Supernatural does not belong to me, although I wish it did. I am simply playing in Kirpke's sandbox for a bit. All rights and ownership are the property of Kripke and the CW network. I am not making any money from this; it is for my own personal pleasure.

Synopsis: Set at the start of Season One, Dean had been in a wheelchair since his father disappeared more than a year ago and he finally has to tell Sam… There'd been an accident that night and Dean had paid a very high price….one he still doesn't understand. The story will have some hunts from season one and possibly into season two…the brothers will continue their search for their father…there will be alterations to the hunts to accommodate Dean's new situation. I have every intention of returning Dean to good health before this ends…but getting there is going to be bumpy.

WARNING:These chapters can contain a lot of angst and can get a little graphic with the pain and blood...consider yourself warned. Don't like...Don't Read...

Please keep in mind that I do not have a Beta, so all grammatical errors are my own. Not Slash. Brotherly love and Angst only…

Please Review: So I know there's still interest in this little story.

From the previous Chapter...

Sam shot a surprised look at his brother and then stepped back to allow Dean some privacy. He had no clue whether or not Dean could actually accomplish this task alone, but Sam was sure as hell willing to let him keep some dignity and try.

Once Dean had finished he managed to get himself settled back in the chair and then called out for Sam's help with the door. His brother was there immediately, coming through the door in a lightening quick manner and rolling him into the other room. "You want to go back to bed, Dean?"

"No. I've spent enough time lying down to last me for a life time. Can we go out into the other room?" Dean asked. He thought about his appearance and then amended his request. "Wait. I think I need a shower before I talk to anyone but you."

Sam raised his eyebrows and then smiled. "You should really shower before you talk to even me…you're kinda ripe dude." A slow smiled spread across Dean's face as he recognized the banter and he slipped back into his role as older brother and Sam slipped back into that of little brother.

"Okay, but you're not bathing me Sammy…I've got some pride left." Dean continued to smile at Sam as he turned them around and headed back into the small bathroom. Luckily it had a tub and Dean said a silent 'thank you' to anyone that might be listening for that small gift. "Can you go grab my duffel? I think I can manage once I'm settled in."

Sam nodded. "Okay, just keep that shoulder out of the water Dean. I don't want a repeat of everything we went through already this week." He turned and walked briskly out of the bathroom.

Dean watched as Sam went and his gaze narrowed in sadness. "Me neither, Sammy." He whispered.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 35

Back on the Road

Dean was sitting quietly at one of the empty tables in the back of the bar. He was nursing a beer as he contemplated something that only he knew. Dean had finally managed to convince his nurse maid of a little brother that it wouldn't kill him to drink one. He inhaled slowly and gently closed his eyes as he thought about the last two weeks.

Ellen had allowed them to stay in the back room of the bar, while he'd been recuperating. A fact that I am extremely grateful for…last thing I wanted to was go back to Bobby's and admit that I left knowing I had an infectious bullet wound. He thought.

Sam had helped to fix and clean up the place in return for the board. She hadn't asked for anything in return for the room, but both Sam and Dean felt like they should pitch in somehow. ..And since Dean wasn't really able to do too much as of yet; that burden had fallen on Sammy.

And now Dean was staring at the peeling label of the beer bottle and trying to figure out this damn case that Jo had brought to their attention. The fight between her and Ellen had been pretty heated and Jo had insisted that Dean and Sam at least look into it. He reached down and flipped the page over, the articles were well researched the kid had actually done a pretty good job of pulling the information together in a logical manner.

"So all of the women were young and blonde…" Jo explained as she slipped up behind Dean and then pulled out the chair across from him sinking quietly into it. He immediately noticed that she had set down another beer and a glass of water. He nodded, indicating that he was listening and then reached for the water. Sam is going to start giving me shit if I drink a second beer. Much as I might want one. Dean thought in slight irritation…at no one imparticular.

He really didn't like being told how to think or what he could or could not do, but Sammy had just nursed him back from the brink of death…so Dean figured he didn't need to piss off his little brother at the moment.

