Dean Winchester was a smart man. He didn't go to a fancy University like Sammy, but that doesn't make him stupid. He got good grades in High School and could have gotten into a nice University if he wanted to further his education. He could have finished school and opened up a garage. Bought a nice house with a white picket fence, had 2.5 kids and got a dog. He would have found a nice normal girlfriend and pretended that there was nothing out of the ordinary with his family's past. He would have lived out a long, civilian, lifestyle.
For all of his genius brother's intellect, he could never quite grasp the fact that not everyone wanted the same things that he did. Yes, he could have a normal life, start a normal family, do normal things and pretend to be a normal person. But he doesn't want that. He wants silver bullets and exorcisms. Rock salt and lighter fluid. Werewolves, shape shifters, ghosts, poltergeists, black dogs, skin walkers and demons.
If there was anything that he was born to do, that would be hunting. Nothing compared to that rush. Hunting down and killing any evil son of a bitch that he could find. Whilst it wasn't the safest life, and he has to lie to everyone he meets about what he does, there was nothing more fulfilling about saving people and hunting things.
Sam and Dean were sitting in a bar in Palo Alto. After finishing a hunt that was fairly close to his brother; Dean had decided to pay his brother a visit and see how he was doing in California. The bar wouldn't have been his choice of places to visit, the music was annoying and there were too many young students who looked like they hadn't done anything by themselves in their lives, he had a surprisingly good beer in his hand and a burger on the table. It should have been a good day for them. Catching up on what had been going on whilst they were apart and spending some good quality time with his family, Sam seemed determined to ruin any joy he had intended to get from this visit.
"Why did you come down here Dean?" his little brother's voice grated out again."Has Dad sent you, because I swore I was done hunting.".
After everything that he has done for his little brother, he thinks that he could at least get a little gratitude. But Sam has always been a little selfish. Instead of looking at all of the things that Dean has gone against his Dad to give Sam what he wanted. Sam could only ever see what he didn't have. Dean loved his brother, so even if he didn't understand why he would want to play soccer instead of learn how to bow hunt, he still figured out a way for him to play. Even if Sam had to do extra training after he was done with his team.
"Why can't a guy come and visit his little brother without the third degree?" Dean answered his brother after taking a breath so that his reply would be at least vaguely calm. "I'm here to see how you're doing Sammy. I thought I deserved a short break so that we could catch up."
Dean took another pull of his beer. Sammy was the most important person in his life. He had practically raised the kid once their mom died and their Dad's absences started to get bigger and bigger. They had not spent this long apart form each other before so Dean decided that he would check on Sam the next time that he was close to Palo Alto. Just because his brother was fighting with their Dad was no reason for Dean to never see his little brother again. He didn't know how his Dad could believe that Sam would never go to college in the first place. Sammy had been looking into colleges since he was 14. Dean had known that he was accepted into Stanford about a year before he finally gathered up the courage to tell their family. As soon as Dean had figured that he was going to be away from the safety of their family, he had started to make detours to Palo Alto. Whenever they were close, he would head over for a day or two. His Dad and Brother probably thought that he was with a woman. By the time that Sam had left, he had taken care of any evil thing that he could find within 15 miles of where his brother would be living. He had a plan to make his brother safer that would not be ready for about a year after he had left.
"So you're here to visit." Sam sounded sceptical."There wasn't a hunt here that brought you here." Sam questioned Dean.
"Nope" Dean replied."I came here for two reasons. First, I wanted to spend some time with my brother. And second, I have just finished something that I want you to have."Dean waited for his brother's sceptical look to fade. He was probably waiting for t the other shoe to drop.
It had taken a lot of time and a hell of a lot of money, but it was worth it. Dean had purchased and improved a house for his brother. It was a small 2 bedroom house that Dean had been working on for over a year. Every inch of the walls had been carved with protection sigils from any culture and religion that he could find. Covered with special paint mixture that he had mixed up that included salt and holy water, the house looked completely normal. The best feature though, was the devils trap. Dean had got the idea when he was reading up on Samuel Colt. The famous gun maker had designed a devils trap that was laid out with iron railways. It was set over hundreds of square miles. Dean had laid a pentagram of hollow iron bars around the house, with the house being the centre, and filled them with pure salt. He had then dug up a trench that he could set up the pentagram in. He could then cover up the trap with dirt and no one would be able to break it. Hell, if you weren't a demon trying to gain access to the house you wouldn't even know it was there. His brother would be living in a fortress.