Catching Up
Chapter 1 – In My Time of Dying

Mary didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this point. Hatred, anger, guilt, despair and a litany of emotions swirled in her, some she couldn't even name. Though she couldn't remember, she had an inkling that death had been nothing like this. But here she was, with a DVD case in hand, reading the description of this episode (pun intended) in her boys' lives. "Sam, Dean, and John are left for dead after the Demon plowed a truck into the Impala. Now the surviving family members must face a powerful adversary. Joy."

Dean hit play and they watched a recap of season one. Mary's jaw worked when she had to listen to John demand Sam kill him but that was quickly overshadowed by the accident. The show began on the wreckage as the demon who was driving the truck got out. John and TV!Dean were unconscious but TV!Sam woke up. The demon opened the door to find the Colt pointed right at him. "Nice draw there Tex," Dean drawled.

"Thanks," Sam muttered. Scary image though, gave me the heebie-jeebies. Sam rolled his eyes.

TV!Sam threatened to shoot the demon and it left it's vessel. The now unpossessed driver called for the EMTs and the Winchesters were air-lifted to the hospital. "It must have taken them a long time to get there if it was daylight by time they showed up," Mary observed.

"The crash happened around six in the morning. We were in the middle of no where, this was just after sunrise." Sam explained.

Back in the hospital, TV!Dean woke up and went looking for some help. He found a receptionist but she couldn't see him. Panicked, he went back to his room only to find himself hooked up to breathing support and in a coma. "That is disturbing," Cas squinted.

"I agree with you buddy but I don't remember any of this," Dean raked his hair.

"Nothing?" Mary asked.

"Dean woke up not knowing jack all what happened," Sam recalled. "I guess we're about to fill in the blanks."In the episode, TV!Sam is shown to be up and about but he cannot hear or see his brother either. The doctor comes in to say that John was awake and update him about his brother's condition. According to the doctor, TV!Dean was in critical condition and they did not know if he was going to wake up. Spirit!Dean insisted that he would be fine but still no one could hear him. John and TV!Sam discuss how to help TV!Dean, TV!Sam even echoed his brother's words about finding some hoodoo priest. Eerie as heck! "Maybe I was picking it up subconsciously."

"Yeah probably," Dean said, and Sam suddenly realized he spoke too loud. Mary and Cas didn't seem to find it odd, but Dean was giving him some serious side-eye.

"You and John just can't stop tearing into each other," Mary sighed, interrupting the tension.

"Yeah well that's how we said we loved each other," Sam joked but could still feel his big brother's scrutiny. "What now?" he whispered around the lip of his beer bottle. Just lay low. I don't get the sense he's making a big deal out of it.

Back onscreen, TV!Sam was leaving to get the Colt and asked John if he knew anything about what the demon said regarding having some kind of plan for him and children like him. John denied it but Spirit!Dean picked up on his father's deception. "What did he know?" Mary questioned almost rhetorically but the boys cringed and she snapped her jaw shut.

Meanwhile, TV!Sam insisted that Bobby keep the Impala and gave him the list of ingredients that John had given him back at the hospital except Bobby wasn't sure that it meant for protection like John said. In the hospital, Spirit!Dean railed at his father's seeming passivity at his condition until he noticed a spirit fly by. He followed it and saw a woman die, unable to help her. "What the hell?!" Cas exclaimed, surprising everyone in the room.

That's new. "That's when you know Dean Winchester has had an influence on your life," Sam deadpanned. He said that just his television self exploded at John for wanting to summon the demon not ward it away. Father and son argued until Spirit!Dean lost his temper and hit a glass where it shattered on the floor.

"Dude I full on Swayze-d that mother." The Deans said together. Except Spirit!Dean started to fade and it was revealed that his body was near death with an apparition of an old woman hovering over it.

"Reaper." Sam, Cas, and Dean said together.

Spirit!Dean did what he could to get the thing away from his body, saving his life and gaining TV!Sam's attention. "Thank you psychic powers," Dean muttered. "As much as I hate the damn things, at least you knew I was around."

Mary was sorely tempted to ask what became of Sam's powers but she had a better sense that whatever this situation was, her boys didn't want to talk about it and she wasn't going to like it. "And you made friends," she added mildly at the appearance of Tessa.

"Nothing like 'hey I think we're both near death' for an icebreaker," Dean grimaced. Everyone tensed as the hospital called another code and Spirit!Dean found the apparition going after a little girl. Unfortunately, he couldn't stop it and it took her life. Meanwhile, TV!Sam had gone out and got a Ouija board so he could talk to Spirit!Dean.

"God I feel like I'm at a slumber party," the Deans said together once more.

"I kindly implore you to stop doing that," Cas said tersely.

Using the Ouija board, Spirit!Dean told his brother that there was a reaper in the hospital and both of them knew there wasn't a way to stop it. "Can't kill Death," Sam laughed in spite of himself. "That's not going to get old."

"Shaddap," Dean very maturely stuck out his tongue but the mood was brought down when they realized John had gone missing. The episode showed he was actually in the hospital's boiler room with the ingredients TV!Sam had got for him, preparing some kind of ritual.

"So much for not hunting until you knew Dean was okay," Mary groused but the boys could already sense what was coming. Onscreen, TV!Sam turned to consulting John's journal and Spirit!Dean came to realize that Tessa was the reaper all along. She was intent on convincing Spirit!Dean to go with her while back in the basement, John was performing his ritual. He finished and the yellow-eyed demon appeared only for John to say that he wanted to make a deal.

"Son of a bitch," the brothers said in unison.

"He wouldn't," Mary gasped.

They were barely aware TV!Sam's emotional plea for his brother to hang on and Tessa entreating Spirit!Dean to go with her or chance turning into a vengeful spirit. It was all background noise to the sudden revelation of what John had done, was going to do. "I always thought it was the demon but not like this." Dean whispered.

"Yellow-eyed bastard got us twice," Mary shook her head.

"Can't believe it," Sam said into his fist. I'm sorry Sam.

The only thing that brought their attention back was the show returning John and the demon. John was willing to trade the Colt to bring back TV!Dean. They dropped more cryptic remarks about Sam and the children like him but no one cared at that point. The demon was willing to help TV!Dean but he insisted that John give him something else along with the gun. Before they could find out, though they were willing to guess, it switched to Spirit!Dean and Tessa. Spirit!Dean was just about to agree when something possessed Tessa, giving her ominous yellow eyes, and sent Spirit!Dean back to his body. "God dammit John Winchester." Mary sniffed.

They listened to the doctor declare that TV!Dean was perfectly healthy again but he couldn't remember anything that had happened. John came, though TV!Sam was annoyed that he had disappeared on them. John made peace with his younger son before sending him to get a cup of coffee. Everyone in the room knew what was happening.

"You -" Sam clenched his fist, vainly trying to will the tears away. A gentle warmth blossomed between his shoulder blades and on his arm. He turned to the side, half-expecting someone to be there but saw nothing, still he leaned into the comfort just the same.

Dean was barely holding it together, listening to John say goodbye and leave his final message. As angrily frustrated and bewildered and hurt as they were, the brothers shared a look and rose as one as John laid down the Colt to seal the deal. Mary and Cas stood as well, Mary holding onto Dean for support though she reached across to clutch Sam's hand. The warmth had moved to Sam's other hand and he squeezed both. They watched in quiet vigil as the sound of the flatline blared over them and the screen went black.

Time of death, 10:41 am.