Final Sacrifice

Chapter 1

Summary: A sort of AU story set after Dead Man's Blood in a version of what might've happened once John learned about Sam's visions. Hurt!Sammy/ Angsty/Protective!Dean/ Angst!Over-reactive John. NOT a deathfic really…trust me.

Disclaimer: I don't own the boys or anything.

Warnings: Mild swearing since Dean's upset, not a deathfic despite what the first chapter shows and I'll throw in a tissue warning to be on the safe side.

Tags: Takes place after Fresh Blood in Season 1 but no direct tags to that episode.

SPN SPN SPN SPN SPN

"Okay, we've got Aspirin, Advil, Tylenol, two colors of Gatorade and a new ice pack since I still don't know what we did with the old one," Dean Winchester announced as he entered the small cabin they'd rented.

Not liking the idea of leaving Sam alone with their father, Dean had been reluctant to go to the store for supplies but after Sam had the last spell he knew they needed the pain medication. He already knew his little brother was going to wake up during the night to vomit so he picked up the Gatorade while he was out.

John's return to their lives just as they were digging into the death of Daniel Elkins, a fellow hunter, had been sudden, unexpected, and if Dean was honest with himself, unwelcome. While he paid plenty of lip service to the greatness that was John Winchester, Dean wasn't stupid enough to not know whenever his father was around things would go from bad to worse…for Sammy.

His little brother had never got the hand of listening, nodding, agreeing with their father and then just doing the opposite as soon as he was gone. Dean often wondered if the reason his father and brother fought so much is because they tended to be so alike at times. "God, scary thought," he muttered, managing the door to the cabin without dropping the bags.

Taking a look around, he noticed that Sam still appeared to be sleeping peacefully after the last vision occurred. The vision that made it impossible to keep from their Dad the news that Sam was having very freaky dreams that more often than not…actually came true.

"Sammy? Time to wake up, swallow some pills and then go back to sleep," Dean called, taking his jacket off to toss it on his bed before digging for the pills he'd just bought while noticing that their Dad wasn't in the main room but seemed to be in the cabin's very tiny bathroom. "Sam, c'mon, wake up so I can put you back to sleep."

Frowning when his brother didn't move or even stir at his voice, Dean's concern grew rapidly. Usually after one of those damn visions, Sam barely slept so normally he'd snap his eyes open at the tiniest sound from his brother. This time however he remained sleeping perfectly still on his…

Realizing that his brother was on his back took the older boy's concern up to near panic. Sam never slept on his back after a vision. Every single time he had a vision, he reverted back to his childhood habits and either curled on his side to clutch a pillow or Dean if he was close or he'd flop on his stomach. He never would lay on his back and never this still.

"Sam?" dropping the pills, Dean was beside his brother in a second to jerk the covers down only to shut his eyes as rage flew over him. "DAD!"

The shout wasn't friendly and it wasn't with respect. Dean was seeing red when he could see past the bruises on his brother's arms, the blood that split his hand open and the bruise on his neck. "Sammy, open your eyes now, kiddo," Dean whispered, placing a hand on Sam's still face to try to urge some response but felt the rage drop to sick fear as the cool skin registered. Then he slid his hand around to grip the back of his brother's neck when something else registered and he jerked his hand out to see it covered in blood. "No," he whispered, grabbing his brother's shoulder to move him to his side while praying he wouldn't find what he feared he had when with shaking fingers he finally reached to check the younger man's pulse. "You son of a bitch," he gritted, eyes burning with tears that he wasn't aware had started to fall as he felt again for a pulse on Sam but found none and the rage turned to hate.

"Dean…"

"What the hell did you do to him?" whirling, Dean was on his feet and in John Winchester's face a second later. Slamming his father back against the cabin wall, he pulled the Colt .45 on instinct. "I left you with Sam for less than an hour, Dad! He was fine when I left him! Now unless you tell me some stupid robber broke in here, shot my baby brother in the back of the head after beating him down I'm going to assume something else," he snarled, the Colt lifting with only one target in mind. "What did you do?" he screamed, still feeling Sam's cold face and unmoving body.

John knew this would be his oldest son's reaction and so didn't fight back right away but when he saw the boy lift the Colt he moved, quickly using his forearm to block Dean's arm to grab the gun from his grip and then simply shoved him back instead of using a fist or worse on his son. "Dean, I know this is hard for you but I need you to listen…"

"Listen to you?" Dean felt his head wanting to explode as he put himself between his father and the still, lifeless body of his little brother. "I listened to you when you said to go to the goddamn store! I listened to you when you said that you'd watch over Sam! You didn't watch over him, Dad! You killed your own son and now you want me to listen to you?" his world had collapsed into nothing but rage and grief as he fought for control. "Tell me why? Did a demon possess him? Did he somehow grow wings or…"

"Dean!" John snapped in his best drill sergeant tone that normally brought his eldest back to his senses but this time he saw that it only served to enrage his son more. "It had to be done, Dean. Especially after I seen your brother have that spell and you told me about the other times. I couldn't let it go any further and I wish to God that you had stayed gone long enough for me to handle it fully but…"

Those words stilled Dean and he shot a look between his father to the body of his brother, understanding dawning. "You…were going to take Sam's body and…leave?" he began to shake, taking a step closer to John. "What were you going to do with him?" he demanded tightly, seeing the truth and feeling like throwing up. "You were going to salt and burn him, weren't you? Were you planning on telling me or just letting me assume Sammy was with you?"

