Chapter 12: Breakfast and Tiffany

It was around eight when Sam knocked on the door to Dean's hotel room. He wasn't mistaken when he'd called the Carlton fancy the previous evening. The hotel had been built a few decades earlier and was designed for the wealthy as a place to stay when visiting New York. Over the years the reputation hadn't waned, but it had become at least marginally more accessible for an individual of more meager means to get a room. Money hadn't been much of a thought for Dean when he'd chosen the room-the main reason was its proximity to the Center, as in his less than fully-cognitive state he'd simply gone to the nearest hotel he could find. But in any case, the hotel remained as opulent and well-appointed as it had been. The 23rd floor was toward the top of the building, but still nearly a dozen down from the penthouses and private suites that were booked permanently by discerning individuals of status as more of a symbol than an actual retreat.

Sam briefly appraised the hall around him while he heard Dean muffle something about getting the door in a minute-probably still getting dressed. The hallway was paneled in dark wood up to the waist with raised panels every few feet. It was a style rarely used now, given the more modern look currently in fashion forwent this style of panel with exception of people who were adherent to more traditional styles of design (that is to say, those unobliged to embracing any color or pattern of the post-war world). As Sam mused about how the design on the carpet seemed familiar he finally heard the lock click and the door opened revealing his brother dressed and ready for breakfast along with Cas standing a few paces behind.

"Morning, didn't expect to see you here." Sam nodded politely as he glanced at Cas.

"He dropped by to check in and fill me in on heaven." Dean remarked, "I'll let him tell you about that." He paused, "So, where do you want to eat?"

**SPN**

As Dean took another forkful of hash-browns from his plate he listened to Cas finish his recap of everything from heaven, "…which is when I arrived at Dean's hotel room. It was truly disheartening to learn that the brothers and sisters I love are now against me and that some of them are actively working to bring about the end through inaction."

Sam was silent a moment as he exhaled, a small plume of smoke rising from his lips. Whether he liked it or not, news this stressful mandated a cigarette, if not more. "So, if I've got this right, heaven is currently on lock-down and at least one-maybe two-of the archangels are actively rooting for the end of days?"

"That is correct."

"Forgive me Cas, but Jesus Christ!" Sam muttered, "So, what the fuck do we do now?"

"We can talk to R about it and see if he has any ideas. But before we do that I think you promised me some explanation for everything." Dean said as he raised an eyebrow.

Sam bit down on his cigarette slightly as he frowned. I'd half-hoped you'd forget about that. "Yeah. That's right."

The table was a small island of silence in the morning buzz of the Howard Johnson's. Around the men families and couples chatted happily as they ate Sunday breakfast at the restaurant chain. Their single booth was tucked away in the back and it was at the moment the only spot where those dining weren't jovially chatting. The angel could sense the tension between the brothers and decided to speak, "I am going to speak to R, I can see that the two of you have something to discuss on your own."

"We'll see you at the Center." Dean nodded as the angel disappeared. "Well?" He said looking across the table.

Sam steadied his hands as he took a final drag and snuffed the butt out in the ashtray. "I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone else this. Even if you hate me and never want to see me again, you need to keep this a secret."

Dean's face hardened. True, their interactions yesterday hadn't been ideal, but even then Sam had to have known that Dean hadn't meant what he'd said. "Look, I already said what I said about what I said yesterday. You're not a sack of shit, okay? But I had a right to be pissed off; you held a secret from me for over a decade. So tell me already."

"Dean, I mean it. It's more than just what I said. It's serious stuff and you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone." Sam looked nervous, almost on the verge of being sick.

Dean glanced at his brother's plate and realized that Sam had barely touched his breakfast. "Okay, I swear."

"You remember how dad started hunting: the fire, mom's death, all of that. But there was more. Dad saw some guy in their room standing over my bassinet the night of the fire. Apparently he had glowing yellow eyes. When he tried to stop him he was frozen, like he couldn't move. He watched as mom was pinned to the ceiling and burned alive-the yellow eyed demon winked and disappeared. Dad grabbed me, then you, then that was it." Sam took a sip of water as Dean processed what he'd said.

"Wait, I thought you said the yellow eyed demon was the one who kidnapped you? What was he doing there when you were six months old? And why didn't dad ever mention the guy?" Dean shook his head slightly as he tried to understand what all this meant. "I mean, he knew it was probably a demon, but wouldn't yellow eyes be the kind of thing you'd want to look into? Demons have black eyes, not yellow."

"Dad didn't mention it because he thought he'd imagined the yellow eyes. With everything that happened that night a demon was the only logical explanation, and when he tried to look into it there wasn't anything on it. It wasn't until later he found out that it was real." Sam muttered.

