A/N: Looks around… whoa! 116 reviews…. You guys are amazing. (smiles) They made me feel lots better… thank you.

FastFuriousChick, winchestergirl196, HellCat 1031, Fantasygirl721, Karone Evertree, The Emerald Phoenix, pandora jazz and angel679, thanks for the kind words about the mono. And yes, angel, you're completely right, it does suck out loud. Weak is one word for it… LOL. I'll be working on this, and fall asleep, slumped over the laptop! I'm glad no one cough my younger sister, has taken any blackmail pictures… (grins)

But now it's time once again to thank you guys. I'm glad you're still reading, even if it's going interminably slow. Sorry 'bout that, but combined with the mono and with the fact that everything comes naturally slow to me (next time, I'm going to finish a fic before I post it), it just takes forever. And I'm really not happy with this chapter... I've re-worked it a million times… but (throws hands up in the air) I hope you guys can forgive me if it's awful.


Thanks to… Isabelle888, StoryDreamer, Fantasygirl721, Touch of the Wind, AngelSG86, FastFuriousChick, Crescent-Moon-Vixen, Karone Evertree, The Emerald Phoenix, pandora jazz, SupRNatural119, HellCat 1031, angel679, L'insomnie des etoiles, Larabiehn, adder574, I'mcalledZorro, snchills, Ghostwriter, JaggerK, Transgenic-girl, StoryDreamer, CylentWind, Rae Artemis, Mystiksnake, Lilithxfic, SilverKitsune1, Aogail, Minako Mikato, and Heart of the Wizard. gaelicspirit, Kylelara, Teranika Meneldil, AbbySomeone, P.L. Wynter, Padfoot n' Moony, shadowhisper, Maze2010, Bamboxler, smlylestrgte5790, Kalistar, winchestergirl196, and ShadowMayne.

Also, thanks to Ridley C. James for allowing me to use her AU character of Caleb Reaves, and her delightful concept of the Brotherhood. (And I hope I got Caleb's demon ancestry correct)

If you haven't read any of her fics (which is highly doubtful) You definitely need to go over to her profile, as she, along with the equally talented P.L. Wynter… well, they are the Queens of Supernatural fanfiction.

(bows to them)

Disclaimer: Oh yeah, I don't own the movie The Omen, either.


Max had to bite back a laugh at the brother's bantering.

She couldn't believe… it was downright eerie how much Dean was like Alec.

Before, right after the car accident, he hadn't really been all there, so she hadn't gotten a clear picture of his personality.

But man… she was getting it now, and it was seriously creeping her out how much the two resembled each other.

Not just in looks, but in mannerisms and their acerbic, sarcastic manner.

The guy even had Alec's 'I'm always fine' complex, too.

Finally, Sam returned to his seat, although his gaze never strayed far from his brother, who laid in the bed, propped up by extra pillows so he could address the others.

Max watched as Dean's gaze locked briefly on Alec, and he muttered, a comment obviously to himself. "Okay, now this is just getting ridiculous. I mean, yeah, I know I have a handsome face, but isn't one of me enough?"


Dean cleared his throat, and tried to speak as loudly as his dry throat allowed… but he carefully averted his eyes.

He couldn't look at any of them; not even Sammy, while he recounted this.

Especially not Sammy…

"Okay… so to explain everything," he closed his eyes. "November 2nd 1999... Sam was six months old at the time. I was sleeping when I heard my mom start screaming… and my dad started yelling her name- it was coming from Sammy's room. I started up there, and I smelled smoke… and I met my dad in the hallway, and felt the heat. He had Sam; he handed him to me. He told me to run outside as fast I could, and to not look back… and when he moved, I could see my mom…"

Dean trailed off, blindsided with those memories… memories so painful he tried to desperately to keep hidden, in the back of his mind.

It rarely worked, though.

"Daddy!"

"Take your brother outside as fast as you can! Don't look back! Now Dean, go!"

The day his world ended… and when he was entrusted with his brother's life. When his childhood had effectively ended as he shouldered the responsibility becoming Sammy's protector.

"It's okay, Sam."

Dean swallowed hard, pushed them away, and began to twist the silver ring on his right hand. "Later… after the case was declared 'unsolved', my father told me what he saw that night. Mom pinned on the ceiling, bursting into the flames…"

That Dean had saw for himself, or at least a little bit. Before his father's body had mercifully blocked it from his view.


Sam's heart twisted as he heard the underlying pain his older brother's voice as he described the night that they had lost their mother…

The night four-year-old Dean had stopped being a child, and basically became John Winchester's soldier in his bloody, relentless crusade.

Weapons training… as soon as Dean's small hands could hold them. Hand-to-hand combat… the works.

All of this starting when his brother was barely five-years-old.

This was something his brother was neglecting to mention to their new… 'friends'.

And Sam would have gotten the same treatment, he was sure, except for… Dean.

His older brother had intercepted on his behalf when the mighty John Winchester had claimed it was time for Sam's training to begin.

