This one is set following "I know what you did last summer."

Bend or Break

"The answer is no."

"But Dean, all we need is..."

"I said no Sam, end of discussion."

Sam slouched down in his leather seat as the Impala's engine revved under his brother's heavy foot. The day had stretched into night long ago and the country road they were on didn't seem to have an end. With every inch of pavement that passed beneath their wheels, every mile clocked on the odometer, the more they seemed to disagree about how to handle their next job. Sam passed a hand through his hair as he tried to think of what to say next, of what he could possibly say that would change his brother's mind. There was nothing; sometimes Dean just argued for the sake of arguing. He knew he was right and though hard to believe, knew that there was at least one other person who would have agreed with him. He just couldn't believe he had reached that conclusion all on his own. "You know, we wouldn't be having this discussion if dad was still alive..." He suddenly blurted. He had barely finished his sentence when he realized the words that had just slipped out would set his brother on fire.

"You're right, we wouldn't be having this discussion if dad was still alive because I wouldn't be here!" Dean was quick to bark, his knuckles whitening as he gripped the steering wheel
tightly.

"Dean that's not what I meant " Sam replied, doing everything he could not to add fuel to the fire. "I'm just saying that I think he would have agreed with me on this one."

There was a moment of silence and Dean shook his head as his eyes narrowed on the dark road ahead; the sound of his classic Chevy seemed to disappear in the tension between them. "Since when would you take dad's side anyway?" He started, not giving the younger man time to reply. "You spent most of your life disagreeing with him, doing everything you could not to be like him and now you tell me that he... "

Dean trailed off as an explosion cut him short. His heart jumped to his throat and he swore under his breath as the steering wheel slipped through his hands and the Impala suddenly jerked to the left; sending him and his brother hard to the right. As Sam crashed into the passenger side door, Dean grabbed a hold of the dashboard to catch himself and then, the steering wheel in an attempt to regain control of his car. The rear wheels were skidding across the wet pavement when he hit the brakes and turned the wheel sharply to the right, making the tires chirp violently as he pulled the Impala out of a dangerous fishtail and back over to his side of the center line. As the car hit the gravel shoulder and came to an abrupt stop, the momentum threw him into the wheel before tossing him back into his well worn leather seat.

Confused by what had just happened, he put the shifter in park, crossed his arms on the wheel and leaned forward to rest his head as he tried to calm his racing heart. He closed his eyes for a moment and did his best to ignore the pain of every breath, knowing there would be a large bruise where he had hit the steering wheel only moments ago. "Kind of makes you wish this car had more than just lap belts don't it?" He said almost drily as he put a hand to his chest. He was expecting some kind of witty reply, but aside from the idling engine resonating throughout the car, there was no sound at all. "You alright Sammy?" He asked quietly, looking over to his brother who still sat slouched in his seat. Their argument, their next job, and all of their differences suddenly vanished as Dean's eyes fell on a trickle of blood that was slowly making its way down the side of his brother's neck. "Sammy?" He asked again, panic in his voice as he undid his seat belt and quickly slid over to the passenger seat. "Sam, wake up!" He shouted, his tone of voice more of a demand than a request. He put a hand out to gently lift his younger brother's head and swore under his breath as the other man gave him no response.

"Damn it..." He growled, moving over to his side of the front seat and quickly getting out of the car. Wasting no time to shut his door, he ran around the front of the Impala and made his way to the passenger side. He pulled the door open as he reached it and dropped to his knees in the wet gravel to catch his brother before the unconscious man could tumble out of the car. Pushing Sam back into a sitting position with one hand, he reached over to undo his brother's seat belt with the other. "Sammy!" He shouted again, his eyes focusing on a small gash above his brother's right temple, the source of the blood. When Sam finally moved, Dean couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

"Dean? What happened?" The younger man asked, his voice barely above a whisper as he brought a hand up to his forehead to study the small cut.

"Judging by how low my front corner is sitting to the ground..." Dean started, pushing Sam's hand away from the open wound. "I'd say we either blew a tire or we finally put a coil spring through that front fender."

"My head's killing me and I can barely breath..." Sam muttered, feeling every breath pull at his chest.

"You probably hit the dash when we came to a stop." Dean replied, watching as his brother started leaning towards him. "Looks like you hit your head on the side window too." He continued, putting a hand out to keep the other man in the car. "You alright?" He asked, gently shaking his brother to keep his attention. "Sammy!" He shouted, pulling the other man back to his senses.

