POWER OF THE MIND

am is clearly in shock. "Listen to me Max. What your Dad said, about what happened to your Mom. It's real." He said.

"What?" Max asks.

"It happened to my Mom too, exactly the same. My nursery, my crib, my Dad saw her on the ceiling." Sam says.

Max looked down. "Your Dad must have been as drunk as mine." He says bluntly.

"No, no. It's the same thing, Max. The same thing killed your Mothers." Elena says to Sam and Max.

"That's impossible." Max says.

"This must be why I'm having visions during the day. Why they're getting more intense. Cause you and I must be connected in some way. Your abilities, they started 6-7 months ago right, out of the blue?" Sam asks Max.

Now Max is the one that's shocked. "How'd you know that?" He asks.

"Cause that's when my abilities started. Max. Yours seem to me much further along but still, this has to mean something right? I mean for some reason, you and I...you and I were chosen." Sam says, gesturing between them two.

"For what?" Max asks.

"I don't know. But Dean and I, my brother and I, we're hunting for your Mom's killer. We can find answers, answers that can help us both. But you gotta let us go Max. You gotta let your stepmother go." Sam says.

Max starts thinking, then starting to shake his head. "No. What they did to me. I still have nightmares. I'm so scared all the time, like I'm just waiting for that next beating. I'm so sick of being scared all the time, I just want this to be over!" He yells.

"It won't. Don't you get it? The nightmares won't end, Max. Not like this. It's just, more pain. And it makes you as bad as them. Max, you don't have to go through all this by yourself." Sam says.

"I'm sorry." Max uses his powers to fling Sam backwards into the hall closest and slam the door. He looks across and a tall, heavy, hallway bookshelf slides in front of the doors, blocking them.

Max then grabs Elena by the hair and begins dragging her upstairs to Dean and his stepmom. Sam is banging on the doors. "No. Max!" He yells.

Upstairs, Ms. Miller sits on the bed, Dean crouches beside her, holding a facecloth to her bleeding forehead. The door creaks open on its own and Max walks in. Dean rises and moves purposefully toward Max as the door closes behind him.

Max sends Dean flying and he crashes into the wall. Right after that, Elena falls to the ground again, her eyes completely white.

"Max!" Ms Miller yells.

Max raises Dean's pistol, his hand shaking. "Son of a..." Dean rises, freezing when he sees the gun, then again beginning to walk toward Max.

He stops when Max lets go of the gun, leaving it floating in mid air. It cocks, then turns to point at Ms. Miller. Dean steps in it's way.

"Stay back. This is not about you." Max warns.

"You wanna kill her you gotta go through me first." Dean says.

"Ok."

The gun fires. Blood splatters over the wall. We see Dean with a bullethole in the middle of his forehead, eyes blank. He wavers and crashes heavily to the ground. Ms. Miller's shocked face looks down to Dean, sprawled on the ground, eyes open.

Sam comes back to himself, gasping and holding his head and we realise it was a vision. "No. NOOO!" Sam yells.

The bookcase in front of the closet doors slides away. Sam freezes, then pushes the door with his hand. It swings open. Back upstairs, the gun, in midair, turns to point at Ms. Miller. "Max. No." She pleads.

Elena is on the floor again like Sam's vision, eyes white. Dean steps in front of her and the gun turns to point at him.

"Stay back. It's not about you." Max says again.

"You're going to kill her you gotta go through me first." Dean says.

"Ok."

The door bursts open and Sam comes in. "No don't! Don't! Please. Please. Max. Max. We can help you. All right. But this, what you're doing. It's not the solution. It's not going to fix anything." Sam says.

Max is a mess, he is shaking, sweaty, in tears. He stares at Sam, anguished. Suddenly he relaxes a little, his face clears.

"You're right." Max says.

Sam smiles at him, but Max swings away from him to the gun as the gun swings to point at Max. He shoots himself in the head.

"NO!" Sam yells.

s. Miller sits on the couch, in shock. "Max attacked me. He threatened me with a gun." She says.

"And these three?" The Cop asks, indicating Sam, Elena and Dean. Elena held an ice pack to her head that Ms Miller had given her. When she had fell, she had hit her head.

