Supernatural does not belong to me, although I wish it did. I am simply playing in Kirpke's sandbox for a bit. All rights and ownership are the property of Kripke and the CW network. I am not making any money from this; it is for my own personal pleasure.

Synopsis: Set at the start of Season One, Dean had been in a wheelchair since his father disappeared more than a year ago and he finally has to tell Sam… There'd been an accident that night and Dean had paid a very high price….one he still doesn't understand. The story will have some hunts from season one and possibly into season two…the brothers will continue their search for their father…there will be alterations to the hunts to accommodate Dean's new situation. I have every intention of returning Dean to good health before this ends…but getting there is going to be bumpy.

Please keep in mind that I do not have a Beta, so all grammatical errors are my own. Not Slash. Brotherly love and Angst only…

Please Review: So I know there's interest

Chapter 8

The Truth about Dean

Sam came back to consciousness with a painful gasp of air as he twisted and felt what was sure to be a mass of bruises twinging painfully on his upper back. "Dean?" he called out quickly, before his vision had even cleared. He felt a hesitant hand settle on his shoulder, Sam pulled his blurry eyes around and connected them with a very scared looking young woman, who was staring at him with concern. The fact that his brother wasn't answering any of his verbal calls had immediately raised his super-sensitive-sibling early warning system, and that had him sitting up rather quickly. "Dean!" he called out again…louder this time, his gaze sweeping the immediate area and finally slowly slipping across the silent and much too still form of his older brother. The air froze in his lungs as he looked the blood leaking slowly from both of Dean's ears. Sam scrambled to his feet…stumbling the few remaining steps that still separated him and older his brother…his knees giving out at the last moment and causing him to fall beside his brother's silent body.

Sam felt the tears starting to burn behind his eyes as they slowly blurred his vision and he reached two fingers out to gently touch his brother's neck. His fingers searching for Dean's pulse…he couldn't stop them from shaking as he prayed silently that his brother hadn't fulfilled his vision. He nearly collapsed with relief when he felt the thread-like pulse beating sluggishly beneath the surface of the white freckled skin. It wasn't as strong as he'd like…but his brother was alive…and thankfully all of his skin was still attached to his body.

"Dean?" Sam tried again. He gently shook the silent form again and was gratified to hear a pained moaned that escaped Dean's lips as his eyes fluttered open revealing confused emerald green eyes. "Oh thank God." Sam whispered. He reached up and carded his fingers through Dean's short blonde hair…his brother just continued to stare at him…but there was still no comprehension in those eyes…nothing that showed that he'd actually heard what Sam had said. Dean's pale face was becoming quickly confused as he stared up at his little brother…almost like he couldn't understand what Sam was saying.

Dean narrowed his eyes and shifted his body and then let out a groan of pain as his rib shifted and agony shot through his chest. He leaned into Sam's comforting hands and closed his eyes…but he still had yet to say anything. It took Dean a moment to realize that he couldn't actually hear…he couldn't hear anything…not the sounds of the forest around him…and especially…not Sammy, who was seated directly above him wearing his patented worried-about-Dean expression.

He could see his brother's lips moving but he couldn't hear a damn thing…what the hell had happened to him? Dean blinked owlishly up at Sam as he tried to pull his fractured thoughts together…he remembered the scarecrow…and he remembered the sound…and that was the last thing he'd heard.

"Dean? Can you…hear me?" Sam asked slowly as he watched the confusion being reflected out of the deep green eyes of his big brother. "Oh my God…" Sam breathed as he sat back on his heels and allowed his gaze to shift out into the forest. Like they needed any more things going wrong with their lives…like Dean needed anything else wrong with him. He wondered suddenly if it was permanent…he prayed to a god he wasn't even sure he still believed in that it wasn't.

Dean furrowed his brow and then looked away as pain flared in his chest, Sam's eyes were drawn down to his brothers body…the red that stained his t-shirt making Sam wince. He knew that this was a direct result of the hunt at the Asylum…the injuries that were splashing across Dean's body…they had started with him. He pushed the rising guilt down as he tried to figure out how to get Dean out of the middle of this forest.

