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: They keep me motivated. Also thank you to any reviewers that are 'guests' since I cannot PM and you guys personally.

Chapter 15

We Shouldn't have Stopped Here

Bobby hadn't considered the idea that the legend of the Colt might actually be based in truth until he had heard all of Sam's vision-dream. He was currently staring at the Winchester boys with a somewhat dumbfounded look on his face. Dean looked green and was throwing worried looks in Sam's direction every few minutes. Sam was ignoring his brother and staring at Bobby as he waited for some additional information. "Uh…Sam. I've heard of the colt…but no one's ever actually seen it…not that I know of. You sure your dream-vision things aren't going off the rails here?"

Sam huffed and leaned forward as Dean shot an irritated look in Bobby's direction. "No, Bobby. I'm not sure of that…I just know what I saw. And it seems that you are confirming that there is indeed a gun out there that can kill a demon." He finished with a slight hitch in his voice.

"Bobby, look…we know that this isn't normal. But everything that's happened with us over the last several weeks has been anything but normal. So…is there a chance that this Elkins guy has this gun?" Dean said through clenched teeth. He wasn't angry with Bobby but it was seriously annoying that they were having to try and convince a hunter of the supernatural about the existence of a gun that could kill said-supernatural. He looked over at Sam and was surprised to see his little brother throwing a grateful look in his direction. Dean smiled slightly as he tried to convince both himself and maybe Sam that they were going to be okay. At this point he was getting more and more scared about these visions…he couldn't explain them and they couldn't predict them…making Sam a walking disaster waiting to happen…a freaking time-bomb just waiting to go off. But there was a part of Dean that wondered, that if they were able to track down these damn demons and make them fix all this shit…if maybe Sam would be okay.

Bobby inhaled slowly and looked each brother in the eye… "I suppose there is a possibility that this gun exists." He said grudgingly.

XXXX

Dean wasn't exactly sure where they were at the moment…he'd been driving all day in a direction that the old hunter had sent them and...it seemed as though Bobby had sent them toward some little backwards town. He and Sam were currently sitting in a bar drinking a beer and looking over the information that he'd given them as well. Well...Sam was looking at the information, Dean was throwing darts at a board on the wall. They still had another twelve hours until they got to where this Elkins guy lived, but they needed to stop and take a break from driving. Dean still wasn't that comfortable in the car for really long drives. His back causing him pain and as for Sam…well he was still dealing with the aftermath of the visions that he'd had. His head was still obviously bothering him as indicated from the pained grimaces he kept throwing in Dean's direction every time he hit a bump accidentally. Sam would have added 'air-quotes' to that statement. Since he seemed to think that his big brother was doing it on purpose…which he definitely wasn't.

So as soon as Dean had seen a motel he'd stopped and then he'd talked Sam into going to a local dive bar down the street from where they were staying. Sam was flipping through the folder of articles that Bobby had sent with them. "Dean…I'm just not seeing anything here that'll help us." He said.

Dean rolled his eyes at his little brother. "Well, keep reading there geek-boy. Cuz, Bobby wouldn't have sent that crap with us if there wasn't anything in there that would help." He smiled snarkily at Sam and then looked over his shoulder at the bathroom. "I gotta take a leak Sam."

Sam huffed and then blew out a breath of air as he watched his brother start to roll toward the nasty looking bathroom door. Damn, I wish they would keep these places cleaner. He thought silently. "Dean I'm gonna head out side, we should get some sleep since we gotta head out really early tomorrow morning." Dean spun toward Sam and exhaled loudly as he narrowed his green eyes at his little brother.

"Really, Sam come on…let's get one more drink." Sam threw bitch-face number 3 at his older brother and shook his head 'no'.

"No Dean. We need to sleep…I need to sleep man." He reached up and rubbed his eyes as thought to prove that he was tired.

"Fine… captain buzz kill." Dean said as he thinned his lips and glared at his little brother. He turned back toward the bathroom and went to finish his business.

