A/N: sorry for the long wait! All the feedback I got was awesome, as I'm excited for this next bit. thanks so much to Leandra Falconwing, VattaKeto, Sarah, LeeMarieJack, Kas3y, Dani, NikkieSheepie, and Jenna for your fabulous reviews! I love starting new stories so much eep. Alright, enjoy!

-Jaq


The next day, Sam packed up and left both town and the demon behind him. He was shaken by the encounter. Very shaken. He had let a demon get the best of him. Hell, he'd almost died. If the demon had thrown the knife just two inches farther...

Silently, Sam vowed never to waste so much time again. Kill first. Demons were evil. Kill them all, all the evil sons of bitches that had taken his brother. That was all he could do.

Unless the demon was telling the truth...

No. Don't even consider it. Don't even...

Sam's really grateful for the fact that there's nobody in the other lane, because when a strange man appears in the passenger seat, he instinctively swerved to the left.

"I took the liberty of de-warding the car," the man said smoothly, staring out into the distance with eyes the color of pitch.

Sam slammed on the breaks and reached a hand back to grab the knife. Before he can do so, however, an invisible force stopped him.

"Relax. No way a normal demon wouldn't have gotten this far. But I knew this car like the back of my hand once." An unidentifiable look flashed across the face.

"Stop pretending to be my brother," Sam growled through clenched teeth, straining against the supernatural hold to try and reach the knife.

"I am your brother!" the demon yelled, causing the radio to turn on and erupt into static. "I am Dean Winchester, and I'm a damn demon, and you better get used to it, Sammy!"

Sam boiled now, with hot rage. And even though the addict part of him had been dormant for almost a year, he could still still smell the blood, even faintly. Closing his eyes, he willed the demon to come out. Maybe he still had the juice. Maybe.

The demon just laughed, a sharp, breathy sound that sent shivers down Sam's spine. "You can do that until your brain hehmorages, but it's not gonna make a lick of a difference. Face it. You don't have that kind of mojo, at least not anymore."

"Fine. Kill me, then, if that's what you've been after," Sam spat, pushing uselessly against the demon's hold.

"Why would I want to kill you?"

"You're a demon. Demons are evil," Sam grunted out, finally abandoning hope of reaching the knife.

The demon grabbed Sam's face, forcing him to look at it. "I could have killed you fifty different ways already, each more painful than the next. And I'm about to. But I'm not going to kill my own brother without his knowing who I am." The demon's grip tightened, and Sam felt his jaw strain under the superhuman strength.

"Uhhhhnnh," he managed, giving his best glare.

The demon smirked and released Sam's face. "Humans are so fragile. I keep forgetting that."

Rubbing his jaw, Sam looked up warily. "Tell me something only Dean would know. Tell me..." he thought. "What he gave me for my sixteenth birthday."

The demon shrugged flippantly. "That was over two centuries ago. How'm I supposed to remember something like that? Birthdays were never really a big occasion in our household. But...wasn't it a bottle of tequila? I stole it and then told you I'd been saving for a couple months...ha...yeah, that was it. Little Sammy, drinking the good stuff at sixteen. Do I pass the test?"

Sam's mouth tightened into a thin line. Dean had given him tequila. But Dean wasn't so...uncaring. Dean was kind, and he felt deeply, and he wasn't a demon.

"I'll take that as a yes. Now give me the keys. I haven't driven Baby in a couple centuries, and I think it's long overdue." With a menacing do-as-I-say-or-you'll-regret-it glare, the demon held out his hand expectantly.

Sam's grip on the steering wheel tightened.

"Dammit," growled the demon, and yanked the keys from Sam, at the same time catapulting the man into the back. Before he could snatch up the knife, however, the demon grabbed it and thrust it into its jacket. "You can climb up to the passenger seat if you want," it said carelessly. "But I get to pick the music."

Sam stayed in the back, sitting rigidly and listening to the music that suddenly turned on- Metallica's Ride the Lightning album. His fists clenched, and he wrestled with the idea that- maybe- this really was Dean. Maybe. It felt like betrayal somehow, too, though, because a demon was everything that Dean wasn't- Dean cared, so much. And Dean just...wasn't evil.

Sam had never met a demon that wasn't evil. He'd thought for a few months (well, maybe more than that) that Ruby...but his face darkened and he refused to finish that thought.

Dean- the demon, Sam corrected himself- looked into the rear view mirror in tone to see Sam's face. "What's wrong, Sammy?" He- it- smirked. "I sorta thought you'd be happier to see me."

Sam didn't say anything, just stared out the windshield.

"Don't say you're not happy to see me, Sam. I saw you, sulking around, being miserable. You're incomplete without me. I'm the better half of the Winchester brothers, and you know it."

"I want Dean, not some demon," Sam snapped scathingly. "I'm not sure what you're going to do, but I can take it. Just drop the façade. You aren't my brother, and you never will be."

"That hurts, Sammy. I could have killed you by now if I wanted to."

"So you've said," Sam growled. "But that doesn't mean anything. Ruby wanted me alive too, for a while."

The demon's hands clenched on the steering wheel. "What did that bitch do?" he asked, face contorting. "I knew she was evil. I tried to tell you, but did you listen? No."

No. Dean had tried to warn him. Not...this. "It doesn't matter, does it? I killed her."

"Good for you. I need to refuel." The demon's eyes met Sam's in warning. "I don't want to hurt you, but if you try- anything- while I get gas, you will regret it. Understand?"

"I thought you didn't want to hurt me. Why does it matter?" Sam snapped, not letting the tiny flame of hope that had sprung up dissipate.

"I'm not letting you out of my sight. That's final."

-:-

While the demon refueled the car, Sam weighed his options. Either it really was Dean, or it was a really bad plan of some demon's. And, much as he wanted to believe the latter, he felt himself leaning towards the first option.

When the demon got back in the car, cracking its back and smiling, Sam swallowed hard. He would give it a chance. For now.


A/N 2: Next chapter, the action will really pick up. I'm excited for that. If you liked this chapter, would you be awesome and review? I know it takes some time and effort, so it makes me really happy because you took that time an effort and put it into telling me you liked my story...well, thanks for sticking with me! Have a great day, everyone.

-Jaq