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

They headed out again looking anywhere that a girl might have been taken from. They had even gone so far as to bust open the walls and start checking every crevice for any signs of the missing women. Dean was currently seated near a hole that, against his wishes, Sam and Jo had gone into. He stared down at his legs as they listed off to the side of his chair and bit his lip in anger. If he hadn't gotten his ability to walk taken away again, it would be him inside the walls…and not Sammy. He hated that all he was good for was to sit here and man the phone.

"I think we found something. I'm too big to check it out, so Jo's going to do it." Sam said.

"What? No, you guys come back and we'll figure something else out." Dean shot back in a tight voice.

Jo's voice rang across the speaker. "We gotta find these girls…don't we?" She was obviously worried and excited all at the same time. It was evident in her high pitched voice and the way that she was making total sense…much to Dean's irritation.

"Don't you lose her Sammy." Dean said. He could almost hear the 'eye-roll' over the open phone line. But he definitely heard the loud sigh of indignation as Sam answered him.

"I won't, Dean."

Yeah…famous last words. Dean thought as sat back to wait for the other two to return.

XXXX

Chapter 37

Complicated Relationships

Dean picked absently at his fingernails and huffed as he waited. He kept thinking back to the first time that he'd ever met Jo. It had been nearly four years ago and he hadn't really paid too much attention to her then. He'd been a little overwhelmed with the changes in his father and the fact that his little brother had left them…and then they'd been off again.

That particular thought sent him off in a spiral of self-assessment, where Sam was concerned, and that was never good for Dean. He sighed and reached up to pinch at the bridge of his nose and breathed in a deep breath to try and calm his nerves.

He really disliked that he'd been relegated to the 'waiting room'. Dean wasn't one to just sit back and let other people take the lead on most stuff. Particularly when he'd been the one to tell her mother that they hadn't ever seen her, he had no intention of letting anything happen to Jo. He rolled over to the end of the hallway, hoping that he could listen for Sam and Jo inside the walls. But as he leaned forward he found that he couldn't hear anything at all.

"Come on Sammy. Where are you guys?" He mumbled out loud. "Great now I'm talking to myself…that's just peachy."

"Dean!" Sam's voice interrupted Dean's reflections on himself.

"Sam?" He called back. Sam rushed around the corner, his face a mask of worry. He skidded to a halt and grabbed onto the handles of Dean's rickety old wheelchair. "What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean leaned forward slightly, looking expectantly for the petite blonde. She was nowhere to be seen. "Where's Jo?"

Sam blinked several times and then his eyebrows lowered over his worried eyes. "She went down through the wall. A place I couldn't fit into, Dean. Then I lost track of her…"

Dean cut him off, his voice low and cold as he stared at his younger brother in disbelief. "You did what?"

"She said she could fit, so she crawled through the narrow opening and then she screamed and then there was nothing…I was only able to find her phone." Sam held up a small silver device. "But I didn't see any sign of her."

"We'll just have to keep searching inside the walls." Dean said quickly. He was already rolling in the direction Sam had just come from. His eyes darting around as he waited slightly for his brother to follow. The hallway was a deep green color, the paint having been newly applied, which actually made Dean a little nauseous.

"We've been inside the walls all night; none of the other girls were there. She won't be either!" Sam answered quickly. He didn't want to look Dean in the eyes, because then he might actually see what his older brother really thought of this latest failure.

Dean simply shook his head, his clenched jaw showing his frustration, he fisted his hands as he stared at the floor. "Okay…here's the deal Sam…we find Jo…no matter what it takes." He could see that Sam was blaming himself and as much as Dean wanted to yell at his younger brother….he knew that it wouldn't accomplish anything…and frankly he didn't want to widen the chasm between them any more than it already was. He was just getting ready to say something else when his phone rang. Dean groaned and pulled it from his pocket, he never even looked at the caller ID.

"Hello?" Dean's back straightened even further and then he slumped as his eyes fell closed. Sam's eyes narrowed as he watched Dean run his hands through his hair. "I…I didn't lie to you, Ellen." Dean stammered his voice low and apologetic. "Don't worry…I'm gonna get her back." Sam winced as he heard Ellen over the phone, yelling at his brother.

"Get her back? What the hell does that mean, Dean? Get her back from what?" Ellen's voice was strained and angry as she lashed out at Dean, her words accusatory as she yelled.

Dean looked like he'd been hit in the back of the head with a two by four. "The thing we're hunting…it…it took her. But I swear I'll get her back, Ellen. I promise." His voice was steady, but his eyes were panicked. He flipped his phone shut and dropped it into his lap, his head falling forward onto his chest in defeat.

"Dean…" Sam started.

