Sorry this was meant to be the second half of the last chapter and it kind of makes sense if you remember this is an AU from the second half of season 2.

They could hear the banging of draws and cupboards as they walked down the stairs to the dark basement of the bar. Dean grabbed Molly's arm halting her for a moment before taking the lead as she tutted and mumbled her disapproval.

"If it is him, I'll let you kick me up the ass," Dean replied.

"Fine," she replied smiling smugly. "Dad!"

"I am never sneaking up on anyone else with you," Dean said as she continued to cry out.

"For crying out loud," John retorted. "This isn't your business girl."

"My business?" Molly retorted pushing past Dean to find the light switch. John was standing under the single pallid light bulb at the old tired pine desk slowly pushing closed one of the draws. "And it isn't that you are looking for that backup address book?"

"And why the hell would I be looking for that?" John snapped.

"Because, you know why?" Molly said coming further into the weak light. "Dad, really?"

"Molly, best you keep out of this," John replied before bending down to resume his search.

"Dad?" Dean asked causing John to straighten quickly.

"If you two want to do something useful, go and leave me to this."

"And what? Let you take on the federal government by yourself?" Molly scoffed. "No we don't."

John scowled. "Who the hell says that I'm that stupid?"

"Us," Dean curtly retorted causing John to look at him, wounded at his son reply. Though the two men stared at each other, John not sure what to say and Dean not sure how to deal with the hurt look in his father's eyes.

"That didn't come out the way it was supposed to," Molly said breaking the uneasy silence that had seemed to descend on the small deserted storage space, which seemed to cause John the strength the recoup some of his pride.

"Really?" he asked, before he re- focused his attention onto looking through the draws of the desk again.

"Third one down, bottom, hidden compartment," Molly said with a sigh.

They watched him pull out the draw and fumble with it, before he pulled out a small digital memory stick. "Thanks," he said before he took a step towards him, causing Molly to smile.

"And it isn't going to be encrypted is it?' she said causing John's shoulders to slump. "And I'm not talking Eye's Only or even Ash's 'Eat up your system and take down the server 'worm embedded' encrypted, I'm talking Dougie's 'Fire of the Damned' encrypted."

"Fire of the Damned?" John asked turning.

Molly nodded. "Yep, where the virus released will probably make the pulse look like a walk in the park because the little punk makes his father look like a monk in the dark ages when it comes to running code. So we'll be lucky if the only network still functioning after you try and open that thing will be the one in Yang Shu province responsible for holding cattle records."

"You are making that up," John said.

"You want to risk it, fine. Try and open it," Molly replied. "If you want to check call the little squirt and get him to tell you if he's still doing what Leigh Ann and Ash grounded him for when he took down the 'Scientology is the True Path' site and half of Hubbard Island's electricity grid with it."

"What?" Dean asked.

"Ash's boy," John growled.

"After the pulse the Scientologists clubbed together and bought Easter Island, renamed it after Hubbard," Molly explained. "Suri Cruise has been running the place since she was crowned 'the anointed one' when she was 16 and Ash's kid almost brought the whole kit and cobbodling, tax dodging, Theta loving haven, to it's knee's when he was six years old."

Dean snorted. "You guys let Ash breed?"

"Unfortunately, nature did," John angrily retorted. "And the damn apple didn't fall far from the stinking tree."

"But hey, kid's what, 14 now? Not like he's had time to improve, has he? Or hasn't hit the stage where total nihilism wouldn't be considered fun, let alone be interested in getting some under the table, no questions asked, cash when being asked to write some code for his favourite, kind of, big cousin." She put out her hand waiting patiently for John to hand over the stick.

"You are full of shit you know that," John said to his daughter.

"Maybe, but I learned from the best," she said with a smile before pocketing the electronic storage stick.

John stilled for a moment before turning.

"Dad, what the fuck did the Feds say?" Dean called out causing John to stall.

"I'll deal with it," John retorted.

"Really? The cult loving, inbred mortal enemies of the genetically altered club have let be known they are playing with drugs that melt the…the weirdo… cloney… oh, at least Alec's brain after trying to cut off the supply of the thing that keeps them from having seizures and now may or may not be threatening the family of someone called Sam. And there also the fact that your marriage seems to possibly be beginning to melt down, all of which seems to be linked somehow to the fact that you got three long lost family members popping up in your back yard after almost 20years. Who have been god knows were, reappearing now because…god knows why? Because really Dad I'd really want to know if there is anything going on about that last part. But, instead of dealing with any of that, you want to go play one man army against the Feds as they've been asking questions about someone who is dead and me and Sam. Because that is what they asked you about, wasn't it? They asked you if me and the 'Tooth Fairy' were the same person."

