Disclaimers - Usual. Thanks to Kripke and all the writers and the CW/WB for letting me play in your playground. Thanks to them and all the other staff who do such a wonderful job at inspiring the imagination.

Chapter 8

Thomas Wayne was a small man. It wasn't that he was particularly small in stature; it was more that he was insignificant. Worse than that, he let himself be insignificant, though he knew in his heart he was destined for great things. Thomas Wayne had grown up the only child of a single mother. He had been conceived by accident, if there is such a thing, and it seemed to set the tone of his entire life. He was not particularly picked on in school, but he never stood out either. He wasn't unpopular, but he wasn't especially liked. He simply existed, largely unnoticed by his peers. At parent-teacher conferences, the few his mother actually chose to attend, the teachers all said that he was quiet and well behaved in class - a very generic report about a child they would never remember.

His mother really had never thought of him as special, either. In fact, she rarely thought of him at all. She had her life to live, and, since it was by accident that he was a part of it, she really didn't care what he did or didn't do, as long as he did not complicate her life any more than his existence already had. And if things got complicated, she chose to listen to the parenting advice that said if you ignore unwanted behavior, it will go away. So she ignored Thomas Wayne altogether. She would send him to his room or outside, and if they happened to be in the same room, she pretended he didn't exist. This would go on for days at a time. Thus, Thomas learned quickly that he had to make his own food and get himself ready for school. She made sure he had available to him whatever he needed physically, but the physical is not the only aspect that makes that person a living, sentient being. His soul never really had a chance to live, and so it died, leaving Thomas Wayne with only his mind.

Thomas' mind was really the only exceptional thing about him. He was creative and intelligent, though unmotivated and unfocused. As a young pre-teen, he spent many hours alone, and it was during this alone time that he discovered he had talents beyond those of the mortal men around him. He found that he could communicate with animals. It was a very simple communication. There were no conversations. It was more that he could feel their basal emotions and instincts. He found that he could manipulate these, causing the animals to act contrary to their nature. At first he forced companionship, pretending to live a fairy tale life, for he was not only lonely and insignificant to those around him, but his lack of any real connections left him living in fear and insecurity. His animal "friends" were guaranteed company, for he made it so.

Eventually, this companionship became unfulfilling to Thomas. These relationships were boring, at best; and hollow and unreal, at worst. The fantasies of youth gave way to the center-of-the-universe ideology of the teenage years. He learned new ways to entertain himself; for if he could be entertained, he would be distracted and he forgot how empty and insignificant his life was. His delusions grew from those of fairy tales to those of gods. He became a god to his animal dominion. He found he was able to control the life and destiny of other living things. He started testing his power on wild animals – squirrels, chipmunks, and eventually deer - anything bigger than that frightened him too much to get close to. No one asked about random wild animals that went missing or were found dead. He smiled to himself when, one year, the news reported an unusually high amount of accidents on a stretch of road. Rangers were even called in to find out what was driving the deer out of the safety of the woods. They never found anything, and the story was forgotten, just like everything else Thomas did.

He started to get bored and restless, so he progressed to a stray cat or dog here and there. He learned, quite accidentally, that family pets were a more interesting game. Their deaths, or suffering, were not limited to the experience of the animal, but had ramifications on people. His feelings of importance and power began to expand. While he never tried to affect the minds of humans outright, he did find ways to terrify them and cause suffering using animals. This was his favorite hobby. He was careful, so as not to attract attention. Instead, he took months to prepare for even the smallest events, as he liked to think of them; meticulously planning them and waiting until he was practically bursting with enthusiasm and anticipation. He enjoyed the sense of self-control he felt when he was able to resist the temptation to hurt things on a whim. After all, gods control others, they do not let things control them, even their own emotions.

Thomas' secret hobby changed him. By the time he was twenty, he had gained confidence, a sense of importance, and a smile that wouldn't quit. None of the things that every day life threw at him would get him down, for he always had his hobby to reassure him of his superiority and power. Some people were drawn to his confidence; but it was somehow twisted, and most people feared him for reasons they couldn't put their finger on. Thomas knew that it was because humans instinctively recognized and feared higher beings than themselves, which only served to bolster his life of illusion.

But then, as sometimes happens, life conspired against him. Gods-who-aren't find that, at some point, the illusions they cling to are stripped away and they must choose to bow to their Superior, or fall. Thomas got fired from his job. The girl he had his eye on became engaged to another man. He still had no friends to speak of. And he found himself living with his aging and now belligerent mother. For all the control he held over other forms of inferior life, control over his own life and destiny was still beyond his grasp. Depression took hold of him for the first time in years. He lost interest in everything, including the one hobby that had given him everything. At the tender age of 22, he tried to commit suicide.

It's ironic that this one failure gave Thomas Wayne everything he wanted, and more. His botched suicide left him trapped in his own body. He was on life support. He couldn't function on his own. He hadn't regained consciousness in months. And he'd never been happier. Admittedly, at first, the position he was in was maddening, but then he made a friend. It was the first friend he'd ever made who was not a fabrication of his own mind. Better yet, he could tell, as all humans instinctively can, that he was dealing with a superior being. The yellow-eyed Demon spoke to Thomas.

