A/n: I kinda find it interesting that this is the post I have right before the most cheerful holiday. Whereas usually my stories around this time are heartwarming feel good shorts, this chapter...well, you'll see.

Thank you to everyone who reads, reviews, follows, and/or favorites. Welcome to the few new followers and a special thank you to hectatess, Souless666, and dlk for your recent reviews.

Chapter 8

Dean supposed it wasn't a shock that Bobby Singer had a room very similar to that of the one that Gordon Walker had kept him prisoner in not that long ago. Possibly all hunters did. Although he had never seen the location of the psycho hunter's panic room, this Hunter kept his in the basement. Dean could feel his heart begin to beat against his chest and his breath was coming in a bit heavier than normal as they drew closer to the door. He gulped a few times trying to keep his stomach contents down where they belonged.

"You alright Dean?" His friend's voice broke through and he nodded his head in confirmation.

"I'm good."

Bobby stopped at the door with Dean next to him and he sighed, his expression showed no signs of humor.

"What?" The elder Winchester asked nervously.

"I had to do this for his own safety. And ours," he explained cautiously. "You understand that?"

"Had to do what?"

With one last look at the older brother, the hunter opened the single metal door to the panic room.

It looked similar to Gordon's with a few additions and personal touches. It was cylinder shaped and lined in what looked like iron. A large extraction fan with a metal grill in the shape of what looked like a pentagram was located on the ceiling and was large enough to consume a good portion of the space.

Sitting on a cot much like the one he had been on in Gordon's room, was Sam. His head was down causing some of his hair to fall into his eyes and with the exception of the blood still on the lower half of his face, he reminded Dean more of the little brother who was disgruntled about having lost a game of soccer than a giant man who had nearly strangled him to death. Sam lifted his head to see who had entered and when his gaze fell on Dean, the fire he had shown back at their house was lit once again.

"YOU?!" He roared as he fought against the handcuffs that were holding him securely to the cot.

"Easy there Sam," Bobby tried to coax, putting his hands up to show he meant no harm.

His eyes turned to the hunter. "And you! How could you work with demons?! Especially when they look like him?!"

Both Bobby and the elder Winchester looked at Sam puzzled.

"Just relax kid, no one's workin' with demons."

"Oh yeah," then how do you explain that?" He asked nodding his head in the direction of his older sibling.

"Me? I'm not a demon," Dean said defensively. "I'm back because of you. What did you do?"

Sam looked away bouncing his gaze back and forth from the ground to anywhere that wasn't either of the men before him.

"Nothing," he said in a small voice. "I did nothing. I tried..." He trailed off and closed his eyes trying to keep tears from falling. When he opened them again they were angry once more. "You aren't him! You aren't Dean! You can't be! You're just here to fuck with me! Like Ruby did! You just want me to let the devil out so that he can use me to get free! That's not going to happen! I know your game now, I can see right through you! I'm done playing!"

Despite wanting to get an explanation of what his sibling meant by all that, Dean's voice and demeanor grew soft and he took a few steps closer to Sam.

"Hey, look at me. It's me, alright?" He said gently, raising his hands as he had seen the hunter do. "It's really me Sammy."

"DON'T CALL ME SAMMY!" The younger man yelled.

"What can I do to prove to you I'm me?" Dean inquired still in a calm voice trying not to lose control of himself.

"I got some Holy water and salt back upstairs," Bobby suggested.

"You honestly expect me to believe that will work? You remember how well that trick of yours worked last time?I'm not falling for that again."

Dean frowned and turned to look at the hunter who returned it with a look of his own.

"If you thought wearing my dead brother was going to have some kind of affect on me, congratulations, you were right." The elder Winchester brother brought his attention back to his sibling. "Unfortunately, I don't think the outcome is going to turn out the way you had hoped." His voice was menacing and full of venom as he spoke clearly and low. "I will make sure your death is slow and painful. And it will be my pleasure to see it through personally."

"Come on Sam, there's gotta be something," the elder brother remarked not caring how desperate he sounded. There was a pause and the room fell silent for a minute.

"There's a knife in the pocket inside my jacket. Pull it out."

Dean blinked but did what was asked of him. At first glance it appeared to be a regular hunting knife. Upon further inspection the elder brother noticed the strange symbols, or possibly foreign writing, along the blade.

"What's this for?"

"You wanna prove you're not a demon? Show me your blood."

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me."

The younger man's expression didn't show any signs of humor as he stared down the man before him who's own expression mirrored that of their friend who still stood in the doorway.

"Have you lost your damn mind?"

"Just do it!"

The room fell silent again and the brothers continued to stare at one another. Finally Dean rolled up the sleeve of his borrowed shirt and he brought the strange knife up to his bare arm. The blade sat only a couple of inches from his skin. He felt his hand shaking slightly as he moved the sharp item towards him and closed his eyes and hissed when cold metal bit into his flesh. Blood instantly began to seep out of the fresh wound and he moved his arm so that Sam could see the affect the slice had made. He watched his face not daring to take or let out a breath, waiting for a reaction. The younger man stared fixated on the red that snaked its way out and ran down his sibling's arm; letting out a breath he himself had been holding in. No orange flash or glow, only blood.

