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 any and all grammatical errors are my own. Not Slash. Brotherly love and Angst only…

Please Review: They make me feel guilty and write faster...obviously. Because these chapters are nearly falling out of my head. Thank you to any 'guest reviewers' since I can't PM you guys...

Chapter 10

Is it A Hunt or a Clue

Sam pulled into a small motel in northern Idaho, they had about another 7 hours of driving, Dean was already asleep in the passenger seat and he was having a hard time keeping his eyes open at this point. His brother hadn't said much of anything to him after Sam had let the proverbial 'cat out of the bag' a that stop on the side of the road. Sam had known that telling Dean would probably mean that he'd be getting the silent treatment for a while. But he hadn't anticipated the complete lack of emotional response once the initial shock had worn off at least not on the part of his brother. After the initial waterworks…there'd been nothing. Dean had simply shut down. He would talk about the drive and where they wanted to stop for lunch…but nothing personal...not a damn thought that might even be perceived as personal. He didn't seem to want to discuss the Montana hunt anymore and he definitely didn't want to talk about their father. Sam pulled in a deep breath and looked over at Dean's sleeping form. He shook his head silently and pushed his long hair out of his eyes as he climbed out of the Impala with a sigh, walking into the small office.

A young man sat behind the counter, his feet resting on something below the desk. He was reading a comic book, 'X-Men;, it looked like...the kid glanced up and smiled half-heartedly at Sam. "Need a room?" he said as he set the comic down and clicked something on the computer in front of him.

"Uh yeah…ground floor and two beds please." Sam said automatically. The kid raised his eyebrows at Sam and shrugged his shoulders. "I got two beds…but they're only on the second floor. There's a soccer competition in town…so rooms are a little sparse. I got a ground floor with a king bed?" the kid said as an afterthought.

Sam groaned and then wondered which choice would piss off Dean less…the king sized bed…or him having to carry Dean up the stairs. "You don't have an elevator do you?" Sam asked hopefully.

The kid gave him a funny look and then shook his head. "Nope."

Sam closed his eyes in frustration…just one more thing to add to his growing pile of things that were pissing off his brother anyways. "Ground floor...king." He finally said. Sam exchanged the money and took the key from the kid. "Thanks…" he said through gritted teeth.

The kid just waved as he walked out of the office. Sam slid back into the driver's seat and pulled the car around to room 21. Once the car was turned off and he'd pulled Dean's chair from the trunk, he opened the passenger, startling Dean awake. His brother came up with fists flying, his knuckles connecting with Sam's jaw before Sam could move out of the way. "Damn-it Dean…" he grumbled as Dean's eyes widened in realization that he'd just decked Sam in the mouth.

"Oh shit…Sam…sorry man." He said quickly as his eyes focused on his little brother standing there holding his jaw gingerly. "We here already?"

Sam rolled his eyes, "No but we're stopping for the night. I already paid for the room." He finished as Dean's eyes panned the surrounding area.

"Ground floor?" Dean asked.

"Obviously." Sam retorted. He rolled Dean's chair in front of him and watched while Dean struggled to pull his tired body into the chair. He would have offered to help, but he figured at this point his older brother probably didn't want his help with much of anything. He inhaled and then told Dean the rest of the story… "There's only one bed though…king sized."

Dean's eyes popped open even wider and he searched for a comeback. "Sam, you'd fill up a king sized bed all by yourself…where am I supposed to sleep?"

"Ha ha, Dean. It was all they had available on the ground floor. So unless you'd prefer me carrying your ass 'bridal-style' across the second floor threshold…this will have to do." Dean was actually impressed with Sam's snarky remark. He smiled and shrugged…

"You know I don't swing that way…I prefer blondes…" he finished with a smirk. Dean was still angry or embarrassed, he wasn't sure which, by what had transpired in the car earlier…which ever it was…but he could push that down so that he could deal with his brother when needed. Besides as hard as that subject had been for him…and it had really sucked…he knew that it couldn't have been any easier on Sam. So while he wasn't ready to talk about any of that shit yet…he was going to try and work around it, so that they could hunt down these witches and get his legs functioning as god intended and with less tire treads...

