Sam blinked repeatedly. He felt something had happened to his aura, but he had no idea what.
He froze when he saw a very pale looking man chatting with Dean though.
"Dean, who is that?"
Dean looked rather smug.
"Well you did say you wanted to see Mort. So he adjusted your aura so you could see him. Problem is that you can now see the other reapers as well, not to mention a few other weird things. You get used to it," said Dean.
"That's Mort? He looks like Death warmed over!"
It took Sam a few seconds to realize Mort was laughing at some private joke.
I do believe that is the point, Sam Harvelle, said a voice in his head.
Dean snorted.
"Looks like you can hear him too. Wait, does this mean we get to work on telepathy next?" asked Dean.
I did open those pathways as well while I was at it. That should be fun to explain to your father and mother.
"Hello pranks," cackled Dean.
"This is too weird."
I should be going. They might notice I left my area if I don't.
Dean waved him off, and Mort disappeared without a sound.
~
It took Sam two weeks in between hunts to get the hang of telepathy. Which was unfortunately not soon enough to avoid having to kill a fellow natural-born like himself with recently awakened powers.
Dean tried his best to calm the kid down, but he was too far gone in his rage to settle it peacefully.
Sam shot Dean another weird look. When Dean tried to calm the kid down before he killed his stepmom, Sam had overheard something he rarely heard in Dean's voice.
Empathy.
"Dean...do you want to..."
"No Sammy, for the last time I don't want to talk about it," said Dean, gripping the steering wheel tightly.
"Dean."
"I just want to find a place to crash and get some damn sleep."
Sam let it drop, but he noticed Dean immediately curled up to Bear who he rarely let on the bed because the dog tended to kick anyone next to him off of it. Whatever had caused Dean to sympathize with that kid had to be painful for him. He wondered exactly how badly their birth father John had hurt his brother to cause that reaction.
A few hours later, Sam was so concerned for his brother that he almost jumped when Mort showed up.
Oh dear...this isn't good at all. At this rate the memories will overwhelm Dean before he's even remotely ready to handle them.
Mort? Sam asked mentally, fully awake.
Ah. I was unaware that you were still awake, but that might work to our advantage. I can see you are curious and worried how deeply John has harmed your brother, said Mort.
Sam had quickly found out that telepathy also included a weird feedback...namely memories that were close to the surface. According to Dean it was a side effect of the bond they had, and it made getting messages across to the other person a lot easier.
It was how Mort had been able to show Dean what Adam looked like...John had been with him at a baseball game when Dean had sent Death to find out if John had been telling the truth about handing over the car...and the main reason why Dean had become so angry as a result. The fact that John cared more for his third son more than his other two just because they had magic and Adam didn't made his blood boil.
Sam, do you truly wish to help your brother and find out why he had acted so strongly when he learned about the abuse that boy suffered?
I want to help Dean, the way he's protected me.
Then I can let you into Dean's memories and let you see what happened. I warn you, it will not be pleasant, and Dean will know what you have done when he wakes up. There is some comfort I can give though...these memories are not Dean's.
What?
A few years ago in this time, Dean's past self made a deal with me. In exchange for being given a second chance that was almost guaranteed to include real family and not the fake one he had, he would give up three items of mine and the chance of a rather rare power. He also gave up fame, glory and a large amount of gold, just so he might have a chance to be your brother. The memories that are trying to overwhelm him are those from his past life.
How can I protect Dean?
When I allow you into his mind, all you have to do is remind him he's not alone and never will be again. That he has real family and not a false ideal of one.
Sam nodded, and 'Mort' placed his hand on Sam's forehead. It felt cold, colder than anything he had ever felt before. Mort then placed his other hand on Dean's head, and Sam felt himself fall deep, deep into the inner corners of Dean's mind.
~
Sam awoke in a house that was far too clean. Sure Dean had these weird episodes of OCD where he cleaned everything top to bottom, but this looked like an extreme form of a Harvelle Cleaning-Hurricane, as it was collectively called.
The place looked like some hellish version of a Suzy-homemaker house, only it felt...wrong. Like it was forced and not natural.
Sam walked around trying to find his brother, but what he saw instead made his blood boil.
