Chapter 1:

Tag to Dark Side of the Moon: Warnings - Slight insinuation of abuse

'He threw it out.' Sam thought blankly, before falling to the ground in disbelief. 'He just threw it out and walked out the door.' A small sob escapes Sam as he remembers how much he had suffered for giving his father's precious gift to his brother.

Two weeks after Christmas, their father had finally returned home. Dean greeted him enthusiastically at the door, proudly wearing the amulet Sam had given to him as a present. Sam hung back as he noticed John's eyes narrow as Dean told him of Sammy's awesome Christmas gift.

"Isn't it cool dad?" Dean ended happily, fingering the amulet.

John forced a smile on his face and replied, "Yea, Dean. It's awesome. Hey. How about I give you some cash and you go get us some food from the McDonalds down the street? Sammy can help me unload the car."

"Really?" dean asked excitedly. "McDonalds?"

"Late Christmas meal." John replied as Dean grabbed his coat. John handed him the cash and Dean headed out the door, leaving Sam and John alone. After waiting a moment to make sure Dean was out of ear shot, John turned towards his youngest son angrily. "Is that the amulet your uncle bobby gave to you for me?"

"Y-Yes." Sam answered nervously, backing away slightly in the sight of his father's anger. "I-I'm sorry. You weren't here and-"

"And what? You thought it would be okay to treat Dean like he is your father? What if that amulet was an important hunting tool boy? I can't very well ask Dean to give it up now!" John bellowed advancing on Sam.

Sam had backed himself into the wall, leaving nowhere else for him to go as he pleaded. "I'm sorry. I just thought he'd like it. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have- Please. I'm sorry."

John got an evil grin as he heard Sam begging him. "Please what Sam? What do you want?" Sam didn't answer, except to shake his head back and forth, wordlessly mouthing the word please. "I know what you want. You want a late Christmas present, don't you?" Sam whimpered, but didn't reply as he continued to shake his head furiously in the negative. "Dean has a 5 mile walk ahead of him. That gives us an hour to play." John grabbed Sam's arm and pulled him towards the bedroom as Sam found his voice.

"Daddy! Please! Please, don't."

Dean's angry voice cut through Sam's memory. "Sam! What the hell is taking so long?!" Dean barged into the room to find Sam on the floor sobbing, clutching the amulet in his hand. His voice softened. "Sammy?" He reached his hand forward and laid it gently on Sam's shoulder.

Sam jerked away violently, his eyes wide as he scrambled into the hotel bathroom. Fierce retching reached Dean's ears as he followed his brother. Slowly he entered the bathroom and rubbed circles on Sam's back until the vomiting ceased.

Tears still fell down his face as Dean handed Sam a glass of water. Taking it gratefully, Sam tried to calm down, while studiously avoiding Dean's questioning gaze. Five minutes later, Dean broke the silence. "Are you alright?"

Sam looked at him intently, but did not immediately reply. When Dean opened his mouth to ask again, Sam said quietly, voice filled with regret and disbelief. "You threw it out."

Dean's eyes found the amulet still clutched tightly in Sam's hand. "I-" He couldn't think of anything to say as his eyebrows furrowed in desperation, clearly thinking 'This is all about the amulet?'

"You threw it out." Sam repeated, his voice growing stronger. "I gave it to you. It was supposed to be for him, but I gave it to you." Anger clouded Sam's face as he found his brother's eyes.

Surprised at his brother's sudden mood shift, Dean stammered an apology. "Sammy, I-I'm sorry. I-"

"You don't understand!" Sam screamed suddenly, standing up and storming out of the bathroom.

Pausing for only a moment to absorb his brother's sudden anger, Dean turned swiftly and followed Sam out. "I really don't!" Dean yelled back, standing directly in front of Sam, confusion written on his face.

Sam's face contorted with fury for a moment before it fell and he replied in a broken expression. "I know."

Suddenly Dean's arms were full of a collapsed and sobbing Sam. He lowered him onto the bed gently, whispering reassuringly. "It's okay, Sammy. Everything's alright."

Half an hour later, Sam calmed and Dean noticed he was gazing at something over his shoulder. Dean turned to look and nearly had a heart attack when he found Castiel standing directly behind him. "Son of a bitch!"

"I apologize." Cas replied, but his eyes never left Sam's face. After a few moments, Sam broke their eye contact and wandered into the bathroom, shutting the door tightly behind him. Cas turned to Dean with a regretful tone. "I should not have left."

"What's wrong with Sam?" Dean asked angrily. "You obviously know."

"I don't know." Cas replied. "Not specifically. I thought you were both fine. You both seemed fine when I left. What happened? How long has he been crying?"

"I don't know. I went out to the car and he didn't follow. I got impatient and came back in and found him on the floor crying. He bolted when I touched his shoulder and ended up throwing up who knows what since we've been dead and haven't eaten. Then he screamed at me, but that didn't last long and he ended up crying again. He only stopped just now. You know. When you showed up." Dean explained with a puzzled expression on his face. "I don't get it. Is this all because I threw away the amulet he gave me?"

Understanding dawned in Cas's eyes. "Oh. Oh no. You threw it out?"

Dean looked up surprised "What? Yea. Like you said, it's useless. Why?"

"I should never have said that." Cas said regretfully, making his way to the bathroom. Knocking gently, Cas asked quietly. "Sam? Please open the door."

Sam opened it slowly after a moment and whispered. "You could have just poofed in here, you know."

"I know." Cas answered. "I wanted to give the option of refusing to speak to me first. Had you not answered, I would have 'poofed in' as you said."

Sam smiled minutely, before it fell from his face. "Well, thanks for that." He pushed past Cas and sat on the still blood-splattered hotel bed.

Cas sat gently next to him, ignoring Dean's questioning look. "Do you want to sleep?"

Sam looked at him with a small ironic smile again. "Sleep? What's that? Don't get much of that. Haven't for a long ti-"

"Sam. You know what I meant." Cas replied gently, caressing the latter's cheek. Sam leaned into the touch and sighed.

Dean huffed angrily. "You're fucking my baby brother?!" Sam and Cas both jumped, having forgotten Dean's presence. Sam blushed and Cas removed his hand from Sam's cheek awkwardly. When neither one had an explanation, Dean growled angrily. "What the hell is going on?"

"It's none of your business what I'm doing or not doing with Castiel." Sam replied before grabbing his packed bags and storming outside. The door of the impala slamming could be heard from the room.

Dean turned angrily to Cas. Cas sighed and anger flashed in his eyes briefly before he said. "As much as I may want to, I am not having sex with your brother." Then, he followed Sam out the door.

Dean followed reluctantly. He arrived outside to see Cas coaxing Sam into the back seat to lay down. When he got to the car, he heard Cas whisper. "Let me help you sleep." Sam apparently agreed because the next moment Cas touched two fingers to Sam's temple and Sam slumped forward unconscious. As Dean climbed into the driver's seat, Cas situated himself and Sam so that Sam was laying down with his head in the angel's lap.

Cas avoided Dean's eyes as he started the car. Adjusting the rearview mirror, Dean noticed the amulet still clamped tightly in Sam's grip.

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