-1Bar Fights and Bullets

Chapter 22

November 13th 1979

John and Mary had settled down for their typical Tuesday night ritual, Three's company the only sound that could be heard throughout the entire house, a bowl of popcorn placed between them. The apple of their eye playing only feet away on his Winnie the pooh blanket as they watched their program.

And that was when one of many proud moments occurred, for the first time parents. Dean had always been a head of the statistics, crawling at six months, his first word at nine… And now as John glanced to check on him out of the corner of his eye, a milestone in their son's developmental process was about to occur.

A chorus of "da da da's " pouring from the infants lips he was standing on wobbly legs and John swore he saw a grin on young Dean's lips as he tapped Mary on the shoulder diverting her attention from the television to their son.

Mary beamed with pride as she eyed her son and covered her mouth to keep a gleeful screech from pouring out of her.

John had already begun to rise from the sofa when he felt his wives hand on his arm and looked in her direction.

"No…" She whispered barely loud enough to be heard, "Let him try." There was an amount of certainty in her voice that John had never heard before as he cocked his head slightly.

"What if he falls?"

"Then he'll get back up and try again." She gently pushed her husband back down beside her and leaned forward a little, both parents watching in anticipation to see where things would go from there.

And then it happened, one foot in front of the other chubby little legs took their first step and then their second and their third before finally giving out, Dean landing with a thud onto his diapered tush.

Mary and John clapped proudly mist in both their eyes and matching grins on their faces, even as their son looked at them with a startled expression, His bottom lip quivering as he drew a breath in.

"You're okay…" Mary couldn't help but laugh as she got up from the couch and swooped the little boy into her arms just before he released the breath he had been holding and his cries rang out into the air over powering the volume of the TV. She cradled her young son shushing him softly against her chest his head resting on her shoulder.

John watched on in amazement wiping his eyes with the back of his hand, unable to remove the grin from his face, their son… his son had just taken his first steps. He had never felt prouder then that very moment, never felt more alive, his life at that moment was as complete and perfect as his little boy.

Getting up from where he sat on the couch he closed the small distance between himself and his family placing his hand on the small of Mary's back and leaning in to plant a kiss on Dean's forehead he whispered softly, "I'm proud of you son…."

Present Day

John pushed the memory he had just been reliving into the back of his mind and ran a hand through his hair as Sam's voice came to his ears. "Penny for your thoughts?"

John shook his head toward his youngest. It had been a little over seven weeks since Dean's pen incident, and also since the sensation had returned to his left leg. Today was going to be another day just like the one he had experienced over twenty-six years ago, he didn't know how he knew, but John was sure of it. Mary might not have been standing there next to him, he might not have been able to see her, but he knew that she would guide their son just as she always had, he knew that wherever she was she was watching and waiting with the same anticipation as her husband. That confident look in her eyes as she looked down upon him.

Sam crossed the room to where his brother was sitting in his chair still eyeing the contraption before him as though he were sizing it up for a whole new battle. "Are you sure you're ready for this?" He asked crouching down a little and looking Dean in the eye.

"I can feel." Dean stated bluntly, forcing his gaze away and looking at Sam, a renewed and hopeful gleam in his eyes, mixed evenly with fear and nausea "Maybe not everything, but enough…. I have to try."

"If you're sure." Sam nodded pretending not to notice the uncertainty looking back at him, "Then let's do this."

"Sam?"

"Hmmmm?"

"Just… Don't let me fall alright?"

"I'll do my best." The younger man whispered as he gripped his brother, under his arms and pulled him to his feet pushing the chair out of the way and standing behind him, "If you feel like you can't… just say the words man."

Dean nodded and reached out shaky hands, his unsteadied legs trembling as he gripped tight to the walker in front of him as though he life depended on it… Because in his eyes it did. "I can do this." His voice was laced with question rather than fact.

"Yes you can." John reassured him leaning back against the far wall and crossing his arms over his chest, "Just take your time and steady yourself."

