Whumpee: Dean
Caretaker: Caleb
Other Characters: John, Mac, and Jim

Dean is 15
Sam is 12
Caleb is 23

TW: Blood, general disturbing images, implied experimentations

So incredibly sorry about how late this is. I had a speech performance exam on Wednesday, a test on Thursday, and audition callback today.

I really have been meaning to write and HOPEFULLY I'll be able to catch up before the end of the month. Even if I don't catch up I will be finishing all 29 days as a matter of principle because I've never actually finished a prompt challenge before and I am determined.

Anyway, here's this chapter. Hopefully it will help last chapter make a bit more sense.

Thanks to Pricelesstrashpanda for reading over it and helping me make it coherent lol.

Enjoy!

~TH~

Caleb knew he had screwed up. He knew it. And he had made things so much worse for Dean.

He couldn't get the scream out of his mind. John's exclamation asking what Caleb had done. Dean falling. The loss of connection the moment the door behind them closed. There was no question now, Jarrison was a psychic of some sort or at the very least knew enough about the supernatural to use psychic related spells. Either way Caleb had walked right into the man's trap, and Deuce had paid the price.

Mac said they had a plan. Caleb was hesitant. He didn't like the idea of Dean with that monster but… they didn't even know what happened last time. If it could happen again.

"Caleb," Jim had those cursed compassionate eyes. "I understand that what happened last time was… unpleasant. But the fact remains that we must get Dean."

"He knew that we were there the second we got there. Maybe before. And I could only read him when he let me! I don't-"

"Would you rather we leave him and let the monster torture him?!" John shouted.

Caleb paled.

"We have no proof that Jarrison is doing anything." Mac soothed, "But the fact remains that we need to get him back soon."

"No proof!? You didn't see him, Mackland!"

"No, but the fact remains that we can not let out panic cause us to act rashly again." The blame was being pointed at John but Caleb couldn't help but feel sick. This was his fault.

"This is irrelevant." Jim cut in, "You will go tonight and follow the plan exactly. I'll stay here with Samuel and run background support."

"And what about Jarrison?" Caleb asked.

"You will try to subdue him and bring him back here alive."

"And if not? He's human."

"No." Jim answered, and it felt like he was staring into Caleb's soul. "He's not."

~SPN~

Caleb wasn't sure exactly what the plan was and he didn't fully care to ask. Mac did something. Some sort of spell with pendants for each of them. Caleb wore it without even asking what it did. As much as he wanted to get Dean, he didn't want to go back in there and make things worse.

They got in without much difficulty, but they had last time as well. The difference this time was that they found the room Jarrison was in without him sensing them.

The man was wearing a white lab coat, writing in a notebook. In front of him was a security camera feed, on the screen was an operating table with Dean strapped down.

Caleb saw red.

The hand on his arm was the only thing that kept him from shooting the man right then.

"Jarrison," Mackland hissed.

The man's eyes snapped up in surprise. "Well. This is unexpected. Good to see you again, Mackland. Gentlemen."

"What were you thinking?!" Mac whispered in disbelief. "You kidnapped a child to-to perform your experiments on?!"

"He's not that young." The man rolled his eyes. "About the same age as your pet was when you first got him."

It took Caleb a moment before he realized that Jarrison was referring to him.

"He's my son." The flash of anger warmed a piece of Caleb's heart.

"Son, pet, whatever. It's irrelevant. What matters is that I knew the Winchester boy would be of an appropriate age. You created a fine psychic. But I knew I could do better."

"Created?! You think I- what kind of a monster do you think I am!?"

"I never said monster. I would say genius. A stingy genius unwilling to share his work or his protege. It didn't matter. I figured it out myself."

"Figured what out?"

"Evolution, Mackland. I fixed him. I can fix others."

"Deuce didn't need to be fixed!" Caleb cut in. "What did you do to him?!"

"What needed to be done!"

A shot rang out and the body fell before them.

Eyes swung to John who was still holding the gun out.

"What did you do?! We needed to know-"

"Anything that monster knew is in that notebook. I wasn't going to let him talk about my son like an animal or slab of meat."

"Jim said to bring him in alive if possible!"

"He also said he was no longer human. If he disagrees he can take it up with me."

Caleb stared a moment at the body before following John to find Dean.

~SPN~

Caleb could feel his heart rate speed up as he entered the room. Dean was on his back, eyes closed. An IV stuck in his left arm, heavy straps holding him down on all sides.

