TITLE: Tell Me Why
AUTHOR: jennytork
SPOILERS: Missing scene between 10.03 "Soul Survivor" and 10.04 "Paper Moon".
RATING: PG
SUMMARY: The talk we didn't get to see: Sam finds out why, as a demon, Dean hated him so much.




Dean looked up at the knock on his door. "Yeah."

The door opened and Sam looked around it. "Hey."

"Hey." Dean pulled himself from the floor onto the bed, closing the book he was looking through and setting it beside him. "What's up?"

"Curious about a couple of things." Sam pulled out Dean's desk chair and lowered himself into it with a sigh.

"Me, too," Dean said. He gestured toward the black sling Sam wore. "Is that from me?"

"This?" Sam palmed it with his good hand. "No, this was from one of Crowley's minions. Separated it and then fell down a flight of stairs when the formerly possessed woke up and thought I was robbing him. He shoved me, I fell, cracked the top of the bone."

Dean winced. "Ouch!" he hissed, with feeling. "How long you got?"

"About four, five weeks with the sling," Sam said. "How are you doin'?"

Dean shrugged. "Well, a lot of it is a blur," he admitted. "I remember everything, but it's like a horrible dream. Just ... please don't ask me what it was like."

"I just want to know one thing," Sam said. "Why did you hate me so much? It seemed rather..." He broke off, swallowing. "Personal."

"It was." When Sam's eyes widened, Dean slid to the edge of the bed and reached out, gripping his good shoulder. "Hey. Listen before you react, okay? It's not what you think."

Sam met his eyes, and nodded. "Go on."

Dean patted his cheek for a second, then sat back. "It was nothing you did. It was personal because you're my brother. See, what happens when a person becomes...." His voice broke and he swallowed. "....what I was? Everything gets twisted. Every emotion becomes dark."

Sam's eyes widened again as comprehension dawned. "So you hated me so much....because you love me so much."

Dean shrugged. "You're my brother, man. What else is there?"

Sam grinned. "Hey," he said suddenly. "Let's get out of here."

Frowning, Dean's left hand moved to cover his right forearm, where the obscene tattoo that went more than skin deep rested. ".....are you sure, Sammy? Wh-what if I--"

"We keep each other human, remember?" Sam stood up. "Long as we're together, everything is gonna be okay."

Dean watched him leave the room, then he slowly began to smile. "Hey!" he called after Sam. "Lemme take a shower first!"

Sam's warm laughter felt like a balm to Dean's soul.

END