A/N: So... My internet went down for a week, and unfortunately during that time, this chapter had been finished on an open tab on google... Nothing from that day was saved... The chapter you are getting now is as much as I can remember from the originally completed story. I'm sorry if it seems rushed or messy, I really tried to fix it as best as I could.

Sam tiptoed down the hallway, pausing by the entrance to the kitchen. He could hear the adults talking, arguing, their voices hushed and hostile. They obviously didn't agree with each other on what they should do with him. He heard Pastor Jim mention more wards and sigils, but he knew they wouldn't do any good. They already gave him everything once they realized how powerful the Yellow-Eyed Demon was, they didn't have anything else to give him.

He kept walking, going to the bathroom and locking himself inside. He stayed in the dark for a moment, letting the nothingness wash over him for as long as he could - until his mind started conjuring images of yellow eyes glowing from the corner and freezing hands reaching for him. He slammed the lights on after that, letting his breathing calm down once he was able to see again.

The bathroom was small but still bigger than most motel ones. It felt familiar, safe. Even the yellow hue cast over everything from the dull lightbulb gave him a sense of calm. The mirror over the sink was clean though, no streaks or stains. It gave him the perfect image of himself.

If it really was him. How did he know that there wasn't another boy watching him right now? How could he be certain that Yellow-Eyes wasn't in his head? It didn't help that he still had the migraine from his last vision of Max... Could that be another boy watching him? If it did, that meant Yellow-Eyes would show up at some point... No matter what he did, Sam wouldn't say yes to him. He wouldn't hurt his family.

But the migraine was getting worse, a whiteout pain in the front of his head... He felt as if his head would split open. He couldn't hold back his gasp of pain, shutting his eyes and pressing a hand against his forehead. Sam couldn't stand upright either, his shoulders hunching over as his legs wobbled. He realized, just as he felt something warm drip down his chin, that this was another vision before everything went black.

.

.

.

"Good, Max, very good..." The Yellow-Eyed man cooed, watching him from behind. "You picked up on this faster than I thought you would. I'm impressed."

He looked up at him, smiling wide. He made someone impressed! He's never done that before! He set his shoulders before looking back at his father, held against the wall by an invisible force. Max would do anything to hear that praise again. He would do anything to keep his father from hurting him again...

"How do I hurt him?" He asked, watching the fear in his father's eyes. He tried to speak, tried to shake his head, but he couldn't. It was Max's turn now to be in charge, to have the power.

"Do you see that hammer on the shelf?" The man smirked, walking around him until he was in front of the tool. "I want you to lift it."

Two? He wasn't sure he could do that... It was taking all of his strength to just hold his dad up against the wall...

"Max?"

He looked back at the man, taking in a deep breath. He would make him proud. He thought about the hammer, its size and weight, what he knew it felt like in his hand. He imagined his hand lifting it up, felt the strain on his mind from it. The strain... It was too much... It hurt...!

He let out a cry of pain, dropping to his knees and gripping his head. He felt something warm dripping from his nose, but his head hurt too much to care about it.

"Oh, Max..."

"I'm sorry...!" He cried, "I'll do better, I promise! I'll do better!"

"Shh," The man was in front of him, kneeling down and placing a hand under his chin. Max looked up at him with watery eyes, the lights too bright for his pounding head. "I'm not mad at you, Max. I'm actually very proud of you. You did so much better than I thought you would have." He swiped a thumb under Max's nose, wiping the blood away. But Max couldn't think of that now.

"I... I made you proud?"

"Very."

Max knew, then and there, that there was nothing the Yellow-Eyed Man could ask of him that Max wouldn't jump to complete. For better or worse, he was now completely devoted to this man that saved him.

"What do you want me to do next?"

A large smile twisted the man's face, a spark in his eyes that promised so many things...

