Legalities: Supernatural belongs to Eric Kripke and the CW Network. I am not making any money from this. I am simply playing in the amazing sandbox that is the Supernatural Universe.

Warnings: This is my take on what would have been bad enough to send Sam into a confessional as a child. Taken from a comment made by Sam in the season 8 finale "Sacrifice".

It's unabashed hurt Winchester. Dean suffers because of a choice that Sam makes in a moment of selfish anger. Will he get the chance to make things right before Dean is destroyed forever? Can their father put aside his own obsessive anger and his need to hunt long enough to track down both Sam and Dean? Or will his obsession destroy his sons.

If you do not like the violence, then DO NOT read this story. It revolves around the brothers and their relationship and this idea wouldn't leave me alone. So here is my take on the one and only time Sam confessed his greatest sins.

Rating: T with possible upgrade to MA at a later point if it takes a really dark turn.

NO SLASH/ BROTHERLY LOVE AND FAMILY ANGST ONLY

Please Review if you want to see this one continue.

Chapter Ten

John's Choice

Dean stared at the teacher, his eyes whirling as he processed. The air was damp and cold; his skin prickled with goose bumps and his head was throbbing. The smell of the place like nothing he'd ever dealt with before. He was used to dealing with the smell of death…but here all he smelled was fire and scorching flesh. It was awful. The confusion was the worst though. The mere fact that he couldn't trust his own thoughts and memories was pulling him apart in ways that were more than disturbing, they were terrifying. A horrifying thought occurred to him in a rare moment of lucidity…had he hurt Sam? Was that who attacked him? Or was it more of the demon's trickery?

He wanted nothing more than to rub his tired eyes, but his hands were pinned to his sides. The heat from the shoulder wound was starting to pinch painfully as he tried to pull his arm free.

Keeping his mind focused on what was going on was nearly impossible. And then there was the kid on the stone floor. Right there on the floor in front of him was a version of Sam. At least he thought it was Sam. He'd seen Sam die…over and over again. His mind again dropped into contemplation as he tried desperately to understand what had been done to him. And then there was the body in the ring…hadn't that been Sammy? If it was then what was he looking at now? A shape-shifter or had some pathetic demon actually possessing Sam's body and they were playing at some larger game?

So many questions ran through his mind that Dean found he couldn't even keep his thoughts straight. What's happening to me? He'd never been overly thoughtful about anything...except maybe Sam...and this situation was hauling up all his own insecurities. What if he lost his brother to demons? How could he ever live with that...he knew the answer...he couldn't. But what if this wasn't even Sam? Over and over he turned this one decision.

Either way…whatever the thing had been he wasn't going to fall for its ruse. But he wasn't going to attack the creature either…because what if, on the off chance, it was Sam? "Did you hear me, Dean? I said you do it…because if I do…well that would be very bad. " The man asked as he stepped forward and actually knelt next to Sam. His hand lashed out and he slammed it into the broken leg. The kid screamed out as the broken bone was pushed through the skin and a simple broken leg became a compound fracture, his jeans staining red in seconds.

"Dean!" Sam cried out as pain lurched through him. He ground his teeth together and wrapped his hands around the upper leg, the fibula no protruding in the low light.

"No." Dean breathed out. His glassy eyes lifting to meet the man. "I won't."

Dean's head was suddenly slammed backwards into the wall and he felt his consciousness slipping as he faded into darkness. His last thoughts were of the kid on the floor…what if it was Sammy?

XXXX

Sam found his way back to awareness through a reddish haze of pain. He groaned when he tried to haul himself up onto his elbows and then instantly regretted the action when his leg blazed with fiery agony. He dropped his head into his hands for a moment as he gathered his thoughts together. What do I know? I know that Dean is here…and that he's in seriously bad shape. The memory of his brother breaking his leg had him clenching his teeth together. He knew that Dean hadn't known what he was doing, but Sam would have bet anything that his older brother would never hurt him.

There was also the knowledge that none of this would be happening if he hadn't tried to run away. Whatever long-term damages his brother had deal with…that was ultimately his fault and that hurt like hell. How can I absolve myself of the guilt? Should I even be allowed to…Sam cut off that line of thinking, it wasn't productive? After a moment he realized that he wasn't alone. Sam flipped over onto his back and scooted so that he was sitting up. His leg twisted and tears sprang to his eyes as he reached down and tried to keep it from moving again. He glanced up and his eyes blew wide in shock. Across the ring from his was Dean.