Sam watched his brother roll away and sighed as he gathered his stuff and put it back into his bag as he stood to exit the bar. He walked out into the darkness and wrinkled his nose at the smell of cigarette smoke that hung heavy in the air. There was no one outside…he was it. He snorted and turned to walk to where the Impala sat at the back of the parking lot. He could have sworn that he heard something, he stopped and set the bag on the trunk of the car and then leaned down to see if there was something under it. When he squatted down a black cat jumped out and hissed at him and he inhaled the surprise and then laughed out his nerves as he stood back up. Sam never saw the crow bar that connected with the back of his head. But he was instantly out cold, his large frame slumping to the ground bonelessly as he was rendered unconscious from the blow. Blood trickled out of the wound that split open on the back of head and pooled for a moment on the ground before he was hauled p and dragged from the parking lot and thrown into the back of an old pickup truck.

Dean rolled out into the parking lot, he noticed the rancid smell of old smoke and he exhaled as he ran a tired hand over his face. He glanced toward the end of the lot where his car was parked. And there was no sign of his little brother. "Sam?" he called as he started rolling toward the car. He looked around as he moved…not seeing anything…no large frame of a shaggy haired brother anywhere. "SAM!?" he called louder. Dean pushed back to the entrance of the bar, he grabbed one couple as they exited. "Have you guys seen a guy? Young guy, tall, with dark brown hair?" He asked as his worry grew exponentially inside of him.

"Na…sorry man. Haven't seen anyone." The man said he walked away. Dean narrowed his eyes and looked again, suddenly noticing that there was a camera mounted to an electrical pole. Traffic camera… he thought. He noticed something as he approached the Impala again…Sam's bag. Wherever his brother was…he hadn't gone intentionally. Someone took his little brother…

XXXX

Dean was pushing his wheelchair over the rocky pathway, he was glad that he had trail-bike tires on the chair...he'd figured out within the first couple of months that he'd been in the chair that the conventional tires wouldn't work for him. He and the local sheriff had tracked an old truck to this location and he was positive that this is where Sam was being kept. He wasn't sure why...but he just knew that he would find Sam here.

He saw a large barn off in the distance. "Son-of-a-bitch…" he muttered as he pushed past the twin doors on the back of the barn. The first thing that Dean noticed was the smell of the old barn, it smelled like rotted flesh and burned meat as he entered the dark main floor. He leaned forward in his chair as he looked around corners and checked for lights or other indicators that there might be people close by. A voice sliced through the darkness and Dean released a breath he had been holding since he had discovered that someone had taken his little brother while he'd been otherwise engaged.

"You're Sam….Winchester?" A female voice asked. The sheriff's…Dean could tell that from where he was. The voice that answered he would know anywhere…at any distance…it was Sam.

"Yeah…How did you…?" Sam asked.

"Your cousin Dean…he's looking for you." She said quietly.

"Thank god…" Sam said quickly. His voice was relieved as he realized that his brother was indeed looking for him.

He heard something moving in the darkness, so he sank back into the corner of his cage. Sam grabbed the piece of conduit that he had pried loose earlier…and waited for the asshole to come around the corner. A head appeared slowly about three feet off the ground and rolled quietly around the blind-corner as the muzzle of a shotgun came into view. "Dean?" Sam asked as his brother materialized in front of him.

"Sammy?" Dean said, his voice so clearly relieved as he rolled over to the cage, that Sam smiled. "Thank god…whoa…this lock is gonna be a bitch." He said as he looked at the industrial grade electrical lock that was holding his baby brother captive like an animal. "Key?" he asked hopeflully. Sam shook his head and pointed at the power box on the wall.

"Seriously?" Dean said in exasperation as he looked at the obviously powered down electrical locking mechanism. "Shit…Sammy…why is everything so difficult when we're involved?" Sam shrugged in response before offering some useful information.

"He usually had the key on a chain around his neck." Sam told him as Dean rolled toward the exit. "Be careful Dean." He continued. Dean raised his hand over his shoulder and then rolled through the door.

Dean was surprised to see that the old house had a ramp…he wasn't sure why they had a ramp…but he was certainly glad as he silently rolled up and through the back door. He peeked around a corner and felt the bile climb the back of his throat as he saw the taxidermy and the pieces of skeletons hanging from the ceiling. The smell in the house was nauseating…it smelled like formaldehyde and rotted flesh and it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He saw an old man in the kitchen, a boiling pot of something bubbling on the stove behind him as he sliced through an animal carcass. Dean blew out a silent breath as he continued to roll through the house; he saw a jar on a shelf that had a pile of keys in it. He hoped like hell that the key that he needed wasn't lost in that nearly full jar of anonymous keys.

