Chapter One- The Witch's Blessing
When Sam Winchester was born, it was obvious very quickly that something was wrong. He didn't react to noise. John and Mary didn't care, of course. Dean didn't fully understand, and he often times forgot, babbling away to little Sam without a care in the world.
The night of November 2nd, 1983, John Winchester's life changed forever. Mary was dead. Something had happened. Something caused that fire. But that didn't matter right now… right now, all that mattered was the little boy laying in the hospital bed. Dean had turned just the wrong way when the window exploded and the beautiful green eyes were filled with glass shards. John held Sam close to his chest, the deaf child calm, feeling his father's heartbeat. The doctors that came and went would all give the same prognosis, little Dean Winchester was blind.
It wasn't much later, when John dropped the boys off at the home of Pastor Jim, that John ran into his first real witch. She had fiery-red hair and was very full of herself. She had a strong Irish accent and she didn't seem concerned at all over the Hunter.
"If you let me go, I'll give you a gift." She spoke softly, almost soothing, as John leaned close to her.
"What can YOU possibly give me?" He scoffed. She studied him and too late did he realize she was reading his thoughts… rookie mistake.
"Oh the poor lil' dearies. I can fix those wee babies of yours. Little Sammy can hear and Deanie can see. What do ya say, John?" She asked.
John was startled and weighed his options. But… if she could actually heal his boys… "Alright. You are free if you can fix them."
She smiles, "Oh good. I'd hate to leave them as orphans… now… it's a potion and only works when dripped straight into Sam's ears and Dean's eyes. It can have side-effect but that depends on many factors. Many that shouldn't be an issue."
John released her and she began picking up seemingly random ingredients. John watched hesitantly, this was almost too good to be true.
"You said something about side-effects? Like what?" John questioned, keeping his gun on her.
"Nothing major. Just your run of the mill side-effects such as head-ache, nausea, maybe a fever." The woman swept up the ingredients and began mixing them in a large clay bowl.
"If this hurts my boys… I will hunt you down." John's voice was low and threatening.
"I don't doubt it, dearie."
Pastor Jim was understandably skeptical about giving the lime green potion to the boys. When John asked Dean, the boy only nodded, having been very quiet and shy since Mary's passing. John was eager to try it… he was at a loss on how to handle two special needs children whenever he moved around so often. Dean was easy, he instructed his son to open his eyes and he used a dropper to put a layer of the potion over his eyes. The green liquid became film-like and turned Dean's milky eyes into a vibrant green, the color he had been born with. Dean's pupils blew wide and his eyes almost appeared black. Next, with Jim's help, they managed to put the instructed amount into the squirming toddler's ears. The eighteen-month old whining and tugging at his ears. John stepped back and turned to Dean.
"Dean? How is it, buddy?" John asked, and Sam began to wail.
Dean winced around the baby's cries, "I… I can see… but I see myself. I see you looking at me."
John cocked his head in confusion. He turned back to the wailing baby and took the toddler up into his arms. Dean staggered some and shook himself, as John tried to soothe Sam. John spoke softly and sure enough, Sam began to calm. Dean's brow was furrowed and he tilted his head, this way and that.
"So what's the verdict?" John asked.
"I'm seeing out of Sam's eyes?" Dean's voice pitched higher than normal and John's heart clenched. He turned facing away from Dean. He held three fingers out to his littlest son.
"How many fingers?" John asks, Sam once again, jumps some in his arms.
"Three, dad." Dean's voice behind him, immediately says. John changes to a single finger and Dean scoffs. "Now you changed it to one."
"Oh boy… something went wrong…" Jim groans.
"We will figure this out." John replies, trying to stay calm for his boys.
"Let me call a friend of mine… Bobby Singer. He is smart and has a huge library." Jim stands and waves looks to Sam, who is turning his head all around, eyes wide.
Bobby Singer doesn't ever figure out what happened with the potion. Everything he found had said it would fix the injury and that's it… after Sam begins learning how to speak, Dean comes to John telling him, he can hear Sam in his head. John can't decide how he feels about that so he keeps it to himself, telling Dean to keep it a secret… after all, what harm could it do?
Sam and Dean grow up differently than normal kids. Sam has to learn not to turn his head to listen to a noise… they aren't his ears. And Dean has to handle the height difference, and the disorientation that comes with being a different size than your little brother. It takes lots of walking into walls, turning the wrong way, and even overcompensating for stairs before Dean gets it down. Sam eventually sits on Dean's shoulders but when they figured that one out…well, there was no stopping the brothers, stairs became a worry of the past. Bobby, Jim, Caleb and Josh were amazed at how the boys handled things now. John was proud of his sons and trained them in basic hunters skills. He wouldn't take them hunting till the both of them could go. School was a joke for them and John quickly pulled them out after it became apparent that public school wasn't for them. They excelled in their homeschooling, Sam growing in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately for Dean, with every growth spurt came another few days of getting use to the difference. Sam wasn't even bothered anymore by being considered deaf, not like it mattered when you had a big brother who could hear for you. The brothers constantly talked, communicating silently in their own heads. It became a game in the end, being able to talk without anyone else hearing. John became the victim of harmless pranks as the boys cooked up fun things to do. Sam was scary smart and Dean was big. The two fit together perfectly and moved in-sync, like a dance almost. By the time that Sam turned thirteen, John was itching to take them out on their first hunt. He was very excited to see how they moved in the heat of battle. A simple salt and burn would do the trick…