak. "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully..."

"...even as I am fully known." I finished, thinking. "Face to face, then and now" I said out loud. Was that what I was seeing? Could the disappearing image be of Dean, out there, trying to reach me through whatever the Djinn had done to me?

"Why would you be interested in that?" Dad asked me, and I shrugged.

"Just something that occurred to me." I said thoughtfully.

I looked up at him again. "What if you had a choice? Between this life and another, not so happy one? But you knew by choosing the harder path you would help a lot of people? Save them from horrible death or worse?"

Dad looked at me, a frown crossing his face. "Bethie what are you talking about?"

"Just answer the question Dad." I said anxiously.

"That is a decision each man, or woman, must reach on their own Beth." He said, looking at me. "You can only take with you your faith."

"What if I've lost my faith?" I whispered and he frowned at me. "I made a promise Dad, a long time ago, to someone I love very much. I can't just turn my back on that can I? Just so I can live a peaceful life with everyone I love?"

"Peace is in your heart Beth.'Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid'," Dad said to me, quoting one of my favourite verses. I sighed, leaning in to him, taking in the smell of his aftershave, the dusty smell from the church that never seemed to go away even if he changed his clothes.

"Is there love in this other life?" He asked suddenly, and I nodded.

"Well, all you need is love." Dad said with a chuckle. "Everything else kind of falls into place eventually Beth."

I laughed. "Did you just quote The Beatles to me on a philosophical question?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. Dad laughed and nodded.

"I wasn't always a minister you know," he said with a grin.

"Thanks Dad," I said softly.

"Well I hope I helped," he said with a chuckle.

I smiled. "Yeah, you always help." I said quietly.

"Dad, have you ever heard of a Djinn?" I asked him. He looked at me puzzled.

"A what?" He said, genuine confusion in his eyes.

"What about the name Ruddhem, does it mean anything to you?" He shook his head, and I saw that this life, whatever this was, had removed hunting altogether. We were free of the demons, the killing, the torment.

"This really is a perfect life," I said quietly, looking over at the mirror on the closet door.

"Well nothing is perfect Bethie, but we certainly have been blessed," he said to me, brushing the hair from my face to behind my back.

I nodded and looked up as the doctor arrived, Mom following him and giving me a stern look. I sighed and climbed off Dad's lap, sitting on the edge of the bed. I wasn't going to be able to leave until they gave me the all clear, and I needed to get away from here and soon. I had to find more answers.

Winchester House

Dean's POV

I crept in through the window. It was late and I was fairly certain everyone should be asleep by now. I had to get to the silver knives Mom kept. I was rummaging through the cabinets in the living room when Sam attacked me. He swung a bat at me, I countered it, easily disarming him and throwing him to the ground.

"That was so easy, I'm embarrassed for you." I said to him with a smirk, holding him to the floor.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing here?" Sam asked, I got up and Sam scrambled to his feet.

"I was looking for a beer," I said to him.

"In the china cabinet?" Sam asked me. He turned on the light and he got a good look at the silverware I had been in the process of pilfering.

"That's mom's silver." Sam said.

"Sam," I said, reaching out my hands to pacify him.

"What, you … broke into the house … to steal Mom's silver?" He said sounding not all that surprised, mostly disappointed in me.

"It's not what it looks like. OK. I didn't have a choice," I said to him.

"Oh really? Why? What's so damn important you gotta steal from your own mother?" Sam asked.

"You want the truth?" I said, wondering if I really should tell him.

"Yeah, yeah I do," Sam said with a nod.

He won't believe me. "I owe somebody money," I said with a shrug, telling him what he expected to hear.

"Who?" Sam asked.

"A bookie. I lost big on a game, I gotta bring him the cash tonight." I lied to him.

"I can't believe we're even related," Sam said to me heavily, his voice clearly speaking his disappointment.

"Sam, I'm sorry," I said to him.

"Yeah," Sam said quietly, not looking me in the eye, instead staring at something on the floor.

"I'm sorry we don't get along. And I wish to hell I could stay and fix it. But I gotta do this. People's lives depend on it." I turned around and took a knife from the box.

"What are you talking about Dean?" Sam asked, sounding confused.

