Disclamer: I own nothing.

IMPORTANT: This starts about six months after season six ended. Castiel is back to normal because God came and took his souls away.

A/N: This was originally only going to be a one shot, but I liked where it was going, so... yeah. :) Now it's becoming a story. And please review, to tell me what you think. Criticism is fine :)

Stranger

Sam stared at the girl who seemed to be zoned out, looking down at a cigarette in her hand. No, not zoned out, he thought, She's trying to meditate. Something about her seemed familiar, but he was sure he had never seen her in his life. "Uch, you smoke?" He wasn't sure why he had said it, but he couldn't take it back now. Something flashed in her eyes for half a second, though he couldn't tell what it was.

"Disgusting habit, I know. I have lots of them unfortunately." She looked up, eyes narrowed and nose crinkled in disgust, "As if you have room to talk in the first place! At least mine will only kill me."

Sam was stricken to silence for a moment. Did this girl know about what he had done?

"Of course I know. Even if I didn't before, I would now. You still reek of it." She flicked her cigarette onto the ground and stamped it out with her foot.

"How did you- Hold on. Did you just read my mind?"

She sighed tiredly, "Not exactly. I can't hear what you're thinking; I just know what you're thinking about. It's the same thing with your brother and his angel butt buddy."

"Wh-… How?"

"It's a long story."

Sam waited for her to elaborate, but after about a minute of silence he said, "I've got time."

"That's nice." Was all she said before she stood up abruptly, and stalked back inside her house.

Sam stood there, thunderstruck. This girl was unusual in the oddest sense. He wasn't sure what to do now, but he had promised Dean that he would wait for him to get back. "Why not," he mumbled to himself, but just as he was about to take a step toward the door, it flew open and the girl came stomping out of it.

Her face was distorted in pain and what seemed like… annoyance? "Why do you have to be so damned stubborn? Just take my word for it; you don't want to know about me," Her face fell to reveal a young, scared girl, and her voice dropped down to almost a broken whisper as she repeated herself, "you don't want to know about me."

"Look, I just want to-"

"Help, I know." Now she closed her eyes as a tear escaped, rolling down her cheek, "But you can't help me, so please, please just go away."

"You can't know that for sure. Please, just let me try."

She only sighed and mumbled, "So damned stubborn…" before she walked back inside, leaving the door open.

Sam took that as an invitation, and walked in. He looked around, not noticing the actual house around him. He found her sitting at her dining room table with a cup of coffee clutched tightly in both hands. She couldn't be any older than twenty-two, maybe twenty-three.

She smirked humorlessly, "Wrong. I'm Eighteen. Just started my own life."

Sam was taken aback. She was so young. Too young to be so… old.

Now she snorted, "Yeah, well I guess we've got that in common."

"Would you stop that?" He was over his shock, now it starting to get on his nerves. He didn't like someone knowing so much about him.

"If I could, you wouldn't be here." She spat in an acidic tone.

Sam sat down next to her, "Okay, I'm sorry," he said softly, "Just uh… Start from the beginning. When did this all start?"

"Depends on what you mean exactly. I've been psychic all my life, but I've been attuned to you and your family for about eight years." She rubbed her eyes with one hand as if she had a headache, then looked back up to Sam. "Ever since I read the first Supernatural book."

Sam lifted his eyebrows at the girl, "Heavy reading for a ten year old."

"Yeah well, I was a smart kid."

"Okay… Well this is good actually. I think I know how to help you."

"No! Don't!"

"Don't what? Help you? I thought that was what you wanted?"

"Of course I want help, but not that way. I would rather die."

"What? Why?"

She shook her head, "You know what, never mind. I don't think you can help me. If anything, you being here just makes it worse."

"Hold on. Just tell me why you don't want help from-"

"Don't! Don't say his name; I don't want to hear it. Please."

"Okay… Then tell me why you don't want him to help you. He's the best shot you have."

"It doesn't matter. Just leave. And please… please don't tell anyone about me."

"But… why?" He knew he couldn't just leave this girl. She looked like she could drop dead at any moment.

She seemed desperate now, flustered, "Because, he'll- Just because."

"What? Why are you so afraid of him?"

"Please! Leave me alone!" She stood up and tried to push Sam off the chair and out of her house.

Sam stood up, but didn't move any further than that. "Listen. If you really know me so well, then you know I'm not going just leave you when you're so close to…"

She sighed heavily, but stopped trying to push Sam out the door. Sitting back down, she hid her face in her hands and started, "I used to have a family you know? I had two older brothers, both my parents and a-" she took a deep, rattled breath, "a twin sister."

"What happened to them?" Sam asked softly as he thought; Please don't say they're all dead.

