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... Thank you to all who reviewed the last Chapter, it was so great to see that so many of you are still interested in this story continuing. Thanks to anyone that was a 'guest' reviewer and everyone that took the time. :)

Chapter 27

Destiny, Diners, and Danger

Sam watched his brother with a sense of trepidation as he was seated silently in the passenger's seat of the Impala as they past yet another nameless motel. He knew that they would need to stop soon; the burn of exhaustion behind his eyes was a definite indication of that need. Both he and Dean were tired and still a little beat up by the events from several days ago. He glanced over once more and watched as Dean continued to stare out the window at the passing countryside. Sam knew that his eyesight was still off, so there was no way that he was actually seeing the fields that they were flying by on the highway to 'nowhere'. At least that was how he felt.

Something was definitely up with his older brother though. Dean had been very quiet since the shadow demons had attacked them and then tossed Meg out the window of that warehouse and it was starting to worry him somewhat. While it wasn't that unusual for his brother to be less than open with him about how a hunt affected him…it wasn't normal for this complete silence to fill up the inside of the car like smoke. At least it seemed unusual to him after being apart for so many years. He felt the familiar pangs of regret flash through him as he once again thought of their long term separation. Once again finding himself wondering how many things had changed about his brother over the years. Well, he'd spent at least one of those years confined to a wheelchair and every other one being beaten by their father. That thought had Sam seeing red almost immediately. He hated that his brother had had ot go through that…and he hated that he been responsible…at least on some level…for the actions of their father.

When they'd been younger, he almost couldn't stand the vibrant energy that his brother exuded after a hunt…on the way to a hunt…or during a hunt for that matter. It had been one of the things that royally irritated him when he'd been a teenager. But now? Looking at the silent and contemplative form of his brother…he missed that side of Dean. He really did. Because this person seated next to him was different than the brother he'd grown up with. This 'Dean' wasn't rash and quick react to situations; he thought things out and sought the best solution rather than the quickest fix…and that was a 180 from how he'd been when they were younger. It was weird that now it was Sam that was more likely to rush head long into a situation with less than all the facts when it used to be Dean. He had become more like his brother…and his brother had become more like he'd been before Stanford.

Sam pulled his eyes back to the road just as Dean's cell phone started to play Metallica's 'Enter Sandman' softly from his jacket pocket. Dean reached for the phone, feeling his way around until his fingers closed around the small device and pulled it free. Normally, he would have been looking at the screen for a caller ID, but with his eyes being still mostly 'blind'….Dean wouldn't have been able to make out the number anyways. So he simply popped open the flip phone.

"Hello?" He said. Dean's voice was rough from his self-imposed silence and there was a weary resignation to it that made Sam look in his direction in concern. The changes in Dean kept surprising him…the things that he had gone through, alone, over the last four years had changed his brother at an almost fundamental level.

"Dean…how are you boys?" Bobby asked. His own voice a bit on the rough side from being up most of the night researching the problem with Dean's eyes…and the whiskey he'd drank before making this call...he'd never heard of this kind of thing; at least not outside of the psychics that he knew. The kid had called him the other night asking him about 'second sight' and how that works. Bobby knew that there was something going on with the elder Winchester brother…Hell, when wasn't there something going on with the boy…at least lately? When he'd confronted Dean about his evasive answers, the kid had broken down and told him about the vision thing that had started when they were attacked in that damned warehouse. Bobby had been more than a little surprised to find out that Dean had been saddled with yet another type of disability. But the worst discovery was that whatever was affecting him; it was also being triggered when Sam and was around and that was terrifying Dean. There weren't a lot of things that really and truly scared the older Winchester brother, but anything that dealt with Sam and the yellow-eye demon…well that was simply on whole nother level of fear for the boy.

