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If there was one phone call Dean had never expected to get, this was it. “Slow down, Sammy. What’s wrong?”
“It’s my roommate. Look, I’m probably just being paranoid here, but before Thanksgiving, he was an awesome guy. Worked his ass off to keep up straight As, could charm anyone into anything, but used his powers for good – convincing people to join clubs, donate to good causes, that sort of thing. When he wasn’t busy studying, he was doing volunteer work with the LGBT group. He’d go to parties watching for girls who looked like they were in trouble and making sure they got home okay.”
“We talking about your roommate or your boyfriend?”
“Shut up, Dean. He went home for Thanksgiving, and since then… I don’t think he’s opened a book this quarter, he’s still going to parties but I went with him last week and if I hadn’t intervened, that girl was not getting home safely.”
“So you’re calling me because…”
“Because I’ve tried a few things, but I thought you might know more ways to see if this is something pretending to be Brady, or possessing him, or something. Silver and salt didn’t do anything, no matter what I tried. What else should I be trying?”
Dean snorted. “Are you calling me to do your research for you? That’s a switch.”
Sam laughed ruefully. “I can’t call Dad. You can. He might have some ideas.”
“Yeah, okay. I’ll call you back when I have something for you to try.” Dean hung up and clutched the phone. He could call Dad, make it sound like a normal case, ask for advice. He could call one of their other contacts. He needed the best, though.
Three days later, he called Sam back. “I’ve got something.”
“Great! What do I need to do?”
“You need to let me in. If it’s what Bobby thought it might be, this is definitely not a job for you to take on alone.”
He saw Sam peek out of the blinds and waved. Sam yelped and hung up. A moment later, Sam came running out the front door. He stopped and stared at Dean, who had opened the trunk to grab the duffle bag he’d packed. “What are you doing here?”
“Like I said, this is a two-person job. Unless you want to recruit a classmate…” Dean looked pointedly at a couple girls who were walking by, giggling at something on the phone.
“Oh.” Sam turned around and walked off, swiping a card to open the front door. “You coming?”
Dean followed Sam up to the apartment he and Brady shared. “Where’s the roommate now?”
“Class. At least he’s still going to those.”
“Good, that gives us some time to set up.” Dean reached into the bag and pulled out some spray paint. “Sorry about this.”
“What…”
Dean pulled out a book and opened it to the page Bobby had marked. “It’s a devil’s trap.”
“You think my roommate’s the devil? I mean, he’s an asshole now, but isn’t that a little extreme?”
Dean shook his head. “Not the devil. Just a demon. Bobby’s idea.”
“Bobby? You went to Bobby over this?”
“It was Bobby or Dad, and if Dad knew, don’t you think he’d have mentioned it at some point?” Dean climbed on a chair to start painting the trap on the ceiling. “Bobby said to tell you to call him. Come visit him over a school break or something. His fight with Dad doesn’t extend to us.”
“So, a demon? What’s the lore on demons? Why didn’t Dad ever teach us about them?”
Dean shrugged. “Demons are creatures of pure evil, hate humans. Supposedly created by the devil himself after his fall from Heaven, but that’s gotta be bullshit. They possess humans to have a corporeal form on Earth, and what we need to do is rip the demon out of your buddy, and then send it back to Hell.” He checked his lines, making sure they were straight. “Bobby got into hunting because his wife was killed by a demon. This demon may have killed your friend, Sammy. They have to take a living human, but they can hold the human together and repair the damage as long as it’s in there. Once they’re gone, whatever happened to the human happens.”
“So if it’s a demon, we may be killing Brady with the exorcism.” Sam looked a little ill at the thought.
Dean hopped off the chair and put it back. “Yep. On the other hand, if we don’t do the exorcism, your buddy gets to sit in there while the demon uses his body to hurt people. You think he’d prefer that to death?”
“Brady would rather die.” Sam pulled himself together with a sharp nod. “How do we exorcize him?”
“There’s a spell. Book’s in the bag, page is marked. You keeping up with your Latin?”
“No, but I bet I’m still better than you.” Dean smirked as Sam got the book and read over the spell.
They heard the door opening, and Dean hid in the closet. Sam with his nose in a book apparently was still normal enough that Brady didn’t even think twice, but when he stepped into the devil’s trap, he changed. “Sammy! What’s going on?”
Dean came out and came to stand by Sam. “Bobby said this part gets tricky, so whatever happens, just keep reading. Got it?”
Sam nodded. “You’re not Brady. You’re a demon.”
“Wow. And it only took you three months to figure it out!” Demon-Brady laughed. “Brady’s not the first person I’ve possessed to keep an eye on you, buddy. Your whole life, I’ve been right there beside you.”
“Sammy, start reading.” Sam jumped a little, but he started reading out the first part of the exorcism.
The demon laughed. “That tickles! Hey, Dean. Just so you know, your brother is awesome in the sack.”
Dean glanced over at Sam. “Keep reading. He’s just trying to annoy you.”
