Supernatural does not belong to me, although I wish it did. I am simply playing in Kripke'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. This is my sad little plea for feedback...

Chapter 26

What Dean Sees

Dean was using every piece of foul language he'd ever learned inside his head as he twisted to look for Sam. The room seemed to be large with a really old funky smell wafting through it and making his gut roll in distaste. This hadn't gone at all like they'd planned. Although, to be fair they pretty much never planned to be caught by the things they hunt. And yet…it still seemed to happen…currently, they were both tied securely to posts inside of the old warehouse that they'd been checking out. His head hurt slightly where he'd taken a blow to the temple from something that he'd didn't even see. Sam too, had been taken out by the 'shadow things'…but as he swiveled his pounding head in different directions, he caught sight of something in the corner that made his breath catch. He still couldn't see too well, he knew this, his vision was still blurry and extremely unpredictable…but he could see whatever was over there clearly. And it was fugly!

Large billowing shapes with razor sharp claws that were at least eight inches in length…faces that were pieces of skin and muscle that was simply hanging from the bones…he shuddered at the remembered sight of their undead faces. Everything surrounding the shadows had shimmered and was completely fuzzy…but their visage? He could see them clearly and they were some of the ugliest things that Dean had ever seen…and he'd seen a lot. But what had thrown him for a loop was that Sam couldn't see them. He'd followed his brother's large blurry form, trying his best to give the backup that Sam had needed for this hunt…obviously his 'backup' skills were rusty judging by their current situation. Of course Sam had figured out fairly quickly that Dean had kinda exaggerated his current visual acuity…and he'd been pissed…to say the least. But damn-it! If Sam needed something then Dean was going to do everything humanly possible to make sure that he had it.

"Dean?" Sam called from off to his left. Dean's head swung in that direction and he took in the blurry blob of his little brother. He was seated and slightly slumped, if the light and dark shadows that Dean was seeing were correct. Dean didn't know how badly Sam had gotten hit, he'd been several steps behind his brother when the creatures had glided over the floor and slammed into the Winchesters. The ferocity of the attack was unlike anything that they'd face to date…so the chances were pretty good that these little bastards were demons of some kind.

"You okay Sam?" He asked through his dry throat as he struggled with the bindings, finding that they were secured very tightly and all he succeeded in doing was chaffing his wrists. He sighed and leaned his head back against the pillar and focused on breathing through his pounding head.

"Yeah…I think so. You?" Sam asked immediately. Dean didn't even have a chance to answer before something caught his 'hunters' senses and he went stock still and silent. And then Dean heard it…footsteps that definitely were heading in their direction…they were light and sounded feminine. Yeah, cuz now you can tell the gender based on the sound of the footstep… He thought with derision.

"Dean Winchester…Your reputation precedes you. Although, I must say…it really was over rated." She chuckled as she squatted down in front of him and her small hand's tilted his head from left to right as she studied his face. He twisted his chin out of her cold fingers and glared in her general direction. "Saucy…I like that in my victims." Dean was speechless as he stared at the girl…there was something 'inside' her. The edges of her body were barely holding together, while he couldn't make out what she looked like…he could see something else. She said as she stood and shifted to where Sam was tied. "And the boy king…Sammy. Been a while." She cooed as she settled herself in his lap, leaning in and running her tongue along his neck. Ending at his lips and capturing them in a cold kiss. He tried to twist his face away from her, but she was holding his head steady and…damn…She was strong.

"Not long enough bitch." Sam shot out angrily, as soon as she pulled away and reached up to push his hair out of his eyes. His gaze was drawn to where his brother was seated, listening to everything that Meg said to him. There was a steady line of blood leaking from the corner of Dean's right eyebrow where he must have hit it when the shadow's had taken him down. Sam hadn't escaped without getting bloody too. He had several gashes in his cheek that were still bleeding sluggishly; he glared daggers at the blonde girl straddling his thighs. "Get the fuck off me." He said in a cold deadly voice. She raised brown eyes to meet his steely blue-green gaze and shrugged as she stood up and walked back over to Dean.

She tilted her head then leaning in, bit at his ear as he pulled his head away from her almost violently. "Don't fucking touch me bitch!" he cried. His heart speeding up as he watched the shadows start to shift on the opposite wall, like they were debating on finishing what they'd started. The girl must have been controlling them through the ritual…he knew that meant that there was an alter…he racked his brain trying to remember what Bobby had told him about summoning rituals. 'If you can destroy the alter…it breaks the binding link with the summoned creature.'

"You know…Azazel said you guys were tough and that I needed to watch myself with you…but you know what? He was wrong. There's no way that it can be you two…you're both far too weak to live up to his expectations of you." She leaned back into Dean and grabbed his face, as she had Sam, and pressed her icy cold lips against his and kissed him as he struggled to pull away again. "Well…you boys aren't nearly as much fun as I'd hoped you'd be…so…I guess we'll just let my friends here finish what they started earlier." She said as she pulled her lips away with a 'pop' and then smiled at Sam, only then did she finally reach up to gently rub the pedant hanging from her neck.

