Hi all, How good and sad was the mid season return! Poor Sam and Dean! I hope they get back together really soon! I hate it when they are separated. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the latest chapter of this story, I have sort of lost my direction with this story so bare with me while I figure out its direction

Please forgive all mistakes they're mine alone.

A/N: Thank you again for everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or any of the wonderful characters that I am taking on this journey.

Chapter 14 - A Shining Light

Sam was making his way across the parallel bars, straining his muscles, trying to make them work as they used to. Sweat beading across his forehead, but somehow feeling a little different this time, like his muscles were finally showing signs of doing what he wanted then to. A small spark of hope igniting in his heart, the flame growing stronger when he had the same feeling in his other leg. He wasn't going to be able to let go of the bars anytime soon but the small smile that came across his face was enough to make him work just that little bit more, so he took another shuffle across the mat and the parallel bars which were keeping him upright.

Bobby was watching with Hope in his lap, he too had a small smile on his face as he could see the change in the young father. Sam looked down at his feet then when he looked up, Bobby wasn't in his seat, Hope was in her pram, looking unhappy at not being in her grandpas lap. Sam looked around the room quickly checking the exits and the other therapists for any change in behavior incase they had once again been possessed. The door to the front of the gym was slightly ajar but Sam was still a third of the way across the bars, he tried to move faster but his muscles protested the additional strain. He would pay for it later with cramps but he had to make sure Bobby was Ok. "Hey Sam, slow it down buddy, your doing so well, but don't push it too hard" Greg his new therapist, was encouraging but could see that Sam was going to push himself to the limit.

"Nnno, I... I need to find Bobby" Sam said breathlessly.

What felt like hours later, was about fifteen minutes when Sam finally got to the end. Greg was there to catch him and maneuver him into his wheelchair. "Your friend probably just went to the bathroom, calm down Sam" Greg was really worried that Sam was going to over exert himself if he wasn't careful and as it was his job to keep him calm and relaxed, he was considering his options, if a man of Sam's strength was to have an episode or a panic attack he would need help to restrain him. So far talking hadn't garnered him with any results but he would try again before moving on to any other methods.

"Sam just relax ok, I'll go and find your friend and I'll either bring him back or let you know where he is alright, don't stress yourself out, he's probably fine" Sam didn't look convinced but he didn't really want to create a scene but considering what happened to them last time he was thinking the worst possible scenario had happened.

"Ok, Greg, please hurry" Greg walked quickly to the door, he didn't want Sam to get any more distressed, he knew about what had happened to the young man and his last therapist, so he wanted to reduce his stress levels, everyone had been on edge and Tracy was at home recuperating. She didn't remember what had happened but was glad that no one had been more seriously injured. The centre knew that the young patient was not to blame but the story Bobby had told them was that someone associated with his original attack had tried to get back at him. It was a sad and disturbing situation but they didn't want to stop his treatment but had up't the centre's security and safety procedures to stop anything like that happening again.

Greg walked into the men's room and knocked on each of the doors and asked for Bobby, with no answer received, he moved on to the men's change rooms. After receiving no answers in there either, he moved on to the foyer of the centre and no Bobby answered to his call. He walked outside to see if he was perhaps having a cigarette and as he looked around he noticed a group of men a distance away from the entrance surrounding a car, the passengers of the car were being pulled roughly out of the car and violently subdued. He ran inside and back to Sam, scared for them and noticing one of the passengers being attacked was his brother, he knew that Sam would be scared as well, as he ran towards the therapy room, he called out to two security guards to follow him. Walking quickly back into the room, seeing Sam sitting agitatedly in his wheelchair and rocking Hope in her pram to sooth her. "I'm sorry Sam I couldn't find him in any of the men's toilets or change rooms, I checked outside and I noticed that some men where being car jacked or something, I think one of them was your brother. I brought security incase you needed it, I think they're all in danger. What do you want me to do? Call the police, have the guards stop them?"

