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. Okay, so there is a problem with this posting, so I am going to reload it. I'm sorry if you get multiple notifications. Apologies.

Chapter Fifteen

Tale of Two Winchester Families

Dean was staring blank faced at the small television. There really was nothing good on during the day. Pain was a faded sensation as the drugs the doctors were pumping through him took affect.

The kid had crawled back into his bed on the other side of the room and withdrawn into silence. He'd said his name was Sam Winchester…and he was Dean's brother. Which made absolutely no sense to him…pain rippled through him at the thought of the little brother he'd lost in the nursery fire when he'd been four. It was the same pain that he'd lived with for twelve years. Dean had seen his parents suffer through a loss that no family ever should…the death of a child.

In order to try and be less of a burden to his grieving parents, Dean had tried to be the perfect son. He'd excelled in school and graduated at the age of sixteen…he'd been accepted to an Ivy League school, Stanford and he'd excelled at sports. The accident that he'd been in had been bad…he could feel it. But there was something else too…something about this boy was so familiar that it created an ache in his heart.

His green eyes shifted to the door, his parents still hadn't come to see him yet and that wasn't like either one of them. They then shifted to the boy in the other bed. He couldn't shake the familiarity that he felt every time he looked at the kid.

A sudden blinding headache split his head open and Dean moaned in pain as his hands grabbed at his eyes. "Ah…shit." He whispered.

Sam's eyes flashed up at the sounds of pain from his brother. He was quick to pull himself from his bed and limp to Dean's bedside. He fought with himself for only a moment before he gently touched his brother's arm. "Dean?"

The second their skin touched a light shock flickered across Sam's skin and was absorbed by Dean's. And with that transfer came a second set of memories. Multiple memories warred inside Dean's head as he pulled uselessly at his hair. It was like splitting open swollen skin and watching as the puss escapes in lines of pain.

Dean saw his mother burn on the ceiling of Sam's nursery and then he saw Sam burn in that same fire as his parents grabbed him and hauled him to safety. He saw Sam's first steps and then he saw his mother singing to him as he sat at the breakfast table, his short legs swinging beneath him as he waited for his waffles. John had burst into the kitchen with smile plastered across his face…he'd been promoted at the shop. They could afford to buy that house they'd been eyeing. It was a bittersweet moment when they realized that they only needed a two-bedroom…that there would never be another child.

At least that was what they'd thought…Dean remembered why it felt so easy to be a big brother…because of Adam. He was seven years younger than Dean…but he was everything that the middle Winchester had every wanted. He had a little brother to help, it just wasn't the one he'd thought he'd have.

And then the thought of Sam's first day of school and how he'd waved at Dean from the bus, a wide toothy grin with deep-set dimples reflected through the glass. Then the memories of the supernatural started and Dean curled in on himself in agony. Monsters, demons, werewolves, vampires, ghosts, and even shape-shifters drifted across his wide-open mind.

How does one determine what's real? When there are two sets of memories that feel so real that it was like watching a movie inside one's head.

"Dean, come on man…you're scaring me…what's going on?" Sam's voice was breaking as he stared at his brother. He barely heard the door to their shared room squeak open as Bobby and John froze in the doorway.

"Sam? What the hell?" John said as his eyes flickered from Dean's arcing form to Sam's terrified expression. He rushed to Dean's side and grabbed his son's good arm. "Dean?!" He called.

Dean could hear his father, but he couldn't answer as the memories continued to assault him. He saw himself in school…in one image he was a model student in another image he was being expelled for making out with the head cheerleader under the bleachers…who also happened to be the principal's daughter.

"No…I don't want these memories…" He breathed and clenched his eyelids shut as tears leaked between the long lashes.

Sam's eyes dropped away from Dean. He couldn't stand to see his brother so broken. Was it crueler for him to wish his brother back or to live with the knowledge that this was his fault? His conversation with the priest echoed through his head and he drifted backwards toward his own bed.

Alarms sounded as Dean's heartrate skyrocketed. Nurses burst into the room and shoved John away from his eldest son as they quickly injected Dean with a sedative. He slipped away from the memories into blissful silence as blank spaces took over the spots the memories had occupied.

John watched as Dean's body sagged in relief and he relaxed against the white sheets. Bobby stepped forward and patted him on the shoulder as the nurses took more readings and then exited the room. "What the hell just happened?"

The older Winchester shook his head in confusion. "I have no idea."

Both sets of eyes shifted to Sam. The boy was leaning against his bed with his back to them. His shoulders shook with emotion as he silently cried. John started to step toward him, but Bobby's hand on his shoulder and a slight shake of the other man's head stopped him. "Not yet."

