A Stranger's Revenge

Summary: After a hunt on the West Coast ends, Dean sends Sam out on a mission of grave importance only to learn what's been behind Sam's sudden nightmares and winds up in a dangerous situation when an unknown & unexpected threat seeks revenge on Sam by going after the hunter's weakest spot: his brother. Sam must fight the pain of his past, an enemy with unknown skills and rescue Dean before it's too late. *Hurt/Dean & worried/ upset/protective/angry!Sam* Set in season 8 between 08x10-Torn & Frayed & 08x11- LARP & the Real Girl.

Warnings: Language as always. I'll also warn for mild violence though if it gets too bad, which this one shouldn't, I'll toss a warning on the chapter.

Spoilers/Tags: May contain some spoilers for season 8 but I don't think so unless you haven't seen the season. No tags to any episode since this takes place between episodes.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything except the imagination that creates the plot. It's written for enjoyment.

Author Note: So as you may or may not know I'm basically a Dean-girl which others find odd since I mainly hurt, abuse, etc…Sam. I am making a huge effort to hurt Dean only in this one so we shall see if Sam comes out unscathed or just a little bruised.

Look me up on Facebook under morgana07 for chatting, updates, questions and thanks for reading.

Chapter One

"Go."

"C'mon, you're not serious about making me do this."

"You've been lucky that I've let it slide for as long as I have but nope, no more. Go and don't come back until it's done right."

"Dean, it's been over a year and if I hadn't mentioned it you wouldn't even have known…probably."

"I knew the second I got behind the wheel again, Sam. Demons, angels, bodyshifting nerds are all one thing of affront to have in her but NOT that."

Fighting the urge to pull the hair he'd just run his hands through, Sam Winchester debated on if the infamous puppy eyes would work but figured he and his older brother were just getting back on an even keel after months of near constant stress and fighting so probably not.

Of course that didn't mean he was going to give up his side of the argument. "It was one dog and it was over a year ago," he argued, sighing when a set of keys was pressed into his hand while green eyes were firm as they glared at him.

"Exactly. One dog in my car when you know what the first rule of driving the Impala is," Dean was still ticked about the dog in the car thing even though he supposed it was a small thing in the larger scale of things. "What's the first rule, Sam?"

"Driver picks the music. Shotgun shuts his cakehole," Sam recited without blinking or hesitation, a little surprised that he had and also guessed it took his brother off guard as well when Dean turned from pulling a flannel shirt on over his grey t-shirt.

It had been a long time since that rule had been tossed back in his face and silently the older brother was impressed but not enough to be swayed off his goal. "Cute. Impressive and correct so what's the second rule of driving the Impala then?" he asked.

"If I scratch her you will end me," again the reply was instant and without thought and again it made Dean pause.

Scratching the side of his nose while also fighting not to grin, Dean decided it was time to rewrite the list of rules for driving the Impala. "Okay smartass, where exactly does the 'no dogs in the car' rule rank?" he demanded mostly to see what his brother would say to it.

"Twelfth, right after the 'you're the only one allowed to have sex in the Impala' rule," Sam couldn't say why he felt a little better after this little debate but he actually did and didn't even jump when a hand clamped down on his shoulder as he chose to add. "Not that I can do with the images of that in my head again."

"You were twelve, snooping and shouldn't have been trying to see what I was doing and stop trying to distract me, damn it," Dean shook his head, refusing to smile enough though he could feel the change in Sam when he touched him. "The rule, whatever the hell number it is, is still the same. No dogs in the car, ever.

"Now, before we leave sunny California, you are going to take the car and wash, wax and detail it so no trace of doggie smell is left and I don't mean sticking one of those pine tree things on the mirror to mask the smell either," he lightly shoved his brother out the door of their motel and toward the intended 1967 black Chevy Impala that was usually home and transportation to the brothers.

Realizing he was fighting a losing battle, Sam finally gave in. "Fine, I'll go wash the car," he muttered sourly, lifting a brow. "You gonna clean the guns while I'm gone?"

