LET THERE BE MUSIC

Sam stood in the doorway to the room hidden behind the store room watching; silently. He didn't want to be found out, so he was staying quiet. Quietly watching; and listening.

The room had been hidden much the same way the dungeon had been hidden behind the records room. He and Dean had found the room by accident a couple weeks ago when Sam had knocked over a box of old tools. When he went to retrieve a stray screwdriver that had rolled away, he'd felt a breeze from under the back wall.

He and Dean had found the hidden niche in the shelf of the wall and when they had opened it up, well, they'd been as surprised as they'd been after discovering the dungeon. Surprised, because it was so out of place here in this bunker of knowledge on the supernatural. And surprised as to why someone would want to hide such a room in the first place.

At first look this room was so out of place what will all the things involved in their lives, but after taking a second to contemplate it, Sam figured it made a little bit of sense. Music does soothe the savage beast, right?

The room, which was actually a little bit of an understatement, was actually huge; the room was the setting of a small concert hall or theatre. There was a small raised stage at the far end of the room with every musical instrument known to man, at least up through the 1950s anyway; and all were lined along the left side of the room. But what had caught Dean's immediate attention was on the right side of the room. There between the biggest harp Sam had ever seen and a church sized pipe organ sat a black concert grand piano.

After that day, Sam usually could find Dean in this room playing the thing; usually when he needed to think or just to get away. It quickly became a routine of sorts for him.

Sam knew Dean had learned how to play the piano when they'd been younger and they had been in a small town near Memphis. Dad had decided to rent a small house instead of staying in a motel, as the hunt he planned would take a while to complete. He was hunting a werewolf and they'd missed the last lunar cycle so he wanted to be ready for the next one and possibly the one after that, just in case. Sam had been around 12 and Dean had been 16 at the time.

The house had come furnished along with this really out of tune upright piano that was probably left there because it was too damn big to get out the front door, or that was Sam's guess anyway. Dean, having nothing better to do, had taken it upon himself to learn how to tune the damn thing from a book from the library. And Sam had to admit he wasn't half bad, he had the thing sounding pretty good after just a couple of days.

After that Dean began to teach himself how to play. Dean had always been able to hear the beats and rhythms to a song no matter how minute or subtle they were and so he began to play on that thing; playing the rock music their dad listened to that was fast becoming Dean's favorite as well.

After a particularly bad attempt, Sam decided Dean needed a little help, so he borrowed some books from the music teacher at his current school. Beginning pieces for the piano; and he left them on the piano that day after school in hopes that Dean would find them and use them.

And he did. For the next two weeks Sam began to hear Dean banging out some of the pieces in the book and he was getting good. Really good. The guy had talent, Sam had to admit. It was raw rough talent, but it was there.

One day three weeks into their stay, Sam came home to hear Dean playing The Weight; perfectly. And he was singing along. He wasn't great, but the guy could carry a tune when he put his heart and soul into it. And he probably thought he was alone, so he wasn't trying to fake anyone out.

Until that day though, Sam had never realized just how much Dean faked bad singing. He guessed Dean did it so he didn't stand out and because it was all in fun for him. He liked being the clown. Sam smiled when he remembered Dean telling him he had sang bad karaoke when he'd been Demon Dean. He smiled because he knew if Dean was singing badly while he was a demon that it meant the demon side hadn't completely taken hold of Dean's soul. If he was conscious enough to sing badly then may he'd hung on to a part of Sam's brother. Maybe he'd pushed hard to keep the evil from completely taking over his soul. At least that's what Sam was hoping.

Sam knew Dean had done bad things as a demon, hell he'd tried to kill Sam less than a month ago, but Sam also knew he had Dean back now. His Dean. The mark was still there, but they'd worry about that later. Right now Sam had his big brother back and he was hanging onto that with every ounce of strength he had.

Sam returned from his thoughts to go back to watching Dean. He was sitting at the piano playing something that jogged Sam's memory. Their dad used to hum it a lot when they were little. Dean paused for just a bet and then Sam heard him clear his throat and begin to sing. And as Sam listened he thought his heart would break. He quietly pulled his cell phone from his pocket and hit the record button. Dean was singing their mother's favorite song.

Hey Jude, don't make it bad…Take a sad song and make it better…Remember to let her into your heart…Then you can start to make it better…

Sam saw Dean shed a single tear and watched with admiration as instead of stopping to wipe it away, he kept on playing. Playing from his heart.

Hey Jude, don't be afraid…You were made to go out and get her…The minute you let her under your skin…Then you begin to make it better…

Sam knew that no matter what happened with Dean, with the mark, that this moment in his life was something he planned to treasure forever.

And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude…Don't carry the world upon your shoulders…For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool…By making his world a little colder…

Hey Jude, don't let me down…you have found her, now go and get her…Remember to let her into your heart…Then you can start to make it better…

So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin…You're waiting for someone to perform with…And don't you know that it's just for you, hey Jude, you'll do…the movement you need is on your shoulders…

Hey, Jude…

Sam shut off his phone as he heard Dean end the song and look down at his fingers as they rested over the keys. Sam quietly moved out of the doorway and back into the shadows as Dean began to play something else. Sam paused as he realized it was an instrumental piece; a piano piece. It was classical. Dean was playing a classical piece; Chopin. And just as Sam realized that his brother even knew what classical music was let alone being able to play it, he found himself seeing Dean in a totally different light.

Dean had layers; lots of layers and that surprised Sam. He thought he knew everything worth knowing about his brother, and then Dean pulls this out. Sam was in awe. He stepped back into the room to watch as Dean worked his long fingers over the keys of the grand piano. Slowly Sam moved into the room and took a seat in one of the chairs at the back of the room. He sat and listened; just listened to his brother. And Sam wasn't disappointed in what he heard.

Dean gave him a concert to remember and a phone full of videos for his private use. Dean was well into his sixth song before he realized he had an audience; and instead of being embarrassed as Sam had first thought he might be if he discovered Sam watching him, he simply smiled at Sam and finished the song.

Dean turned to slowly focus on Sam and then asked, "Enjoying yourself?"

Sam smiled and nodded. "Do you take requests?"

Dean laughed. Sam hadn't realized until that moment just how much he'd missed Dean's laugh. It felt good to hear Dean laughing.

"Sure. What do you wanna hear?"

Sam smiled again. No matter what else he heard Dean play, he knew he had his own recorded library at his disposal and he knew that later when he was alone tonight, he would be changing his ringtone for Dean's calls. Not only as a memory of their mother and father, but as a special memory of the best big brother a guy could ever have.

And then again there was always room for something silly too. "How about 'Chopsticks'?" He asked as he prepared his phone for one more video.

And as he heard Dean laugh again, he knew that no matter what the future held for the Winchester brothers, that this moment, this one moment was forever cemented in Sam's mind as one of his best memories. And nothing, no one was taking that from him. Ever.

The End