Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or the characters. This is just for fun.

Hi folks, here's something a bit different for you. Basically this fic is along the lines of the canon story, the Winchester family have been hunting since the boys were children, Sam left his family to go to college, but Dean never came to get him, and Jess didn't die. Sam has had no contact with his family since leaving for college, twenty years ago. And there's none of the show's angels and demons storylines.

Please let me know what you think!

Chapter One

It was just another day at the Everett McKinley Dirksen United States Courthouse; dozens of cases were to be heard that day.

Assistant district attorney, Samuel Winchester had to be in court in just minutes to prosecute a vicious attack on a young woman, a woman who still lay in a hospital bed nearly two weeks since the attack, struggling to get back to her life.

Samuel was speaking to the detectives who'd investigated the case, when a man came up to him, someone he hadn't seen in a very long time; his older brother, Dean. Sam was quick to excuse himself from his conversation with the detectives, if his brother's appearance was anything to go by there was probably at least one warrant out for his arrest, a courthouse was dangerous place for someone like Dean at the best of times, this didn't appear to be the best of times.

Wordlessly Samuel grabbed the back of Dean's worn leather jacket, and he quite literally dragged him out of the courthouse, making a scene, but avoiding the scene he knew would come when they started talking.

It was quite something for the crowds in the halls of the courthouse to see, Samuel, dressed in his thousand dollar Hugo Boss suit, dragging this quite dishevelled man out by his collar, cursing under his breath at the man as they went. Several of the court officers offered to escort Dean out themselves, saving the ADA the trouble, little did they know that the man was ADA Winchester's own brother.

Once they were outside, and around the corner, Dean pulled loose from Sam's grasp. "Get off of me dude, come on."

"What the hell are you doing here, Dean?" Sam demanded; he'd worked very hard to get everything he had, and Dean's presence risked all of it. "And why do you smell like a toilet?"

"Better question, how come you're dressed up like Richie Rich?" Dean quipped.

"I have a job, Dean. I'm meant to be inside right now prosecuting a bastard who raped five women before the cops tracked him down."

Dean didn't mince his words, "Dad's dead. I got a call a couple of weeks ago he was working a job, needed help, the hunt went south."

"Aw shit," Sam groaned, running his fingers through his hair. Still this didn't change anything. "Look Dean, I've got to go back inside. Do me a favour," Sam pulled out his wallet, offering Dean a fifty, he said, "There's a restaurant across the road, grab yourself something to eat, and wait until I'm done, then we'll talk."

To be honest Sam was surprised to see that when he got out of court seven hours later, his brother was still waiting for him at the restaurant.

Sam loosened his tie as he headed over to the booth where his older brother sat. He was tired, but if Dean had waited this long he deserved to be heard out.

"It's about time," Dean said frustrated.

"It's been a long time Dean, I know you said that Dad died, but our line of work... it happens. Why'd you come here after all this time?"

Dean hesitated, but after a moment he told Sam, "I'm sick Sammy."

"What? What kind of sick, Dean?" Sam was immediately concerned.

"A few months back I was working this job, long story short, I collapsed, someone called 911. It turns out I picked up an infection somewhere along the line, my liver's shot."

"Aw man, I'm sorry Dean. Is there anything they can do?"

"I need a transplant... They said that a donor in the family's my best chance."

Sam sighed, he'd do anything for his brother, but this was coming as a massive shock. "How about you come home with me, my wife should have dinner ready, we can make up the spare bed?"

Dean shrugged, "Yeah, sure. It's gotta beat the motel."

"I've got to ask you, Dean. How'd you find me here? It's been what, twenty years since we last spoke?"

It hadn't been easy, Dean had lost track of Sam for many years, since he graduated from Stanford, and moved away, but where there's a will...

After their conversation, Sam gave Dean the address of his family home, and agreed to meet him there. Samuel drove his sleek, black Z-series BMW roadster fast at the best of times, that night though he got home faster than he usually would have, keen to get home before Dean arrived; Jess and the kids were well accustomed to hunters coming and going, but this was one introduction that Sam wanted to make properly.

Samuel had done very well for himself, and the home that he shared with his wife, Jessica was a reflection of that. The home, in Oak Park was a beautiful five bedroom home on a seventeen thousand square foot block.

The gardens were perfectly manicured, and the interior was pristine, right down to the smallest detail; the four person housekeeping staff was to thank for that.

And his family was a gift that Samuel thanked god for each and every day; his wife Jessica Moore, and their three children, nine year old Chris, seven year old Mary, and four year old Phoebe.

Dean smiled appreciatively as he pulled up to see his Sammy leaning against the beautiful beast of automotive engineering that was the roadster. Dean gently rolled the Impala into the driveway, alongside Sam's car, he cut the engine, and stepped out.

Whistling in appreciation, Dean said, "This is nice, Sammy. Very nice. A little Stepford Wives, but nice."

Sam smiled in response. "Wait 'til you've seen inside, man."