"Nothing. Forget it. Just uh... hey, tell Mom I love her." I walked away, stopping as I reached the door. "Tell Beth I'm sorry, ok?" Sam frowned when I said that and came after me.

"Dean," he said, looking at me.

"I'll see you, Sammy." I said with a smile. I cast one last glance at him and then walked out the door. I hurried down the front path to the Impala before I had a chance to change my mind, getting in I started up the engine, and sat there for a moment, just thinking and trying to reason my way out of what I was about to do.

The passenger door opened and Sam got in the car.

"Get out of the car," I said to him.

"I'm going with you." Sam said, shaking his head.

"You're just gonna slow me down," I said to him. This Sammy didn't know how to fight, he'd never picked up a knife in his life unless it was to cut a steak.

"Tough," Sam said stubbornly to me. Now this was the Sammy I knew.

"This is dangerous and you could get hurt," I said to him.

"Yeah, and so could you Dean," Sam said right back at me. I sighed heavily and glared at him. "Look, whatever stupid thing you're about to do, you're not doing it alone, and that's that."

"I don't understand," I said to him, confused. "Why are you doing this?"

Sam sighed and looked over at me. "Because you're still my brother." I grinned at him.

"Bitch," I said, waiting for his reply. It never came.

"What are you calling me a bitch for?" Sam asked, frowning.

"You're supposed to say 'jerk'," I said to him. Talking about a favourite thing Sam and I always did together.

"What?" He asked, confused.

"Never mind," I muttered, putting the Impala into gear. Yeah, this was gonna be a laugh a minute this trip.

After a while on the road, Sam became curious about the bag on the seat between us. He kept looking at it until curiosity got the better of him.

"What's in the bag?" Sam asked me, his eyes were suspicious and he was looking at me with a compassion that was infuriating. He had no idea, no idea what the hell was going on here, and he was looking at me like I was the one who needed help? Bitch, please!

"Nothing," I said dismissively, keeping my eyes on the road.

"Nothing?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, nothing." I said again with a nod.

"Fine!" Sam said stubbornly, reaching for the bag. He started to open it and I grimaced, he wasn't going to like what he found in that bag.

"You don't want to do that," I said to him. He ignored me and pulled out a container, I chuckled a bit at his shocked expression.

"What the hell is this?" Sam asked, looking over at me.

"Blood," I said simply. It was pretty freaking obvious.

"Yeah, I can see that it's blood, Dean! What the hell is it doing in here?" He asked.

"You don't really wanna know," I said to him. I wondered how much I was going to have to tell him, to get him to see sense. He sure as hell wasn't going to get why I was doing this.

"No I – I do really wanna know. I really, really do," Sam said haltingly to me.

I sighed, contemplating, looking at the innocence in his face. "Yeah, well you're gonna find out sooner or later," I muttered, looking over at him again. "I needed a silver knife diffed in lamb's blood." It was the only way to kill a Djinn.

"You needed a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood...why?" Sam asked patiently, his voice still very incredulous.

"Because there's this creature. A Djinn. And I have to hunt it," I explained, it sounded crazy even to me. Sam was going to freak!

"OK. Um... stop the car," Sam said.

"I know how it sounds!" I said to him.

"Great. Just... stop the car," he said to me again.

"It's the truth, Sam. All right. There are things out there in the dark. There – there – there are bad things. There are nightmare things. And people have to be saved, and if we don't save them, nobody will." I repeated the same old thing over and over in my head, justifying why I had to go through with this.

Sam looked at me with those puppy dog eyes, if I didn't know them so well I would have falled right for the look. "Look, I wanna help you, all right? I really really do, but you're having some kind of psychotic breakdown so... just..."

"I wish." I muttered. A breakdown would be the least of my troubles right now.

Sam picked up his phone and started dialling a number. I rolled down my window and grabbed the phone out of Sam's hand, throwing it out on to the road, rolling up my window again.

"What the hell was that Dean? That was my phone!" Sam yelled.

"I'm not going to a rubber room, Sammy. And we've got work to do." I told him.

"What? I was just trying to help you out Dean. I don't, I don't want you to get yourself hurt." Sam said to me, worry in his eyes.

"What? You protect me?" I said to him with a shocked look.