His eyes snapped open, inhaling sharply at the sudden lack of pain in his head. Unlike the other two times, Sam knew who he was for once, and he knew that Max was lost to them. The Demon had offered Max something he'd never had before, something he'd always wanted... Max would never leave the Demon's side after that.

A part of Sam wondered if the Demon had gotten to him before Dean had, and offered him a family, would he have taken it too? Thinking of Dean, there was very little that Sam wouldn't do to keep him safe, or his parents or anyone else in his small circle for that matter. If the Demon had found him first, made a show of accepting him and encouraging him like Dean had, would he devote himself to the Demon too? His relationship with his dad had been strained before the Roadhouse... It really wouldn't have been too hard for the Demon to turn him against his family...

Pushing that thought aside, Sam forced himself up. He had to let the others know about Max, how he was now a threat. The Demon had his first psychic loyalist.

He pulled open the bathroom door with more force than necessary, eyes widening slightly when he saw Uncle Bobby on the other side reaching for where the handle had once been. The older man jumped, clearly not expecting Sam to have been there. But then his surprise quickly faded into concern, his eyebrows furrowing as he reached for Sam.

"Holy hell, son...! What happened to you? You look like a walking crime scene!"

Sam saw Bobby's hand reaching for him, he knew it was to help him, but he couldn't stop himself from taking a step back to avoid it. The thought of being touched now... He couldn't handle it. Not when he could still feel the Demon's hot hands on his chin and smell the sulfur on his breath as it brushed over his face.

Hurt flashed across Bobby's face for a moment, but his voice had drawn the attention of the other adults to them, John now looking down the hall and rushing to him once he realized it was Sam.

"What happened?" John was in front of him now, kneeling and reaching for his face as well. He was faster than Bobby, his hands just brushing against Sam's cheek before he managed to step back from him too. John froze with his hands in the empty air, staring at Sam before slowly lowering them with a nod. "Sam, did you have another vision?"

He nodded, opening his mouth to speak but choking on the words. He didn't understand what was wrong with him. Why couldn't he tell them? He wasn't hurt this time, he wasn't forced to do anything, so why couldn't the words come out? Why couldn't he tell them that Max had joined with the Demon? Why was he so scared?

Why was he scared...? He didn't understand where this fear had come from. He was safe with his family, he was fine...

"Sam?" He heard his mother call, seeing her and Pastor Jim standing in the doorway to the bathroom as well.

He was scared because of them... Not of them, he knew they wouldn't hurt him. But there was a chance he might hurt them... He was scared for them.

"Max..." He finally managed, his voice just above a hoarse whisper. "Max joined the Demon. He's being trained to use his powers to... to hurt his dad. He's probably dead by now."

His mom's hands twitched towards him, but she seemed to think better of it and grasped his dad's arm instead. "Sweetie..."

"Max is a threat now, he'd do anything the Demon wants, including kill people. The Demon offered him protection and showed pride in him... Max never had that before... He's completely devoted to him."

"All hope isn't lost, Sam," Pastor Jim tried to smile. "If we find Max, we may be able to save him. No one is beyond help."

A bubble of anger grew in Sam's chest. They didn't understand, they couldn't... They couldn't see and feel what he had, what Max had. "You're wrong. Max is gone. He's turned dark side. He wouldn't hesitate to kill any of you if the Demon told him to. He can move things with his mind, so you wouldn't even be able to protect yourselves against him! It's not like a spirit or a demon, Max is human! There are no wards or spells or exorcisms that can stop him!"

"Sam-"

"No! Don't try to tell me that everything's going to be okay! We all know that it's not! The Demon is building a following of special kids and we don't know why and it's only a matter of time before he comes after me as well!" His breath hitched, tears building in his eyes. It was only a matter of time... He saw the looks pass over their faces, the denial and concern and protectiveness and he just couldn't take it. He couldn't hear their words of encouragement to him to hold on, that they'd figure it out. He would scream if he heard another empty promise from them. So instead he shouted. "Just leave me alone!"