"Sam?" Bobby called as he ran into the clearing…the sight of the young hunter kneeling over the bloody form of his brother made him stop dead in his tracks. He closed his eyes and drew in a deep breath, before he advanced on the Winchesters. "Is he…" Bobby couldn't quite finish the sentence.

Sam glanced up and shook his head. "No…but I…Bobby, I don't think he can hear me…" he said quietly. His eyes were drawn back to Dean's face…his brother reached up and ran his hand along Sam's chin as he looked sadly at the bruise forming on his little brother's face.

"Sammy…" he whispered.

Just the sound of his brother's gravelly voice saying his name made Sam want to cringe. He just wanted things to be the way they had been when they were kids…when Dean was still his hero and he was still the know-it-all little brother. "You're gonna be okay Dean…I'm gonna make sure that you're okay." Sam said as he looked down into the soft hooded eyes of his best friend…and more importantly…his brother. All his life Dean had never once let him down…not even the night he'd left for Stanford…Sam had known that his brother fought with their father that night…and he knew that he'd been that cause of that particularly violent fight. A small masochistic part of him wondered if that was when all the physical abuse perpetrated against his brother had started…the night he walked out...without a backward glance.

XXXX

Dean crawled back toward consciousness slowly…his chest was still painful, though not as painful as it had been. His head felt like a twelve piece band was giving an encore performance and the normal low-level noises that should be present were still maddeningly silent in his ears. He pushed himself up slowly and leaned against the headboard…Sam's worried face immediately popping into view. His lips were moving, but Dean couldn't hear anything that he was saying. He held up his hand to his ear, it was weird to talk and not hear his own voice…so he tried to stay silent.

Sam's eyes widened as his suspicions were confirmed….Dean couldn't hear him. His eyes slid shut and he scrubbed his hand across his face in frustration. He was so tired of the Winchester brother's being on the end of some shitty cosmic joke…because honestly...he really wasn't getting the punchline.

Dean inhaled slowly, his eyes squeezing shut as the rib twitched and he decided that he wouldn't be taking any more deep breaths any time in the near future. "Sammy…It'll be okay." He said…yeah he really didn't like not hearing his voice…it was just too damn weird.

Sam narrowed his eyes and sat on the edge of the bed, grabbing the motel stationary and writing a quick message to his brother. 'I think we need to take you to a doctor.' Sam had written in the neat capital letters that his little brother had always written in.

"No Sam…I think the sound just damaged my eardrums…give it a couple of days and then we can discuss it." Dean said quickly as he put his hand on the notepad and gently lowered Sam's note back to the bed. Sam's patented 'puppy-dog' face was currenlty plastering itself all over his little brother's concerned face.

He wanted to argue with Dean…but he was hopeful that his older brother was right…because the last thing that either of them could really handle at the moment was hearing that not only was Dean in a wheelchair…but that he was also deaf. Sam looked down and then nodded slowly as he brought his eyes back up and looked into his brother's pleading gaze. Dean smiled slightly as he saw the acceptance sink into Sam's posture, he reached up and pushed at Sam's chin, the same way that he had when they'd been kids and he was trying to tell Sam to 'keep-his-chin-up'.

Sam lifted his tired frame off his brother's bed and walked over to the fridge, grabbing a bottle of water and a little bottle of aspirin; he opened it and poured out three of the little white pills. Dean's sharp eyes watched as his little brother took the pain meds…he furrowed his eyebrows in concern.

Dean reached over and pulled his wheelchair next to the bed, he hauled his sore body over and settled it into the chair. He rolled over to where their bags were situated, grabbing his duffel and moving to the bathroom. He really needed a shower, Sam's eyes were tracking his movements…as he pushed the door to the small room open…he sighed when he realized that this was one of the motels that only had a shower. He'd have to make do…he always did.

