Chapter 18

Sam watched as Dean paled even more than he already was at the mention of his former tormentor's name. Placing a hand on his brother's shoulder was all Sam could think of to offer comfort. Nothing he could possibly say would come anywhere close to making it better.

There was no making it better. What Alastair did would always be in Dean's mind. It shaped him into the demon he was today.

No, that was wrong. What Alastair did led Dean to break and torture souls. After that, Dean took matters into his own hands and became the demon he was in order to protect Sam.

Dean wouldn't talk about Alastair other than that time at Bobby's but Sam had found out information from Crowley. Alastair praised himself on creating the perfect ruthless demon. The important souls went to him to ensure they would turn into the most horrible creatures to rise from Hell and walk the Earth.

Dean had failed to become Alastair's perfect creation. Dean had outsmarted him. Dean was stronger. He had taken the torture handed to him and used the anger and pain to focus on coming back and saving Sam instead.

And Sam had no doubt that those facts left Alastair pissed.

"You've located him, great. Where is he?" Crowley didn't seem angry at the angel any longer as he happily clapped his hands once.

"I am tracking his location but am unable to approach him before he can sense me and take off. I have to plan my actions carefully before I am able to catch him off guard."

Crowley gave Castiel an irritated glare. "Well, that's helpful," he huffed.

"We wouldn't be able to go after him anyway, Crowley." Dean was staring at the fellow demon matter-of-factly. "Sam's not strong enough yet and I'm not going to send him to rip out Alastair's soul before I know he's capable of doing it."

Crowley seemed even more irritated. "Oh, how sweet. Your dumbass brother needs to get a move on and learn to develop those powers. Once the angel finds Alastair, you're going to get over there and destroy him! I got you out of Hell and you're going to do as I say!"

"Really, Crowley? Because the last time I checked both the Colt and the demon-killing knife were in my possession." Dean smirked a bit. "Now, tell me… which way are we going to do this again? Mine or yours?"

Before Crowley could get in an angry retort, Sam decided to speak up.

"You know, Crowley… if you send us in to face Alastair early and I die… what are you going to do then? How would you trap Lilith in Hell without my powers?"

Crowley knew he had been outsmarted. "Yes, I get it, Moose. But the sooner he's finished the better so get practicing now."

"I'm not risking my brother getting hurt just so we can get rid of Alastair's ass a little bit sooner." Dean argued back and Sam decided to spare a glance at the angel.

Castiel was looking back toward Dean and Crowley in confusion.

"The demons are different from each other." Castiel spoke to Sam and Dean while Crowley continued to go at it. "I expected them to be all the same, with similar personalities. They are both very viscous but they have different morals."

"Dean had always considered it his job to take care of me and we've always looked out for each other." Sam regarded how Dean was angrily yelling at the King of the Crossroads in his little brother's defense. "Hell didn't take that away from him… actually, I think it made his protectiveness stronger because Dean's witnessed so many horrible things in Hell."

"You are aware that your brother tortured souls until they broke, that he has done horrible things as well."

Sam sighed. "I know. But he couldn't stop that, it happens to everyone that gets sent to Hell… they all eventually break. I know that I should probably be disgusted by it but… Dean worked to turn into a demon for me… to protect me. That actually means a lot to me. I'm just glad I have my brother back."

Castiel didn't say anything but Sam knew the angel had been listening to every word he said. It was hard to change views on demons once you had the mindset that they were all evil and deserved to be killed, Sam knew all about that. But when Castiel viewed Dean, he couldn't help but see that he was different, just as Sam had.

Crowley was yelling something about the demons being onto him and assembling forces against him while Dean turned away. He glanced at Sam and rolled his black eyes- a sight that used to make Sam shudder that now made him laugh.

"Are you even listening to me, you imbecile?" Crowley shouted and that was when the door opened.

All four of them turned to face the doorway to see a man standing there who they'd never seen before.

"It… it's me… the shifter." He held his hand out and hanging from his fingers was Dean's amulet. "I… I know how important this is to Dean and I wanted to give it back."

Sam was surprised how considerate this shifter was. It just confirmed the theory he always had that not all supernatural creatures were evil killing machines.

