Dean held the gun out in front of himself with a steady hand, but inside he felt like he was going to throw up. How did things end up like this? How did he end up in this house, holding a freaking gun on his little sister as she attempted to murder their father with demonic powers and a knife?

The moment he'd walked in and saw those bodies he knew he was too late. Something seriously bad had gone down and he could only hope that Sam was still alive. That's when he'd heard her voice from upstairs. The relief he'd felt was overwhelming. At least until he got to the second floor…

Dean took the steps two at a time and nearly had a heart attack when he saw her. Sam was standing in front of their father, about to carve his eye out. He was shocked to see his father but he was even more surprised to see that Sam was the one attacking him.

When she spun around to face him, he nearly dropped the gun. Sam's eyes, while not completely black like before, were darkened with an overwhelming hatred. She sneered at him with contempt. But there was something about it that seemed, almost…hollow. Like she was just pretending to feel the emotions.

"Well, isn't this a surprise. Hello, Dean. Come here to shoot me with rock salt again?" She said in a dull tone. There was no sense of…anything. She was completely blank. Like some sort of doll.

"Not this time Sammy. Real bullets. So why don't you take a step back and put the knife down." He replied in an equally calm voice. He couldn't let his emotions get the best of him this time. One wrong move and they could all be dead.

"Real bullets, huh? Surprising, but somewhat comforting. It's nice to know that you have some balls after all, Dean. I was beginning to think you were nothing but a complete sap. Always crying about your little lost Sammy. It was getting kinda pathetic."

Dean clenched his hand tighter around the gun as he cocked it. "Back off Sam."

She stared at him for a moment before breaking out into a small smile. "What if I don't want to? What are you gonna do, Dean? Are you really going to shoot me?"

"I will if I have to." He said, voice cold and hard. If he was being honest, he wasn't entirely sure what he was going to do. Killing Sam was not an option. But, letting her kill John was also not an option. He was caught between two impossible decisions.

"Shoot her, Dean."

Dean's eyes shifted over toward his father. "What?" He exclaimed in disbelief.

"I said shoot her. Sam is dead. This is a monster wearing her face. Do it, Dean! Now!"

Dean couldn't help but want to shoot John in that moment. Shoot Sam? How could his own father want him to do that?

"I think you should do what he says Deano. Cause, if you don't, I'll kill you both." Sam added with a smile.

Deano? Sam had never before called him that. Not even as a child. But somebody did.

"Jacob."

Sam froze. The blood seemed to drain from her face and the smile vanished. "Excuse me?"

"My sister has never called me by that name before. But Jacob has. This isn't you Sam. This is him."

"What the hell do you know about Jacob?" She asked softly.

"Jacob and I had a little chat earlier. I know that he took you twelve years ago and that he was also the one who helped you escape."

"Did you…did you kill him?" She asked just as softly as before. There was something in her voice now. Something he couldn't quite place. The closest emotion he could think of was…concern.

"Why? Why do you care if a demon lives or dies? He's the one who took you Sam. He's the reason you're like this."

Sam stared at him for a moment before breaking out in near hysterical laughter. "Hahahaha! He's the reason?! You think he's the reason I'm this creature from hell?!"

"Well, isn't he? The bastard took you from us Sam!"

"You don't know anything, Dean. I was never yours to begin with. From the very beginning I belonged to him and to believe any different is foolish. I know the truth now…I know what I am…Jessica was right. She was right about everything. The only way out…is death."

Sam's eyes became eerily empty and Dean knew that he was losing her. He didn't know what this supposed truth was, or who this Jessica person was, but if whatever it was, was causing her such despair…it wasn't a truth he wanted to hear.

"I don't care what you think you've learned about yourself, Sammy. The only truth I need to know, is the one where you are my baby sister. You are my family Sam and nothing is ever going to change that. So drop the goddamn knife and step away from John."

Sam tilted her head slightly and blinked. "John. John Winchester." She turned her attention back to where she still had John pressed up against the wall.

"You know…he already tried to kill me once, Dean."

"What?" Dean asked numbly as his eyes were drawn down to the bloody wound in Sam's side. The realization that his father had hurt his own daughter was incredibly hard to swallow. Anger surged within him and a part of him wanted to turn his gun on the man.

"Let. Him. Go." He ground out through clenched teeth.

Sam looked at him again with those empty eyes. "Maybe I will. Maybe I won't. Either way…I won't do anything until you tell me whether or not Jacob is dead."

Dean thought back to the smug look on the bastards face. "Fine. The asshat is still alive. He sends his regards."

The utter relief that he saw explode across her face was almost as difficult to swallow as finding out their father had tried to kill her. It hurt, knowing that she cared for a demon. It made him want to…hurt her back.