"Yeah I'm alright." Sam replied, swearing to himself as a deep breath sent the world around him spinning. "Maybe I should just lie down for a minute "

"No, not with a concussion." Dean said, straightening out and putting a hand towards his younger brother. "C'mon, get up." He demanded, pulling Sam to his feet. With Dean's help, Sam took a few shaky steps before the world around him finally stopped spinning. Just when things were starting to clear up, Dean reached over and shut the Impala's door; forcing the sound of its creaking hinges into his throbbing head. "Dude, can't I just lay down, just for a second?" He asked, putting a hand against the hood of the car as his brother slowly pulled away.

"No, I need you to stay with me alright?" Dean asked, stepping away when he was sure his brother could support his own weight.

Sam leaned heavily against the car to steady himself and faked a smile to show his brother he would be fine. "So now what are we supposed to do?" He asked as he watched Dean walk around to the other side of the Impala. "Time to take that spare tire out of the trunk?"

Dean offered a grin as he caught his brother's eyes. "Cute Sam, real cute..." He said as he kicked the flat tire with his foot. "If there was a spare tire in the trunk, where would we keep the arsenal?" The sound of thunder on the horizon caught his attention and he swore under his breath as he looked up towards the distant storm. "Looks like we're going to get soaked
walking outa here."

Sam watched as his brother reached into the car to take the keys from the ignition. "You can't be serious "

"We can't drive on a flat Sam, did you already forget how my baby pulled to the left? That's how you smashed your head on the window."

"Dean we haven't passed a house or another car for miles "

"That doesn't mean the road's not going somewhere, you've seen the map."

"Dude, we haven't even seen any road kill."

"That's because there are no cars on the road Sammy..."

There was a moment of silence and the pair simply stared at each other, their earlier argument coming to mind. Dean stood on the left side of the Impala, his hands resting lightly on the hood while Sam stood heavily against it on the right, his hands on the hood the only thing propping him up. Sam put a hand to his forehead, his head was pounding and he was in no mood to fight let alone walk until they found somewhere to spend the night. Though he hadn't said a word, Dean seemed to pick up on his thoughts. "How about I give Bobby a call, see if he can bring over a spare... we're only about an hour or so away from the motel where he was meeting us."

"Sounds good to me." Sam replied, pushing off from the hood and slowly making his way to the back of the car.

Dean watched as his brother staggered over to the back door and paused before pulling it open. "You good?" He called out, punching down the number he had memorized. "You can lie down, but stay awake, ok?" With somewhat of a nod before the younger man pulled himself into the back seat, Dean focused on the phone in his hand. Lightning lit up the distant sky and he swore under his breath as the rain started to fall. When the other line picked up, he got right to the point. "Bobby, it's me; listen, we're about 80 miles or so out of town and we blew a tire, think you can come meet us out on Route 513?"

"What's the matter boy, don't know how to change a tire?" Bobby asked, a smile to the corner of his lips.

"Where the hell would I put the spare..." Dean spat.

"Well I can think of one place..."

"Can ya help us out or not?" Dean cut in.

"Easy boy, I was just teasing." Bobby replied. "What's got you so wound up..."

There was a moment of silence and Dean leaned over to look into the Impala at Sam in the back seat. "Never mind." He replied bluntly, tapping a finger on the glass to get his brother's attention; keeping him awake.

"You boys aren't at each other's throats again are ya?" Bobby asked, his tone of voice dropping.

Dean swallowed hard as he leaned against the car. Was it really that obvious?

"I'll take that as a yes." Bobby continued, putting an end to the moment of silence. "I don't know what's gotten into you boys lately, but the two of you better talk it out or duke it out soon. If something's eating ya up, you "

"Bobby I don't want to talk about it right now." Dean interrupted, his words catching in the back of his throat. He knew the older man was right but couldn't begin to think of a way to put to words what was truly on his mind.

"Kid, you can't keep going on like this." Bobby pushed. "I might not be your father but after all these years I know when something just ain't..."

"Bobby if you can't give us a hand I'll call a tow truck and "

"Listen, just sit tight and I'll be there as soon as I can, alright?" Bobby replied, dropping the subject as Winchester's voice started to rise.

"Ok, thanks Bobby."

"Yeah don't mention it." The older man replied. "And whatever the two of you are arguing about this time.... Don't kill your brother over it."