Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or Buffy. The characters are Supernatural and idea is taken from Buffy so I don't own it either.
Summary: Idea for Dean based on the Buffy episode "Normal again". Not a crossover.
The delusion started with something so simple, a bear, it was given to Dean on his fourth birthday. If his parents had known what it would lead to they would have never given it to him, although the doctors said that if it hadn't been that it probably would have been something else. It started innocently enough with Dean naming the bear Sammy. They hadn't thought anything of it, it was perfectly normal for children to name their toys. They hadn't even minded much when Dean would talk to the bear after all it was also pretty normal.
However when Dean started calling Sammy his brother it had concerned them a little, as did when unlike other children Dean didn't seem to be growing out of it. In fact it seemed to get worse very quickly. Dean was convinced that monsters were out to get him and that he had to protect his little brother that was purely in his mind. At first the monster had only been episodic and then he'd come back to himself but quickly he started fading completely from reality.
Which all lead to this, Dean was dressed in white scrubs, his hair dull and kept short so that he couldn't accidentally hurt himself with it and he clutched a raggedy old bear that he didn't let go even in sleep. If someone tried to forcibly take it from him he would attack them viciously. At the moment however his eyes were glazed and unfocused and he mumbled under his breath.
"Got to protect Sammy. Got to protect Sammy." John held Mary close, despite the fact that Dean had been lost to them for over 20 years it still hurt every time they came to see him. They both tried not to cry as their only son kept mumbling the same phrase over and over. Sometimes the words were different. Sometimes it was "Demons lie." or "Let's gank this mother." But it was always very telling of the world their son was in. A very scary world from what they heard Dean say and no matter what they seemed to do, they couldn't save their son from the world he was trapped in, no matter how much they wanted to or how much it hurt to see him this way.
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