Dean held up his hand to stop Sam. "Sam…don't just don't. What are we missing?" He leaned against the side of the chair and let his head fall into his hands. The look on his face was just plain sad. He looked like life had started to beat the spark that made him Dean out of him.

Sam walked over to the door and pushed it open. Dean rolled through the opened door and over to the large wooden table. He sniffed at the air and then wrinkled his nose as he finally recognized the scent from the other night. "Chloroform…that's what I smelled the other night." His gaze shifted up to meet Sam's as he shook his head and bit at his lower lip in contemplation.

"You smelled this the other night?" Sam asked as he sank into the chair across from Dean.

"Yeah, I just couldn't place it." Dean grabbed at the research and started pouring over it.

Sam swallowed as he pushed away from the table and walked over to the fridge grabbing a bottle of water for each of them. "I think that…" He started and then noticed something on the page that had him grabbing the folder out of Dean's indignant fingers.

"Hey! I was readying that." His older brother threw a pinched face in his direction.

"I know, but there's…" Sam stared at the paper. His eyes roving the text and then he pulled his gaze back up and looked at Dean. "I think I might know where she is…" He set the paper down in front of Dean and pointed at something. "Right here. There's a place where the sewer lines all come together creating a large room with boilers in it. It fits the ghost's pattern…at least it fits what his pattern was when he was alive."

"How do you know that? You know what…never mind. How do we get to that spot?" Dean could feel the anxiety welling up inside his gut. He was pretty sure that he couldn't get into that sewer system and there was no way in hell that he was going to let Sammy go after Jo alone.

XXXX

Jo was scared shitless. She was lying inside of a metal coffin like container. She reached up and pressed against the low ceiling and then choked back the bubble of panic that the small space elicited.

"Theresa?" She waited as the woman answered in an affirmative. "Don't worry…my friends are coming." She said in an attempt to reassure the other woman, the one that was trapped in the boiler next to her. At least I hope they are coming for me. Come on Dean; don't let me die in here.

She reached up and ran her fingers over the divots in the roof…they were perfectly aligned rows of four. Like four fingers scraping at the metal in an attempt to escape from this metallic grave. She pulled her hand back like she'd been burned and cradled to her chest in rising fear.

Jo licked at her lips and then pulled in a deep breath as she reached down and pulled her silver knife from her pocket along with a lighter. The sudden appearance of the ghost had her shaking as she felt its fingers sift through her hair.

"So pretty…so pretty." It kept repeating. The words sending a cascade of fear rolling through her entire body.

From somewhere deep in her gut, Jo pulled her courage up and drove the dagger into the ghost's hand. It screeched and yanked the hand from the container.

"What do you think of that! That's pure iron you sick freak!" She called into the empty anti-chamber. A part of her knew that all she'd just accomplished was to piss off the ghost and chances were pretty good that it would be back…and angrier than ever.

XXXX

Sam looked over at Dean and then back at the heavy leaden door that led into the sewer system. How were they supposed to get down there? He didn't want to leave his brother alone, but he knew that he was Jo's best chance.

Dean's eyebrows were drawn down in anger as he stared at the dreaded hole. He didn't want to be left behind again. This wasn't something that he could continue doing. He couldn't allow his little brother to face all these dangers, while he waited at the top…in safety. I hate this…he thought silently.

"So what's the plan here, Dean?" Sam asked. He looked at the dark square hole. It was lined in bricks and cobwebs…it didn't look at all inviting. The smell rolling up from the depths of the darkness was nearly overwhelming in its stench. Both brothers reached up to cover their noses with one hand while they struggled to stay put.

Dean shifted his gaze and then looked at his little brother. "We both know I can't go down there." He said through gritted teeth. The self-loathing was so evident in his voice that Sam wanted to do something…anything to make that go away.

"Dean, we're going to fix your legs…I promise." Sam sighed as Dean shrugged and then winced as his shoulder twitched in pain.

"Whatever just get Jo back." He watched as Sam disappeared down the black hole, the shotgun strapped to his back and iron rounds in his pistol.

Dean watched with a sinking heart as Sam's head disappeared, he figured that he'd be waiting for a long time for his brother to show back up. As it turned out he didn't have to wait long. A voice came echoing through the hole, causing Dean to look down. He was careful not to role too close to the edge.

It felt like he'd been waiting forever, when in reality it had probably been only an hour. His brain was going into overdrive as it played all of the possible outcomes out in Technicolor inside his brain. A sudden voice pulled him from his thoughts.

"Dean! I've got Jo and Theresa…but that freaking ghost isn't far behind me!" Sam yelled as his voice got closer and there was less of an echo… he sounded out of breath as Dean pushed himself out his chair and landed on his ass. He grunted as pain shot up his spine, but he pushed it down as he reached out to shift his legs out from under himself, allowing him to roll onto his stomach. He ended up on his chest with his head and shoulders hanging over the opening and a shotgun aimed into the darkness.