Protecting him, as he always did.

Whether it was from their father, or from some supernatural creature, Dean had always protected him… regardless of the cost to himself.

Sam swallowed hard, pushing aside feelings of anger with an effort. Thinking about their father… and what he had done to Dean… well, it never failed to piss him off.

But he shook it off… mostly, and resumed listening to his brother.


"Then, he didn't understand anything… about demons or any kind of supernatural creature. But in our hometown he met up with a psychic named Missouri Mosley… and she told him what it was that had killed mom. Opened him up to what was really out there. Later, he hooked up with other hunters… Jim Murphy," he neglected to mention that Jim was a man of the cloth… "Daniel Elkins, Joshua Sams, Bobby Singer…" Dean smiled suddenly. "Caleb Reaves."

Max raised an eyebrow, "Is there something about him-"

"He's part-demon. Dean just has a fun time teasing the hell out of him." Sam interrupted.

"You kill demons, yet you're friends with a guy who is part one?" Max asked bemused.

"Caleb's grandfather was a demon. Caleb's one hell of a guy, and he's my best friend He's a hunter, too, need I repeat that?" Dean's green eyes had gotten hard and incredibly cold, and his voice left no room for argument.


Max's face was expressionless; and she locked her own dark eyes with him fearlessly. But all the while, she was thinking…

There's another way he's very much like Alec… that look. It's the one he gets when he's so angry… when he's about to kill.


As suddenly as the look had came over Dean's face; it left just as quickly.

He flashed a smile. "Yeah… anyway you can't ask for a better friend then old Damien. He and Sam, they're two of the few people I'd trust to watch my back when I'm hunting."

Sam smiled, at both the familiar nickname that Dean had bestowed upon Caleb long ago… and the fact that his brother's statement that he trusted him to watch his back just as much as Caleb.

Max raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Damien? I thought his name was Caleb?"

Logan spoke, looking faintly amused. "I'm guessing he's referring to the movie The Omen. The premise of the film is about a kid named Damien Thorn who is the offspring of Satan, and destined to become the Antichrist. It's been remade about seven times."

Dean smiled, and nodded. "Yeah. When I first called him that, I was about six years old. He had been makin' fun of the nickname my dad had given me, so I decided to retaliate. I was just lucky that I was a kid, or he probably would've killed my ass. But over the years, he came to accept it."

"And what's your nickname?" Alec asked curiously.

Dean started, as it was so freakin' weird hearing the… clone speak to him. Yeah, the shape-shifter incident had a similar ring to it, but this guy seemed pretty much normal and sane.

"Well, my dad called me Ace… like in the playing cards. Highest in the rank of cards? Damien on the other hand, calls me Deuce-"

Alec grinned in sudden understanding. "A two… lowest."


Sam, while listening to his brother's banter with Alec; noticed that his Dean wasn't going into specific details about how the before-mentioned men… Jim, Daniel, Joshua, Bobby, Caleb, and their father John, and even Dean, all of the hunters belonged to a secret… well, Sam was hard pressed to describe exactly what The Brotherhood was. Just that they all fought the monsters that normal people didn't know existed.

He also noticed that Dean had left out a member… Caleb's foster father, Dr. Mackland Ames, who was a very respected neurosurgeon and researcher.

Someone who's name would definitely be recognized if mentioned.

Sam himself never officially joined the ranks and earned his ring. It was always been expected, but he had gone to Stanford, choosing school; swearing that his hunting days were over.

Although only the highest-ranking members wore a silver ring on their right hand… like Dean did. Few had them, save for the before-mentioned men.

He was interrupted by his musing by Logan Cale. "So you… hunt…. Demons?"

Sam looked at him, and Dean paused mid-conversation. "Among other things, yeah."

"How did you learn how to fight them?"

The brothers exchanged glances. "Our father at the beginning… he was a marine," Dean replied. "Then later some of the other hunters helped, too."

"Yeah… starting when you were five." Sam said, looking at his older brother, pain for sibling in his voice.

Dean looked over at the younger Winchester, the hardness in his eyes softening momentarily. "It was fine, Sammy."

Logan nodded. "Well you guys keep talking… if you need anything, Max knows where everything is. I'm afraid I have… something to attend to."

And without another word, he left.

Four sets of eyes followed him. "What was up with that?" Alec asked Max.

She shrugged. "Dunno. Maybe it's business related." As in Eyes Only.

She gave him a pointed look.

Alec's green eyes were lit with amusement. "Man… he seriously needs to learn how to relax a little."


Logan sat in front of his computer once more, fingers flying over the keyboard.

His abrupt departure did have to do with Eyes Only… sort of.

But it also dealt with Dean Winchester.

And a report he had came across a year ago, when he had been looking up something for Max…

Something from Manticore.

He searched until the document he was looking for popped up.

Reading it, his mouth and eyes tightened.

He wondered if Dean even knew...


More...? Or was it so terrible you want me to cease all efforts? Let me know.