For disclaimers and other useless things check Chapter 1.

Chapter 2 – The Necklace

John Winchester shifted uncomfortably in his chair at the feet of his oldest son's bed. He had seldom abandoned it since he had been well enough to leave his own bed, much like Sam, only his youngest son didn't have to deal with the guilt. He could hold his brother's hand without feeling like a hypocrite. John, however, didn't dare go any nearer Dean than he already had. After all, it had been him who almost got his own son killed.

He watched Sam suddenly straighten up, his eyes fixed on his brother. John looked at Dean then and realized why his youngest son seemed expectant: Dean was moving and looked like he was about to wake up. John had secretly dreaded this moment and he hated himself for it. He was supposed to be as eager and relieved as Sam, and he was, but he also knew he would finally have to face his son and he just didn't know what to expect. Disappointment? Anger? He didn't want to find out.

Coward, he thought.

"Sam?" asked Dean in a coarse whisper, frowning again to focus his eyes. "Man you look like crap… when was the last time you slept? And… shaved?"

Sam couldn't even reply. Hearing his brother's teasing again was far more than he could have asked for. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but ended up smiling widely. He had thought of saying "I could say the same for you" but it just wouldn't have been true. Compared to the deadly pale color of his skin and the purple bruises under his eyes that Dean had acquired during the coma, in Sam's eyes, right now he looked better than ever, having regained color, strength and basically life. Suddenly a look of concern crossed Dean's hazel eyes.

"How's dad?" he asked and was relieved to see that Sam's smile didn't falter.

"He's fine, Dean," Sam answered, "Dad, what are you doing? Come closer!" As Sam turned to help his father stand up, Dean smiled amused at his brother's tone; he sounded like a five-year-old.

"Hey there, kiddo," said John with that typical tired but loving smile as he limped on his crouches towards his eldest.

"Hey, dad, how are you doing?"

Sam knew what was going through his father's mind and as much as he wanted to stay with Dean, he knew they had to talk in private.

"I'm gonna go to the cafeteria for a bit," he said and disappeared behind the door before either Dean or John could stop him.

"Dean…" started the latter, but Dean shook his head slowly with a smile.

"No, dad, it wasn't your fault."

"I could have controlled it… and if it wasn't for me it couldn't have done this to you in the first place."

"No, you probably couldn't have controlled it and if you hadn't been there it would have probably possessed Sam and unless you developed the power to rip someone's heart out with your mind and forgot to tell me, it would have done the same thing to me through Sammy."

John took Sam's seat feeling more comfortable now and smiled.

"So much for trying to apologize," he said and Dean smiled back. As if on queue, Sam reentered the room with a cup of coffee.

"That was suspiciously quick," commented Dean.

"Hey, dad, I was stopped by a couple of doctors…" he said deliberately ignoring Dean, "I managed to push 'em away but they are pretty suspicious about Dean's wounds and obviously your leg too… they didn't ask before 'cause well… you know," he said glancing at Dean. "I can't believe I forgot to think about a story…"

"Don't worry I have one already," replied John quickly. "Anyway, I should go talk to the doctor now before they think something's going on. You two boys catch up and no fights allowed."

"Yes, sir," replied both instinctively and Sam chuckled lightly. It was just so good to have Dean back. As their father left Dean scanned Sam's bandages.

"So how did you guys get hurt anyway… the last thing I remember was the demon getting out of dad's body."

"Car crash," replied Sam simply.

"What?"

"Car crash," he repeated, "a huge truck came out of nowhere and hit us from the side… I'm telling you, man, the driver was possessed."

"Did you see him? Did you see the driver?"

"No."

"Then how do you know he was possessed?"

"I just kinda… felt it, you know?" the look Dean gave him confirmed that he actually didn't know, but Sam went on anyway. "But see, the weird thing is… after that night- well when I woke up here, I felt like they were all gone."

"What do you mean? What's gone?" Dean asked sounding annoyed, obviously concerned about his brother's 'sixth sense' that he just couldn't get to feel comfortable with. Sam felt a pang of guilt; they shouldn't be talking about this… they should be laughing and enjoying the fact that they were all alive, but Dean had to know.

"The demons, Dean, they're gone," he said, "The visions, the dreams, all gone… and so I did some research and found out that there have been no more possessions at all since that night."

Dean frowned digesting the new piece of information. They were definitely up to something then, there was no way they would suddenly decide to leave them alone and go back to Hell. No, something was going on, something big. But fatigue and pain were taking over and he knew whatever they would do could wait until tomorrow. However, another distressing thought crossed his mind before he shut his eyes.