He shoved past them, his hands avoiding touching them as he ran down the hall. Dean suddenly appeared at the end of it, stepping out of the bedroom with unfocused eyes and leaning heavily against the wall like he jumped out of bed before really realizing he was sleeping.

"Sammy?" He started, staring at his brother in confusion. But Sam turned into the kitchen and ran to the front door, throwing it open and running out into the night with the calls of his family behind him. He needed to be alone right now. He needed to be himself again.

He needed to know he wouldn't hurt them.

XxX

"What happened?" Dean demanded, quickly turning on his parents from the front porch. Sam had already disappeared into the darkness by the time he got to the door, and as good a hunter as Dean was, he knew chasing Sam would only make matters worse.

"He had another vision in the bathroom," John ran a hand through his hair, looking every bit as worn as Dean felt. "Max, the boy being hurt by his dad, joined with Yellow-Eyes. Sam believes he killed his dad."

Dean cursed under his breath. "No wonder he ran... He's probably scared that he's going to hurt us then."

"What?" His mom placed a hand on her chest, eyebrows pushed together. "Why would Sam be scared of that?"

"Think about it," Dean shrugged. "So far, with his other two visions, he was affected by his surroundings and what he saw; he wouldn't touch anyone after that boy killed a cat, he wouldn't let anyone touch him after that bastard beat Max. So it only makes sense that he would be affected by playing the role of a boy who gave in to a demon and killed his dad."

His dad and Bobby let out curses of their own, Bobby taking off his cap to brush back his hair. "I hadn't even thought of that being a problem..."

"Dean-"

Dean held his hand up, cutting off his dad as he grabbed his duffle bag that had been discarded on the floor when he first arrived. "Already on it." He pulled out his flashlight and a small bottle of holy water, stuffing it into his jacket pocket. "I'll go get him."

"Be careful, Dean." Pastor Jim nodded at him, concern clear in his eyes. "The Demon could strike at any time... Given the nature of Sam's visions, I'm not sure if sanctified ground will be enough to stop it."

That caused Dean to pause, eyes narrowing at the man. "The nature of Sam's visions? The hell is that supposed to mean? Are you implying that Sam has the power of that Demon or something?"

"Dean..." Jim held his hands up, his eyes darting to the side. "That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean? Sam isn't evil! He's not a demon! So your stupid sacred ground wouldn't have any effect on him!"

A heavy hand was on his shoulder, Dean turning around to glare at his dad. His eyes dared him to say something about Sam as well. He would fight them all if he had to. Sam wasn't evil like they were implying! He was just a kid that was scared and didn't know what to do!

"Pick your battles, son." His dad said in a low voice. "Sam needs you right now, more than you need to fight. You may be the only one here who can reach him, that can stop him from spiraling into self-hatred. Go help your brother."

While he wasn't completely ready to give up his anger at Jim, Dean nodded. His dad was right. Sam needed him right now. He wouldn't let his brother down.

He adjusted his grip on his flashlight, sending one last look to Pastor Jim before marching out the door.

There weren't many places to hide at Jim's, the only other buildings besides the house were the barn and church. That was hoping that Sam hadn't gone into the woods... He knew there was a clearing about half a mile in that Sam could go to... But he hoped his brother was smarter than that and didn't go into the dark woods without a flashlight while being tormented with visions of a demon that had a weird obsession with him.

Standing in the middle of the yard, Dean shone his light around him for a moment before deciding to check the church first. When hiding from a demon, that would make the most sense. And Sam was a smart boy... for the most part. He was book smart for sure, he knew more about lore off the top of his head than any other hunter Dean knew, and he was a genius when it came to planning a hunt. But when Sam got caught up in his emotions like he was now, all bets were off. The kid could've run off into the woods if he really didn't want anyone to find him... But as Dean neared the church, he saw the door was opened just a crack.

