AUTHOR'S NOTES: While I wasn't as interested in this episode as introducing Adam as Sam and Dean's brother, I did want to use this as an intro to Sam's demon blood detox.

Chapter 8

Jump the Shark

A loud crash brought both Dean and Sam out of sound sleeps and for a second, they didn't understand why both of them were in the same bed in Bobby's guest room.

"Hello?" Fiona groaned from the floor after a moment as she rubbed her battered butt and right hip. "Little help?"

Dean got up and went over to the other side of the bed, helping Fiona to her feet. "You okay?"

"I'll live," she shrugged, wincing as she checked her bruised body. At least nothing seemed to be broken. Looking over at Sam, she asked, "How're you doing, Sammy?"

"I'm okay," Sam assured her as he checked his foot, wincing as saw the sting mark just below the ball of his foot.

"Oooh," Dean winced. "Looks like you're strictly research for the next couple days, dude."

Sam frowned and looked at the clock on the wall. It was almost 11 and he, Dean, and Fi had wanted to be on the road that afternoon. "Guess we might as well grab something to eat before we head out."

It took a few minutes to get their things together, and as Dean followed his brother and Fi down the stairs, he asked, "That wasn't your last Epi-Pen, was it Sammy?"

Sam paused a second as he thought. Did he have a back up? He couldn't remember. "I don't think so," he said finally.

"You think or you know?" Dean asked, worried. When Sam shrugged, Dean just nodded. "We'll pick up a couple spares on the way out of town, just in case."

Sam didn't say anything, but he hated the fact that his allergy was such a costly one. At least Fiona's citrus allergy or Dean's problem with shellfish was simply an easy issue of avoidance. Being outside for hunts and for salting and burning often put them in danger of bee stings, especially during the summer months.

xxxx

As the trio headed down the road a couple hours later—Sam driving, Dean in the passenger seat, and Fiona in the backseat—Dean was surprised to hear ringing coming from the glove compartment.

Watching Dean digging out an old cell phone, Sam was surprised when he recognized it as their father's.

"Hello?" Dean said, curiously, wondering who could possibly calling his father's number. Glancing in the rearview mirror as Sam drove, he even saw that Fi was leaning forward, interested.

"Is this John?" a voice on the other end of the line asked.

"He can't come to the phone," Dean replied, quickly. "Can I help you?"

"No. No, I-I need to talk to John Winchester," the young man said, hurriedly. "My name is Adam Milligan. He knows me."

"Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, pal," Dean went on, wondering who the hell this guy was. "But John died more than two years ago. Who is this?"

"I-I'm his son."

Dean didn't say anything for a moment, but finally he found his voice again and asked, "Where are you?"

After listening to the one-ended conversation for another minute or too, Fiona saw Dean close the phone and give it suspicious glances periodically. "So what was that about?" Fi wanted to know.

But Dean didn't say a word as he continued staring out the windshield. After a while, he said, "Windom, Minnesota."

"What?" Sam said, surprised by that. "Why?"

"Just do it, Sam," Dean replied, flatly, still looking down the road.

Sam met Fiona's look in the rearview mirror and when she shrugged, he nodded and headed towards Minnesota.

Arriving at the only diner in town, Sam tried to give Dean the rundown on what he'd found out about Adam Milligan, but Dean was having none of it. He knew this was a trap of some kind. This kid was a demon or shapeshifter or something.

As they sat down in the back of the diner, Sam noticed that Fiona seemed oddly edgy, like she knew something about what was going on. But he shrugged it off as Fiona sat next to the window. "Look, I was going through Dad's journal," Sam went on as Dean switched the extra silverware with real silver and replaced the water in the spare glass with holy water. "There's an entry in Dad's journal from December 1989. Says he's going to Minnesota to check out a case. That's about, oh… 9 months before the kid was born."

"You're not seriously buying this, are you?" Dean asked, surprised that his normally levelheaded brother would be going along with this.

"Look, man," Sam said, calmly. "I don't want to believe it either. I'm just saying that it's possible. I mean Dad would be gone for weeks at a time and he wasn't exactly a monk." Thinking on it, he went on. "I mean, a hunter rolls into town, kills the monster, saves the girl… sometimes the girl is grateful."

Dean couldn't believe what he was hearing. Cringing, he said, "Well, now I'm thinking about Dad sex. Stop talking."

