Jess, Castiel, and Michael all insisted on attending the summoning and execution of the fairy Azazel. Sam couldn't think of it as anything but an execution. He was also pretty sure that if they summoned Azazel, he'd manage to turn it into self-defense, which was why he wanted Jess as far away from him as possible.

Sam knew that Jess wondered how she, a normal human without a drop of the Supernatural, fit into the family, but that was really how she did it. She was the anchor, the steadfast North Star to the craziness that they all experienced from day to day. She was the breath of fresh air, the sweet North Wind that blew away all the chaff and left only the scent of meadow grass in its wake.

Sam loved her. He loved her more than his own life, so he told Dean that if he really wanted to help, he'd keep Jess safe.

Naturally, Dean did exactly that, standing in front of her, his arms crossed over his chest, forcing Jess to peek out over his shoulder as Sam started the summoning. Wordlessly, Adam, Michael and Castiel added themselves to Dean's ranks, completely blocking Jess from viewing as Sam drew a sigil on the floor in lamb's blood and John started the incantation.

"Guys!" she complained.

"Shall I narrate Sam's actions for you?" Castiel asked, an amused grin curling his lips.

Sam might have laughed had Azazel not popped into the human realm just then, snarling and howling, railing against the invisible chains that Sam held him in.

"What is this, Sammy?" he snarled. "If you wanted to talk, we could have just had a talk!"

Sam held his ground, though he was very nervous. Even if Azazel was in his thrall, he was still dangerous. "You know I can't just talk with you anymore, Az."

"Why? Because I tried to kill your little bitch and the spawn she's carrying?"

Sam worked his jaw, trying to not react. "My mate and our child?"

"You're so much more than that, Sam," he insisted once again, though as always not elaborating beyond that. "I made you special!"

"You made me a freak!" Sam growled. He actually growled. He needed to hold that back a bit. He was letting his emotions cloud his judgment, one of his weaknesses.

"There it is, Sam," Azazel crowed. "There it is! Don't hold it back! Let it go!"

"Dude, this ain't Frozen," Dean snickered.

John said, "Son," and put his hand across Dean's shoulders just as Azazel turned to Dean and started to advance.

"Dean Winchester, you are the thorn in my side and have been since day one when Mommy found me feeding Sammy ambrosia."

"You tried to kill her!" Dean shot back, his Hunter instincts taking over. He was immediately on the defensive, ready for anything that Azazel might throw at him when suddenly Castiel was there, wings stretched out around him protectively.

"Angels," Azazel hissed, and Sam realized he hadn't noticed Michael and Castiel until just then. "Is this who you've been keeping company with, Sammy? No wonder you've fallen down this path…domesticity, family, roots!"

John managed to untangle himself from the cocoon of safety that Castiel had thrown around Dean, and since John was standing in front of Dean at the time, he got caught up in it too. "Azazel, I sacrificed everything to make sure that my sons had a chance at all of those things. You will not nullify my sacrifice, and you will not take Sam's life from him."

Azazel backed away, his arms wide. "So, a little execution, John? Is that what this is? Cold blooded murder between friends?"

John took out the weapon that Loki had instructed them to make—a hawthorn steak blessed by moonlight water that had been caught in a silver basin during a full moon and all sorts of other requirements that had taken days to accomplish—and stabbed Azazel.

It could be described as "anticlimactic," but Sam didn't really care. Azazel was stabbed in the heart, dying, his yellow eyes fading of their usual light.

"I could have been so much to you, Sam. If you had just let me, we could have…" he sank to the floor, amethyst blood flowing between his fingers. "We could have…made our own…" he fell forward, "family."

"Yeah," Dean murmured. "Start your own family with a person who doesn't understand the concept. Everyone wants that."

Sam grunted in response, but he was waiting for the other proverbial shoe to drop. He was somewhat skeptical about Azazel's death. He didn't imagine that someone like him could just be killed that easily. Not that the rituals had been easy, but…

Around him, people moved. Jess tried to kiss him, tried to hug him, but Sam barely returned her touches. John tried, then Adam, and finally Dean. Sam just stared at the body and the pool of amethyst that grew under it.

"He's dead," Gilda promised. She and Charlie had shown up at some point. "I must alert the elders. They'll have questions."

Dean shook Sam's arm. "Sammy, we need you with us, little brother."

"Yeah, of course," Sam said.

The Fairies came. Many of them, all gathered around the body, asking questions.

"He threatened your mate? Is that right?"

"He's dead?" Sam asked the Fairy who was questioning him. "He's really…he can't hurt us anymore?"

The Fairy was an older gentleman with white hair and a Santa-like beard. He was a faun, and his hair was so thick that Sam couldn't see but the tips of his horns, and his legs were a burnished gold color and his hooves were nearly black.

"It seems that we should sit down," he said. "I'm Cornelius, by the way."

Cornelius led Sam to a chair and handed him a cup of something that warmed him up from the inside and caused him to cough and splutter. Considering that Sam had taken his first drink when he was still in single digits and was currently a bartender, that was saying a lot.

The drink did something to him, though, forced him out of his stupor and made him pay attention.

"Sam, your father executed a fairy for your sake, and I just need to know the history."

Sam nodded. "I understand, sir. I suppose you need to know how Azazel came into our family."

"I know about the Ambrosia. In fact, I can see it on you, Sam. Azazel…well, if we had known, we certainly would have done something about it. I am so sorry that things went this far, Sam. I need to know about the threat to your mate, however."

Sam explained all he knew about Azazel's threat to Jess, how she had almost lost the baby and Castiel had saved her, even at risk to his own life. He told Cornelius about how Azazel had always told Sam he was meant for more, that Azazel was sure he had made Sam what he was.

"The thing is, I still don't know what he wanted me to do. I just know…it wasn't what I'm doing."

"Azazel was once a very normal and sane fairy," Cornelius said. "But he lost his mate when he was very young. I believe that he was convinced that he could make you into a Changeling and channel his lost love into your body."

This wasn't helping Sam's shock. "I'm a Changeling?"

"Not entirely. I understand that your mother interrupted Azazel before he could finish the ritual."

"Then why was he so obsessed with me?" Sam unconsciously reached out to Jess and pulled her into his lap. "If he failed, why not move on?"

Cornelius summoned a refill of the drink, and Sam sipped at it. "I believe that for a time, he did. I believe he tried to look for another child to house the soul of his lost love, but that there was something about you he could not leave behind."

Sam couldn't fathom what that could possibly be. "What am I, then? Am I…really touched in some way?"

"You are touched by Fairy magic. No small feat for a human. I'm still unsure of what this could mean for you, but I believe that in a way, Azazel blessed you. You have continued the Winchester line into the seventh generation, something that perhaps wouldn't have come about had you not been touched."

Sam frowned. He remembered Gilda saying something about the seventh generation, and his child being a curse breaker. What curse? "Do you know who cursed our family? And with what?"

Cornelius shrugged. "I'm sorry, Sam. The affairs of humans, whose lives are fleeting, tend to not hold our fancy. I know nothing of it. That is your business to understand. I will keep an eye on you, however. We will be sure that you do not have any negative effects of Azazel's interference."

"And my father?" Sam pressed. "He was righteous?"

"Yes. The kill was righteous. Your father is absolved of guilt in our eyes. He did what was necessary to keep his family safe."

Sam let out a deep sigh of relief.

"Sam, you are going to be fine." With that, Cornelius turned away and Sam hugged Jess to him.

So, here we are, close to the end.I know the chapters seem short, but I'm trying to post as I write stuff. Hopefully I'll get it all finished in the next chapter. I don't think it's going to be what anyone is expecting...