Sam knew that while his brother loved the Impala nearly as much or more as he did anything else and lovingly took care of the classic car there were times when intense detailing or cleaning of the inside was needed and unless Dean was really bored or on edge he'd do anything to put the chore off on Sam.

So if the choice was between cleaning the guns or detailing the inside of the Impala then Sam knew which his brother would choose and for some reason he didn't mind it.

"Yeah, that's the plan," Dean nodded but caught the tiny flicker on Sam's face. "I meant what I told Benny, Sam. I'm done and I'll be here when you get back," he assured his brother. "Bring dinner back with you too."

"Burgers or pizza?" Sam asked as he started to get into the car only to look around the deserted motel lot as if feeling something off with it. "Y'know, they have some really good organic…"

"Double bacon cheeseburger with the works and extra onions," Dean cut him off with a look that clearly warned if Sam brought anything healthy back that he'd be sleeping in the very car he was about to spend the afternoon cleaning. "And…"

"I won't forget the pie," Sam smiled, hazel eyes taking another look around the lot before finally shrugging off his sense of unease as just still being on edge from so long of being without his brother around. "Dean? Lock the door while I'm gone."

His brother had just turned back toward the room when Dean suddenly threw him a look that was part confused, part amused and something that almost looked like surprise at the odd request.

They almost always locked the doors on the motel rooms they used but they never requested it of one another. The last person who had ever done that was when they were kids and their Dad would leave them alone but just as he was considering a smart remark the start of puppy eyes caught him and Dean realized that something was worrying his little brother.

"I will," he assured him, hesitating a beat before speaking again. "Something wrong, Sam?"

Nothing he could put his finger on and since he didn't want Dean thinking he was paranoid over nothing, Sam shook his head with a small smile. "No, it's nothing," he replied, sticking the key into the ignition when something else came to him and he stuck his head out the window. "Dean? If you were ever cursed by a witch or something and got turned into a dog does that mean you couldn't get into the Impala?"

Dean's fingers had just touched the doorknob when that question reached his ears and rather than turn and let Sam see the smile that wanted to come he merely raised a hand to flip his smartass brother off before entering the room and shutting the door with enough of a slam that the younger hunter grinned.

The Impala drove off to where Sam had already GPS'd a full-out car wash to fulfill his car duties and didn't notice the silhouette between the buildings that watched him drive off before eyeing the motel room door that currently belonged to the Winchesters.

Listening for the sound of his car to leave the lot, Dean only allowed his full smile to show once he was sure he was alone and then shook his head wryly.

He'd been back from Purgatory a couple months and Dean fully admitted that he and Sam had been going through hell personally since his return but it seemed to be getting better in the past few weeks since both had made choices.

The strain and tension between them didn't feel as thick and Dean knew even a month ago his little brother wouldn't have been as quick to mouth off back to him like he had been today and he knew Sam would never have asked him that last question if things weren't getting better again.

Dean accepted there were things he and Sam still needed to talk about. There were things that Dean would probably never tell his brother about Purgatory or Benny but he knew he needed to at least come clean about some stuff so that maybe his uneasy and nightmarish again brother would admit to Dean what was bringing the damn nightmares back.

He'd been Sam's big brother for going on thirty years and Dean knew the different kind of nightmares his brother was prone to have. Considering everything they'd both been through in their lives, the last eight especially, he understood Sam would still have some issues but these nightmares, the ones that Sam tried to not let him know he was having, were a little too similar to the ones his little brother would have right after the fire at Stanford.

Lucifer dreams, soulless dreams, demon dreams, hallucinations of Lucifer dreams were all ones Dean could still almost accept Sam having every once in a while but whatever the hell was bothering his brother in his sleep was bad enough to send him bolting upright in bed with a near scream and then into the bathroom for the next few hours as if trying to calm down without bothering Dean's sleep.

