A/n: Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and/or favorites this story.

A special thank you to mckdstarlight, hectatess, MarbleWolf, SparksFlyAngel, LilyBolt, and jojospn for all of your recent reviews.

Chapter 32

When Dean opened his eyes, it wasn't blindingly bright. In fact it was the opposite, save one burst of light coming from a device at the living room study table. He groaned and blinked over at it, noticing it's glow was casting a figure into shadow at times and illuminating it at others. Pulling himself from the couch, he headed over to address the man who was sitting at the computer screen. His eyes were still working on adjusting to the brightness as he approached.

The figure jumped, only recently aware that he was no longer alone.

"Dean? What're you doing up?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Dean answered. The light of the screen displayed a quizzical look on his face.

"Can't sleep," Sam admitted with a huff. The elder brother brought his still squinting gaze to fall on what was currently on the computer and he shook his head.

"You really aren't going to give this a rest, are you?"

"I told you earlier, I'm getting to the bottom of this if it kills me."

The elder Winchester slapped the back of his sibling's head pulling a hiss from the younger man as he rubbed at it.

"Ow. What the hell was that for?"

"Don't talk like that," Dean scolded. He didn't have to say anything more, Sam knew where his brother's mind had gone with that statement."Find anything interesting?"

"Pretty much it's just your typical Bible thumper talk about how demons are born. I wish I could get my hands on a hunter's work. Journal, diary, something that could tell me more about what I want to know. Bobby had mentioned that they get into people and have full control over the person they're possessing, making it easy for them to impersonate. I'm guessing that's what happened to Brady. Meg too."

"Sounds like," Dean agreed.

"According to this, the first demon ever was created by Lucifer. He acted up, got thrown out of Heaven, and as a 'fuck you' to God, he took a human woman, stripped away her humanity and there you have it. Basically, demons are people's souls that have been twisted and their humanity taken from them from being tortured in Hell."

"Good times," the elder man remarked. "Anything in there about killing them?"

"No. But, we know salt does something to a lot of the supernatural, could be one of them."

The twenty six year old scoffed, "I seriously doubt it'd do any real damage though."

"Maybe not, but it's something. It did also say something about Holy Water," Sam reported as his eyes scanned the screen.

"Maybe you should ask Bobby more about all this in the morning. Like regular normal people morning not geek little brother morning."

"Dean-"

"Sam I get it, ok? You want to know what's going on and you want to know how to kill a demon so if Brady shows his douchebag face again, you can stop him. But what good is spinning your wheels 24/7? Give that freak brain of yours some time for a little R&R and we'll pick this up in the morning. Again, normal people morning," he added. Sam sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

"Yeah, maybe you're right."

"Of course I am, I'm the oldest. That makes me right," Dean teased.

"What? No it doesn't," the younger sibling countered.

"Yeah it totally does. Come on, let's hit the sack and we'll deal with this and Mom, later. We did things your way last time where we didn't say anything to her, that's not happening this time. Capisce?"

Sam rolled his eyes and started to close down the computer. "Fine."

"Good." With that the elder Winchester slapped his brother on the shoulder affectionately and headed back to the couch where he slowly and carefully laid himself down once again. Silently he watched as the last of the light from the computer illuminated his brother and then he and the rest of the room were submerged into darkness. A few seconds later he heard Sam's foot fall, followed by the sound of him resting himself on the floor a few feet from where Dean was. There was another deep exhale from him and then the room was silent and still. The twenty six year old closed his eyes in content and sleep soon found him.

The next time Dean opened his eyes, light was shining through the window indicating it was now the kind of morning he was fine with being up at. He stretched, still trying to avoid agitating his stitches, and then looked down at the floor where he saw his little brother sound asleep. Quietly, the elder Winchester got himself to his feet, and crept pass his sibling towards the kitchen. Due to the silence throughout the house, except for Sam's soft snores, he figured he was the first and only one up.

"Morning Dean," came a soft voice. The elder brother spun in the direction he had heard his name from, his heart pounding at the unexpected sound. Sitting at Bobby's table was his mother. Her fingers were wrapped around one of the hunter's coffee mugs and though she was smiling at him, her face looked a bit worn.

"Hey Mom. How'd you sleep?" Her eldest asked noticing the dark circles under her eyes.

"Fine," she shrugged. "You?"

"Fine," Dean echoed.

"And how are you feeling?"

Dean helped himself to the pot of coffee and joined Mary.

"'Bout the same," he answered as he slowly seated himself across from her. "How about you? You doing ok Mom? Because, and I mean no disrespect here, but you kinda look like crap."

His mother opened her mouth at the raw honesty of her son, then closed it and sighed.

"I just...I'm so sorry this happened to you Dean. I hate that I wasn't around sooner. That I didn't know sooner. You boys are all I have and I just don't know what I'd do if I lost either of you. Especially not this close to having lost John. It's only been a couple of years and then just last month Sam lost Jessica and merely weeks after that, we almost lost you." She paused. Dean was the first to move, pulling himself up from his spot and walking over to Mary. She stood and he gently pulled her into a tight one armed hug which she reciprocated by wrapping both of hers around his shoulders.

"It's ok Mom, we're ok. You didn't lose me. I'm right here," he reassured her.

"I just-I can't-"

"I know."

