They spent the rest of the day relaxing and sleeping, and the next morning came with a rude awakening. Sam felt himself falling and before he could catch himself he landed on the dirty motel floor in a heap.

Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Sam looked up to find Dean grinning down at him, his black eyes shining.

"Dean, what the hell?" Sam grumbled, extremely agitated. Last night had been the first night in a long time that he had gotten a lot of rest. Being woken up in this way wasn't very pleasing.

"Since you don't hate me anymore I figured I could mess with you now and get away with it." At Sam's continuing glare, Dean sighed. "Fine you prissy little bitch, if you're going to mope about it I'll even offer you a hand up." Dean extended his hand towards Sam which he eyed warily. Dean would probably help him halfway up before letting go and having Sam drop to the floor for his own childish amusement. But an aggravating demon Dean was much better than no Dean at all. Sam decided to accept what he was being offered and grabbed Dean's hand.

Surprisingly, Dean supported Sam until he was standing upright and even gave him a hard thump on the back, making Sam cough. Dean winced though as he went to move, hissing in pain and sat down on Sam's bed. He probably was still hurting from the holy water. "We're gonna go after some demons next. I know of a case that I've been meaning to get to that has one. It seems pretty low level so you should be able to handle it. I'll be there anyway, so you'll be fine."

"How do you know it's a demon?"

"Because I'm one. I know how demons act. Feel free to torment me if I'm wrong but I know I'm not."

"Okay." Sam nodded. "Alright, I trust you."

"Well you sure did a total 180." Dean was staring at Sam in a sort of thoughtful way. "What made you change your mind?"

"When you checked on me that night... it was... no one could imitate that. No one would even bother if they were in as much pain as you were in. That's when I kind of thought back to everything and I knew I was fooling myself by believing you weren't... well, you."

Dean actually looked embarrassed. "I thought you were sleeping." For once he didn't have anything smart to say.

"What did you think I thought when I woke up and called for you?"

"I thought you were delirious or half-asleep. I didn't think you meant it when you said my name."

"Well I did. And I think I really knew all along deep down that it was you. I just didn't want to believe that you could be..."

"A cold-hearted worthless piece of Hell scum?"

Sam swallowed. "Yeah." He watched as Dean scowled at that comment, his face going dark and almost feral. But it didn't scare him anymore; it just showed him that Dean still cared what Sam thought about him, that he still wanted his little brother's companionship.

"But I don't feel like that anymore," Sam hurried to add on. "All I could see before was the demon. But you're still you... my brother. You're both. You're my brother the demon and it's just that simple. It shouldn't have taken me so long to figure it out."

Dean continued to stare at Sam in an unnerving way. "So I'm not scum? Or a disgusting piece of shit that you just happened to scream in my face more than once?"

Once again, the guilt was clawing its way back up Sam's chest. "God, no... I can't believe I said that. You have no idea how sorry I am, Dean." Sam pictured Dean in his head getting torn apart, screaming for his life as he died for Sam. He pictured Dean bleeding and being cut apart in Hell. Dean suffered through all that for Sam, and he repaid his brother by viciously insulting him. He wanted nothing more right now than to hug his brother, but Dean probably wouldn't put up with that again. So instead he tried to offer Dean an apologetic smile.

It seemed to work. "You know, I like the sound of what you said earlier. My brother, the demon. We should publish a book."

Dean had struggled a bit to get up and walk into the bathroom. By the time he was finished with his shower Sam had already packed their bags (well actually just his, since Dean's old duffle and clothes were still in the Impala's trunk. He needed to remember to give them back to Dean) and was waiting by the door. Dean stumbled out of the bathroom, bleary-eyed and panting, clearly in pain and wearing Sam's clothes. One hand clutched his dirty clothes and the other was wrapped around the side of the wall, his whole body leaning against it.

Sam's worry for his brother doubled as he dropped the bags and hurried over to him. Dean was a demon; he shouldn't be in this much pain still, should he? Sam hesitated just a moment before he placed a hand on Dean's shoulder, happy when he didn't flinch away from the contact.

"Are you alright, Dean?" Sam asked, his heart fluttering when Dean didn't answer, just kept up the heavy breathing. "You're freaking me out here, man. Please say something."

Dean let go of the clothes he was holding and grabbed onto Sam's shoulder in a tight grip. "Take me...to the car." He managed to choke out, black eyes opening a bit. "Need'ta...sit."

"Yeah, okay." Sam nodded and wrapped an arm around Dean's waist as Dean threw his arm around Sam's neck for support. It felt so familiar; they'd helped carry each other like this dozens of times and Sam was glad he could still do something for his brother, that Dean was still letting him help.

