Time is Fluid… Even in Dreams

Dean was pissed and it was easy to tell by the way his hands gripped the steering wheel of the Impala. The weather reflected his mood perfectly with the rain pelting on the windshield like a thick sheet. How he could see was more likely attributed to the fact that he didn't want to look at his brother sitting next to him nor did he want to see her sitting in the backseat. He gunned the engine and the Impala responded a bit angrily to Dean's abuse of the gas.

"Dean."

Dean ignored Sam but managed to cast a glance. Seeing his brother, Dean felt his anger return. His brother left him to die in Purgatory while he went to live an apple pie life by cheating on the one who left him to die there as well.

"Dean."

"I don't want to hear it Sam."

"Please."

"I don't want to have this discussion Sam."

"So what, you're just gonna stay mad at me and not even let me explain?"

"What is there to say?" Dean felt his hands tighten on the wheel. He slowed a little when a huge puddle came up. He still cared about his baby to make sure water didn't ruin her. It was the bane of her existence. He continued, "You and the blood bitch back there left me to die in Purgatory."

"I didn't leave you Dean," Angela said softly. "I didn't know."

"Right you didn't. I had to find out from Cas that you were there and I waited for days hoping you'd show up but you didn't. Then you Sam decide to leave me behind for a girl."

Sam looked at Dean with a sorrowful expression mingled with anger that Dean would call her that name. "Dean…" He then thought better of it and decided to be quiet. He reached up to his right shoulder to touch her hand that was squeezing it gently. It was more reassuring than words that she might have spoken.

Dean took Sam's silence as admission of guilt. It usually was in most cases. It only served to fuel Dean's ire as he looked in the rearview mirror. He saw Angela and she was reaching over and touching Sam on his shoulder. She had been sneaky in making sure that it was out of his view when she did it. He pursed his lips at the sight.

When he looked at his brother who was staring straight ahead with no expression, Dean had it. He wanted do something; hit his brother so that at least he would get it through that geeky brain that he was here. A little voice in his mind told him to hit Sam where it was going to hurt and glancing in the rearview mirror, he knew how to do that. He wanted to do it.

So absorbed were his thoughts that he didn't see the truck run the stop sign at the T-junction. The next thing he saw was a set headlights and he heard the crunch of metal. Dean felt pain as metal ripped his skin and excruciating pain on his legs. The motion of the Impala was like when he pulled a one eighty but he wasn't in control and he heard more metal crunching and a loud splash. It felt cold and wet as Dean banged his head on the frame and saw black.

~0~0~

There were many things that could be considered a constant. Currently for Dean, it was the pain that he was feeling in his legs and he couldn't move them. It was annoying the hell out of him and he just wanted to hit something. That felt good since it was like being back in Purgatory and he did once tell Benny that it felt pure there.

Slowly he opened his eyes to find that he was in a sterile white room. It didn't take a genius to figure out that he was in a hospital. He could have been drunk and blind and he would have known since he could smell that medicine smell. He slowly started moving to look around and found that he couldn't move as much as he wanted. He found the source to be his legs which were suspended by ropes and pulleys. That was frigging great being in traction. No wonder he was experiencing pain.

Dean knew he wasn't getting out anytime soon so he looked for the button to call the nurse without resorting to shouting. It was frustrating since his mobility was limited. He was in luck when a nurse came in and asked how he was doing in that sweet voice that just made him grumpier. He was grumpy at the fact that he didn't remember what happened to get him here in the first place.

The last thing he remembered was being pissed at Sam and her. He resented the fact that Sam left him to die in Purgatory while he went to live the apple pie life. He resented her because she didn't come. She had been in that hell hole and she didn't come. Screw the fact that she said she didn't know. That was a lie.

Dean fussed and started trying to get out of bed though how he was going to do that since his legs were in traction was a moot point. Something happened to him and he wanted answers. As much as he was pissed at him, he wanted Sam; he wanted his baby brother.

"Mr. Smith, stop fidgeting or we'll have to sedate you. You need to let the traction do its job," the nurse said in a no nonsense tone despite the fact she was the type that Dean would hit on. She also used the alias that he and Sam last used.

"Then tell me what the fuck is going on. What am I doing here?" Dean stopped moving when he realized the threat of sedation was made clear.

"You don't remember?"