Sam shot 'bitch-face' number three at him as he grabbed their duffels from the trunk and walked to the room. Dean rolled across the gravel, his arms straining as his wheels caught on the uneven terrain. He watched as his little brother opened the door and stepped inside, his huge frame disappearing into the darkness, before the room was flooded with light as Sam turned on the lamps near the large bed. Dean huffed as he finally made it to the room, he rolled inside immediately noticing that there was a small kitchenette area and the place had wi-fi and pay-per-view...Nice touch... He moved to the bathroom and was grateful to see that at least this place had a normal bath tub…which would make getting cleaned up a lot easier for him.

He turned and rolled back to the bed, claiming the side closest to the door…because some things weren't going to change…if anything wanted to get to Sam…it would have to go through him first. Dean wondered if Sam even noticed that he still did this. Claimed the spot nearest the door…when they'd been young that had been a necessity because of Sammy's age. While their sizes may have reversed, the fact that Sam was still the younger brother never would. He grabbed his duffel from where Sam had set them on the end of the bed, "I'm taking a shower Sam." He said quickly as he headed for the bathroom and hopefully nice hot water.

Sam just nodded and waved Dean off as he sank onto the bed and pulled out his laptop. Might as well find out more about this place in Oregon.

XXXX

Dean was still toweling off his hair as he rolled out of the bathroom, he glanced around until he saw Sam sitting at the table staring blank faced at the computer screen. Something about the look on his face made Dean stop and watch for a moment before slowly pushing himself over to his brother.

"Unless you're watching Asian cartoon porn…you're paying way too much attention to that screen." Dean said with a slight laugh. Sam's eyes slid up to meet his and his eyebrows shot into his hairline as gave Dean 'the look'. It wasn't quite a bitch-face, but it wasn't too far off either.

"I'm trying to figure out why we're being sent to Oregon jackass. And you're the one with the unhealthy obsession with cartoon porn…not me." Sam finished as he looked back at the screen.

Dean chose to ignore that last comment, since technically it was true, "So what are we up against Watson…?" He asked as he moved the small fridge and grabbed a beer. He was intensely grateful that Sam wasn't asking about their earlier conversation. There was a part of him that hoped that his brother would just let that go…forever would ideal…but just letting it go for now…would work. It looked as though luck seemed to be on his side. His geek brother was intent on whatever he was reading.

"So I think there's a hunt in Oregon." He never looked up, so Dean rolled so he could read the screen too.

"Okay…4 missing kids in the last two weeks, always taken from the….really? Taken from the same park? You'd think that parents would take their kids somewhere else after the first one." Dean said as he took a swig of his beer. He closed his eyes and smiled as the cold liquid swirled down is throat, man did he love beer. He felt Sam smack his arm to get his attention back, "What?"

"Pay attention. So yeah…taken from the same park…no signs of struggle. The parents said that they were just there one minute and gone the next." Sam furrowed his eyebrows and sat back slightly in the chair as he contemplated what kind of monster this might be. He saw something shift in Dean's face out of the corner of his eye, just before Dean was backing up and rolling over to where his duffel back was at. He pulled the green bag open and pulled out a book…but not just any book. Son-of-a-bitch… Sam thought in irritation as he recognized his father's journal. "How'd you get that?" Sam asked, his tone shifting immediately to clipped and angry.

Dean's green eyes shot up to his and he shrugged. "Dad left it in the car the night he disappeared." He left it at that, since he really didn't want to open an avenue for Sam to start questioning him about that night again. He flipped through the pages after rolling back to the table, he finally stopped about half way through the book. "Damn-it…" he muttered, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

"Wanna share with the class? Or do I have to guess?" Sam asked. The irritation warring with curiosity as he watched Dean.

Dean finally looked up at him and then handed him the journal. "I think it's a Raw-head." He watched as Sam started to read about the nasty creature. They took children and kept them alive for days before feeding on them, stealing the kids youth and leaving them a crippled version of themselves. The kids generally died within a couple of days after being recovered…if they got recovered in the first place. It was one of the creatures that Dean hated the most, not his most hated monster…but a pretty close second. That shining title was a toss-up between demons and the Striga's.

Sam's eyes widened as he read what the kid's went through and then on how to kill the Raw-head…electricity. For whatever reason their bodies couldn't dissipate electrical shock. Sam inhaled deeply and tossed the journal onto the table near the computer, he ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head. This was something that he'd been afraid of…their father sending them on hunts…and then both of them being both unwilling and unable to simply walk away and actually look for the man. And now that they knew that there were children in danger, he knew that neither he nor Dean would walk…or roll…away from this one. "So we're definitely going to Oregon?" Sam asked, resignation strong in his deep smooth voice.