"Yeah!" Sam said with a nod.

I laughed out loud. "That's hilarious! Why don't you just sit tight and try not to get us both killed." I told him, reaching forward and turning on the radio, music blasted out the speakers at us and I settled in for the drive, ignoring Sam's wild looks and comments at me.

Winchester House
Beth's POV

I knocked furiously on the door to John's house. I knew they were home, the car was in the drive, and it was also after midnight. Dean had tried to get me to stay in the house, but I couldn't, I had to get some help.

John came to the door in a t-shirt and sweat pants, rubbing at his eyes.

"Beth?" He asked, looking at me. "What are you doing here so late?"

"I need to talk," I said, pushing my way into the house and walking into the living room where I started to pace. "I don't know what to do Dad, I need your help."

"Bethie, calm down. What's wrong?" He asked, flipping on the lights and moving to grasp me by the arms. "Where's Dean? Why aren't you home?"

"I can't... I don't... I think I'm in trouble." I said to him, looking into those stern eyes that had looked after me for so many years.

"What do you mean, you're in trouble?" He asked with a frown.

"None of this is real Dad, none of it! And Dean! I think he's in danger, and I have to figure it out before something terrible happens." I said.

He moved me to sit on the couch, eyes never leaving mine.

"Beth, that is crazy, Dean is fine. He's probably wondering where you are actually, let's call him." John moved to get the phone and I grabbed him, pulling him back beside me.

"No! No, he wouldn't understand. No one understands." I said to him. I ran a hand along my face.

"I have to get back to them," I whispered.

"Who?" John asked, looking up as Cole entered the room, looking at us puzzled.

"Dean and Sam," I said quietly.

"Sam? Who is Sam?" John asked.

"He's your son!" I said in a frustrated tone, jumping up and starting to pace again. "And I promised to look after him, I promised you!" John shook his head at Cole who grimaced and then left us.

"OK, OK, Beth, you're not making any sense." John said to me, reaching out and trying to get me to calm down.

"I know! I know how this sounds!" I said to him. "But it's the Djinn. It's done something to me, I know it has. And Dean... I think he's dying! I think I am too! I need to find the Djinn before it kills us." I said and I started to rummage through the silverware cabinet, looking for a silver knife.

John grabbed my arm and held me tight.

"You need to rest Beth, while we figure this out." He looked up at Cole who had walked back into the room. She had a syringe in her hand and I looked at her, starting to struggle against John's grip.

"Wait, what is that? What are you doing?" I asked.

"It's just a sedative Beth, you're not well, it'll help you get some sleep and we can get you some help in the morning." Cole said to me, her eyes full of worry.

"No! Wait you can't do this! Dad please. Don't do this! I'm not crazy, I need your help!" I looked at John with panic and his eyes softened.

"I am helping you baby girl," he said to me, and then his eyes flashed blue and I gasped in horror, seeing beyond the illusion for a moment, a dark empty factory surrounded me.

"Where's my Dad?" I asked randomly, looking back at those blue eyes. "No, please...don't!" I shut my eyes and said a quiet prayer. "Dean..." I whimpered.

"Sleep..." John said to me. I felt the syringe enter my arm, and then a soft soothing feeling washed over me before everything went black.

Factory Warehouse
Dean's POV

Sam was asleep when I got to the factory. I took my flash-light and shone it in his face, he awoke with a start and I chuckled.

"Where are we?" He asked, looking around us.

"Well, we're not in Kansas anymore," I muttered, looking out the window at the factory. I smiled at Sam, thinking my joke was pretty good. He had no reaction. "Illinois," I said with a roll of my eyes.

"And you think something's in there?" He asked.

"I know it is." I said, thinking about Beth. I had to get to her, the real her, before it was too late.

We walked into the factory, wandering around, it appeared empty. But I knew it couldn't be right.

"See? There's nothing here Dean?" Sam said to me, pulling at my arm.

I walked down the hallway, the same way I'd come when I'd found Beth after she'd disappeared hunting the Djinn. Sam followed closely behind me.

"Look, Beth's gotta be worried sick about you Dean. Come on, let – let's just go." Sam said.

"Shhh!" I said to him urgently. There was a sound and Sam started to take things a little more seriously.