"Lady, if I remembered do you think I would have asked that?" Dean scowled at the nurse. "What the hell happened that I ended up looking like a fricking mummy?"

"You were in a car accident. Driver ran the stop sign."

Dean stopped squirming as the words dawned on him. Did Sam know where he was? He prompted for more information, "Okay so I get a pair of busted legs. Anything else?"

The nurse hesitated and Dean was under the impression that she probably had told him more than he was supposed to know. Screw that over. If he didn't remember, he wanted to know. He motioned with his hand and noticed the lacerations on his hand and arm. Must have been that bad for those.

Finally the nurse said, "Both cars were pushed into the ditch which was full of water from the rainstorms. The driver of the other car died on impact."

Dean listened and nodded. That was okay. So where the hell was Sam? "Okay fine. Did my brother come by?"

Again the nurse went deadly quiet. Dean became agitated by that and his legs hurt like hell. Here he was in some hospital because of a fricking car accident and this bitch nurse was not telling him if his brother was in the waiting area or not. It pissed him off thoroughly when the nurse replied, "I can't tell you exactly." She looked apologetic and a little bit scared though more likely she was made of sterner stuff than that.

"Then find someone who does know before I make it my business to get out of this bed and find out for myself," Dean shouted thoroughly scaring the nurse. He had reverted to his default setting of demanding answers. "Where's my brother?" He started moving in an attempt to get out of his bed and to hell with the fact that he was in traction.

It was maybe less than two minutes before the doctor came in and told him to calm down. It was a verbal fight until he was injected with the really good drugs. The pain was gone and Dean felt himself slipping into the drug induced sleep. He woke up hours later and the last person he expected to see was sitting in the visitor's chair.

Dean adjusted himself as best as he could, considering he was in traction. He looked at his visitor and asked, "What are you doing here Garth? Where's Sam?"

"You don't remember?"

Dean rolled his eyes in annoyance, "Why does everyone keep asking me that? If I did remember do you think I would be asking the fucking question? The last thing I remember was driving down the highway with Sam and Angie." He ignored the fact that he actually called her by name.

Garth studied Dean which was more annoying than anything. Yet a certain disquiet was in that look and Dean felt the feeling of dread while looking at Garth. Something had happened that was certain or Sam was pissed at him and wasn't going to bother. He asked, "What happened? That bitch nurse said a car accident."

Garth was still quiet, like he didn't know what to say. Dean waited but when nothing came, he calmed down as a feeling of panic overcame him. "Garth, where is Sam? Is he okay?"

"He's alive," Garth admitted, "And she is too… somewhat."

The worst case scenarios filtered through Dean's mind. Mostly they were centered on Sam but he found himself imagining the worst things with her too. "How bad?" Dean managed to stammer out and he knew he sounded pathetic but the anger had passed. Something happened and it had to be bad given the way Garth was looking at him.

"You… the doctors said you were lucky," Garth replied. He paused a little to gauge Dean's reaction and then continued, "Sam… he has a couple of busted ribs and lacerations and a concussion. He also has some swelling on his spine…"

"You mean he may be…"

Garth motioned for Dean to be quiet. He continued, "They are waiting for the swelling to go down to see if there is damage to his spinal cord. They think it is incomplete and most likely level E meaning he has a good chance of recovering. He also got some water in his lungs but they said his breathing is normal."

That was good news to Dean but not completely. Sam, his baby brother, may be alive but he could be a cripple for the rest of his life. He was supposed to protect him. Rule number one was the major thing in his life and he had been an ass and had forgotten that. Part of that rule was her too because… "Angie?"

"She… had to be resuscitated since she technically drowned but she's alive… somewhat."

"What do you mean?"

"Aside from a broken arm and lacerations to her abdomen and thigh, she got hit on the head pretty hard," Garth replied. He paused a little and added, "There was some swelling of the brain and with the lack of oxygen… in short… she's in a coma and they don't know if she's ever going to wake up."

Dean swallowed hard as he heard the news from Garth. He felt a shortness of breath enter his chest and was aware that the monitor was starting to beep wildly. He couldn't breathe.

The accident wasn't your fault. The guy ran the stop sign and he was drunk.

It was his fault. Sam was hurt and she was hurt. They were the only people he had left in his life.