"You guessed it. They were murdered. I was only three at the time. I had gotten into a fight with my sister, so I ran outside and hid under a bush in our front yard. My oldest brother dug out a hiding place for me so I'd have somewhere to hide when she started picking on me. Come to think of it, he probably did the same thing for her. We hated each other, even now when I think about her, I get chills. And I don't mean like siblings dislike each other growing up. I mean we literally hated each other. Anyway, I ended up falling asleep out there. I have no idea how long I was out there, but when I woke up I could hear screams coming from the house. I was scared, so I poked my head out to where I could see, but managed to stay hidden somehow. They walked right by me and never noticed. When I finally got the courage to go inside, my entire family was lying in the living room, dead. Their faces were frozen in terror and pain. All of them, except for my sister. I looked everywhere for her, but she was gone…" She had stopped talking, and her muscles had completely frozen, as if her mind were being held by the memory.

"I'm sorry for you, I am, but… What does any of this got to do with… Him?"

Her head snapped up almost inhumanly fast, and she locked her gaze on him, looking straight into his eyes, "Don't you get it?" Her voice had changed. Almost too little to be noticed, but now it sounded… wrong and filled with malice. "They were angels. They killed my family, and took my sister. And He was one of them!"

"Alright, we'll find another way. I promise. And… I'm sorry."

Her eyes fell from his as she shook her head slowly, and when she spoke her voice was soft. The wrongness was gone. "Don't be sorry for me. You've been through worse." Her brow crinkled, "Which reminds me Sam… there's something you need to keep in mind at all costs."

Sam nodded, "Shoot."

She looked up at him wide eyed, "Your dreams aren't always just dreams. But that doesn't mean you should go chasing after them, because sometimes… it's better to just leave well enough alone."

Sam's eyebrows knit together, obviously confused, "What do you mean? I don't have psychic dreams..."

"Don't you remember? It's one of the powers you got from Azazel."

Sam stared at her, taken aback as he remembered having visions at some point in the past. Then, finally, he shook his head and sighed sadly, "I don't drink demon blood anymore. I can't use my powers."

"Sam, you had visions before you started drinking demon blood. Think of what Ruby said. You never needed it in the first place."

Sam's stare became intense, "What are you saying?"

"The only reason you needed the demon blood was because you never really embraced your powers. There was always a part of you that knew it was wrong. Don't you remember Ava? The only demon blood she had was still running through her veins from when she was six months old."

"All of the demon blood is out of my system. I was detoxed by God. Literally."

"He didn't get all of it. The demon blood chemically fused with your blood. You can't get rid it."

Sam huffed and looked away as he slowly began to remember patterns in the time line, "Fine. But I haven't had visions since Dean killed Yellow Eyes. Why would they start up again now?"

"Just remember what I said." She looked down at her watch and sighed, "I've got to go to work, but you're welcome to stay here. It beats wasting money on a dingy motel room."

Sam blinked, surprised. "Oh-okay. Thanks. I'll start on some research then."

"Alright. I'll be gone until tomorrow morning, so just make yourself comfortable. I have cable, and there's plenty of food in the fridge. Just… Tell Dean not to order porn when he gets here. It's weird."

Sam's eyes widened at the last part. Did she see everything they did?

She laughed, "No, of course not. But I know you two almost as well as you know each other."

Sam nodded once. This conversation had taken an unexpected and very uncomfortable turn, so he changed the subject. "Hold on a second, it's only three, and you're gonna be at work until morning? Where do you work?"

She shook her, "I have a split shift, and I've got a couple classes today. Pre-clalc and biology."

The girl turned to walk down the hallway, when Sam thought of something. "Wait…"

She turned around, eyebrows raised, "I'm gonna be late."

"You never told me your name."

All she said was, "You never asked," before walked into her room and closed the door behind her.

Sam shook his head as he walked to the couch and grabbed his laptop out of his bag. There was something about this girl that struck an odd feeling in him. He tried to write it off as attraction. He had noticed the girl was attractive. She wasn't exactly tall, but she wasn't short either, she had light brown hair that fell to the middle of her back, defined curves, and a beautiful face with bright blue eyes that were slightly slanted. But, she was only eighteen, and even though she was obviously beautiful, he knew he hadn't really thought of her in that sense. No… It was something else. There was something off about her. He thought for a moment about calling Dean and Cas, but decided that would be a bad idea. He wondered idly about why angels had wanted her family dead as he waited for his laptop to load up. And how could she have survived without them knowing? Angels could sense people. Finally his computer was completely loaded, and he set to finding some way to break what ever string was attaching her to him and Dean.

After about half an hour, the girl came out of her room wearing slacks and a black t-shirt with a small red logo on the right side of the chest, and her hair in a ponytail. She looked at Sam for a moment, and said, "Promise me you'll at least try to get some sleep while I'm gone. You can't live off of two hours of sleep a week."

Sam only nodded, but he had no intention of keeping that promise. Even when he was able to sleep, he tried not to. Sleep was never restful for him anymore.

The girl sighed before she walked out the door.

Sam had been working for hours and still hadn't found anything useful. He put his computer down on the seat next to him and stood up to walk outside, deciding to get some fresh air. His phone started ringing as he walked outside, and he picked it up. Dean.

"Hey."

"Where are you? I'm on my way."

He gave Dean the girls address, along with directions on how to get there, then asked, "Find any leads on crowly?"

"No. What about you, how's the search for Yellow Eyes going?"