"What the hell is that?" Sam asked me, looking furtively around.

"Stay behind me and keep your mouth shut," I ordered him, inching forward into the big room.

We came into the room and I looked around, shining my light back and forward. I swallowed hard when I came upon two hanging bodies, drained of blood, just like I'd seen in the closet. I knew this was related to the Djinn!

"What the hell..." Sam muttered from behind me.

I turned and saw Beth hanging in the same way from the rafters. There was a blood bag next to her which was drip feeding from her neck.

"Beth!" I said, rushing to her side. I looked her over, her eyes were pale, washed out and clouded over, she looked dead. I started to panic, Sam gasped from behind me.

"Beth? Dean, what's going on?" He said. Beth started to move a little and I sighed with relief, she was alive.

"Shhhh!" I said to him, grabbing him. There was the sound of footsteps and I pushed him behind a shelf, hiding us from sight.

Beth started to cry and I had to stop myself from running toward her. "Where's my Dad?" She whimpered and the Djinn reached out a hand toward her. She looked at his eyes and startled, jerking away. "No, please... don't!" She cried softly, trying to move away from his hand. He touched her face and she whimpered. "Dean..." Sam had my arm, or I would have gone to her at that point, but I forced myself to wait, to take action at the right time.

"Sleep," the Djinn said to her, blue flashes washed over her face as he stroked her cheek. "Sleep..." Beth's head fell forward, and I saw her body relax, she had been pulled back into the illusion. The Djinn rested his face against her arms, touching her right arm and breathing heavily. I struggled against Sam's hold, wanting to rip it's head off. Then he reached up for the blood bag and put it to his mouth, I grimaced as he took a drink of her blood. Sam coughed in disgust and the Djinn turned around, hearing him. I moved us quickly and quietly while it stalked toward us. When it reached our hiding spot, we were gone.

The Djinn paused, looking around some more while I held my hand over Sam's mouth, keeping him still. Finally, after what seemed a lifetime, the creature walked up the very steps we were hiding under. The door at the top closed and I let go of Sam who started to breathe heavily.

"This is real? You're not crazy?!" He said, looking at me wildly.

"She didn't know where she was. She thought she was with her father..." I said, moving toward Beth immediately. "What if that's what the Djinn does? It doesn't grant you a wish, it just makes you think it has." I looked around.

"Look man. That thing could come back, all right?" Sam said, walking past Beth. He looked up and the lights started to flicker. I suddenly felt dizzy, like my head was splitting in two. I caught a flash of light, and it was like my eyes opened, and I was hanging from the roof, just like Beth. I could see her in front of me.

"Dean, please," Sam said, pulling me out of the vision.

I tried to catch my breath, panic filling my chest. "What if I'm like her? What if I'm tied up here someplace? What if all this is in my head?" I walked up to Beth again and touched her face. "I mean it could, you know, maybe it gives us some kind of supernatural acid, and then just feeds on us slow."

"No. Dean, that doesn't make sense, OK?" Sam argued with me.

"What if that's why she keeps appearing to me? Maybe she is the real Beth, and it's more and more like I'm catching flashes of reality. You know, like I'm in here somewhere." I looked around the room. "I'm – I'm catatonic, and I'm taking all this stuff in but I, but I can't snap out of it."

"Yeah, OK, look. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're right. I was wrong. You're not crazy but we – we – we need to get out of here. Fast." He started to pull at me, but I jerked my arm back. Sam threw his arms out as if to ask what the hell was I doing?

"I'm not leaving her," I said to him, looking at Beth.

"What?! Dean, look man, I don't know what's going on here, but Beth, she's at home. That's not her." Sam said to me, and I shook my head.

"I don't think you're real." I said to him.

Sam sucked in an agitated breath, turning stern eyes to me. "Dude! You feel that?" He asked, grabbing my arm tightly. "You feel this? I'm real. This is not an acid trip. I'm real, and that thing is gonna come down here and kill us for real. No, please..."

"There's one way to be sure." I said, pulling out the silver knife I'd taken from Mom's house.

Sam backed off, holding his hands up. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. What are you doing?"