Dean then found himself fast forwarding to a couple of months down the road. His legs were out of traction and he was in a wheelchair. He was in a room, that much was certain and he could hear the steady blip of a heart monitor and a respirator machine. He could make out two shapes. One was sitting; that was Sam since Dean could recognize his brother's frame. The other was Angela.

Dean was about to say something when his brother moved and it was then he noticed that Sam was also in a wheelchair. Pain stung at Dean's heart at the sight. His brother looked thin as he sat by her and held her hand, waiting for it to move and he was talking to her. Sam was saying, "My PT said that I was making progress; above average. Now you would be saying that I am always an overachiever."

Sam gave a dry chuckle and winced slightly. He continued, "Sorry. Hurts to laugh with broken ribs and back pain. Anyway, at the rate I'm going, I'll be able to look after you for once… at least better than I had been when Dean was heckling you. I should have at least stood up for you better but I know that you have your own way of dealing with things."

Sam sighed as he picked up her hand and held it in his large ones. Dean watched as his brother just felt her hand like a blind person would do. Sam then said, "I know you're in there and I hope you come back. I want you to but I wouldn't blame you if you didn't. Just know that I love you. You were always first for me."

Dean couldn't take it anymore and was about to say anything when Sam gave a cough and laid his head down looking feverish and closed his eyes. Dean started to shout, "Sam! Sammy!"

No one was hearing him. He felt pain in his chest. He had wanted to hurt his brother and he wanted to do it through her. It was because he knew about their bond. He didn't understand it but the gist was that if it was strong enough, they could feel each other's pain, joys or whatever. He knew what happened when she almost died after coming back from the Cage just as he saw her when Anna killed Sam when they went back in time. He had hurt his brother in the worst possible way because he would feel it. Dean howled in rage as his breath became shortened…

Dean woke up in a sweat and sat up in bed. Zeppelin, the hell pup looked at him from his place at the foot of the bed with an inquisitive look. Dean for his part looked around as he rubbed the pup's head. He wiped the sweat from his face and worked on steadying his breathing while he petted the pup. As things focused, they became recognizable and he knew where he was.

He was at Rufus' cabin that had been angel and demon proofed without leaving Castiel out in the cold. It was before they were going to launch their plan of getting rid of the Leviathans once and for all. Thanks to Kevin, they had what they needed to gank Dick Roman and he didn't doubt Absolution would give a nice sting. Things would work out in their own fashion right? Then why did he have that dream?

Dean turned towards the sound of a door closing a voices murmuring in the nearby room. It wasn't hard to guess who was there. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair trying to make sense of his dream. He had been so angry at his brother and Angela to the point that he wanted to hurt them in the best way he knew how and that was through their bond and that true souls thing. That was a low even for him.

What got Dean was that he talked about Purgatory like he had been there. As far as he knew the only place that wasn't here was hell and that was four months that might as well should have been forty years. Yet it was like he knew that place and he knew what he was talking about when he said the things he did. That's what had him thinking that it wasn't an ordinary dream but it did feel like a nightmare.

The nightmare was that he had been thinking of ways to hurt Sam through Angela and it actually happened and in the process it hurt the one person he had protected all his life. That scared him and he felt apprehension and that wasn't good with the job they were going to do.

It was instinct to get out of bed and seek her out since she seemed to have this knack for getting him to think about his dreams and nightmares. It was how she helped Sam before Castiel shifted the crazy. However given the sounds he had heard and was hearing, it would be rude to interrupt. They didn't get that much time together.

Zeppelin gave a slight moan and diverted Dean's attention. Smiling Dean petted the pup he had named when he was born and had grown into a handsome devil of a dog that loved food and had a great sniffer. He was sorry that he would have to leave him behind but it was for the best. "It's okay boy," he said as he adjusted his position.

His eyes lighted on the notebook that Kevin had wrote on what to do about the Leviathans. There was one section that couldn't be translated by Kevin except into Enochian and the translation for that fell to Angela. Dean felt tempted to read it but then put it aside. He had enough to worry about. He had to think how he was going to get close enough to stick it to Dick Roman literally.

He settled back down and stared up at the ceiling for a moment. He didn't protest when Zeppelin moved and rested his head on his abdomen. Instead he rubbed the dog's head and fell back to sleep and went on to dream other dreams.

A/N: What if Dean had an inkling of what was going to happen after busting out of Purgatory? What if he had warnings? Would it have been any different? Enjoy.