His brother was out cold on the floor, but Dean's breathing was even and a little fast. Sam gulped and shook his head as he looked around the caged ring. Wires were running along the edges, you wouldn't want to roll into those…they cut the crap out of a person. The lights were bright white and flooding through the area. The cages had been removed and the weapons lying scattered throughout the cage surprised Sam. There were several blades, a machete, and even something that looked like a wicked sharp mace.

What the hell is all this for? Sam wondered silently…and then he remembered. The demon liked to pit hunters against other hunters…and he and Dean totally fit the bill. Even more so because the thing was pissed at their dad, so one way to destroy John Winchester was to take out his sons. And if it could be done in a dramatic fashion? "Shit…" Sam said softly.

He wasn't confident that he could get through the drugs clouding Dean's brain and if he couldn't? Well, he wouldn't kill his brother and he knew that Dean wouldn't survive it if he killed him. So Sam would just have to figure something out…unless…please get your ass here, Bobby.

Josh's unconscious form was lying off to the edge of the room and Sam wondered what he'd done to piss off the demon. The thing couldn't kill him or he would lose the ability to claim the jock's soul. Deals were deals…the kid would get ten years as long as this demon was the one holding the contract. Sam had no clue why all the information was racing to his mind at this very moment. Maybe because he was searching for a way out…not only for him and Dean, but also for the unfortunate soul that hadn't known any better.

XXXX

John was running by the time he reached the outside of the building. His heart was hammering inside his chest, threatening to break through his rib cage. Fear like he hadn't felt since the night Mary died raced through him and took everything he had not to break down from it. Losing his sons was his worst fear. And yet his constant need to track the thing that taken his wife and their mother had come back around to haunt him.

The air was rippling around him and the storm that had been brewing opened up and unleased hell. Hail the size of dimes pounded down on him by the time he saw Bobby huddled under the roof edge of the abandoned building. The wind gusts picked up and were easily reaching near forty miles an hour. The last remnants of the dying sun were drowned out by the black clouds in the North.

It was a fair representation of John's mood as he slid to a stop in front of the old hunter. Neither of them spoke, both knowing what they needed to do. Bobby nodded and pulled his hat closer on his head. John ignored the pins and needles sensation from the frozen mix of rain and hail as he ducked inside the small door with the other man close on his heels.

The first thing John noticed was the cold. It was freezing in this building the second was the smell. It was worse than a desecrated grave that had been left for months to fester. He slowed down moved with a more stealthy approach when the limited light started to fade. He wanted to pull his flashlight out…but that would announce his and Bobby's presence to the thing that had his sons.

XXXX

Dean could feel the rummy return of consciousness before he felt anything else. He groaned and pushed his hands into his hair and that was when he was unpleasantly reminded about his shoulder. The skin pulled tight and the heat was radiating off the infected gash. Something else was wrong…but as he tried to pull his thoughts together he noticed that he wasn't in the cage. He was in the freaking ring. He could barely make out another body in there with him.

There were too many holes in his recollection. And he was almost sure that it had something to do with Sam…Didn't it? He swallowed and then blinked a few times. The other figure wasn't moving yet and he seemed to be in a bad way. Dean could make out the bright red stain of the blood under the body.

Well, at least this time I wasn't the only to get drugged. He thought with interest. Why am I here again? He ground his teeth together and then regretted the action when his jaw lit up in pain. Did I get punched lately?

His body was being pulled up without his consent and he found himself pinned against the razor sharp wires that encased the ring. He clenched his eyes shut with the effort to control the pain when he felt the sharp edges pierce his skin. His gaze flickered down to the body and he gulped when something started nagging at the edges of his memory. Something that he should know and simply wasn't able to remember.

"You know what you have to do, Dean." The teacher said as he rounded the corner. Behind him were several other men, each of them were gagged and bound and all of them far bigger than Dean. "In case you decide that you simply can't…" He raised his hand to his forehead like a damsel in distress.

Dean's eyes narrowed in both irritation and anger. Was this bastard calling him a coward? "Bite me." He ground out. The tiny droplets of blood were now trickling down his back and soaking into the waistband of his too large shorts. He was careful to avoid looking at the body in front of him as it started to moan. The longer sable locks shifting as he rolled from his stomach to his back.

"I figured you keep fighting me on this…so that's why I brought these men." He raised his arms wide and the men were sent through the one tiny opening near the boy. "You can fight them or they can kill you…and Sam."

That got Dean's attention and he flashed his gaze back at the body and that was the first time that he recognized what he was seeing. It was his brother…and he was hurt. That leg was busted up and bleeding sluggishly and his eyes were glazed as he turned the blue-green gaze in Dean's direction.

