Dean was rudely awakened from his beloved sleep as he heard noises coming from the other bed. At first it just sounded like Sam was having an ordinary dream, so Dean mumbled at his brother to shut up as he rolled over in bed.

Dean had just closed his eyes again as Sam began talking in his sleep.

"No...no... Where is he? Where's Dean?"

Sam's voice sounded panicked and his breath was picking up as he twitched like a fricken dog in sleep. Just great, he was having a nightmare.

Dean turned around and used his powers to fling a pillow at Sam's head but that only made Sam call out his name some more.

Sighing, Dean reluctantly shuffled out of bed and shook his brother's shoulder roughly.

"Wake your ass up Sam, you're dreaming," Dean yelled and Sam finally gasped as his eyes opened up and he shot forward in bed.

"Dean!" He called out, his voice trembling.

"I'm standing right next to you, freak." Dean went to laugh but stopped when he saw the scared look on his younger brother's face.

"You're still here," Sam stated as he stared at Dean and then sighed only to slide back down in bed. "Sorry I woke you up, just had a nightmare."

"Well now I'm wide awake and curious. So spill, what was it, angry killer clowns?"

Sam let out an irritated sigh and shook his head. "It was nothing, Dean."

"You were freaking out and screaming my name, come on it was something." Dean suddenly remembered the dream Sam had that first time at Bobby's. "Wait, you didn't dream about me having white eyes and killing you again, did you?"

Sam seemed to shiver at the memory and shook his head. "No, it wasn't that but it scared me just as much."

"What could scare you as much as that?"

Sam shrugged, trying to act as though his nightmare was no big deal. "You were gone, okay? I was living in some house with a family that must have been mine. But you weren't there. I tried calling your phone and asking anyone that I saw but they all said the same thing...that you were gone. I didn't know where you were or if you were even alive or..." Sam suddenly shook his head and looked away. "Never mind, it doesn't matter. It was just a stupid dream."

Dean was confused. He and Sam had already talked about this a month ago. Dean had decided that he wasn't going to leave his brother and told Sam exactly that. Sam was an adult; he could make his own damn choices. Even if Dean wanted him to have a family and thought that his little brother would be happier away from Dean and hunting... Sam told him that wasn't true. Sam had looked so stubborn and upset that he couldn't have been lying. So Dean had taken his word, if Sam wanted him to stick around after this was all over, Dean would be there. He sure as hell wasn't about to complain because he knew he'd most likely lose himself without Sam at his side.

But why was Sam still dreaming and worrying about it a month later?

"Dude, I told you I'm not going to leave you anymore, so quit it." Well that didn't come out quite as comforting as Dean wanted.

Sam turned and glared at his brother. "I can't control my damn dreams, Dean."

"Yes you can. You were dreaming about it which means you were worrying about it, so just stop."

Sam pursed his lips in a thin line. "Can you blame me? I'm scared that you were just saying all that to get me to shut up and not worry about you."

Dean sighed and rolled his eyes. "I told you that I'm never going to lie to you. I'm not going to start now, you moron. I said I'm not leaving and that's it. End of story, stop freaking out about it."

Sam gave Dean a long look before resting his head back on the pillow. "Okay, I trust you."

"Good, now shut up and go back to sleep."

Dean walked away from the beds before Sam could complain about anything else and stood in front of the window. The pitch-black cloudy sky reminded him of Hell, but the quickly falling snow eased his tension.

Dean wouldn't say this out loud to Sam but he was starting to worry. He really thought Sam was progressing around Christmas but he still hadn't been able to pull a demon's soul to hell. Dean understood that it was tougher and that Sam couldn't practice on him like he could when he just removed the soul from the body.

Dean could try and push Sam some more, but he was afraid, especially after Sam had gotten that nosebleed. Thankfully, that never happened again and Dean was more careful when teaching Sam how to control his powers and to not get carried away with the freedom they gave him.

Crowley was giving him hell though every time the stupid demon called. He was extremely pissed about Alastair and the fact that they didn't kill him right away. But even Crowley knew it wasn't their fault that he escaped and that the brothers had to try and get Alastair to reveal the demons 'plan b'. But now Crowley was getting angry that Sam wasn't progressing. Dean wasn't about to rush Sam though, his brother was the only one that knew what he could handle and apparently he wasn't able to send a demon to Hell just yet.