He let himself feel a moment of pride in guessing where his brother went before heading inside.

It was dark inside, if he didn't have his flashlight then he definitely would have stubbed his toe on one of the pews, but it felt wrong to turn the lights on... like the very idea of turning them on was forbidden. So he kept his light aimed at the floor and slowly made his way down the aisle.

He heard the quiet sniffles before he saw Sam, sitting in the front row near the wall. With his light aimed at the floor still, he could just make out Sam's silhouette. His knees were brought up to his chest, arms wrapped tightly around them and face buried in his knees. A part of Dean's heart broke, Sam didn't deserve this... He deserved to be a happy and normal kid, with his biggest fear being if the cute girl in class would reject him - or more accurately for his nerdy self, if he forgot his homework.

"Go away, Dean." Sam's shaky voice called, not uncurling from his position. Dean could easily hear the fear in his voice, the fear of hurting him. The fear of being evil. The fear of himself.

Dean let his body loosen, pulling a smirk on his face and lifting his voice as he went to his brother. "Not a chance, Sammy. I did not drive five hours to see you just to have you run out on me like a bad date." As he sat down next to Sam, almost uncomfortably close with their arms brushing together, he shut his flashlight off.

Sam, almost comically, shuffled away from him while still wrapped around himself, almost falling over twice. "I mean it, Dean. I'm not in the mood for you right now."

"Well, sucks for you. As your older brother, it's my job to not listen to what you say. Think of it as my contribution to what you missed out in your childhood without me."

As his eyes gradually adjusted to the dark, just noticing the dim moonlight coming from the small windows, Dean could see the side glare that Sam was sending him and couldn't help his chuckle. But then Sam's head lifted and Dean's amusement was drained away; there was a strange shadow covering the lower half of Sam's face, with streaks of his pale skin coming through in the weirdest places that didn't make sense for a shadow. His mind flashed back to seeing Sam leaving the house and suddenly he knew that it wasn't a shadow, it was the blood from his last vision.

Sam didn't wait for Dean's mind to play catch-up, his body uncurling and standing up from the pew. "Then you can have the church and I'll go somewhere else."

Dean didn't think as he reached out, grabbing Sam's arms to stop him. But Sam ripped himself away from Dean's hand almost violently, his eyes wide in the pale light as he shouted in a choked voice.

"Don't touch me!"

Silence fell over them as they stared at each other, both lost for what to say. Dean could see the distance growing between them by the second and he hated it as much as when he first encountered it at the Roadhouse all those months ago. He had known Sam was distancing himself from Dean back then, but it hadn't lasted for long. After that first night, Sam had reluctantly gotten pretty comfortable with him.

But this was different. This wasn't distance created by misunderstandings and self-preservation - this was distance caused by fear. Fear was the hardest obstacle to overcome. And it wasn't even fear for himself, Sam had proven that he couldn't be scared of Dean when he had woken him from his first vision of Max. He hesitated and he flinched, but as soon as Sam saw him, he was reaching for his older brother for comfort. How was Dean going to reach him now when Sam thought he would hurt his big brother?

"Sam..." Dean started, swallowing down the lump in his throat. He was partly surprised to find his own eyes burning with unshed tears. "Sammy... I-"

"Don't. Just don't, Dean." He took a step back, away from Dean, and this time Dean kept his hands to himself. "It doesn't matter what you think, it doesn't matter what you believe. The Demon will never let it be true. He will never rest until he gets his hands on me, until he either makes me hurt you or he hurts you until I join him. It's nice that you don't think I'm some freak like everyone else, but there's nothing you can do now."