"He also told me something else. He told me about Azazel. He told me Azazel found a new Star."

Any color left in Sam's face vanished completely. Her eyes widened and the smile melted away. She looked at him with true emotion this time. Fear. Dean had never before seen her so afraid…not even when she was in the middle of one of her episodes.

"Oh, God…he…he let him go. D-does he know—did y-you tell him where…" Sam trailed off and started shaking. The knife she still held toward John started to wobble and, finally, it lowered. Her eyes were staring at him in utter terror and Dean immediately regretted bringing up the demons name. He had known it would cause some sort of reaction in her…he just didn't think it would be this bad.

"Sam, I need you to calm down okay. I didn't tell him anything. He doesn't know where you are. And even if he did…I would never let him take you again. I need you to believe me."

Nothing he said seemed to work. If anything, his words only appeared to make things worse. Sam gripped her head in her hands and closed her eyes.

"No. No. No, no, no, no, no…" She chanted in a horrified voice while shaking her head back and forth between her hands.

Out of the corner of his eye, Dean noticed whatever hold she had held over John loosen, and his father sank down to the floor in a bloody heap. It was one positive thing at least.

"Sam, you need to calm down. Listen to me. You're okay." He said softly, once again trying to reason with her.

Once again it didn't work.

"No! You told him! I know you did!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "He's going to come here! He's going to come here and take me again! I won't go back!"

A blast of energy shot out of her and rammed into him like a truck. Dean went flying backward into the stair railing, nearly breaking right through it, before collapsing to the floor.

Bang!

The sound rang out, but what it was, and what it implied, didn't really register for Dean. He sat there stunned for a moment before looking down at the gun in his hand. The smell of gunpowder filled his nostrils and the barrel was warm to the touch. He stared at it for a few seconds before slowly bringing his gaze up to take in the rest of the hallway. The scene in front of him was something his mind couldn't exactly handle. In shock, he didn't move…even as she fell to the ground.

It wasn't until he saw his father struggling to move toward her prone form that his mind finally caught up with the situation.

"Sam!" He screamed as he surged forward toward her. He was at her side in seconds, beating his father, and crouching down beside her. The bullet had hit her square in the chest and the light blue blouse she was wearing was already turning crimson.

"S-Sammy?" He muttered as his hands fluttered over her, unsure of what to do. In the back of his mind he knew that he had to stop the bleeding and get her to a hospital but shock was hindering his thought process.

"Dean?"

His eyes shot to her face when her soft voice reached his ears. Her hazel eyes were wide open and filled with confusion.

"H-hey there, Sammy. You just…you just hold on okay? You're okay." Dean wasn't quite sure who he was really trying to convince.

"Dean…I'm s-sorry, Dean."

"Sorry? You got nothing to be sorry about. Now, just stay with me here and we'll get you some help."

Finally snapping out of whatever funk he was in, Dean shrugged out of his jacket and forcefully pressed it to the wound. Sam flinched from the pain. "Sorry, Sammy, but I gotta stop the bleeding."

With his other hand he fumbled around in his pocket for his phone. His panic skyrocketed though, when he pulled the thing out only to find the screen horribly cracked and it wouldn't even turn on. It must have happened when Sam had thrown him.

"Dammit!" He yelled in frustration. "Dad, I need your phone!" Dean said as he turned to his father.

John had stopped crawling toward Sam and didn't move from where he was sat on the floor a few feet away. His blank gaze was locked on his daughter. He didn't even seem to register the fact that Dean spoke.

"Dad!" Dean yelled in an apparently vain attempt to get his father's attention. Frustrated with the lack of response, Dean crawled over to his father and yanked his blood covered coat open. In the back of his mind he knew that his dad was hurt. That John could be in as much danger as Sam was. But his entire focus was on his sister. He began to search every pocket for the phone. "Dammit! Where the hell is it?!"

John made no move to help. His eyes were locked on Sam and it looked to Dean like his father had become a vegetable.

"Ah to hell with this!" Dean pushed his father away in anger when he couldn't find John's cell and hurried back to Sam. She was still awake and staring vaguely up at the ceiling.

"Sammy, I need you to listen to me okay? I can't get an ambulance so I have to take you to the hospital myself. That means I have to move you…and it's gonna hurt. A lot. Do you understand?"

Her eyes rolled slowly back to settle on his face. "I'm sorry…Dean."

"Hey, I told you before that you have nothing to apologize for. Are you ready?"