"Oh…hey Bobby." Dean answered quickly. He hoped that the quick turn around on the phone call meant that the older hunter had found something that explained this new and extremely disconcerting 'ability'. He didn't want to see things in Sam that weren't there and he sure as hell didn't want to be saddled with the inability to see anything but the supernatural things that they hunted. He didn't know how far this thing extended with regards to the monsters that they generally hunted. He knew that he could see demons…and something in or around Sam. But he had yet to see it attributed to other types of creepy-crawlies that they dealt with as hunters. He shifted slightly in his seat and looked out the window, his voice getting lower as he tried to think of how he could talk about this without Sam realizing that they were talking about him. "Find anything out?"

Bobby huffed on his end of the line. "Course…wouldn't have called you if I hadn't…idgit."

"Okay…okay… Well, don't keep me in suspense here…what does this mean?" Dean ran his hand through his hair and down his stubbled face as he listened to Bobby's explanation of this 'problem' that he'd developed.

"Well, far as I can tell…its part of that twin destinies thing." Bobby heard Dean sigh in frustration and he could picture the irritated expression on the kids face. "When you got hit hard enough to mess with your normal sight…a sorta 'second sight' manifested that would allow you to identify the demons and other supernatural beings that would want to harm you…it has to do with you being the polar opposite of what they want Sam for. You're the light…and he's…well, not the light." Bobby paused before he threw out this last comment, because Dean was not going to take this part well. "One of those things that might want to hurt you could be….being the other half of the destiny curse…or in other words…" Bobby knew he was rambling, but he didn't want to have to say this out loud. He didn't necessarily believe in the whole twin-destiny thing, but it was getting harder to convince himself that there wasn't something to the whole thing. The more he delved into the mythology…the less he wanted to know.

Dean cut him off with a resigned whisper. "Sam…" he breathed into the phone as his heart seized at the thought that he might ever need protection from Sam. "That can't be right Bobby." He said quietly. His green eyes flickering in the direction of the driver's seat, where Sam was carefully watching the road, although all Dean could see was the continued dark shimmer of his brother's outline and the direction of his head…straight forward. And listening to everything I say. Dean thought as fear raced through him at the magnitude of the information that Bobby had just given him. "What does all this actually mean Bobby?"

"I think it means that the curse…destiny…whatever you want to call it…isn't totally broken Dean. Or at the very least, there is another witch still out there and they're working with the yellow-eyed demon to get what it wants from Sam…and you." Bobby poured through the remainder of the information that he'd acquired over the last 48 hours and tried to break the news as easily as possible to Dean. But really…how did you tell a person that their brother…the one they'd raised for the whole of their lives…was possibly the anti-christ in human form? Because yeah…somehow he'd missed that whole segment in 'Demon-Hunters Quarterly'.

Now Sam was looking worriedly in Dean's direction. He didn't like the direction this conversation was going…his brother had lost what little color he had in his face and the hand holding his phone against his ear was shaking. Whatever their friend had told him…Dean didn't like it one little bit…and from the looks of his body language…he was on the verge of panicking. Although in all the years that they'd been together…Sam had never seen his older brother panic before. And frankly the fact that he'd only been on the phone with Bobby for like five minutes and the older hunter had gotten this reaction out of Dean? Well that didn't bode well for them.

"I don't give a rats ass what they want…they're gonna be real disappointed when they don't get it. Nothing is going to happen to us Bobby." Dean said as he struggled to put on a strong but passive mask, since he knew that he'd be explaining this whole conversation to Sam later. With him in the car there was absolutely no way for that conversation to be avoided. Much as Dean wished it could be. His 'no chick Flickr moments' was really taking a beating lately.

XXXX

"So this is all happening because of me?" Sam said in breathy voice as he paced their motel room, long legs eating up the small distance from ine side to the other, Dean had refused to explain what Bobby had said until they had stopped for the night. He knew that his little brother was not going to take this information well. Dean was still leaving out the part where he could 'see' something weird about Sam…he wasn't ready to open that can of worms just yet. But he had explained what the older hunter had said about the vision and the existence of this strange sight he'd developed. Sam suddenly snorted and a laugh erupted unbidden from deep in his chest. "I guess I'm not the only freak in our family am I?"

Dean's eyes widened at the comment and since he couldn't see how sincere the laugh was, he ended up only cracking a smile at the quip. "Told you before Sammy…we're all freaks. That's why we get along."