XXXX

The first thing that Dean noticed when he woke up the next morning was the quiet snores of his little brother…oh thank God… he thought as he realized that his hearing was slowly coming back. That would make his brother happy…not that he wasn't happy about not being saddled with another disability.

He debated on crawling out of the warm bed and rolling over to the coffee machine…when he heard the soft buzzing of his cell phone on the wooden end table; he reached for it, albeit a little slowly, in an attempt to keep the little device from waking up his still sleeping brother. Dean clicked the little silver device open and was surprised when a set of coordinates popped up…they were from an unknown number. But that was tactic that he'd definitely seen before…one that his father would use when he took longer on a hunt than he'd anticipated. That meant that his father was trying to send them somewhere…what if he knows that Sammy's back with me… that thought send ice racing through his veins. The last thing that Dean wanted was for Sam and their father meet…not at this point. Sam was still too angry…in general…and their father…well, when wasn't the man angry?Although a part of him knew that he would go...and that Sam would go too.

Dean just wasn't willing to risk that either Sam would leave as a result of another fight with the old man or that….he would finally realize that there wasn't anything anyone could do for Dean. He hoped like hell that there was …but he was a Winchester after all…and they didn't exactly have good luck.

"Who was it?" A raspy and sleep thickened voice asked from the other bed.

Dean's eyes shifted up to meet Sam's as his brother immediately noticed that Dean had heard his question. "You heard me?" he asked again, his eyes shining and a slow smile spreading across his lips as the deep dimples that Dean teased him about were slowly making themselves known. It was the first time that Dean had seen those 'cheek-pits' since they left the Asylum and he'd missed his little brothers smile…more than he'd thought. Sam was suddenly shifting his legs out of the bed and stepping over the narrow gap between their beds so that he could sink down on Dean's still warm mattress. His ocean colored eyes were hopeful as he watched a small smile slip across his brother's chapped lips and a slow nod. "Thank God." Sam breathed as he leaned in and pulled his brother into a hug, then slowly releasing his now squirming older brother. "And you need to drink more water dude." Sam shot out. He watched as his brother raised his right eyebrow at the jibe and the tilt of his head as he debated firing back at Sam. Instead he did the one thing that Sam hadn't expected…he let it go.

Dean allowed the chick-flick moment; he reached up and wrapped his own arms around his brother's broad shoulders, allowing himself to just feel the steady beat of his little brother's heart. "I'm okay Sammy…" he said softly. "I'm harder to break than they think…"

Sam leaned away again so that he could clearly see into Dean's deep green eyes…he knew that last part was true…if what had happened to him over the last couple of years hadn't broken his brother…Sam kinda doubted if there was anything that could.

"So who was on the phone?" he asked again as he pulled away, thumping Dean lightly on the back as he did, shifting his weight to stand up and turning to walk to the little coffee maker these crappy motels always seemed to have. He placed the grounds into the machine and began pouring the water into the holding tank. Sam's eyes were shifting to his brother's guarded face…whoever had been on the phone…they had caused Dean to through his wall back up. He flipped the button and then rounded on Dean, looking for an answer to his question.

Dean was leaning heavily against the wall at the head of his bed, his head resting on the nasty flowery wallpaper. "There wasn't anybody on the phone…it was a text." He said simply.

Sam raised an eyebrow at him and folded his arms across his chest as he sat on the end of the bed again. Dean always wondered how it was that someone as big as his little brother managed to fold themselves into such twisted positions without breaking something. He rolled his eyes as Sam's eyebrows rose as he waited for Dean to continue. "It was coordinates."

Sam's arms flew to his side as he lifted himself up and he shifted closer to Dean. "Like coordinates from dad…coordinates?" he asked incredulously. Dean nodded and Sam's fingers were suddenly moving through his hair in frustration, the long strands falling waywardly into his eyes as his breathing increased.

Dean's eyes dropped closed and he waited as the fall out of what was soon to be a full-out Sammy-storm picked up power, going from a 1 to a 10 in no time flat. This wasn't going to be a fun conversation, "And let me guess…you want us to go to wherever these coordinates are…right?"