Sam was frozen, thinking about his next move, obviously this was another attack if everyone including Bobby had been involved, but by who. He racked his brain for any useful information from the previous attack and from his training as a child and any other the hunts he and hid family had ever been on. He knew demons could be nasty and conniving. He was worried and angry that they were using his family against him yet again. He was getting sick of being the cause for everyone he cared about being hurt. He had been considering it and now it was becoming imperative that he and Hope leave them all alone and go into hiding, save them all from the danger that seemed to follow him and target his loved ones... Maybe he could even leave Hope with Bobby and Dean and just leave on his own. The idea saddened him but it had to be the only way to keep everyone safe.

His thoughts were interrupted when Greg cleared his throat obviously come to the end of his patience as he waited while Sam zoned out. "What should we do Sam? We have to hurry"

Sam nodded his head as memories and information from books he had read, came back to him, ideas formulating, plans being hatched in his analytical brain that hadn't been used in this way for quite a while, but relished the workout none the less. "Ok, Greg, I need you and your security men to follow me up the hill, I need them to create a distraction while I go in from behind and smoke them out" a smile spreading across his lips. "But first I need a marker and all your men to take their shirts off" Sam asked knowing he would get raised eyebrows with that statement but needing it to happen anyway.

"Ah, OK why?" Greg asked wondering if his initial assessment of the man in front of him was incorrect.

"It's going to sound weird but, we aren't dealing with you run of the mill attackers... You probably won't believe me but I really hope you just go with it, but I need to draw a symbol on everyone's chest so that we can't be... Influenced by any of our assailants tricks" Sam hoped they would believe him and go along with his plan so he could save his friends and family.

Greg looked at Sam like he was mad, but after speaking to Tracy about her ordeal and Sam's attack, he was starting to see that there was something else going on here that he had always thought were fairy stories or myths. He decided to believe the young man in front of him and just let him do what he needed to do. He had obviously dealt with these types of things before. "Alright Sam, whatever you need, just tell us what you want us to do and we'll back you up" Greg levelled Sam with a look that he recognised, military... no questions asked, just follow orders.

"I need you guys to create a diversion, so I can get around them and catch them unawares... save my family. You just need to get their attention, distract them and I'll do the rest" Sam had his ideas for what he wanted to do to those... monsters, if they hurt Dean, John, Caleb... Bobby.

"Do you have any water bottles" Sam looked at Greg with a hurried expression.

Sam wheeled softly around the group of demons, seven in total now, who held his family hostage, weaving swiftly in and out of cars and because of his lowered height, he was able to hide behind and between the cars. He knew from his training and the drills his father had made him do constantly, during his childhood would come in handy, would help him to save his family, to change his vision. He also knew that his considerable knowledge and book smarts would help them all survive this...

As he got closer, he heard them talking and planned his next move. "I don't understand what your talking about... Sam would never hurt us, you have the wrong man..." Bobby said, angry that they were talking about his kid without actually knowing him, thinking that just because they had his family that he would lay down and just take it, that he would jump at the chance to god with them. They didn't know his kid, and neither did John, who thought he was a liability, because of his disability, but it made him smarter, tactical and more able to strategise his plays. Bobby hoped that one day, he could show John, how much of an asset he really was, wheelchair or no wheelchair.

"Don't tell me, you believe that... I mean, once he finds out what you really think of him, he may walk right up to us and say 'sign me up'... Oh wait he can't walk! Hehe you know we could help him with that... we would have to have an upper level demon possess him of course, but he could walk again" Sam heard the blonde haired demon say to John. He didn't understand what she was talking about but it was definitely something he would ask once this was all over. "Come on John... You think he's a liability, you always have, thats why you didn't answer any of his calls. You think that wheelchair will hold you back. I think you underestimate him"

John was gritting his teeth with each word she said "No! Just shut up!" John yelled, trying to deny the truth in those words.

