A/N: You guys have been awfully quiet lately.. not that you say much anyway but yeah. Well if you're still out there I hope you enjoy this chapter and all it's... chapterness.

Chapter 13

Deanna had been missing so long now that they'd given up hope of finding her. Well, not really given up hope. They'd just stopped looking. There was still an off chance that they would find her and they were all hoping that they would. Sam had lost count of the days since Deanna had vanished off the face of the Earth, but everyday he missed her just a little bit more.

Sam had still kept up his awful habit of binge drinking on demon blood. By some miracle Sherlock and John hadn't caught on, or maybe they had and just chose not to say anything. Sam knew that he was beginning to get addicted to the demon blood but he still kept drinking it.

John had left the flat for some air. He missed Deanna so much and he hated what he knew Sam was becoming. He just needed to think. As he walked through the streets on London he watched as the cabs sped past him. He watched as people walked into the shops to do their Christmas shopping. He watched all the happy families that hadn't been broken apart.

It was cute really. The parents carried their children down the footpaths and kept them safe and protected. They talked about everything and anything with their kids. Their kids smiled and laughed. So many happy families... John thought sadly. He always wished that somehow he could go back and change things. He wished that Mary had survived the fire so that Sam and Deanna could've had a normal life. He wished that he'd been there for Sam and Deanna all the time. He wished he'd protected them, played with them and more than anything he wished he'd saved them.

He didn't know it yet, but his wish was about to come true.

John didn't remember falling asleep but he woke up. He was lying on his bed that he'd had when he'd lived with Mary. But that was impossible? Mary was dead, that house had burned! He couldn't possibly be inside it.

John heard a voice. He was confused. He must be dreaming. He hadn't heard that voice in years because the owner of that voice had died.

"John, time to get up."

John looked around and saw Mary standing in the doorway to the room. She looked as beautiful as he remembered her.

"Mary? You're alive?"

"Of course I'm alive! Now come on get up or we'll be late!"

"Late to what?"

"How much did you have to drink last night? Work silly! Now up you get."

"Alright!"

John reluctantly pulled himself out of bed. He was afraid that if he got up the world around him would fade. He was afraid that he'd once again lose his wife. Once he was up John went up to Mary and hugged her. He'd missed her so much after the fire, but now she was here... alive.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning." Mary mused. "Now stop hugging me and get ready."

John didn't want to stop hugging her. What if this was the last time he ever did? He was afraid that if he stopped hugging her she would disappear. He reluctantly let go.

"Be downstairs in 10." She said as she left the room.

John knew that he must be dreaming but he was going to savour it. He quickly got showered and dressed and went down the stairs into the kitchen. Mary was already sitting at the table. A much younger Sam and Deanna were sitting with her.

John felt a pang of guilt as he looked at their innocent faces. It made him sad that in his world he'd never really been there for them. Deanna had practically raised Sam by herself. But this they hadn't been through all of that. Deanna hadn't started hunting as soon as she'd been old enough to. Neither of them knew the horrors that the supernatural world held.

The Deanna sitting in front of him looked around 14. Her dark blonde hair rested on her shoulders. Her eyes were such a beautiful shade of green - almost other worldly. The 14 year old Deanna was beautiful. Even in this universe Deanna still dressed in jeans and T-shirts though. But this Deanna's jeans weren't tattered from being overworn. They were brand new. She smiled brightly as she looked at her younger brother.

Sam had to be 10 in this universe. He was dressed similarly to Deanna and his smile matched hers. His hair was actually relatively short which surprised John, mainly because he was used to seeing Sam with his long hair that was kinda ridiculous. John remembered about how he and Deanna had joked about trying to cut it once but Sam had heard them and locked them out of the motel room.

"Dad?" Deanna said almost worriedly.

John hadn't realised it but he'd been staring off into space and it had been worrying Deanna.

"Yes Deanna?"

"Are you okay? You seem kind of... distracted."

"I'm fine, just had a late night last night."

"Okay then, oh by the way can you drop me off at Cassie's place after school?"

John looked at Mary questionly. He had no clue who on earth 'Cassie' was supposed to be. Mary rolled her eyes. She leaned over the table and whispered in John's ear "'Cassie' is Deanna's best friend."

Oh.

"Yeah, sure I can."

"Thanks dad."

"No problem."

After taking Sam and Deanna to school Mary and John headed off to work. Even though he was back in his old job as a doctor John didn't mind. He didn't mind at all because finally his world was perfect.

When John picked Deanna up from school to take her over to 'Cassie's' Deanna appeared overrun with joy.

"Dad guess what?"

"You got an A?"

Deanna laughed at his poor attempt at humour.

"Come on now let's not go crazy. Think more realistically."

"Aliens are invading?"

"No! Sammy got himself a girlfriend!"

"No way! Who's the girl?"

"Her name's Jess, well actually it's Jessica but everyone calls her Jess."

