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. Please remember that I do not have a Beta, so any and all grammatical mistakes are mine...don't shoot me for them.

Chapter Sixteen

Choice or Manipulation?

John was staring at his sleeping sons in shock. He still couldn't believe what Dean had told him and then the most shocking thing had happened. His eldest son had started explaining the exact same story to his mother. Or as John had seen it…thin air. Apparently Dean was actually seeing Mary. So now John was dealing with one son that was broken-hearted and another that was slipping off the rails faster than he could put him back on.

Dean had explained in great detail his other life; the one that he wasn't sure was real at this point. In this life he had a younger brother named Adam and Sam had died in a fire when he was six months old. The details were so vivid that John couldn't help but think that his oldest was actually sporting two different realities inside his head. That drug had done more than just re-write his memories; it had given him a whole new set and the hallucinations to go with them.

Never in his widest dreams had John thought that he'd be considering leaving Dean in the care of professionals. But as long as he was seeing and talking with people that were really there…he was a risk. Not only that, but John would be risking Dean's life by taking him back into the world that his son wasn't sure was even real.

We need that damn drug. He thought with a shake of his head. His gaze drifted to Sam and his heart ached for the boy. Unlike Dean, Sam was a very sensitive person. He carried the pain of others like backpack…the same way that Dean carried guilt. And neither of them deserved that. A sigh slipped between his lips as he ran his hand down his scruffy face.

"Dad?" Sam's voice pulled his attention to his left and he moved to sit near the front of the bed on a small plastic chair.

"Hey, Sammy." He answered. John's fingers ruffled his son's hair and Sam pulled his head away with a light smile.

"I don't get what's happening with Dean."

"It's that drug. Bobby's on it." John's gaze shifted to Dean's sleeping form. He frowned when he saw Dean's eyebrow's pull together in pain. Even in sleep he couldn't escape what that damn demon had done.

XXXX

Bobby blinked in surprise as he stared at the woman. "What the hell are you?" He pulled his pistol and pointed it at the red-heads eyes.

She smiled and shook her long locks. "Oh come now…let's be civil." She moved and eyed the muzzle of the pistol as it followed her. "That's not necessary. If I wanted you dead…you'd be dead."

"Who are you?" Bobby's gun never wavered.

"I have several names…none of which matter." Her red eyes shifted to a deep green and she leaned against the wall. The business suit she was wearing pulling in all the right places on her sexy body. "What does matter is what I can offer."

Pastor Jim finally found his voice. "And what's that?"

She pulled a vial from her inside jacket pocket and waved it at them. "I believe you are looking for this?"

Bobby's eyes widened and he glanced over at Jim for a moment and then shifted his gaze back to the woman. "You're a demon." He said. It wasn't a question; it was a statement of fact. It had taken him a minute to figure it out…but that was the only answer that made sense. The only type of demon that Bobby had ever run into was the black-eyed kind that generally possessed people. Innocent victims like his wife and maybe even that man that had been used to torture Dean.

"Ding, ding, ding…nice deduction sport." A grin slipped across perfectly painted red lips. "I'm 'the' demon." The long blood red nails slid down the rock wall…Bobby swallowed hard when four long lines were carved into the stone.

"What?" Jim stammered as he backed away from her.

"I am a cross roads demon. I make deals, give people what they want…" She noticed as both men took another step back. "Oh don't worry, I'm not here to make a deal with you. But it is in my best interest that things return to…how shall we say…normal."

Bobby processed that. "That don't make any sense. Demons don't do things just to be nice. There's always something nasty at the other end."

"With the black-eyed variety…that's true. But we're a little…different." Her voice purred and she smiled. "I do stuff for my own reasons…now do you want this or not?" She wriggled the vial in front of them and arched a shapely brow. "You know what? I think I'll just ask the horse and not the mouth." With that she disappeared and both Bobby and Jim started spinning in an attempt to find her.

"Shit…that ain't good." Bobby breathed as he turned and ran toward the stairs. Jim was right on his tail as they skipped up the stairs two at a time.