He tried not to jostle Dean and helped him sit in the passenger's seat as carefully as he could. He then hurried back and grabbed his bag along with the clothes Dean had forgotten about. After having everything packed up, Sam grabbed Dean's old duffle that had been buried under weapons and junk. It took a bit of digging but he managed to free the dusty duffle. Sam looked at it with a smile, he was glad he had kept it even though it hurt like hell to see it every time he opened the trunk. His brother was officially back; a demon nonetheless, but he was back. They were a team again. Everything was going to be okay as long as they stuck together. Clutching the duffle to his chest, Sam made his way to the driver's side. Dean was sweating in the early summer heat so Sam reached over him to roll down his window.

"Thanks," Dean grumbled before he stuck his head out the window and seemed to try and get comfortable. Sam turned on the car's old air unit, never taking his eyes off his big brother. When Dean's breathing seemed to even out, Sam decided that it was safe to start the conversation.

"Where the hell did that come from?" He tried to hide the horror from his voice but failed. "You seemed to be doing fine. You were healing."

Dean took a deep breath. "Demons heal quickly from normal wounds. Gunshots, broken bones, holy water splashed to the face." He turned to look at Sam, his face looked nearly perfect, no sign of the torturous wounds that he had suffered from the vampires. "But holy water is poison to me when it gets inside of my system... Sammy, they made me swallow half a gallon. That was... it still is travelling through my body. It feels like I'm on fire, especially when I move around."

Sam felt his eyes water and he turned away from Dean. His brother had been in so much pain but still had gotten up in the morning to mess with Sam and fling him off his bed. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop them quicker. I should have."

"Hey, they were vampires; you're a wimpy and malnourished geek-boy. You didn't stand a chance." Sam glared over at Dean at that comment. He was trying to apologize and Dean just had to mock him. "What? It's true. You need to work out, eat right and be back at the top of your game. And I'm going to help you get there. You'll be stronger than you ever were before. Now drive, bitch."

"You're letting me drive?" Sam asked, astonished.

"Do I look like I'm in any condition to drive? I need my beauty sleep and once I feel alright, I'm taking over my wheels again. Drive, bitch, while you have the chance." Dean's words came out a bit harsh but there was a ghost of a smile tugging at the corner of his lips, Sam couldn't help but smile back. He felt happy; he felt good. He felt his smile turn into a grin.

"God, I missed you so much, you condescending, rude jerk."

They had been driving for a few hours when Dean woke up and eyed the duffle bag sitting between them.

"Is that mine?" He asked, his voice unreadable.

Sam looked away. "Yeah. It's been in the back of the Impala since the day... since you..."

"Got torn up and ripped to shreds by hellhounds and got yanked to Hell." He considered his comment. "Or you could just say I croaked... Either one. It did happen, Sammy; you can't avoid it like it never did."

Sam knew Dean was right, but he wished he wasn't. He wished he could just forget that ever happened. That Dean never died or went to Hell. He had spent so much time mourning the loss of his brother. Dean was back now, sitting right next to him... why couldn't he just forget about his death?

The sound of shuffling made Sam turn over to his brother. He had ripped off Sam's shirt and put on his old AC/DC one that had been in the duffle. He looked over at Sam and grinned wickedly, his black eyes shining. He was happy. Sam didn't think it was ever possible for demons to be happy or civil. But Dean was and Sam figured it had something to do with the fact that most demons didn't have family to come back to while Dean had him. Sam knew his brother and his emotions better than anyone, Dean was truly happy.

"Thank goodness; your shirts were too tight, and your pants were too long AND too tight. How is that even possible?"

"Um, how about smaller waist but longer legs? It isn't that hard to comprehend Dean. Even for you." He felt bad that Dean had been stuck wearing the same clothes he arrived in and then had been forced to wear Sam's when his got too dirty. But he couldn't keep dwelling on negative things like that. The important thing was that he knew he had Dean with him now and he was going to make sure to treat him right.

Dean scowled at Sam's comment and said something about being an anorexic Sasquatch. He continued digging through the bag and his motions grew more frantic as he started tossing clothes and empty beer bottles aside. The bottles made Sam smile, Dean was always such a pig. Maybe Sam should have cleaned out Dean's messy bag.

"What's wrong? What are you looking for?"

"Where is it?" Dean looked up, his black eyes angry and demanding.

"Where is what?"

"You really forgot about it didn't you? You threw it out! You kept this garbage and threw it out! How could you?"

Sam flinched at Dean's vicious tone and thought about what could have gotten his brother so riled up. It was a possession obviously, something that he wanted back. A weapon of some sort? Sam snuck a glance over and saw Dean clawing at the area just under his neck, looking lost.

Sam felt his heart break in half as he pulled over.

"You better have a god damned good explanation for..." Dean stopped and his mouth formed a little 'o' as he watched Sam reach under his shirt and pull out his amulet.