Sam walked over and grabbed Dean's treasured amulet. "Thank you."

Dean narrowed his eyes at the shifter. "You're the thing that tried to trick my brother?"

The shifter jumped when he noticed that Dean was awake. "I… the angels made me! They offered me heaven or death and they were some of the scariest things I've ever seen…"

"I know," Dean growled. "Now get the hell out of here before I become strong enough and can't refrain from sending a silver bullet through your heart."

The shifter nodded but before he was able to turn and leave a silver knife came flying through the room, embedding itself right where the shifter's heart was.

The shifter sputtered for a few seconds, his eyes going wide before falling to the floor, dead.

Sam gaped at the body for a moment, feeling an overwhelming sense of dread. The first thing he did was turn to his brother. Dean had threatened the shifter after all.

But Dean was also staring at the body with an expression of shock. He locked eyes with Sam and shook his head. It wasn't me.

They both turned to face Crowley at the same time. The demon had a look of satisfaction on his face and he held out his hand, willing the knife to come back to him.

Crowley smirked at Sam. "What? Dean would have done the same thing if it weren't for you. Luckily, I don't have a little brother who causes me to change my motives."

"But he apologized! He was going to leave us alone!"

Crowley wiped the bloody knife off on Sam's bed sheets. "He was working against us. Who's to say that he wouldn't team up with the angels again if offered a chance? Anyone who gets on my bad side isn't going to live to see the light of day again."

"He worked against us, Sam. Should have known what he was getting into." Dean shrugged and turned away like there wasn't a body lying at the doorstep.

"I will leave now and dispose of the body as I do so," Castiel stated. "Sam, please pray for me regularly so I can update you on any news."

Castiel didn't wait for an answer as he vanished along with the shifter's body.

"Looks like that's my cue to go, and unlike the angel, I want you to call me only if it's vitally important. Get practicing with those powers, Moose."

"Why do you have to call me that? It doesn't even make sense," Sam said in frustration. He just wanted this demon to leave. It didn't help that Dean was quietly chuckling at Sam's displeasure.

"You're as big and stupid as the animal. There, does that help? Tata for now."

And with that, Sam was finally alone with his brother.

"Gimme my necklace," Dean muttered and Sam realized he was still holding Dean's amulet tightly in his fist. "Can't believe I didn't notice it was missing."

"You were kinda busy throwing up blood," Sam told Dean and walked over to him. He lifted up his brother's head and placed the amulet back in its rightful location.

"Speaking of blood, you need your Kool-Aid. Go grab me a knife, will ya?"

Even though Sam had been feeling a slight pounding in his head for about an hour, he stubbornly stood his ground.

"You've lost way too much blood. I can have my drink tomorrow."

"I'm a demon! I can't lose too much blood! Anyway, Crowley's right in a way. We do have to start getting you exorcising demons with your mind regularly."

"Dean…"

"Sam…" Dean sent an irritated glare in Sam's direction. "I only bleed into the mixture a little bit. Give me the knife so I can do this. That way I can finally have my pie afterwards."

Sam sighed as he gave in. If Dean said he'd be fine then Sam would just have to take his word for it.

As Sam was grabbing the supplies he spoke up. "Would you have really killed that shifter?"

"Of course I would have! Anyone that tries messing with you is going to get it from me."

"Even if it was a human?"

Dean gave Sam a stupid look. "Yes, I don't care who or what it is, if they hurt you they'll have to deal with the consequences."

"Which means you'd kill them?"

"Not necessarily, depends on exactly what they did. I'm not going to run around and kill people, Sam. You know I'm not like that. But if a human were to try and kill you? Hell yeah, I'd kill them without a second thought. Now give me that." Dean pointed to the supplies Sam was holding.

The thought of Dean killing humans unnerved Sam, but he also knew his brother wouldn't do so without a reason. It seemed like the only people Dean would try and go after were people who were no good in the first place or who threatened Sam's life.

He was working with a demon, what could he expect? Anyway, Dean was already the most composed demon Sam had ever come across.