Sam couldn't believe what he was hearing. Swallowing down the bitter taste of resentment and unresolved childhood issues and feelings of inadequacy, Sam boosted himself to finish this first then he would ask his 'father' what all that was about.

Shaking those feelings off, Sam wheeled himself closer but he stayed out of sight from the demons, all the security guys should be in place by now, they would have laid the salt circle all around them and would now be ready to immobilise the demons once phase one started. He looked at his watch to see how much time he had. He used his lock pick to get into the red Subaru next to him, then he got to work with phase two of his plan.

Dean looked around the car park, he could sense a change, a familiar presence that he would know anywhere. Sam was somewhere in this car park and he was going to make a move to save them. A smile came across his face, his little brother was such a bad ass, even in a wheelchair, maybe more so. Sam was going to prove himself to his father, all of them. Not that he needed to prove anything to Dean or Bobby, probably even Caleb, they all felt that he had more that proved himself, as a man, a father and a hunter.

Looking over at Bobby, he used a trick that his father had taught him, to silently communicate with the older man about Sam, he blinked 'SAM' to him in morse code and when he nodded his head minutely he realised that Bobby must have noticed himself.

There was a noise to the left of them and two of the demons moved off to investigate, then there was a noise to the right and three more demons went to investigate. "Ah well, well, well, looks like we have a visitor. Could it be the man of the hour?" The blonde demon said sarcastically. Yelling and screaming could be heard from all directions, all four hunters looked around them, trying to see a glimpse of who was out there.

The demon named Meg moved closer to the hunters, moving closer to Dean as she spoke. "Come on Sam, stop hiding in the shadows and come talk to me... Or I may just make big brother here loose his head!" yelling out to Sam and moving behind Dean, dragging him up and putting a knife to his neck.

Sam thought about his options, he pressed a few buttons and then transferred himself to his wheelchair then wheeled himself away from the car he had been working in. The security officers had done what he wanted, they had distracted, then eliminated the additional demons from the equation, now all that where left were the head honcho and two other demons. He wheeled himself closer, still keeping the strategic advantage.

"Sammy! Do you want your big brother to die? Or are you going to join our little party?" The head demon yelled out at him even though he was mere metres away.

"What do you want with me?" Recognising the scene that was surrounding him, his vision would have been taking place right now, with a few noticeable exceptions. His family wasn't about to die.

"We need you Sam, your family don't know your potential, they think you're a liability. If you come with us, we can give you everything you could ever want, you could even walk again" the demon tried to reason with him, with ridiculous promises, ones that he knew they wouldn't keep. "You could have power, strength you would never believe. All you have to do is kill them, kill the people who underestimate you" his vision was playing out before his eyes, the lines where the same, the positions of most of the players where the same but with a very significant difference... Sam was not betraying his family, he was not betraying his humanity.

Coming up behind her in his wheelchair quietly, he pointed his water bottle with the pump top at her back, "I'd rather die!" Sam said and squeezed with all his might, waving it towards the other demons as well, water shooting high in the air covering all of the demons, making them sizzle and burn, screams were heard throughout the car park. Then a recording of a Latin chant in Sam's voice was heard over the speakers of a red Subaru, two cars away. All the demons started smoking out violently, making everyone duck their heads.

The chant ended and suddenly four hunters where looking at an exhausted young man in a wheelchair, face scrunched in pain. "You rock little brother!" Dean shouted in glee at his little brother the hero. Sam wheeled himself over to his brother and leant over and untied the rope that was around his hands, once he was free, Dean grabbed Sam's face and checked him over. "Are you alright?" The worry that was on Deans face was double the usual ferocity.

"I'm ok Dean... My legs are cramping up a bit from sitting for so long without a rub down. Hope's alright too... She's with some of the ladies in the centre, winning them all over with her charms I'm sure!" Sam chuckled, he was a little reluctant to leave her alone with people he didn't know that well but it was necessary to keep her safe and out of the line of fire.

Dean moved on to Bobby, Caleb, then finally John, who all nodded their heads at his silent question of whether they were alright.