Knowing that it would annoy Dean, Sam smirked as he added, "Maybe he slipped one past the goalie."

"Dude!" Dean exclaimed, wishing his brother came with a mute button. Turning to Fiona, he asked, "What about you, Fi? You buying this?"

"I'm Switzerland here, Bigwig," Fiona replied, putting both hands up. "Is it possible? Sure. Anything's possible. But I'm staying out of this one. This is your family drama."

Sam looked up at the front door just as a teenaged kid came in, looking around. "Adam?"

Immediately, Dean looked up and Fiona turned around, watching as Adam came over.

"Sam?" Adam said, looking hesitant.

Sam nodded and pointed to his brother and girlfriend. "This is Dean and Fiona."

Adam dropped his back pack next to his chair and slowly sat down. Dean seemed suspicious of him, but Sam was more curious. Fiona he didn't seem too sure about, but she seemed like a nice person. Very hot, too. "So… how'd you know my Dad?"

"He and my Dad were in the Marines together," Fiona replied, pulling out the photo of her father, John Winchester, and Jethro Gibbs. Handing the photo to Adam, she glanced at Dean and Sam before waiting for Adam's reaction.

"So how did he die?" Adam asked, curious.

"Accident on the job," Dean replied, coolly.

"He was a mechanic, right?" Adam said, a trifle confused.

Sam could tell that Dean was getting ramped up and he desperately wished he knew how to diffuse the situation. "A car fell on Dad one day," Sam explained, immediately cursing the slip.

"'Dad'?" Adam repeated as he looked from Sam to Dean and back again. "Wait, you… you guys are my brothers?"

xxxxxxx

After running Adam through the salt-silver-holy water tests, Sam and Dean listened as Adam explained why he'd called before the whole group headed over to Kate Milligan's house, but while the brother's went inside, Fiona went to her bag in the trunk, waiting until the three boys were inside before she dug out James Brendon's journal. Pulling out an old letter, she unfolded it and started reading.

James,

Remember that case in Minnesota about 12 years back we worked? It was the first time you brought Fiona along. Well, I've got a problem. A big one.

That girl I ended up with that night—Kate—she got pregnant. Kid's 12 now. Name's Adam.

I don't know what to do here, man. Do I tell Sammy and Dean? What if they think I'm somehow betraying Mary?

Call me when you get this letter.

JW

Fiona folded up the letter and tucked it back into the journal before flipping to a page halfway through. She remembered the case from before. Her father had never given her details and she suspected her presence was more due to the fact that both Sam and Dean had had the chicken pox at the time.

Throwing the journal back in her bag and her bag back in the trunk, Fiona cursed out loud as she slammed the trunk closed. This was jacked 6 ways from Sunday!

Adam should be worried about acing his finals, not about some big bad that swiped his mom.

"Hey, you okay?"

Fi looked up to see Sam coming out of the house, pulling his cell phone out of his pocket as he did so. "Yeah, I'm cool," she replied, shrugging. "So what's the story?"

"Not sure," Sam admitted. "Kate Milligan has been missing since Tuesday night. No one saw or heard anything. I was just going to call the police department and see what they can tell me." Looking at Fiona for a long moment, he pocketed his cell phone and leaned against the trunk of the Impala, crossing his arms.

"Oh, no," Fiona said, rolling her eyes and leaning back against the trunk as well. "Why do I feel like I'm about to be put in the middle of you and Dean again?"

"I think we need to tell Adam the truth," Sam replied, plainly. "And Dean… I think that's the last thing he wants to do."

"So you want me to cast the deciding vote?" Fiona said, looking at Sam. When Sam met her gaze, she sighed and straightened up. "Make your calls, Sam. I'll be inside with Dean and Adam."

Frowning, Sam did as bid and once again, pulled out his phone.

x

While Dean looked around the house, Adam went over to Fiona who looked a bit uncomfortable being there.

"So, uh…" Adam stammered, not really sure of what to say.

"Look, Adam, it's nothing personal, okay?" Fiona cut in, saving the kid from making small talk. Seeing that he didn't understand what she meant, Fi went on. "Sam and Dean just… aren't sure what to make of all this, okay? And both of them are probably jealous that you got to have a normal life and they didn't. And with both of them, there's a lot of deep-rooted resentment towards John."

Realizing she needed to stop talking before she spilled all, Fiona asked, "You got a basement? Might be the next best place to look."

