Catching Up, Season 2
Chapter 20 – Born Under a Bad Sign

The next morning, Dean and Mary put together a breakfast bar of sorts in the den, letting everyone take their pick of hot and cold food and drinks. Cas obliged to keep the food plentiful and warm as they sat down to start again. Rowena read it out this time, "What do we have here, 'After receiving a frantic call from Sam, who has been missing for over a week, Dean races to his brother's side. He finds Sam covered in blood but unable to remember anything that happened. Upon further investigation, the brothers are horrified to discover a tape that shows Sam killing another hunter in cold blood, causing Sam to believe that his evil side is finally taking over.' Now we're getting somewhere dear."

"This is gonna be unpleasant," Sam sank lower in his seat. The show opened on TV!Dean searching for his brother who's been missing. Finally he receives a call from TV!Sam, telling him where to find him. When the elder Winchester arrives, he finds his brother injured, covered in blood, daze

Dean's mouth twisted, "Still damn embarrassing that you drove that."

In the car, they find more blood on the steering wheel and bloody knife. "This will end well," Mary hmphed.

A receipt found in the car leads them to a gas station. The attendant is none too pleased to see TV!Sam, informing TV!Dean of his antics including drinking, smoking, and theft. Cas uncharacteristically snorted, "I'm sorry, I find it amusing that Sam's health habits are so ingrained that you find cigarettes and malt liquor more alarming than a bloody knife."

"Oh don't worry, the blood disturbed me enough for the both of us," Sam muttered. The brothers continue to track Sam's prior movements, leading them to a secluded house off the highway. They find a broken window and the security system tampered with. Inside, predictably, they find a dead body, what no one was prepared for was that it was a hunter. Security camera footage would then confirm that TV!Sam did indeed murder him in cold blood.

"Something's not right," Mary shook her head.

"I mean you did just witness your son commit murder," Crowley pointed.

"No the eyes," Mary took the remote to rewind to the shot of TV!Sam looking out the window after the murder. "Even the show is bringing attention to them. They're black, it was a demon wasn't it?"

"How in the hell…" Dean tried and then sighed. "I really wish you guys had been around from the beginning."

In the show, TV!Dean tries to force his little brother to clean up and move on from the incident but the guilt is tearing away at TV!Sam. He's concerned that his demonic side is surfacing and tries to get TV!Dean to kill him but he refuses. For one heartstopping moment, they thought TV!Sam was about attempt suicide but instead he pistolwhipped TV!Dean and left.

"I don't remember much of this," Sam commented. "I guess I finally get to see what I actually did."

Onscreen, TV!Dean awoke several hours later to find his brother gone and the hotel manager at the door. With some finesse, and a lot of cash, he was able to use the hotel computer and put in a call to try and track TV!Sam down. The watch party winced as TV!Dean lie-hopped his way into getting the cell company to track his phone. Sam cringed, "Justin Timberlake?"

Cas exhaled, "I swear your lies are horrendous."

"Oh come on, that was actually half decent!" Dean tried to defend himself.

Sam reached behind Mary to shove him, "What part of that remotely made sense?"

"The part where it helped me find you, asshole!"

"Boys…" Mary drew their attention back to the TV where TV!Sam walked into a bar to find Jo. She wasn't thrilled to see Sam but he claimed he was there to make peace.

"I will say dear, it plays a good you," Rowena said.

"Please don't say it."

The pair chat and Jo slips up about her crush for Dean. TV!Sam is quick to squash that. "Okay that was partially true, but he didn't need to be such a douche about it," Dean exclaimed.

Only tries to make a pass at her himself only to get shot down. They struggle and the boys in the living room growled at the way Jo was manhandled. Finally TV!Sam knocked the girl out and scene cuts. When the show returns, Jo is tied to a column while TV!Sam taunts her about her father's death. He tells her that John had been the one to end her father's life after a hunt gone wrong. "My father had to do that once," Mary added, "never mentioned the man's name again." No one asked the King of Hell to confirm John's story.

TV!Dean arrives and TV!Sam taunts him to shoot but he flings holy water at him instead causing the demon to burn. TV!Sam flees through a window and TV!Dean frees Jo. The brothers have a game of cat and mouse at a nearby boatshed before TV!Sam manages to shoot TV!Dean and send into the water before taking off. "Fascinating to see glimpses of the boy king that might have been," Crowley smirked.

"Do I want to know what he means by that?" Mary asked Dean quietly.

"No but you'll find out anyway." Back in the show, Jo patches TV!Dean up but doesn't ask him to confirm the story she'd been told. TV!Dean knows that the demon is going after hunters and there is only one in the area so he rushes there. Meanwhile, the demon cuts the phone line and goes to the door, revealing Bobby Singer.

"Ah my old friend," Crowley smiled and the boys gagged a little.

Bobby shows TV!Sam in and offers him a beer - except it's spiked with holy water, incapacitating the demon. Dean grinned, "That is one badass motherfu-"

"Dean!"

"C'mon it's Bobby!" Onscreen, Bobby and TV!Dean have the demon tied to a chair and attempt to perform an exorcism only to find it impervious; having created a binding link, locking it in Sam's body. With it's new abilities, it was able to break free of the demon seal and go after the two hunters. TV!Dean realizes the demon is Meg all along. The demon wasn't thrilled to be sent back to hell and broke with the purpose of getting revenge and killing every hunter in existence. Fortunately Bobby saved the day by using a red-hot poker on the binding scar, breaking it and sending Meg back into the depths once more.

"Her journey is quite interesting," Cas observed. "No wonder you had so much wariness about her. Strange where allies may come from."

"We really need to tell him," Sam mouthed at Dean who rubbed two fingers along his brow.

The show concludes with Bobby giving them protection charms against possession and warning them that the hunter Meg killed was looking for who did it. Meaning the brothers needed to hit the road. In the car, TV!Sam asks his brother why he wouldn't just kill him and TV!Dean says that John stipulated that he needed to kill Sam IF he couldn't save him. And there was no way TV!Dean wouldn't try to save him first.

"I'm so proud of you," Mary squeezed Dean's shoulder. "Of the both of you. You've been through so much and yet became such good men."

"Thanks mom."

"Thanks," Sam smiled. Aw how sweet. "Where have you been?" Miss me? "No." Well in that case, I'll just go then. These are some nice vintage cars by the way. "Yeah Dean - wait." Sam sat up straight and looked around to see if anyone was paying attention before getting up. Once he was out of the den, he straight up ran to the garage and all but flung himself through the door. "Gabriel!"