Shattered

Synopsis: Dean overhears a conversation between his father and Bobby that wasn't meant for him. Will John and Sam be able to figure out what's wrong with Dean in time? Will his stubbornness hurt him? Dean!Whump, John&Sam Angst!

Setting: Pre-series. Just outside of Albuquerque, New Mexico. Dean is 14 and Sam is 10.

Disclaimer: Supernatural and all associated content belong to Eric Kripke and the CW. If I owned the boys well….I wouldn't be writing fanfiction.

A/N: Guys! Thank you so much for the amazing reviews/follows/+ Faves and some of you are my FAVORITE Supernatural fiction writers! Any who…I like John. Just a forewarning that he won't be a 'bad' guy per se in this story. I think he's just a guy trying to do the right thing, going about it the wrong way. No beta just me ^.^ mistakes are my own.

"I believe that what we become depends on what our fathers teach us at odd moments, when they aren't trying to teach us. We are formed by little scraps of wisdom."

― Umberto Eco

At 12:23AM Dean decided that any furthers attempts at falling asleep would be futile.

He'd tossed and turned for the last two hours before finally deciding his next course of action: he would prove to dad that he wasn't useless or lazy.

Everything went great until he tried to stand up. As soon as his left leg hit the floor he saw stars. A cramp in the back of his calf had him biting his tongue so hard that he drew blood as he fell to his knees and tried in vain to rub it away.

This only served to intensify the cramp and he cried out softly as he couldn't hold it in any more.

Sam sprang from the bed and shouted "Dean!" as he knelt next to him to see what had happened to his big brother.

"Shhh Sammy please be quiet." Dean whispered

"But dad…" Sammy started and Dean interrupted "Dad isn't to know about this it's just a….OW!"

Sam nodded his understanding though he clearly didn't agree with it.

"Cramp?" Sam asked as he noticed Dean in the pale light. Dean just nodded as he kneaded his fingers deeper into the muscle.

Sam understood these cramps very well. As fast as he has been growing he's been subject to more of these than he'd like.

He pulled Dean to a standing position as quietly as he could and forced Dean to walk around the room.

"Pressure helps." Sam reminded him.

This only served to aggravate the injury further so Dean sat on the edge of his bed and squeezed his calf so hard that Sam was sure the circulation would be cut off. Tears were streaming down Dean's face and that scared Sam more than anything. Dean never cried unless it was bad but it was just a muscle cramp right?

After what seemed like hours but in reality was only about 20 minutes the pain finally eased off.

After thanking Sammy and sending him back to bed Dean himself laid back and pretended to settle so Sam would relax.

At 1:24AM Dean sat back up and looked over to Sam to make sure he was asleep.

This time when he stood he was cautious. His calf was still sore but nowhere near as bad as it had been before.

He made the painstaking trek down the stairs and into the kitchen to begin his 'list.' While he was trying to sleep Dean compiled a list of things to do that would show his dad that he didn't have to send him to Bobby.

When he entered the kitchen he immediately set to work. He cleaned the dishes and put them away, wiped down all of the counters, swept the floor, cleaned up the table, wrapped up the leftovers from dinner, and set out ingredients for making pancakes the next day.

He gave the kitchen a onceover and when he was satisfied he moved into the living room and bathroom.

It was after 5 when he was finished. He knew that his dad would be up shortly even on a Saturday so he went to the kitchen to start pancakes.

At 6:15 John awoke to a smell of food cooking in the kitchen. After getting up and taking a leak in the adjoined bathroom he walked into the living room and stopped in his tracks.

The papers from his research were organized on the table, the couch was neat, the boots were organized by the door, and as he continued into the kitchen he was shocked to see Dean cooking pancakes.

He looked around the kitchen noticing that it too had been recently scrubbed down.

Sam was sitting at the table half-asleep and working on a short stack of pancakes. "Something you wanna tell me Dean?" John joked as he sat down at the place Dean had set for him. "You didn't get summer school did you?"

John expected Dean to go along with the joke, however, Dean looked crestfallen before looking back at him with a look of indifference and said "nah I couldn't sleep."

As he shut the stove off and walked toward the table with his own plate he tried his hardest to hide his limp that had become more prominent while he walked on it.

John however was not fooled.

"What happened to your leg Dean?" he asked

"Charley horse." Dean said as he took his place.

John gave Sam a look that said "Spill" but Sam remained stubbornly silent and focused on his food.

"I've gotta go to the shop for a few hours this morning and fix some screw-ups but I should be back by 11." John said as he ate only one of the pancakes Dean made and drank his coffee

Neither boy said anything so John did something uncharacteristic "When I get back if you guys want we can go to the field and play some ball."

At this, Sam perked up. "Really dad?" he asked

Dean looked at his father and John could've sworn he seen him say 'Christo' under his breath.

"That is, if you're up to it Dean." John said

Sam looked at Dean pleadingly. John never made an offer like this.

"It sounds great sir." Dean said back to being formal.