“Oh, what was her name… Rebecca? Rachel?” The demon shrugged. “Anyway, Dean, just thought you might like to know. How you keep your hands off…”
Sam nearly dropped the book. Dean steadied it for him. “Keep reading, Sammy. Ignore him.”
The demon was starting to twitch, flailing around now. “Didn’t you know? Sammy there is head over heels in love with you, Deano! He’d let you do whatever you wanted to him.”
“You’re full of crap.” Dean glared at Sam. “Sam. Read. We’ve gotta be getting close if it’s that desperate to mess with us.”
“Oh, I’m not full of crap. Sammy knows that. After all, he confessed it to Father O’Malley, when he was fifteen and thinking about joining the Catholic church!”
That gave Dean pause. He remembered that phase, and Father O’Malley. He glanced over at Sammy, who this time didn’t need to be told to keep reading. The demon screamed as Sam started spitting out Latin faster than Dean had ever heard it spoken, and black smoke poured out of Brady’s mouth. Brady slumped to the floor, unconscious, and Sam kept the Latin going, forcing the black smoke downward, disappearing through the floor.
Sam closed the book and went to kneel by Brady, taking his pulse and checking for breathing. “He’s alive, but weak. Hospital?”
“What are you gonna tell them?”
“I don’t know! I can’t just let him die, though.”
Brady stirred, and his eyes opened. “Sam. Thank you.”
“Brady?”
Brady coughed, and Dean winced at the blood that came up. “Don’t bother with the hospital. First thing that demon did when it possessed me is jump out of a fifteenth-story window. Listen. That demon… he’s…” Brady coughed again. “His father wants you for something. I don’t know what. Azazel. He…” Brady coughed again. “He killed your mother.”
“Brady… no. This isn’t… there’s gotta be something…”
Brady shook his head and closed his eyes. His breathing slowed to a stop. Sam started crying. Dean crouched beside him to hug him. “You heard him, Sammy. Fifteenth-story. There’s no way he could have survived that.”
“Can… look, I know you probably want to blow town, but can you stay long enough to help me burn the body?” Sam wiped his eyes, but refused to look at Dean.
“Sure. I’m gonna call Dad, tell him what the demon said about Mom, but I can stay as long as you want.”
“It was a demon. Pure evil. They’re probably not above lying to mess with people.” Sam shook Dean off picked up Brady.
“Not if the truth will mess with them more.”
“Yeah. I know.” Sam carried Brady into the bedroom, kicking the door closed behind him.
After a moment’s debate, Dean called John and poured out the whole story. Well, most of it. John’s reaction was unexpected. “I knew about Azazel. Listen, Dean. Stick close to Sammy. As close as he’ll let you. I’m still not sure what this thing’s after, but if he’s had demons watching Sam all his life, it’s clearly got something to do with him.”
“If you knew about Azazel, how come you didn’t teach me or Sam anything about demons?”
“They’re rare. Very rare. Didn’t think you’d ever run into one. I’m still trying to figure out how to kill one. Got a couple leads, but nothing good.” John cleared his throat. “Dean, save your brother. If you can’t… well. I’ll take care of things.”
John hung up on that ominous note, leaving Dean to stare at his phone. He dropped it into his pocket and went after Sam. “Hey.”
“Go away.”
“I called Dad. He already knew some of it.”
“Great.”
Dean sighed and leaned against the door. “Sammy, what’s wrong?”
“You should be running the hell away from me. Why aren’t you?”
“What, because of the Father O’Malley thing?” Sam nodded. “It ever occur to you that you might not be the only one?”
“What?”
Dean’s turn to not be able to look Sam in the eyes, even as Sam turned to finally try to meet his. “I know it hurt when I wouldn’t pick a side in the Stanford fight. I couldn’t. Letting you go was unthinkable, but if you went, I wouldn’t be fighting myself every day to make sure nothing slipped. I hated myself for years, for being such a freak. What kind of sick fuck can’t stop thinking about his baby brother? Calls out his brother’s name in bed?”
“You…”
“Got several slaps for it, too. At least I could pass it off as being an ex-girlfriend I’d honestly thought I was over – especially once you were gone and the girls didn’t know I had a brother.”
Sam stood up and took a couple shaky steps toward Dean. “Do you still hate yourself?”
“Kinda. You’re still my brother, and nothing’s ever gonna change that. At least now, you’re not still a kid. You’ve grown up a lot since you left.” Dean looked over to Brady. “This has got to be the worst timing ever, but… do you still feel that way?”
“Yeah. I do.” Sam reached out and touched Dean’s face, lifting it until they were looking into each other’s eyes. “How long can you stay with me before Dad calls you back?”
“Dad’s orders are to stay as close to you as you’ll let me. I don’t think he quite meant this close, but…”
Sam laughed at that, breaking the spell. He took a step back. “Don’t you dare get possessed by a demon. It would kill me, having to kill you.”