"Hey Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"This crash… how bad was it on my car?" Sam had known this time would come rather soon. He opened his mouth but didn't say anything, lost for words. How could he say it without making it sound like the worst news Dean would ever hear? He loved his car almost like another member of the family. At Sam's silence Dean nodded slowly, understanding the meaning of the extended gap and looked away from his brother.

"Sorry, man…"

"That's alright," he said after a few seconds smirking slightly at Sam, "she died protecting us, like the heroine she was," he added dramatically causing Sam to laugh quietly, again thanking God for giving him his brother back.

"Dean! Wake up, son," whispered John in Dean's ear a few days later. Reluctantly, after having slept for over fourteen hours, his son opened his eyes confused. "Dean, what did you do with your necklace?"

"Huh?" was Dean's only reply.

"The necklace, Dean, the doctors said you didn't have it on you when you got here."

Suddenly, Dean was wide-awake and instinctively reached for his neck and found nothing. Not that he was expecting to find it, after all only two people knew about the real importance of that little golden object and they were both in that hospital room.

"I… I dunno I never took it off… did you ask Sam?"

"No, you know he asks too many questions, and he'll want to know the whole truth."

"True… but we've only got like…" he paused to think, "crap! We've got a week left before that demon can do something, dad, maybe it's time we tell Sammy," argued Dean. And then he remembered Sam had said the man driving the truck had been possessed and after that there were no more possessions. Dean had wondered why the demon hadn't killed them then when it had the chance but now he knew why. It had used the accident to steal the necklace, which in Dean's mind was far worse than having been killed.

John seemed to consider his son's suggestion for a moment and then nodded.

"You're right, he'll have to come with us in any case. Anyway, we can't waste a moment, Dean, we'll check you out of the hospital and explain everything to Sam in the car. I'll go talk to the doctor. You get ready, understood?"

"Yes, sir," he said and as his father left, he fought the sharp pain in his chest and the dizziness that came as soon as he sat up. He remained in that position to catch his breath for a few seconds and then proceeded to stand and get dressed as fast as he possibly could. Can't waste a moment.

That had been a direct order and Dean did not intend to disobey.

"Okay now, are you gonna tell me what all this is about?"

Silence.

"Dad, Dean should be in the hospital, I mean he can't even walk on his own! And where the hell are we going?" Sam was becoming angrier every second and John meant to answer every one of his questions but he didn't know where to start. He stared straight at the road ahead. Sam sat in the passenger seat and Dean dozed off in the back reminding Sam all too well of the night after the demon attacked them almost two months ago.

"It happened before you were born," John began after a few minutes, regaining Sam's attention, who had gone for an 'I'm-not-talking-to-you-until-you-spit-it-out' approach. Childish, but it worked. "I guess you can say my first encounter with the supernatural happened before that demon killed your mother," he took a deep breath and checked the rear view mirror and saw Dean was asleep. Sam stared at him shocked, urging him to go on.

"When Dean was about three years old I started hearing things in the house… steps, voices, lights going in and out and everything. It wasn't from one day to the next, it developed pretty slowly and I made myself believe I was imagining things… I was pretty much a skeptic about the paranormal back then… if only I had known…"

"So what happened?" asked Sam gently. His father seemed to be talking to himself at this point, too lost in thought to pay much attention to Sam.

"One morning I woke up after hearing your mom's voice… she sounded so scared I jumped out of bed and ran to the kitchen where the noises came from and what I saw…" he hesitated, pausing for so long Sam thought he wouldn't continue.

"Dean was standing there facing Mary with a sharp kitchen knife in his tiny hand… but the way he held it… firmly and expertly as if he knew exactly what he could do with the weapon."

"He… Dean… attacked mom?"

"Tried to. And it wasn't Dean; he had been possessed by a demon. Mary and me had to tie him firmly to his bed… and she wouldn't stop crying… and Dean's voice… that sweet little voice he had… it was gone and the demon spoke for him… and I only realized who this demon was about two months ago-"

"You mean, it was the demon!" interrupted Sam loudly, but John didn't seem to hear.