"Yeah, I noticed that." Dean tried not to look up at the petite woman's face. Her big doe-like brown eyes were kinda mesmerizing. And he was finding it a little difficult to concentrate when she was staring at him like that. It had been a while since Dean had really engaged in anything other than casual contact with someone of the opposite sex. And he really didn't like the fact that he no longer felt in control of those types of situations. The squirming sensation in his gut was a pretty nasty reminder of how much of his 'mojo' he'd lost over the last four years.

Jo looked around the immediate area and then nodded at Sam, who was standing behind the bar watching the two of them with unabashed interest. The younger Winchester smiled and nodded back as his curious eyes flickered over to his older brother's back.

"So…how much longer are you guys going to…ya know…be around?" She asked as she reached for the untouched beer and took a long swallow of honey colored liquid.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows in appreciation before he answered. "Uh…I don't know. My shoulder's feeling pretty good." She continued to stare at him and he started to shift uncomfortably beneath her intense gaze and finally dropped his gaze. "Soon…we'll be leaving soon."

She nodded slowly as her lips thinned. "I figured."

Sam took the hint as Dean threw him a desperate look over his right shoulder. He decided to go and save his brother. Looking at Dean's face, Sam would have thought that his brother was being questioned in the style of the Spanish Inquisition. Not by a one hundred pound woman-child, frankly it was a little entertaining. "Dean…I could use your help over here." Sam held up a folder that Ash had given him earlier, he'd been waiting for the perfect time to talk to Dean about the information…as he stared at the worried look in his brother's green eyes, he knew that this was a very good time.

"Oh…okay Sammy." Dean looked back at Jo. "Uhm…I gotta go…over there." He reached down, grasping the wheels of his chair biting at his lower lip as the pain in his shoulder reminded him that he wasn't 100 percent yet. The fiery discomfort that pulsed through his side had him shifting and swallowing a groan.

"You want me to…" Sam started. He bit off the rest of his offer when Dean threw him a raised eyebrow complete with an icy glare. Sam held up his hands in placating manner and shrugged his shoulders indifferently. The slight shake of his head the only outward sign of his disagreement with Dean's attitude.

Dean pointedly ignored the gestures and rolled slowly into their shared room. He listened for Sam to gently close the door behind them. Ash was seated at the small desk in the corner, his computer plugged into the only outlet that wasn't currently in use. "So Ash, What did you find?"

XXXX

"Hey Ellen?" Sam called as he entered the small office off the back of the kitchen area. He finally spied the older woman seated behind a small but sturdy looking desk. She was sifting through piles of receipts, her glasses situated low on her face.

"Yeah, Sam?" Her answer came without her even looking up as she scrunched her nose trying to figure out something that she was having trouble with. When he didn't immediately say anything, she glanced up and looked at him over the rim of the glasses. "You okay sweetie?"

Sam blew out a loud breath and slowly sat down in a chair near the door. "Dean and I are going to get on the road first thing in the morning." He smiled. "I just wanted to thank you for helping me save his life."

Sam couldn't help the feelings of warmth he had while looking at the woman. She exuded all the things that he assumed a mother would…of course I have no frame of reference there. He thought sadly.

She leaned over and gently squeezed his arm. "Sam, it was my pleasure. I'm just glad I was able to help. You boys don't have to leave, ya know. You can use that room as long as you need to." Ellen didn't want them to take off. She found that she really liked these two boys and having two more friendly faces around the bar was…really nice.

Sam shrugged. "We have unfinished business." He licked his lips before continuing. "Can I ask you something?"

She nodded, her eyes flickering up to meet his shrouded gaze.

"How did you know our father?" Sam was more than a little surprised when she sucked in an angry breath and clenched her jaw tightly in response. That seemed to be a normal reaction by most people had when he mentioned their father. The man hadn't really got along with anyone…including his own sons. Sam's anger surfaced slightly as he was assaulted with the unwanted visual image of John Winchester beating on Dean. His eyelids dropped shut as he pushed the crystal clear visions away and slammed the lid closed on his righteous anger.

