Sam threw a sideways glance at Dean. Because of all the years they spent on the road, Sam knew his brother like the back of his hand. He knew that when Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel, or the way he huffed out a breath in short bursts.

Deans pissed. again. Sam thought. Which wasn't anything new. The past year had taken its toll on his older brother, Sam's betrayal seemed to have damaged Dean more than he let on. Sam felt the constant burden of his brother's anger. But since getting this call, Dean had fallen silent. This alerted Sam that something was much deeper than just a simple job. No, this hit his brother personally.

How many times did he hear Dean preach about not getting to close to someone, that you will always get hurt. And here he finds out that Dean-the one Sam was certain would never find love-had met someone, and might have actually fallen for her. The way he was acting, Sam new it was the latter.

The proof was that they were even taking this job. For the past year, if a case didn't have to do with anything but Angel or Demons, they passed up on it.

As the sun came up over the horizon, the Impala made its way through the small town of Pine Grove, Arkansas. Like so many American factory towns, the place seemed mostly deserted.

Dean's green eyes scanned the city center, feeling a jolt when he spotted a simple Ma and Pop diner.

"There's a motel just at the end of town. Let's get a room, get changed and then head a few miles up the road to Little Rock."

Dean parked in front of a battered motel. The neon sign read "Pine Grove Motel." and spotted two florescent pine trees blinking off and on, so it looked like the trees were swaying with the wind.

Sam stayed in the car while Dean hopped out of the car and headed towards the motel lobby.

Two minutes later, Sam was startled by a loup thump of Dean banging on the hood. A key dangled from a pine tree-shaped key.

"Let's go."

Sam joined Dean at the open trunk of the car, grabbed his duffel bag and followed Dean into a wood-paneled, simply decorated motel room.

Dean threw his bag onto the bed closet to the wall, grabbed the black plastic bag that covered a suit.

"So," Sam said as he began to unbutton his plaid shirt. "Were do we go from here?"

Dean slid on the white, button up shirt as he looked up at his brother. "We go to Little Rock Memorial hospital. It's about 30 miles up the road. We see if we can see Jaxson and ask her some questions."

Sam tucked in his white shirt as he watched his brother get dressed. "She meant a lot to you, didn't she? Jaxosn, I mean."

Dean paused as he slid his belt around the waist, he looked down at the floor, licking his full lips. He shrugged and continued putting on the belt. "Sure..I guess."

"You guess?" Sam chuckled as he slid on a black jacket over his shirt. "We drive 100 miles out of our way just to take this case."

"Just drop it Sammy." Dean huffed as he walked over to his green army bag. He slid back the zipper as he reached inside, moments later, taking out a cigar box. He flipped it open and rummaged through the various fake IDs. He selected two FBI badges. He clipped on to his lapel and tossed the other one to Sam.

Sam knew in the past, that when Dean said to drop something, you better well drop it or Dean would explode. But not this time.

"Dammit Dean. You were pissed at me when you found out I hid something from you. I'm on this case, this involves me. So tell me why? Why are we here?"

Dean paused, his hand on the doorknob. He turned a bit to look at Sam, then back at the door. "Let's go." He huffed out again as he yanked open the motel room door.

/*/
With a ding the doors slid open and Dean took a moment to check out his attire. He smoothed his hand over his hair as he looked in the reflective mirror of the elevator. He straightened his jacket as he followed Sam to the nurses desk. He hung back to let Sam take the lead, the way he was feeling right now, he wouldn't be able to bring on his charm.

"Excuse me..uh..Ms. Jenkins." Sam smiled as he looked at the nurse standing near a computer, looking through some files.

The nurse looked up, eyeing Sam, than Dean. "Can I help you?" She slid her eyes back to the shorter of the two, noticing he was looking everywhere but her.

"Yes," Sam reached into the inner pocket of his jacket, taking out a black billfold. He flipped it open, letting the nurse see the badge. "I'm Agent Perry," Sam turned to Dean. "This is my partner, Agent White. We were wondering if we could possibly talk to Ms. Reynolds."