"Mom? You alright?" Sam asked in a small voice. Dean and Mary abandoned their embrace and peered over to see a mildly confused and genuinely concerned Sam standing in the entrance. He looked from one of them to the other, waiting for some kind of clarification and confirmation.

"Oh, good morning Sam," Mary sniffed wiping at her eyes and sliding on a smile. "Yes, yes I'm fine."

He eyed her a while longer before coming to a conclusion.

"You look terrible, what's wrong?"

"I'm just glad to be here with my boys is all. I've always felt better having you close by so I can keep an eye on you, you know?"

"What brought this on?" Her youngest pressed.

"Gee Sam I don't know, maybe all the deaths that have been going on," the elder Winchester boy retorted. "Including my close call." Sam flinched slightly at the reminder himself and then turned back to their mother and hugged her.

"Don't worry Mom, we're all here. Everything's gonna be alright. I promise."

Mary shook her head as more tears rolled down her cheeks. "You don't promise me that, either of you. I promise you. I'm your mother, it's my job to watch over you, protect you, and make sure that you're kept out of harm's way. Not yours."

"I get where you're coming from Mom, I do, but Dean and me...we aren't little kids anymore."

"Sam's right Mom. And so are you. Us three, that's all we have. But it's not just your job as our mom to take care of us, it's our job as a family to take care of each other," Dean explained. "We're both grown, well Sam is over grown, men and we can handle ourselves. I know you say you wish you were here sooner, well I'm glad you weren't. The demons would have gone after you too. And I don't know what I would have done if I had lost you, Mom."

Mary gently placed her hands on either of Dean's cheeks and grinned.

"You and Sam may be adults now, but you will always be my little boy." She turned to face her youngest, "and you will always be my baby. No matter how big or old you are."

Before any of the Winchesters could say anything else, the owner of the house shuffled in. His gaze fell on the scene before him and he froze, looking like a deer in the headlights.

"Am I interruptin' somethin?" He asked.

"No no, you're fine," Mary waved a hand at him. It took him a few minutes, but he finally continued on towards the coffee pot. He picked it up and sloshed it around before pouring. It trickled and then stopped all together.

"Oh right, sorry about that Bobby," Dean apologized.

"That's alright, just next time if you use the last of it, make a new one." The eldest Winchester boy nodded. "So, what's on the agenda today?" The hunter asked as he got to work on fixing himself up a fresh pot.

"Well, uh, I was hoping you could maybe tell us more about demons." Bobby turned from the coffee maker to look at Sam. The young man's face was completely neutral as though he'd suggested something like go for a walk.

"Come again?"

"Demons Bobby, I need to know more about them. What hurts them? What kills them? What are crucial things I need to know about them?"

The elder man's eyes moved from Sam to Mary who stood staring back.

"Sam, I know you wanna know about these things, but I told you back in that interrogation room, it's not a road you want to go down. The more ya know, the more trouble you might find yerself in."

"This road, kinda went down on me." Realizing how that sounded and before Dean could comment on it further, Sam quickly scrambled to correct himself, "er, I mean, it found me. Now I just want to know how to protect myself and others from it."

"I get that Sam, but it ain't my place."

The twenty two year old's eyes grew soft and pleading. "Please Bobby, I need this and I trust you. I've trusted you since day one here, remember? Please?" The hunter sighed. He understood, truly, but he had promised Mary Winchester to keep her boys out of the loop on anything relating to the supernatural. He wasn't going to go back on his word, especially not with her standing a few feet from him.

"I'm sorry son, I can't."

"He trusts you, Robert," their mother replied, taking all of the men by surprise. "If my boys trust you, then..." She gulped as tears began to build up and shine in her eyes. "Then so do I." Everyone turned to look at Mary who only continued to stare back at the hunter with a shaky grin and a nod.

"Mom?" Dean addressed. She turned to look at him, eyes still threatening to leak.

"You boys are right, you can handle yourselves. You both have proven that to me. I can't stop you. I can only..." She stopped, squeezing her eyes shut and then opening them collecting herself. "I can only offer my guidance and my support. You may be my little boy, and you may be my baby, but you're right. You are both adults, it should be left up to you. No matter how hard I've been trying to keep you both from this disastrous life."

Both of Mary's sons turned to look at her. Dean's green eyes were wide while Sam's hazel had shrunk into a squint, head slightly tilted.

"What?" Her eldest asked.

"What do you mean keep us from this life, Mom? Did you know about this the whole time?" Mary recognized the ting of hurt in her youngest son's voice, her eldest's as well. Even through the one word spoken. She could feel her own heart sink to the pit of her stomach as she readied herself for a conversation and explanation she had never, since the day she had first found out she was pregnant, thought or planned on having with her boys. The talk that was sure to end with more questions than answers, hurt or betrayed feelings, and what may break her family ever so slightly and bring them even closer to harm's way. The worst part about all of it for her, she had to tell them. Mary had to be the one to break the news to both her sons, because if she didn't, Dean would drop dead on the spot and if that happened again, there'd be no miraculous turn around this time. No second chances, no do-overs.

Mary cleared her throat, "Sam, Dean, we need to talk."

A/n: I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

SparksFlyAngel: Lol I'm glad you liked it. Yeah things are sort of starting to come together for the boys...sort of. I hope you enjoyed this chapter as well. Thank you as always for you review. I always enjoy hearing from you. Have a great holiday.