"Uh, yeah," Adam said, following Fiona to a door and down the dark stairs.

"Don't suppose you know where the—" But before Fiona could complete the thought, something hit her on the back of the head, rendering her unconscious.

x

When Adam came up from the basement, he saw Sam looking around. "Hey, have you seen Fi?"

"I think she went to check out the backyard," Adam replied, with a shrug.

Sam frowned a bit but didn't say anything. He hated that Fiona wasn't helping with the situation. But as a thought occurred to him, he headed outside, Dean following him to the Impala.

"Sam?" Dean asked as he watched his brother rummaging around in Fiona's bag. "Dude, what are you doing?"

But Sam didn't reply as he pulled out James' journal out of the bag and opened it up, stopping as he pulled out two torn pages. "Dean," he said, holding the pages out.

It only took a swift glance to recognize his father's handwriting. Dean snatched the papers from his brother's hand and quickly skimmed them over. "Great. Ghouls," Dean muttered. "Why wouldn't Fi tell us she knew what we were dealing with?"

"Or that she knew about Adam?" Sam offered, holding out his father's letter.

"What?" As Dean read the letter for himself, he wondered what other secrets Fiona had. "Okay, where's Fi?"

"Adam said she was in the back yard," Sam replied, thinking.

"No, she'd not. I just looked out there," Dean snapped, suddenly afraid. "The damn thing's got her, Sam!"

While Dean went to check the crypts where the newest bodies had been taken from, Sam stuck with Adam because while Sam believed his half-brother was a potential victim, Dean believed that the kid had something to do with Fiona's disappearance.

As the eldest Winchester looked about the crypt, he felt yet another pang of jealousy towards Adam. The kid had a future…Dad had taken him to a friggin' baseball game!

"What did Dad do with me on my 14th birthday?" Dean muttered, looking around for some clue to anything. "I spent the whole freakin' week in the freakin' hospital after I broke my freakin' leg!" Leaning against one of the broken open tombs, Dean took a few deep breaths, trying to calm himself.

He knew Adam was hiding something. Or maybe it was something that looked like…

Dean straightened up, realization hitting him like a block of ice—cold and hard.

Ghouls took the shape of their last victims.

On the one hand, Fiona was trapped somewhere and likely to be bait for him and Sam.

On the other hand, Sam likely didn't know what Adam really was.

Pulling out his cell phone, Dean dialed his brother's number and waited until Sam picked up. "Hey, I think I found something."

"You find where they're keeping Fi?" Sam asked hopefully.

A sneaking suspicion crept over Dean and he asked, "Sam, is Adam with you?"

"Yeah, why?" Sam replied, sounding a trifle perplexed.

'Damn!' Dean thought, trying to think. "Okay, stay on your guard and do NOT let him out of your sight. I'm coming back."

"No, Dean," Sam said, quickly. "You gotta find Fi. Okay? I can handle myself, just find her."

"Sam, you're more important—"

"I mean it, Dean," Sam pressed, insistently. "Find Fiver first."

Dean started to say something else but the call cut out and he didn't have to be a genius to know that Sam was under duress. Looking around the crypt again, he tried to see something he hadn't before.

But as he started to think that it was pointless, he heard something. He couldn't be sure if it was the wind or what, but going to the back of the crypt, he heard something from behind the stones. He paused just a moment before hearing the distinctive sound of a bullet hitting stone.

x

Trapped in a hidden chamber beneath the crypt, Fiona had been screaming herself hoarse for the past hour. Her left knee and her head throbbed and it felt like at least two ribs were cracked, if not broken.

Finally, she'd decided to fire a few rounds through the tunnel above one of the coffins, hoping someone would hear and come rescue her.

She hated that she'd trusted Adam enough to turn her back on him. But more than that, she hated herself for not reading her father's journal more thoroughly—not to mention the pages from John Winchester's journal. Fi had figured that this was a situation that Sam and Dean needed to handle themselves and so she'd resolved to stay out of it.

Now she may have gotten the only family she had left killed.

"Fi!"

Fiona whirled around, looking through the tunnel. "Dean?" she said, quickly.

"Yeah, Fiver, it's me," Dean confirmed, and after a moment, he clambered none too gracefully out of the tunnel and landed next to Fiona.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about—" Fiona began but she was cut off by Dean.

