A/N: Don't own Supernatural, or the brothers unfortunately, I'd love to but don't think I have quite enough money to buy them… Kudos to Kripke's brilliance…

The Deadwood Tree and Miracle Leaves of the Forgotten…

Chapter One

Another day. Yet another stretch of abandoned highway. Making their way to yet another job defeating the usual demon of the week. When was it ever different?? When did they ever get a chance to relax in between jobs? There always seemed to be something going on in every place they stayed.

Dean drummed his fingers along the open window ledge to the '67 Chevy Impala to the beat of AC/DC's High Voltage. Sam lay back in the passenger seat, getting what little sleep he could, sleep not plagued by his usual nightmares. Dean started humming along to the music as well as drumming his fingers, letting his foot rest ever so casually upon the accelerator, the impala's speed boosting. Dean started singing at the top of his lungs, beating his hands upon the steering wheel along to the beat and shoved Sam into his passenger door. Sam grunted awake, a death stare shot in the direction of his older brother. Dean grinned in return.

"Mornin' Sunshine! We're nearly there, about a mile away from the next roadhouse and we can grab something to eat before we get to… where is it we're going again??"

Sam straightened his jacket and wiped the drool that had trickled down his chin while he was asleep. He looked exasperatedly at Dean.

"A town out in the middle of nowhere - a mile or so from Michigan."

"And what exactly are we doing there again??"

"Reports of mysterious disappearances."

"Ah."

"Mmm."

"Sleepin' Beauty get his… beauty sleep?"

"Yup."

"Gave yourself a wash while you were out."

"Shut up!"

Silence between the brothers descended for a moment in the impala, the only noise was the AC/DC tape filtering through.

"How far are we from this place?" Sam asked.

"Saw a sign back there saying it was the next exit."

----

The '67 Impala pulled up at the motel, the purr of the car killed as Dean switched his baby off. They clambered out of the car, around to the trunk and dragged out their duffel bags. With a click the trunk closed and they headed into the dilapidated motel building. Scuffing their feet across the foyer floor, Dean shoved his bag up onto the counter and gave the pretty little blonde behind the counter his award winning smile.

"Room for two please – Two Queens preferably..."

"Sure thang… Lemme just check."

The cute blonde shifted her legs, draping the right over the left, stuck her tongue just past her lips and concentrated on the computer screen in front of her. Dean couldn't help but get a good look at her. Sam elbowed Dean in the ribs. Dean gave Sam a reproving glare. Sam sighed exasperatedly.

He always did this. Every place they went to he would ALWAYS get a good look at the seemingly, every goddamn time, hot receptionists. It was almost the same everywhere they went. The blonde woman raised her head to meet Dean's face staring a little lower than her own. She shot him a glare and Dean shifted a little uncomfortably under her gaze.

"Room 21 – right side of the building. I'll just grab your keys."

She got up from her chair, peeling that right leg from her left and shimmied her way over to the wall that hung the keys to the motel. She grabbed a set and made her way back, shoving them into Dean's hands. Sam gave her a look that said: "I apologize for my douchebag of a brother…" She gave Sam a small smile and Sam dragged Dean out of the foyer.

"Why do you have to ogle every girl we come across??" Sam asked Dean.

"'Coz it's fun. You gotta have a little fun sometime Sammy; you're turning into the right grandfather figure."

----

Sam settled himself down at the motel table adorned with a doily styled table cloth. Dean had scrunched up his nose in protest to the room they were given. He paced the room, smirking at such a feminine room. He grabbed the curtains and threw them back in disgust. Everything was LACEY. Positively evil, Dean had to resist the urge to get Sammy out of the room so he could salt and burn the place.

Sam dragged the laptop out of his duffel bag and flipped it open. He waited for it to load before bringing up a search page. He tapped in the name of the town and started looking into the local history, ignoring Dean's pacing of the room and obvious disproval of the place. He clicked on a particular link and brought up the local newspaper's website.

"Oi… Check it out."