Dean tiled his head to the side and slowly crossed his own arms across his chest in increasing irritation as he watched Sam's immediate refusal… "Sam…it might be where dad is right now…I have to find the man." Dean said quietly, he knew that Sam understood that, but he wondered if Sam got just how important it was for him to know, know for certain whether or not this situation was permanent.

Sam hated this, he absolutely hated this. He didn't want to put Dean in the same state as that man…let alone follow a lead that their father had sent them. Sam didn't trust the man…he'd lost that right the first time he hit Dean to alleviate his own anger or guilt or whatever the hell the man would use an excuse to beat the shit out of his eldest son. But he also knew that Dean was right…they needed to find the man…it might be Dean's only shot at healing his back. He was clenching his jaw so tightly that his cheek was jumping with the strain and the cords on his neck were standing out against his tanned skin.

"Sam, calm down." Dean said quietly. He was watching Sam go into what he used to call 'the bad place'. Sam's angry eyes shot back to his and Dean exhaled loudly as he reached up and ran his fingers through his hair. "Look Sam…" His brother cut him off with a look. Now Dean was starting to get angry, he felt the bubbling emotion running up his throat along with a comment that he knew he shouldn't voice…but he did anyways. "Look Sam, I'm going…now you can either come along or not…but either way…I'm leaving in one hour. So you'll either have your ass in the car…or find another method of transportation." Dean's face was set in a stony mask as he watched his words slash into Sam. His brother's eyebrows came together and he shook his head as 'bitch-face' number six made an appearance. He'd gone for giving them numbers when they were younger…mostly because Sam had so many versions of the Sam Winchester patented 'bitch-face'.

Sam couldn't believe that his brother could be that stupid…that he would willingly fall back into the same traps that had landed him in that damn chair. "Dean, don't be stupid…" he said without thinking. When he saw the subtle shift in his older brother's face, the hurt that flashed through his green eyes, Sam was immediately sorry that he hadn't shut-up while he'd been ahead. So much for the hug…he thought.

Dean couldn't believe that his little brother had just called him stupid. He'd always known that Sam was the smarter of the two of them…but to have that so blatantly thrown at him…well it hurt. He clenched his jaw and schooled his face into a mask of indifference. "If that's how you feel then maybe we should just go separate directions." Dean said evenly, the only evidence of his true feelings the white knuckles that were clenching the blanket pooled around his hips.

Sam groaned and then scrubbed his hand down his face in frustration. "No Dean…that's not what I meant. I didn't mean…"

Dean cut him off. "Yes you did." He said coldly.

Anger and regret were still flashing through Sam's blue-green gaze as he continued to stare at his older brother. "Fine. Where are we going?" He said through gritted teeth.

"If you're gonna be bitchy the whole…" Dean started and Sam his brother cut off with a pointed look.

"Stop. I'm not leaving you, so….quit trying to force me to." Sam forced out tiredly as he sank into one of the rickety chairs near the coffee maker. He watched as Dean inhaled angrily, his eyes flashing dangerously as he finally nodded, effectively ending this argument until a later time. Sam wanted to tell Dean about the visions of his father…the visions of John beating him…but he knew that Dean wouldn't exactly be receptive…and when that subject did come up…Sam was going to make damn sure that Dean talked to him.

Sam stood up suddenly and then grabbed his toiletries bag, along with some clean clothes and headed into the tiny bathroom. He didn't say anything to Dean as he closed the door behind himself. His gaze fell on the shower and it suddenly occurred to him to wonder how the hell his brother had managed a shower? He shook his head and glanced into the mirror. Sam sighed as he saw the nice purple bruise on his jaw…damn scarecrow. He thought as he pulled his shirt over his head and stripped off his pants, reaching in and turning on the water. Most of the time they stayed in these hotels they got rooms with miniscule water heaters…he hoped like hell that this wasn't one of those rooms.