Dean heard some noises and turned to see Sam getting out of bed.

"Go back to sleep Sam," Dean ordered and he sighed when Sam decided to ignore him as he walked up to the window with a frown.

"I can't now. I'm wide awake." Sam was looking at the snow in disappointment. "Do you think it will stop, or that they'll clear the roads?"

Dean shrugged. "Who cares, if it doesn't we'll just crash here for a while longer."

Sam started to fidget and Dean sent him a perplexed glare. "What the hell is up with you?"

"Well...I found us a demon hunt a couple hours away. I wanted to leave tomorrow so we can get it in case it decides to leave soon."

A demon? Good, that meant more practice for Sam. "I'm sure it will be fine to leave in the morning. These crappy back roads will be tough but I'm sure the freeways will be fine."

"Just wanted to make sure you'd be willing to put your car through dangerous conditions," Sam smirked.

Dean waved his hand. "Psh, even if we started swerving off the road, I could use my powers to straighten the car or to stop it without using the brakes."

"Really, so you could just use your powers to drive the car? How come you haven't done that yet?"

"Don't be stupid, Sammy. Because I love driving too much. And plus it would get exhausting using my powers to steer and power up the car for so long."

Sam just nodded and didn't make a move to get back to bed. Something was up with this demon hunt Sam had planned, Dean could just tell by the tone of his voice. Whatever was on this kid's mind, whatever this hunt was really about, Dean was curious as hell to find out.

The roads were as bad as they expected as the brothers left the motel in the late morning. Sam refused to tell Dean any more information on the demon hunt and the older brother was beginning to get irritated.

As they pulled up to their new motel Dean figured he had enough.

"Where the hell is this demon? What is it doing? Possessing a family member? Running wild killing people? How come you're not letting me in on any of the research, damnit?"

Sam just smiled and exited the passenger side. Dean swore and shut off the car, getting out and following his brother inside.

"Are you going to answer me or what?"

Sam turned around and rolled his eyes. "There is no research, all we have to bring is the colt and demon killing knife. Trust me on this."

"It still doesn't explain why the hell you can't tell me anything!"

"Stop being so nosy Dean, you'll find out once we get there." With those words Sam walked into the motel lobby, leaving a very confused and irritated older brother pouting in the parking lot.

Dean trudged in, folding his arms as he stood in the doorway. "You're freaking me out here, Sam. Now tell me what the hell this is all about."

Sam shook his head as he tossed his duffle on his bed. "You don't have to worry about anything. We'll just take the Colt and Ruby's knife and we'll be fine. There's no reason to freak out so just relax. Let's grab something to eat and wait until it gets dark. I'll drive us to the demon then."

Dean didn't feel like sitting in the passenger seat after the times he was forced to with a broken arm. "I'll make you a deal. I'll shut up about this if you let me drive. You tell me where to go and I'll follow your lead once we get to this demon, no questions asked."

Sam smiled. "Alright, sounds good."

Dean grew more suspicious when Sam directed him to park in the empty lot of an old factory building. They seemed to be spending a lot of time in abandoned buildings nowadays and based on their last encounter in one, Dean would prefer to stay far far away from them.

Sam seemed to be getting antsier and antsier and as soon as Dean stopped the car, his little brother practically jumped out.

"Hold it, Sasquatch!" Dean yelled but sighed when Sam shot him an impatient look.

Grabbing the Colt, Dean huffed and went to follow his brother inside. It didn't take long before Dean could indeed sense a demon nearby. And this one felt strangely familiar...and not in a good way.

"Sam, shouldn't we be careful, try to sneak up on it?" Dean whispered. He wasn't used to being led around by his younger brother and he didn't like it very much.

Sam shook his head and never stopped walking. "We don't have to worry about that."

They kept walking until they reached a large, rusted door. Sam turned to Dean with a smile and then pushed the door open.

What Dean saw made him drop his mouth in awe.

The angel was there, standing next to a demon tied to a chair. But it wasn't just any demon, the thing was wearing a petite brunette and was thrashing as much as she could on the seat. A devil's trap painted on the floor imprisoned her.