Sam motioned for his brother to join him at the table. Dean switched off the television, daytime soapies… always the same. He came up behind Sam and rested his hands on the back of Sam's chair, reading the screen over his shoulder. Sam spoke up.

"8 disappearances. All random pickings, all well known in the town. Thing is on here, it says they're dead. They're not even saying there's a possibility that they're missing yet still alive. How can you make that kind of assumption??"

----

Dean swung the door of the local diner open and walked through. Sam followed closely behind, making a silent promise to himself that if Dean started anything, he'd claim that he didn't know Dean at all. Revoke the brother title and save himself from embarrassment. Sam sighed.

Dean walked over to the counter and gave the brunette his award winning smile, just like he had done with the receptionist at the motel. She fluttered her eyelashes provocatively back and leant into the counter, pushing her chest out, much to Dean's approval. To make up for Dean's obvious lack of words, Sam elbowed his way into the picture and briefly smiled at the waitress.

"Hi – I'm Sam – this is my brother, Dean," Sam put a hand up to cover his face from Dean and whispered to the waitress, "He's a little… slow, forgive his handicap…"

Dean dug his elbow deep into Sam's ribs, Sam grunted in pain but kept his smile firmly stuck in place. The girl laughed.

"Can I possibly have a word?" Sam asked her, she nodded her head, un-looped the apron from around herself and motioned to one of the free tables in the diner. Sam gratefully sat down and gave Dean a last look, "You wanna go and colour in the table mat??" Dean threw him a glare before making his face go slack.

"Pshhhyyyeeeeaahhh, FUN!" Dean hammed it up. Sam shook his head.

"You're such a loving, caring brother to him!" The girl approved.

"Oh yeah… you know they say looking after ret- disabled people such as Dean is a hard job, I dunno, I just love 'im to bits."

"Awww!" The girl grinned.

"Can I ask you a question completely unrelated??"

"Sure, shoot." The girl gave him a beaming smile.

"Uhh… you know those people that went missing? Eight, I think was the count last… Who exactly were they?"

"Wow, you waste no time… Uhh… We can't exactly talk here – follow me."

She got up and motioned for Sam to join her, Sam went and stood behind Dean having fun with his table mat and rested a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm going to be back in FIVE minutes Dean – don't go ANYWHERE, okay big brother??"

"M'okay! LOVE colour!" Dean exclaimed, knowing grin on his face. Dean chanced a punch to Sam's gut while the girl's back was turned, earning him a satisfied grunt. "You're SO going to get it when we get out of here." He whispered with menace.

----

They walked out of the diner, making sure their backs were turned. Dean made sure no-one was watching before falling back just a little bit. He waited until Sam was next to the impala before slamming him face first onto the hood. He grabbed Sam's arm and twisted it up his back, making Sam grunt in pain. He lowered his face next to Sam's and whispered into his ear.

"You EVER make me out to be disabled again; you will NOT live to see the next day… You hear me???"

Sam grunted. Dean twisted Sam's arm further up his back. Sam cried out in pain.

"OKAY!"

Dean let him get up a little bit before slamming Sam back down on the hood. He sauntered over to the driver's side, gave the girl in the window of the diner a small smile and wave and gunned the engine just as Sam opened the passenger door. Sam barely got into the car before Dean stepped on the accelerator and out of the car park. Sam grunted and shut the door, snapping his seat belt on before his brother sought to make him fly through the windshield. Dean spoke up.

"Next time, YOU play the handicapped kid."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Next time, pay attention to the JOB and not jugs! Job and Jugs sound and are spelt differently, Dean. Learn it."

"Hey! I'm just trying to have some fun!"

"Not when people's LIVES are at stake!"

"You're a killjoy."

"Thankyou."

"So what did you find out anyway??"

"She had pink and purple knickers…" Sam blurted before realizing.

"You asshole!" Dean exclaimed, punching Sam in the arm.