Too many memories washed over him. Being strapped down was one of the worst things he'd ever experienced. The fact that Dean was actively tied down made his skin crawl.

"Dean," the word was barely said on a breath as John went towards his son.

"Don't touch him!" Caleb cautioned. "We still don't know-"

John wasn't listening. His hands hovered momentarily before gently working on the straps. He was being careful not to touch the boy and Caleb began to help. Dean never made a movement the entire time. He didn't seem unconscious but he clearly wasn't very aware.

All the straps were removed before a mistake was made. John grabbed for the IV, coming into contact with Dean's arm.

Dean's eyes flew open and he let out a scream. John and Caleb both jerked back. Mac came running through the door.

"What happened?!"

"No, no, no, no," Dean was muttering, beginning to curl in on himself.

"Son?" John held out a placating hand but Dean jerked away, falling off the bed and ripping the IV out as he fell.

"No, no, no, no, no,"

"Dean, Dean look at me." Caleb took a step forward causing the younger boy to back up until the wall stopped him and he slid down, curling in on his knees.

"No, no, no, no! D-don't, don't touch me!"

"I'm not going to touch you. Okay? I just need you to calm down. You're safe."

"I-I can't do it again. Don-don't make me!"

"Do what, Deuce?"

"I-I can't see it." he whispered.

"Caleb, give him space." Mac ordered quietly.

The boy ignored him, taking a small step forward. "What do you see, Deuce?"

"Don't touch him!" John snapped.

"Johnathan, don't shout," Mac reprimanded.

"That's my son, Mackland!"

"And it's my son you're shouting at!"

Dean let out a whimper covering his ears.

"Damian, make them stop."

"Shut up!" Caleb shouted. "You're hurting him!"

The older men stopped, looking slightly ashamed.

Caleb continued, quieter, but his focus only on Deuce. "Hey, I've got you, just tell me what's going on."

"I see it. I can't see it again. It hurts."

"What hurts."

"I don't- all of it. My head."

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry. We'll figure this out. I promise, but you have to tell me what you see. What hurts."

"Caleb-" Mac said with some trepidation.

"Don't. He's talking to me. I know you want to go slow but if he wants to talk, let him."

"Caleb he's not talking." Mac said with an honest and concerned tone in his voice. "He hasn't said anything since we started arguing."

His eyes flashed to his father before back to Dean who was curled against the wall.

"Deuce, you with me?" He sent out telepathically.

"Why is everyone so loud?"

Caleb glanced at the two fathers, confirming the fact their conversation had not been heard. This was okay. They could figure this out.

"When people talk it's loud?"

"Yes. It makes my head hurt. Not like a normal hurt. I-I can't explain it."

"Ok, ok that's fine. Then we won't talk right now. But can you tell me what you see?"

"It's when people touch me."

"Okay, but what do you see when people touch you?"

"I-I see how you die."

And everything became unnervingly clear. Dean was seeing people's deaths. Dean could read minds and project telepathically.

Dean was psychic. And the powers were modeled after Caleb's.

And he wished John hadn't been so quick to kill Jarrison. He'd like to kill him slowly and in a much more painful way. It hadn't been all talk. Everything he said now made sense.

Caleb wouldn't wish his powers on anyone. Jim and Mac had spent a decade trying to convince him that his powers were a blessing. All this time later and there were extremely few instances when he'd been thankful. He'd always seen his powers as a curse, not a blessing.. Now that curse had been forced onto Dean.

"Okay, the other day, when I touched you, you saw my death?"

Dean nodded.

"And just now, with your Dad?"

"I-I didn't get the whole thing. Just flashes. It's not as bad as before but-"

"But it still hurts."

Dean once again nodded.

"What about Jarrison?'

"Who?"

"The man who had you. Did he touch you? Did you see his death."

Dean shook his head. "Gloves."

"So if I touch you with gloves it will be okay?"

Dean curled in on himself, "Please I don't want to see it."

"You won't. I promise."

Dean aggressively shook his head.

"Okay, okay. Do you know what he did?"

"I think-think he did something in my head. And an IV. He alway- always had me on an IV. I hate it."

"Do you think you can stand up?"

It was slow, but Dean used the wall until he was standing.

"Dad, hand me those gloves."

Dean flinched slightly but Mac did as he was asked.

"Deuce look, I have gloves. Just like he did. You won't see anything."

The teens breathing sped up, "But what if I do?"