"They're...family friends. I called them soon as Max arrived, I was scared. They tried to stop him. They fought for the gun." Ms Miller lies.

"Where did Max get the gun?"

Sam and Dean exchange looks. Ms. Miller starts to cry, looking at the ceiling. "I don't know. He showed up with it and..."

"It's all right Ms Miller." The Cop reassures.

Ms Miller begins to sob. "I've lost everyone." She says.

The Cop turns to the gang. "We'll give you a call if we have any further questions." He says.

"Thanks officer." Dean says then pats Sam's arm. "Come on."

Sam, Elena and Dean walk down the path. "If I'd just said something else. Gotten through to him somehow." Sam says.

"Ah, don't do that." Dean says.

"Do what?" Sam asks.

"Torture yourself. It wouldn't have mattered what you said, Max was too far gone." Dean says.

"When I think about how he looked at me man, right before. I shoulda done something." Sam says.

Dean pauses. "Come on man, you risked your life. I mean yeah, maybe if we had gotten there 20 years earlier." He says. They move to either side of the Impala.

"Well I'll tell you one thing. We're lucky we had Dad." Sam says

"Well I never thought I'd hear you say that." Dean says pleased.

"Well, it coulda gone a whole other way after Mom. I little more tequila and a little less demon hunting and we coulda had Max's childhood. All things considered, we turned out ok. Thanks to him." Sam says.

Dean turns back to look at Max's house. "All things considered."

[ ☼ ]

am places a bag in the trunk of the Impala which is backed up to the door, and returns inside. "Dean I've been thinking." He says.

"Well that's never a good thing." Dean says.

"I'm serious. I been thinking, this demon, whatever it is. Why would it kill Mom, and Jessica, and Max's Mother, you know? What does it want?" Sam asks.

"I have no idea."

"Well, you think, maybe, it was after us? After Max and me?" Sam asks.

Dean turns to his brother. "Why would you think that?" He asks.

"I mean, either telekinesis or premonitions, we both had abilities you know? Maybe he was after us for some reason." Sam says.

"Sam. If it had wanted you, it would've just taken you. Ok? This is not your fault, it's not about you." Dean says.

"Then what is it about?"

"It's about this damn thing that did this to our family. This thing we're gunna find and kill. And that's all." Dean answers.

Sam thinks for a second. "Actually theres uh...something else too." He says.

"Ah jeez what." Dean says.

"When Max left me in that closet, with that big cabinet against the door...I moved it." Sam says.

"Huh. You got a little more upper body strength than I gave you credit for." Dean says.

"No man, I moved it. Like, Max."

Dean pauses, gathering his clothes and standing still. "Oh." Silence. "Right."

"Yeah." Sam says.

Dean picks up a spoon. "Bend this." He says.

"I can't just turn it on and off Dean." Sam says lamely.

"Well how'd you do it?" Dean asks.

"I don't know, I can't control it. I just...I saw you die and it just came out of me, like a punch. You know like...a freak adrenaline thing." Sam admits.

Elena finally comes out of the Motel with her belongings. "Yeah well I'm sure it won't happen again." Dean says and takes the things from her to put in the trunk.

"Yeah, maybe. Aren't you worried man. Aren't you worried I could turn into Max or something?" Sam asks.

"Nope. No way. You know why?" Dean asks.

"No. Why?"

"Cause you got one advantage Max didn't have." Dean says.

"Dad? Because Dad's not here Dean."

"No. Me." Dean smirks. "As long as I'm around, nothing bad is gunna happen to you."

Sam does puppy dog look. Dean slings his bag over his shoulder and moving toward Sam. "Now then. I know what we need to do about your premonitions. I know where we have to go." Dean says.

"Where?" Sam asks.

"Vegas." Dean grins at Sam. Sam tilts his head, looks away, looks back, does bitchface and walks out the door to the car. "What? Come on man. Craps tables. We'd clean up!" Dean yells.

Dean follows Sam to the door and pauses on the threshold. He considers Sam, looking very thoughtful, then turns to pull the door closed.