"We need that cure…before this demon drug sends him into the madhouse." John said softly. Bobby nodded.

"I'm going."

John's gaze flickered to him. "I'm coming too."

"No. You need to be here for your boys. I'll find that drug…trust me, John." It was the first time that John Winchester had had to trust someone outside of his boys in a very long time. He found that he didn't like how difficult it was.

"Bobby?" He said quietly.

"Yeah?" Bobby turned back from the doorway. His aged blue eyes panning over the two boys and then landing on their father.

"Please save him." A suspicious sheen on John's eyes gave away what he couldn't hide…he couldn't be the one to save them…not this time.

"Or I'll die trying." Bobby said as he turned back toward the door.

"I know you would...and that means everything to me." John's voice was heavy with emotion and he let his gaze slip toward his boys. Both broken by this tragedy in different ways both physically and emotionally. He could only hope that this could be fixed...that they could be fixed.

XXXX

Sam was staring into the darkness when he heard Dean move in the other bed. His terror rose at the thought that they might repeat what had just happened. His father was snoring softly in the chair near Dean's bed. His ocean-colored gaze lifted to meet the confused eyes of his older brother as he blinked sluggishly in the low light.

"I don't…are you real?" Dean's voice was rough from the sedative. His eyes flickered to their father and recognition flooded his face. "Where's mom?" And then his face filled with sadness. "If you're here…then she isn't."

Sam's heart dropped when he saw his brother making connections about what was real and what was not. "I am real." He answered softly.

"And my mom?" There was just a hint of hope in Dean's voice and it shattered Sam's heart to answer that question.

"What do you remember?"

Dean's gaze dropped as he thought. "A fire…but I'm a little unclear about who lived and who…" His words drifted off as he looked back at Sam.

"Lived?" Sam supplied. Dean nodded.

For once in his life Sam wished that he could lie to his brother. Tell him that their mother was alive and well. Explain that the things Dean was remembering were all part of some nasty little dream…but he knew he couldn't.

"There's you, me, and dad…that's all that's left of the Winchester family." Sadness was inflected in every word and the pain of explaining this terrible truth to his brother was almost more than Sam could bear.

Something that Sam hadn't expected flashed across Dean's face…fear. "What about Adam?"

"Who?"

Dean swallowed heavily. "My little brother…Adam."

Something that felt suspiciously like jealousy crept into Sam's soul and it made him feel like the worst brother in the entire world. He'd never realized how much of his own ego was derived from knowing how much he meant to Dean. And now those feelings were split…even though they really weren't…they were. At least inside of Dean's head.

"Uh…we don't have another brother." There was no way for him to soften that blow and Sam knew it.

"I did." Dean whispered softly. His green eyes filling with tears at a loss that only he felt. But the memories were running together and he couldn't decide which ones he wanted. In both sets he was going to be missing his mother and that hurt like hell. But in one he kept his little brother Adam and there were no monsters in his life. He was a college bound kid with a very bright future. But in the other one he had Sam…alive and well. But his life sucked otherwise. He knew about everything that had tried to kill him and his family for the past twelve years and it scare him.

XXXX

Bobby stared at Pastor Jim in confusion. The religious man had met him at the abandoned factory and he'd come armed with facts that the old hunter hadn't known. As he listened he wished that he still didn't know about this crap.

"So you're saying that Dean can choose?"

Jim shook his head as they carefully picked their way down the stairs. "No. I'm saying that will have to decide which memories he wants…the other's? They'll drift away."

"That's the irreversible part…right?"

"Yeah…that's it." Jim answered. They stepped over the threshold and the smell of sulfur invaded their senses. "Is that from before?" He wrinkled his eyebrows at the pungent scent and flashed his light through the area. There in the corner was the body of the man that they'd killed rescuing Dean.

"Pretty sure…yeah." Bobby answered.

The creak of boards had the men spinning around in surprise. There standing in the middle of the room was a woman. She appeared to be around twenty-something and she looked like a supermodel…all except for her bright red eyes.

"Hello boys…" The accented voice sounded British to Bobby…but it could have been Scottish too. He wasn't sure.

TBC…

Author's Note: Another twist, yay! Okay, that yay is for me…I love the twists that happened when I have time to sit and think about a stories progression. I plan on getting into the family's reaction to Dean's memories more in the next chapter. I'll also include a Flashback from his 'false-life'…and Adam.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed and read this story. You guys are awesome particularly: HpDork FreakaZoid, Taraneh, showjumper007, dandy44, ncsupnatfan, reannablue, mb64, babyreaper, Idreamofivan, Nina Ferraro, BranchSuper, janiekm, 1hotpepper, Wunjo, Sylvie-winchester, and Beakers47.

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