"It's an old wives' tale. If you're about to die in a dream, you wake up," I said, pointing the knife toward my stomach, holding it out in front of me.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. That's crazy. All right?" Sam said urgently.

"Maybe," I said to him, determined.

Sam started to walk toward me. "You're gonna kill yourself..." I reached out one hand to him, indicating he needed to stay back while the other hand still held the knife toward me. "Okay," Sam said, paused.

"Or I'm gonna wake up. One or the other," I said to him, gulping.

"OK. This isn't a dream, all right. I'm here, with you, now. And you're about to kill yourself Dean." Sam said with a concerned look.

"No, I'm pretty sure." I said to him, shaking my head. I paused. "Like, 90% sure." I said, biting my lip. "But I'm sure enough."

I took the knife by both hands and prepared to thrust it into my stomach.

"Wait!" Sam shouted at me. I looked up. Suddenly Mom walked up to me, wearing the same nightgown she was in the night she died. Behind Sam, Beth appeared, smiling at me in the same way she did every morning when I woke up and saw her. I looked back at Mom, and Jessica was standing there with her too, smiling at me.

"Why'd you have to keep digging?" Sam asked me, looking forlorn. "Why could you have left well enough alone? You were happy."

Mom came to stand in front of me. "Put the knife down, honey."

"You're not real." I said, tears in coming to my eyes. How badly I wished it was, but I knew it wasn't. "None of it is."

"It doesn't matter. It's still better than anything you ever had." Mom said to me.

"What?" I asked, frowning at her.

"It's everything you want. We're a family again. Let's go home." Mom said to me.

I shook my head at her. "I'll die... " I glanced up at the real Beth, or who I assumed was the real Beth hanging from the ceiling still, deathly still. "Beth will die...the Djinn will drain the life out of us in a couple of days."

"But in here, with us. It'll feel like years," Beth, the fake one, said to me, coming up and stroking my face. "Like a lifetime." I looked at her sadly, and then at Sam who smiled and nodded at me.

"I promise," Mom said to me, taking my chin in her hand. "No more pain. Or fear. Just love and comfort. And safety."

"Dean, stay with us," Beth said to me, stroking my other cheek opposite where Mom's hand was on me. "Get some rest baby."

"You don't have to worry about Sam anymore," Jessica said with a smile. "You or Beth. You get to watch him live a full life." Mom stepped away and Beth moved a little closer, kissing me and pulling back with a smile.

"We can have a future together. Our own family. I love you Dean. Please stay with me." I stared into her eyes, knowing it wasn't her, knowing it was all a trick, but wanting to give in to it just the same.

"Why is it our job to save everyone? Haven't we done enough?" Sam asked from where he was standing behind Beth. "I'm begging you. Give me the knife."

I looked and them and backed away, looking at the floor. When I looked back up I caught Sam's eyes, and then looked at Beth, she was staring at me, crying. "I'm sorry," I whispered, and I thrust the knife sharply into my stomach.

Warehouse (Current Reality)

Dean's POV

"Dean! Dean!" Sam's voice shook me, and I coughed, the taste of blood in my mouth.

"Oh God. Come on," Sam said, shaking me. "Hey, wake up, wake up, dammit!" I grunted and opened my eyes, finding myself still in the warehouse. "Dean..." Sam said, standing in front of me. I looked up and I was hanging from the ceiling, a blood bag hanging next to me.

"Hey, hey," Sam said to me when he saw me coming to.

"Ahhh... Aunty Em. There's no place like home." I muttered to him with a smirk.

"Thank God. Thought I lost you for a second." Sam said, pulling an IV out of my neck.

"You almost did," I said to him, thinking back to how close I'd come to giving up. To just staying inside the illusion.

"Oh god," Sam said, breathing heavily, "let's get you down."

"Beth..." I said as Sam reached up and started to cut through the rope at my wrists.

"She's here too, I haven't been able to wake her yet." Sam said. I winced and grunted, how long had I been tied up? Two blue eyes appeared next to Sam in the shadows and I startled when I saw the Djinn come out.

"Sam!"