"Save it for after we save Sammy," Dean barked, not bothering to keep the anger out of his voice. "Come on. We gotta climb out of here." But hearing something behind him, he turned just in time to see the tunnel caving in. "Son of a bitch!"

"Help me," Fiona said, trying to ignore the growing pain in her body. "If we can… get some height, I think we can get out through that stained glass," she added, pointing upward.

"Okay, let's do it, then," Dean replied, nodding. He had to get back to save Sammy… if his brother wasn't dead already.

Lying on his back on the kitchen table of the Milligan house, his arms and legs tied down, Sam cursed himself for letting his guard down. Dean had warned him—Fiona's absence was obviously a ruse to get Dean away and Sam, trying to explain to his newly discovered half-brother about what their father had really done for a living, had maybe gone into more detail than he should have.

Sam had turned his back on Adam for only a second, but it was enough time for the ghoul wearing his half-brother's face to knock him unconscious.

When he'd come to, Sam found himself tied up and his head was pounding.

"So, what?" Sam said, trying Dean's trick of displaying bravado instead of fear. "This is revenge? The ghoul Dad killed was a friend of yours?" he asked the monsters wearing the faces of Adam and Kate Milligan.

"Try father," Ghoul-Kate said, coldly. "After John Winchester murdered him, my brother and I—" She indicated herself and Adam. "—grew up on our own. Inseparable. Much like you and Dean. And, of course, Fiona. Until she wised up and abandoned you for greener pastures."

Making a shallow cut on Sam's left arm, ghoul-Kate tasted his blood, pausing when she found the hunter's blood to be sharper than usual. There was something almost bitter about it. Looking up at ghoul-Adam, she said, "His blood—it tastes different."

The other ghoul dug his finger into Sam's side, ignoring the older man's cries of pain. Sure enough, the blood did taste different. It was more bittersweet than other blood he'd tasted and there was something dark about it.

Sam knew what they were tasting. The demon blood within him had probably built up over the past few months. He wished Dean and Fiona would get there soon.

"If you're thinking about when Dean and Fiona are going to get here," ghoul-Adam said, taking another taste of Sam's blood. "They'll be busy for a while. See, Sam… You claim to care about Fiona, but when it comes down to it, you care more about your brother than her. On the other hand, Dean cares more about Fiona than you. He trusts her. Or, he did until she forgot to tell him that she knew what was going on."

Ghoul-Kate gave Sam a twisted smile as she made deeper slashes on Sam's arms and said, "You see, John wasn't alone when he came through the first time. His best friend, James, was with him along with James' daughter, Fiona. Before we feast on your brother, we're going to kill you nice and slow… and Fiona…And Dean's going to watch both of you die before we finish with him."

"How about not?" Fiona said as she limped into the room, raising a shotgun and blowing ghoul-Kate's head off. But before she could get to ghoul-Adam, he'd thrown her across the room.

Dean looked in horror from Sam bleeding out on the table to Fiona lying motionless on the floor. Turning to the monster wearing his half-brother's face, Dean felt himself filled with a rage and a fire that surprised even him. Firing a shotgun blast at ghoul-Adam, he waited until the thing was on the ground before grabbing a marble rolling pin from the counter and swung it down on the ghoul's head until he was certain it was dead.

"Dean!" Sam shouted, urgently.

Dean heard the panic and growing weakness in his brother's voice and raced over, cutting the ropes and helping Sam up before grabbing a couple towels from the buffet table. "Sam, we gotta get you and Fi to a hospital."

"No," Sam said, shakily. "They'll take one look… they'll think I tried to kill myself."

Dean didn't know what to do. Fiona was still out and every second that went by was more blood that Sam lost. He needed help now but he couldn't get Fiona and Sam out to the Impala at the same time and neither of them could wait for an ambulance. "Sam, can you walk?"

Sam looked even shakier and he looked like he might go into shock any moment. But as he looked around and saw Fiona, he realized what Dean meant. "Maybe…" Sam said, even though he was sure he wouldn't make it all the way out to the car.

Dean could tell Sam was fading quick and went to grab Fi and hoisted her up into a fireman's carry before going back to his brother, one arm around Sam to support him. Somehow, Dean managed to get all three of them in the car and he tore down the road towards the hospital.