It was fake-Ruby. Son-of-a-bitch, Sam and the angel had managed to capture fake-Ruby, the stupid bitch that Dean had tried to kill months before.

"Sammy…no way…dude how did you…"

Sam simply shrugged. "I had Cas help me track her down. He had her tied up in here for a few days. I thought maybe we could try and get a little information from her before we kill her." Sam turned to face Castiel. "You can allow her to talk now, and you can get going too, thanks for keeping a watch on her."

Castiel touched fake-Ruby on the forehead and then vanished with the sound of fluttering wings. Immediately, expletives came spewing from the demon's mouth. Apparently angels could take away someone's voice, even demons. Dean suddenly felt pretty grateful that this angel wasn't only on their side, but also trusting him enough to not use his powers on him.

Demon-bitch turned and glared at Dean. "You're pathetic! You just had to go and try and ruin everything! Lucifer created us and he would have given us demons paradise!"

Dean walked over to the stupid bitch with a smirk on his face. "Really? And you know that how? You never met Lucifer, he doesn't want us around. Sure, he created us, but only to be his brainless and viscous minions while he was locked down there. But if he ever rose…do you really think he would need us?"

"Of course he would! He would need us to help destroy humanity!"

"Do you really think that Lucifer, an all-powerful arch-angel would need the help of us? He could kill us with a thought. Hell, that angel that was standing right there can kill us with a thought. Even if Lucifer did use us to kill all the humans, we're just next on his list. We're damned, less than humans, and he's an angel. He doesn't want us."

Fake-Ruby laughed. "You're wrong! Why would he create us if just to kill us off? We're going to run the world after the humans are gone but you're trying to destroy it all! You could have had salvation just like the rest of us Dean!"

Dean sighed and leaned against the wall he was standing by. "Oh, well that's just too bad."

The demon snarled at Dean's attitude and then decided for a different approach. "So you're just gonna work for the humans? No one will ever be able to accept you for what you really are, Dean. Not even your precious little brother. He left you before when you were human and he'll leave you again now that you're a monster."

Dean saw Sam going to speak from the corner of his eye and he held up a hand, shutting Sam up with his powers. The younger brother pouted and Dean smirked in reply, letting Sam know that he had the situation under control. Sam could easily break out of Dean's powers, but he never did because he trusted his brother's judgment.

And this was a trust Dean was determined not to break. He had slipped up when torturing Alastair and had used his powers against Sam other than in a playful or protective way. For some reason though, Sam's trust hadn't wavered and Dean wasn't ever going to slip up like that again. He couldn't afford to get so blinded by rage and power, which could happen very easily to a demon. So Dean needed to be careful. No more torturing demons, he had to let her words brush past him.

They were lies, anyway. Dean wasn't as stupid to fall for them again after Alastair.

"I might have believed that before, Bitch. But I'm smarter now. Sam didn't leave to get away from me. He left to get away from the life and our controlling father; he left to try something new. The loss of contact was as much my fault as his, neither of us wanted to be the first to call, we were both stupid. So why don't you stop trying to insult me and instead let us know about that plan B you and your buddies have been cooking up."

"It doesn't matter what our plan is, because there's no way you'll be able to stop it. You're weak. You think I don't know what happened to you in Hell?"

Dean tensed up; he didn't know what this bitch was referring to…so much happened to him in Hell. Whatever it was, it was destined not to be good.

"You shut your mouth or I'll kill you right now…"

"No you won't! You're going to at least question me some more before you do." The demon turned towards Sam. "Your brother was even weak down in Hell. You chose the wrong side to be on, Sammy. You know what they tortured you brother with? Alastair sent in demons that looked just like you, that spewed hate and ate his insides. After that, Alastair placed your dear brother in memories from his own mind, all memories with you. All Dean had to do was kill this memory version of you. That's it…and then his pain would be gone and the torture would stop for good."

Sam turned his eyes to lock with Dean's black ones. Suddenly it all made sense, why Dean thought Sam would be better off without him. Those words were being told to Dean over and over in Hell, coming from demons that looked just like him.

And Sam knew exactly where this story was going and it gave him even more respect from his brother, if that was even possible.

"He couldn't Sam. He wouldn't even lift a finger at you, even though it wasn't you. He's a pathetic excuse of a demon! He was weak in Hell and he's still weak here! You'll fail, even if you stop the apocalypse, you still won't be able to stop the fall of humanity!"