"You won't. We're going to get you out of here and everything is going to be okay. But you've got to let me help you. You've got to trust me."

Dean nodded.

Caleb hesitantly met him against the wall. Dean flinched as Caleb made contact but didn't start screaming.

"Are you seeing anything?"

Dean let out a sob, shaking his head.

"Okay, good, good, see, everythings okay. Everything's going to be okay."

He pressed Dean's head into his chest trying to get his father's attention as the boy cried. Under any other circumstances Caleb would never even consider what he was about to do.

"Can you give him something to knock him out?"

Caleb made sure to project directly onto his father. He didn't know exactly what Dean was capable of and didn't want to risk panicking the boy further.

Mac shot him a look, but nodded.

"Don't touch him."

Caleb was surprised that John had kept quiet but thankful nonetheless. He wasn't above frying his brain to keep him quiet at this point.

Mac appeared behind him with a syringe. He looked at Caleb as if to ask if he was sure that this was for the best. Caleb wasn't sure himself. But he couldn't think of a different option. Dean was still sobbing against him. The uncontrollable shaking hadn't died down. They weren't getting him out of there conscious. He was in hysterics.

The doctor's gloved hand gently touched the boy's forearm and he hiccuped, going stiff. Caleb wrapped his arms around him tighter to keep him from squirming away. The shot was given and a few moments later Dean sagged in his arms.

"Will someone please tell me what's going on!?" John snapped as father and son laid Dean down on the ground.

"He mimicked my abilities." Caleb said with rising anger.

"He what?"

"He can read and project and he sees the death of people who touch him."

"How is that even possible?" Mac murmured.

"Deuce said that he did something to his head. And that he kept him dosed up on something."

Mac frowned, "It may not have been best to drug him."

"There was no other way to get him to calm down. Trust me, I don't like it either."

The doctor ran a still gloved hand over the unconscious boy.

"He's lost weight." He said mostly to himself, "Several different injection sites. Some cuts." Then to Caleb, "Help me lay him on his side."

Caleb gently turned the young teen over, keeping Dean's head in his lap. Mac began feeling along the back of his head. He frowned.

"We need to get him somewhere that I can get an x-ray. I think there's something along the base of his skull."

"You mean that he surgically stuck something in my son's skull?!"

"I don't know, John. That's what I need to find out."

"What about the drugs?" Caleb asked.

"I'll have to take some blood samples. Hopefully the journal will have what I need but I still need to look around. You and John take him out to the car. Try to keep from skin on skin contact. I assume that's what triggers the visions. He's unconscious but I don't know what- honestly I don't know anything at this point."

Caleb hated the way that Mac was talking. He understood it. But he hated it. He was talking like Dean was some sort of project or experiment. Caleb remembered feeling the same when he was younger and Mac would start spouting theories about Caleb's powers. It was never intentionally harsh, but had the tendency of making the patient feel less than human. It was the doctor in Mac that kept him calm and in control. And Caleb really couldn't blame his father for that.

"But he'll be okay, right? I mean I'm like… you can't… artificially make abilities. If I'm like this because of my ancestry-"

"We don't know that-"

"No, but if it is that, then you can't just… copy that."

"Caleb, I know almost nothing at this point. All we know is that Dean claims to have prophetic death visions on contact and that he has some form of telepathy. For all we know his visions could just be a bad reaction to the drugs."

"Trips don't cause you to be able to read people's minds, Mackland!"

"I don't know, John. I told you that. I can't know anything at this point. Take Dean to the car then call Jim and inform him that we're heading to the hospital."

"Dad-"

"Go, son. He'll be okay. Even if it is permanent he can learn to live with it, you did."

"Yeah, well I don't want him to."

Mac smiled sadly, lightly touching Caleb's arm. "I know, son. We'll figure it out. He'll be okay."

Looking at the still, pale, and seemingly extremely small teen, Caleb sincerely hoped his father was right.

(Probably to be continued at some point but idk when)

~TH~

Like it says I know this isn't finished but at the moment I don't know of a solid prompt to put for the third chapter. If one comes up, I might sneak it in. But there will be at least one more chapter.

What did you think? Would appreciate any thoughts!

I'm not doing day 8 prompt bc i just genuinely can not think of a story to write so I'll be doing alt 1. That probably means nothing to you but it is what it is lol.

I hope you enjoyed this! Love you guys! Will attempt to not dissapear but no promises.

God bless,

Jamie