John finished his coffee, got dressed, and took off for the garage.

Sam left the room to take a shower leaving just Dean to clean up from breakfast. As he stood from his own place at the table his vision tilted alarmingly and he held on to the table for a few moments to regain his balance.

'What the hell?' he wondered to himself.

After chalking it up to being overtired Dean cleared the table, put away the leftover food, and did the dishes.

Though he felt absolutely exhausted Dean wouldn't allow himself to fall asleep. He had to show his dad that he wasn't useless.

He sat on the couch to catch his breath and just close his eyes for five minutes. He could hear the water running upstairs from the shower and the vague murmuring of the television in the background.

A five minute nap wouldn't hurt; he still had three hours until his dad would be home.

He was asleep as soon as his head hit the back of the couch.

Sam came downstairs after making his and Dean's bed. He knew that Dean had been up all night but he didn't know why.

Dean never kept secrets from him until recently & it worried Sam a lot. He was quiet, withdrawn, and seemed to always be worried about…something.

When he saw how pale Dean was on the couch he tried to cover him up but the second the blanket hit Dean, he snapped awake in a panic.

"Sammy?" He said as he sat up "What time is it?"

Sam looked to the clock on the wall "It's only 9."

"Shit!" Dean swore as he stood quickly, losing the little color he had.

Thankfully Sam was paying attention and helped Dean sit back down before he fell.

"Dean what's wrong with you?" Sam asked "Do you want me to call dad?"

"No Sammy." Dean told him "I'm fine just a little tired."

Sam looked like he wanted to argue but said nothing for a moment. "Okay…" he said slowly "But if you don't get better then I'm calling dad."

"Fine." Dean agreed.

A moment later Dean stood from the couch as though nothing were wrong and Sam watched him like a hawk.

"I'm fine now princess." Dean joked "I'm just going to mow the lawn before it gets too hot out."

"Dean I can mow the lawn." Sam said, desperate to keep Dean in the cool house until their dad got home so he could tell him how he'd seen Dean nearly pass out twice now.

He had come back downstairs for his towel earlier and seen Dean stumble at the table.

"I've got it Sam." Dean said "But if you want to help me out you could vacuum the living room, and change the garbage bags."

Sam was glad that he'd gotten Dean to agree to something so he just nodded and bit his lip when Dean went outside to start mowing.

He brought the vacuum out of the closet and started with the spots furthest from the window so he could finish them before Dean got too far with the lawn.

As he shut the vacuum off to move it to a new outlet he froze when he heard the mower shut off.

Dean was standing in the side yard with his hand over his chest. Sam flew out of the house and to Dean's side.

"Dean!" He yelled as he approached him "What's wrong?"

"M'fine Sammy." Dean tried to assure him though he himself was scared.

He'd been mowing the lawn and he got really dizzy like earlier, only this time his chest felt funny. It didn't exactly hurt but it felt like his heart was fluttering and it scared him.

Sam put his arm around Dean and tried to usher him into the house. Dean had his eyes closed, one arm over Sammy's shoulder and the other hand pressed firmly against the left side of his chest as he took slow, controlled breaths.

This was how John saw them as he pulled the Impala into the yard.

"Sam?!" John yelled as he ran toward the boys. "What's going on?"

Dean didn't want to appear weak in front of his father so he quickly removed his arm from Sam's shoulder and tried to open his eyes and focus on his dad.

The moment he lost Sam's support and tried to take a step on his own the cramp from last night made itself known but this time it was accompanied but a sharp tingling sensation from both calves down into his toes and it scared him more than anything.

He fell to the ground as John supported him. "Damnit Dean what is going on!"

Dean tried to answer his dad he really did but it was so hard to focus with everything failing him at once so Sam stepped in to explain as quickly as he could.

"Dean's been dizzy a lot, he's had a bad leg cramp since last night, and just now before you got home he said his chest felt funny like his heart was fluttering."

John listened to Sam and tried to assure Dean at the same time. "That true kiddo?" He said hoping for a response. When none came he shook Dean's shoulders "Come on Dean talk to me."

Dean took a deep breath and explained the newest symptoms "Yeah dad s'true but my legs are…tingling now and I can't…." He trailed off as he lost consciousness and his eyes rolled back.

John had been supporting Dean's torso from the side so he took a moment to take Dean's pulse.

Sam didn't know what he felt but whatever it was must have been serious because moments later John was gathering Dean entirely into his arms and running towards the Impala.

"Lock the house Sam and get to the car!"

"What's wrong dad!" Sam yelled as he hurried to the front door to lock it and pull it shut "Where are we going?!" He yelled

Sam got into the back seat of the Impala and John placed Dean's head in his lap.

"We have to go to the hospital kiddo I need you to let me know if Dean stops breathing okay?"

Sam just nodded in the affirmative and held on tight to Dean as John threw the car into reverse and took off towards the hospital.

Reviews = Love!

So this story is going to be a three-part one and bonus points to whoever can figure out what's wrong with Dean first!