Things started morphing into other creatures the longer he stared. Sam's eyes flashed black and Dean's heart stopped. Possessed. He realized with horror. He didn't think that it could get any worse, but then he saw the eye flare in the other three men that were now looking between himself and the possessed version of his brother.

"Tick tock, Dean." The man laughed and leaned against the wall, crossing his arms and smiling in a sick way that turned Dean's stomach. He slid down the wires and bit through his lip as he squashed the desire to scream as his back was ripped into.

Sam had turned his black eyes on Dean and the expression on his face didn't match what Dean was actually seeing. It was…pleading…and scared. The men were turning between them and there seemed to be a debate as to whom they should attack first.

XXXX

John heard the final words of the demon as he and Bobby descended the final stair. He wanted nothing more than to run into that den and slash and burn that son of a bitch. But he knew that he would be putting his boys in danger…and they were in enough of that without him losing his head. He turned and looked at Bobby, he gestured for the older hunter to wait for a few moments before he followed. John slipped forward and peered around the corner. What he saw held him immobilized in shocked surprise.

Dean was limping forward, his body torn up in ways that made John's heart ache. And there on the floor at his feet was Sam. And his youngest wasn't looking too well. Sam had a compound fracture to his right leg and there was a concerning pool of blood under his prone body. Dean had what looked to be a broken nose, or else it was just seriously bloody and a gash on his shoulder that was bright pink...which meant severely infected. He was thin and his body was thrashed, bruised and cut in dozens of places. John had never seen his boys in worse shape and his own guilt nearly drowned out his anger...nearly. But surrounding his boys were three other men, one of which John actually knew. Jeremiah Cowel, he was a hunter that John had worked with in Seattle. The man had known more about the drugs the demon was using than the eldest Winchester had.

He knew that if he called out he could stop Dean. John had trained that boy to listen to every order, every word from the time he was four years old. But he would also give away his position and warn the demon of his presence. With one twist of his battered body, Dean took John's choice away. He launched himself at Sam, his eyes wild and confused.

John stepped from his hiding spot. "Dean! Stop!" His voice rang through the basement like a bell in a cemetery.

Chaotic jade colored eyes flew in his direction and widened in both surprise and fear. "Dad?" He whispered as he skidded to a halt and his anger faded for a moment. John raised his pistol and aimed it at the men that were surging back and forth in the threat of attack. He knew what the bunching and coiling muscles meant…and he couldn't take that chance with his sons.

Sam's scared gaze jumped to his father's face and he almost let the fear take over. But he looked back at Dean, who was standing less than three feet from him now…and he still hadn't known how Sam was.

The demon charged forward, his eyes flashing dangerously black. He waived his hand and John found himself launched into the air and slammed into the wall. "John Winchester…so glad you could join us."

John's eyes skittered around the room and landed on the small silver flash of holy water from his truck. Sam. He realized quickly. He lifted his gaze to the demon and tried to move his arm toward the flask. No dice…he couldn't move a muscle. "Let my boys go. This is between you and me."

"Correction. It was between you and I…now it's between all of us." The voice shifted to cold and deadly. "Now you can watch as your eldest son kills your youngest…and then we can talk about who this fight is between." He turned back to the ring and raised his hand again. The three men stopped moving for a moment and John's heart sank at what that could mean.

Dean's eyes leapt back to Sam when his eyes again flashed black and he appeared to be reaching for a weapon. He started forward again, his fists again clenched into claws. The other men in the cage lined up behind Dean like an army…the question was, were they descending on Dean…or Sam...or both?

XXXX

Bobby watched from around the corner. His heart climbing into his throat as he ran through his own choices in his head. Go in guns blazing...or wait for a smarter option to present itself...

TBC…

Author's Note: I once again think you each and everyone for the awesome reviews. I am winding this one down, a few more chapters. Although I may do a sequel that deals with the aftermath of this tragic break in the brother's bond. And how Dean is affected mentally and physically. It might be interesting to explore how Sam and Dean come back from this and how it could affect their ability to hunt together as a team…for a while. Obviously, they get it figure out.

Any ways, thank you to: Taraneh, angellec, need2no, kracken96, mb64, reannablue, sylvie-winchester, nawalhussain, dandy44, Beakers47, BranchSuper, becca65d, Idreamofivan, babyreaper, and Nina Ferraro. You're continued reviews have caused me to post daily.

PLEASE REVIEW: It only a takes a moment and I love the feedback.