Sam turned, swinging at the Djinn with the knife in his hand. The Djinn grabbed Sam and pushed him up against the wall, twisting his wrist so he would drop the knife. I struggled against the half-cut ropes, pulling on them. The Djinn was strong and got the upper hand on Sam, grabbing him by the throat and pinning him to the wall. He moved his hand to Sam's forehead and Sam grabbed at it, trying to stop him. The Djinn opened his fist and blue light began to appear around his hand.

I felt the ropes give and I yanked on them one more time, breaking free. I slid across the floor and grabbed the knife while the Djinn was distracted trying to catch Sam. As his had reached Sam's forehead I stood up and rammed the knife into his back. It turned and I watched as the blue light faded from it's eyes. It closed its eyes, and then its head rolled to the side, by the time I pulled the knife out, it had fallen to the ground dead.

Sam looked at me, breathing heavily, but my thoughts were only on Beth. I crossed to her quickly. She looked dead, and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Beth! Beth!" I said, shaking her. A tear rolled down her cheek from closed eyes. I handed the knife to Sam. "She's still alive. Sam..." I pulled the IV out of her neck as Sam cut the ropes at her wrists. I caught her and lowered her to the ground.

"Beth... I got you, I got you. Come back to me, come on, come back to me." She didn't move, and I looked up at Sam frantically.

Winchester House
Beth's POV

I woke with a start, looking around. I was in the room that had been Dean's when he was growing up. It was now a spare room for when people came to visit. I sat up, breathing heavily. I had to get out of here, something was very wrong here.

Standing up, I tested out my limbs, everything seemed to be fine. I had made a mistake coming here, I needed to get out. I crossed to the door and opened it quietly. Voices were talking down below and I could just see down the stairs to part of the living room. My parents were there, as were John, Cole and Dean. The children played happily on the floor together and I felt my breath catch in my throat. What if I was wrong? What if I was having a break down?

I shook my head, frowning. I couldn't get out this way, I would have to go out the window. I'd done it countless times before. Dean and I had always been sneaking around as kids, in and out of each other's windows, never far from each other's sides. I frowned at the unbidden memory coming to mind, and wondered how this happened. These weren't my memories.

Falling softly to the ground, I turned to walk away from the house, coming face to face with Dean, who was looking at me with a worried expression on his face. "What are you doing?" He asked.

"Dean, you wouldn't understand," I said to him, biting my lip.

"Try me," he said, reaching out.

"I can't! I have to go find Sam. I can't just leave him on his own. We're all in danger." I said to him, tears coming to my mind.

"Dammit, what are you talking about Beth? Just leave it alone! Come back inside the house. Your family is worried about you, I'm worried about you. We need you, me and the kids, we need you. I have to get you some help." I felt tears coming into my eyes, I so wanted to believe him.

"I don't think you're real Dean," I whispered to him.

He frowned at me and grabbed me by the arms. "Real? Do I feel like I'm not real to you?" He asked, looking in my eyes. I started to sob, and reached out a hand to him.

"I don't know... I don't know." I said to him.

"Don't run off on me Beth, I can't lose you. I need you." He said to me. I bit my lip.

"But I'll die," I said to him, knowing it was true. I didn't know what was going on, or how, but I was certain I was dying, and that the Dean I'd seen around the last few days was dying too. It had to be something to do with the attack by the Djinn.

"Bethie," my Dad said, coming out from the house and looking at us. "Bethie you need to trust us." I shook my head. Mom, John and Cole were walking out with the kids, and I stared at my beautiful babies, my resolve starting to waver. I had a family. I was happy.

"We all die sometime. Stay with me Beth, we have years left, a lifetime together." He said and I stared. "I love you." He said and I shook my head. He rarely said that.

"No, no you're not real. You don't say that." I said, pulling away and stumbling back toward the road.

"Beth! What are you talking about? Where are you going?" Dean called out to me, reaching his hand out.

I spun, looking at the road, I had to find a way out. I saw him then, the apparition: Dean. He was reaching out for me on the other side of the road.

"Beth!" I heard Dean's voice come from out of nowhere. "Come back to me, come on, come back to me." I looked back and realised it wasn't the Dean in front of me I'd heard. The image behind me was starting to waver, and I thought about the dream teachings I'd studied years ago. There was a tale... something about dying in your sleep. Was this a dream? Dare I risk it?