She just kept staring at him so he took that as a yes. Without a moment's hesitation, Dean scooped his sister up into his arms. She didn't even scream…and that scared him to death. If she wasn't feeling any pain…it was not a good sign. He didn't even glance at John as he sprinted down the stairs two at a time. He'd come back for his father as soon as he got Sam in the car. He could only take one of them at a time. He wished, more than anything, that John was in a condition to help, but his father looked as though he had been stabbed multiple times and was definitely in shock. In other words, completely useless.

It took longer than he would have liked to get back to the Impala, and when they finally made it, Dean wrenched the passenger side door open and gently set Sam down on the seat. Her head lolled to the left and Dean felt his heart skip a beat when he saw that her eyes were closed. "Sammy! Hey! You gotta stay awake!" He lightly slapped her cheek and her eyes shot open again. They locked on his face and he tried to calm his rapid heartbeat. "You with me kiddo?"

She blinked once and licked her lips as a small dribble of blood leaked from the corner of her mouth.

"Dean." The word was barely audible.

"That's me, Sammy. I need you to stay here, and stay awake. I'm gonna go get John and I'll be right back. Stay awake Sam. Stay awake." Dean was trying his best to stomp down on the panic slowly rising within him. If Sam was bleeding from her mouth…that meant that she was bleeding in her lungs.

He waited until she nodded slightly before slamming the door shut and sprinting back into the house. His father was right where he left him.

"Dad? We gotta go." When there was no response, Dean knelt down and grabbed his father's arm. He somehow managed to drag John to his feet and threw the man's arm around his shoulders. Thankfully, once he had his feet under him, John became more helpful by following Dean's lead and walking. It was more of a limp, but Dean wasn't complaining.

Once again, taking longer than he would have liked, Dean made it back to the car. Sam was still in the front seat but it wasn't looking good. Her face was as white as a sheet and her eyes were rolling around, never focusing on anything. Her face was leaning up against the glass like she could no longer hold it up by herself.

Knowing that he had no time to waste, Dean dragged John over to the car and dropped him unceremoniously into the backseat. He then ran around the vehicle and practically threw himself inside. They were speeding down the nearly deserted street a second later.

"Sam, you still with me?" Dean asked fearfully as he reached over and pushed his blood soaked jacket tighter against the wound. She didn't answer but Dean could see that her eyes were still open in the windows reflection. "We're almost there Sammy. Just hang on okay…"

Thankfully, having lived in Lawrence, Dean knew where the hospital was so it was a rather quick drive. The fact that he sped the entire way there helped too. Sam was silent the whole time and Dean held a near constant pressure on his jacket. He knew that if he let up, even a little, Sam could bleed out in a matter of minutes.

Dean drove straight up to the emergency doors and jumped out of the car without turning it off.

"Help!" He screamed as soon as he was inside. "My sister's been shot! Please! I need help!"

A large group of nurses and a few doctors ran over to him and followed him as he led them back out to the car. He didn't wait for them as he ran to the passenger side and ripped the door open. Sam, having been leaning up against it, toppled out of the vehicle. Luckily Dean was right there to catch her. She didn't need any more injuries. His heart almost stopped though, when he saw that her eyes were closed.

"Sam?! Wake up, Sam!" He yelled. There was no answer.

A second later he was swarmed by hospital personnel.

"Please step back sir." Someone said to him as Sam was pulled out of his arms. His gut reaction was to hold on tighter.

"Please sir. We need to get her inside. I promise we'll take good care of her."

Dean reluctantly allowed himself to be moved aside. He watched, almost in a daze, as Sam was loaded onto a stretcher.

"We have a young female with a gunshot wound to the chest. Currently unresponsive. I'm going to need four bags of O-Negative and a crash cart…"

There was more…Dean knew there was more, but when she said crash cart…

"Sir? Can you hear me, sir?"

Dean turned a blank gaze in the direction of the voice. Standing there looking at him in concern was a female nurse. That's when Dean noticed that he was now inside the hospital, in the waiting room apparently. When the hell did that happen? He also realized that Sam was gone.

"Sam?" He called out in a vain attempt to find her. He needed to know if she was still alive.

"Sir?"

He focused again on the nurse. She was older, maybe around his dad's age, with green eyes and a compassionate face.

"Are you back with me now sir?" She asked in a calm voice.

"Where is Sam?" Was all he could bring himself to say.

She smiled sadly in understanding. "The young lady you arrived with has been taken up to surgery. It's going to be quite some time until there is any news. The gentleman from the back seat has also been taken to an exam room. Why don't we go over there and have a seat okay?"

Dean just nodded numbly and allowed himself to be maneuvered into one of the shitty hospital chairs. The nurse sat down beside him.

"I'm going to have to ask you a few questions now sir. Is that alright?"