Dean sluggishly cut his arm; he was so shaky that a lot of his blood dripped on the sheets rather than in the glass. Sam cringed, but knew better than to tell Dean to stop. Instead, he walked over and held Dean's arm steady for him.

This time, Sam put more effort into helping make the drink, it was the first time that he shook up the bottle, mixing the blood and sugar with the water. It reminded him for a second how crazy this would all seem to someone else. What the hell would Bobby say if he knew what Sam was doing? He'd probably kill Dean without a second thought if he knew that the older brother had suggested and supported this. Sam had to keep this a secret.

Sam started swallowing the drink quickly before Dean cleared his throat.

"Pace yourself, Sammy," he muttered. "You need to learn how to function on this amount and not need anymore. We don't need you getting hooked to the stuff."

Sam slowed down after that, glancing at his brother whose wound was still slowly dripping blood. Sam frowned; usually it had begun healing itself by now.

Dean must have noticed Sam's observation. "It's because of the holy water, don't freak out I'll heal eventually."

Sam huffed. "I know you'll heal eventually, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to do anything to help you."

Sam wiped the blood from Dean's arm with the damp washcloth Castiel had brought him earlier and cleaned out the wound carefully. He knew Dean's demonic soul would dispel the bacteria on its own, but cleaning the wound the old fashioned way made Sam feel useful. As Sam was bandaging it up he noticed that Dean still had light scars on both wrists.

"Are these from the handcuffs Bobby put on you?" Sam grabbed Dean's hand and ran his fingers over the slightly puckered scar before Dean yanked his hand away.

"Yeah, iron's toxic to me, remember? It will leave scars because the idiot kept them on so tightly."

Sam had no idea the marks would leave permanent damage on his brother's body. He didn't think that was possible with demons. He felt a fresh wave of regret for letting this happen to his brother and he swallowed. "I'm sorry, Dean."

Dean shrugged. "Whatever, not like it was your fault anyway." His black eyes then narrowed in on the pie sitting on the nightstand. "I know what will make up for it. How 'bout you hand me that pie, Sammy?"

When Sam woke up the next day, Dean was already awake and dressed. He had the Colt and the demon-killing knife laying out on the table.

Sam grumbled and rubbed at his eyes. "What are you doing?"

Dean grinned over at him. "Rise and shine, Sammy. Time to go after that demon."

Sam tried to ignore the first part of Dean's statement- the sentence that he had heard hundreds of times during the same day thanks to the Trickster.

"We're doing this today? Aren't you still healing?"

That shrug was becoming as trademark as Dean's bow-legged walk. "I'm not up to a hundred percent but I'm feeling well enough to back you up." At Sam's doubtful glance he groaned. "Don't give me that look, I'm gonna make sure you're safe. I won't let anything happen to you."

"I know that, Dean. That's not what I'm worried about, I'm worried about the demon getting the upper hand on you."

Dean must have found that hilarious because he laughed so loudly that he ended up clutching his bruised stomach in pain. "You think that thing could hurt me? What could it possibly do to me? It has no means of killing me. We have the only things that can kill demons." Dean waved his hand over to the table where the Colt and the knife still sat.

"It could still steal either weapon from off of us," Sam pointed out.

"Sam, who do you think you're talking to? I'm the king of theft, remember?" Dean grinned and Sam remembered how much Dean stole nowadays. He was right. "You think that thing will be able to get one of those weapons away from me? I don't think so."

Sam shuffled out of bed as Dean handed him a demon blood Kool-Aid he must have mixed this morning. "Fine, I'll let you win this time," he told his older brother.

"Now you're learning, Sammy."

After they stopped to eat breakfast and Dean ordered even more pie, they took off down the street in search of the nearby demon. Sam was actually allowed to drive this time, as Dean was still feeling a bit weak. Dean said the demon seemed to be located just outside of town. As they drove down the road, it narrowed down only one lane in either direction. Suddenly, the car behind them swerved into the oncoming lane and sped up, trying to pass Sam. It nearly scraped the side of the Impala, and as Dean cursed loudly the car cut Sam off, almost clipping the front of the Impala by mere inches.