Ellen opened her mouth several times and then closed it again before she finally decided what she wanted to say to Sam. "Sam, your father and my…husband…they knew each other for a long time. I really don't think it's going to help either one of us get into specifics here. Suffice it to say…that I trusted the man and he let me down." Her eyes took on a far off look that Sam didn't understand, but he certainly understood the ability of his father to let down the people around him.

"Join the club. We have quite an illustrious membership." Sam muttered.

She tilted her head and her eyes softened. "Sam…you and Dean…you've grown into amazing men. In spite of who your father was. Take care of your brother…" She continued when Sam's face lightened at the mere mention of his brother.

"I plan on it." He pulled in a deep breath and stood up. "Anyways…I just wanted to thank you."

"Hey, did you get the information you needed from Ash?" She continued.

Sam nodded. "He gave us a direction to go in…and that's more than either of us had before we came here." His eyes drifted to the door, Sam knew that Dean was in their room, packing their gear for the early morning departure. "I have to find the demon that did this to Dean."

She arched her eyebrows and reached up to remove the glasses. "A demon did this to Dean?" Ellen turned so that she was looking directly at the young man standing in her office. He shifted uncomfortably as his eyes flitted around the room, almost like he was looking for an escape.

His eyelids dropped closed as he reached up and pinched the bridge of his nose in an almost tangible representation of his internal pain. "I shot Dean." He nearly whispered.

Ellen stood up and crossed to where he was doing his level best not to look at her. She reached up and gently took his chin tilting it so that he was forced to open his eyes and look down at her. The remorse that she saw reflected there made her heart ache for this small family. "Sam, whatever made you do that to your brother…it wasn't you."

He looked at her in dismay. "How can you know that Ellen? I was possessed by a demon and it immediately went after Dean. That's why he's in a wheelchair…again." Sam simply couldn't accept that somewhere he'd been contaminated with the very essence of evil and it kept finding him through encounters with the supernatural. And Dean? He was going to be the first person that that evil took out. He'd been the first target to be injured as a result of Sam's infection by the ghost, the one that had paid the price for their father's deal, and it was Dean that had been the primary focus of the demon while he'd been possessed.

"Possessed? By a demon?" She sank back into her chair and looked down at her hands before bringing her eyes back up to his emotional gaze. "It crippled Dean? Why? What did it hope to gain from that?"

"This particular demon…it wants something from me…and it thinks Dean is in the way." He held up his hands. "Before you ask…we don't know what it wants or why. That's what we were hoping Ash could tell us. He was putting together some information that our father had gathered along with some stuff that Bobby found." Sam pulled in an unsteady breath. He hadn't realized just how badly he'd needed to say this stuff to someone besides Dean. He needed someone to understand that he hadn't meant for his brother get hurt and that he would do anything to ensure that it didn't happen again.

"I'll make sure that he continues to work that information." She said evenly as she picked her glasses back up and placed them back on her face.

Sam stared at her dumbfounded. "That's it? You're not scared, disgusted, or angry with me?"

She titled her head and shook it slowly 'no'. "Sam…I've been around the supernatural for a very long time. I know what it can do to a person…how it can make a person become something that they're not. Your brother knows this too."

Sam chuckled slightly at that. "Yeah…he basically said the same thing."

"You should listen to him…he's a lot smarter than you think…and Sam?" She waited as he looked her in the eyes. "Take care of him…because he's going to take care of you, whether you want it or not."

"I know…that's what scares me." He said as he pushed the door open and exited the small office in search of his brother.

XXXX

Dean leaned against the passenger door as the road once again flew under the tires of his baby. He was listening to Sam drone on about something…healthy salads? He wasn't really listening very closely. Dean's mind was turning over the information that they'd been given for this hunt. Jo had talked to them at great length and against her mother's wishes, telling them what she knew of the case.

"So this is the building….Dean? Are you even listening to me?" Sam said as he blew out a long breath in irritation as his eyes flickered over to his brother's silent form. He placed the car in park and turned slightly in his seat so he could see Dean more clearly before questioning him further.

"Uh…what? Sorry Sammy, what did you say?" Dean said as he heard his name.

"This is the building where the women keep disappearing. Should we go check it out?" Sam wanted to go get a motel room and get some sleep, but people were dying…or at the very least disappearing without a trace. So he put his own wants on the back burner for the time being.