"Hey, hey, hey, you listen to me now, little brother." Dean turned in his seat, giving Sam his full-body attention and seeing how his foot slid back another inch. "You might not want to hear it, but that's too bad because if you try to run I will just follow you, shouting until my voice gives out. You're my brother, I just got you back in my life, I'm not letting some demon make you think he's going to take you out of it. I'll tell you the same thing I told you when you got sick. It doesn't matter if you're his favorite because you're my favorite too. I won't let him have you. And I don't care if he's listening in, in fact, I hope he is! Because you're my little brother! He can't have you! And he won't, not as long as I'm alive! I swear to you, Sammy, even if I have to fight until I'm old and wrinkled, I'm not letting him have you."

The moonlight highlighted the tears running down Sam's cheeks, causing more of the blood to wash away. Sam looked down at his shoes, his hands fidgeting as he took in a calming breath. "D-Don't say that, Dean... You might make yourself a target."

"I hope that I am." Dean lifted his chin in defiance, signature smirk back in place, "That means Yellow-Eyes thinks I'm a threat."

"Dean..." His brother sighed, but he sat back down on the pew.

"Have some faith in me, Sam." Dean tilted his head to catch Sam's eye, smiling when Sam gave in and looked at him. "Let me protect you for once, let me do my job as your big brother."

For a moment, Sam said nothing, and Dean thought that that would be that. But then another sigh left him and Dean knew that Sam would argue, that his too-smart brain would have given him another reason to separate.

"Don't you realize though, Dean?" Sam's legs came back up on the bench, only one arm wrapping around them this time. "You didn't just get me back. I got you back too. I got you back, then I saw as the Demon tried killing you because I was attached to you. The Demon knows that if he kills you then I'll have no one left but him. My first vision of him was you dying in a fire so that I would become stronger by myself! He said in front of you that I was weak but had the promise to be stronger as long as you died! You say you hope that the Demon makes you a target but he already did and we both know that you can't fight him! And next time I might not be able to stop him..."

"Last time doesn't count," Dean rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the knot in his stomach from the idea of Sam becoming the Demon's pawn if he died. "He caught us off guard with an ambush attack. I didn't even know he existed then. It's different now. And if you even think of giving the Demon another ultimatum, he's going to be the least of your worries, got it?"

Dean could see as Sam's face lifted in a half smile, nodding slightly. "I'm glad you're here, Dean..." He whispered.

"Aw, Sammy... You're going to make me blush."

Sam scoffed at that, his body relaxing somewhat. Back to normal for the most part, Dean considered that a win.

Right up until Sam drew in a sharp breath and pressed a hand to his forehead.

"What's wrong? Sam?" Dean was next to him in an instant, hands hovering over Sam's shoulders and head but careful not to touch him.

"Not again..." Sam whimpered, his eyes screwing shut.

"Another vision? Already?" If this kept up, Dean would definitely be concerned with blood loss or something... This couldn't be healthy for Sam's brain, physically and mentally. Why was it happening so often as well? Was the Demon making the connection himself or was it triggered by something outside of either of their control? A part of him hoped that the Demon felt pain from it as well-

"Whoa, hey...!" Dean shouted, hands moving to catch Sam as his body slumped forward. "Sam, what's wrong? Are you okay? Sam? Sammy!"

One of his hands cupped Sam's neck, just under his jaw with his thumb on his cheek to keep his head up, while the other hand grabbed his flashlight and turned it back on. Sam's eyes were closed and his face was slack with the faintest sign of pain, his body completely limp and leaning fully into Dean's arms. This didn't seem like how his visions should go... When Dean witnessed that small one at the Roadhouse in Ash's room, Sam had been conscious and talking and in a lot of pain. And when he walked in on Sam's nightmare/vision when he arrived at Pastor Jim's house, Sam was in a fit and crying. He shouldn't be so... so lifeless like this.

He was just about to let out a curse for not thinking to bring his phone with him to call for help when Sam jerked in his arms, gasping for air.

"Hey, hey, hey! It's okay! It's okay, Sammy!" Dean helped him sit up on his own before moving his hands away, keeping the flashlight out of his face but making sure he could still see him. "What did you see? Was it Max again?"