"I didn't want anything to happen to it... and I kind of missed you... a lot... so I kept it on at all times. But it's about time it's given back to its owner." He held the amulet over to Dean in his hand and watched how Dean quickly snatched it from him and looped it over his neck, looking proud.

"You're damn right you need to give it back to me. You're the one who gave it to me in the first place; you shouldn't take back your own gifts." He ran his hand over the amulet a few times and then looked over at Sam before quickly looking away.

Sam smiled. They were going to be alright.

They had to stop a half hour later for gas and Sam was surprised to see Dean stumbling out of the Impala after him, forcing his eyes back to their human shade.

"What are you doing? I thought you were in so much pain, go sit down."

"You shouldn't tell a demon what to do. I could easily rip you to shreds." Dean grumbled.

"Yeah, and I'd like to see you try." Sam smirked and started walking again only to suddenly stumble on seemingly nothing. He almost fell to the ground, and as he regained his footing Dean chuckled next to him.

"Just because I won't hurt you doesn't mean I won't mess with you. So go on, keep telling me what to do and you'll see what happens." Dean was still wearing that same smirk and with his eyes human, it was almost like two years ago, pranking each other and bickering. Deep down, they really hadn't changed much after all.

Sam managed a pout as they walked inside. "That's not fair. Anything I try to do to get back at you will look lame. You have the advantage with your stupid powers."

"So just give it up and admit that I win." Dean was still stumbling around a bit, but he didn't seem to be in so much pain.

"You're insane if you ever think I'll admit defeat to you." Sam said, looking behind him to find out Dean had already wandered away to the back of the store. Rolling his eyes, Sam grabbed a few snacks before coming up to the counter to pay for both the food and gas. Dean was next to him suddenly, looking very coy. Sam bit his lip, worrying about what his brother had done now.

As soon as they got back to the car Dean emptied his coat pockets. Inside were bags of peanut m&m's, candy bars, a bottle of beer and... a few of those protein shake things.

"Are you ever going to pay for anything again?" Sam sighed. One of these days they were bound to get caught. But he had to admit that Dean was good at stealing. How in the world did he manage to hide all those items in such a short amount of time?

"Hey, I went through eighty years of Hell, I think if anyone should be allowed to get away with theft, it's me." He then thrust one of those shake-things at Sam. "Drink it. It's full of all that nutrition crap you love. And it's supposed to help you gain weight, you skeleton."

The fact that Dean had thought of him while he was stealing made Sam happier than it probably should have.

"Besides, we've always been stealing. What do you think the credit card scams are, genius?"

That actually made a lot of sense. "But... at least we were paying for our stuff."

"Yeah, with stolen money! That makes it so much better."

Sam gave up, he couldn't win this argument. "Just don't get caught. I don't need you stirring up any drama. You were bad enough with causing havoc when you were human. I can't imagine how bad you'd be now that you're a demon." It felt weird saying that, admitting that Dean was in fact a demon. But it also felt good in a way, because he was finally accepting the truth.

"Aww, how cute. You should have more faith in me, Sammy."

"You go from saying you could rip me to shreds to saying I should have faith in you? That's oh-so-convincing."

Dean suddenly got serious, it seemed out of place from his normally sarcastic attitude. "Hey, I could as in it's possible with my powers. But I could never bring myself to, even if I wanted to. Which I would never. So yeah, I can't."

Sam glanced over at his brother while driving but Dean's stare never wavered from the road in front of them. Dean might be a demon, but Hell sure couldn't wipe everything from him that made him 'Dean'.

They got into the town with the demon case and the first thing Dean did was collapse on the bed closest to the door with his duffle in hand.

"Uhmm... aren't we supposed to be on a job?" Sam stared at his brother's form face-first on the bedspread. "Shouldn't we be researching or something?"

"I've already researched." Dean's voice was barely understandable. "Why do you think I brought us here? I know everything that's going on." He finally flipped over and rummaged through his newly reacquired duffle bag. Reaching in, he pulled out some papers he must have placed there during their car ride and tossed the wrinkled things at Sam.

"Go crazy." He stated, meaning for Sam to read over the research. Dean then flipped over again and got comfortable. Sam sighed, looking down at Dean's messy handwriting and pages off of the internet.

"When did you have the time to do this?"

"I didn't. I had this lined up for a while for possible cases to look into once we got back together. I thought I told you this already."

"How do you know the demon's still there?"

"Oh, I have my ways." Dean flipped over yet again, grinning at Sam and winked a black eye. "Remember that friend I mentioned? He keeps me informed."

"A demon friend?"

"Yeah, what other friends do you expect me to have?"

"Well I'd hope you'd consider me as one."