He crawled into the small shower and was grateful when hot water cascaded over his sore muscles. He glanced down at his chest and groaned when he saw the multi-colored bruise that was center mass on his sternum. He definitely hadn't missed this…he hadn't missed getting injured…watching Dean get injured…

A sudden flash of pain nearly brought him to his knees as his vision blurred in and out, "Ah…god…" he rasped as his head felt like a lumberjack was splitting it open with the biggest damn mal that ever existed.

XXXX

Dean was stomping through the snow covered wooded area, his face a mask of concern as he followed their father. He was freezing, it was January and he was in the middle of the Bitterroot Mountain range outside of Missoula. They'd been tracking this coven for that last several weeks and the clues had finally led them deep into the frozen tundra of the Montana mountains.

Sam was once again only able to watch as his brother followed their father deeper and deeper into the dark thick forest. He wasn't exactly sure where they were, but he was certain that he didn't want to see whatever this was. Every time so far…every single one…these visions had led to more questions and to an ever increasing load of guilt.

He watched as Dean stepped in a hole that had been hidden beneath and icy layer of snow and his brother felt the bones in his ankle twist painfully, Dean went down on one knee with a whispered groan of pain. His father glanced back over his shoulder and then stalked back to where Dean was trying to pull himself slowly back to his feet. The knee of his jeans now ripped and covered in rapidly melting snow. "What the hell Dean! Can't you even walk properly?" his father shouted at him as his fingers fisted into Dean's hair and hauled him painfully to his feet. Dean bit back a cry as his ankle took the brunt of his weight and it settled onto the icy ground. His face was pinched as he tried desperately to ignore the flashes of agony that were twisting up his nervous system via his leg. "Get it together Dean!" His father whisper-shouted at him.

Sam couldn't believe it…is this what t had been like for his brother? Constantly being told that he wasn't good enough…damn-it…Dean was one of the best hunters that Sam had ever seen. He had an innate ability to successfully do this job. But their father seemed to be constantly throwing his very few mistakes back in his face. Sam could feel the anger building in his chest as he watched their father stride away from Dean…leaving his injured brother to limp along at a far faster pace than he should have been able maintain.

Dean bit his lip as he mumbled. "Yes sir." He stepped down onto the twisted right ankle and accidentally bit through his lip, blood now coating his inner lower lip as he pushed the pain down and limped after his father. They approached an old cabin…it looked like something out of a horror movie…and had Dean twisting his fingers into his jeans in concern as he looked at the dilapidated old cabin. His green eyes flickered to his father, who was now crouching behind an old wood pile, his shot gun already in hand. He glared back at Dean, causing the middle Winchester to sink slowly to his knees beside the angry man.

"You better not have screwed this up too, Dean." His father whispered angrily at his eldest son.

Sam was starting to see red; the more he watched his father subtly…or not so subtly as it turned out…degrade Dean for trying to help, and it didn't help that Sam knew what the outcome of this particular hunt was going to be... He wished that he could smack that angry smirk right off his father's face. But he was destined to only watch as his father and brother moved quietly toward the back door. His father was just opening the cracked wooden door when the lights inside the place flared to life…catching both Winchesters off guard. Dean's eyes widened as no less than seven witches were standing lined up on the other side of that damn door. The leader appeared to be a tall thin man with greying hair and strange blue eyes. He narrowed his icy blue gaze before speaking… "Well well well…if it isn't John Winchester and his shadow…nice of you to make it John." He finished snidely.

Dean's eyes popped open even wider as the witch called his father by name…as far as he knew; they'd never had a run in with this particular coven before…now he was rethinking that assumption. Cuz, you know what they say about people that assume…they make and ass out of u and me…the adage rolled through his head as he watched the interaction between hunter and witch….or warlock…whatever they call themselves.

Sam watched as one of the witch's threw some sort of spell at John, his father was trapped against the wall of the cabin. "Dad!" Dean called as he rushed forward only to be hit from behind by an eighth witch that they'd missed. The woman stared at the blood that rushed from the head wound where she'd bashed the young hunter with the handle of broom…cuz that was a particularly nice piece of irony…a witch hitting someone with a broom. Sam's horror only built as he watched two of the warlocks step forward and haul his unconscious brother to his feet and throw him into a corner, face down. The sound of Dean's face slamming into the wooden floor boards made Sam's own twitch with sympathy. He knew that that had to hurt…if Dean had been conscious that is.