"Is everyone ok?" Greg asked looking each of them over, casting his eyes over Sam, seeing the pain lines on his face. "Sam... You want me to take you back inside and give your muscles a once over?" He could tell the young man was in pain, his legs giggled and jerked in the foot rests of his wheelchair. "You in pain?"

"Yeah, just a little... thanks Greg... are you guys alright?" Sam was fighting the pain of him legs and back so he could get back inside away from his fathers prying eyes.

"I'm fine Sam, we're all fine... I'm not sure about some of those... people, they just collapsed once we played that chant you gave us, so you may need to check them out" Greg looked over at the other hunters while relaying his thoughts, indicating that while he looked after Sam, they could look after the victims. "That black smoke came out of them and it tried to come at us but whatever this symbol is you drew all over us, it stopped them..." Greg was a bit freaked out about all this but was more willing to accept the unusual because of what he had just experienced.

"That was the point, like I said it was to prevent anything from influencing you guys, I'm really glad it worked out for everyone, thanks Greg" Sam said in a very edited answer.

John had watched his son during the interaction, noticing the pain on his face but he was trying to hide it from the older men. He moved over to his youngest son and knelt down to his level, the other three hunters not far away if he put his foot in it and upset the brave sibling. "Sam, I'm SO proud of you... I am amazed at what you just did... I... I'm sorry to say that... I originally didn't want you to be part of the team who went after those demons, I mean you never really liked hunting, you never had your heart in it like Dean did, you always balked at doing any of the training or research, questioning me at every turn but even after all that, they still got the jump on four of the most experienced hunters around and you saved the day. I am very happy to say that I was incredibly wrong. I'm sorry Sam, but you are more than capable of looking after yourself as well as be part of this team." Dean nodded his head in agreement, Bobby was flabbergasted that the stubborn father had finally got his head out of his butt to see what a wonderful man the youngest member of their rainbow family really was.

"Ah, thanks I guess..." Sam didn't really know what to say to his fathers statement, he kind of knew that his father would think he couldn't do the job but hadn't heard it quite so bluntly. "So that's what she was talking about... You thought this wheelchair was a liability, that I was a liability... you know I used to think the same thing, but Bobby made me realise that I could still do the things that any able bodied person could do, just at a different level. I'm not saying that I want to be a hunter... Hope either, she is going to have a normal life, but I will tell her about the real world, when she's old enough. I just don't understand why you always do that, you always assume that I'm going to fail, then I have to prove myself just so I can show you I can do it... I have to tell you this is the first time you actually found no fault in what I did, or how I did it..." Sam swallowed, trying to stop the emotions from coming to the surface. Shaking his head he said "Are you ever going to believe that I am just as good as Dean... He taught me everything he knows, surely you trust his ability" Sam knew this was exhaustion talking but he really felt that he was never good enough for his father, and the fact that he just assumed he couldn't do these things because of his disability just made it hurt all the more. "You know I never felt good enough, I never felt like I belonged to this life, to this family... I always tried so hard to make you proud, but when I realised that I just couldn't match Dean in the physicality of this job, I switched to the academic side, hoping that you would see my abilities on that level, but you were never happy"

John shook his head, he looked up at Dean and Bobby's faces and saw that they too felt that John always found fault with everything that Sam did, when he was training as a kid, when he was a little older and fighting to go to school and now as an adult, he never quite measured up to Johns ideal, Caleb looked at John with sympathy, knowing that if he wanted to make it better with his youngest son, who very clearly was more than capable of doing anything the four able bodied hunters could do, if not better. John cleared his throat looking into Sam's face again. "Sam, I had no idea I made you feel this way... I thought that being tough on you, would make you a better hunter, not making you think less of yourself or that you didn't belong to our family. I am so sorry for making you feel that you were second best or that you didn't meet my expectations, I just wanted you boys to be prepared, strong, better than I was at your ages... Obviously I got that wrong too. Please believe me when I tell you I am proud of you, have always been proud of you" John put one hand on Sam's shoulder, the other on his cheek, trying to convey the truthfulness in his words.