Sam laughed, "The eight people, all vary in age, all knew each other. All go missing in around the same spot. All were either walking to work, or to school, or… walking, all on the same stretch of road. Never turn up at their destinations. Oh and there's another thing. She said she heard from someone else that their friend had seen something really weird and wonderful."

"Weird and wonderful huh? What could be THAT good??"

"Said it was a tree… but the friend thought her friend was delusional, because she couldn't see it when the person who saw it in the first place took her to see."

"Sounds like a giant game of Chinese whispers…"

"Yeah, but worth checking out, she said someone died in that area…"

"Yeah, well check out on the laptop when we get back to the motel. Oh and, remember, you're dead."

"Sure, sure, Dean."

----

Sam clicked through the multitude of websites that came up in the search he'd typed into Google, before he found the town's website. He clicked on the link and brought up the new page. Scrolling down he found, "Interesting Facts". He clicked on it and read through the different things. Some were meaningless, some were indeed interesting but he wasn't interested. He sighed, nothing. He went back to the Google search and clicked on the next link. A local newspaper. One of the story lines beneath read, "MAN IN WOODS DEAD FROM HEART FAILURE". Who would be interested in a headline like that? Sam would be. He went to the article and began to read.

"Oi DEAN!"

Dean sauntered out of the bathroom, a towel slung around his waist, another in his hands palming his hair dry.

"What??"

Sam rolled his eyes, "Local reserve just off the road people disappeared from. That's where we find it."

"You sure we're gonna be able to even see this thing?? What if this friend of a friend of that chick I think you got to do because of my feigned disability is really delusional??"

Sam rolled his eyes again, "Better safe than sorry."

"Oh, you're not safe, but you're gonna be sorry when I find out just what you did with that chick."

The impala purred down the road and came to a slow stop outside a random, seemingly vacant building. The brothers stepped out of the car, Sam headed to the trunk and pulled out their duffel bags and Dean locked the doors. Snapping the trunk shut, they crossed the street and began walking alongside the wildlife reserve. Coming to a gate, they entered.

"So how do we know where this place is??" Dean asked.

"I dunno… but I asked Michaela that- "

"Oh so that's Miss Thing's name?? Huh???"

"Dean."

"Sam – don't mess with me, geez man."

"She said her friend said it was about a twenty minute walk into the reserve from the road."

"What did you do with her?? Did you do her??"

"I'm not talking about this with you."

"Why the hell not?! I have the right to know!"

Sam scoffed.

Dean huffed and pushed past Sam into the reserve, stepping over a fallen log.

Sam smirked at Dean's back and followed.

Another 15 minutes later…

"You think the thing exists??"

"I dunno – keep walking." Sam urged Dean on.

"What if it's all a joke??"

"Then I guess it's on us…"

"What if it's real??"

"Then we're just as delusional as that girl."

"What does any of this have to do with the eight missing people??"

"I dunno…"

"Great… I bet this weird and wonderful magical tree doesn't even EXIST!"

"Dean, turn around."

"What?!"

"Turn around and take a look in front of you."

Dean turned around and came face to… well tree… with their search goal. They found it. It was magnificent. It exuded power of an unusual kind and was like nothing the brothers had ever seen in their lives thus far. The majestic tree stretched almost higher than they could see, its bark blackened and withered yet it didn't look one bit frail and vulnerable. Deep scores patterned the trunk of the tree and it seemingly twisted around itself. Its branches reached out like powerful arms in all directions, blocking out most of the now clouded over sky. A chill wind ripped through the area, settling itself deep within the brothers, making them shiver uncontrollably. There was something more to this tree.

Dean stepped forward and reached a hand out to touch the bark of the trunk. Sam grabbed his arm hastily and forced Dean back. Dean threw him a questioning look and Sam shook his head. Sam stretched his head back and looked up as far as he could. The clouds now overtaking the blue of the sky, the wind picking up speed and chill. Dean hugged his arms to his upper body as Sam continued to take in the sight of the tree. A voice whispered on the wind…

"My boys… Oh my wonderful boys…"

TBC…

A/N: So… What do you think?? Please Review!!