It looked as though Dean was rolling his black eyes, though Sam couldn't be exactly sure. "Other than you, dimwit. Not even Hell likes me since they know I'm not going for this stupid plan of theirs. So the only demon that would even be my friend was the one that helped get me out to stop the apocalypse."

"There are other demons that don't want the apocalypse?"

"So far Crowley's the only one I've known. And Ruby."

"That's his name then, Crowley? He's the one that saved you? Am I ever going to meet this demon, or what?"

Dean shrugged as if he couldn't care less. "Eventually, yeah. We'll need his help. Now stop asking me these annoying questions and shut up. Read my research and let me sleep."

Sam groaned internally. Dean was much more impatient now. Sam wanted to understand everything that was going on and everything that Dean knew. But he was going to have to ask in bits and pieces. He'd have to figure everything out little by little as not to aggravate Dean. Sam figured he'd give Dean the benefit of the doubt. He'd been through eighty years of Hell, the least Sam could do was give him some space in-between questions.

And Dean as an obnoxious demon was much much better than no Dean at all.

Sam only let Dean sleep for a half an hour before he started nudging him awake.

"What?" Dean hissed, glaring angrily at his brother.

"This demon is trying to create..." He glanced down at Dean's handwriting again. "A half-human, half-demon baby? That can be used for the devil's army?"

"Yeah," Dean grumbled. "The demon has to be inside the human host for the entire pregnancy so the baby gets equal human and demon blood. But the host has to stay alive for the whole thing too for it to work. It's hard because not many humans live through a demonic possession for that long, especially with a half-demon baby inside of them."

"If this demon-baby can be used to help the devil, why haven't you stopped him already?"

"Don't you think I've tried Sam?" Dean growled. "Both me and Crowley have. But I've been busy trying to chase away fake-Ruby from you and to heal my body. Crowley's sent this demon back to Hell but he keeps coming back. We can't kill it yet. You have the only demon-killing knife we know of and while Crowley has the Colt..."

"This Crowley has the Colt? I thought Bella gave it to Lilith?"

Dean sighed, "That bitch lied. She gave it to Crowley, which works wonders on our side. But it needs new bullets and Crowley's working on them but they're not done yet. All his attempts have failed but he's getting close to making bullets that work like the originals."

"So basically you had to wait to get back together with me because I had the knife?"

"Kind of. I could have stolen the knife from you easily. But the thing with demons is that we can sense when other demons are near. That's why most of the time this demon had escaped from Crowley. The only chance we really have to sneak up on this demon and kill it is if you go after it."

"So basically you're telling me that I have to go on my own and kill this demon while you sit back? Are you nuts Dean? Do you want to get me killed?" Sam's voice rose and Dean finally sat up on the bed.

"If I go along it will sense me coming and kill you for sure." The intensity of Dean's pitch matched Sam's.

"I'm not doing this. I'm not going in there alone. You even said yourself that I'm not strong enough. There's got to be another way."

Dean seemed to consider Sam's statement but his stare never wavered. "I know you're not. But we don't have another choice. The demon got its host pregnant. It's five months along. There's already one antichrist out there, we can't afford for there to be any more."

"There's an antichrist? What the hell?"

"Yeah, I know. It's crazy. He's an eight year old half-human half-demon that's stronger than either put together. These kids could destroy the world in just a thought, if put into the wrong hands. That's why we have to stop this demon from creating another one."

"So you're telling me I'd have to actually kill the woman, the unborn baby and the demon all at once?" Sam asked in disbelief. Yes, Dean was a demon and this stuff didn't matter to him, but he should at least have the common sense to know that Sam would never go through with this.

"What other choice do we have? The demon needs to die. He won't be leaving that host with a baby inside. We have to kill them all at once."

Sam shook his head. "I know this doesn't matter to you, Dean. You don't care if innocent people die because you're a demon. But in case you forgot, I'm still human. And you know me. Eighty years in Hell and you still know me more than anyone else, I know you do. You can't possibly think I'd go through with this, so why would you even consider it?" Sam's voice wavered a little bit. He understood where Dean was coming from, but there was no way he would go through with this plan. What were they going to do?

But Dean continued to sit on the bed, glaring at Sam and breathing somewhat heavily. Sam had most certainly aggravated him by not agreeing with his plan. Any other demon would be beating the life out of him right now for causing this hassle. Sam looked down at Dean's clenched fists and the way he was biting his lip. He wasn't just holding back physically. By staying silent he was actually considering what Sam had said. He was thinking about it.

But that didn't make Sam less confused. He wasn't used to this; the old Dean would never consider such a thing. He needed to get away from his brother for a bit. He needed some space and he needed to think. Sam had to think of a way to rationalize with Dean. But how could you make a demon understand?

"I'll be back later." Sam stepped out of the motel without looking back at his silent brother.