Sam was glaring at the car that was now in front of them in anger when he caught Dean quickly waving his hand to the right.

In time with Dean's hand, the car in front of them swerved off the road. Dean twisted his fist and the car spun around as it headed into the forest and its back end crashed into a tree.

Sam's mouth fell open and he quickly pulled to the other side of the road.

"Dean! What the hell!?" Sam reached over and pushed at his brother, who was smirking and giggling softly. "I can't believe you just tried to kill that person!"

"Chill out Sam, I wasn't trying to kill the little shithead. I had full control over what I was doing. Just look." Dean pointed his thumb out the window to where the driver got out his car. The guy was screaming as he inspected the ruined back-end of his car.

"Why do you think I made the car spin around? I made the back end crash, that way I get to scare the shit out of the idiot and ruin his car without actually hurting him."

Sam was aware that if Dean had really wanted to, he could have easily killed the man. Hell, he could have killed every driver they passed by easily.

"Still Dean, Jesus… you had to do that just because the guy almost scratched the car? It wasn't that big of a deal!"

Dean turned his eyes to Sam. Eyes that had just been green from being out at the diner switched to black. "You are so goddamned dense, I swear. While I would have been pissed about the Impala, that's not why I crashed his stupid piece of shit car. Did you see how close he got to the driver's side? He could have killed you! And all because he wanted to go a little faster."

Sam glanced back at the guy who was now on his cell phone. "You did that because of me?"

"Didn't I just get done telling you that?"

"And you weren't going to kill him?"

"If he had been purposely out to get you I would have, but not because of this."

Sam spared one last glance at the crashed car and the screaming driver. The guy looked like a stuck-up jerk who probably thought he was the greatest for having a new expensive car. Sam found himself smiling a little.

"Well, thank you then."

Dean smirked back. "Eh, it was the least I could do."

It turned out that the demon was posing as a member of a family. It was living in a small village outside of town and possessing the teenage boy as it harassed his family members and neighbors. The demon wasn't home now though and the brothers had decided to stalk out the house and wait. It would be easiest to extract the demon in a more private location, when it was least expecting it.

Dean was flipping through newspapers as they sat outside the house, spying. They were able to watch from afar since when the demon finally showed up, it wouldn't be able to sense Dean with Bobby's spell. "Looks like this town has had more deaths and injuries in the past six months than it's had in the last twenty years."

"Seriously?" Sam pulled the binoculars away from his face and Dean snickered mischievously. "What now, Dean?"

Dean continued to laugh as he stared at Sam's face and the younger Winchester scowled as he pulled the Impala's front mirror towards his face. He was met with the sight of two dark black rings around his eyes. Dean's laughter only got louder.

"Really, Dean? Could you be more immature? We're supposed to be getting ready to send this demon back to Hell, and you're pranking me?" Sam rubbed at his eyes in irritation only to realize he was probably smudging the inky substance even more.

Dean was failing to hold back the last of his snickering. "What? Why not sneak in some fun while we can?"

Sam shot Dean an irritated glare but he was kind of grateful for his older brother's lightheartedness. Dean's eyes were green again for the time being and Sam was brought back to that first year of hunting together again when Dean would go out of his way to tease Sam and make him uncomfortable. It was a good feeling.

But right now they were on a case, and Sam had to concentrate on the demon rather than getting Dean back for his prank.

"So what exactly are we going to do again when it shows up?" Sam asked his brother. He wanted to get to the demon before it decided to do any further harm to the family.

"We're gonna wait until it goes to sleep, or at least pretends to. That way the parents will open the door and we can explain to them that we're here to help them. It's kinda like what happened with Lilith, remember?"

"I would prefer to forget all about that."

"Well, it happened and it's done and over with, but what this demon is doing….it's living in a family like Lilith did and tormenting everyone around it for fun. It's not as violent as Lilith was of course and from the news of the deaths and injuries, it's not as creative either. If we can get the parents on our side it will probably help us a lot, just like last time."

"But last time we failed."

"Yeah, against Lilith. This is just some run-of-the-mill demon. We won't fail this time. You're gonna yank its fugly cloud-self out of that body and send it back to Hell."

