rivers_bend

They are either doomed to living in the shadows or dying far too young. Either way, none of those boys get a shot at a happy life and that's just so damned tragic.

I agree. I always felt (and observed from John's interaction with the boys in S1, especially when he stepped out of a commanding role and debated about theories/possibilities* on relatively more equal terms) that John regretted the life his sons led. Their childhood caused them such obvious pain - and brought such strain to their relationship as brothers, to say nothing of their relationship with their father - that, if John could see a way around the training and revenge, he would have taken it. After all, he lived as a 'mundane' until his wife's death and expected a normal childhood for his boys, and suddenly could not provide that.

So. If he didn't think that hunting and revenge and the entire package was necessary, he would have wished for the boys to live normally. Sam stood up for himself and took that choice out of John's hands - thereby communicating loud and clear that John had made the wrong one - and Dean split off (a defection; the same message, perhaps, intentional or no, if Dean simply couldn't articulate it to his father's face or to himself).

After that conclusion (and now I'm obviously reaching), John may have harbored doubts (or allowed old doubts to resurface and gather strength) enough that when Adam's mom approached him, John viewed this 'new' family as a chance to make the 'correct' (as argued/demonstrated by Sam and Dean) choice.

Or something.


*If I recall correctly? Wow, I really hope I'm thinking of actual canon, instead of fic. Uh, there had to have been some scenes where John mostly hung back and watched his two boys, I'm getting a clear visual of that. Whatever.