"That's amazing!"

"Hell yeah!"

They drove in silence for a little while until John realised he had no idea what way he was supposed to go to get to this 'Cassie's' house.

"Deanna?"

"Yeah?"

"What way am I supposed to go?"

"Turn left at the next corner then just go straight until I tell you to stop."

"Okay, thanks."

"Don't mention it."

John followed Deanna's instructions. He got such a fright when Deanna yelled at him to stop. John had instantly slammed his foot on the break. He hadn't noticed the girl crossing the road and he thought to himself that it was a good thing Deanna had.

"What the hell did you think you were doing dad!? You nearly hit Cassie!"

John looked at the girl who was still on the road. She was frozen to the spot in shock. Deanna huffed at him and got out of the car to help her friend. She grabbed Cassie's hands and pulled her off the road scowling at John as she did so. Cassie appeared to go along with her in a daze.

Once Cassie was off the road Deanna ran inside her house. Cassie just sort of stood there waiting for Deanna to come back. John took the opportunity to examine her better. Cassie had raven coloured hair that was very messy and looked sort of like bed head. Cassie's eyes were pure blue like the sky. They were other worldly, just like Deanna's.

Deanna came rushing back out of Cassie's house with a tan coloured trench coat which she draped over Cassie's shoulders.

"You okay?"

"I'm fine Deanna. Let's just go inside, I'm freezing."

"Alright then."

Deanna began walking inside with Cassie when she remembered John.

"I'll be back for dinner!" She called to him over her shoulder as she walked inside. John just smiled and drove away. He drove back to the house to hopefully spend some more time with Mary but she wasn't back yet. Presumably she was somewhere with Sam, probably a library or something.

John didn't really want to stick around the empty house so he decided to go see Sherlock. When he arrived at 221B he was amused to see the knocker had been tilted so it was on an angle. Why Sherlock did that John never knew. John smiled at the askew knocked and walked up the stairs without bothering to knock.

Opening the actual door to 221B he was met with a shock. The flat was covered in a layer of dust, as Sherlock had always hated Mrs Hudson dusting. There were experiments littering basically every single flat surface. Food had been left uneaten on the floor. Then in the center of it all was Sherlock Holmes.

Sherlock was lying on the couch with his hands in the prayer position. He looked terrible. His eyes had black rings around them from lack of sleep. He was much thinner than he used to be and that's saying something! John went up to him and lightly tapped him on the shoulder.

"Sherlock?"

"Go away." Sherlock responded.

"Come on Sherlock, it's me. John."

"John?" Sherlock said confused. He sat up and stared right into John's eyes. "Who's John?"

"Don't mess with me Sherlock."

"I'm not messing with you, I really don't know who you are."

"This isn't funny Sherlock! I'm your friend."

"I don't have friends!" Sherlock spat out in response.

"No you don't. You just have one."

"Dr Watson are you by any chance suffering from a psychotic breakdown? I've never met you before in my life."

"Psychotic breakdown? No! Wait, if you don't remember me then how do you know my last name?"

"You're wearing a name tag John." Sherlock said.

"Oh."

"You're wasting my time. Unless you have an interesting case for me please go."

"Look Sherlock. My name is John Hamish Watson, you're my best friend. You were my best man at my wedding."

"John, I know that you have a very close relationship with me, that much is obvious. I also know that you're married with two children. You were once an army doctor but now you work as a regular one. Oh and you had a Jammy dodger before coming here."

"How?"

Sherlock rolled his eyes as if it was obvious. "The way you talk to me indicates that you care about me. Also you've told me enough times that you're my friend. Next I can tell you're married by your wedding ring and the children by your mobile phone. Your build practically screams the army and your hands say doctor. And the jammy dodger I know because you have crumbs on your shirt from it."

"That's almost as brilliant as it was the first time I met you."

"Thank you? But John you're missing something so blatantly obvious. I'm really surprised that you can't see it."

"What is it?"

"You're dreaming!"

"I know I'm dreaming. My dead wife is alive, that was enough to tell me that."

'But you're still missing something!"

"What?"

"You're dying."

"What do you mean I'm dying?"

"I mean that you're dying! Surely you can tell? Look at your arm."

John looked at his arm but didn't see anything of import.

"What about my arm?"

"It has needle marks. Someone or something has put you into a dream state to keep you calm while it sucks you dry. That's all this dream is, anesthetic."

"I don't want to wake up."

"If you want to live you have to. Now goodbye John."

And just like that John had been dismissed by the great Sherlock Holmes. As he left 221B he mulled it over. Could he really be dying? Was Sherlock right that the dream was just anesthetic? But how could he possibly know? As brilliant as Sherlock was how could he know that he was merely a dream? Maybe something gave it away for him or maybe he just knew.