"Dean. My name…is Dean."

She smiled softly at him. "Well, that answers one question. Hello Dean, my name is Judy. Do you think you can fill out some paperwork for me, Dean?"

He nodded numbly again. Judy placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know your worried honey, but you have to have faith that everything will turn out alright. The best doctors are working on her as we speak."

"Yeah…" He mumbled softly without any real feeling behind it.

He had shot her…

He had shot his baby sister…

It didn't matter that it was an accident. It didn't matter that she had attacked him.

He shot her. Sam could die…and it was entirely his fault.

"Dean? You still with me?" Asked Judy.

Dean blinked slowly and swallowed the scream that was threatening to escape. He had to pull his shit together. Losing it now was not going to help Sam. He had to come up with some kind of story for how everything went down. Gunshot wound meant cops, and there was no way in hell he was going back to jail. Not when Sam needed him.

"Yeah. I'm here. What do you need me to fill out?"

"Just some insurance forms. And after that a police officer will be arriving to talk with you about what happened. Are you up for that?"

"Yeah. Oh, I should probably go move my car first. I kinda left it in the emergency entrance."

Judy smiled that same understanding smile. "Of course. I'll leave the paperwork at the reception desk. Just head there when you come back inside."

Dean nodded and then headed for the exit. He was actually a little surprised at how far they had come into the hospital. He didn't even remember walking down the white corridors. All he could see was Sam…bleeding all over the place from a gunshot wound he'd inflicted.

He heaved in a deep shuddering breath and tried to calm down. Freaking out would only get his own ass admitted and he had no time for that crap. He shut his mind off of Sam related things and focused on what he needed to do. Move the car. Come up with a plausible story for what happened. The second one was easier said than done.

The Impala was right where he left it, still running, and in the way of an ambulance that was trying to back in. Dean ran forward, gave the driver an apologetic look, and hopped inside the car. He drove forward and went to find a parking spot. As he drove he was very aware of the large blood stain on the seat beside him. His hands shook as he steered the car into a spot. Once he was parked, Dean leaned his head on the steering wheel and took another deep breath. He could feel the adrenaline wearing off and his whole body was starting to shake.

"Keep it together…" He mumbled under his breath.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

Dean nearly jumped out of his skin when the phone went off, echoing through the tiny space. He popped open the glove box and pulled out one of the many burn phones he'd purchased on his way to find Sam. He looked down at the caller ID and saw Bobby's name flash across the screen. For a split second he contemplated ignoring it but...he could use a good dose of the old man's grumpiness. It had a way of grounding him.

"Hey Bobby." He said when he answered.

"Dean? What's wrong?"

Dean almost laughed at the man's strange ability to tell that something was wrong just from the sound of his voice.

"Heh, well, you could say, everything."

"Don't bullshit me boy. Just tell it to me straight."

Dean rubbed a hand over his face. Or, he tried to. As soon as he saw what it was covered in he quickly lowered it again.

"I shot her Bobby. I…shot Sam."

"…"

"Bobby?" Dean asked, a little desperately.

"Just give me a sec here. So, what happened exactly?"

"I shot her. That's what happened. She's in the hospital right now…probably dying. And I did it to her!"

"Dean, calm the hell down. You freaking out isn't going to help your sister."

Dean started a bit at Bobby's words. It was really the first time the man had ever seriously called her his sister.

"Now, you must have had a reason. What was it?"

"She…she was trying to kill dad…"

"What?!" Bobby exclaimed in disbelief. "Why…how...Your father is there?!"

Dean still had trouble with that as well. How had his father ended up there and how did Sam know that that was where he was? Because she had known. The look on her face, and the way she'd just sped off to Lawrence, proved it.

"Yeah…he's here. Sam carved him up pretty good too. He's in the hospital." Dean ended the sentence there because if he thought about his father anymore it would just piss him off. Bobby, of course, wouldn't leave it alone.

"There's something you're not telling me Dean. What is it?"

Dean sighed and put his head back down on the steering wheel. "He…he wanted me to kill her, Bobby."

"What?" Bobby practically yelled into the phone. Dean could picture his face turning red.

"Yeah. He called her a monster wearing Sam's face and that I had to put her down. You know, I kind of wish I'd shot him instead."

Silence settled upon the car. Both of them wrapped up in their own thoughts. Bobby was the one to finally break it.

"You still in Lawrence?"

"Yeah."

"I'm heading there now. I'll be there as soon as I can alright. You keep your head on straight until I get there, you hear me?"

"Thanks Bobby."

"No problem kid. See you soon."

When Dean hung up the phone he turned his gaze over to the passenger seat. Then he looked down at his hands.

"God dammit…"