A/N: This will be the last chapter for Dean. The rest of the story will be about Sam and them re-uniting. Thank you for taking this journey with me. I hope you are enjoying the story. I do enjoy reviews and knowing your thoughts. NC

Chapter 13

The salvage yard appeared in front of him as Dean slowed the Impala to turn into the driveway. He had white knuckled it most of the way back with the impending doom that filled his mind. His little brother was missing. He never even made it to Stanford. And if he wasn't there, then where has he been for the past six weeks. Sam wouldn't just disappear like this. Stanford was his dream and as hard as he fought for it, he wouldn't give it up that easily.

Bobby had left the porch light on for him when he slammed on the brakes and skidded to a stop. "Sorry Baby," Dean mumbled clambering out of the car and heading for the front door. He raised his hand to knock, but the door was jerked open by the Bobby, who glared at him for a moment before opening the door further for him to come in.

"I got your message Dean, get in here," Bobby ordered.

"Have you heard anything from Sammy since I was here before?" Dean rushed.

"Easy there boy, let's slow it down and you tell me what's going on," Bobby cautioned him. "I think you need something to drink," he stated when he saw his agitated state.

Dean followed him into the kitchen where he dropped into a chair and Bobby pulled a bottle of Jack Daniels from the cabinet and two glasses from the strainer. He sat down at the table and poured a shot in each glass before pushing one toward Dean.

"Drink this and start at the beginning son," Bobby told him.

Dean wrapped a hand around the glass and swirled the liquid for a moment before downing it in one swallow. He winced as it burnt his throat and settled in his churning stomach.

"I caught a hunt with Caleb and was close enough to California, I thought I'd check on Sammy," Dean started his voice low and rough. "I headed for the admin building to find out where he was instead of scouring the campus for him. They said he never registered for the semester. He never signed in to take the scholarship. Sam never made it to Sanford," Dean finished pushing his glass toward Bobby for another shot. "I should have gone and checked on him sooner! This is my fault!"

"Balls," Bobby growled out removing his hat and rubbing a hand over his head before putting it back on. "You can't go blaming yourself for this Dean; Sam was just going to college. You never thought he'd be in any type of trouble."

"I gotta find him Bobby," Dean pleaded in desperation. "He was my responsibility…I was supposed to look out for him."

"I know son, I'll get the word out to the other hunters in the morning," he assured him. "Have you called yer Daddy?"

"I left a voicemail. He's not called me back."

"Damn him! Doesn't he care about his son?" he spat out wanting to strangle John Winchester if he was standing before him.

"I'll try again," Dean offered, his words weak.

"Don't bother, I may know where he is," Bobby huffed. "Why don't you get some rest. It's too late to do anything tonight and you need to unwind. You're not going to do your brother any good if you can't function."

"I can't just…." Dean started.

"You'll do as I tell you; now get yer ass upstairs and try to get some sleep," Bobby insisted.

Dean cringed, but knew he was right. He could barely think right now and knew if he was going to find Sam, he needed some sleep. He got up and trudged toward the stairs and up to the bedroom he shared with Sam. He stepped into the bathroom first and used it before heading into the bedroom. He kicked his boots off and stripped off his jacket and stretched out on the bed, not bothering to take his clothes off. His mind was filled with the guilt he carried around about his little brother. Why had he waited so long to contact him? He should have known something was wrong when Sam never called him.

Bobby waited until he heard Dean upstairs before taking his cell and pulling up a number for the Roadhouse. He dialed and listened to the ringing on the other end before a young female voice answered.

"Roadhouse," Jo answered.

"Hello Jo, it's Bobby, is your Mom around?" he asked.

"Sure, hang on Bobby I'll get her," Jo replied.

Bobby could hear bar noises in the background and talking before the phone was picked up and Ellen answered.

"Bobby Singer, it's been a long time," Ellen greeted him happily.

"How you been Ellen?" Bobby replied fondly.

"Getting by, I take it this isn't a social call," she said.

"I was looking for John Winchester. He said he was heading your way about a month ago. Have you seen him?"

"He was in about three weeks ago. Was looking for Ash's help to set up a program to track demons."

"Shit! Did he do it?"

"Yep, and John took off right after. He didn't say where he was going, but I'm sure it's after demons."

"If you see him again, tell him Sam's missing, he never made it to California."

"Damn," Ellen cursed. "Of course, I'll have him call you if he comes back. I can see if Ash can find anything online for you and I'll alert any other hunters I trust to be on the lookout."

"You think the kid can might be able to find something out about Sam?"

"I'll see what he can do. You know that boy's a genius on that laptop he made. Where's Dean?"

"He's with me," Bobby said. "Worried sick 'bout his brother and blaming himself for not checking on him sooner."

"You tell him to hang in there, we'll do what we can from here."

"Thanks Ellen, I'll stay in touch," Bobby told her and hung up. He poured one more shot for himself and drunk it before getting up and heading to his own bedroom to go to bed. He would start calling hunters in the morning to be on the lookout for any signs of the lost Winchester.

spn

It was barely light outside when Dean began to wake and made himself get up. He went to the bathroom first, before heading down the stairs and squinted from the light, as he entered the kitchen. He found Bobby already up, drinking coffee and reading the paper.

"Morning son," Bobby greeted him.

"Yeah," Dean mumbled as he poured coffee and joined him at the table.

"I found out yer Daddy was at the Roadhouse for a while. I guess after you two split up. He stayed about a week, but he's not been back since," Bobby told him. "There's a young guy staying there with Ellen who she says is a genius on the computer. She's going to have him do some checking too."

"After I get a shower and wake up, I'll start checking to see if he's used a credit card or accessed his bank accounts."

"I've put word out to hunters I trust to be on the lookout for him or if they pick up any chatter that might be about him to call me."

"Thanks Bobby, guess I should get started," Dean sighed getting up to set his cup in the sink before heading back upstairs to shower.

Bobby watched him walk away, his shoulder slumped and his mood just as bad. He could tell he was hurting bad and felt useless to help him. He would do all he could to help find his brother, but Bobby knew Dean was not going to get over this mood until Sam was found.

Dean grabbed some clean clothes before going into the bathroom and turning on the water to heat. He braced his hands on the sink and looked at his reflection in the mirror. His eyes were bloodshot from lack of sleep and they had a haunted look about them. He hung his head as he tried to force his mind not to wander to places where he imagined Sam being tortured, maimed, or even killed.

With a long sigh, Dean pushed off from the sink and striped out of his clothes. He stepped under the hot spray quickly washing his hair and body so he could figure out what to do next. He had no idea where to even start looking for Sam and that just made matters worse. He couldn't wait around here and do nothing. He had to come up with a plan of some kind. Dean dried his body and hair before stepping from the tub and putting on clean clothes.

There was only one thing that matter right now and that was finding his little brother.