Sam shook his head slightly, tears welling up in his eyes and his hand reaching out for Dean. Dean gripped his hand tightly, hoping to offer his comfort through the touch. "What did you see, Sammy?"

"The Demon... He had Max's dad. He's dead." He drew in a stuttering breath as a shiver wracked his body, a trail of blood dripping from his nose. "He was smiling at me, telling me to enjoy my time while it lasted. He said he would be coming for me soon."

Dean felt his breath stall in his chest, cold washing through his veins. The Demon had been talking to Sam...

This wasn't a vision, it was a message.

He stood quickly, still holding Sam's hand and tugging him up as well. "Time to go back inside."

"But-"

"This is not up for debate, Sam!" Dean could feel his brother tense up, quickly going silent under the command. And damn it if that didn't hurt Dean just as much, but he couldn't be concerned with that now. The only thing he needed to be concerned with was making sure Sam was safe from the Demon that was 'coming soon.' So he pulled Sam along, his hand tight around Sam's wrist as they left the church and carefully made their way back to the house. Dean kept his flashlight and head on a swivel of his surroundings and then pushed Sam inside ahead of him.

"Dad...!" He called as soon as the door closed. He let go of Sam's wrist to instead hold onto his shoulder, and in the light he could see how weary Sam looked. Was he really so upset by Dean raising his voice at him? It couldn't have just been from the vision, Sam never shut down like that before. He closed himself off, sure, but he never just looked... sad.

"Dean?" John was in the hallway in a moment, the concern on his face no longer hidden. "What happened?"

He could figure out Sam's feelings later, now they had to prepare. "The Demon sent Sam a message, saying he was gunning for Sam soon."

His dad looked down at Sam who still refused to meet his eyes, the others all coming up behind John as well. "How soon? Sam?"

"He didn't specify," Sam gave a half-shrug, eyes on his shoes. "He just had Max's dad's body with him and said that he would come for me soon. That I should enjoy my time while it lasted."

John glanced from Sam to Dean, a question in his eyes that Dean couldn't answer. He seemed to realize that as he turned around, starting to bark out commands to Mary and the men. Dean was able to zone them out and put his attention on Sam while his dad took care of the preparations.

Sam still had dried blood on his face, starting to mix with the newest blood and drip onto his shirt. His skin was also too pale, with shadows on his face that shouldn't normally be visible. He was tired. Sam probably hadn't had a good night's rest since this all started...

"I'm going help Sam wash up," Dean declared before he was assigned to do something by his dad as well. The adults all paused, looking at the brothers before John nodded his approval and went back to planning with Uncle Bobby. Dean nudged Sam's arm as he started walking to the bathroom, "C'mon, let's get that blood off your face before you attract a vampire too."

Sam didn't acknowledge him but followed silently. As Dean grabbed a washcloth from the cabinet, he saw Sam grab a wad of toilet paper and start scrubbing harshly at his nose.

"Hey, uh uh," Dean frowned, reaching out to gently tug Sam's hand away from his face. "You're gonna hurt yourself if you do it that way."

"I've had worse."

"I know," Dean deadpanned as he ran the towel under warm water, "I was there for some of them. But as your big brother, it's my responsibility to try and prevent as much pain as possible. Now sit down and let me take care of you before I get even more chick-flicky."

The corner of his mouth pulled up a fraction as he sat on the closed toilet, causing Dean to grin at him. As long as Sam still smiled at his jokes, no matter how small a smile, then he would be okay. Everything would be fine.

A/N: I was so busy talking about my con experience in the chapter that I forgot to mention that I have an Etsy shop now! I'm making fandom stickers, and there are currently three on the shop for SPN! "Height accurate" Sam, Dean, and Cas! The shop is still being built, so I'm working on new content for it, like Bobby, Gabriel, and Crowley stickers. I'm also open to character requests! It would mean a lot if you could check it out! The shop's name is KarmitaraCreations !