Dean licked his lips and nodded slowly. "I think we should." He clenched his jaw as he ignored an uncomfortable sensation resonating from his lower back. Dean reached down and shifted his legs to try and alleviate the twinges of pain.

Sam's eyes followed his brother's movements like a hawk and he furrowed his eyebrows in rising concern. "You feeling okay, Dean?" He knew that simply asking this question was possibly setting his brother down an angry ranting road. But damn-it, I worry about you Dean. Deal with it. Sam thought silently as his brother turned slightly irritated eyes in his direction.

"I'm fine Sam. I'll let you know if this gets to be too much." Dean had absolutely no intention of telling Sam anything of the sort. But if this got his overly emotional little brother off his back for the time being…then so be it. He'd accepted that Sam would be hounding him for a while yet…but that didn't mean that he liked it. Or that he wouldn't be calling his brother on it.

Sam shook his head and climbed out of the car, pushing the door closed behind himself as he walked toward the trunk. He returned moments later…on Dean's side of the car with his brother's wheelchair in tow. Dean opened his own door and then shifted his legs with his hands so that they were out of the car, allowing him to reach out and shift his body over…sinking into the leather of the chair. He grunted as his shoulder flared with a nasty little reminder of his, only partially healed, bullet wound. His little brother watched with a worried expression on his face, but didn't interfere. Sam was trying not to make Dean feel like he was dependent on anyone…even though he definitely was.

They passed through the front doors of the apartment complex in silence, the manager meeting them immediately when Sam introduced them…as potential tenants. The guy told them which apartment was open; he did however fail to mention that the last tenant had disappeared just a few days earlier. Or that there had been other unexplained disappearances in this building. Dean wondered if the guy ever told any of the potential renters any of this or if he just rented out the apartments and then went home at the end of the day.

They left the guy's office several minutes later and went to check out the apartment. Dean was grateful as they came around a corner and he noticed that there was an elevator installed. He really didn't want Sam pulling up the stairs backwards in his chair; or worse…waiting down here while his little brother went and checked out the place…alone.

Sam picked the lock and slowly pushed the door open, stepping back and allowing Dean to roll through the door first.

Dean's eyes flickered around the room. He immediately noticed that there was a large crack that ran not only up the wall, but also across the ceiling of the apartment. Something pretty damn powerful would have had to rock this place to make that a crack that size. Dean thought silently. His gaze caught a dark stain running down the wall from one of the electrical plugs. The stuff was black and thick and appeared to originate behind inside of the wall. Ectoplasm? He wonder silently.

Sam stepped up the wall and crouched down looking at the same stain that Dean had noticed. "Ectoplasm." He said simply.

"That would have to be one majorly pissed off spirit." Dean responded immediately.

"Dean, I've only seen this stuff like twice." Sam turned and shook his head as he processed what he was seeing and started to connect the dots.

Well, I guess we'll be having a conversation about this later…connecting all the suspicions. Dean thought with interest. He'd missed having those types of conversations with his little brother. The ones where they were collaborative and not argumentative about what they were hunting.

They were just starting to take a serious look at the place when a familiar voice floated through the hallway, causing them both to stop and listen. "Yeah, I mean I just really wanted to get a new place in the city. My boyfriend and his friend should be here soon…if they're not here already."

Dean's eyelids dropped closed as he recognized Jo Harvelle's voice. She'd gone on the hunt even after her mother had begged her not to and Dean and Sam had refused to take her with them.

Shit… The thought ran through Dean's head and he looked over at the similar look on his brother's face….they had unwanted company on this hunt after all.

TBC…

Author's Note: This is going have some reflections from the episode 'No Exit' from season two. I really like this episode because it showed some of Dean's past and allowed a connection to be established with Jo that would help drive future episodes. The twist for this is going to come in when during this hunt, Sam and Dean come across an unexpected clue as to the demon's where-about's. Thanks to everyone that read and took the time to review…I appreciate it so much. Thank you to Tricia for your great review and any others that I cannot PM.

Please Review: I'm still enjoying writing this story. Are you still enjoying reading it?