I saw it coming and I knew what I had to do. Dean was walking toward me again and I put my hand out to stop him, taking a few more steps back. "Beth, don't do anything stupid. Your children need you, I need you!"

I shook my head, tears coming to my eyes. "Sam and Dean need me," I whispered to him. "I'm sorry." And I stepped back into the road, right as the bus barrelled down on top of me.

Warehouse (Current Reality)

Beth's POV

I felt the hit and then I was gasping for breath, arms curled around me, and I grabbed at Dean who was holding me in his lap.

"Dean!" I said, touching his face. "Oh god, you're alive." I looked around frantically. "The Djinn..."

"It's dead," Sam said to me, kneeling beside me with a smile. I grabbed his hand and breathed a sigh of relief.

"We thought we'd lost you," Dean said, worriedly looking into my eyes.

"You nearly did," I said. He nodded, as if he understood.

"Let's get you out of here," he said, moving to lift me but he was weak. Sam put a hand on his shoulder and gave him a stern look. Sweeping me into his arms, Sam lifted me up, Dean standing beside us.

Motel Room - Present Moment

Beth's POV

I was sitting in the bed, picking at my nails, they seemed fragile and broken. I wondered just how much life the Djinn had sucked out of me in addition to blood.

"You ok?" Dean asked me, sitting on the bed. I nodded silently, throwing him a smile.

"How about you?" Sam asked Dean. "You all right?"

Dean cleared his throat and looked at him. "Yeah I'm ok." He paused, looking at me. "Should have seen it, Sam. Our lives. You were such a wussy!" I grinned, trying to imagine it. At least he'd been alive in Dean's dream. I looked down at my hands again, feeling slightly guilty.

"So we didn't get along then, huh?" Sam asked with a smile.

"No," Dean said soberly.

"Yeah... I thought it was supposed to, to be this perfect fantasy." He said.

"It wasn't. Was just a wish," Dean said, reaching out to hold my hand. "I wished for Mom to live. That Mom never died, we never went hunting." He looked over at Sam. "You and me just never uh... you know."

Sam nodded. "Yeah. Well I'm glad we do. And I'm glad you guys dug yourselves out. Most people wouldn't have had the strength, they would have just stayed."

"Yeah... lucky me." Dean said with a grin. "I gotta tell you though, man. You know, you had Jess. I had Beth, who was pregnant... Mom was gonna have grandkids." Dean grinned at me and I felt that heaviness of everything around me.

"What about your fantasy? Was I in it?" He asked with a grin.

I smiled and nodded. "Mhmmm," I said quietly.

"I know your Dad was, you were asking for him when I came to," Dean said to me. I nodded again.

"Yeah. It was the perfect life." I said. "I had you, we had kids, my parents were still alive. Dad was still alive..." I left out the rest.

"Yeah, but... guys... it wasn't real." Sam said. We both nodded.

"I know," I said. "But I wanted to stay. I really wanted it to be real, so badly. There was no pain, no hunting..." I trailed off, not wanting to say anything more.

Dean nodded at Sam. "I know... all I could think about was how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. We've... sacrificed so much." Tears welled in my eyes, and I wished I'd never seen a glimpse of that perfect life, of what could have been.

"Why did you leave then? How did you know it wasn't real?" Sam asked.

I looked over at him, sure he could see the sadness in my eyes. "I kept seeing Dean, like the real Dean, everywhere I went. And it was all too perfect, you know?" I said. Dean nodded.

"Yeah, me too. You were everywhere," he said. "I wonder why that was..."

I shrugged and sighed. "Still, it would have been nice. If it had been real."

"Well people are alive because of you guys. It's worth it, right? It is. It's not fair, and... you know, it hurts like hell, but... it's worth it." Sam said, looking at us. "Right?"

I turned on my side and cuddled up to Dean, wrapping my arms around his waist, not answering him. Dean looked at Sam and nodded.

Half an hour later Sam went out for food and I was still lying in Dean's lap, holding on to him for dear life.

"OK, so what really happened in there?" He said to me, and I looked up. He half lifted me up and pulled me to sit on his lap, brushing a hand across my face, moving the hair out of my eyes.

"What do you mean?" I asked, chewing on my lip.

