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Chapter 33

Mary told her sons about her past as a hunter, but was careful not to share more than she deemed necessary for them to know. They had both remained quiet as she explained, paying close attention as she did. The mother rolled to the end of her story, biting her lower lip as she glanced from one of her boys to the other trying to read their reactions. Her eldest simply sat dumbfounded and speechless. Her youngest on the other hand, quickly began to spew all the questions that had been swarming his mind since her confession.

"I don't believe it," he started. "You're a hunter? You've known about-about everything? This whole time? And you've never told anyone? Not even Dad?"

"I'm not a hunter anymore. I got out of that life a long time ago. John was the best thing that ever happened to me, other than having you two of course. Being a hunter means living a dangerous shit show life, I didn't want that for any of you. That included your father. I still don't."

"Is there something else you aren't telling us, Mom?" Dean asked suspiciously as his green eyes stared unwavering from her. Their mother looked away quickly. "Did something happen to Dad?"

"No, nothing supernatural happened. He was ill. You both know that." Her eyes were fixed on her eldest who slowly nodded but still didn't look fully convinced. Next to him, Sam bowed his head. Dean having noticed the gesture rolled his eyes and muttered under his breath.

"Oh please."

Immediately the younger sibling turned to face him with a scowl in place. "What?"

"It's a bit late to feel sorry for yourself don't you think?"

"Excuse me?"

"I just think it's funny how you couldn't be bothered to come and see Dad when Mom and I told you he was sick. Hell, you didn't even want to speak with the guy on the phone, and now all of the sudden you're acting like a caring grieving son?"

"Dean," Mary said shocked at her eldest's outburst.

"Are you saying I don't care about Dad?"

"I'm sayin' the glass slipper fits, Cinderella."

"That's enough! Both of you! I'm sick of the fighting."

Both boys remained silent and kept their gazes from falling on each other as they stood in Bobby's kitchen. The hunter had excused himself from the room at the words "we need to talk," saying something about a supply run which had been clear to the Winchesters that it had been his way of giving them the privacy he felt they needed.

"So if you know about monsters, you know about demons, right?" Sam asked his mother. She nodded.

"How do you kill them?"

"Nothing that I know of can actually kill them. Only ways to weaken them or best case scenario, you can send them back to Hell. But that doesn't keep them down forever."

"So, nothing permanent?"

"I've been out of the business for over a decade, that's what was available to me. I couldn't tell you if there's a permanent solution out there now."

"Why're you telling us all of this Mom?" Dean asked.

"If you both insist on knowing about this, then you're at least going to hear it from someone I trust you with."

"I get that, but why the 180 spin? I mean you said it yourself, you've been keeping us from this our entire lives. You said you don't want this kind of life for us, why all of the sudden are you ok with it?"

"I'm not ok with it, but it's like I said earlier, I can't stop you. And it's clear to me that your brother isn't going to just leave all this alone, so if he's going to get himself involved, I want to be there to help him." Mary wanted to cringe at her own words, never in her entire life had she said something so untrue to how she felt. Like her eldest son, she'd always been one to speak her mind. If she didn't like something, people would know. She couldn't stand the thought of either of her boys getting tangled in the life of a hunter, but all she could do was watch and help as her youngest drew closer and closer to fulfilling her fear with her eldest in tow.

"Ok," Sam interjected, "so what hurts them? How do we send'em back to Hell?"

"Well, your friend knows his stuff. I saw enough bags of salt to choke a horse, and I'm willing to bet somewhere in this kitchen is at least one jug or so of Holy Water if not more."

"And the Hell part?" Dean chimed in.

"An exorcism."

"Exorcism? Like in the movies?"

"Not quite."

"Of course not," he mumbled.

Before anyone else could say anything else, the front door opened. The Winchesters turned to face the doorway and were soon joined by the owner of the house. Bobby stopped short, looking from one person to the next, his arms wrapped around two brown paper bags.

"Sorry, are you still in a family huddle?" He questioned. Sam got to his feet and helped remove one of the bags from his friend.

"Actually, we could use your help."

"With?"

"Mom knows how to send a demon back to Hell, do you know how to actually kill one?"

Bobby shook his head. "Near as I can tell, there's nothing that actually can kill the things. But yer Mom is right about sendin' them back to Hell."

Sam sighed. It wasn't the answer he was hoping to hear, but at least he knew what he could do. Having heard it from two hunters now and both of which he trusted, it'd have to suffice.

"That'll have to do then I guess," he said nodding. "Alright, on to the next thing."

"Which is?"

"How can we catch one?"

The room feel silent again as the hunter looked over at the Winchester boys' mother who simply stared back. When she didn't give him any signs vocally or physically that she wasn't ok with him sharing, he took a deep breath and exhaled.

"By usin' the right ingredients and sayin' the right incantation. But Sam, I really don't think that summonin' one of them is a good idea. They seem hell bent on finding you, no pun intended."

"Exactly. Which is why we are going to find them first. I have to know what's going on, Bobby. None of us know and I haven't gotten any closer to figuring it out myself, so I'm going to the source that seems to know the most."

"By bringin' them to you? I don't think you get how serious that is. Yer brother nearly died the last time you two idjits had a run in with them," Bobby argued.

"We weren't ready then. They're hand held all the cards last time. But this time, we'll have the upper hand." The hunter's expression turned incredulous.

"So once we genie one of these bastards to us, what then?" Dean asked turning to face his brother.

"Then, you boys are going to need a Devil's Trap. It kinda acts like a blanket when you throw it over an animal. Renders them pretty much helpless," Bobby explained. "No powers or turnin' tail and leavin'. But you have to make sure the Devil's Trap is done right. One little crack or unfinished bit n' the whole thing is useless. Not to mention dangerous."

"Do you have what we need?" Sam asked.

"Yeah," the man huffed clearly not agreeing with the youngest Winchester's plan. "I do."

"Perfect."

"Alright," Dean clapped his hands together. "Lets bag ourselves a demon."

A/n: I hope you all had a happy Thanksgiving!

SparksFlyAngel: When isn't trouble brewing for them, right? Lol. Now the boys know their mother was a hunter, though she didn't go into too much detail. I hope this chapter filled in some of the things you were wondering about. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing. I know I say this all the time but it's only because I truly mean it, you're awesome!