Sam looked his brother up and down slowly making sure he wasn't in any immediate danger, "You got it?" He whispered keeping his words as low as he could attempting not to startle the concentrating man.

"You can let go…" Dean's voice shook as much as his legs if not more so… He could feel his heart leaping and racing in his chest as he fought to catch his breath, as he fought to keep his game face on and not show the fear that was currently engulfing him more and more with each passing second. He didn't want Sam to let go, he didn't want to do this on his own, but he knew he needed to.

"Are you sure?"

"Let go Sammy."

Sam did as he was told and slowly eased the grip he had on his brother before taking a step back making sure he was ready to leap forward at the first sign of distress.

Dean's fingers squeezed tighter to the walker as he felt Sam letting go, this was it, the moment of truth, the moment to prove himself, not only to Sam or his father, but to himself. He stood nearly frozen as he planned out his next moves in his head. He was going to walk… Slow steady steps was all it was going to take now. He was already up, already standing, the hard part was over, now all he needed to do was move.

Sam drew his lip into his mouth, even from where he stood he could see his brother's flesh trembling as he swallowed and steadied his own nerves before speaking. "Use your left for to lead off, one foot in front of the other, just like the parallel bars, you can do this just take a deep breath and relax."

John closed his eyes and whispered a silent prayer to himself before opening them again, part of him was telling him to run to his son … to help him, to hold him the way he and Mary had all those years before, but he knew that wasn't the answer, he wasn't a child any longer, he was a man and he needed to do this on his own.

Now, it was Dean's turn to close his eyes, his brother's simple instructions whispering to him in the back of his mind as he did what he was told. Pushing the walker only a few centimeters in front of himself, he lifted his foot up off of the carpet, a small grunt coming from his lips before he placed it down again dragging his right one behind it forcefully. And then again, another few centimeters, this went on for a few steps before finally he felt the shaking inside his body overwhelm his desire to keep moving and his body wavered.

"Sammy…" He mumbled under his breath feeling his hands slipping.

Sam and John who had both been watching with admiration and satisfaction in their gazes rushed forward in unison as they saw Dean's body begin to sway the contraption helping him hold himself up threatening to give way.

"I gottcha." Sam's voice was smooth and calm even though Dean could hear the tears hidden inside of it.

"You're such a girl." He whispered with a snort, as he felt his brother welcomingly grip him around the waist and collapsed into him a little harder then he meant to sending Sam stumbling just a foot or two before regaining his balance.

John couldn't help but chuckle as he moved around to Dean's side and took some of the weight from Sam's body shaking his head. He wanted to clap, to scream, and to cheer just as he and Mary had done the first time around, but suppressing those feelings, he settled for a smile instead as he helped Sam lower Dean back into the wheel chair.

"I'm proud of you son." He finally spoke when he found enough of his voice to do so laying a heavy hand on his son's shoulder.

Dean looked to his father and smiled at the words he always found so much pleasure in hearing, but wished he had heard far more often in his life. John had never been one to praise either one of his boys, therefore when he did, they knew it meant something.

"Thanks dad."

"So uh, how does it feel to be mobile again?" Sam couldn't wipe the smile from his lips now as he looked down at his brother, the hero inside the older man shining brighter then Sam had ever remembered it shining before.

"Tiring."

"And aside from that?"

"Exhausting?"

"Dean…"

Dean looked up a smirk playing on his lips, "What?"

"You know it felt good…"

"Of course it felt good Sammy, but there's still a long way to go before I'll be celebrating. I don't want to Jinx myself by starting the party to early."

"You're too hard on yourself you know that?"

"Yeah well one of us has to be… Mister softy."

"Shut up Jerk."

Dean chuckled a little and shook his head, "Pansy."

He would never say it, but the look of pride and happiness he saw in his brother's eyes mirrored those which Dean felt on the inside…. He knew that it wouldn't be long now, it wouldn't be long until his life was again his and this nightmare would finally come to an end.

Thank you all so much for your replies to chapter 21, it is your words that keep me writing, please let me know what you think of this…