AU WHERE DEAN IS A FIREFIGHTER The acrid smell of smoke clung to Dean Winchester as the firetruck screeched to a halt. Flames devoured the house before him, moving unnaturally fast. He adjusted his mask and charged through the front door, heat pressing down like a living thing.

“Fire department!” he shouted.

A faint cry led him up the groaning stairs. At the end of the hall, a teenage girl crouched on the floor, shielding a baby with her body.

“It’s okay,” Dean said, crouching beside her. “I’ll get you out.”

The girl’s tear-streaked face lifted. “It killed her,” she whispered.

Dean froze. “What did?”

A sudden, piercing scream cut through the roar of the fire. His gaze shot upward. Through the smoke, he saw a woman’s flaming figure pinned to the roof—motionless, eerily familiar. His chest tightened. For a moment, he was seven years old again, staring at his mother burning on the nursery ceiling.

“It’s her,” the girl choked out. “It killed Mom.”

Dean grabbed the baby and pulled the girl to her feet. “Stay close.”

They wove through collapsing walls, fire clawing at every corner. A deep growl rumbled behind them. Dean turned—and saw them. Yellow eyes gleamed in the shadows, grinning at him through the flames.

His blood ran cold.

He shoved the girl forward. “Run!”

The thing didn’t move. It just watched, those sulfurous eyes burning into him.

Outside, medics swarmed the children, but Dean’s focus stayed on the crumbling house. He knew what he’d seen. It wasn’t just fire. It was Azazel.