"Slow, but I think I stumbled onto someone that can help, but Cas can't know about her."

"Please tell me it's not a demon Sam."

A small sigh escaped Sam's lips. After all this time, and after everything that's happened, Dean still didn't trust him. "She's not a demon."

"Good." That was all he said before he hung up.

Sam just stood outside, looking up at the sky. He wondered if Dean would ever really trust him again. And he wondered if he actually deserved Deans trust in the first place. After a few minutes he walked back inside, and went right back to his research.

Sam yawned, and stretched his limbs, his muscles ached from the uncomfortable position he had fallen asleep in. He wasn't sure when he had fallen asleep, but when he looked outside it was dark. Weird…Where's Dean? He should be here by now.

"Sam… How are you?"

Sam looked over to where the voice had come from, and his eyes went wide at what he saw before him. He tried to open his mouth to say something, but he couldn't make himself move. There, standing before him, was Lucifer. Wearing Sam.

Lucifer smiled at him, "What? Not what you expected? Or do you prefer this?" In a matter of seconds, Sam's face morphed into Jessica's.

No! As hard as he tried, there was no way to shake his momentary paralysis.

"No, this poor girl isn't on your mind anymore is she? No, no. You haven't thought of her in years. So then who..." He -or she- pondered for a moment. "Ah. I've got it. This then." Once again, the person in front of him changed. Although this one was different, and it would haunt Sam for the rest of his life. Lucifer was wearing Adam, but every inch of his skin that was showing was covered in burns and scars.

Anger tore through his fear instantly, but all he could think to say was, "Get out him! Or I swear I'll find a way back in the box just to kill you for good!"

Lucifer only ignored him, "He misses you, you know. I don't understand why… you never really did a great job at protecting him. You're not much in the way of a big brother."

"Shut up!"

"Dean would have done a much better job protecting you. Though misery does love company I suppose… And of course, with you gone, he's all alone down there with Michael and I. Now what kind of man leaves his brother alone in such a place? Come to think of it, you're a pretty horrible little brother too. You let Dean go to Hell for you, and then did exactly what he begged you not to do…"

"I know what I did," Sam fumed.

"Of course you do. You jump started the apocalypse. Which means… All those people that died in the crossfire: Their blood is on your hands. And your little brother being ripped out of Heaven and pushed into Hell is your fault too. You've failed a lot of people Sammy."

Sam lost total control of himself. He jumped out of his chair and swung at Lucifer. His fist went right through him, as if he were a ghost.

Lucifer shook his head as he made tsk noises. "Sammy, Sammy, Sammy. That's no way to treat your betters."

Sam chose to ignore the way he used the nickname Dean had always used for him, "Yeah, I'm sure you're much better than me. That's why God likes us better right? Don't kid yourself." He wasn't sure why he had said it, but he didn't really care. He was pissed.

Anger flared in Lucifer's eyes, but he kept his calm as he said, "If you're so sure humans are better than Angels, why don't you come prove it?"

"Sure," Sam said with dry sarcasm, "I'll just jump right back in."

"It's okay, I understand Sam. You're scared."

"Think what you want. I'm not going back."

"Not even if I'm willing to exchange you're brother for you?"

"You're lying."

"I've told you Sam, I have no need to lie. Come back and I'll let you're brother go. Adam will go back to heaven where he belongs, and you'll be back where you belong."

"You think I belong in Hell…"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is that you do."

"Sam…"

Sam felt a slight pressure on his left shoulder, and suddenly, he was falling. A whole two feet. Sam looked up, and sighed in relief.

Dean was standing over him, eyebrows raised, "Clowns or midgets?"

"That's not funny Dean." Sam said as he pushed himself up off the ground.

Dean smiled, "Sure it is Sammy." Then he got serious and asked, "So, are you going to tell me what we're doing here?"

"I'm not sure exactly… I was planning on getting a motel room when I was done questioning that demon, but… I don't really know how to explain it. I just got a feeling that I should go somewhere else, and then I just ended up here."

"A feeling led you here?" Dean asked skeptically.

"Just forget it okay? The point is that I'm pretty sure the girl who lives here can help us find Yellow Eyes."

"Is she hot?"

Sam scowled at him, "She's eighteen Dean."

"Right. So, how is she supposed to help us find him?"

"She's a psychic."

"You've got to be kidding me Sam. A psychic? Really?"

"Why not? Pamela helped us find Cas. A demon should be loads easier to find than an angel."

"Alright, fine. But if she's just a psychic, why can't Cas know about her?"

"Because she doesn't want him to. She has about as much love for angels as we do."

Dean's eyebrows rose, "Why?"

Sam only shrugged, thinking it was probably better if he didn't go into details about the girl. He didn't like lying to Dean, but he knew that if he found out about her being attuned to them, he'd start asking her about what Sam was thinking, trying to make sure he was okay. But he couldn't afford that now. The girl probably already knew about his dream, and he didn't want Dean to find out. Even if it was just a dream… Because if it wasn't, Sam knew what he had to do, and Dean would never let him do it.