"…And it made him hurt himself… we were getting desperate, no priests could help… they were saying they never saw anything like it, they told us to keep praying… and then I met Jim Murphy. He was the only one who never gave up and finally he created Dean's necklace and told me that as long as he wore it, no demon, not even this one would get into him and I took it and as soon as I put it around Dean's neck, the demon was gone. We almost lost your brother back then, the demon had hurt him so much…"

"A few days later I asked Pastor Jim to tell me what he had found out and all about the necklace too. And what he told me… sometimes I wish I hadn't asked… when I faced the demon before you and Dean found me was one of those times. First he told me that what the demon had done was only a test… which explained why it had possessed him at such a young age… he was testing him to see if Dean was the right one and Jim said that because it didn't leave until we found a way to exorcise it, it meant that Dean had been chosen."

"Chosen for what, dad?" asked Sam impatiently, after his dad became quiet.

"Sammy, tell me something," said John unexpectedly glancing at his youngest. "What's Dean's dream? What does he want for himself?"

"Dad-"

"Answer the question, Sammy and I'll be able to answer yours."

"I… I don't know… but dad how has this got anything to do with that demon?"

"To become more powerful and rule the land of the living, the demon needs a human body; not to possess it but to become it. And this human has to be the exact opposite of a demon for it to work. Jim had heard of some children being referred to as Angels Born on Earth. They aren't real angels, obviously, but these children are born pure, with no sin in their souls unlike the rest of us, who are born with the Original Sin. Now, that doesn't mean the kid's a saint, but he just isn't like other people. Most of these children change through the years, though, becoming just like everyone else, which is why the demon needed to test Dean before he could be sure his adult body would be as useful as the child's. Now, back to my question, the reason you don't know what Dean truly wants is because he never thinks of himself. His only ambition in life has been to protect this family, to keep us together, to make sure we're - as in you and me and not him – that we're happy… even when he was a kid he could always hold the three of us together better than I ever could… to this day, Dean ignores his own wishes and dreams in order to guard us, protect us. Like the other children who were Angels Born on Earth for their whole lives, his happiness depends on other people's happiness and safety and that's enough for him."

"Like… some sort of… guardian angel?" asked Sam unable to believe his own words.

"Yeah, I guess you could call it that," replied his father, "now, Dean has no idea, Sam, I never told him and he never asked. He was content with the order 'wear this necklace and never ever take it off'. I told him what would happen if he did and he never questioned me about it. And Sam," he added, "if this thing takes hold of his body, there's no way to take it back, once it becomes Dean, your brother is dead, gone forever. And the world and humanity will become Hell on Earth pretty damn literally."

Sam looked at his brother's peaceful reflection. He still slept, completely unaware of how rare a person he was, his arms folded over his wound and his head resting on the window. Sam began to think back on all those months road tripping together. Realization struck him as he remembered Dean saying to him once "I figured our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others." And also as he remembered how children seemed to love his brother straight away and how Dean could see right through them. He remembered how in Nebraska he had tried to offer his only chance to be healed by simply suggesting, "Maybe you should just pick someone else." But above all, he couldn't remember a single time in his life he had felt his brother wasn't watching his back. A guardian angel.

"Even when I couldn't count on anyone, I could always count on you," he remembered himself confessing. He had never thought about it twice. Never actually reflected on his brother's ways before. Now his father had just made his respect and appreciation for his older brother rise even more if that was possible.

But it took dad to tell me to even notice, Sam thought feeling a slight twinge of guilt.

He turned back to look at his father, thinking of the last few words he had uttered.

"But dad… that means that thing can attack any minute now!"

"No, Sammy, the protection the necklace has over Dean remains inside him for exactly two months after it's taken off. Nothing can touch him until then… thank God for Jimmy's brains," he smiled looking up as if seeing his late friend's face floating above him.

"That gives us a week to find it, dad, and how are we gonna do that if the demon's got the necklace?"

"No idea… I dunno yet but I think I know where we should start looking for some answers."

"Where?" snapped Sam as usual, suddenly realizing he still had no clue as to where they were going.

"Back to Salvation, we'll check Jim's stuff, his books and everything there is to know about this evil son of a bitch… as a last resort we might even find how to make another necklace… or maybe this time we can come up with something a little subtler than the nasty golden bug or whatever the damn thing is supposed to look like."

A/N: First of all, thanks so much for the reviews... keep 'em coming, keep 'em coming:) Now, this chapter was so damn mushy it actually makes me laugh but hey... hope you guys liked it! Once again thanks for the reviews, they make a girl's self-esteem rise lol... I'm cool, I swear.

Random Note: Funny how I seem to think Exam Leave is the right time to right stories... maybe I do it to avoid revision... oh well...