A/N: This story is for a prompt given to me by the lovely NikkieSheepie. Because the prompt contains spoilers, I won't be telling you it. So...you'll just have to read it. I'm really looking forward to writing this; I have it all planned out already. T for language and possibly violence and blood in later chapters. Enjoy!

-Jaq

July 2nd, 2010

Stopping at a bar on the way home, Sam celebrated another job well done. Well, 'celebrated' might be a bit of an exaggeration. 'Had a beer and grimly reflected for the thousandth time that his brother was in Hell and thus couldn't drink with him' might be more appropriate.

Sam never really enjoyed going to bars when Dean was around. He always ended up frowning in the corner, wishing to be somewhere else. And when he got hit on by scantily-dressed, slightly inebriated women? Sam just wanted to disappear.

But ever since Dean had...gone, Sam found a sort of solace in the places his brother had loved so much. Maybe they reminded him of Dean- lots of swearing, activity, fast food, alcohol, hot people...it was like stepping into a time when the Winchester brothers were just that- brothers. Now, one was dead and the other had barely moved on.

Sam was jarred out of his own personal memory hell when he noticed someone staring at him. Not the 'I want to come home with you tonight' stare, more like...'don't cross me.'

Which, of course, set off warning bells right away. Sam paid for his beer and left quickly, taking one of the darker alleys on the way home.

It wasn't long before he realized that the man from the bar was tailing him. Sam walked faster, reaching inside his jacket and patting his gun, still loaded with silver bullets from the shapeshifter job he'd just finished. Still, silver bullets could hurt a lot of things.

The man still hadn't made a move by the time Sam gets to the motel, but Sam figured that whatever it was didn't spend all that time trailing him for nothing. Once inside his room, he quickly painted a devil's trap under the rug, flopping on the bed and opening his laptop.

Sam was pretty sure it's a demon. He got mainly demons these days. There were so many more of them now. He wondered if somebody broke another Hell gate somewhere, but it didn't really matter.

After about an hour, Sam closed the laptop, turned off the light, and waited, the demon-killing knife clenched in his hand under his pillow.

Sure enough, three AM, the doorknob began to jiggle a little. Then, it turned on its own, the lock snicking open by some supernatural force.

The man from the bar stepped in, quieter than a cat. Sam breathed deeply and evenly.

When the man entered the trap, Sam threw off the façade, turning on the light and holding up the knife.

"Who the hell are you?" he asked, his voice low and dangerous.

The man looked at his feet and sighed. "Devil's trap? Really, Sammy? C'mon, I just wanted to talk."

Sam didn't lower the knife. "You could have talked to me at the bar."

"Right. Because ordinary people talk about demons and monsters in the middle of a bar. I don't think so."

"You aren't a person," Sam said with surety. He stepped closer.

"Damn straight." The man grins and blinked, his eyes blackening. Then, he stopped smiling. "But I used to be."

"Cut the crap, I've heard it already," Sam snapped. "Demon by the name of Ruby. She told me she could get my brother out of hell, that she remembered being human, that she could be trusted. Guess what? All lies. I killed her almost a year ago. Friends don't turn you into addicts." His tone was scathing.

"Why are you telling me this?" the demon asked, sounding amused.

Sam smiled this time, grim and cold. "Because by the time you get around to tell anyone anything, you'll be too dead to talk."

The demon backed up, putting its hands up as if in surrender. It stopped at the edge of the trap and swallowed. "No need to get violent, okay? Put the knife down. I'm not going anywhere."

Sam didn't put the knife down, but he didn't step forward to kill the demon, either.

"Alright. So, uh, you aren't putting the knife down. That's cool. Okay. You aren't gonna take this well-"

"Take what well?"

"Shut up and let me finish!" the demon snapped, raising its voice. Calming down, it looked at Sam steadily. "Heya, Sammy. Guess who?"

"Call me Sammy again and I will not hesitate to kill you."

"Aw, come on. After all, wasn't I the only one allowed to call you that?"

Sam lunged, the knife pressing into the demon's throat. "You son of a bitch," he snarled. "Pretending to be...him."

"Oh, I am him. Back in black, I might add," the demon snarled right back.

"No, you aren't. Dean is- was-"

"Was what? News flash, Sammy. I went to Hell. And you know what happens to people who go to Hell? We become demons."

"Dean wouldn't."

"Oh yeah?" The demon grabbed Sam's arm, twisting the knife away from himself and using the momentum to slam Sam to the ground. Leaning over the taller man, he picked up the knife. Tucking it into his pocket, he stooped to a kneel.

"I tought you that move when you were ten," the demon whispered into Sam's ear. "And you never were as good at it as me." With a swift kick to the head, he rendered Sam unconscious.

Taking the knife out, the demon used it to carefully scratch out a part of the devil's trap. By the time he finished, Sam was coming back around.

"I could kill you now," the demon said. "But I'm going to let you sleep on the idea that maybe your dear old brother is back."

He threw the knife with certainty and precision, not even glancing to know that it had hit its mark, landing within an inch of the Winchester's head. "Keep your knife. You might need it."

Sam tried to do something, anything, but the man threw back his head and a column of black smoke shot through the open window, into the night.

A/N: Well? Is the demon really Dean? Or is it just trying to gain Sam's trust so that it can do something to further its own evil plans? Please review if you've enjoyed this- it helps me get through my homework so that I have time to write if people are reviewing. I have the next chapter written already, but I probably won't post it until the third one is written, so it could take a couple days. Thanks for giving this story a chance! And have a great night/day.

-Jaq

song of the day (and song from which the title came from) Centuries, by Fall Out Boy. Their new single. It's...so awesome. I can't even describe it. Just...heavy metal broke my heart. Go listen to it now. After you review and follow and favorite this story, of course.