Author's Note: All right, guys, I've been getting a lot of questions about whether I'm going to do certain prompts. Let me assure you all that as of right now, I am doing ALL prompts submitted to me before Christmas. Rest assured, I will get to everyone! I just work on a first come, first serve basis—starting with the people who submitted first and then working back to the more recent prompts. That being said, if you submitted two prompts—because you thought I wasn't going to do your first one—please pick which one you'd like me to do. Otherwise, I'll just pick. Is that clear? I'm sorry for all the confusion!

Now, onto tonight's prompt! This one comes from goldfishie1 who asked for, "Sam with a migraine, with Dean taking care of Sam, please." This features Teen!Chesters! So, Dean is 18 here and Sam is 14. I also threw in some John in there, just for fun. Please enjoy!

"And I believed in Father Christmas

And I looked to the sky with excited eyes

Then I woke with a yawn

In the first light of dawn

And I saw him and through his disguise."

—Greg Lake, "I Believe in Father Christmas"

John is a damn good hunter.

He's become somewhat famous in the community. Other hunters stay out of his way and look at him with nothing but respect in their eyes. He's a bit of legend—the man raising two boys into the life, while simultaneously hunting down anything that has to do with the demon connected with his wife's death. He's faced nearly every sort of supernatural creature and has survived nearly every type of injury. He prides himself on being strong in every way.

And yet, at the sight of the pain his youngest is enduring, John is clueless at how to help.

"Sammy?" He asks gruffly, unsure why his son has suddenly stopped in the doorway. Dean has stepped out to get some presents for Christmas in two days. It's odd—usually John has a hunt lined up for Christmas, but the vengeful spirit he had been hunting had been pretty much been a walk in the park—but John is determined to have a semi-normal Christmas with his two boys.

"M'sorry." Sam mumbles, wincing as he rubs his temples. "I thought I could take care of it—" A truck rumbles by in the parking lot, drowning out the rest of his sentence and suddenly, the youngest Winchester has fallen down on his knees, cradling his head within his hands.

"Sam!" John calls, sheer panic running through his veins because he automatically equates Sam's stance with bleeding out, with hunts gone wrong, with Sam's life slipping away—

He blinks, dispelling the fears and kneels to his youngest child's side. He can handle this—he's just got to stay focused. With a careful gaze, John's scans his child's body for any signs of injury, but comes up with nothing. Perhaps, it's a spell? He doesn't remember of ticking off any witches recently, but you could never know for sure.

"M'sorry, sorry," Sam brokenly apologizes as he flinches away from John's touch. It stings, but he doesn't have time to dwell on it. Sam's practically caving in on himself and John wouldn't be lying if he didn't say that it didn't scare him. "Hurts, D'n."

And before John can even have time to process how Sam called for his older brother who wasn't even there instead of John, Dean arrives. His eldest takes one glance, tosses the presents aside and pulls Sam towards him. Whispering reassurances, he motions for John to close the door behind him and get the blinds. Numb, John does as he's instructed.

"It's okay, Sam," Dean soothes, an easy smile on his lips despite the concern dancing in his eyes. "We've done this before, right kiddo? We can deal with this."

"Done what—?" Before he has time to get his sentence out, Dean sends him a withering glare and signals for John to lower his voice. He obliges, but doesn't like this way his eldest is treating him—like Sam is only his responsibility, and John should be grateful he's allowed in the room. "Done what before?"

"Migraine." His eldest whispers.

It takes a full minute for the implication to sink in. Migraine . . . that was a normal thing, wasn't it? It had nothing to do with hunts or monsters or anything relating to the supernatural. It was just a normal, everyday human thing.

John is suddenly out of his element.

He stays out of the way as Dean cares for Sam, seemingly knowing exactly what to do. He darkens the room, feeds Sam some pain pills and helps him into bed. Tucking him in, Dean whispers something in his little brother's ear—something that makes Sam beam.

"Then, go to sleep," Dean orders quietly. "It'll be better when you wake up."

Sam obliges.

10 minutes later, Sam's out like a light and John feels the overwhelming need to go find a bar somewhere and drink until he can't remember how much of a failure of a father he is.

"How long has he—?" He asks.

"A few months."

Anger flares up.

"And you didn't think I deserved—?"

"Be quiet!" Dean interjects with a sharp whisper, eyes hardening.

"Dean—" John begins, but his eldest holds a hand up, silencing him.

"There was no need to tell you. We had it under control."

Failure. That's what he is. He may be the best damn hunter on the planet, but he has failed in raising his two boys. His youngest obeyed Dean more than him and his oldest believed he knew what was best for Sam.

And John was just clueless when it came with how to deal with the two of them outside the realm of hunts.

He storms out, determined to find a bar.

"He's mad." Sam whispers and Dean stiffens. He had been hoping his brother had been sleeping during the confrontation, but clearly that hadn't been the case. Sitting on Sam's bedside, he gently rubbed reassuring circles on Sam's palm.

"No, he's not." Dean contradicts.

"He left." He left us again. That's what Sam is truly saying with his puppy dog eyes welling up with tears from both pain and sadness. Dean winces in sympathy.

"He'll come back." At least, he hopes John will. There's been times where their father had dropped off the grid for weeks and it always frightened Sam. He always felt like it was his fault, something that Dean had vehemently denied because Sam could do no wrong. Sure, he wasn't the best hunter, but he had his own strengths.

"M'head hurts." His little brother frowns and Dean sighs softly.

"I know, kiddo. I know." Sam blinks hard and tries—in vain—to clear his mind from the pain. They've been through countless migraines together and Dean knows that Sam will be down for a good few hours.

"I'm sorry."

"For what, dude?" Dean murmurs. "Not like you could stop it."

"For Dad—"

"Screw Dad." Dean growls.

"You don't mean that," Sam gently admonishes. "S'not his fault either." Suddenly exhausted, Sam's eyes slip shut and he's asleep. Dean remains by his side, prepared to act if his brother should need him.

But silently, he grieves for a father that stopped being one so many years ago.

Author's Note: This became more of a John character study and a bit depressing, but I really liked it. We kind of needed a change of pace anyway! So, please review and request! I love getting your feedback!