XXXX

Dean startled awake. He had no clue what had pulled him from sleep, but as he blinked a few times, he noticed that his room was eerily silent. He looked around and his gaze lingered on where the boy in the other bed slept. The two sets of memories were confusing the hell outta him.

"Hey, Dean."

The sound of Adam's voice pulled Dean's attention over and he smiled slightly. His younger brother was sitting on the small chair in the corner with a small book and a flashlight in hand. "Hey."

"How's the shoulder?" Adam's blonde head bounced as he closed his book and pushed it into a backpack.

Dean snorted slightly. "Sore…where's mom?" His green gaze slipped around the room and he wondered why he hadn't seen her in a while.

"Work."

"Yeah…that makes sense." He shoved himself up in the bed and then regretted the action when pain sliced through his arm. "What about dad?"

"Dean? Who're you talking to?" Sam's voice interrupted and his eyes flickered over to the other bed. His vision blurred slightly as the two sets of memories warred against one another inside his head.

Dean's mouth worked, but nothing came out as he looked between the two different locations where his brother's were watching him with identical worried expressions. "Uh…" Before he could answer a woman in scrubs walked into his hospital room. She flipped on the small lamp near his bed and he was caught off guard by her beauty.

"Dean Winchester…how's the head?" She spoke with an accent that, if he'd been feeling better, he would find incredibly sexy. His bright green eyes sparkled with appreciation as she sat down on the end of his bed.

"Okay, I guess…you're a bit forward for a nurse aren't ya?" He looked over where Adam had been and was surprised to see an empty chair. "When did he leave?"

Sam looked down at his bed. "Uh…he was never there, Dean."

"Jesus…not this again."

The nurse listened to them and then looked at Dean directly. Sam seemed to simply stop talking, or moving, or even responding. "Well to be fair, your brother's not wrong."

"What?!" Another pang of agony spun through his head. "God…what the hell is wrong with me…"

"You've been poisoned…essentially." She stood up and help up a large syringe with a glowing blue liquid. "But I can cure you…all you have to say is yes."

"What happens if I don't?" The memories of the two different lives tripped through his head in rapid succession. He wasn't sure what was real…but the connection with both his brother's were shoving their way to the forefront as he stared at the nurse. A sudden pounding on his door had his gaze flashing toward the small window.

John was slamming his shoulder into the door and his face was terrified. He was yelling something that Dean couldn't understand.

"Why can't my dad get in?" The pain meds were causing a strange lapse in thought and action on his part.

She laughed. "Oh I'm afraid that's my fault." Her eyes flashed from green to red and Dean's widened in shock. "Demon…but one that can save your life."

"I wanna talk to my brother." Dean looked over at the frozen figure of his younger brother. "Now."

"Not really in a position to make demands…now are ya." She pointed at the syringe. "You don't have much time…"

"Why would you help me?"

"Oh I'm not. I was instructed to…" She air-quoted the last part. "Destiny or something…but it is your choice, Dean."

"My brother." He ground out. The pain inside his head was getting worse the longer he stared at the demon. A bead of sweat rolled down his temple and dripped onto his shoulder.

She sighed and snapped her fingers. "Whatever."

Sam blinked and looked between Dean and the nurse. He wasn't sure who she was but the sound of their father slamming his fist against the door told him that it wasn't a good thing the woman was there. "Dean? You okay?"

"Ask me again, later." He answered quickly. "You alright?" Even though he was still battling the shifting memories the concern for Sam took precedence. A feeling of sadness crept over him and he wondered at the source. Something Sammy had done…but he couldn't quite find the right memory.

"Yeah, sure…except, who the hell is she?"

Dean shook his head. "Demon."

Sam's eyes flared in anger and he reached out for his crutches. She shook her had and rolled her eyes as his crutches flew out of his out-stretched fingers. "No…no, no…Sammy boy. Just sit there or I'll pin you to your bed like a bug." Her voice switched from sweet to less friendly as her eyes narrowed and switched back to green.

"Leave him alone." Dean seethed as he sat forward. Another wash of pain knocked him back against the bed and his vision blurred again.

"Tick tock, tick tock, Dean. Make a choice." Another set of fists slammed against the door and Bobby's worried face joined John 's and the hospital security.