A girl stepped in front of him and his eyes widened as they connected with the dead blue eyes of the dirty little girl. She looked to be about 13, with snaggled blonde hair and dirt covering her pale pink dress. The most disturbing thing that Dean noticed though was the plastic clips holding her hair back, like some cutesy little kid…but the look in her eyes…it was that of a killer. She wasn't the fun loving little girl that she should be…no she had been trained and influenced to be something else. He held his fingers to his lips. "Shhh…I'm not gonna hurt you." He whispered as he looked carefully over his shoulder for the old man.

She smiled…and it was one of the most disturbing things that he had ever seen. "I know…" she said. "Daddy! Daddy!" She screamed. Dean tried to roll forward and completely missed the man that stepped up behind him...as the old man came into his line of vision. He didn't hear the other footsteps as another man stepped up and slammed the butt of a rifle into the side of his head. Pain flared through his temple as the world went instantly black.

Dean felt his head shift slightly as the pain came in throbs and then he felt a slap connect with his cheek and he rolled his head to the side as his eyes slid open. The sight that became clearer as he lifted his head and looked into the eyes of the old man…made Dean's heart speed up. He saw his and Sammy's deaths…reflected out that man's brown eyes.

"You with that pretty cop?" he asked as he stared at Dean. He looked over at the two men that were standing slightly to the left and the little girl that was watching hungrily.

"I got a toothbrush in my car man…seriously…you can have it." Dean quipped as he looked at the rotten yellow teeth of the old man. He never saw the hand slapped the back of his head, but he felt the pain as his head slammed forward from the force of the blow. "Ouch…" he said as he glared at the man smiling in front of him.

"Anyone gonna come looking for you?" The old man asked as he looked over at the boys and the girl. Dean watched the interactions between men and then looked over at the little girl.

"Anyone ever tell you that it's not nice to marry your sister?" Dean said snarkily and was rewarded with another slap to his cheek. His head was spun to the right and it felt like his eye was gonna pop out of his head from the pressure of the blow.

"Gonna teach you to shut that smart mouth…boy." The old man said as he stood and walked past Dean to a fire place. Dean couldn't see what he was doing but he heard the wood shift and the crackle of the fire as something was removed.

"You ever killed before?" The old man asked from behind Dean. "Probably not since you can't even walk…" The man snickered as he slapped Dean's useless legs and then bounced from the left to the right.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows as he thought about the answer. "Depends on what you mean?" he said as the man walked around the chair with a glowing red poker.

"I've hunted all my life…deer…bear…even killed me a cougar once. But the best hunt is human…" he looked to Dean for a response. When he didn't see what he wanted he leaned forward and laid the glowing end of the fire poker against the inside of Dean's thigh. He wanted to scream from the pain…from what the pain should have been…but there was no pain. And that made the tears burn in the backs of his eyes as he stared at the old man.

"Geese...that's what this…is about? You yahoo's hunt people…?" Dean said through clenched teeth, he was trying to ignore the flashes of pain that were pounding through his system. That didn't bode well for Sam…or that sheriff that was in the cage next to his brother.

"Get the hell away from me." He yelled. His fear building as he looked at the burn that had now singed through his pants and smell that radiated from the burn. He tried to move but only succeeded in shifting his shoulders, since they were still tied behind his back. The old man handed the branding iron to his son and reached for a knife that Dean hadn't seen off to the right. He twisted his upper body as much as he could, but the knife slid along his cheekbone and he felt the hot burn and the warm trickle of blood that flowed from the wound. "Gagh…." He cried as he tried to move his face away from the blade. One of the boys grabbed the iron and plunged it into his shoulder, causing Dean to cry out as the pain rocketed through his abused flesh. "God…no!" he whispered as the blade was tearing through his skin. The girl had taken it from her brother and thrust it into his thigh…

"Looks like we're gonna have a hunt after all boys….and you are gonna pick the animal."

