Chapter 8:

The atmosphere in the diner was tense again. Dean finally gave up on breathing exercises and blurted out.

"What the hell is going on here?"

That question prompted a variety of responses from his family. His mother pinned a sharp glare at his father while said father shrunk down even further. Sam leaned back with a bag of popcorn [where did he get that from?!] with an amused smirk, which looked eerily familiar. Except it wasn't a look he had ever seen on his brother's face before. Mom took a steadying breath [huh, so that's where he got it from] and asked Dad "John, is there something you wanted to tell us?"

Impossibly, Dad shrunk into himself even further. He fiddled with his glass of water for a while but gave up after he spilled water all over the table. It was then that Dean noticed that his father's hands were shaking so badly that the water wouldn't stay put in the glass. He couldn't believe it. Whatever it was must be very bad. He really hoped it wasn't another Adam. Was it just him or was Sam enjoying this stupid stand off? Then again he never really got along with Dad to begin with.

"A few years before Adam was born, I had a one night stand with a woman. It can't be called a one night stand, actually. We were both drunk out of our minds. Apparently it was her bachelorette party."

"Okay. Wow, you slept with a soon to be married woman?"

"Yeah, Serene Elson. She married Ken Foller the next day and found out she was pregnant a few months later. They were both fair haired, so when the kid turned out to be dark haired they started having their doubts. But Ken turned out to be a gentleman and since she hadn't technically cheated on him and he really adored the kid and her mother, he forgave her on the condition that something like that wouldn't happen again. And she agreed. I found out when the kid was three. I ran into the couple and the kid. They told the kid to stay in the house and then threatened me to stay away from them and their kid. I agreed because that's when I found out that I had a kid in the first place. Three years later, I found a letter addressed to me at Bobby's place. Apparently, while they didn't want me ten feet near that kid they had wanted me to know if the kid died. All three of them were murdered. Their lawyer forwarded a note that said that they were dead, according to their wills. I visited the lawyer and found out the details. Further investigation showed that they were tortured and killed by a band of vampires – survivors from a nest I had thought I had cleaned out a few decades back. The ghost girl is – she's my…"

"Your daughter." Mary said in a cold voice. "Are there any other step-children I have that I should know of?" she continued. John shook his head jerkily.

"Did Stella die before or after Adam got eaten by ghouls?" Sam asked lightly as he polished off the last of his popcorn.

"Before."

"And it didn't occur to you that he and his mother should have been warned of the supernatural? That they should be taught to protect themselves? hadn't been aware of the supernatural but knew of them. Shouldn't they have been taught at least the basic precautions?" Sam's voice was deceptively soft when he questioned John, who flinched back as though he had been struck. He would have made a terrifying lawyer, the thought crossed Dean's mind suddenly.

"The vampire nest was one of my earlier hunts."

"Oh, so you thought it was a one-time mistake, now didn't you? That you wouldn't have left any survivors screaming for your blood. How arrogant of you, John." Sam's voice was starting to scare Dean. Since when did he speak like that? It reminded Dean of an odd but terrifying combination of Lucifer and Gabriel's speech patterns. Lucifer's ability to speak of everything and anything as if it were about the weather and Gabriel's ability to force people to come face to face with harsh truths. And since when did Sam call Dad John? Wait didn't he refer to Dad as your Dad in the car? Were things that bad between them?

John shuffled in his seat and then pinned Sam with an angry look. "Don't you dare speak to me like that, son. You –"

Mary slammed her palm onto the table, cutting of John's words. "Answer him John."

John merely continued to glare at Sam who was resting his chin on his laced fingers, with his elbows propped up on the table, a lazy smile on his face. Dean resisted the urge to shudder. Just how long had his brother's only company been their half-brother and two neurotic archangels? The tense stand-off was broken by Sam's cell phone. He flicked it open and answered it, while never taking his eyes of Dad. His side of the conversation involved a series of non-committal hums and at the end an "I'll see you there." He slid the phone back into his jacket's pocket and continued to stare at John. Five minutes later, John asked Sam "Who was it?"

"None of your business."

"You-"

"Tell me one thing, John. Were you ever planning to tell us about our siblings. Or at the very least, tell Mom?"

John remained silent.

"Thought so." With that, Sam slid out of his seat, kissed Mom on her cheek and said "Go ahead without me. I'll be there at Erconsky."

Before anyone could say otherwise, Sam had left the diner.

A/N:

1. Special thanks to Cecilia695.