1. If you don't mind a self-rec, I may have one that fits your description. Wonderful Inventions" (http://tcs1121.livejournal.com/22018.html):

Summary: The quirky, absent-minded, yet brilliant Dr. Jensen Ackles created big, successful, life-saving inventions. However, while working on his newest project, he was struck down by a devastating illness, leaving Dr. Ackles still quirky, absent-minded and brilliant, but...happier.

Loosely inspired by Man of La Mancha, but is not a re-telling.

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Too much sanity may be madness — and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be.

Dale Wasserman
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