In his place of safety, Thomas Wayne once again believed he was a god. After all, another god had told him so, and had shared plans of the future with him. He was free from every constraint life would have thrown at him and every responsibility he would have had, if his body functioned like an ordinary mortal. He learned the extent of his abilities and started using them on humans. He learned he could read minds. He could also control the perceptions of the person he had chosen to connect with. He lived life through others, becoming intimately familiar with people through their thoughts, feelings, routines, and memories. He then turned those very things against them.

His first test was his mother. Within a week of Thomas Wayne encountering the yellow-eyed Demon, his mother had gone crazy and committed suicide. Everyone suspected she had loved Thomas more than they had opportunity to witness. What mother didn't love her own child? It must have been heartbreaking for her to see him suffering as he was. That's what people said. Thomas Wayne laughed.

He chose other victims - other woman. He savored each. He planned as meticulously as before, but, unfettered by the normal limitations of time, his planning went much quicker. He also knew that no one would ever suspect anything. He was in a coma, and the death of each of his victims had been declared a suicide. It was an art form to him and he was proud of his paintings. His only regret was that no one else would see what he was capable of and recognize him for what he was.

Thomas Wayne sought out other minds, searching for new victims. Occasionally, he would be directed by his yellow-eyed friend, the only one with whom he could share his work. But one day, he found a mind that stood out to him. He had been pointed in her direction by his companion; he was told secrets about her; and promised she would be a change of pace. She would be a painting to be proud of when all was finished. In her mind swam images of monsters and horror and blood and fear. She had been touched by loss and something dark – something indefinable, but familiar – and yet she had remained relatively unmarred. She had, to a much lesser degree than he, a gift of the mind also. She could experience the feelings of others, much like Thomas could. She was even able to sense his presence, putting up defenses to keep him out. Before pressing his mind into hers, he did surveillance. He studied her through the minds of those around her. He saw that she was also an artist and this excited him all the more. Maybe she would understand his creations. And if she joined him, he knew he could make her immortal, like himself.

She was planning a trip and Thomas Wayne decided he would have to move into her mind and make contact. If she got too far away from him, he might not be able to find her amidst the chaos of voices - the background noise of the other, less worthy, humans. His initial attempt to make contact was blocked, so he changed tactics. He discovered that if he hung on the periphery of her awareness, through the avenue of her physical senses, she would be aware of him, but unable to shake him. He shadowed her for a week. She met with another psychic, though, and they found too much common ground. He could feel it in the way they connected. He decided that she was tainted and unworthy of becoming his goddess, but she would still make an exciting next victim.

Thomas Wayne knew Kaitlyn in a way few others did, or ever would, and all he wanted now, was to kill her. It would be fun. It would be easy.

That's what he thought. But Kaitlyn had done something he hadn't thought possible. She had gotten into his head. He had decided to play with her there. It was his home turf, after all. He might even trap her and torment her there. But then she escaped. With the help of her two new friends, she had escaped.

Dean and Sam Winchester were a problem. They were knowledgeable about psychic activity. Sam was one. They were knowledgeable about a lot of other things, too, and he realized where many of the images from Kaitlyn's mind had come from. Thomas Wayne had touched Sam's mind twice, and it was powerful. He could barely conceive the possibility that Sam was a threat to him. This was not something he had considered before.

Time was working against Thomas now. He had never felt drained of energy before his encounter with Kaitlyn, but now he was tired. He had to find a way to break her quickly or risk further interference by the two men. Leaving her alone was no longer an option. She knew too much and so did they. He had to get rid of her. There was a veiled threat made by the demon if this one got away, that he would not be considered worthy of special consideration.

At the time, Thomas had thought the yellow-eyed being simply wasn't yet convinced of his god-hood. But then it came back with an offer. One of its emissaries had arrived to tell him that Kaitlyn was his to play with, but that he also had to take care of Dean and Sam. Dean he could kill, but Sam had to be kept prisoner until the yellow-eye Demon came to take him for his own. Thomas thought this very unfair. After all, who was Sam that he deserved such easy access to the gods?

Thomas was unsure of himself for the first time in a long time. Bitch! It was all her fault. She would pay for making him doubt himself. He decided that this was a test, like the tests Hercules had to undergo to prove he was a demigod and worthy of the title. I am superior, and I will prove it. She will cower before me! And I will take care of the other two as well. He started formulating a new plan. Things would happen quickly, now, and someone was going to die.

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tbc

A/N Sorry for the short chapter. And thanks for baring with me on this one. I know it's a little out of sync with the rest of the story, but hopefully it adds to it rather than distracting. And... The boys are back with the next chapter. They'll be in it from here on out.

Thanks for reviewing. Thanks the support. J.A. Carlton, Mom, Mei mei - thanks for making this story so much better.