"Yeah come on Sammy, Dad actually said he was sorry... Don't look a gift horse in the mouth" Dean said to Sam trying to end the tense conversation but vowing that if John made one wrong move he would kick him out and never look back. Looking at his little brothers exhausted face he made a decision to give both of the stubborn men some time to think about what he had said "Go and get your massage Sammy, then we can go home and talk all this through til the cows come home"

Sam nodded his head slowly, his back and legs now really cramping and shooting pain up and down his tired body and his head pounding so he looked at Greg asking silently to push him into the centre, leaving the hunters outside to talk and to debrief after this latest encounter.

Once Sam had left, Dean turned angrily to John "You... you... you really know how to make him feel good about himself don't you... He saved our asses and even when you say that your proud of him, you still end up making him feel like a failure. That's on you... That's how you made him feel for years, that's probably why he left for Stanford, why he left us, because he felt he didn't belong, that he wasn't good enough. Ultimately, that's why all this stuff has happened to him... You will have to make it right, I don't care how" Deans face was red and he was shaking by the end but he had seen enough of how his fathers words and actions had affected his little brother, maybe he had it right all along, adopting Bobby as his father figure, at least he was supportive, encouraging, loving. Dean walked with purpose towards a the centre where his little brother was having his massage, he didn't want I be apart from him for one more minute.

"I'm sorry John but I think actions speak older than words here... What Sam needs is for you to show him how you feel about him, words aren't enough now" Caleb said, shaking his head and walking away from the older hunter.

Bobby watched John for a moment, seeing the father understood what he had done and said and what it was doing to his youngest son. Knowing what it was like to have a son and a granddaughter, purely by having Sam and Hope stay in his life and his home, he felt sympathy for the older man. Mistakes can have a way of biting you on the butt and they also had the tendency to keep doing it for years after the fact.

"John, as much as I understand Sam's opinion and I whole heartedly agree with him, I also understand why you're so shocked by his reaction. You thought you were making the right decisions with those boys when they were growing up, you had no idea that you were screwing them up in such large lumps. It doesn't excuse it, but I understand it... You will need to make it up to him, in some meaningful and heartfelt way, it's what he understands, it's how he knows you mean it. Your past talking now, that much is obvious, but trust me when I say that you will have to show some emotions if you want to make it right" Bobby looked John in the eyes, one father in front of another and put his hand out for John to take. John put his hand out hesitatingly and was surprised when Bobby pulled him into a hug. "John, I'm sorry that Sam replaced you in his heart. I will try to talk to him, to get him to see it as a father. But if you don't make it right, you may loose him forever" Bobby whispered to John as he hugged him. John nodded silently, thinking on what he had said. With a final slap on Johns back, they separated and Bobby turned without looking at him again and walked toward the centre and his family.

John stood, in the car park, thinking about what had happened and how he had handled it. He shook his head at himself and internally kicked his own butt for what had happened... Mary would be kicking his butt too right about now, he had majorly screwed up with his youngest. He wasn't sure how to fix it but he had an idea how he could show his son that he was proud of him.

He walked inside and into the room where he saw Bobby's back disappear, when he was through the door frame, he got an uninterrupted view of his son, on the massage table, his shirt and pants where off, he had his boxers on but his back was bare and John could see the burns all over the wide muscled expanse. The pink skin puckered and stretched in places, there was scars from scraps and scratches along with the burns. The true nature of Sam's injuries and what he had been through were right in front of him, he could not deny that his youngest son had been through a lot and the fact that he survived it all and was able to save his daughter, to heal from those injuries and to learn to walk again was something he could respect, he could look up to and admire. He vowed to himself that he would stop being such a old fool and actually be there for Sam, Dean and his granddaughter.

