Disclaimer: I still don't own Supernatural or its characters. I and am not making any money on this…I'm just having fun!

Shattered

Chapter 2 – New Roles

Dean woke the next morning as the sun began to stream through the thin drapes covering the windows. As he sat up, he noticed that the room was empty with no sign of his brother. "Sam?" Dean called as he headed towards the bathroom, but his brother wasn't there either.

For a moment, Dean panicked. Had Sam left him? The way he had been treating the kid, he wouldn't blame him. Dean ran a shaky hand through his hair. All he had left was Sam, he couldn't lose him too. Dean headed for the door and stepped out into the morning sunshine. The Impala was still parked where he had left it, but there was no sign of his gangly brother.

Dean headed back into the room, deciding that he would have to finish getting dressed and find out what happened. He couldn't believe that his brother would walk out on him…he had promised he would be there for Dean just last night. His father had left him and once again Sam had left him. Well Dean was tired of being left. As soon as he found his freaky brother, he was going to beat some sense into him.

Just as Dean was grabbing for his keys he heard the door open and in walked the object of his anger. He was balancing two cups of coffee with a bag of something. Dean blinked as he saw Sam move past him quietly, placing the food and cups on the table. He acted like Dean wasn't even there.

"What the hell do you think you were doing?" Dean shouted, the recent fear of losing yet another member of his family too strong to stop the anger.

Sam jumped and looked up at Dean. He saw the anger in his brother's eyes…the same anger he had seen frequently there since their father's death. He hated it and also feared it. Sam moved his hand unconsciously to his cheek as he backed away from his brother. "Sorry Dean, I didn't realize that I needed permission to get breakfast!"

Dean couldn't believe it, here he had been worried sick that something had happened and his brother was mouthing off to him. "Have you ever heard of leaving a note Sam? I mean, where was your head? I wake up and find you gone…what was I to think huh?"

Sam had had enough. He knew that Dean was hurting, but so was he. He had been ok with being Dean's punching bag and even was willing to take the fits of anger. But he refused to be dressed down like some errant child. Sam walked over to Dean, his fists clenched at his side. "You know what Dean, I'm tired of this. I know you're hurting and you're right. I can't fix this…so I guess that not only makes me a bad son, but also a bad brother in your book. I don't know what you want from me, but I've had it. You aren't Dad and I don't take orders from you like some 10 year old!"

Dean couldn't stop himself, for the second time he hauled back and hit Sam in the face. Sam reached up and touched his face, coming away with blood from his split lip. Sam looked sadly at his brother as he calmly walked into the bathroom and reaching for a washcloth began to clean the blood from his face.

Dean just sat and watched as his brother walked away from him. As quickly as it had come, his anger began to fade away and was replaced by self loathing. He had done it again…he had hurt his brother. What was wrong with him? He was supposed to be taking care of Sam, not tearing him apart. Dean took a deep breath and walked towards the bathroom. "Sam..ah…listen man…I'm sorry. I…"

Sam turned and looked at the pain in his brother's eyes and sighed. He really didn't know how to reach his brother and right now he didn't really know if he wanted to try. He needed to get some space and maybe give Dean some as well. "It's ok Dean…look I'm going to head over to the clinic up the street…I'll be back in a little while." Sam began to walk past Dean, but Dean grabbed his brother's hand trying to stop him.

"Sammy? Please don't leave…we need to talk."

Sam yelped with pain as he pulled his hand from Dean's grasp. "I know Dean, we do need to talk, but not right now ok?"

Dean took a closer look at Sam and for the first time noticed that his brother's face was showing signs of him being in pain. His eyes traveled down to the hand that Sam was holding gingerly. "Crap Sammy, why didn't you say something? We should have taken care of that last night! Hold on, I'll get my coat and drive you over there."

Sam turned to Dean and held up his hand. "No, Dean…not this time. I can take care of this myself. It's just broken; all they will do is x-ray and cast it. There's no sense in you having to sit around for that."

Dean couldn't believe that he had forgotten about his brother's hand and worse than that...Sam didn't want him there. "But Sam, you don't need to walk…I can drive you there. We can stop for breakfast afterwards…"

Sam just shook his head. He really needed to get away and try to figure things out…his hand gave him a good excuse. "Really Dean, I'm not mad at you ok. I just…I just need to start doing things on my own. I'll call you if I need you ok?"

Dean nodded as he watched his brother walk out the door. He just hoped that he hadn't done too much damage this time. He just hoped that Sam would understand why he had panicked when he woke to find Sam gone with no note. Dean walked over to grab the cup of coffee and froze as he saw a small white piece of paper on the table. His eyes began to fill with tears as he read the words…

Dean,

Couldn't sleep, decided to go to the restaurant for coffee and some food for breakfast...be back soon.

Sam

ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo

Sam walked quickly towards the clinic he had seen when he had headed for the restaurant earlier. He really wasn't angry at Dean; he had recognized the fear that had been beneath the anger. In fact, since his father's death, Dean had kept Sam under even closer scrutiny than he had before.

Sam sighed as he filled out the appropriate paperwork and sat in the waiting room. The pain in his hand was worse than before, but it was nothing compared to the pain in his heart. He was failing his brother on so many levels. Even now he realized that he wanted Dean to share his pain with him so that he could get his brother back…Dean was right….Sam was selfish. As he thought back over the year, he realized how easily he had fallen back into the roll of little brother. He was used to letting Dean do the worrying and take care of things that Sam didn't want to face. Now Dean seemed to be morphing into a younger version of his father. Barking orders and expecting Sam to obey without question…just like his father.

A tear escaped and rolled down his cheek. If he had only followed the order his father had given…things would probably be different now. Sam decided that no matter how hard it was, he would try to give Dean what he needed. He would follow where ever his brother led and try to follow his orders without question…then maybe the hole that was threatening to swallow him would diminish.

Sam heard his name called and headed in to have his hand looked at. As expected, the doctor did an x-ray and told him what he already knew…his hand was broken. After giving the doctor a story about being in a fender bender, he gritted his teeth as the cast was applied to his sore hand. The doctor patted him on the shoulder as he gave Sam a shot for the pain. "Here you go son, you can get this prescription filled at the pharmacy here in the clinic. You should call someone to get you…that shot I gave you will make you groggy. Just keep the cast dry, it should be ready to come off in about 6 weeks. I don't think you'll have any permanent damage."

Sam thanked the doctor and stood to head out of the clinic, but as he started towards the door the room began to spin. The doctor grabbed him and helped him into a chair. "I told you son, that pain killer is going to knock you out…is there someone I can call for you?"

Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He paused for just a moment before he pushed the button for the only one that he needed…"Hey Dean?"

"Sammy? What's wrong?"

"Nothing…they gave me a shot…I can't walk back, I'm sorry…" So much for him being independent, Sam thought as he gave Dean the location of the clinic.

"Don't worry about it Sammy…I'll be there in 5 minutes. You stay there you hear me?"

"Yes Sir!" Sam answered as his eyes began to close.

TBC

Raven524: Ok, not much action yet, but there will be soon…hope it's not too angsty for you all. Don't forget to let me know what you think!