"But we were researching for years when I was a kid, I mean; it had to pop into his head to look for it sometime?"

"According to dad he gave up on a yellow eyed demon after a year of looking and every book and other hunter saying no such thing existed. We didn't start researching until you were twelve. That's eight years later. By that point he'd been convinced he'd mis-remembered that detail." Sam paused, "But anyway, apparently that thing wasn't just there to kill mom. It was there for me."

"So that's why it kidnapped you, so it could finish you off like it wanted to when you were a baby?" Dean guessed, horrified at the implications that demons would stoop so low.

"Not quite…" Sam exhaled, "After you were drafted stuff started happening to me. It was mostly headaches to start with-I figured it was stress or something, and I didn't even mention it to dad. But then the dreams started."

Dean raised an eyebrow, "What kind of dreams?"

"I was seeing people die. People I'd never met. They were dying horrible deaths…" Sam somehow turned paler as he remembered. "Dean, I watched a toddler drown to death in a pool… I could feel the life leaving his body as I tried to wake up."

Dean was silent a moment before he spoke, "Holy shit."

"And the thing was, these deaths, they were real. I didn't tell dad about them at first, but when I saw an obituary for someone who exactly matched the description I told him everything. He didn't want to believe me at first, but eventually I convinced him. I was psychic." Dean was silent, he didn't know what to say. Sam took a small sip of water, then continued, "Turns out that demon, the yellow eyed freak, he made me this way. He did something to me when I was a baby and it made me able to see other people dying. I still don't know who he is or what he has in mind, but I found out that seeing deaths was only the tip of the fucked up shit that was in store."

"The only lead we had was from a medium, a woman named Tiffany who Bobby knew was the real deal. And no, Bobby doesn't know, so you don't have to hate him-dad just asked if he knew any decent mediums for a case. Tiffany was able to read that the demon had somehow marked me and that because of it I was capable of more than any normal human. While neither dad nor I were a big fan of that, she did say that there were things I could try to better control it and stop the death visions. So, we started doing this thing called yoga-some sort of weird Indian meditation-because it apparently helps to 'align the aura'. Look, I know it sounds like bullshit, but it's real."

"So, what happened?"

"We found out that somehow being marked made me able to basically act as a human radar for the supernatural-I can feel when it's near. That, and I used to be able to exorcise demons without the rituals or holy water."

"Wait, what? How?"

"I don't know. All I know is that if I concentrated on a demon I could grab onto their essence and throw them out of the person they were in. I haven't practiced since you got back from the war, so I don't think I can do it now without some serious practice first." Sam mumbled as he looked down at the linoleum floor beneath them.

"That's incredible-but if you could do that, then how come the yellow eyed guy could get you?" Dean asked, trying to puzzle together everything.

"He was way harder than any other demon I'd ever successfully gotten out. Turns out there's different levels of demons and the yellow eyed one is pretty up there."

"So he lures you into investigating someone to get you close enough to try and exorcise him, but why would he kidnap you and force you into some sort of 'The Most Dangerous Game' scenario?"

"It was to determine who his next meatsuit would be. He said he'd marked all of us and only the strongest would be fit to be his next host." Sam rubbed his arm and tried to stop the burning sensation in the faded scar from that day. "I ran and hid while a couple of them tried to slaughter the rest. Eventually I was forced out of my hiding spot and tried to escape through the woods. I made it to a clearing probably a mile from the rest of them when one of them appeared in front of me. I woke up in the backseat of dad's Dodge-he'd somehow tracked me down and bartered for my life with a crossroads demon. We spent the next year trying everything we could think of to save him before he was eviscerated by hellhounds in some bar in Kenosha."

Dean looked up at the ceiling for a moment before he tilted his head back to look at his brother. "Sammy I don't hate you. You're the last family I've got and I'm sorry for what I said. Look, I know you promised dad you wouldn't tell me, but thank you for telling me. I… I had no idea you went through all that. I think it's actually kinda badass you've got psychic wonder-boy abilities, even if a demon caused them. Maybe someone at the center can help you out with them and we can figure out what caused it-they're big enough and have enough scientists and hunters someone's got to know something. Even if not, I don't think anything different because of it. Though I'm still pretty pissed it took this long to tell me."

"Thanks Dean. I figured you'd disown me after you found out everything-I should've told you before."

"Let's get to the Center, I'm sure R wants to talk to us after Cas revealed how some of the angels are just giant dicks with wings." Dean said as he stood up and motioned to the waitress for the check. "And besides, having a brother who can smite demons with his mind is pretty damn useful in our line of work. Maybe I should try this yoga stuff and see if I have any powers I don't know about."

Sam rolled his eyes and cracked a small smile, glad to be mostly back to normal-aside from the impending ending of the world.