Dean's face looked irritated as he glanced up at Sam. "Obviously…we're not gonna let those kids just die because I wanna walk again…" Although his face was scrunched with agitation, Dean's voice was even and steady as he confirmed what Sam had already known…Dean would never put his needs above those of the innocents, and they didn't come more innocent that little kids, that they were supposed to save. And while he appreciated his brother's intense sense of duty…he was worried that their father was intentionally trying to throw them off his trail. There was also the possibility that the trail that would lead to either John or the witches was growing even colder the longer they circled around the states….saving people…hunting things.

"Dean…" Sam didn't even get to finish the sentence before his brother was cutting him.

"No Sam…we go to Oregon and we kill that son of a bitch…and then we'll keep looking for dad." Dean was glaring at him, his eyes hard and determined… Sam rolled his eyes and nodded slightly as he pushed down his desire to keep searching. Dean saw it…the moment when he his brother crawled on board with him…they were gonna take out this asshat.

XXXX

Sam couldn't believe it…this hunt hadn't gone the way he'd figured it would…not one little bit. Dean was in the house, where they'd found the raw-head and the two missing kids. Dean was standing guard at the top of the stairs, the rain was pouring outside…and inside…the roof had so many holes in it that there was standing water everywhere. Dean had yelled at him to get the two kids out of the house and he had done it…

Dean could smell the rotten stench that always accompanied these particular monsters…now that he thought about it…most of the monsters they hunted smelled pretty fricken awful. But these…they smelled like a combination of rancid milk and rotten meat, and it was making his gag reflex work overtime to avoid puking all over the rotted boards that constituted the floor. He heard it before he saw it, the raw-head was moving rapidly up the stairs. The twisted face of the monster with the peeling skin and the intense red eyes stomped into view and crashed into him, knocking him to the floor. Why was it that all the monsters wanted to knock him out of his chair…assholes. He thought as the thing started to climb back to its feet. Dean's eyes widened as he took in the sheer size of this particular monster. Usually they weren't quite this big. "Son of a bitch…" he said loudly as he scrambled to reach the taser that'd been knocked out of his hand when the damn thing ran into him.

It growled at him and then started in his direction, a wobbly stumbling gate but still rapidly closing the gap between them, his fingers finally closing around the cool metal of the gun, he pulled it up and aimed at the monster, depressing the trigger simultaneously. He watched the electrodes impale themselves into the things chest and it stiffened as more than 100,000 volts rocketed through its body. And then suddenly Dean's entire body was just as rigid as the monsters as he barely realized his mistake before he collapsed. He'd fired the taser while he and the raw-head were connected…by a large puddle of water that had formed on the old floor due to the rain. He felt his heart seize with the electricity as his brain effectively shut itself down…

Sam rushed back into the house as soon as the kids were seated inside the Impala. "Dean!" he called as he ran through the front door again. When he didn't get an immediate answer from his brother, he called out again, pushing his rain soaked hair out his eyes as he scanned the dimly lit room. His eyes finally landing on a crumpled form…the raw-head. He stumbled forward and froze when he saw Dean's wheelchair overturned in the kitchen, near the staircase where his older brother had been on sentry duty. "DEAN!" he cried as his worried gaze finally made out the unconscious form of his older brother. He sank to his knees next to Dean, reaching out to check for a pulse. He was grateful to feel the thready light beats beneath his searching fingers. "Dean…come on man. Wake up." He said in a strained voice. Sam's fear for the life of his brother was increasing exponentially as he looked away for a moment and then saw the taser about two inches from Dean's outstretched hand. "Shit…" he muttered as he connected the dots…Dean was lying in a puddle of water with the raw-head less than six feet from him. They were connected by the puddle…meaning that his 'oh-so-smart' brother had accidentally electrocuted himself while taking out the monster. Why does all this shit keep happening to you Dean... He thought as he pulled his cell phone out and dialed a number that he didn't even need to look at his key pad for…he'd dialed it so many times over the years...

"911…What's your emergency…" a voice asked.

TBC…

Author's Note: This is following along with the series thus far, but I will be taking it in a different direction as it progresses. But just like in the series, Dean is taking the brunt of the hits right now…don't worry it will shift as they get closer to the witches…Sam's not safe either. They will find a clue at the end of this hunt though…that will lead them closer to finding either John or the witches.

Please Review: I've been mapping this fiction out…and your reviews are spurring me onward.