Disclaimer: There are two sexy-looking disclaimers in chapters 1 and 2, so if you want to check them out, knock yourself out. But I warn you, they are some sexy disclaimers.

Chapter 3 – Choices

Andrew's words struck Dean hard in the heart. He was shocked to find tears forming in his eyes and he blinked them away.

He heard Nacha let out a sob and listened to her footsteps as she hurried away from their son's room. Dean had frozen on the spot, but managed to pull Andrew into a tight hug.

The kid was so young, and he already knew. Dean thought he was too young to understand, but his boy already knew how badly a person could get hurt, having to see his father in this condition more than just a few times. He knew there were things out there that could cause more than a common cold. He knew things no two year-old should know. And it was all Dean's fault. Was he making the same mistakes his father had before him?

Dean and Nacha had never dreamed of telling their son about what existed out there and they weren't going to change their minds any time soon. Dean had spent most of his life watching the fear in Sammy's eyes since the day their father told him monsters were real, and so the day his own son was born he swore he would never, ever, let him know that terror. But today, both parents had painfully realized how impossible it would be to hide it forever.

As he held his son, Dean made one of the most important decisions he had made in his life. He promised to himself something he thought he would never do, something that five minutes ago he would have dismissed without thinking.

Letting go of Andrew, he walked firmly down the corridor back to his room where he found Nacha crying softly, sitting on their bed looking at a picture that showed her own radiant smile as she held their newborn baby on a hospital bed and Dean standing behind her, holding the baby's tiny hand with one of his own and holding his wife's with the other one, his gentle hazel green eyes that looked purely green with the sunlight that shone in his face were lovingly fixed on the baby's sleeping face.

"He's right, you know that?" she asked without looking up from the picture. "Most times when you wear that jacket you get hurt," her lips curled into a tiny humorless smile, "I can't believe he noticed before either of us… I guess that's because he doesn't know what you're doing when you wear it… he only sees you put on that jacket and come back home hurt. Dean," she added looking up with angry eyes, "I don't want a picture to be the only memory he has of-"

"Ignacia…" he said weakly. The defeated and exhausted tone combined with the use of her first name was enough to leave the words hanging. "I'm never gonna hunt again."

"What?"

"After I'm sure Sam's okay, I swear to God I'll never hunt again in my life."

Her eyes softened watching the turmoil obscuring her husband's face and she slowly walked over to him.

"Dean… are you sure about this?"

"Absolutely."

A couple of tears slid down her face as her eyes smiled gratefully.

"Thank you so much," she said hugging him.

"Oh, but if they come bug us I'll have to kill the sons of bitches though, so the books and weapons stay where they are."

"Dean…"

Dean drove as fast as the car would allow him, making a minimum number of stops for gas. Only once he stopped for a few minutes to take a couple of painkillers and something for the fever and then kept going.

He made it to New York in twelve hours, booked a room in a Sheraton hotel located near his brother's office and forced himself to sleep until the sun rose again. The little amount of sleep he got was restless, though, clouded with nightmares where some creature was attacking whoever it could get its hands on, creating chaos and confusion in a city that only existent in his mind. And all he could think of was finding Sammy and get him out of there before the creature found him. He had to make his way through a panicking crowd that ran the opposite way, indicating him that the creature was coming, but he needed to find Sam before he could run too…

And then he would wake up breathing heavily as if he had actually been running for his life, or rather his brother's life.

Dean hated that nightmare. He had it every night he fell asleep uneasily. For the past two years it had been Nacha and Andrew he had to save in his sleep, and it terrorized him more than he could possibly say when he wasn't able to find them in the crowd. Before they had come to his life, the nightmares had been about Sam, exactly as it had been tonight, for longer than he could remember. Dean supposed the nightmares had started the night his mother died. The night he had been entrusted with Sammy's life.

After taking another tablet for the fever, he took a shower to get rid of the cold sweat that seemed to always cover his feverish body these days and dressed as quickly as possible, before leaving the hotel room. He walked down for a quick breakfast that came included with the rest of the hotel bill and planned his day.

First, he would go to the law firm and ask around who had seen him last. He would track down that person and question them, which would surely give him a lead and hopefully let him know what he was dealing with as he would normally do in any other gig, in order to begin the research to be able to follow whatever had taken Sam and his girlfriend away.

About that research, he would start it now to get work done in advance. There was no point in going to Sam's office at the moment because most of the workers didn't get there until eight and it was now six in the morning, his worry and nervousness not having let him get any more hours of sleep.

Dean started the research as he would normally do, going to the library and checking out resent mysterious disappearances – he avoided looking for 'deaths' – and any paranormal creature or ghost that might inhabit a certain area in New York City. He had already assumed that no human had taken part in this. Sam was too good for that; it had to be something out of another world. But he found nothing in New York that had any relevance to what he was looking for. And he remembered the Benders had been human, crazy at that, but human nonetheless and they had been able to capture Sam… He quickly made a mental note to ask around if Sam Winchester had any enemies or rivals; maybe a member of another highly ranked firm or maybe some lawyer's client whose future Sam might have ruined by winning his case.

Before he knew it, it was already eight. He made his way to the tall and elegant building in 51 West 52nd Street.