Sam barked another laugh and Dean found himself smirking in response. "Hey, I'm starving and we passed a diner up the road about ten miles…you hungry?" Sam actually sounded a little better, so Dean guessed that the laughter had been a genuine response.

Dean smoothed a hand down his face and nodded. Which was the first time he'd felt real hunger in weeks, so far he'd only been eating enough to pacify his little brother's constantly watchful eye. It was so weird that their roles seemed to have reversed since they'd started hunting together again. He wasn't all that sure that he liked the direction of this new relationship. He was still the oldest…and it was still his job to protect Sam. He needed to figure out how to re-reverse their self-assigned duties...pretty quickly.

"Uh…yeah, I'm actually pretty hungry." Dean said quietly. He was trying to look into Sam's eyes, but as Sam looked over at his brother, he noticed that Dean's eyes were slightly south of his own face and he shook his head in frustration. Something about Dean's iris's caught his attention and had him stepping closer to the seated from of the older Winchester.

Dean's eyes had always been green, a pretty decent shade of the color and one that had garnered him more attention than he'd known what to do with when he'd been younger. But as Sam stared at his brother now…he noticed that Dean's eyes were an almost supernatural shade of green. They were bright near the pupil and deepened into a dark almost forest green at the edges near the whites of his eyes. They had never been this color before…so whatever was happening to his brother it was affecting him on a cellular level. Because there was no other explanation for the changes to Dean's iris's.

"Uh Dean…?" He hesitated.

Dean shifted when he realized that Sam had stepped closer to him and was now only a few feet away from his face. "Personal space Sammy." He said as he leaned back, creating some distance between them.

"You're eyes Dean…" Sam said quietly as he stared at the surprise that registered on his brother's face a moment later.

"Yeah? What about them? I mean I know I'm irrresitable...but..." Dean said quickly as he continued to lean slightly further away from Sam. "Seriously Sam, it's not like I can see them or anything." Irritation filtered into his raspy voice as he waited for his brother to get the hint and back the hell up.

"They've changed color….I mean…they've gone even more green…almost glowy." Sam answered in a strained voice. His own blue-green gaze shifting from eye to eye as he continued to stare at his brother in disbelief.

"Glowy?" Dean snorted again. "Is that a technical term?" But the fact that his brother was now seeing a physical manifestation of this 'ability' worried Dean.

"Haha Dean. But like…no they're just brighter and look...I don't know...different." Sam said as he finally stepped back from his brother's now passive expression.

"I think I remember Bobby saying that that could happen." Dean lied easily. He didn't want Sam to see how much another unexpected problem had rattled him.

Sam tilted his head to the side and contemplated whether or not he thought his brother was lying to him. He determined that even if Dean was lying to him…there was no way for him to prove it, so he might as well just shut up….for now. "Fine….let's just go get some food." He remarked as he grabbed his jacket off his own bed and waited for Dean to stand up.

Dean unfolded his legs from beneath him and felt for the edge of the bed with his calves before pulling himself to his feet and following the shimmery form of his little brother out of the motel and back to the car. He could tell that the sun was setting, because the shadows were more difficult to pick out as he trudged along behind Sam. It was going against every fiber of his being to let Sam take point…even if all they were doing was walking to the car. He sighed as he reached out and gently ran his fingers along the smooth metal of the Impala and used her lines to help him walk to the passenger door, sliding inside when he heard Sam pop the lock from the inside of the car.

They pulled into the diner about fifteen minutes later and Dean actually found that his mouth was watering at the smell of the fries and what he assumed were awesome burgers that would be drenched in grease and flavor, but would taste amazing…especially with extra onions. "Nice pick Sammy." He said as Sam positioned him so he could slide into the booth that the waitress had taken them to. Her eyes had immediately gone to Dean as she noticed that he wasn't looking anywhere in particular. A look of sympathy passed over her face and Sam was suddenly grateful that his brother couldn't see it…because if he could, they would have been right back out in the car without anything to eat. Dean hated the sympathetic and pitying looks that he'd been given over the last year…and to see that once again on the faces of regular citizens made Sam angry.

