Synopsis: When Dean makes one seemingly innocent mistake and is permanently injured on a hunt, how will his hunter father and studious little brother handle the changes? Can Dean learn to hunt with a disability? Will his father ever fully really accept this new side of his eldest son? What happens when the boys are thrown into an extremely dangerous situation…can they cope in John's absence and with the new limitations placed on Dean. This story will contain flashbacks that will enlighten the readers of Dean and Sam's past as it pertains to everything about the recovery from this one mistake.
Legalities: I don't own any characters associated with Supernatural…they belong exclusively to Kripke and the CW network…I only play in their sandbox for my own amusement and yours. I am not making any money from this, it is a guilty pleasure.
This story is both canon and AU based on Dean's disability. I'm on an injured Dean kick right now…so bear with me. This is NOT a SLASH story; it contains brotherly love, angst, and hurt/comfort only.
*And italics represent when the boys are signing and not speaking out loud.*
Chapter 3
A Moose and the Snow Fox
-December 1996-
Dean stared at the twinkling mass of Christmas lights located in the room next to theirs. He hated how Sammy would look inside those places with wonder in his soft blue-green eyes complete with a longing that Dean couldn't fill.
His hearing was the still the same, but Sam had insisted that they work on the sign language thing together. He was also making Dean sit and try to figure out what he was saying in an attempt to help with lip reading. While the help wasn't exactly what the older boy wanted…he was trying to be receptive to it. And that was hard. Dean Winchester wasn't exactly the best patient and he sure as hell didn't like to ask for or receive help of any kind.
Their father had been unusually quiet over the past few months. Of course that was only when he was actually around; John was finding more reasons to hunt than ever before. It was almost like he was trying to make up for Dean's mistake that night. When he was around, he didn't really talk to his oldest boy. And Dean noticed.
How could he not? Since the age of four, the little blonde haired, green eyed boy had carefully watched and learned from his father's actions and his inactions. And unfortunately he was also learning from the unfamiliar silence as well. Sam had seen the whole thing happening before his eyes and he knew that he couldn't change it…and that pissed him off to no end.
The colored lights were a bright reminder of a life they would never fit into…one the Winchester boys could never fully understand. Dean sighed and then shook his head in irritation when he didn't hear the rush of air from between his own lips. Part of him wondered if he could even hunt in this condition…could he protect Sam if he couldn't hear? Dean reached up and scrubbed a hand down his face in frustration. A slight pull of the scars that now littered his chest made him grimace at the discomfort. It didn't hurt per say…but it definitely reminded him that he was damaged goods.
Yeah, like I didn't know that before. He thought in rising irritation. Dean pushed up from his seat and wandered back to his own side of the bed. Whenever their father was around, he and Sam were forced to share the other bed and John was due back tonight.
His intelligent green eyes landed on the slight figure of his younger brother. Sam was snoring softly, his head turned toward the wall and completely unaware of the attention. Which is good, because he'd whine at me for it. Dean thought as he thinned his lips and inhaled slowly. He decided against the bed and wandered over to the small kitchen table, flipping on the tiny lamp in the corner. He flinched when he saw the 'Sign Language' book lying opened to the word Brother…
"Sammy…" the word fell from his lips without him thinking about it. He sank into the worn wooden chair and started to flip through the book. The pictures were helpful, but he knew that he would have to make a concentrated effort to learn this stuff. He wasn't the brainiac that Sam was, but he was by no means stupid. And if Sam could take the time to learn it for him…then he would learn it for Sam. It never occurred to Dean that he might need this for his own life…it would never occur to him. But anything that he could do to make Sam's life easier…that was a no brainer.
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-December 2006-
Sam was sleeping in the passenger seat, his Law Books scattered over the bench seat next to his hip. Dean's gaze drifted between the road and the obviously uncomfortable position his brother's neck was in. It was scrunched over and he knew that Sam was gonna wake up with one hell of a headache.
The snow was falling heavily outside the windows of the black car as it shot down the narrow two-lane highway. The trees were heavy with the icy white stuff and blocking out any of the light that might normally filter down to the black road. The last place that they wanted to be on a night like this was on a deserted highway in the middle of the winter up in the Sierra's…but that was exactly where the trail for their father had lead them. It was only three days before Christmas and the sudden winter storm had caught Dean off guard. He glanced down at the fuel gauge and he silently thanked God that he'd thought to stop and fill up at the last station he'd seen. They were riding on an almost a full tank of gas and the heater was throwing out a comfortable temperature as storm outside raged.
Dean only looked away from the road a split second, long enough to reach over and try to maneuver Sam's head into a better position. His little brother snorted and shifted, curling in toward the door…
It happened in an instant.
His eyes were returning to the icy road and movement caught his attention almost instantly. A large Moose was moving across the road directly in front of the car. Dean's brain did mental gymnastics as he debated a response for a fraction of a second and then the choice was pulled from his grasp. A second larger Moose ran out of the dark cover of the foliage and Dean's body reacted on instinct. His foot slammed down on the brakes, his right arm shot out in front of Sam and he screamed his brother's name all at the same time. "Sammy!"