The lobby had impressed him the first time he had crossed the automatic glass doors. It was a spacious room with a marble floor and walls. The high ceiling was adorned by large chandeliers that lit up the massive room.(1) To Dean, the place looked more like the lobby of a fancy five-stars hotel than anything else, and often teased Sam saying that the younger brother was actually working as an elevator operator, but didn't want anyone to know.

Dean would usually take his time, like every other visitor who wasn't used to these surroundings to absorb in the luxury of the place but today there was no time for that. As soon as the doors allowed him in he strode directly to the counter, where a man about his age smiled politely at him.

Dean had learned the hard way that for these people to take him seriously, he had to look like he could afford to get their attention. He had dressed in a suit he had bought only for visiting his brother's office, which so far had only happened twice. Therefore, the suit looked new and Dean was certain he was looking like one of them. His confident stride at entering the building and lack of appreciation for the expensiveness around him must have helped too.

"Good morning, sir, can I help you?" asked the receptionist, the practiced smile still plastered on his face.

"Yes, I need to contact Samuel Winchester immediately, please."

"Of course, one moment. May I have your name, please?"

"Dean Winchester, his brother."

The man took the phone next to him and pressed three.

"Connect me with Mr. Winchester, please, his brother is looking for him," he said after a moment. He listened to the answer he got back and covered the phone with his hand before looking up at Dean again.

"I'm sorry, sir, but Mr. Winchester hasn't come in yet. Would you like me to leave a message?"

"No, no… could I possibly talk to his secretary? It's urgent," he said impatiently, fighting an irresistible urge to wipe the fake smile out of the man's face with a well-placed punch. His temperature was rising again and the strong stomachache was making him far less tolerant than usual. He quickly wiped the cold sweat off his forehead.

"Sir, are you alright?"

"Fine! Can I talk to the secretary please?" The last thing he needed right now was phatic talk. Couldn't these people understand his brother was missing?

"Of course," said the man taken aback, "fourth floor, second door to the left."

"Thank you."

Dean made his way determinedly in that direction and he had hardly knocked when he had already opened the door, without waiting for an answer. He found Miranda sitting at her desk typing furiously, so concentrated that it seemed as if she had been there all night. But no matter how focused, she was still Sam's efficient secretary and as she saw Dean enter, she turned her full attention to him.

"Mr. Winchester?"

"Miranda, have you heard from Sam yet?"

"N-no," she said a little taken aback by Dean's shaken appearance, but quickly regained her composure. "Mr. Winchester… no one… no one has seen him since Thursday night. Your brother and Ms. Ryan were reported missing this morning. I am very sorry, sir."

Dean tried to ignore the words and instead he focused on his mission.

"Do you know when he was last seen?"

"All I know is that he left to a conference on Thursday at 12.30pm in the NYSTLA(2). I've got his timetable in my computer, see?" she said turning the screen for him to confirm the time and place of the conference. "We haven't heard from him since."

"Can I see a list of the people who were with him in that conference?"

Three hours later, Dean drove his car towards the thirty-fifth and very last address in the list. Nothing had helped him so far. All the answers he got from the participants of the conference led him nowhere.

"Sorry, no idea, all I wanted to do after the meeting was to get home. I didn't see when Sam Winchester left at all."

"Sam? He went to that conference? No way!"

"Nope, I dunno where he could have gone, sorry."

"If Sammy had enemies or rivals? Look, son, the boy surely knows his stuff and he's won most of his cases, but no one could ever hold a grudge against that kid. Hell, I bet he won half of those cases just by giving the judge that innocent look of his in his final statement!"

At least the last man he had questioned, an elderly lawyer residing in Manhattan, had made him a little more certain that a human wasn't the captor, but he still couldn't be sure. He prayed as hard as he could for the very last man, to have some real answers for him. Looking at the address again, he realized he knew the man. In fact, Dean had befriended him during his last visit to New York City. He was one of Sam's close friends so if someone knew something, he probably would.

As he drove, he nervously drummed his fingers on the steering wheel and he noticed his hands were shaking and sweating. All he wanted was for this to be over soon so that he could go back home to his wife, his son and his garage.

And no more hunting for the rest of his life.

A/N: Again, thanks so much for all the reviews! I still find it hard to believe that people take their time to actually read something I wrote LOL! So thank you sooo much! Anyway, I was asked a couple of times why Andrew was eating baby food lol, well, sometimes little kids stick to the baby fruit-flavored things for longer but only for like breakfast or dessert, just because they still like it so why bother changing it. Anyway… all the reviewers who said they like Andrew I'm afraid you're gonna start missing the little guy for quite a few chapters, while all the action is centered in NY but no worries, cuz he's coming back later with an important part to play.

Random Note: I'm sort of going insane here cuz both my awesome series ("Desperate Housewives" and "Supernatural") are over! I just can't wait for the next season, damn it!

(1) The description of this law firm came off the top of my head. I've absolutely no idea what it actually looks like lol! However, the address I gave is real… you know just in case you can't resist the temptation of visiting a building full of lawyers lol!

(2)NYSTLA: New York State Trial Lawyers Association