I Remember You

Chapter Five

Dean watched Stacy leave and was relieved that things went down as smoothly as they could.

Turning to face his brother, he visually looked Sam over. The boy was tense and pale. Sam's eyes had always been the window to his soul and Dean could tell that right now the boy was in emotional turmoil. Confusion and fear were clearly painted on his face.

Putting on his best disarming smile, Dean spoke. "So let's blow this popsicle stand before more of the bad guys show up, okay?"

Sam nodded in agreement and pointed out into the parking lot. "Uh, that black car is yours, right?"

Dean's heart skipped a beat. Maybe this memory loss thing was temporary. He felt his smile grow as he replied. "Yeah, that's my baby. Do you remember it?"

Sam picked his duffel bag up off the ground and avoided eye contact. "I -I don't remember it. That car was in the dream I had where you and Dad died. It was hit by a semi. You and Dad died. That's how I recognized you earlier but I don't have any memories."

Dean's face fell along with his optimism that Sam's memory loss was temporary. "Oh, well that makes sense, the demon did say they planted memories. If you're ready though we should go and get in the car."

"Yeah, uh can I ask where we're going?" Sam asked and gave Dean an unsure look.

"Well, we need to get away from here, so I thought we'd drive as far as we feel up too and then get a motel room. Once you and I have had some rest and food, we can make plans." Dean gave Sam a reassuring smile.

Sam gave a small smile back. "Um, okay"

The two walked in quiet to the Impala. Dean unlocked the car for Sam and dug around in his front pocket. Sam's cell phone had taken up residence there since he had disappeared leaving it behind.

"Here's your cell phone Sam." Dean handed it to Sam.

Sam took it with a puzzled look on his face and reached into his back jeans pocket and pulled out another phone.

"I thought this was my phone." Sam held the other phone out for Dean to see.

Without putting much thought into his actions, Dean grabbed the other phone and threw it violently to the ground crunching it under his boot. When he looked up, Sam was staring at him with wide fearful eyes.

Dean quickly put his hands out in a placating manor as his brother backed up. "Sam, dude I'm sorry but that phone was given to you by the demon chick and the other demons could have used the GPS on it to track you."

The tension in Sam's shoulders lessened a bit. "Okay, I just didn't know what you were doing." Sam's brow creased in thought. "Do you think it's okay to keep the clothes that they gave me, and the wallet?"

Dean cleared his throat. "Uh, tell you what, let me go through them real quick and then we'll be on our way." Sam tentatively held the duffel out for Dean. He took it and placed it on top of the trunk. A quick but thorough look showed that the duffel was harmless.

"Well Sam, you have clothes in the trunk, but I don't see any reason why you couldn't keep these. They're clean of anything that could be a danger. Can I see your wallet?" Dean held his hand out and watched Sam dig around in his other back pocket. He first pulled out a money clip.

Sam gave Dean an unsure look. "Is this clip mine?"

Dean took it and nodded. "Yeah, the real Jess gave it to you." The gold clip sparkled in the night, and Dean couldn't help but notice the large amount of bills in it. "Do you mind if I count the money?"

Sam shook his head no and Dean pulled the money free and counted. "Damn Sam, there is almost five hundred here. So at least you're coming away from the ordeal with new clothes and money."

He handed the clip back as Sam handed him his wallet. It was Sam's wallet and as Dean looked through it, everything seemed to be in order. All of Sam's fake id and credit cards were missing, but that was to be expected. He was sure the demons didn't want to explain them to Sam.

In a way Dean was glad, he really didn't want to discuss that part of their life with Sam at the moment.

"It's your wallet dude, and it has a few bills in it to, so you're doing good." Dean quickly handed it back to Sam and grabbed the duffel off the trunk and threw it in the back of the car.

"Ready?" Dean asked as lightly as he could, but he really wanted to throw Sam in the car and to tear out of there before any uninvited guests showed.

"Yeah." Sam replied as he slowly got in the car.

-0-

Sam's stomach was in knots. The night's events were playing on a loop in his head as he sat in the passenger side of the Impala.

Waking up in the hospital without a memory had been bad. It had turned his life into an unknown mess, but he was starting to make sense of it when his brother burst back into his life, literally.

Sam had many troubling thoughts. Demons are real? How? He had trouble ignoring the evidence of the night's events that pointed to the fact that yes, demons exist. Not only do they exist, but for some reason they're interested in him. Why?