Dean's green eyes went wide as understanding sank into his head. "No I'm not…" he said quietly.

The old man pulled the knife from Dean's thigh and grabbed the glowing poker again and laid it on the inside of Dean's other thigh. Dean could smell the burning flesh….

The poker was pulled from his thigh and then placed less than two inches from Dean's left eye. "The boy or the bitch…choose…or I'll take an eye." He said and Dean could feel the sweat running from his head as the heat from the piece of iron dripped down his face. Dean couldn't believe that he was being put in a position that he was going to have to pick between and innocent woman and his brother. But one thing he did know was that Sam was a lot stronger than that woman and he would be able to take on these bastards. They had told him that they gave the 'runners' a weapon and with any sort of weapon Sam would be able to win….of that Dean was absolutely sure.

"The guy…the guy…take the guy…" Dean said through his teeth as the hand that was holding his head still left what he was sure would be bruises on his chin.

"Okay take the boy. Jared…shoot him in the cage. Don't let him out." The old man said as he looked pointedly at his son. Dean's head shot up and then he twisted it from side to side as he looked at the freaky family in horror.

"What? You said you were gonna hunt him…give him a chance." Dean stated as he struggled to keep the fear from seeping into his voice. His insides were tied up in knots at the thought of Sam dying and he felt the bile threatening to spill from his throat that he had been the one to choose this. He had chosen his brother and now there was a good chance that his little brother…the one person that he had been tasked with protecting…might be dead by his choice.

"When you're done with the boy…shoot the bitch. We're gonna clean this mess up." He said as he turned back to Dean and ran the blade along Dean's chest…slicing through the shirts and into the tender flesh of his chest.

"God-damn-it…stop!" Dean cried as the pain washed through his body and the blood dripped down his abdomen soaking into his jeans. A chuckle escaped the man's throat as he looked at the boy tied to the chair in his living room.

"Watch him Missy." He said he handed her a knife and then walked out of the room leaving Dean alone with the girl.

"Yes pa." she said as she looked at Dean. A hunger in her eyes that made the blonde man extremely nervous. She stepped forward held the knife out so that it was a couple of inches from his eyes and then walked around the chair leaning in as she looked at his back. It was broad and there were no wounds there as of yet. She squatted down and looked at his hands, they were tied behind the chair and there were no wounds there either. She figured that she could fix that.

"Missy is it?" he asked.

"Pa said not to talk to you."

"Missy…just let me go…where's my wheelchair. Me and my brother we'll leave and your family will be safe." He said as he looked around trying to see where the little girl had gone. It made him extremely nervous having her out of his sight.

"Shhhh…" he heard from behind him as pain blossomed on his knuckles. The girl was slicing into his hands with her blade, crossing the cuts and opening his knuckles to the bone. A part of him wondered if he deserved this….after getting his brother attacked.

Dean hissed in pain as he tried to bite back his reaction to what the little girl was doing. She suddenly stood and headed toward the front door…he watched as she moved and he felt the blood drip from the numerous wounds and the dizziness that was starting to cloud his brain. He struggled with the ropes as he tried to free his hands…finally he felt the blood lubricate his wrists enough he could slip them out of the ropes. He leaned forward and listened for Missy's return…when he heard nothing he pushed himself forward and fell to the floor. Apparently the fact that he couldn't move his legs had meant that they didn't feel the need to tie his ankles. White hot agony shot through his body as the burns made contact with the floor and the denim of his jeans ripped at the blackened flesh. The cuts on his hands burned with pain as he pulled himself through the house looking for his wheelchair…he heard someone coming…the sound of boots crossing a wooden floor and he inhaled as he finally saw his chair in the corner. But there was no way that he was going to reach it before he was discovered by those clicking boots. Dean was terrified now…he had gotten his brother killed…probably and now he was going to die at the hands of some redneck hick killers…that were nothing more than…human.

TBC…

Author's Note: This chapter was meant to mirror the Bender's episode...changed somewhat due to Dean's current condition. But it does play into the search for their father…wait for it…it's coming in the next chapter.

Please Review: This is my totally shameless request for feedback.