John looked over at Dean who was leaning down talking to Sam while he was on the table, he was smiling and laughing, they seemed to be in such ease with each other. After the big fight between them Dean had been angry at himself for not stopping him from leaving, at their father for kicking him out and at his little brother for abandoning them. Now however they seemed to have moved past any bad feelings from that fateful day. John however feels like an outsider in his own family, not that he should be all that shocked really, when they were growing up he was hardly there for them, he missed birthdays, school plays, sports days, graduation, first dates... All the stuff a parent is supposed to be there for, Dean however was always there for Sam, he showed him in a lot of ways how much he cared about him and was more a parent to Sam than John ever was.

Bobby looked over at John watching the boys interact and nodded at him. John walked over to him and mouthed 'I'll make it right' to him. Bobby smiled back at him and turned back to the brothers in front of them. "Hey Dean, would you leave the poor guy alone and let him have his massage in peace" said Caleb who was holding Hope in his arms as she sucked her thumb and watched her daddy and uncle. Caleb had taken a real liking to her and wanted to hold her every chance he got. "Isn't that right Lil Bitty?, your uncle Dean is jealous... Yes he is" Caleb said in baby talk to Hope as she clapped.

"Hey, dude! I'm not jealous, his masseur is a man... why would I be jealous?" Dean said the last part in a guilty, high pitched voice.

Bobby walked over to Gary and Sam, leaving Dean and Caleb to bicker to hopes delight. "Hey Gary, how's he doin? He was in quite a bit of pain, I know the docs said that he could be gettin more cramps and stuff because his legs could be gettin better. Do you think that's true?" Bobby asked wanting to know the injured mans status as he had become incredibly important to him and his recovery was something he knew Sam had been working towards.

"He's doing fine. He didn't get a chance to tell you but he had a great session today, he was showing good results, he told me he had actual muscle control on both legs, which is amazing!" Greg looked down at Sam who moaned when he pressed his fingers into a considerably tense muscle.

"That's great Sam, really..." Bobby said putting a hand on his shoulder and rubbing it in a conforming motion. His eyes were twinkling from more than just excitement at the news.

"Thanks Pa... Sorry I didn't tell you before... We had more... Pressing matters... Ah!" Sam said slightly mumbled from the hole in the massage table. Greg was really working his cramped muscles. It had never hurt this bad but then again he had never been so long between workouts and massages so it was to be expected. Dean walked to the end of the table and looked at Greg as if to ask if he could help with massaging his little brothers legs.

"Show me what to do and I'll get the Sasquatch's muscles to relax" Dean chuckled as he heard his little brother start to protest. He picked up Sam's other leg and started to copy what Greg was doing. Greg spoke to him, guiding him to massage the muscles in the correct way. Soon they had both helped Sam's tight and aching muscles to a relaxed and pain free state.

Caleb, Bobby with Hope on his lap and John had been sitting in the guest chairs around the room watching and talking. Bobby and John talking quietly to each other, Dean noticing that it appeared they were planning and plotting something but not sharing with anyone but each other. When Sam pushed himself up into a sitting position, Dean grabbed his wheelchair and he helped him into it. Kneeling down in front of him he put his hand on his brothers leg and waited until he got his attention. "Sammy I just need to talk to dad, then we can go alright?" Dean said softly to his tired brother who's eyes where half mast and his blinks getting slower and spaced further apart.

Dean stood up knowing that his brother would probably not last much longer and would fall asleep as they were leaving the car park much like he would when he was a boy and like his beautiful little girl resting her head on Bobby's shoulder and sucking her thumb. He walked over to John and cleared his throat, "Now, tell me, what the hell you two were planning, Sam doesn't need any more unpleasant surprises and you guys look like your up to no good"

"Ah well Dean, it's supposed to be a surprise but, if you must know... I wanted to... When your mother past, and we left town, any of the things I had collected from the ruins of our old life, had been put into storage and until a few days ago, I actually hadn't thought about it for a long time, but there might be some stuff there that Sam can use for Hope, some memories that maybe had been lost in there that might need to be brought into the light"