Samuel wasn't lying, Dean was impressed as he followed his younger brother into the home. Dean could hear someone in the kitchen, and the sounds of children playing echoed through to the entrance hall.

"Jess, I'm home," Sam called out as he pushed the front door closed, "I've got someone with me."

Dean was surprised at how fast Jessica appeared, he would find out later that there was a reason behind this.

Sam was quick to make the albeit awkward introductions, "Dean, this is my wife Jessica. Jess, this is my brother Dean."

Jess paused, surprised, "Wait, Dean as in... Wow, it's good to meet you. Sam's told me a lot about you."

"All good things, I hope," Dean replied smoothly.

Jessica's face lit up in a smile. She then made a sweeping motion as she said, "Come on in, Dean. I've got to get on with dinner, but I'm sure Sam won't mind giving you the grand tour. We'll be eating in about ten minutes." Jess turned to her husband of eighteen years, and said, "Make sure to introduce him to the kids properly, they'll love to meet their uncle."

Dean noticed a few things that seemed more than a little out of place in the elegant home, Latin texts in the library, newspaper clippings of strange accidents and bizarre deaths scattered amongst papers in the study, weapons tucked in out of the way places. It prompted him to ask, "Are you still hunting, Sam?"

Samuel stopped in his tracks, he turned as he replied, "Never stopped. You and Dad, you thought I was turning my back on it all, on you, but I kept hunting, and I have always been listening for any news on how you and Dad were."

Dean couldn't help but feel joy when Sam ended the tour in the children's playroom, it had every toy that a child could dream of, and in the middle of the room sat three young children, a boy and two girls.

Samuel went over to the kids, leaving Dean in the doorway. "Hey kids," Sam greeted his children.

Seven year old, Mary was quick to produce the drawing that she'd been doing when her father entered the room. "I drew you a picture, Daddy." She waited for Sam to accept the paper, before standing, and embracing her father as tightly as she was able.

Sam gently hugged Mary, as he was also being greeted by his other two children.

Then nine year old, Chris noticed Dean standing in the doorway, "Who's that, Dad?"

Sam wrapped his free arm around Chris' shoulders, his fingertips just touching young Phoebe's dark brown curls. "This is my brother, Dean. He's going to be staying here with us for awhile. Say hello guys," Sam nudged them.

Chris was the eldest, he quite confident for his age, and without any further encouragement he went over to Dean, "Hi."

"Dean, this is Christopher," Sam told his brother, "That's Mary, and the little one is Phoebe."

Soon enough they were called for dinner, and after dinner Sam and Jess had to go get the kids into bed, only once all three children were sound asleep in bed, did the adults pull out a couple of beers and a glass of wine, and head into the lounge to talk.

"So what've you been up to all these years, Dean?" Jessica asked, keen to clear the air, and relax.

Dean remembered that Sam had mentioned that Jess knew about hunting, so he felt safe to discuss it, "Just the usual, knocking around, going from job to job. Last month I had this gig, worse damn poltergeist I've seen, thing tore up half a town before I axed it."

Jess responded appreciatively, "What a mess." She then gently asked, "Sam said that your father passed away recently. I'm very sorry."

"You didn't sick that wendigo on him," Dean replied shortly, before turning the attention to his brother and sister-in-law, "So what's your story? How'd you guys meet? What do you do for a living?"

Jess smiled, taking Sam's hand as she told Dean, "We met in college, got married a couple of weeks before Sam started law school, I was about to start my residency. I'm an attending now, over at the University of Chicago Medical Center in the emergency department. We moved here after we both finished studying, Chris came along three years later, we couldn't really be happier."

Sam knew that there was a question Dean was keen to ask, but never would. "I told Jess about hunting a few months after our wedding-"

"I was so freaked out, but Sam, he just made me feel like it would be okay. Eighteen years later, we're still going so I guess he was right," Jess added.

"Back in the day I took a lot more hunts than I do now. These days I mostly just do the research, then hand it on to some other hunters I know. Jess, well she mostly stays clear of all of it."

"Mostly," Jess repeated, exchanging a knowing look with her husband. She then turned the conversation to the reason behind Dean's visit, "Sam told me that you're unwell. May I ask what is wrong?"

"Three, maybe four months back I ended up in hospital. They said that my liver was shot, hep B. They gave me a bunch of pills to take, those ran out a couple of months back, and said I needed to get a transplant."

Jess sighed, she'd dealt with plenty of hunters before, it didn't come as a surprise to hear that Dean wasn't managing his condition properly. "How long has it been since you saw a doctor, Dean?" Jessica asked, she was worried by Dean's evident condition.

"Not since I was in the ER."

Jessica and Sam exchanged a look. "Put down that drink, and come with me," Jess said as she stood up from her seat.

"What?" Dean was thrown.

Sam backed Jess up, "She's a doctor, Dean. Let her check you over."

TBC... If you ask nicely.