Sorry it's taken so long to add a chapter. I have major writer's block. I will get to explaining Xander's possessions in the next chapter. Thanks for everyone reading this.

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It was the third day into their visit that things went downhill. The day had started out as normal with Jess fixing breakfast for the group, enjoying Xander's help. Dean and Sam spoke quietly at the table, sharing stories of things the other had missed. Then Jess had gone to work and Sam had shown Dean and Xander around the campus. It was nearing lunchtime when they ran into Sam's old roommate Brady, and things got complicated.

"Sam!" The group turned to see a tall young man calling out to the younger brother.

"Brady," he greeted in return, not seeing the way Xander paled dramatically, pushing back into his father.

Dean frowned down at his son with worry. He never acted like this unless he saw a ghost or some creature, but he'd never heard of any supernatural issues in this town. And he had checked religiously once he knew Sam would be living there.

Ignoring his brother talking with his friend he knelt down to look at Xander in the eyes. "What's wrong buddy? Do you see something I need to handle?"

Xander whimpered, frightened brown eyes looking at Sam's friend. "He's not right."

Dean froze, eying the young man speaking to his brother out of the corner of his eye. "What do you mean?"

"There's something ugly and twisted inside him," he whispered into his father's ear. "He's only pretending to be Uncle Sam's friend."

Dean frowned not liking the implication of the situation. According to his son Brady was possessed, whether by a ghost or a spirit was yet to be seen. Either way it was bad, especially with him being so chummy with Sam.

"Okay, I want you to stay behind me at all times," he advised getting a nod in return. Standing he motioned for his brother to come over, unfortunately Brady came with him.

"Dean, this is my friend Brady, we roomed together freshman year. Brady, this is my brother Dean and my nephew Xander," Sam introduced them, happy to finally have the chance.

"You didn't tell me you had a nephew Sam," Brady chided the other male, but Dean noted the way his eyes narrowed just slightly. It sent bad vibes down his back.

"I only found out this past Christmas," Sam defended.

"Well it's nice to meet you Dean, and you too Xander," the smile he flashed was a bit on the creepy side.

"Likewise," Dean replied cautiously. It wouldn't due to out the guy here. They needed to trap him in a devil's trap first. Then they could exercise him.

Xander just hung closer to his father, hiding away from the bad man. Both the shadowy man and the growly dog were telling him to stay far away from this one. He was no good.

"Hey, why don't you come over for a beer later," Sam suggested.

"Sounds good. I can tell them all the stories of your first year."

"Careful I have plenty on you as well!"

It wasn't until Brady was well out of sight that Xander calmed down enough to stop hiding behind Dean.

"Xander are you okay," Sam frowned, having noticed his nephew's shaken exterior.

"We need to talk Sam," Dean advised seriously leaning down to pick Xander up. "Somewhere safe."

Sam blinked dread welling up in his stomach. "Yeah, come on."

It didn't take long to get to the apartment. Jess was still out so they had the place to themselves. Dean placed Xander down in front of the TV and set him up with some show on the Discovery channel before taking Sam into the kitchen.

"You're friend is possessed," he started off bluntly.

"Jesus Dean! I should have known! You just can't let me have a normal life…" Sam growled.

"This isn't about that," Dean snapped, temper flaring. "I have always supported you! And in case you forgot giagantor I took you to the bus stop and gave you money to get you started here!" He paused taking a breath to calm down, only slightly vindicated when Sam looked at him guiltily. "Look, there's something me and Bobby haven't told you. Xander… Xander has a gift. He can see things other people can't. He's seen ghosts and creatures in various places that I never would have guessed were there." He held a hand up to stop Sam's new tirade. "I am only telling you this because I know you won't spout off to dad or anyone else about it. I do not want him to be a Hunter, but I will train him to take care of himself. He already knows what's out there, though I wish to god he didn't. But neither you nor I can take his ability away, so I'm doing what I can to protect him."

Sam blinked, startled by his brother's words. Dean had never talked to him like that, which told him just how seriously he was taking this. Sam let his eyes wander to the small form of his nephew in the living room. "What about an amulet or a ward?"

"Tried it." Dean sighed heavily. "The best we can do is a ward against possession but that's it. Everything else we tried didn't help. He still sees stuff and apparently he saw something in your friend Brady. Something that had him scared bad."

"Brady? But I've known him for years…"

"Have you," Dean challenged only buckling when Sam hit him with sad eyes. "Look, I know it doesn't seem plausible, lord knows it's pretty quiet here in terms of supernatural. But Xander's never been wrong about what he's seen. We should at least check it out. If he's not we'll tell him it was a prank. If he is… then we gotta ask why he's trying to be chummy with you."

Sam hemmed and hawed before finally relenting to logic. "Fine! But I'm not happy about this!"

"Never expected you to be."