"Well you didn't go hunting the Djinn, you said as much. So how did you figure out you weren't in a real life? Something must have been wrong for you to see it." He pointed out.

I felt the tears coming to my eyes, and I blinked them back. I looked down at my hands shamefully.

"Hey, you can tell me anything," he said gently, and I shook my head.

"Not this." I said quietly.

Dean frowned. "What? You going to tell me you were off living the high life with Johnny Depp while I was dealing with wussy Sam?" He chuckled and it made me laugh.

"No, no we were together. Married actually," I smiled at the thought. "Five years, with two beautiful children and another one on the way." Dean smiled and brushed his hand along my face again, but he didn't say anything, letting me talk. "And Dad and Mom were there. It was … perfect. We were happy Dean. I was really happy." He nodded and kissed me.

"What about Sam?" He asked me, and I frowned.

"He wasn't there," I said softly, he looked confused. "That's what tipped me off that something was wrong. Dean... he'd never been born. And your mom, she'd died when you were a kid. We never had to protect Sam, because he was never born Dean." I felt the tears running down my cheeks and he pulled me in to him.

"It's ok, it's ok." He said to me, holding me tight. "It's not surprising Beth. I mean, you've lost more than most of us, and even though it wasn't his fault, he did take the baby from us." I sobbed into his chest, letting everything come out, and he just held me, running his hand up and down my back.

"But it's Sam," I said, when the sobs had subsided. "I love him, he's my little brother. I love him as much as you do. That's what brought me out of it. I couldn't stay in a world without him in it. I made a promise, just like you, to watch out for him. And I knew... I knew if I stayed, I was going to die and I wouldn't fulfill that promise. I would have failed Dad."

I sank deeper against Dean, wishing I could just crawl into his skin, I wanted to get so much closer.

"You called me back Dean. I heard you. I heard you through the mirror, the illusion. You called me back and I didn't even question, I just jumped." I said quietly. "I'd do anything for you guys."

He kissed me softly, nodding. "I know," he said gently, kissing me a little firmer, hands sliding down to hold me securely around the waist.

"It's ok Beth, we're all here now, and we're safe." He said.

"Yeah, but for how long?" I asked with a sigh. "Maybe we should just run off to Rio, we could start a... I don't know... a go-cart business for the tourists!"

He chuckled and kissed my forehead. "I know it's not ideal right now, but I promise you, we'll figure out how to make life better. We can get out, if you want to."

I sighed and looked at him. I knew in my heart that he thought he believed what he was saying, but I couldn't see how it would happen. Besides, what would we really do without hunting? Look at all the people we helped!

"I don't care so long as I have you," I said to him.

"Gee that's schmucky," he said with a laugh and I couldn't help but chuckle.

"Mhmmm," I said with a nod. "But that's all I got."

He smiled and pulled me in against him, guiding my head back into the crook at his neck where I buried it, taking a deep breath in. "It's all I need," he said softly.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Song for this chapter is: Left Outside Alone by Anastacia (love it!)

Man I just loved telling this story, I hope you enjoyed it, I couldn't stop writing it as soon as I started. It's like 47 pages long in Word! Hope it wasn't too hard to follow, it was a little hard to portray two realities occurring simultaneously.

And wow... we're in the endgame – two more episodes to the end of Season 2 – how did that happen? I'm already feeling sad about writing the next episode, it might be a few days before I get to it, and I might have to do a happy short-story in the meantime. But it won't be too long.

Big thanks as always to EarthhAngel for her ongoing support and friendship – she's going to have her own big chapter out shortly, I'm so excited! Be sure to check it out over at How To Save A Life.

Shout out to some of my readers who have been sending me some great ideas for storyline and/or short stories, you guys are the best: Special mention to WinchesterGirl1967, theshadowlight, hell-girlfan1, and kat89 (guest) for the ideas (I hope I haven't forgotten anyone)! I'm jotting them all down, I have a huge list of short-story ideas just waiting to be tackled, I almost can't decide which to do first! :D

Also a shout out to AwesomerForever for all her great song suggestions!

Seriously, everyone who leaves a review/PM is just AWESOME and I love you all :D Thanks for sharing and enjoying the episodes!