Sam was stacking his papers in order when he heard a knock on his door. He jerked his head up to find his older brother, still dressed in his baggy t-shirt and pajamas, hair tousled, despite which he looked absolutely grave.

"Mornin'," Sam offered.

"Mom up yet?"

"Yeah, she went out a while ago to meet Uncle Bobby."

"What for?"

Sam shrugged, "Didn't say. But she left breakfast out on the island."

"Not hungry."

Sam frowned. He hadn't seen Dean eating besides at dinner time, and though he looked gaunter than before, it wasn't like he was emaciated. Probably snuck out at night to Biggersons, Sam thought.

Dean was not a habitual visitor to Sam's room and he began to wonder why, after petitioning their mother for four years to get his little brother out of his bedroom, had he come here.

"You could call Mom, she remembered to carry her cell this time."

"Not Mom I needed to talk to," he said, shuffling in and shutting the door. "What've you got there?"

"Just a-" Sam hesitated. Dean didn't usually show much interest in his own school work, let alone Sam's. "Just a bunch of assignments I had to finish out."

"What, there's like twenty of them."

"Couple of guys I knew who needed them done."

"Those kids got you doing their homework for them?"

"It's no big deal, Dean."

Dean was not convinced, he opened his mouth to tell Sam to nut up and get a bunch of friends who weren't all freakin' leeches, but he thought better of it and sat down on Sam's bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

"Listen, Sammy," he began. "I need you to do me a solid."

"What's that?"

"Say I needed some-" he searched from an appropriate word, "some information on a guy."

"What kind of information?"

"Everything," Dean said, then decided to aim lower, "Anything you could find."

"What guy are we talking about?"

Dean frowned, "Is it possible for you to dig up something on that new kid?"

"Castiel? The one who was at the party last night?"

"You gotta ask so many questions?" Dean snapped.

Sam raised his eyebrows and returned to his papers, "I suppose I could. I just need to know why."

"This is gonna sound crazy, but there is something going on with that guy and if Hannigan expects me to play eagle scouts with him, I need information that he isn't ready to give me."

"He seems like a pretty normal guy."

"I'd bet my left leg he isn't."

Sam considered the task, then repeated "What kind of information?"

"I don't know man, can't you hack into the school system or something?"

"You want me to hack into records?"

Dean realized what he was asking but before he could reply, Sam nodded.

"Check back with me this evening."

"You're really gonna do it?"

"Hey, gotta put that software training to use at some point, right?"

"Thanks," Dean stood up.

"Oh, Mom said she won't be back for lunch so we're gonna have to order in or go out."

"I vote we go out," Dean said heading for the door. "It's a beautiful day, don't want to waste it."

Biggersons was crowded at midday. The last time Sam and Dean had eaten together at this place was during a half-hearted birthday celebration in '06. Presently, they sat opposite each other at a small table by the window. Sam had his laptop propped open among the coffee cups and pizza boxes.

"He's transfered six times?" Dean asked through a mouthful.

"Washburn, Topeka, couple of places in Iowa. Guy's been around plenty, but then he settles in Pontiac for five years."

"Why the sudden lull in the country cruise?"

"It says here his dad was a lieutenant commander in the navy. Probably why he got transferred a lot."

"Kansas and Iowa are landlocked states," Dean thought aloud.

"Yeah, that's pretty weird. But they are just postings. It doesn't mean anything."

"You got anything else?"

"Excellent transcript."

"Besides that?"

Sam paused, scanning the screen for a while, "Nothing here, but I bet I could press Jess for a few details."

Dean didn't really want Jess involved in their little game of Cluedo. But if push comes to shove, he thought, I need all the dirt I can get.

"Dean," Sam said without taking his eyes away from the internal records he'd managed to locate, "I gotta ask. Why are you so interested in this guy?"

"Interested? I'm not interested."

"What's this background check for then?"

"It's not something I can explain," Dean said, biting into his burger.

Sam shut the lid of his laptop in one fluid movement and stared grimly at his brother, "You have to stop acting like I can't see something is eating you right now. I've been nothing but nice to you for months, Dean. Jess and I have been trying to cheer you up for God knows how long and I'm sick and tired of this stone wall you've put up to keep everybody out."

Dean chewed slowly. Sam had broached the subject once before but there had been a school bell to come to his aid. Now, halfway through their meal, there was hardly a way to get around it.

"I just think," Sam went on, "that maybe if you opened your damn pie-hole about it once in a while you wouldn't be beating yourself up everyday."

"Sammy, it's not easy-"

"Well life isn't easy, Dean. I'm just asking you to trust me. I've never given you a reason not to."

He looked at his little brother. He wasn't little any more. But he was his brother, he was family. He was somebody who actually cared.

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know where to begin."

"Why don't you begin with Jo, then?"

Sam watched as Dean's jaw tightened.

He put his food down and wiped his fingers with a a napkin, then dabbed his lips without looking up.

"Alright Sammy," he kept his voice as level as possible. "You want the whole scoop? Alright. I'm warning you this isn't something you want to hear and it's definitely something Mom won't want to hear. But fine, have it your way."

Sam swallowed but listened closely all the same.

"Jo died two years ago and it broke my heart, no that doesn't even begin to cover it. I had an image of her in a body bag for months afterword and I had a voice in my head telling me find that son of a bitch who did her in and slit his throat. And I almost got down to it."

"You what?"

"I bought me a knife, and I still carry the damn thing around. That night I came home late, sloshed out of my mind? I didn't mean to make Mom cry. I meant to avenge Jo. But I-"

Sam heard his voice trail off. Dean picked at his food and Sam broke in, "Why didn't you do it?"

"Sammy, Jo died two years ago, but she isn't gone. I still see her. Everywhere. Eyes open, eyes close. And I thought I was dreaming it all up, but she's still here."

"What are you talking about."

"The night I took the bus to the State Pen, I saw Jo on the street. I knew it was her so I pulled the chain and got off. She told me not to go through with it. She sat me down at a bar we used to go to. She told me what she was, she wasn't human."

Sam's anger had quickly melted from his face, leaving him wide-eyed and concerned. Dean was raving like a madman.

"I know you don't believe me, Sam. But I'm trying to tell you the truth here."

"Dean, I-" but there was nothing to be said.

"Jo never left. And it drives me crazy every time I see her. You have no idea how many books I've leafed through on ghosts and resurrection in the past year."

Sam wanted so much to believe his brother was telling the truth. But it simply sounded more and more like an elaborate shield for whatever he was actually hiding.

"Sammy, I'm not going crazy. At least I think I'm not. You know the things people say go on at the old shoe factory? It's true. It's Jo."

Sam was shaking his head when Dean cut in again, "It's her, I've seen her."

"Dean do you have any idea how this sounds?"

"I can see her and I thought I was the only one, but-" Dean hesitated, "Castiel sees her too."

Whew. This heat is killing me, but it's also driving out these chapters. So. What do you think?