"Don't Dean, don't you dare," John snapped angrily.

"Why not?" Dean asked. "You can't go running off to fight battles for other people any more Dad. This isn't the demon that killed Mom, you are looking for. You do this and it isn't just you, me and Sam that have to deal and I am tired of it."

"Tired of it?"

"Yeah, god damn it I'm tired," Dean stated. "You don't get to act like a righteous bastard this time. You don't get to act like you are avenging or protecting someone because you never knew him. This Ben kid, he isn't…anything really to do with us, we aren't to blame for that kid going psycho so you can't act like you are defending him or even me because I'm here Dad, I'm here and Sam is and Jo is and Molly here is too and even…Alec is. Ben, I'm sorry but you never knew the kid. So don't you screw up what you have; especially when we don't have time for it because you are trying to act the macho bastard to ease your conscious; because I am not cleaning up your mess. I am damn well not doing this time."

"What the hell are you talking about?" John asked.

"Mom I got," Dean said. "I covered your back and I did as you said, I took care of Sam, did the best I could for him while you tried to make what happened to Mom…better. But this? There is a lot of shit going down, Dad. I lost you once because you did something monumentally stupid when a lot less was happening to save me. So, I'm telling you, you got a good thing going here as crazy as it seems. Me and Sam, we're here, not planning on going anywhere too far right now, you got lab rats crawling out of the wood work that seem to think that you and Ellen's set up is basically 'Home and Garden' and you are risking it all and I'm not going to pick up the pieces; because for one thing I got no idea how to."

"What?"

"Dad what did the Feds say to you?" Molly asked. "I get Mom probably didn't let you get a word in but to try and break out the back up snitch list? What the hell did they say that caused such a rattle. The judge coshed their warrants and you know that no authority is going to risk out right war by going against that, not right now and not over cold cases, even one involving a serial killer that is over five years cold."

John took a breath. "It's best you guys don't get involved."

"Involved?" Dean said. "Dad, we are involved. Thanks to some guy saying something to Samantha last night the transgenics, rightly or wrongly, are one step closer to circling the wagons. This family doesn't have time for you to go off the reservation while acting like a geriatric Rambo."

"Geriatric Rambo?" John repeated.

"You know what I mean," Dean replied.

"Thanks," John retorted sarcastically.

"Dad, seriously don't make me get Alec to come down here to have another conversation about the time you last you walked out on Ellen, because if I got the idea right about what he was hinting at it is a conversation you damn well don't want dragging up again and especially not in front of your daughter here."

"Excuse me?" Molly asked.

John turned to the girl. "You wait outside."

"What?" Molly asked.

"Girl, go now!" he growled pointing to the door.

"We'll be out soon," Dean said firmly as Molly took a breath before doing as she was told. John watched as the girl closed the door before turning to face his son.

"You are out of line," John snapped.

"So are you."

John narrowed his gaze. "When the hell did you become…"

"When you left, when you decided to sacrifice yourself, Dad," Dean said. "I get why the hell you did, but I don't have to like it and I am not standing back this time while you try and do it again, because really that is what it is, isn't it. You trying to protect everyone, control everything and Dad, it isn't going to work."

"Seriously Dean, you don't know what you are talking about," John said.

"Well let me in, so I do. I am not a kid anymore, Christ Dad you told me yourself I never really got a chance to be. Hell, technically I'm more than halfway to retirement," Dean said. "So tell me what is so important that you got to deal with this now when the shit is hitting the fan everywhere else?"

"It isn't just about Ben or you or taking out Henricksen."

"Then what? The back up snitch list? Is that something that belongs to Eye's…whoever Logan and Molly work for?" Dean asked. "Why are you trying to get into that if it isn't about you going after the Feds? Because from what I've seen that guy is solely about some infantile need to go stick to the man."

"Dean, you wouldn't understand."

"Why?"

John took a breath.

"Dad, I am not rolling over for you this time," Dean said. "I am not, I am not just going to… because; I can't do that anymore. I can't just go with what you say not after what you said to me, after you told me to save him or kill him, Dad. I saved him the best I could because Sammy's still here. And I saved you too because otherwise you wouldn't be standing here and okay I didn't mean to, I hit Sammy and Jo and Molly with the throwback from it. So I deserve to know."

"Fine," John replied. "You want to know what I'm trying to do?"

"Yeah."

"I'm trying to stop it going to the wall faster than it already is."

"Really."

"Lydecker is back Dean, he's working with the government. Lydecker, and he wants to know about you and Alec and his damn kids and you think they are circling the wagons now you just wait and see what they will do when they find out he's back after all these years."

"Okay, that isn't exactly what I was expecting," Dean stated before knotting his brow. "Dad, who the hell is Lydecker,?"