Both brothers turned to look at the demon. She clamped her mouth shut, a look of fear on her face. She just leaked some information on the plan and it was too late to take it back. Whatever the demons had planned, it was going to attempt to kill humanity for good.

"So…this is still a plan to try and kill everyone then? Even without the Apocalypse?" Dean kneeled down so he was face to face with fake-Ruby. "Do tell me more."

"Just kill me, you asshole, because you're not going to get a drop more of information from me. I already know I'm going to die either way, just do it already!"

Dean just smirked back. "Oh you're right, we're going to kill you. But if you let us in on the plan, we'll make it quick. If you make it difficult…well then let's just say it won't be very fun for you. I do know a thing or two about torture…"

Dean could feel Sam fighting his powers after that statement and he wished Sam would just play along. However, Dean didn't have to worry once Sam broke free and rushed over to his side because fake-Ruby burst out in maniac laughter.

"Oh boy! That is just hilarious! You know, I might have believed you Dean but not after your little freak out last month." At the brothers' shocked faces she continued. "That's right, I know all about your angel trapping Alastair and you attempting to torture information out of him. It wouldn't have worked anyway, but you….oh boy…you gave up! You stopped! Just when you were really starting to lose yourself you pulled back. You're all talk, you're not going there again because for some reason you want to hang onto what little bit of humanity you have left for that abomination you call a brother."

Dean snarled, reaching out a hand but hesitated when he heard his brother's voice.

"Dean, she's not worth it…just forget about her…" Sam had his hand on Dean's arm, trying to push it down.

Dean bit his lip as he glared at the ugly demon-bitch. He wanted nothing more than to hear her scream and choke on her own blood, to watch her buckle in pain as he ripped out her stolen organs….

But with one look at his little brother, Dean knew he couldn't do that. He'd get too carried away no matter how much he would try to control himself. He couldn't risk hurting Sam, or losing any more of himself. Sam needed him.

Dean dropped his arm down and he heard Sam breathe a sigh of relief.

"I don't think we'll be able to get any more information out of her. Let's just end this now."

Dean nodded, as much as he wanted to find out more from fake-Ruby, she seemed hell-bent on protecting this secret. She had already failed at trying to get Sam on her side, so she wasn't going to fail this time by revealing the big secret.

And honestly, Dean didn't think there would be much they could do to stop it anyway. They had to focus on Lilith first and foremost.

Dean handed Sam the demon-knife. "You go ahead, think you deserve to take her out after what she tried to do to you."

Sam looked at the knife and a little smile crossed his face. "Oh yeah, I'm going to get rid of her. But I won't be needing that."

Dean was about to ask why Sam would want to waste a bullet out of the Colt when he noticed his brother lifting his hand up and it all began to click into place.

No way…Sam wasn't about to do what Dean thought he was? He wasn't strong enough yet….or was he?

Fake-Ruby began to cough as Sam narrowed his eyes and concentrated. Dean watched as her smoke-cloud slowly began to trickle out of her mouth, the life behind her stolen eyes fading as the body was left empty.

It only took Sam maybe thirty seconds; the demon's soul was left suspended in midair….

And then Sam pulled his hand down, his face held nothing but confidence and there was no sign of a nosebleed or any other trauma.

Sam seemed to be in full control of his powers.

The demon's soul began to drift toward the floor, it seemed to sink in but Dean knew the truth. It wasn't sinking, it was slowly, little by little, being sent to Hell. A few moments later, there wasn't a trace of the smoke-cloud anywhere. Sam let his hand fall to his side and took a deep breath, a relieved smile coming to his face.

"Sammy…," Dean started; he waited until Sam turned to face him. "You're awesome."

Sam grinned and blushed, ducking his head like the lame girl he was. "Yeah well…I did it for you. Happy birthday, Dean."

Dean cocked his head to the side. Birthday? Oh, was it January 24th? Dean had pretty much forgotten about the date after decades in Hell where there were no months, days or years.

"Dude, I don't age. I'm eternally 29. Well my body is. I'm actually close to a hundred years old if you factor in Hell time."