"Yeah, that's not working too well," he muttered since every time Sam moved in bed or made a noise that wasn't Sam-like the big brother in Dean knew it and was awake but the issues between them had kept him from going to Sam like he normally would've.

That was all changing now since if his brother woke up again the coming night then it was time for Dean to find out just what was bothering Sam because he'd already gone through the mental list of possible issues and was coming up empty.

Debating on getting to work on cleaning the weapons that needed cleaned or snooping on Sam's laptop for possible clues Dean did a mental coin toss. He knew how long Sam should be gone if he did a good job on cleaning the car so he figured he had enough time to clean the guns and look to see if anything saved on the laptop would yield a clue to Sam's dreams.

Dean recalled now it had been right after Sam had been checking his email on night that something had upset his brother because he'd nearly jumped away from the table after slamming the lid on the computer and making some excuse of running to a nearby diner for dinner.

It had been a long time since Dean had felt the need to break his brother's privacy by snooping but something was keeping Sam awake at night and also causing him to be too quiet in the daytime…so much so that he wasn't even responding to the normal little teasing jabs that Dean knew could always get a rise outta his brother.

At first he'd believed it was being back on the West Coast that was adding to Sam's stress. Dean had tried to avoid this haunting or to let Garth take it because it was four hours away from Palo Alto and that was one place that he firmly tried to keep Sam from returning to or thinking too hard about even after all this time.

"God, gotta love this kid," he smiled as he booted the laptop up to find the email program and saw that Sam still used the same password that he always had.

While computers weren't Dean's greatest area he did know how to use one to at least surf for porn and check his rarely used email. He was better at checking Sam's emails even though as he looked now he felt a little pang that his brother's emails were mostly junk mail, stuff that Kevin or Garth sent, a few notices of new stories that Sam insisted on reading that people, like Becky, wrote about them.

Right after Sam left school to begin hunting again he'd still get emails for his college pals and up to the last time that Dean had found the need to snoop he was still getting a few but now even those seem to have dwindled.

Taking a swift look, Dean quickly pinpointed several emails from an unknown IP address. A few had been opened but the last dozen or so hadn't been touched as if Sam had been avoiding them which Dean knew was not like his brother who used to be manic about reading every single email and replying.

After checking to see that the date of the first email coincided with when Sam's bad dreams restarted, he clicked on the attachment after seeing that this email didn't have a message, just photos.

"What the…sonuvabitch," he breathed out the curse as the array of photos began to pop up and Dean found images of his much younger brother, back when Sam still had short floppy hair, a love for hoodies and a smiling happy blond on his arm in most of the shots or they were just plain photos of Jessica.

Dean's teeth were clenching as he checked the other emails from that address to see that each one was loaded with pictures of either Sam and Jessica or just Jessica but the last one was what caught the hunter's attention because that one had words types in large bold font and merely said 'IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN YOU!'

"What the hell, Sammy?" he murmured without realizing he'd used the nickname for his brother that he hadn't actually called Sam to his face since returning from Purgatory, a sick feeling beginning to form in his stomach that he understood what the nightmares were about and why Sam was jumpier than normal these days. "Oh, hell no…this asshole will die."

Sam might be going to be thirty years old soon but in Dean's mind he will forever be his little brother and anyone who comes close to upsetting or threatening him usually paid for it with Dean Winchester's fist upside their head or his .45 in their face.

He was just reaching for his cell phone to call Sam for a quick change in plans when a hesitant knock sounded on the door. "I hate room service sometimes," Dean growled, slapping the lid closed on the laptop, giving the room a quick look to be sure nothing was out that shouldn't be…like guns or knives before looking out the viewer with a frown. "What?"

The man standing outside the door didn't look like a maid nor did he look like a cop or security so the hunter relaxed slightly, forgetting Sam's concerns out of his own distractions now over who the hell was threatening his little brother.

"Umm, sorry to bother you but no one was in the manager's office and no one else must be in," the man called from the other side of the door in a low, almost worried tone. "My car won't start and I need to call a tow truck and I also can't get a signal in this cheap phone I have so I was wondering if I could maybe make a quick call?"