Through the pain he hissed. "And what does that cure cost?"

She had the audacity to look genuinely offended. "You don't trust me? How troubling…truth is, it doesn't cost you a thing at the moment…and it is the only thing that will save your life. That drug is coursing through your system causing all sorts of chaos to your sticky bits. And it looks like these two are the ones that are here for you…might wanna choose them." The demon glanced at the door. "And from the appearance there…they need you Dean."

A sudden crack of a memory had him pulling in a deep breath. Pain tripped through his heart as he remembered the sheer panic of searching for Sam. Not knowing where he'd gone and if he'd been taken by one of the things they hunt or…even worse, if Sam had run away on his own. It was like having someone rip out his heart and show it to him. In his entire life, Dean had never questioned his role in this small family. This one act by Sam changed all that.

There were also the thoughts of the other family. The one with a father, a mother, and another little brother that had never betrayed him like Sam had. And then he remembered Adam calling from school when he'd been picked on by local bullies. One brother trusted him and the other did not…so did he want the cure that would show him which reality was real?

"Dean…please…don't do this." Sam whispered when Dean's fingers shrank away from the syringe. Fear was squeezing his heart into a vice grip. He had given this doubt to his brother. This fear that he didn't love or appreciate what Dean had given up for him…what he'd sacrificed.

Dean's gaze flickered to Sam and he sighed. It didn't matter what he wanted…he would do anything to erase the terror reflected out of his little brother's eyes. A very small part of him wondered how he would have handled it if it had been Adam and his mother there with him…but the puppy-dog look Sam was throwing at him made up his mind in an instant.

He reached out and grabbed the syringe plunging it into his own thigh. The demon grinned and stepped back from the bed. "Simply marvelous…wish I could stay and chat...but you know…busy busy busy." And with that she was gone and the door to their room burst open as John and Bobby nearly fell through it.

Dean was rigged on the bed. His teeth clenched together in a tight grimace as the fire raced through his body. The feeling of something filleting his skin from his bones was what his mind latched onto. Shivers started running through his body, it was like he was being twisted from the inside out. It was sheer agony and he couldn't voice it…because he couldn't speak. All Dean could do is stare through useless eyes at the world around him.

Sam had crawled from his own bed and limped across the room to stare at his brother. It was terrifying watching Dean's body settle into the sheets, though his eyes never even blinked. The doctors and nurses surged into the room right after their father and shoved John out of the way.

"What the hell is going on with him?" One dark haired nurse asked as he pushed drugs into the IV.

The doctor shook his head in dismay. He'd never seen anything like this before and he had no clue how to deal with it. "I've never seen readings like this in my life." His grey eyes scanned the monitors and he rushed from the room in search of another opinion.

Dean's heart was beating too fast, his vitals were all over the place, and his blood pressure was spiking.

"Dad?" Sam's small voice cut through the chaos in the room. John's head spun toward his younger son and he stepped toward him.

"He's going to be fine." John wasn't sure if he actually believed this or if he was trying to convince Sam. Either way, he needed to say it out loud.

Thirty minutes later, Sam was settled back in his bed staring at the blank space that Dean used to occupy. The doctor had moved his older brother to the ICU in an attempt to control the declining vitals. They had eventually taped Dean's eyelids shut to protect his eyes from drying out when his body never moved a muscle. Sam wanted to cry. He'd seen his brother struggle with his choice and now Sam couldn't help but wonder if Dean had chosen the hallucination or them?

TBC…

Author's Note: Okay, so I know this didn't deal with Dean's POV, but the next chapter does and then that's it for this story. So it'll be onto a sequel and dealing with the aftermath of all this…plus, there was something more that the demon wanted…and who was it? All shall be made clear.

Thank you so very much for reading and reviewing and to Nina Ferraro, who doesn't let me get away with keeping you guys in the dark, motivating me to get chapters up quickly. Thank to: becca65d, ncsupnatfan, Taraneh, BranchSuper, babyreaper, kracken96, Beakers47, DearHart, Sylvie-winchester, Idreamofivan, shaxpersis, mb64m Nina Ferraro, janiekm, and dandy44.

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