Sam sent bitch-face number 12 Dean's way. "Shut up. I don't care what you think. Today is your birthday. You might forget but I don't. I don't care that you don't age, it's not about getting older, it's a day just about you and I wanted to do this for you. So…I hope you like it."

Well, it might just be one of the best birthday presents Dean had ever gotten, but he wasn't about to tell Sam that. No need for him to get a big head.

"Well, it was a good start, although I hope you're not done with my gifts, I mean, I never even got…"

Sam rolled his eyes. "I got you some pie Dean. Don't worry."

Dean smirked. "Good, then I guess this was a pretty decent gift."

"Yeah, you're welcome, jerk." Sam rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I'm not done yet, let's go."

"You're not gonna tell me all about how you knew you were strong enough to send her to Hell?" Dean was curious to find out how Sam just knew.

The younger brother smiled. "I've been feeling stronger the last few demons we took on. I felt that urge to send them back to Hell and the one last week…I almost did it without realizing. I knew I would be able to send fake-Ruby back down there. Now come on, I'm taking you out to eat for a birthday dinner."

They checked the body that fake-Ruby had been wearing, although Sam told Dean that the body was empty. Apparently Sam had made the demon find an empty comatose host when she first came to him. They burned the body of the dead girl and then stopped at a diner.

Dean flirted with the waitress and Sam told her that it was Dean's birthday. He specifically went to a diner that sang the whole obnoxious "Happy Birthday" with the whole staff clapping and dancing. Dean of course, loved it and took the opportunity to sing along, much to Sam's embarrassment. Luckily, Sam had told the waitress to get Dean pie instead of the typical sundae so his brother had a huge helping of apple pie with ice cream on top to complete his meal.

Dean then took the opportunity to go in the back with the flirty waitress who eagerly took Dean's hand as they rushed to the back.

Sam rolled his eyes, paid for the bill, and waited out in the car while the sun began to set.

It was while he was waiting in the car when Sam allowed his thoughts to wander to what fake-Ruby had said to Dean. The demons had been torturing Dean using Sam's form and even though the younger brother suspected as much, it still hurt like hell to learn that.

At the same time, he knew how much that had to have hurt Dean and tore him up inside. It may have contributed to Dean finally becoming a demon. But also…even after something so painful happening to him, Dean was still Dean, he still trusted Sam just as much as ever and still loved his little brother.

And then Dean had been placed in memories apparently from their past. He was told to kill Sam's memory-self. That was all Dean had to do to stop the torture.

But he never did. From what Sam gathered, Dean had refused time and time again until the demons found some other way for him to break. They must have known that nothing would ever get Dean to harm Sam, even the memory version.

These were just more reasons to be amazed at Dean, this showed how strong he was and while it killed Sam to learn this, he was just so proud of his big brother.

Still, after Ruby shouting all this, it probably hurt Dean and brought up past memories. Sam really thought Dean should talk about it a bit.

When Dean finally came out, looking smug, Sam heaved a big sigh.

"What? You're the one that said to celebrate my birthday. And I say that a man needs some lovin' on his big day."

"Shut up," Sam rolled his eyes and didn't fail to notice that the waitress had come out of the front door of the restaurant, waving and winking to Dean.

"You gave her your number didn't you?"

Dean shrugged and changed his eyes back to black. "Yeah, if we happen to stay a little longer in this town, why not take up the opportunity? Not my fault all the ladies love me, Sammy. You're just jealous."

"Oh yeah, I'm so jealous," Sam rolled his eyes once more but decided to bring up the topic he was thinking of just moments before.

"Dean…what fake-Ruby said back there….was it true?" While Sam believed it, he was well aware that demons love to lie.

Dean suddenly got all defensive and glared at Sam. "Who cares? It doesn't matter," he said stiffly.

"It matters to me Dean, I care. Was it true?"

Dean left out an irritated sigh and didn't look at Sam when he spoke. "Yeah, it was true okay? No big deal, it was a long time ago."

Sam sighed, he wanted nothing more than to comfort Dean, but he knew that comfort would never be welcomed. "I think you should talk about it. Being tortured by something that looked like me…Dean, that had to…"

Dean turned his black eyes to Sam once again, he looked determined to stop this conversation right now. "I don't want to talk about it Sam. I'm fine, it wasn't you. Maybe sometime later if you won't give up. But it's my birthday, I want to celebrate it with my brother and bitching about my feelings is not how I describe celebrating."