There was a child, who looked barely eight-years-old cooking on a gas grill without anything to protect his hands. Nearby was a horrid looking woman who resembled a horse, and not in a good way. Her thin weedy looking eyes watched like a hawk as the child struggled with ease of long practice to cook what appeared to be a very unhealthy dinner. There wasn't a single vegetable that wasn't deep fried in it.
Something told him to watch this play out. So he did.
The child finished the task, and the second Sam got a good look at the boy's eyes his jaw dropped.
That child with the messy black hair and too-thin frame had the exact shade of green eyes that his brother had. And the way he walked reminded Sam exactly how his brother did whenever he was injured.
Sam didn't pay any mind to the horse woman, and instead followed the child outside where he was forced to take a shower with a cold water hose, despite the fact that the water was definitely freezing since it was late autumn from what he could tell.
It was almost too much to take. He was forced to watch the child suffer through outright neglect, abuse and unwarranted punishment for imagined slights. And the strangest thing was that not a single person commented on it. At all. Even the teachers ignored what was right in front of their faces and it was absolutely baffling. Shouldn't they have called Child Services the second the abuse became evident?
Finally Sam watched the poor child climb up a tree in mad haste to avoid being attacked by a rather vicious English Bulldog. The people in the home left the boy all alone up there and even had the gall to lock the door that night, forcing him to stay in the tree where the dog awaited below.
Sam had enough. He walked past the dog who was asleep but still very alert for the child's attempt to come down and started to climb. It was a miracle the tree held his weight, considering how weedy the thing looked.
The moment he touched the boy, he realized with a start that this was his brother in his past life. It explained so many weird quirks Dean had, like why he had trouble with being hugged by Jo when they first arrived at the Roadhouse all those years ago. Or why he sometimes had this weird manic frenzy that lead him to clean Bobby's house until it was spotless, or the fact he somehow knew how to cook correctly the first time when Ellen showed him.
The child whimpered and started outright crying once he realized Sam wasn't there to hurt him. It wasn't long before Dean's soul recognized his brother and knew what Mort had evidently done...but he was in so much pain he honestly didn't care.
Sam?
Now I get why you were so enamored with that Disney movie," said Sam quietly to his brother.
Seeing how his brother had grown up all alone and hated before he chose to have a second chance at being a child opened up Sam's eyes. No wonder Dean was so fiercely protective of him, or why he clung to their small family so strongly.
Didn't want you to see this...muttered Dean.
I wanted to know why you were hurting. You've kept me safe all these years and always did everything you could to protect me. Why wouldn't I want to return the favor? You're my brother after all, said Sam.
Dean's past self snuggled closer to his brother.
Remember that weird Hawaiian word you fell absolutely in love with to the point you had it put on a protection bracelet? We're family, and that means I'm not going to leave you behind or forget about you when you actually need me, idjit, said Sam.
It's not your burden to share! Dean said vehemently.
There was something in the way that he said it that told Sam a lot more than his brother would ever say out loud.
Dean, you're not alone anymore and if I have to tell Mom, Dad and Jo about this to get it through your thick head that we do love and care about you enough to want to help, then I swear to God I will, said Sam. Dean knew his brother would do it too.
Can't help it. His memories keep bleeding through whenever something happens that resonates with them, muttered Dean.
Then let me help you sort them out. I'm sure Mort would be willing to let me in, if only to help you, said Sam.
Don't need his help. I could do it if I wanted, but I didn't want you to know, said Dean.
He never wanted Sam to see how bad his past life had been. It had always reinforced his desire to keep his brother safe from harm, and he knew it was the reason why he had chosen to run away with Sam rather than to try and stick it out with John all those years ago.
Harry knew abuse, and he knew that there was almost no way John Winchester would ever accept magic was real without trying to kill the user. So instead he did the one thing he never had a chance to do before.
Leave.
Having Sam with him had made the task infinitely more difficult, but thankfully Bobby had told them where they could go once he realized something very wrong was going on between them.
Dean never regretted that decision, or the one to cut John Winchester out of their lives permanently.
Mort left once he knew that the two would be alright.
