Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, or John, Dean, and Sam Winchester. I only own the plot.

A/N: Just to clarify this, Dean is 20 and Sam is 16.


The Middle Man

"Dean, come on man, wake up!" Sam said worriedly.

"Dean, son, wake up!" John said, while slapping Dean's cheeks.

Sam was driving the Impala as fast as he dared to the hospital after the hunt they were on at the time turned sour. He kept looking over his shoulder at Dean in the backseat. Sam had failed to notice the spirit when it was right in front of him, and it resulted in Dean having to be rushed to the hospital. The python spirit they were hunting could blend into the backgrounds, and had fooled Sam, and it turned on Dean and ran him through with his claws, before John came in and saved both their asses. This angered John because he had trained both Dean and Sam and yet it seemed like only Dean truly listened and proved it on the hunts. Sam's heart wasn't in the hunt, and that fact almost killed his brother.

"Come on Dean, wake up!" John said nervously, slapping his son's face harder than before. Dean's unconscious body was lying limp on John's lap in the backseat of the Impala, trying to wake his son up, and stop the flow of blood. Dean was going to freak when he saw the mess he made in the Impala.

Dean moaned and turned his head away from John's hand. His eyes opened slowly and he looked at his surroundings. He recognized the Impala's interior and realised they had already left the hunting site.

"Did we kill it?" Dean asked in a hoarse voice.

John sighed in relief and nodded to his son in his lap. After making sure his son was going to be okay, his thoughts turned back to what had happened back at the house they had been at. Sam had failed to protect his brother, once again, and they were going to the hospital, again. When would Sam learn? John mused.

When they arrived at the hospital, Sam opened the passenger door, and helped John carry Dean up to the emergency doors. They hurried in and a doctor came rushing toward them.

"What happened?" She asked, looking over Dean's wounds.

"He got attacked by a dog on the loose. When we got to him, he was unconscious. He just woke up," John said, quickly coming up with a believable story. But it was second nature to John, considering he had to make up stories for himself, and then for when he had to bring Dean in here for Sam's slip-ups.

The doctor motioned for a nurse to being a wheelchair over, and they settled Dean in the chair as comfortably as possible. The nurse then wheeled him off to a vacant room. The doctor stayed behind to ask a few more questions.

"What's the man's name?" she questioned them.

"Dean Nicholson," John answered.

"And how long ago was he attacked?"

"About an hour I'd say. I don't know for sure,"

"Thank you. If you'll take a seat in the waiting room, we'll come back and tell you how he's doing," the doctor said quickly, while hurrying of to Dean's room.

John and Sam took seats in the waiting room, and a silence growing between them. They shared no words, only thought on Dean and his well-being. Sam was depressed at once again failing to save his brother, as his brother had done countless times for him. John was angered at Sam for his thoughtlessness, and sending Dean to the hospital with serious injuries. Once again, Sam was to blame for Dean's injury, and he would have to learn his lesson.

Three hours later, the doctor came back to say that Dean had went into surgery two hours before and was sleeping in his room. They were allowed to go see him if they promised to be quiet and let him get some rest. Sam and John both nodded their heads and walked towards Dean's room in complete silence. They hadn't uttered a word since they arrived.

When they walked into Dean's room, they looked down at his body sprawled on the white sheets, looking helpless, a sight neither of them liked to witness. Dean's chest was stitched up with countless stitches, and he had an iv pumping fluids into his body. Sam broke the silence first.

"This is all my fault. If only I had seen it," he muttered. John heard him, and his anger took over.

"You're damn right. This is your fault! How many times do you have to screw up before you get it? Dean knows what he's doing. Learn from him!" John said angrily.

Sam looked at his father in shock, not understanding what he just heard. Sam's anger started to grow.

"I'm not Dean, Dad. Maybe you wished it was me in that bed, and not Dean, your perfect little solider! I will never be what you want me to be. I will be ME!" Sam said, slightly raising his voice, still conscious of being in a hospital.

"I know you're not Dean. It's quite obvious when you keep letting him down and sending him to hospitals. And yes, I do wish it were you in that bed and not Dean!" John said before he realised what he said.

Sam stood in shock, hearing his fathers words hit home. His dad hated him. His own flesh and blood. Sam always knew Dean was the favoured brother, but not to this extent. Sam lost control and started yelling at John.

"So you wish for me to be dead, is that it? You wish that demon had taken me and not Mom, that's what you want right Dad? I'm sorry I'm even alive!" Sam yelled, striking a nerve in John. Sam knew what buttons to push when he was angry, and John knew the same to Sam. John took the hit Sam threw at him, and let the anger bubble over the edge and lost control as well.

"I don't wish you dead Sam, and I wish Mary was still alive with us today. But this is the life you got, and you will obey me! If you listened in the first place, we wouldn't be here!" John yelled right back.

The door to the room slammed open and the doctor rushed in with the same nurse as before.

"What do you think you two are doing? Let the man rest!" She said loudly. She quickly looked over at Dean to make sure he was still sleeping, and ushered the two men out, with the help of the nurse. When the door closed, Dean sighed.

Dean had woken up when he heard his father tell Sam that he should be more like him. He pretended to be asleep so the two wouldn't know he was listening to it. When they started yelling at each other, he wanted so badly to shut them up. To tell them to be quiet and to stop fighting. But he kept his eyes closed and listened. Neither of the bickering men had noticed the tears falling from his closed eyes. They were too wrapped up in their argument.

Dean felt another piece of his heart break into pieces. The arguments have been going on for four years, ever since Sam was on his first hunt. Sam was now a stubborn sixteen year old and would disobey John at any moment, even during the hunt when it could cost one of them their life. Dean wanted to tell each of them what they were doing to him. It was the worst torture he could ever dream of. A demon could torture him physically to the brink of death, yet the pain he felt from their arguments would be much greater. Dean could never escape pain, even when he was in the best physical condition ever. Whenever he heard Sam and his father have a go at each other behind closed doors, he would hide behind the door, listening, not getting the courage to stop the argument. He was the bystander who couldn't interfere without destroying the family. Dean wanted his family to be perfect once again. Normal. But it was too late to return to what his family once had. Their innocence left them and arguments took their place. Dean was tormented day and night from the arguments. It was slowly pushing Dean into a depression.

Dean wished for a miracle. Something that would mend his broken heart. Something to mend their broken family. He wanted all the pieces put back together before they collected too much dust and couldn't fit back together. If only he could get the nerve to stop his brother and his father from bickering. If only he could be fixed before it was too late. If only the rift between his brother and his father could be smaller, or nonexistent. If only, if only, if only, Dean wondered. If only this family were a family once more, then maybe his broken heart had a chance to be whole once again.

If only.


A/N: Well this is the second chapter that was asked for. There is at least one more chapter to be added, possibly two. I don't know for sure yet. Hope this is up to your standards that you have set since reading the first chapter, because I worked until one in the morning on this! It wouldn't let me sleep, it had to get out. Please leave me a review, they are greatly appreciated, and help me write faster.

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