Disclaimer: I own nothing that has anything to do with Supernatural or the characters, unless you count the DVDs. This is just for fun.

Thanks for all the great reviews! Sorry for the delay, needless to say there has been writers block involved, on top of real life, a very bad mix let me tell you.

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Dean's childhood had been stolen from him, he barely remembered what was life was like before the fire, all he knew was that before his mother's murder, his life had been safe and happy, then that had disappeared, he barely even remembered his grandparents, let alone the uncle and aunt that he was going to move Sam and himself in with.

The day Sam was discharged from the hospital, Dean was rocketed back into the family he barely knew, and they had no idea of what he, his brother and father had done, the things they had seen, the things they had killed.

Dr Moore had arranged for a medical transport helicopter to move Sam to Lawrence, Dean had wanted Sam to go by ground, he was petrified of flying, but Dr Moore had insisted that it wouldn't be safe to have Sam in the back of an ambulance for over eight hours, and so Dean found himself once again taking off, leaving the solid ground against his better judgement, but there was no way he would have left his brother's side. In the hour and a half that it took them to reach Lawrence, not once did Dean take his eyes off Sam.

When Dean stepped out of the helicopter on the helipad of Lawrence's only hospital, he got the surprise of his life, gathered at the far side of the landing pad were his grandparents, and all but four aunts, uncles, and cousins.

"We are so not in Kansas anymore, Sammy," Dean murmured softly to his comatose sibling as the medical staff lifted him from the helicopter.

Sam was taken straight to a waiting ambulance to go the rest of the distance to Ray and Meredith's home, where they were waiting for the boys' arrival, while Dean was left to face the crowd of relatives he for the most part didn't even remember.

There were hugs, and joyful tears, and to Dean it was a nightmare, family wasn't this, it had never been this, family never showed emotion, family just got on with life, there were no celebrations, just another night in the latest motel with his little brother, eating tinned spaghetti, having no idea where their father was, or if he was even alive.

But it wasn't all bad for Dean, after the initial emotion filled scenes, everything went back to normal for the Winchester families, they went back to their lives, and Dean was allowed some space to breathe, not that he used it.

Dean spent the first five hours after arriving at Meredith and Ray's house going over all of the equipment that had been set up for Sam, quizzing his newfound aunt and uncle on some of the details of Sam's care, and just generally driving himself mad in an effort to ensure that Sam was getting the best possible care, though in the end no matter what they would say, Dean wouldn't entrust his brother to them, nor any of the home help assistants they hired in the coming months, and so Dean became his brother's full time caregiver.

Seven weeks after Sam and Dean had moved in with their aunt and uncle, and for Dean his life was in limbo, as long as Sam lay languishing in a vegetative state, Dean could neither move forward nor backward, he was trapped.

Now, that's not to say that that Dean would ever end Sam's life to be able to return to his own, it was his brother, he couldn't, he would never..., or would he?

Dean found himself thinking as he sponge bathed Sam one morning, it was barely nine in the morning, and Dean was already exhausted, he'd spent the last two days at the hospital with Sam, who'd had yet another bladder infection due to the catheter, his fourth since he came home from the hospital, Meredith and Ray had gone to work, and just for a moment, Dean stopped, and he found himself reaching to switch off the ventilator. Sam would never know, he wouldn't feel anything, and it would be over.

That was the moment that Dean knew he had to get out of there, before he really did something he would regret, he called his uncle as he packed a bag of his clothes and whatever else he may need, knowing that Sam could not be left alone and the couple would not be home until well into the evening.

"'ello, triple A construction, this is Ray," Ray answered his work mobile on the first ring, he had not expected this though.

"Yeah, hi Ray, it's Dean. Look, I need you to come home,"

"I'm really busy today, Dean. Can't it wait?"

"I wouldn't have called you if it could. Please."

Sensing the younger man's unease, Ray agreed, "Okay, I'll be there in twenty."

Ray would come home to find Dean gone, with only a note left by Sam's bed giving any indication as to where, and even that did not say much.

Ray and Meredith,

Thanks for everything, for taking care of Sam.

I just need a break, I will come back.

Thanks,

Dean

Dean didn't drive anymore, even if he had of had a car, and that made his journey quite a bit harder, but not impossible, he was going to South Dakota, to visit a family friend and fellow hunter, Bobby Singer.

John Winchester had managed to have a falling out with nearly everyone he had ever met, including Bobby, but when John's son had called Bobby some months earlier, asking him to tow their car back to his yard following an accident, Bobby didn't hesitate, he was more worried by whether the boys were alright, something that Dean hadn't even considered when he made the call.

It still shook him to the core to look out his living room window, and see the wrecked car, thinking of John's boys, whom Bobby had known for years, knowing that they had been in that.

And the day that Dean Winchester arrived to assess the wreck, or at least that was the reason he gave, Bobby was taken aback by the state of the young man.

Dean hadn't so much as had a passing thought as to his own wellbeing since he woke up after the accident, and it showed, he was exhausted, he hadn't bothered to actually do the rehab he was prescribed after getting out of the casts, leaving him with a noticeable limp and limited use of his right arm, he barely took the time to get dressed in the mornings, he looked like hell, barely a shell of his former self.

Dean's reaction to seeing the wreck for the first time was all you would expect, to that day the car still reeked of the rather metallic smell of blood, blood which coated every visible surface within the vehicle, his brother's blood for the most part.

As soon as he saw it, Dean was doubled over, throwing up his last meal onto the dirt driveway; the car had been Dean's prized possession, and now it was wrecked beyond recognition, but that was barely even on Dean's radar, all he could think of was the accident itself. Of all things a deer, everything they had seen, and it was a deer that had forced the boys from the life, and if Dean could have just kept the car under control, he honestly thought that he could have prevented the devastating crash, but the main thing that had Dean's attention was the blood, it still seemed impossible that someone who had lost so much blood could still be alive, if you could call what Sam was alive.

All too soon for Dean's liking, he and Bobby were seated in the older man's living room, each nursing their second beer, as Bobby finally broached the subject, but not in a way that Dean had expected, by asking, "So what happened, Dean? The guy at the wrecker's yard said it was a bad accident, wet road, night and all, but seriously boy, was that all it was? Were you boys working a job? Was this one of our kind of accidents?"

"What? No, it wasn't, I don't think at least. We'd just finished a job, it was late, nearly two in the morning, Sam wanted to stay in town for the night, the roads were that bad, but... I didn't even give him a chance; there was another job, in Illinois that I wanted to check out. I came around a bend, and there was a deer standing on the road, I swerved, didn't want to ding the car," Dean laughed bitterly at the thought, "That's all I remember really, then it gets blurred, a skull fracture and concussion tend to do that, at first I couldn't even remember that day if you can believe that."

Bobby pulled of his trademark trucker cap, and ran a hand through his hair, swearing under his breath.

Once Bobby came around from his immense distress from hearing Dean's version of events, he asked, "So how is Sam? Where is he?"

"..." For a moment, when Dean hesitated, Bobby thought that maybe Sam was dead.

"He's back in Lawrence with family, he was hurt badly in the crash, the doctors say he has major brain damage, he'll never get better."

There was a long silence before Bobby cautiously said, "I think I may know someone who could help Sam, make him better."

TBC...

Hopefully I'll be able to speed up with writing this fic now, I've got a few things planned for the next couple of chapters.

Review if you want to read more.