"I would've told you after awhile, Dean," John sighed grimly, not knowing a way to tell his son the truth. "Dean, this wasn't your brother anymore," he began slowly, hoping he could make Dean understand and understand why he did what he had. "He hasn't been since the night of the fire and that damn demon fed him demon blood. Sammy was gone that night, son and he was just going to get further away from you and more dangerous if he wasn't stopped."

A fist lashed out to catch John in the jaw, knocking him back into the table. "I don't give a damn what he was!" Dean screamed, grabbing his father by the shirt to slam him back into the wall as he pounded a blind fist into his face. "He was Sammy! He was my baby brother and your goddamn son! You had no right to take that from me, Dad!" slamming a hard fist into John's head, he shoved him into the wall again before stalking back to begin shoving his and Sam's things in their duffel bags. "You don't think I knew something was wrong with him? You don't think I hadn't put two and two together that something else happened the night Mom died? I'm not stupid, Dad!"

John sat where he was to watch his son move around the room, packing the two duffel bags before he went to throw them into the Impala. "Dean, I didn't want this on you and eventually, even after I kill this demon, Sam would've had to be dealt with because the demon had plans for him and the other kids like him," he tried to explain as he got to his feet but found himself staring into the barrel of his son's .45. "Dean…"

"I raised him from the minute you began this damn crusade, Dad," Dean's voice had dropped to a dangerously low tone and the hate in his eyes warned John that his son wasn't not doing what he'd expected him to. "Sammy was scared of these powers. You saw one vision. I've lived with them for over six months and I'm the one who held him after every single one. I'm the one who told him that he'd be fine, that he wasn't a freak and that so long as I was with him nothing bad would happen to him. I could protect Sammy from the supernatural, the hunters, and crap. The one thing that I never thought I had to protect him from is what killed him because I never thought I'd have to protect him from YOU!" he shouted in a rage, tears streaming now but Dean ignored them as he backed away from John to sit next to his brother.

Dean ignored the threat his father posed since right then he didn't care if John shot him. He gently eased Sam up to slid his leather jacket on his limp body while folding him tightly into his arms for several minutes. "I am so sorry, Sammy," he whispered, burying his face in Sam's soft shaggy brown hair. "I left you alone and I broke my promise but I'll make it better again, little brother. If it's the last damn thing I do, I'll make this better."

"Dean? Dean, what're you…" John stopped as Dean gently gathered Sam's taller and heavier body into his arms but didn't appear to have any difficulty when he stood. "Don't do something stupid, son. Just let me take your…"

"You touch him or try to come after me and the next time I lay eyes on you I will kill you," Dean vowed in a tone that left no doubt that he'd carry this threat out. "You ran your crusade, you ruined your sons by dragging us into this hell with you but all of that I forgave you for, Dad. I ignored the abuse, the lack of attention, the days, weeks or months you left us alone but I can't…I won't forgive this," he declared, voice thick with emotion as he stared at his father and still didn't see a single tear. "Did he fight back? Is that why he has bruises? Did he know you were going to kill him?" he demanded, praying to God that his brother hadn't. "Did you at least have the damn decency to knock him out before you shot him from behind?"

"You think this was easy on me, Dean?" John snapped, hating that it had gone this far. "Sam was my son but I couldn't let this demon corrupt him anymore. The only way to stop it was…"

Blinking hot tears away, Dean glanced down at the innocent face in his arms before looking back at John. "What did he say to you?" he wanted to know, guessing that his brother had known their father's plan. "He wouldn't have begged you since this was his one big fear if you found out about his powers, so what the hell was my brother's last words?"

Eyes dry, John's gaze switched between his sons before finally swallowing. "He…Sam asked me to tell you that he…loved you and that he hoped you'd forgive him for causing this." he replied slowly.

"Forgive him?" Dean repeated bitterly as he gently laid his little brother in the back seat of the car that had been their home since Sam was six months old and then stood to face their father one final time. "Sammy I can forgive the world but you? You are dead to me, Dad. You took the one good thing I had left and instead of seeing him as your son, you saw him as something to be hunted so now I'll do what I have to in order to make this right."

"Damn it, Dean!" John snapped, reaching out to grab his son's arm only to find himself shoved into his truck. "Dean! Don't do what you're thinking! You can't…"

The .45 clicked as the hammer pulled back. "I will do whatever I have to," Dean replied, voice dead serious as he stared at John with cold eyes. "I knew about Sam's powers and I've seen other people who that damn demon have visited so I knew the odds of Sammy going darkside were high but you want to know why I never did anything, Dad?" he asked, going on without waiting for an answer. "I didn't do anything but protect him because Sammy was my baby brother and I loved him! I still love him and I'll get him back and if you come within a hundred damn feet of us ever again, I will forget what you are and I will kill you."

With that solemn vow, Dean slammed the door to the Impala, roared off into the night with only one destination in mind while his father was left staring at the taillights, and realized that he hadn't just lost one son that night but he'd managed to lose both his sons. He had also made a very dangerous enemy because he now had no doubts to what Dean would do to protect his little brother.

"Goddamn it!" John Winchester roared into the night air, whirling to slam his fist into the side of his big black monster truck as a single tear rolled down his face.