Sam shot his brother a quick glance. Dean was a puzzle to him. He was so at home with the whole demon thing, and saving Sam from them. In fact, seemed to take pleasure in taking demons down.

The way Dean attacked the demon as well as his phone scared Sam. The man was dangerous, that was clear. He just hoped that he would never make Dean angry at him.

Sam did get a sense that his brother cared about him. He tried to take comfort in that, but it was hard. It was hard to let his guard down and if he was honest with himself- he still wanted to flee. But to where?

He had so many questions, but was afraid to ask them. The silence was heavy and oppressive between him and his brother and he could tell that Dean was uneasy too.

Not sure what to do, he decided to put his fears aside and ask a few questions that were weighing on him.

"Dean?" He had to smile when his brother jumped a bit. At least he wasn't the only one that was unsure of the whole situation

Dean turned and smiled sheepishly. "Yeah?"

"Uh, so the whole car accident thing that I dreamed, was made up? You and Dad are both alive?" Sam watched as Dean winced a bit at the mention of their dad.

"Sam, that accident did happen. Uh, and Dad died from complications from the crash. It was over a year ago though." Dean swallowed hard and turned back to look at the road.

Sam nodded, feeling numb. He could see the devastation on Dean's face and he wished that he could share in that- wished that he could feel something. His dad was dead, and he only had the distorted memory of the man's death to hold on too.

"Sorry Dean, I didn't mean to bring back bad memories." Sam shifted around in the car and tried to get comfortable. His head was killing him, his stomach was tight, and he ached all over.

"Not a problem Sam, really. You lost all your memories, so you're bound to have lots of questions. I know you don't remember our life but I do, and dude, you wouldn't be Sam if you didn't ask a lot of questions. That's part of who you are. So, I'll answer them the best I can." Dean glanced over at Sam and smiled.

Sam smiled back. There was one other question that he really wanted to ask. "Uh Dean, you mentioned that the real Jess gave me the money clip. Do I need to call her?"

Sam knew the answer wouldn't be good by the look on Dean's face. "You fell in love with Jess while going to school at Stanford. In fact, you two lived together. There was a fire and she died."

Even though he had no memory of this event, it made Sam's breath catch. In a quiet voice he felt himself say. "Oh."

Dean placed a hand on his thigh and Sam flinched away. He could tell by Dean's expression he had hurt the older man's feelings, but this was all too much.

He watched his brother plant a fake smile on his face. "Sorry Sam, I keep forgetting that I'm a stranger to you. "

"I'm sorry too." Sam replied unable to return the smile.

"Um, why don't you try to sleep. You look exhausted, and I'll wake you when I find us a safe and decent place to stay, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." Sam wasn't sure he could sleep, but faking sleep would be easier than finding out more tragic information about his life. So far, from what he could tell, Sam Winchester's life sucked. Maybe he didn't want to remember his life.

He slowly took his jacket off and balled it up as a makeshift pillow against the window and closed his eyes. To his surprise, he found his body relaxing to the gentle rumble of the car's engine.

-0-

Dean watched as Sam slowly drifted off to sleep. He was relieved that Sam gave in to his exhaustion. The boy needed rest and Dean needed a break from the questions. The questions that were too hard to answer.

How was he supposed to explain this life to Sam? Their lives sucked right now. Demons were after Sam, and Dean only had a limited time left to protect him.

Dean had decided that the best course of action was to take Sam to Bobby's place. The boy would be relatively safe there. Once there, they would have to search for a cure. Time was definitely not on their side. Life had been complicated enough and now, well now he had lost his brother.

Part of Dean had been relieved when the demon had said that the memory loss had been caused by a spell. Spells can be broken, but damn- they could also be impossible to break. Still it was better that the memory loss was caused by a spell and not brain damage.

The part that was killing Dean the most was that Sam was afraid of him. He wanted to erase the night's events from Sam's mind. He knew that bursting in like he had and taking the demon down had shaken Sam.

On top of that, Dean had gone ballistic on Sam's phone. The look on the poor boy's face would have been comical if it had been his Sam, but it wasn't his Sam. This Sam had tensed and backed away like Dean was dangerous. That hurt, a lot.

Dean realized how much Sam was at unease when he had tried to comfort him over the news of what had happened to the real Jess. Had they not been in a moving car, he was sure the boy would have bolted.

Sam was afraid, and Dean couldn't blame him. He was too, but he was also determined. If it was the last thing he did, he would get Sam's life back in order for him.