Sam raised one eyebrow. "You know, you just called its demon cloud ugly, so… technically you're calling yourself ugly since that's what you look like without your body."

Dean feigned a hurt expression. "Oh come on Sammy, you've seen my demon smoke. I'd have to say I'm pretty darn adorable."

Sam couldn't help but laugh when he remembered Dean's smoke cloud draping around his shoulders and over his head. "Well, you do come across as a lot less threatening than any other demon cloud, I have to give you that."

Dean gave Sam a lopsided smirk and was about to reply when his phone suddenly began buzzing.

"Now's not the time, Crowley," Dean grumbled as he pulled out his cell, but his face suddenly went blank when as stared at the screen. "It's Bobby."

Sam didn't think that Dean would even have Bobby's number in his phone. "He's calling you?"

Now Dean looked confused. "I know, right? And I thought he was wishing that he would have killed me in my sleep while he had the chance." Dean glanced down at the phone briefly once more. "Might as well answer it, probably wants to yell at me because he doesn't think I'm watching out for you."

Dean flipped the phone open and Sam didn't even have to ask his brother to turn on the speaker phone.

"Hello?" Dean asked gruffly, his eyes trained on the house in case the demon decided to show up.

At first there was no answer, just the sound of breathing on the other end. After a few moments, Bobby cleared his throat.

"Dean."

The older Winchester rolled his temporarily green eyes. "Bobby," he responded sarcastically.

"Don't get that tone with me, boy."

"I can use any tone I want."

Sam was surprised when he heard Bobby chuckle quietly. "Of course you'd say that. How… how are you, boy?"

Dean seemed to be shocked as well because he turned to Sam with a befuddled expression.

"Um, I'm good."

"Good, that's… that's good. I'm glad. You…. you takin' good care of that brother of yours?"

Dean's face switched over from confusion to protectiveness so fast that Sam almost missed it.

"Of course I am. What the hell kind of question is that?"

Bobby laughed a little again, he sounded emotional. "Just trying to make conversation. And I gotta admit, it is pretty damn funny to see you get so defensive over the kid."

"Are you drunk?" Dean asked and Sam had begun to suspect the same thing.

Once more Bobby chuckled, but this time it sounded a little sad. "No, completely sober here kid, I swear. Listen, I wanted to know… I was wondering… well, Thanksgiving is comin' up in a couple months and… it wouldn't be the same without you boys. I'd like for you two to join me; can't leave an old man alone on the holidays, right?"

"Why didn't you just ask Sam this?"

"I… I thought I'd give you a call for a change. Haven't talked to you since… since you left my place. I… I want you to know that you're welcome here, Dean. Whenever you need something, my door's open. I'm…. I'm sorry for… you know… the handcuffs and the holy water…"

"Left wonderful scars on my wrists, by the way. But whatever…" Dean's tone was a little bitter as he clutched the cell tighter in his fist.

"That left scars on you? Jesus, boy… if I would have known…"

"You're sounding like Sammy now."

"Heh, well… I guess I kinda am… but what do you say? Will you and your brother join me?"

"Will there be pie?"

"Oh, I'm gonna make damned sure there's pie. Several, in fact."

"Fine, I'm in."

"Figured you'd say that. What are you boys up to now?"

Dean still looked confused as hell and he hesitated a moment before answering. "We're hunting a demon. Stalking the house it's hiding in right now, waiting for it to show up."

"Ah… I see… that spell should come in handy, then. Well, I'll let you boys get to it." There was a pause and Sam thought Bobby hung up before his voice came through again. "You take care of yourself, alright? I'd say look out for your brother but I don't think you need remindin'…"

"You've got that right."

"Okay, well… I'll see you then, Dean."

"Uh… yeah… bye Bobby."

Dean snapped his phone shut. He looked a little uncomfortable, but not necessarily in a bad way.

"So…" Sam started. "Guess we have plans for Thanksgiving, then?"

"Yeah… guess so…" Dean stared down at his phone before looking back up at Sam. "But really, what the hell was all that about?!"