Deep down John knew that Sherlock was right though. He just didn't want to wake up, he wanted to live the happy life the dream provided for him. He wanted to be there for his kids like he had never been. Most importantly he wanted Mary to remain alive. But if Sherlock was right and the dream was killing him he'd have to wake up.

This world is fiction and can live without him but his can't. Real life was out there waiting for him, his real life family. He had an impossible choice to make. Stay here and live the perfect life but die in real life or wake up and live his life full of monsters and demons. How does one decide?

When he arrived back at his house his family was sitting in the living room watching a rerun of Doctor Who. Deanna had gotten back from Cassie's now and Mary and Sam were back from wherever they had gone.

Looking at his happy family John felt so much guilt. But he made his choice. He had to wake up, he just had to. But when you can't blink your eyes open in the dream how do you wake up? Then he remembered. The horrible way you wake up from nightmares, if you're dreaming you wake up when you die.

John didn't particularly want to die, in either world though but he had no choice. He walked up the stairs and grabbed the gun from his bedroom draws. Why he'd kept it he still didn't know but he had. He fingered the gun. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion once he held the gun.

Just as he was about to pull the trigger his family walked up the stairs. Upon seeing him Deanna ran up to him and tried to grab the gun.

"What the hell are you doing dad?"

"I'm sorry." John responded pathetically.

Deanna seemed confused and paused her attempts to get the gun for a second to simply stare at him. Mary came up to him and pushed Deanna away. Deanna scowled at her and moved towards Sam who was frozen in shock in the doorway. Mary pulled John into a kiss.

The kiss was perfect. When Mary pulled away her eyes were filled with tears.

"John. please. Put the gun down."

"No."

"But John!"

"No Mary. Please don't try and stop me. You're not even really here."

"Of course I'm here!"

"No you're not! You're fiction! You're supposed to be dead! I'm sorry Mary but it's the truth."

"John please think about what you're doing." She pleaded.

"I have which is why I'm doing this. If I die I'll just wake up."

"But what if you're wrong? What if you don't wake up?"

"Then it's a risk I have to take."

"Please John, stop this. I don't want to see you die."

Mary was full on crying now begging John to put the gun down. He hated seeing his wife this way. Deanna and Sam walked past Mary and closer to him. They both hugged him. He cried at their gesture.

"Dad, please stay with us." They both said to him through salty tears.

"Forever." John responded.

Sam and Deanna broke off the hug, tears falling on their cheeks. John held up the gun and pointed it at his heart. He looked around him at his family crying over what he was about to do. But he had no choice. He pulled the trigger.

"Come on Sam! John's this way!" Sherlock yelled to him.

"What makes you so sure?"

"I see him!"

Sure enough Sherlock could see John. John was asleep with a needle stuck into his arm. The needle was connected to a sack which had blood in it. John looked slightly pale but other than that he looked fine.

John opened his eyes and was relieved that he was in a dark room. He was surprised when he saw Sherlock and Sam approach him.

"Thank god you're alive!" Sam said.

"Yeah I'm alive. Can you take this needle out my arm now?"

"Sure."

Sam got to work pulling out the needle while Sherlock scanned the area.

"Okay John since you decided to have some beauty rest Sam and I have been looking for you for the past day. Well not really looking we knew vaguely where you were but we had to wait for the right moment to free you."

"Why?"

"There's something else down here. A djinn."

"A djinn? You've got to be kidding me. Djinns don't come around these parts."

"Well we've got one."

A loud banging sound sounded from around the corner and Sherlock went off to investigate while Sam untied John. Shortly after Sherlock had gone around the corner they heard a scream.

"I'm going to go help him. You can get free now right?"

"Yes. Go!"

Sam nodded and ran off around the corner. It wasn't long before he found Sherlock. Sherlock was bruised and on the ground with the djinn towering over him.

"Sherlock!" Sam yelled.

The djinn appeared to be trying to use it's powers on him. Before Sam could interfere Sherlock kicked his feet up hitting it in the stomach. The force was enough to make the djinn fall off of him. Sherlock quickly got up brushing dust off his trench coat.

Sam grabbed his stake and rushed at it. He managed to stab it very easily. It collapsed to the ground in a heap.

"That's what you get for messing with my family jerk!"

After the whole djinn fiasco they had all gone back to 221B. They were sitting around the now clear dining table all on their laptops. John had told them about what the djinn had put him through. They had all been surprised that he'd given it up.

Sam had decided that it was time they knew about his nightmares. His nightmares about Deanna. But they raised the question, where is Deanna?

"Maybe she's just gone AWOL?" John suggested.

"Maybe she's been captured by demons." Sam said.
"Or maybe she's right here." A voice piped up.

They all turned to the voice. Seeing who it belonged to shocked them. Leaning against the doorway stood Deanna. She laughed at their shocked faces.

"Did you miss me?" Deanna said with a smirk.

A/N: Yay Deanna's back :) Finally they're all together again... but for how long? Stay tuned for more.