Sam's eyes shot open and he grunted as Dean's arm slammed into his chest and then he felt the whole car lurch and spin as they were suddenly spinning. "Dean!" He tried to brace for an impact he knew was inevitable, but he wasn't prepared as the car careened off the edge of the road and rampaged down the side of the steep mountain.
Trees were busted down and thrown out of the path as the car careened in an uncontrolled descent, snow was flying everywhere and there was the distinct splash of blood across the now cracked glass of the front windshield. Sam's head was spinning, his eyes flashed to Dean's terrified green gaze as they continued to slip further from the road in a sideways slide. The car bounced and jumped as it hit unseen objects…finally coming to a complete stop when Dean's side of the car smashed into an enormous pine tree, the base almost as wide as the driver's door. The squeal of the metal and the hissing grind of the engine roared in the darkness as the crumpled form of the Impala settled against the trunk.
Snow dropped from the huge tree and enveloped the outside of the car in a blanket of soft white. The interior going pitch black in an instant as the engine continued to whine in the cold night air. A Snow Fox was startled from its den and skirted out into the black night. The tracks it left in its wake disappearing quickly as the snow increased and the wind started to pick up. The snow was starting to swirl and shift building a wall of white against the outside of the car. The passenger would have a hard time opening the door in the very near future…and as for the driver's side? It was pinned against the immovable mass of the ancient tree. The branches so heavy with snow that they seemed to reach down and embrace the car like a child.
Inside the car there was no movement. Neither Winchester was conscious. Sam's books were now strewn all over the floor and one of them had even landed near Dean's right foot. The clunking struggle of the heater was the only sound as it worked to push luke-warm air inside the mangled interior. The front windshield had numerous long spidery cracks running from side to side and extending to the top of the car.
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-December 1996-
Something was off and it eventually pushed Sam toward full awareness. He shifted, stretching out his cramped muscles and realized that he was sleeping in the small full sized bed alone. He twisted and worked to untangle himself from the sheets, his gaze sweeping the small motel room for his brother. His search stopped short when he saw the top of Dean's head lying on his arms at the table a few feet away. Sam glanced over at the other bed and sighed when he saw that their father still wasn't back yet. "Typical." He muttered as he pulled himself from the warm sheets.
He inhaled sharply at the chill in the air and the bite of uncomfortable cold as his bare foot hit the wooden floorboards. Sam moved quickly toward Dean, he was careful not to startle his brother…that had gotten him punched more than once in recent months. It wasn't that Dean wasn't horrified every time it happened, but he couldn't just turn off years of instinct because one part of his body had betrayed him. Sam knew that…and he never blamed his brother for the unconscious reaction. But that didn't stop Dean from beating himself up for weeks every time it had happened.
A small smile pulled at the corners of his lips when Sam noticed that Dean was asleep on top of the sign language book. He'd been reading and trying to learn the new language…and had fallen asleep. The last thought had Sam chuckling to himself. Just like his big brother to fall asleep if there was a book anywhere near him. The only time Dean ever read was when it involved car engines…and Sam didn't think that Chilton's counted as literature…or when there was some sort of scantily clad woman involved. Or if there was a hunt on their horizon that he needs to study up on the monster. Sam's snorted at this. Yeah, that pretty much summed up his older brother's view of literature.
Dean shifted in his sleep and a slight groan escaped from his chest as his face pinched in pain. He wasn't saying anything, but it was obvious to Sam that Dean was dreaming. And whatever Dean was dreaming about…it wasn't pleasant. "No…Sammy…come on, bro. Wake up…damn ghost…I'm sorry." The words were disjointed but clear as Dean continued to shift uncomfortably, his eyes moving rapidly beneath his closed eyelids as the light from the small lamp near his shoulder accentuated the soft smattering of freckles that graced the bridge of his nose.
Sam's eyes narrowed and he decided instantly that it didn't matter if he got punched again, he wouldn't sit and watch his brother suffer at the hands of his own twisted mind. It only took a moment for him to realize that Dean was thinking about the night he'd been injured. The night that Sam had been tossed into that ghost's grave and had failed to answer Dean for 25 whole seconds.
He slipped around behind Dean, ready to duck and gently reached out to shake the shivering shoulders. "Dean?" Sam knew that his brother couldn't hear him, but it made him feel better to talk out loud. A shudder ran through Dean's shoulders before he stopped shaking and then turned bloodshot glassy eyes in his little brother's direction. He blinked several more times and then surged to his feet pulling Sam into a tight and completely unexpected hug. It caught Sam so off guard that he just stood there for a moment before he thought to pull his own arms up and wrap them around his big brother.
No words were spoken when Dean finally release Sam. No words were needed. Sam knew what Dean had said without saying a word…and Dean knew that Sam returned the sentiment without uttering a syllable.
TBC…
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone that read and reviewed the last chapter. To those of you that I cannot PM, Alena…thank you for taking the time. I'll try and get the next chapter up quickly, It's a cliffy…I know.
Please Review: I want to know if you are on board with where this is headed.