"So John…you made it…and you brought the shadow too. Where's the other one?" the warlock asked as he stepped up in front of the hunter.

John's voice dropped as he answered. "You said that you would leave him alone if I did this…" he said through clenched teeth.

The blue-eyed man raised his eyebrows in contemplation and then tilted his head as a slow smile curved his thin lips. "I did say that…didn't I? But you see here's the thing…this one doesn't have the same potential as the other one…"

John's face fell as he looked at the other man. His mind obviously sifting through information that he hadn't felt he needed to share with his hunting partner…i.e. his son. Sam was still trying to place exactly who they were talking about when he saw his father's visage change completely. "You can't have Sam." He said slowly. The warlock tilted his head and then burst out laughing as the others joined into the cacophony of snickers rattling around inside the room.

"Well…I suppose I only need the energy from one of them…and I'm guessing that you're willing to sacrifice this one…instead of me going after the other one…" he pointed to where Dean's crumpled form laid in the corner. The man inhaled deeply and made a sound that was almost like it was hurting him to have to make this concession. "I suppose I will leave little Sammy alone…" He walked over to where Dean was splayed out on the dirty floor and reached down, his fingers elongating into what looked like razor sharp talons, as he pulled up Dean's leather jacket and the numerous shirts his brother always wore. His ice blue eyes flickered back up to John and he smiled evilly as his stabbed his pointed nails right into Dean's lower spine…an eerie blue glow emanating from where they were now deeply inserted inside of Dean.

Sam wanted to stop the man…it was obvious that this is what had injured Dean…and it had never been his fault. Their father had led him out there like a sacrificial lamb and offered him up to these bastards. He launched himself at the witch only to have his fingers once again slash through the form of the man. He was unable to affect any change, he felt the tears start to burn as he watched the witch pull something from Dean…something that was uniquely Dean's and absorb the energy. Dean's face pinched with agony, even in the depths of unconsciousness he was in obvious pain, as the fingers penetrated five distinct places on his lower back.

Their father watched everything with guarded eyes and if Sam didn't know better he would say that John almost looked guilty…gutless and guilty.

XXXX

Sam found himself kneeling in the now ice cold water of the shower, he could hear Dean pounding on the door. "Sam, if you don't answer me in two seconds I'm breaking this door down!" Sam tried to understand just what his brother was saying as he attempted to control the white flashes of agony searing through his head. "I mean it Sam…it's gonna go down…" He heard Dean shifting on the other side of the door.

"Dean…just give me a minute….damn-it." He called in response. Sam's voice was weak and raspy as he tried to verbally stop his brother from doing damage to the motel. Because even though Dean was relegated to a wheelchair…he had no doubt that he both could and would break the flimsy bathroom door in an attempt to get to Sam.

He heard the slight hesitation as Dean finally got an answer from his little brother. "Hurry up you fricken girl!" Dean called out in irritation as he rolled away from the door.

Sam reached up and turned the water off as he sat back on his heels for a moment trying to sift through the images that he'd seen. So it was now obvious that their father had been involved…that he'd screwed up…somehow…and then offered up Dean as a payment for his error. But apparently it had been between him and his older brother…and oh my God did that just drive the guilt-soaked-knife so much deeper into his soul. This was something that he would have to tell Dean about…but how did he even bring this type of thing up?

TBC…

Author's Note: As I said the hunt was going to take a turn…the boy's will have a reason to search for John now…beyond trying to heal Dean. They need to know just what happened to Dean and how they find this coven to try and reverse the damage. They will also continue to hunt along the way…Sam will have to figure out to tell Dean what he knows and Dean will have to learn how to let his brother help.

Please Review: Please take the time to let me know what you guys think of the chapter…