Chapter 26

As soon as John left Sam, Dean, Cas, Charlie, and Mary in the living room the fake candor disappeared and Mary went into mamma bear mode.

"Who's after us?"

The future gang looked around silently deciding what Mary should know and what Mary should never know. Charlie, the only one she liked, had been designated as the speaker so when she had her story formed she spoke without a lie. "Hell."

"Is it the yellow eyes demon? Or whoever made me lose my memory last time?"

"Azaziel? No it's not him," Charlie assured her. "And no it's not exactly the same as last time a different individual same species." Mary noticed her niece avoid the word demon and gave a skeptical look. Upon realizing she wasn't getting more she just nodded.

"What will kill them? Silver? Iron? Salt? Exorcism?" Mary asked sliding into her birthright as a hunter.

"None of the above," Dean joked trying to diffuse the mounting tension. He didn't want Mary to know that they couldn't kill the thing after her. You can't kill Lucifer… that is unless you are Michael. You can only get rid of him.

"Don't worry about killing this son-of-a-b*tch," Dean promised. "That's our job. You just need to do as we say… and give birth."

Mary raised an eyebrow at that. "Are you saying I'm going to be giving birth within the next 24 hours?"

Sam nodded. "Fun." Mary replied sarcastically. "So basically you want me to sit around and push while you fight Hell so they can't kill my baby and myself?

"Look, Mary, you never wanted this life we know that. Even if you did want to fight… you're not exactly in any shape to do so. That little guy has plenty of years ahead of him before he has to fight anything," Dean told her with a smile.

"I'm not going to make my son a hunter." Mary replied through gritted teeth.

"He's not saying that," Charlie assured her. "All Dean is saying is you can't fight this battle. You will go into labor around midnight and D.. da baby will be born at 6:17 AM." Cas and the others glared at Charlie as she almost spoke Dean's name. Oops.

"John thinks we're family so we can stay with you. I'll be right besides you the entire time Mary," Dean promised despite the fact he'd then have to watch himself be born. He hadn't been able to protect his mom the night she died, but he was ready now.

"Charlie, Sam and I will wait outside the room. Trust me Mrs. Winchester nothing is going to get inside. Dean's job will be easy."

"Charlie… I'm confused. You said your name was Mary, like me."

"My mother named me Mary. I haven't gone by that name in a long time. There was an accident, supernatural accident. My brother… he died and my mom was blamed. We had to skip town, create a new life. I became Charlie Morganstern there. My mom was reading this book series… Mortal Instruments and that was the first last name that came to mind."

Mary looked softly on the girl before becoming protective of her too, "No way are you fighting with them! You can't be more than 15!"

"I'm 16," Charlie told her annoyed. "And I'm a hunter just like you and my mother were. We age quickly."

"Is Alice happy?" Mary asked thinking of her little sister she thought long dead. "I understand why she ran away. Neither of us wanted this life. But to have her son killed and by something from the world she ran from… Is she okay?"

Charlie didn't want to lie to her aunt, and looked down as she replied, "My mother has never regretted not coming home after she escaped. Though she did miss you dearly."

Sam could hear the sharp intake of breath as she spoke about her mother and Sam realized one more thing they had in common-their mothers died over them. Mary would die going to protect him from Azaziel just as Alice died trying to get her daughter back from the monster she thought had possessed her. No wonder Lucifer wanted them both; they were one in the same.

Mary Winchester was no idiot, she knew that it was highly likely that the thing Charlie wasn't telling her was that Alice was dead. Still, Mary had grieved over her sister's loss long ago and, just because in the future Alice was dead that didn't mean she was dead now. Mary still had a chance to see her sister again before it was too late. For now she needed to protect her son.

"Okay. I. I'm trusting my family's life to you. For your own health I'd suggest not betraying that trust."

It didn't matter that Mary would probably fall over if she tried to fight them. A mother was a mother and a mother was scary for they had everything to lose.

The time span between their conversation with Mary and John getting back was so tense Dean abandoned ship quickly. Sam and Cas followed suit because someone needed to figure out how they'd stop Lucifer. It wasn't like they could kill him and they had no idea how they'd save Mary and baby Dean from a Devil they can't fight.

Mary and Charlie however spent that time lightly sharing stories about Alice. Charlie knew little of her mom's childhood, and it was a photo of Alice at her sweet 16 that made Charlie almost sick with regret. It was her fault her mom was killed by the archangels. Mea Coupa, mea coupa, mae maximus coupa- through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.

"This is no use!" Dean told Sam and Cas. "We have no internet and no library. We're not going to find anything here we couldn't find in 2013. We're scr*wed and I'm gonna die before I'm even born!"

"At least you will have been conceived," Sam grumbled. "I wish Bobby was here. He'd know what to do."

"Wait… Bobby is here," Cas reminded them. "He hasn't died yet and he's a hunter… only problem is he'll have no idea who you are."

"What was it Dad told us about the first time he met Bobby?" Sam tried to remember.

"He said an old friend of his told him that Dad would need his help in Canton, Delaware 1987. You don't think that's us?"

"Might be. He hadn't seen me in almost 10 years but recognized me right when I came back from Stanford," Sam reminded him.

"Charlie. I need a favor. Do you think you could get us a phonebook for Sioux Falls?" Dean asked interrupting the girls reminiscing. Charlie smiled, happy to get away from the painful memories, and disappeared without thinking causing Mary to have a heart attack.

"Yeah. She does that," Cas told her when she started breathing again.

"But… how? Can you do that too?"

"Nope. That's just Charlie for you. She has some special talents," Sam told her knowing somehow that his mother wouldn't even imagine Charlie as a monster for a second as he had for months.

"Well then. I'm proud to be related to her. You two must be too," Mary asked beaming.

"Something like that," Dean mumbled.

Charlie reappeared minutes later not with a phonebook, but a number written on her hand. "I think I might be the reason Bobby made a panic room…."

"You didn't just pop into his house right?" Dean asked already knowing the answer. Charlie shrugged.

"Well I didn't think about it… I know him so well I forgot he never met me before he died… well I guess he did just now but."

"Great. Now we have double the explaining to do. Thing is this is Bobby we're talking about. He's not just going to listen to some voice on a phone. Sam, Cas. Stay here with Mary. Charlie and I will be back as soon as possible," Dean told them.

"Technically I could bring us back before we even left but since we're not appearing I'm guessing that isn't happening is it?" Charlie rambled. "Come on big brother take my hand. I don't bite… anymore."

"Who the H*ll are you?" Bobby's cool voice, while younger than when he died, was the same as always. Dean and Charlie spun to find a Winchester rifle to their faces. Some things will never change.