Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
I know it's been a while, but hopefully this chapter can tide you over until the next one!
The motel room Dean and Gordon were staying at was quiet. The only sound in the room was the ticking of the old clock on the wall. Tick. Tick. Tick.
Dean stared sullenly at the burger in front of him. Gordon had left half an hour ago to meet with one of his contacts to find out where Sam was while Dean sat in the motel doing nothing. The thing about doing nothing was it left Dean's brain full of space. Space that was quickly filled with the events of last night. Bela Talbot flying through the air. Bela's face screwed tight in pain as the blonde demon - Dean heard Sam call her Ruby – tortured her. The sound of a knife being removed from Bela's body. Sam's emotionless voice as he orders Ruby to dispose of the evidence.
Dean replayed the events over and over in his head, trying to discern why Sam would be so callous. Was Sam possessed by a demon? No, after Meg possessed Sam they took the anti-possession amulets Bobby gave them and got the design tattooed onto their chests. Was Bela a demon? No, Ruby said she had made a deal with a demon, so Bela was definitely human. Was it a shifter?
Dean sat up in his chair. A shapeshifter got the drop on Sam and was working with the demons! It was the only logical explanation Dean could come up with, and it seemed like a damned good explanation, too. At least shifters kept the person they were taking the form of alive so they could access their memories. Dean's blood ran cold. What if the shifter decided it didn't need to access Sam's memories? Dean shook his head, dispelling that thought. He didn't have time for doubts; he needed to find Sam before the shifter tired of his little brother's form.
As Dean walked outside and rummaged through Baby's trunk for all things silver, a tiny voice in the back of his head said, "Shifters can't throw demons against walls or exorcise them, so how do you explain how 'Sam' did that?" Dean paused, wracking his brain for some sort of explanation. Obviously, Sam was still Sam at that point, taking down powerful demons like the kick ass hunter he was, and after the confrontation with the Seven Deadly Sins the shifter got the drop on him. A hunt could make anyone tired, right?
"Dean, what are you doing?" Dean whipped his head around, hand going to his hip, only to relax upon seeing Gordon.
"Hey Gordon. When did you get back?"
Gordon cocked an eyebrow. "Just now. What are you doing out here? Did you get information on the monster's whereabouts?"
Dean held back the urge to strangle Gordon right then and there. "No, I didn't find out where SAM was; that was your job." Dean shut the trunk. "But I do know why Sam had been working with the demons."
Gordon was obviously skeptical. "Okaaayy. Why has Sam been working with demons?"
"That wasn't Sam." Gordon broke out into a full on smile. "It was a shifter." Gordon's face fell. Dean continued, "The last time I saw my brother, we were, uh, attacked by the Seven Deadly Sins. I think when Sam and I got separated, a shifter took him and is now working with the demons in his form."
Dean couldn't read Gordon; his face was blank. When he spoke, his voice was emotionless, flat. "When I was eighteen years old, my sister was kidnapped by vampires." He held up his hand, silencing Dean. "Let me finish. They took her from me, and I was livid. I picked up the hunting life, training for the day I could finally destroy the son of a bitch who stole her from me. I found the vampire. My sister was still with it, only something was different."
Dean had heard this all before. "She was a vampire and you killed her. I've heard the sob story before. Get to the point."
Gordon stared at Dean, face unmoving. "Patience, Winchester. I'm almost done." Dean rolled his eyes. He really didn't need story time; he needed to find Sam and kill off the shifter. "My sister was already dead." Dean looked back at Gordon, confused. "You see, Dean, my sister died the night the vampire took her. Once she became a vampire, she was no longer my sister; she was a monster. Sam, he's a monster. You can't keep coming up with excuses for his behavior. Sam had been working with the demons since before the Seven Deadly Sins were taken care of. He's not being held hostage by a shifter. Dean, your brother is a monster. I killed my monster; will you kill yours?"
With that, Gordon turned and walked into the motel room, leaving Dean speechless in the parking lot.
Sam wasn't a monster, he was Dean's little brother. If Sam had honestly been working with the demons since the first night he disappeared, then he had a damn good reason why. Sam was the logical one, the one who always thought things through before doing them. Sam wasn't evil. He wasn't a monster.
Dean headed back into the motel room, doubts still running through his mind. Gordon was sitting at the table, waiting.
"Are you ready to track it down, Dean?" Gordon asked.
Dean sat down across from him. "Where's my brother?"
Gordon shifted in his seat. "Here's the thing. Your brother has fallen off the grid. Between last night and now, no one has seen or heard anything about Sam or his whereabouts." Dean bristled. "It's not hopeless, just harder." Gordon assured the worried Winchester. "Sam has been, well, teleporting places lately, and it's been harder to keep up with him. If we want to find out where he is, we'll have to summon a demon and torture the information out of it."
Dean stood up. "We better get moving, then. Don't want to waste any more time."
The newest demon in front of Sam was dangling in the air, its feet off the ground. Sam smirked as it clawed at its throat.
"Tell me again how a weak human like me can't lead Azazel's army?" Sam tightened his hold, causing the demon's struggles to increase. "What's that? No excuses? Good answer." Closing his eyes, Sam forces the demonic smoke out of meatsuit and into the depths of Hell.
Sam lowered the meatsuit to the ground. Ruby walked over to it and checked for any signs the girl occupying it survived. She shook her head. "I know Bailey pissed you off, Sam, but if you want to be a hero and save people you can't crush any more windpipes."
Sam nodded. Dean was the 'shoot first ask questions later' guy; Sam could restrain himself.
Ruby walked over to Sam and wrapped her arms around him, pulling him into a hug. "I am so proud of you, you dork. You exorcised Bailey in only five seconds! That's way faster than reciting any old exorcism. With a little more training, you could do some real good, Sam."
Sam hugged Ruby back, a smile filling his face. Even though he was working with demons, Sam could do some good for the world. He could still be a part of the family business: saving people, hunting things.
Sam pulled out of the embrace and looked at Ruby with those puppy dog eyes of his. "Thanks Ruby. I really appreciate your support in this."
Ruby laughed, pushing at Sam's arm. "Don't get overly sentimental on me, dork. We still have a long way to go before you can take on more powerful demons."
Sam snorted and rolled his eyes. "Jerk."
Ruby tossed a canteen over to Sam. "Drink up! Let's try to keep this next guy alive please?"