Dean at age 13
Dean Winchester woke up with a start. There was scratching at the door to the hotel room. Moving to the nightstand, Dean opened it slowly and grabbed his father's gun. Dad had left Dean and Sam at the motel the night before and under strict orders from Dad, Dean and Sam were not allowed to leave the hotel room for the next five days that Dad was gone. Dad gave Dean strict orders to use the gun under 'extreme circumstances.' Dean figured someone getting into their hotel room qualified as an extreme circumstance. The scratching at the door had stopped. Dean sat motionless and waited. Nothing happened. Dean started to move back toward the bed when the door handle moved. Turning he accidentally bumped Sam's bed and woke up his younger brother. "Dean, what . . .?" Sam began. Dean grabbed his brother and wrapped his arm around Sam's mouth. Even in the dark, Dean could sense his brother's fear and that strengthen Dean's resolve to keep his brother safe. The handle turned one way and then the other and stopped. Dean let go of Sam's mouth and motioned for his brother to be quiet. Acting on instinct, Sam sat still and never moved. Dean moved forward again. This time, the door burst open. A tall figure with glowing eyes entered the room. Dean tried to fire the gun, but forgot to remove the safety, so the gun would not discharge. The figure leaned over and plucked the gun from Dean's grasp. The touch of it made Dean physically ill. He could sense that it wanted something from him. Pushing himself forward, Dean threw his body into the figure, which was enough to knock it off balance. Again, contact with the creature made Dean ill and he could barely stand. Sam, seeing his brother was in trouble, reached out to Dean and grabbed his brother's hand. Forcing himself to get up, Dean held onto Sam's hand and both boys ran for the closet door. Shoving his brother in there, Dean shut the door and turned. The creature was upon him and . . .
Dean at age 29
Dean Winchester woke up with Sam hovering over him. Immediately, Dean defensively recoiled. He rarely liked anyone too close to him. Sex was one thing, but hugging or any other intimate gesture made him uncomfortable. Dean's defensiveness caused Sam to move back, but he was still staring at his brother with concern. Dean sat up and shook his head. He wanted to get rid of those images that were floating around his head. Dean had not had a dream like this in years, but since taking the African dream root, the dream, really a nightmare, kept recurring.
Great, thought Dean as he sat up, that's all I need to deal with right now.
There were three months left on Dean's contract with the crossroads demon and he, Sam and Bobby were no closer to finding a way to break that contract than they were the day Dean made the deal. Dean had his moments of despair, but as he saw it, he was lucky for every extra hour he had been given. Dean knew that he should have died so many times over, but was always brought back again. While he never got to have the life he wanted, he felt blessed to have Sam in his life. Whenever he looked at his little brother, it always made all of Dean's sacrifices worth it.
"Dean" began Sam.
"Dean shook his head. He knew Sam was worried, even fearful for his brother's state of mind.
"I'm fine, Sammy." said Dean. "Please stop worrying about me."
Sam opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it. Since taking the African dream root, Sam knew that there had been a change in Dean. In fact, there had been a change in both of them. Sam felt his psychic abilities grow even stronger while Dean's past appeared to be coming back to haunt him. Neither brother would admit it to the other, but these changes frighten them.
Sam grabbed his toothbrush and clothes and headed to the bathroom without another word. Dean leaned back on his pillows in relief. He had no idea how to tell Sam about his dream even though he desperately wanted to share it with his brother. Pushing himself up, Dean sat up in bed and felt a familiar wave of nausea overcome him. He hadn't felt that sick since he was 13. Suddenly, Dean felt fearful. Was it happening again?
The bathroom door opened and Sam walked out. He looked over at Dean who was holding his head in his hands. Sam usually badgered his brother to talk to him, but he decided that this time he would let Dean come to him. Whatever this was that Dean was dealing with, Sam thought, bugging him wouldn't make his brother tell him anything. Grabbing his keys, Sam headed for the door.
"I'm grabbing some coffee." said Sam. "Do you want something?"
Dean managed to lift his head and look up at Sam. He nodded. "Some coffee would be great."
Sam nodded in return and shut the door behind him. Dean forced himself to stand up and a wave of nausea overcame him that was so strong he had to sit back down. Dean gritted his teeth and balled his hands into fists. This was not going to happen to him again. He wouldn't let it. If he had a chance, he would have killed that thing 16 years ago. Forcing himself to stand up, Dean was suddenly struck with the realization that whatever it was that creature who had attacked him and Sam when they were children was back. It was here and Dean planned to hunt it down and kill it for good.