When Dean heard the waitress walk away after taking their drink order, he turned in Sam's general direction. "She was staring at me wasn't she." He said. It wasn't even a question, more like a resigned observation.

Sam exhaled loudly and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "I think she was just checking you out." Sam said as evenly as he could. If Dean had been able to see his eyes, he would have known instantly that his little brother was lying to him.

"Sure she was…" Dean said and Sam knew instantly that his brother didn't believe a word he'd just uttered.

Dean ran his eyes over the shadows and the flickering lights that were interspersed throughout the small country diner. His gaze was caught by something sitting at what he could only assume was a counter. The form had less of a glimmer, like Sam, than a weird fuzzy outline to the body. As Dean continued to stare at the man, he was surprised to see that once again, he could make out the features of the guy clearly. Just as he'd been able to with the…Uh-oh…demons.

"Sam…the guy at the counter…is he staring at us?" Dean asked as he looked away for a moment and then back again, just to make sure that he was really seeing what he thought he was seeing.

Sam's eyes followed his brother's gaze and he was caught off guard to see a young man…about Dean's age probably, staring directly at them…well at Dean. "Uh…yeah. How did you know that?"

"I can see him…" Dean answered without moving a muscle.

"You're eyes are better?" Sam asked quickly, his own gaze flickering over to his older brother.

"No…but I can see him…same way I could see those demons and you couldn't…Sammy I don't think the guy is completely human." Dean said as he used his peripheral vision to continued watching the dark haired guy.

"Oh…" Sam said. He watched as the man pulled his wallet out and left a tip on the table, nodding at the waitress as he stood up to leave the diner.

"Thanks Becky." He said and then slipped from the restaurant into the encroaching darkness.

"That was weird." Sam said as he watched his brother start to rise from their booth. "Whoa….where are you going Dean?" He hadn't meant to come off sounding as paranoid as it apparently did as Dean threw him an aggravated look.

"I gotta take a leak Sam. You wanna come hold it for me?" Dean couldn't quite stop the retort as he felt his frustration at being 'mothered' by his brothee lurch to the surface. He knew that Sam was now probably sporting one of his infamous 'bitch-faces', probably number 12, and that he wouldn't be at all impressed by Dean's flippant remark. But damn-it…he wasn't helpless…and Sam needed to realize that or they would never be able to continue hunting together. Assuming they both made it out of this whole destiny thing...he knew that Sam would...he'd make sure of that. But him? Dean wasn't as confident in his own chances.

"Nice jerk…No I was just asking jackass." Sam shot back and then ignored his brother's rolling eyes.

"Whatever bitch...Can you just tell me which direction? And let's avoid any 'helpful' tidbits." Dean answered evenly.

"You know what? Whatever Dean. Follow the wall, it's on the left." Sam said, even though what he wanted to do was punch his brother in the mouth. That wasn't going to solve anything…but it would make Sam feel a little better…until he had time to think about it and then he would simply be adding more guilt to the already alarmingly big load he carried. And Dean thought he held the monopoly on guilt...not so much.

"Thanks." Dean muttered as he felt his way along the smooth wall. He closed the distance to the bathroom quickly, and found he was finally able to see the shadow of the entryway. He pushed the door open and the light immediately gave him a better idea where he was and where things were at.

He was just pulling the zipper up on his jeans when a cloth covered his mouth and his world spun as he collapsed on the floor. "Yeah…you'll be fun to wear for a bit." A male voice said as he dragged the unconscious form out of the bathroom and then out the back entrance of the diner. He didn't want the other guy that was with him to realize he was gone…not just yet. That all came later…he smiled to himself as he loaded the unconscious form of the guy into the trunk of his car and locked it.

TBC…

Author's Note: New supernatural beastie to deal with here. This one isn't about torturing Dean, so don't worry about him getting hurt worse than he already is…but there will be some pretty decent reveals in the next chapter as a result of this particular monster.

Please Review: I actually crave the things….like Dean and pie…so please like a piece of blueberry pie with the ice cream on top?