"Satisfied?" Dean asked slapping a hand to the wound and applying pressure. Sam only motioned the best he could for his brother to return the knife. Unsure if giving him a sharp object was a smart idea even if he couldn't reach it, he wiped the little bit of blood off onto his shirt and slowly placed it back where he found it. He had been so focused on his own movement, that he didn't see his sibling throw his head at his until it had already come in contact. Dean stumbled backwards a bit, bringing his hand to feel his nose. It wasn't broken, but a drop of red appeared when he pulled his hand back. The elder Winchester looked back at his brother surprised. It had made sense that Sam would glare at him the way he was when he had thought he was a demon, but even after he proved he wasn't, Sam was still looking at Dean with a look of unmistakable hatred. "Dude what the fuck?"

"I can't believe you," was his response.

"Can't believe me?! I didn't do anything!"

"I'm gonna go get you a bandage for that cut," Bobby interrupted briefly before turning and leaving the brothers alone.

"You didn't do anything?" Sam echoed as though the hunter hadn't spoken. "You're going to stand there and tell me you didn't do anything? Really?"

"Yeah really, because I didn't!"

The younger man scoffed and shook his head. "Right. So leaving me the way you did...you call that not doing anything?" The familiar sinking feeling occupied Dean's gut as they stared at each other. "You left me, Dean," Sam's voice shook with emotion. The elder sibling swallowed and his features grew downcast. "You left me all alone after I told you, after I begged you not to. " For a moment, Dean was rendered speechless.

"I didn't mean...It was the only way to keep you safe."

"I didn't need to be kept safe, I needed you." The feeling of being nauseous left him and a fire took its place.

"You needed me huh? That's funny. That wasn't the case last I remember it. Wasn't it you who told me you hated me and that you wanted me out of your life?" He stopped for only a second before pressing on. "Wasn't it you who didn't invite me to your fucking wedding? Wasn't it you who told Dad to go to Hell and then bit my head off for defending him while you continued to ignore him like he didn't exist even after Mom and I told you he was sick?" Both of them only glared at each other for awhile before Dean added "yeah, you really sound like you needed me. I'm really feeling your loss."

"You don't have any idea how I felt that night, or any of those other times!" Sam countered. "Not one damn idea!"

"You know? You're right, I don't. See I can't imagine not inviting you to something as big as my wedding, or bailing on you before I left somewhere. I can't imagine talking to Dad the way you did or saying the things to you that you say to me." Dean scoffed. "I just can't imagine being that selfish."

The room fell silent once more but the air around the Winchesters was anything but. The hunter must have felt it because he entered only to hand Dean what was necessary to patch up the cut and then was gone without a word.

"Fuck you."

The elder Winchester brother snapped his fingers and pointed at the younger man, "there's that brotherly love. I'm really glad I climbed out of that rotting box six feet under and found you."

"No one asked you to," Sam snapped.

"You're right. I just did it on my own. That's what loyalty is. That's someone who cares about their family!"

"Oh is that what that is?" Sam retorted with a snicker, "see to me that sounds more like you were looking because you missed having someone to control and bitch at about how shitty they treat you."

"Yeah you know what? Let's talk about control for a minute. What the fuck was that freaky crap you did back at the house?"

"You wouldn't understand," the younger brother replied coolly. "I wouldn't expect you to. You've never really had an open mind to anything like this. You or Dad. I guess that should have been my first clue that you were possessed after the accident last year."

It took everything in Dean curled his fingers into his palm creating a fist and dug his nails into his own skin. "Don't bring Dad into this."

"Oh, you mean like you did back at the police station after Jessica died?"

"Let it go already!" Dean roared. "I'm so fucking sick and tired of you always bringing up the damn past and bitching about everything that I've done! You hate me, I know! Get over it and get over yourself!"

"That's kind of the pot calling the kettle black, isn't it?" Sam countered. "How many times are you going to mention not being invited to my wedding? Or bring up my fight with Dad? You know, you've pulled your fair share of shit in this family yourself Dean. You aren't the perfect son or brother either."

Dean took a shaky breath, "yeah, you've made sure to be a constant reminder of that."

"I'm just returning the favor," Sam shot back. Dean nodded.

"I'll send Bobby down to let you out. Sorry to have gone out looking for you." Before Sam had the chance to respond, the elder brother turned on his heels and headed back towards the basement. "Don't let the door smack your ass on the way out!" He called back over his shoulder, leaving Sam to seether alone in the panic room.

A/n: So um...Yeah. On that uplifting note...MERRY CHRISTMAS to all those who celebrate and if you don't, happy holidays!

Dlk: I'm glad you're enjoying the story. Thank you so much for reading and reviewing!