Sam smiled. "He's trying, Dean. I knew he would eventually come around and try to accept you. Just give him a shot."

"The only reason I'm going over there is to get some pie," Dean huffed.

Sam shook his head with a knowing laugh and from the corner of his eye he could see a figure approaching the house. Dean tensed up as well, sensing the demon's presence and they both turned to watch the demon inside the teenage boy walk up the porch.

Sam held the binoculars up to his eyes again, not caring about the black rings this time around.

"Can you see anything?" Dean asked.

Sam had a pretty good view of the living room window and at first he didn't see anyone. A few moments later, however, Sam could see a man stepping backwards slowly, as if afraid of a threat in front of him.

"It looks like the demon might be threatening the father," Sam told his brother as he waited for the demon to come into view.

As Sam suspected, the father backed up further as the the demon approached, a menacing look on its face and its eyes black.

"Well, it's not playing along and pretending it's the kid. It's showing its black eyes."

"It probably wants the parents to kill the kid," Dean suggested. "The parents probably want to protect themselves but they don't want to hurt their kid."

"So it's going to threaten the parents and kill townspeople until the parents have no choice but to kill him? Kind of like what happened to Bobby?" Sam sounded horrified.

"Similar, yeah." Dean casually noted as he squinted at the house.

"Why don't we just go in and get the demon now before anything happens?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "If we bust in, the demon will know something's up. It may not know I'm a demon because of the spell but come on, they all know who we are and what we do. It will know its fun is up and either kill the family or try and make a quick escape. We have to catch it off guard."

"But it could kill someone right now!"

"It could, but it won't. Not yet. You forgetting that I'm a demon too? Do you know how many other demons I've dealt with in Hell? I know how they act and this one is too entertained to kill the family off yet, I can feel it in the demon's presence."

"So we wait?"

"We wait," Dean confirmed.

The demon had finally headed upstairs and from what Sam could see, it wasn't doing much of anything else until it laid down in the teenager's bed. Sam went to get out of the car then, but Dean forced him to wait half an hour longer to make sure the demon wasn't up to anything.

Finally it was time, and the brothers walked up to the front door. Sam knocked and after several long moments the door opened… it was the father.

"What… what do you want?" The father was obviously on edge; he looked frazzled and terrified. When he looked up at Sam the guy just looked bewildered.

"Sir, my name is Sam, and…" Sam stopped as he watched Dean barge past him and walk right into the house, uninvited. "…and this is my brother, Dean."

"What gives you the right to just walk right into my house?" the man seethed at Dean, although he was keeping his voice quiet. He obviously knew that if he woke up the creature upstairs, things wouldn't end well.

"Sir, we know there are some strange things going on, and me and my brother…."

"There's a demon in your kid," Dean answered nonchalantly as he walked over to a candy dish and started stuffing chocolates into his mouth."

"Who the hell do you think you are and what are you…" The father didn't get to finish as a little girl came running into the room. She ran right up to Dean and tugged at his jeans.

Dean looked down in surprise and cocked one eyebrow. "What, twerp?"

"You know!" she said happily. "You know something bad got Billy." She then started giggling at Sam. "Your face is goofy!"

Sam then remembered the black rings around his eyes and rubbed fruitlessly at them. Dean was chuckling under his breath. No wonder the father looked at Sam like he was some creep.

The mother then stepped out from another room, walking up to her daughter. "No one else believes us! That's not our boy; this thing has black eyes… like coal!"

"Can you save Billy?" the little girl asked, her voice a whisper as well. "There's something mean inside him and I don't like it."

"Yes, now all of you need to shut your traps while me and Sam take care of this."

Sam gave Dean a dirty look before he turned back to the family. "We'll save your son. This is what we do, and it's our job to save people from things like this."

The father seemed to relax at Sam's gentle words but he kept shooting Dean distrustful glances. "Will he… will he make it? Billy?"

"Probably, unless the demon has mortally wounded him already." Dean shrugged and the man opened his mouth in horror at Dean's comment and tone of voice that the older Winchester had used.

"You better save my boy."

Dean smartly chose to ignore the father as he motioned for Sam to follow him up the stairs.