Dean took another glance at the man from the door's viewing hole. He was maybe around Dean's age or so with a near white blond hair cut almost military short but mirrored sunglasses shielded his eyes.

The hunter inside Dean told him not to open the door since there still seemed to be too many demons and other evil crap after them but since he also got the idea that this guy wasn't going to be easy to get rid of until he made the damn call and he had stuff to do, he flipped the lock to open the door.

"Phone's by the bed, make it quick," he put his best no nonsense deep gravelly voice growl to good use, tossing his jacket over the duffel on his bed which held the weapons he still needed to clean.

"Um, thanks," the man stepped in carefully as if expecting to be jumped but then moved toward the phone. "I really appreciate this. No cell service sucks at time, y'know."

Dean did know that. It also made him groan when he glanced at his own phone to see that a lack of towers in this town would also keep him from calling Sam right then. "Shit," he cursed, forgetting for just a moment that he wasn't alone.

"Something wrong?" the man asked while picking up the phone and digging into the pocket of his jacket as if looking for a number. "You seem upset."

"No, I need to call my brother back here but I'll just call him once you're done calling for the tow," Dean decided with a sigh, starting to turn back to finish turning off the laptop properly when a sudden click and a low buzzing sound had every warning sense screaming at him.

Dean was moving out of instinct of just knowing danger was somehow close but he'd only begun to shift his body when it felt like every nerve was lit on fire and he went down with a ragged scream as the taser wires hit him square in the spine with jolts of electricity that were even worse than the time he nearly electrocuted himself.

"I'm afraid your precious brother won't be any good to you, Winchester," the man's voice was no longer hesitant or meek sounding but rough, strong and cruel as a heavy boot connected with the hunter's ribs as Dean struggled to both get air into his lungs and move but the shock had shut his body down, leaving him helpless to the brutal onslaught of kicks and punches that landed.

Each blow seemed to be directed at and hit a specific part of the hunter's body and with each strike it seemed like the nerves were affected directly until finally the man's fingers were around his throat, what little movement Dean had left didn't do him any good against the attacker whose glasses had fallen off to reveal cold blue eyes.

"W…who…what the…" Dean could taste blood, hoping it was from a split lip or a bitten tongue and nothing more serious as he continued to try to struggle but his body was nearly numb as blurry eyes watched a needle be pulled out. "Christo," he managed to grit out even though a demon shouldn't have been able to cross the salt line by the door or the tiny little movable demon's trap under the welcome mat by the door.

Nothing twitched or moved in the man's face as he jabbed the needle into the side of Dean's neck, an cruel smile coming as he watched the weakly struggling man's eyes begin to roll back in his head. "Your brother took something that belonged to me. Now I'm going to take something that belongs to me but I'll make him suffer before he watches you die."

Dean's body might be numb and useless and he could feel whatever drug he'd just been shot up with burning his veins but the concern for his brother was still there as he suddenly realized this asshole must be the nut who'd been emailing Sam those pictures.

"You…you…don't touch…my…ARGH!" Dean tried to keep the sudden cry of pain in but the feel of the taser jamming into his kidney with full strength made it impossible right then.

"I won't have to touch him," the man smirked, a flash of something crossing his face as his fingers squeezed Dean's throat. "I've found out enough about him to know to hurt him all I have to do is hurt…you and I'm an expert at inflicting pain as you're going to find out. Once you wake up, that is."

Fear for Sam walking into a damn trap was nearly able to allow Dean's useless muscles to work but the drug caused his vision to swim and his eyes rolled back with a last thought of his brother and the wish that if Sam ever didn't come for him this would be the time.

TBC

A/NII: Yep, evil cliffhanger. Who is this guy? What's his issue with Sam and why is he making a move now? Will Sam find out what's happening? Will he be able to do anything before Dean's hurt too badly? Stay tuned for Chapter 2. (I'm planning 3 chapters but…I'm not setting that in stone, lol)