It had been two days since Dean’s little trip to ‘Fantasy Island’, as he’d started referring to his encounter with the Djinn. Dean was quiet, nothing unusual about that in and of itself, but Sam had caught him completely lost in thought, as in not-paying-attention-to-the-stuff-going-on-around-him lost, and that was not like Dean at all. Yesterday, he went out for several hours and even though Sam knew Dean would not leave him, he was seriously worried about him.
Anytime Sam asked Dean if he was okay, he got the standard answer of ‘fine’ and if Sam pushed, Dean would just reiterate that he was ‘fine’. Sam was pretty sure he had Dean all figured out. He’d concluded that Dean’s mood was born from his desire to have stayed in that fantasy world and never have come back to the real world. Sam knew Dean came back because of him, his promise, and what Dean thought was his duty to the world. It would turn out that Sam was only partially right.
Dean had, in fact, been doing a lot of thinking. Now he needed Sam’s input to complete his theory on the yellow-eyed demon. Sam was going to have to do some soul searching of his own and if Dean got the answers he needed then he knew they were going to be okay.
“Come on Sam, I want to go to the bar for a while,” Dean urged as Sam was idling away his time on the computer.
“Okay,” Sam agreed as he grabbed his jacket and headed for the door. Sam was going to walk as the bar was only two blocks over, but Dean insisted on driving. Sam didn’t push the issue, best not to push anything with the mood Dean had been in.
Sam got a booth in the back while Dean got their drinks. Dean joined him with a few beers in a moment and Sam was surprised to see a barmaid bring several shots of whiskey to go with them. Whiskey and Sam did *not* mix. Something was up, and Sam had a feeling it was not going to be good.
“Two of those are for you; the rest would be for me,” Dean smirked as he handed Sam his beer. “You can get drunk later, but I need you sober for awhile.”
Sam made an attempt at small talk while they drank their beer and Dean downed one of the shots.
“Sammy, I need to talk to you for awhile,” Dean said in complete sincerity. He did need to talk, even if it went against his motto.
“Okay.” Sam was extremely uneasy about this. Dean Winchester never wanted to talk and now he did? Shit. Sam took one of the shots, oddly comforted by the burn down his throat.
“Sammy, I have been working on a theory since my little vacation from reality. I don’t think the demon is nearly as smart as he thinks he is. I think he screwed this whole thing up.” Dean swallowed another shot, never taking his eyes off of his brother.
“Okay, and how did you come to that conclusion?”
“I’ll get to that. First, I think that most, if not all, of these things we fight are his underlings. He is like the CEO of Big Demon Enterprises, and they all run around doing stuff."
Sam almost choked on his beer. “Jesus Dean, what the hell are you talking about?” Sam chuckled as he pictured a guy in a three piece suit, glowing yellow eyes, sitting behind a big oak desk in the corner office of Hell.
Dean sighed, okay maybe that was a stretch, but it worked for him. “Okay, so these little peons run around up here doing things, some of which he knows about and some of which he doesn’t. You know, it is a big place and he loses track. But I think that when one of them gets close enough to one of us to do some damage, old yellow eyes steps in to make it really good. With me so far?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Now, I think he has made some serious mistakes so far, but to be sure, I need you to answer some difficult questions for me. Even if you don’t like the questions, please try and answer them. I want honest, to-the-core-of-who-you-are, answers. I don’t want simple ‘yes’ or ‘no’ responses. This is like an essay test; you need to support your answers with documentation. Do not tell me what you think I want to hear. Still okay Sammy?” Dean was trying to keep this conversation on the lighter side of dark, as he knew pretty soon Sam was going to freak out.
This time Dean handed Sam a shot. Sam threw it back and closed his eyes. Where the hell was Dean going with this?
“These are the questions Sammy. First, how long did you deny your feelings for me, even to yourself? Second, did you love Jessica and were you were going to marry her? Third, but most important of all is, have you ever been truly happy? If the answer to that is ‘yes’, then I need to know when.” Dean had another shot and waited. He just knew Sam was going to start.
“Dean, what the hell...."
Dean cut him off.
“Sam, I told you I need to know. Otherwise, I wouldn’t ask you something that I know is painful for you. You know that. So just go with me on this.”
Dean’s tone was a little more forceful, and he called him ‘Sam”; that did not go unnoticed.
“I know you need some time to answer me, so I am leaving you here with the car. I know how that brain of yours works and that is why I wanted to drive. Here are the keys. I’m not leaving you. When you're ready, drive back to the room. I’ll be there.”
With that Dean polished off his whiskey. He leaned across the table and kissed Sam, then walked out of the bar.
Sam sat there a minute, wondering what the hell had just gone on. Either Dean had gone crazy or there was some method to this madness that he wasn't getting. What kind of fucking questions were those? Shit, Sam got up and got his own damn drink. Sitting back down, he shook his head and started thinking about the questions and decided that Dean must have some logical reason for this and he would do his best to give him the answers.
Dean walked back to their room and hoped Sam wouldn’t take too long. It was killing him to wait since he knew this was going to be hell on Sam. Tonight was initially going to basically reinforce Sam’s belief that this whole fucked up thing was his fault. Dean hated that, but he needed to do this to convince himself and Sam that the sacrifices that had been made, and those that would be, were forced upon them. Sam had to learn that it wasn't his destiny to become evil because he, no they, were already saved. In the end, the pain Sam would endure would be worth it if Dean's theory held up. If this went someplace unexpected, though, he was so screwed.
The Devil is in the Details by sammysslave
Author's Notes:
After Dean's encounter with the Djinn, he comes up with a theory about The Demon and needs Sam to help him prove it. My thanks to Supernatural_grl and The Huntress for their encouragement and wonderful beta work. They are wonderful writers and I appreciate them both.