Sam nodded, he could understand that. For someone that didn't seem to care about birthdays since he couldn't age, Dean sure was taking advantage of the date now. But his brother deserved it, so Sam wouldn't argue anymore. Sam was just glad that Dean did want to celebrate the day with him.

"Alright, I understand," Sam said as he started the car.

"Hey, can't I drive? Dude, it's my car and it's my birthday."

"Nope, not yet. There's one more place I have to take you."

That got Dean to finally shut up as he sat back in his seat, satisfied. "Oh alright then, get a move on."

So as the sun went down, Sam drove a little way out of town, until the houses made way for trees and farms, the snow coating the landscape, nearly untouched.

It would have been very peaceful, if Dean didn't ask where they were going every two minutes.

Finally reaching the destination that he was looking for, Sam took a slow right turn over an almost-completely-snow covered dirt path. Dean raised an eyebrow over a black eye but Sam ignored him. There was a small opening between a cluster of trees that Sam could just fit the Impala through that opened up into a large clearing. Sam parked the Impala, turned the key so he could leave the radio on and slipped in one of Dean's favorite cassettes. He spun the dial until it was on low, just barely audible and got out of the car.

He head a door slam shut as Dean followed him towards the trunk.

"What in the world are you doing, Sammy? Have you officially lost it? Did sending that demon to hell knock some screws outta ya? Really, what the…"

Sam pulled out the pie he had in the trunk and whipped it at Dean, who caught it with ease.

"Shut up, for once Dean," Sam ordered and he grabbed the cooler he had placed in the trunk earlier. Heading over to the front of the car, Sam opened the cooler and handed a beer over to Dean. Sam then sat on the hood of the car and stared up at the stars while Dean followed his younger brother's lead.

Dean was blessedly silent for a few moments before he spoke up. "Dude, we haven't done this in ages."

Sam smiled. "I know. I thought you might like it. Some relaxation and I'm glad the sky cleared up. It's kind of cold but…I don't know, I didn't think you'd mind. And I got you beer and pie to keep you occupied."

Dean nodded; his black eyes matched the color of the cloudless sky he was looking up at. "You know, that beer that you left at my grave? I found it there when I came back for my body. It was pretty gross but I liked being able to have some after getting back from Hell."

Sam smiled, typical Dean. He wasn't flat out saying thank you, but Sam knew that this was his demon-brother's way of saying he appreciated both Sam's Christmas gift and the gift Sam was giving him now.

"Glad you found it." Sam smiled. He glanced over at the pie Dean had opened and started to eat. It wouldn't hurt to have dessert once in a while. "Can I just have a little of that?"

Dean turned wide black eyes on him. "Dude, you give your brother, your demon brother, a gift and expect him to share it?"

"Please?"

Dean flicked his wrist at Sam, and the younger brother felt a force push him off the Impala and he landed butt-first in the snow.

"Dean!"

The only reply from the older Winchester was crazy laughter.

Sam stood up and brushed the snow off his ass. "We are so having a snowball fight when you're done with that."

"What? So you can brutally lose? Fine by me." Dean then shockingly held out the pie and fork to Sam.

"Really? Thanks, man."

Dean huffed. "Shut up, you can have four, maybe five bites."

Sam took his precious five bites of the pie before handing it back to Dean.

"So…" Dean started. "There's this demon. A white eyed demon. Samhain. He was one of the seals and was set free on Halloween. He's still around somewhere. I think with a little more practice, you'd be ready to send his sorry ass back to Hell, whattaya think?"

Sam was a little nervous about taking on a white eyed-demon. But he felt stronger. And if he could take on this Samhain, he'd be one step closer to taking on Lilith.

"I think I could manage that."

Dean nodded. "Good, we'll get Crowley on the look-out for him, he'll be happy to know that you've sent a demon back to Hell now. Maybe that will lighten him up a bit."

Sam took a deep breath and let it out, a fog of steam coming out of his mouth due to the cold weather. He knew that while they had the opportunity to relax right now, they wouldn't be getting many more chances. They were getting down to the wire now.

Soon, Lilith would be right around the corner.