Sam had managed to pull his boot knife and was just finishing sawing through his bindings when she stepped closer to him once more. In a flash of activity, Sam pulled his large frame upright and then grabbed Meg, slamming her head into the post. She went down instantly.

"Sam! The alter!" Dean cried as he tried to watch the shimmery-blob that represented his brother and catching sight of the crystal clear images of the shadows as they started moving toward Sam. "Hurry Sam!" He called again. The desperation and the helplessness bleeding into his rough voice.

Sam darted for the table and managed to push it over, scattering the ritual pieces all over the concrete floor. Dean watched in fascination as the shadows dissipated almost immediately and he was only able to see the shimmering and yet still blurry form of Sam. Sam's form moved quickly toward him and Dean watched in horror as the shadows reappeared and then grabbed at Meg's legs hauling her back toward the plate glass window and tossed her through it like a pale of dirty water. Sam was frozen as he saw the woman dragged past him, her screams of rage filling the air until they were silenced by the unforgiving street three stories below them.

"Sam, untie me." Dean demanded as he twisted so that his brother could get to his bindings. A few minutes later, Dean was following his brother's broad blurry form down the stairs toward the back door. Whatever he was seeing, it was scaring the holy loving crap out of him…before they'd gone into that warehouse he'd only seen Sam as a blob…but now there was a shimmer to that blob that gave it definition and more form. It wasn't as clear as what he'd seen with the shadow's, but there was definitely something happening to him…and somehow it was affected by Sam as well.

By the time they made it back to the motel room both boys were shaking with the adrenaline from their encounter. Sam couldn't understand how Dean had been able to see the shadows, when he himself couldn't see them. He stared at his brother's slumped form. Sam had been questioning his older brother, trying to determine how Dean had known where the shadows were and that they would go after Meg if he destroyed the alter. Dean was sitting on the edge of the bed, his head resting on his hands and his elbow's being supported by his knees. "I don't know Sam…" he repeated for like the seventh time. He'd been telling Sam that he didn't know why he could see the shadows…but it didn't seem as though his brother was inclined to believe him. Sam was the one with the psychic powers in the Winchester family, not Dean…so why could he see the supernatural things…and his brother couldn't? "Maybe we should call Bobby and get his opinion on this?" Dean suggested. Because frankly? He was out of ideas and the old hunter might know something that they didn't. Scratch that…he definitely would know something we don't. Dean thought silently.

Sam stopped pacing long enough to really look at his brother. Dean's posture was bent and it was obvious that he was in at least some pain. But he was still looking in Dean's direction hoping for some sort of miracle explanation. That whatever this was…the strange things that were going on with both of them, could be halted in their tracks…because this shit was getting out of control.

Dean hadn't told Sam everything…he'd told him he could see the shadows…but he hadn't told Sam that that he could see something inside the girl as well. It looked like it had been shoved inside the outline of the woman he'd called Meg…and 'it' didn't fit very well. The edges of her 'form' were shaky like the body could barely hold in the shadow inside her. Dean didn't know what any of this shit meant…and he wasn't about to burden his brother with a weird coincidence that he knew nothing about…at least not until he had to. There was something else too…since the encounter with the shadow's in the warehouse, Dean was seeing an odd shimmer that surrounded his little brother. He had no clue what it meant, but it would scare the hell out of Sam if he told him. What was weird was that Dean wasn't really 'seeing' anything else. His vision was still blurry beyond belief and he could barely differentiate between light and dark. But within the light and dark blobs…he was now seeing the distinct rainbow colored shimmering that surrounded his brother.

And that realization might have been the scariest thing he'd ever seen…or not seen as the case seemed to be. The shadows had been all darkness and razor sharp edges that would haunt his sleeping nightmares for years to come…but Sam? He was shimmery colored darkness and kinda pretty. But again, Dean would be damned to hell before he admitted that anyone.

"Dean…I know there is something that you aren't telling me…please. I can't help you if won't talk to me man." Sam was getting desperate and he knew that it was bleeding over into his voice at this point. He wanted…no needed Dean to tell him what he'd experienced. Because at least this way…maybe they could save each other.

"Sam…for the last time. I don't know what happened in that warehouse. I was able to see the shadows…I'm assuming they were some kind of demon at this point…but I still can't see anything else. I don't know why…so stop trying to 'Dr. Phil' me and let's get cleaned up and get some food. Please." Dean almost never said please and he never used it when talking with Sam. So this got his brother's attention along with the pleading tone that Dean had adopted recently.

Sam narrowed his eyes as his brain went into overdrive. His brother was able to see these demons…demons that no one else could. Well, that's just great…What does that mean for us? And him…? Well, he had visions of bad shit…yup, just two totally normal American males…NOT!

TBC…

Author's Note: This is a builder chapter. This development with Dean came to me as I was determining whether to fix his eyes or run with a different idea. Guess which one won out. Next chapter will be longer and Meg will be back in the near future along with a witch that has plans for the boys.

Please Review: I appreciate them and they motivate me.