The nurse inspected the badge for so long, Sam was certain their covers were blown. She took off the black eye glasses, letting the silver chain land on her ample bosom. She put a hand to her hip, leaning forward so only Sam and Dean could hear her.

"You wouldn't happen to be John Winchesters boys?" She pointed a finger at Dean. "He's a spitting image of him."

"You knew our father?" Dean finally turned his attention to the nurse and she was taking back by those green eyes of his.

"Yeah. I met him through Bobby." She held up a finger as she flipped through the metal clipboards. She found the one she was looking for, and held it up. "She's in room 24C. She's not talking. Not sure what you're gonna get out of her."

Dean took the clipboard. "Thank you."

"Be quick, Okay?"

Sam patted the counter, tucking his badge back into his jacket as Dean led the way. Sam grabbed Dean's arm as he held him back.

"Just be careful, okay?"

Dean gave his brother a look. "What?"

"You can be a little...aggressive." Sam sighed. "Just ease back a bit."

Dean grumbled something as he looked back down at the medical char,t flipping it open to see the X-rays. He felt the anger bubbling just under the surface, not liking where this was going. When he stepped around the curtain, he looked up from the chart to see the women lying in the bed.

The once, vibrant women he had fallen for, was lying broken in that bed. Her once blue eye was dotted with broken blood vessels, her right eye was swollen shut, and colored in various black, browns and greens. Her cheek was cut, with a butterfly bandage holding the skin together. Her full lips were swollen, the corners of her mouth split open.

Along her slender throat, was a set of hand prints, the flesh bruised and swollen. Her right arm was in a white sling, her long fingers resting on her stomach.

"Jaxson." The breath left Dean's lungs as he looked at her, not believing what he was seeing. Someone had really took out a vengeance on her.

Her eyes were wide with panic as she looked at him. With a moan, she sat up in the bed, frantically pushing the nurses button. Dean held up his hand, trying to calm her down.

"Jaxson..wait...we just want to ask you a few questions."

"Get out!' Jaxson's voice broke as she tried to yell. She turned her head away from him, once again looking out at the dark, rainy afternoon. In the reflection of the window, she could see him standing there. She could feel his eyes on her.

When she finally saw him shake his head, slid back the curtain and close it behind him, her body convulsed with tiny sobs. It caused pain to rip through her shoulder, but she ignored it.

The man had her by the throat as he sneered down at her. His coal, black eyes locked onto hers, and she could see the evil. Her hands were clasped around the ones holding her throat, trying to gain precious oxygen.

"Tell me where they are!" The man hissed at her, spit ran down his chin.

"W..who?" Jaxson sobbed as she began to claw at the hands, feeling dizzy.

"The Winchesters. I can smell him all over you." The man leaned down, his mouth pressed against her ear. "Tell me where Dean Winchester is, or I'll cut your pretty little throat."

/**/

The motel door slammed shut, making the whole room shake.

Dean strode over to the small dining table, throwing a paper sack on the surface. He sat down in the chair, grabbed a tumbler, twisted off the top of some scotch, and poured the glass full.

"Dean.."

"I don't want to hear it Sammy." Dean stretched out his legs, propping his feet on the other chair, his right ankle crossed over the left. "Son of a bitch." Dean sighed as moved his legs off the chair, leaned forward, and rested his elbows on his thighs. He never really thought about the repercussions of his loving and leaving. Just got in the car, and headed to the next town. But with Jaxson, he regretted every second leaving her. He should have told her the truth. About who he really was, and what he really did for a living. But he didn't want to burden her with his problems.

"I'll go to the diner and ask around. Maybe someone knows what happened."

"You want to know what happened Sammy?" Dean moved his arms off his legs as he stood up from the chair. "You screwed a demon. You opened the pit and now Lucifer is out and about, doing god knows what. And...and...Jaxson is somehow caught in the middle of all of this." Dean yanked the bottle of scotch off the table, his long legs carrying him to the door. "I'm gonna see if I can look around in her house. Find some clues." He put his hand on the doorknob and turned to look at Sam, seeing the hurt in his younger brother's eyes. He hated this anger he held for Sam all the time. He knew his brother meant no wrong, but still, it was just another mess he had to clean up. "You coming?"