Despite what some people would believe (above and below) there was one entity that actually gave a damn about the 'Winchesters' health. Allowing Sam to see 'Harry' and his abuse was just a way to insure that Sam would have greater trouble abandoning his broken brother when it really counted.
If helping the Harvelle brothers stick together through all the shir above and below were about to put them through pissed off those brats Lucifer and Michael, then Death would do his best to insure that they had a friend they could at least count on. Even if it meant having to deal with humans more closely than he was used to.
God, in his false form, knew about the brothers and that Death had changed something in Dean. He was also aware that they had a greater destiny that was chosen for them by his 'children' and wasn't happy that they had forced Death, the ultimate neutral party, to intervene.
When they woke up the next morning, in true Harvelle fashion they didn't speak a word of what happened. But if Sam kept his mouth shut about a few of Dean's more irritating quirks, Dean pretended not to notice.
~
They were on another ghost hunt when Mort appeared, took one look at the 'spirit' they were trying to hunt and snorted.
Dean and Sam immediately paused in trying to get rid of the two 'ghost hunters' who had barged in at the worst time and looked at him.
What?
That is not a spirit at all. Far from it in fact, said Mort amused.
Dean and Sam shared a look. Sam would have asked what it was, but Dean knew from years of speaking to Death that whenever he was amused, he wouldn't say a damn word about whatever it was that they were hunting.
Any tips? Dean asked finally.
The only thing I will say is that the symbol that powers this creature is rather poorly drawn. And that those two are genuine idiots, said Mort.
Dean and Sam snorted in agreement.
It took Sam two hours to find the symbol, realize that Mort had been correct in that it wasn't a ghost but a tulpa. The two were banging their heads at the fact that because of the amateur hour hunters, their hunt had been so much harder to end.
"That does it. Those idiots are officially going to suffer a condensed Bear Bomb," said Dean with a growl.
Dean had, much to the horror of Sam, managed to find a way to 'weaponize' the almost lethal gas Bear let loose whenever someone was stupid enough to feed the dog Mexican food. They had to make a point of avoiding those food joints whenever they had Bear with them, because the dog would sniff out leftovers rather fast and devour them without hesitation.
He hadn't unleashed said gases in the Impala yet, but there had been too many close calls for Dean's comfort.
"How bad are they going to get it?" asked Sam, silently admitting defeat in his usual prank war against Dean. There was nothing he could do to top Dean unleashing one of those things and he knew it.
"I'll leave it in their trunk before we go. That way they wont automatically pass out from the smell, but they'll never be able to get rid of it," said Dean far too cheerfully.
"In that case..." said Sam. If Dean was going to pull that, then he was going to have his own fun with them.
~
Dean cheerfully waved the two morons off, the two fools unaware that he had literally set a ticking time bomb off in their trunk that they would have to smell in about thirty minutes or so. Sam had called them under the guise of some producer or other that was pretty famous, so the fools were off to Hollywood.
When Sam and Dean got into the Impala, they both cracked evil grins at the thought of the two amateur's expressions when they found out Dean's surprise and the fact they had been pranked rather badly.
~
OMAKE~
Mort watched the two fools drive on, unaware of the 'Bear Bomb' as Dean insisted on calling them, in the back seat. It was set to go off when it went too far from Dean's aura, which was rather strong.
Finally, thirteen miles from the town they left, the bomb started its slow release. It took ten minutes before the two were frantically searching for the smell and gagging the entire time. Fifteen minutes in and they were on the side of the road accusing each other of letting loose what they thought was a rather massive fart after they had stopped for tacos before leaving town.
Mort was trying very hard not to laugh, but when one of them finally found the canister Dean had used to contain the noxious smell they realized that someone had just pranked them. Three guesses who it had been and the first two didn't count.
Hearing them curse out Dean was the last straw, and Mort let out a long cackling laugh that caused his reapers to look up in confusion.
Elsewhere God wondered what had caused Death to be so amused and asked to be let in on the joke...a few minutes later he was cracking up as well, baffling his 'angel watchers'.
Dean and Sam would later share a good long evil laugh at the expressions on their faces when they realized Dean had left that foul smelling canister in their car.