A.N. Came to me in the middle of lunch and now I share with all of you :)
Disclaimer: Not mine.
At first it was just Daddy and Mommy and Dean. There was laughter and love and bedtimes stories where good always triumphed over evil and then Mommy had said she was having a baby. And it had been exciting watching the tiny lump in Mommys tummy grow into a bulge that kicked and squirmed and calmed when it heard it's brothers voice.
One was added to the family when Mommy came home with Sam in her arms and Daddy plus Mommy plus Sam plus Dean had equaled happiness.
Daddy plus Sammy plus Dean minus Mommy made everything uneven. Daddy would disappear for a long time and it would just be Dean plus Sammy and Dean didn't know why Mommy had gone or when she was coming back just that there was a big gaping hole where she used to be. Dean knew his colors, his numbers and how to make an upset little brother coo in content when Daddy couldn't figure it out. Dean knew that Daddy plus a hug and minus a brown bottle was as happy as Daddy got anymore.
Dean plus Sammy plus Dad was all he needed. Add in the familiarity of the Impala and the adrenaline of a monster hunt and multiply with a handful of happy memories and everything seemed about even to him.
Dean plus Dad minus Sam did not add up. There was a essential component missing that Dean could not replace no matter how much he tried to add or multiply or divide. It never made sense, never fit as well as the three sides of the Dad, Sam, Dean triangle had. Everything he tried to shove in it's place made an obtuse triangle. Too tightly smashed together on one side and too stretched out on the other side, no balance. Sam plus college equaled happiness for his brother though, so Dean kept trying to add up figures that never made any sense.
Dean plus Sam minus Dad was still a little off kilter, Dean preferred the sharp, straight edges of Dad plus Sam plus Dean, but the triangle has been warped ever since Stanford. Sam minus Jessica was a sadder, darker version of the Sam before Stanford and it took Dean some time to puzzle it out. To be able subtract from Sams misery, add to Sams happiness and in return fill up something in Dean he hadn't even been willing to admit he was missing.
Dean plus Sam plus Dad equaled drama, headaches and overall a need to twist the triangle back into it's original shape. But Sam is bigger and more stubborn and less of a boy and more of a man and Dad is driven and heartbroken and has an overwhelming urge to be top dog and Dean is standing between the two lines who refuse to budge and make something add up again.
Dean plus Sam minus Dad is different this time. Dad isn't something that can be added to the equation again and the subtraction this time looks a lot like a burning pyre and a last will and testament. Add in the Impala and the scales are still wobbly and swaying back in forth between not enough and too much. Sam plus Dean minus Dad becomes a way of life and the absence of Dad becomes less and less suffocating with Sam added in. And one day when Dean has the windows rolled down in the Impala, music blasting and a brother who is breathing in the country air he smiles and realizes without saying it out loud that Sam plus Dean could equal happiness too. And who ever said Sam was the smart one?
A.W. I hope you guys like, I'm feeling in a S2 writing mood! :D