A/N: Happy Easter to everyone! Hello, my dear readers and welcome back to the sequel to Changed, But Still Me. I know several of you did ask for one when the first story ended. I took ideas and suggestions from you guys and used what I could in this story, so thank you for that. I would like to deeply thank VegasGranny for all the support, ideas, and insight with the story. She has been my rock through it all and helped make the story better. We continue the brother's journey as they continue to fight the monsters and save people. So, buckle up and prepare for a roller coaster ride. There will be ups and downs and twists and turns. But enough from me, I hope you enjoy the read. Reviews would make my day. NC

Disclaimer: I do not own SPN and this story is of my own creation. Any mistakes are my own.

Chapter 1

The Impala roared down the highway with Sam in the driver's seat. He was gripping the steering wheel tightly as he kept glancing over to the passenger seat at his injured brother.

"We're too far from Bobby's and the Community Dean," Sam told him. "I'm going to stop at the next motel I can find so I can take care of your injuries."

"I'll be fine," Dean growled out at Sam in a deep rumble as the beast partly came out.

"You can put the beast away dude," Sam scoffed. "It doesn't scare me, and I know you wouldn't hurt me. It's my turn to take care of you for once."

Dean shifted in the seat and pressed the field dressing on his leg tighter to stop the blood dripping from it. He had lost more blood than Sam liked, and Dean felt weak, but didn't let Sam know. He also had his bicep bandaged and he was lucky no major arteries had been damaged. The other small cuts and a small gash on his head were already healing, leaving pink, thin scars. He growled deep in his chest at his brother's remark and huffed at him.

"I've got to treat those injuries before they heal or I'll have to reopen them to dig out the splinters of wood," Sam explained. "I might have to anyway since you heal fairly quick now. You shouldn't have pushed me out of the way." Sam looked back at Dean as he said that.

"Better me than you bro," Dean surmised with a grunt.

"Guess even a werewolf doesn't have that much advantage against a vengeful spirit," Sam commented.

"You think?" Dean chuffed sarcastically.

"I'm just glad we had on the shirts Mason gave us for some protection."

"Yeah, they do come in handy," Dean mumbled as he closed his eyes.

"Don't go to sleep on me yet!" Sam yelled at him shaking his arm making Dean's eyes spring open and glare at him.

Their last case had been a vengeful spirit who had exploded wooden furniture at them, sending deadly shards of wood their way. Dean had seen the danger and knocked Sam out of the way to take the brunt of the wooden debris. The ones that did the most damage hit where his shirt didn't protect him. Sam had gotten to the object that held the spirit on this earth and destroyed it while its attention was on Dean.

"There's a motel a few miles ahead. I'll stop there and get you fixed up. We'll spend the night and decide on where to go from there," Sam stated in no uncertain terms, letting Dean know he was boss right now, alpha or not. He pressed a little harder on the gas wanting to get to the exit faster.

"Take it easy on my Baby, lead foot," Dean grumbled as he winced when he moved his injured arm.

Sam pinched his lips together into a tight line and ignored Dean's complaining as he steered the Impala to the exit and drove up it. He looked both ways before turning left and heading to a motel across the interstate. It was nicer than most they had stayed at during their lives, but the price didn't matter to Sam at the moment. What he was concerned about was tending to his big brother's injuries.

The 'Vacancy' sign was on as Sam pulled up to the office and parked. He got out and hurried inside to get a room. When Sam came back out, Dean was leaning against the window with his eyes closed. He got back in and moved the car around to the back and parked in front of their room.

"I'll get our bags inside and come back to help you," Sam told him as he got out and went to the trunk to grab their duffels and the medical bag to take inside.

Dean grunted and realized they had stopped moving. He got the door open and caught himself before he fell from the car. He shifted his body and used the door to pull himself to a standing position favoring his injured leg. Once he had his balance, Dean tried to shuffle to the door and would have fallen if Sam had not grabbed him and helped him inside.

"Stay here," Sam ordered as he shifted him to a chair and went to close the Impala door and lock it. He hurried back inside and went to the bathroom to get towels before returning to his brother's side. "Okay Dean, I need to look at your injuries."

Dean just grunted as he hung his head and fought the pain. He let Sam help him off with his shirt and growled at him as he removed the field dressing from his arm.

Sam tossed the bloodied dressing and opened the medical kit to get out gloves to put on. He took peroxide to clean the wound and saw it was already healing around the splinters of wood. Sam pulled out a scalpel and picked up some gauze and steadied his hand as he made an incision into Dean's arm, making him grunt but he didn't pull away.

After grabbing tweeters, he started picking out the slivers of wood from the wound as he pulled the skin apart to see them. He concentrated on finding all the splinters as he wiped the blood away so he could see. Once he had removed them from that wound, Sam cleaned it again and used butterfly bandages to close it, knowing Dean would heal quicker now and wouldn't need stitches.

"Okay, that's done, take off your pants," Sam told Dean as he wiped his hands before offering one to Dean to help him up.

"I usually get a drink before shedding my pants," Dean tried to tease, getting an eye roll from Sam. He unlaced his boots to toe them off before slowly standing to unsnap and unzip his jeans and push them over his hips. He sat back down and slipped them rest of the way off.