"Sam!" Dean said, trying to keep his little brother alert. Noticing that Sam was now unconscious, Dean floored it, ignoring red lights and cars honking.

x

A mile from the hospital, Dean saw police cars behind him and he gunned it until he swung the car sharply into the emergency room entrance and leapt from the car and went to the passenger side door. "Damnit," he said, when he noticed that Sam was still bleeding and getting paler by the second.

Dean was barely aware of the cops surrounding him and doctors and nurses shouting.

He felt someone gently pull Sam from his grasp before guiding him inside.

Dean wasn't even aware of passing out, falling limply to the floor.

x

He came to on an exam bed only an hour later, surprised to find an IV dripping something into his left arm and a bandage on his right. Looking around, Dean was surprised to see that he was still dressed and looking at the IV he was attached to, he recognized the label as the standard saline/glucose drip which was commonly given after passing out or—in extreme cases—donating blood.

"Glad to see you're back with us," a dark-haired nurse said, smiling as she entered the exam room. "I'm used to guys conking out after a wild night and not giving me their name. At work… that's another story."

"Dean," he said, carefully sitting up and testing his body, but no serious pain flared up for once, other than the usual muscle aches.

"Jesse Aldren," the nurse replied, giving Dean a winning smile

"How's my brother?" Dean wanted to know.

Jesse closed the door behind her and pulled a chair over to the bed, sitting down and facing Dean as he swung his legs over the edge of the exam bed. "Has you brother seemed depressed lately?"

"Sam?" Dean said, thinking. "No."

"No history of self injury?" Jesse pressed.

"Look, some freaks tied my brother down and cut him up, okay?" Dean snapped, defensively. "Sam's not suicidal, alright?"

"I'm not saying he is," Jesse assured him, calmly. "Just standard questions. The doctors finished stitching up your brother's arms and they're keeping him for a 72-hour psych hold." Seeing Dean about to argue, she put a hand up and added, "If the shrinks agree that Sam is not a danger to himself, you can take him home in a couple days."

Dean sighed, and at first thought about just signing himself and Sam out AMA. But thinking of Fi, he asked, "What about Fiona?"

"She woke up in the ER," Jesse explained. "Mild concussion, couple busted ribs, sprained knee. Sam needed blood and we were low on A-, so we needed blood from you and your sister since you're AB and she's O+."

Dean didn't bother to correct the nurse, and instead asked, "Can I see them?"

"In a little bit," Jesse assured him. "Your blood sugar levels were already low and you just donated blood about half an hour ago. Just sit for a minute."

"Do you have brothers or sisters?" Dean asked, not in any mood to wait even 10 minutes.

"Three older brothers," Jesse replied. With a sigh, she added, "Let me grab a wheelchair."

"Fine," Dean said, shortly, hoping the nurse wouldn't be too long.

xxxxxxxx

Sam felt groggy as he started to wake up and his head was pounding. He was having a hard time focusing and he felt feverish.

"Sammy? Sam? Sam!"

He could hear Dean calling his name, could feel his brother holding his hand, but he couldn't focus. The voices sounded echoey and Sam felt oddly disconnected from his body. "Dean…" he tried calling for his brother, but he wasn't even sure if he was actually talking or if it was his imagination. "Fi…"

x

"Sam!" Dean shouted, suddenly noticing the tremor in his brother's free hand. Sam was sweating heavier now and when he opened his eyes, it was as if he didn't know where he was.

"Mom? Mom, I'm sorry," Sam said, looking past Dean.

"Sam, Mom's gone, remember?" Dean said, trying to bring his brother back. "Sammy, come on. Snap out of it!" But suddenly, Sam started convulsing and Dean was caught off guard as Sam's fist caught him in the jaw. "Sammy!" Looking over his shoulder, Dean shouted, "I need some help in here!"

xx

An hour later, Dean stared at his brother through the window of Sam's room in the psych ward of the hospital. The doctors had sedated Sam fairly heavily and had put him in restraints as a precaution after fixing some of the torn-out sutures on his arms.

Dean couldn't even bring himself to care that tears were streaming heavily down his face as he sat in the hospital wheelchair, still attached to the IV drip. "Damnit, Sammy," Dean said, quietly, a choke in his voice. He'd already answered about two dozen questions about his brother's psychological state including drug history.

The doctors wanted to run tests on Sam to try and find out what drug he was on.

But how could the doctors help when Sam was suffering from demon blood withdrawl?

A/N: Next chapter, Sam's in detox, Ruby's back, and a rift develops between Dean and Fiona.