"I've got you, Sammy." He called loudly.

"Hurry, Jo. Get Theresa up the ladder!" Sam called out. Dean could head the scrambling noises as the women suddenly appeared beneath him. He could see that they were covered in dirt and that they looked scared as hell.

"Jo, come on. I'm watching your back." Dean said. She flicked her gaze up to where he was situated and nodded. Another blonde woman was pushed in front of her; Dean could only assume that it was Theresa. His anxiety was up as he waited to see the floppy hair of his younger brother in addition to the women. He reached in and pulled Theresa to the edge as she climbed out of the hole and moved away. Jo wasn't far behind her. Dean's hand wrapped around Jo's wrist and he pulled, helping her to clear the edge as well.

"Sam should be right behind me." She assured Dean as she moved to where Theresa was huddled in a small ball, rocking back and forth as she tried to calm her own nerves.

Dean cast his eyes back into the pit and searched for his brother's large form. He finally made out the top of Sam's head as he started to make his way up the ladder. Dean kept his aim trained on the air right behind Sam. He watched as the ghost started to materialize, he cocked the shotgun and fired off two rounds in rapid succession. The thing screamed in frustrated rage and then dissipated into the atmosphere as Sam hauled himself to the top of the iron ladder and then over the edge near Dean. He was breathing heavily as he laid there and pulled in the fresh air.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked. His eyes were raking Sam as he searched for any sign of injury. When he didn't immediately see anything, he let out a breath he hadn't realized that he'd been holding.

"I'm fine, Dean." Sam answered without even looking up. "But we gotta find a way to keep that thing from going after anymore women."

"What did the interior look like?" Dean listened carefully as Sam explained, in detail, what the inside of that chamber had looked like. He started thinking about ways to keep a ghost trapped…one that they couldn't burn, because the body had been encased in six feet of concrete nearly a hundred years earlier.

"It was circular, with several boiler chambers around the edges. Those were where I found the girls. There were others…but they didn't make it." The smell of death and decay was something that Sam wouldn't soon forget. He almost felt as though it was stuck inside of his nose…or inside of his brain…he wasn't sure which.

Dean thought about it for a few minutes and then his eyes widened as an idea occurred to him. "What if we set up a salt trap and then filled that entire space with cement?"

Sam shifted and sat up. His eyebrows shot into his hairline and his mouth dropped open. "That's an excellent idea, Dean. But how do we get the ghost to go back into that area?"

Jo had been listening and chose that moment to toss in her two cents. "You need bait."

Both men's eyes shifted in her direction. Dean's were incredulous and Sam's were dumbfounded. He'd seen how scared she'd been when he'd pulled her from the boiler. And Dean really didn't want to send her back into the hole…but the needed to ensure that this never happened to another woman.

"And where exactly are we gonna get bait?" Dean said. He didn't want her answer; because he was fairly sure he already knew what she was going to say…and he wasn't going to like it.

"Well, since I'm the only blonde female here…I'm guessing that I'm probably the best choice." Her voice shook a bit as she said this, but Jo pushed through her nerves. She didn't want to read about any more women disappearing. And after having been struck inside of that damn boiler chamber, she didn't want anyone else to experience that…ever.

"Jo…we can't guarantee your safety." Sam said.

Dean held up a hand and looked over at the petite blonde. "No, Sam. She's right."

Sam's eyes spun in his direction. The accusation clear as he stared at Dean. "What the hell, Dean?"

Dean held his hand up and shook his head. "Sammy…she's right. We don't have anyone else." Frankly, he didn't like it any better than Sam did, but they didn't have any other options. They needed to take this bastard down.

XXXX

Jo was shaking her head as she stared at Dean in disbelief. "I can't believe it worked." She looked into the open pit. "So what happens if it rains and that washes all the salt away?" Dean smiled and pointed at a vehicle backing into the alley.

"That's why we're filling it with cement." He waived at Sam.

Jo snickered; she stared at Dean in surprise. She wouldn't have thought that he could have come up with an idea like this. The thinking was so out of the box and not something that she would have expected from him…Sam maybe…but not Dean.

Two hours later they were back at the apartment cleaning up the place and preparing to clear out. A loud knock at the door had both boys cringing. They knew that there was a better than passable chance that it was Ellen and that they were all in deep shit.

TBC…

Author's Note: Ellen brings with her news of the demon and maybe a chance to help Dean. The boys are still battling the recovery from the demon possession. But they are continuing to deal with the obstacles being thrown at them. Thanks to everyone that reviewed and favorite this story. Particularly those that I cannot PM.

Please Review: I'm planning on continuing this for a bit longer, so hopefully you are enjoying it.