"Here," Sam said holding out a bottle of whiskey Dean kept in his bag.

"Thanks," Dean replied taking it and opening it, drinking a few sips before sitting it on the table. He felt it burn down his throat and settle warmly in his stomach as the warmth slowly spread through his body.

Sam knelt by Dean so he could see his thigh better and the injury.

"Man Dean, this one went deep," Sam grimaced. "This may hurt." He put a towel under Dean's leg to catch any blood or liquid.

"Just do it man and get it over with," Dean insisted as he tensed his body.

Sam picked the scalpel back up and made a deep incision into the muscle of his thigh beside where a large piece of wood was exposed and used his fingers to hold it open before taking the tweeters to pull out the wood. He grabbed the whiskey to douse it and wash the blood away so he could see.

"Sonovabitch!" Dean gasped as he sucked in a sharp breath, his leg trembling slightly. He wiped a hand down his face and kept the beast at bay, knowing he wasn't needed at the moment. Dean knew Sam would take care of him and his injuries.

"Almost done," Sam told him as he picked other pieces of wood from the wound. "That's got it." Sam sighed. "I'll put a bandage over it while it heals. Why don't you go lay down and rest?" Sam cleaned up the bloody gauze and repacked the medical kit.

Dean shifted and held onto the table as he stood and limped to the bed nearest the door. He pulled back the covers and eased down onto it so he could stretch out. He sighed as he closed his eyes and relaxed so his body could heal itself. He never felt Sam come over to him and place a hand on his head to check for fever, but not sure he could even get a fever, before pulling the covers over his body.

Sam dug into his duffel and found some sleep clothes to change into after he took a shower. He went into the bathroom and closed the door, leaning back against it for a moment as his weariness took over. He wiped a hand down his face before moving to the shower and turning on the water. He stripped out of his dirty clothes and adjusted the temperature before stepping under the hot spray.

By the time Sam was finished with his shower and dressed in sleep clothes, he was dragging and barely made it to the bed. Exhaustion had taken over and he dropped back onto the pillow and was almost asleep before he could settle. The snoring of his brother was like a lullaby as he drifted away on a sea of nothingness.

spn

Consciousness came slowly to Dean and he moved slowly as he oriented himself to where he was. He remembered the hunt and saving Sammy, but he had been hurt. He got his eyes opened enough to look over at the other bed and see a mound and a shaggy head sticking out from under the covers. He breathed deep and slow a few times and moved his arm and leg, testing them to find they were a little stiff but seemed okay. He eased to a sitting position and swung his legs off the bed and sat there.

Once he saw he could stand okay, Dean went to his duffle for clean clothes, wanting to take a shower and get the rest of the dried blood and dirt off. He moved quietly so not to wake Sam and shut the bathroom door behind him. Dean dropped his clothes on the sink and stepped to the commode to relieve himself. He washed his hands and reached to remove the bandages on his bicep and thigh to inspect his wounds. They had healed, leaving thin, scars where Sam had to open them back up. He rubbed a finger across them feeling the slightly raised skin, thinking Sam had done a good job.

After turning on the water and adjusting the temperature, Dean stepped under the strong spray and let the water wash over him. He sighed deeply, thinking it felt amazing. He wiped the water from his face before shampooing his hair and then soaping down his body, washing away the last signs of the hunt. After he rinsed, Dean just stood under the pounding spray, letting it beat the tension and stiffen from his shoulders and back. A few minutes later, he turned the water off and reached for a towel to dry off before stepping from the tub. He felt almost normal again as he dressed and gathered his dirty clothes.

Dean stepped into the main room and looked over to the bed when he heard a grunt and cough coming from there.

"Hey bro, you awake over there, or are you going back to sleep?" Dean questioned his brother.

"I'm…up…" Sam groaned as he stretched his arms over his head and yawned widely.

"Whoa dude! It's like the Grand Canyon over there."

"Bite me jerk," Sam sneered as he pushed the covers from his body to sit up.

"Well, I would, but you might like it bitch, and there is the thing about becoming a wolf," Dean offered with a shrug. "But if you insist…" Dean took a step toward Sam and let his fangs extend slightly into a wolfish grin.

"Get away," Sam fussed swiping a hand at him as he stood up to head to the bathroom.

"I'm going to get us some breakfast and we'll decide where we're heading."

"Okay," Sam called as he was closing the door.

Dean picked up the room key and was starting out the door when his cell starting ringing. He stopped and dug it out of his jacket pocket to answer it.

"Hello," Dean answered.

"Hello Dean, hope it's not too early for you," Mason greeted him.

"No, we're up. Is something wrong?" Dean asked sensing this wasn't just a social call.

"We've got a situation here at the Community that needs your attention…"

Dean stepped back into the middle of the room as he listened to Mason talk, his expression getting serious. He looked at Sam as he stood in the doorway to the bathroom watching him.

Sam frowned wondering who Dean was talking to and what the problem could be. Since he could only hear one side of the conversation, he was curious about who it was and what they wanted. He was waiting for Dean to finish the call before questioning him. He had a feeling they would be leaving sooner than expected.