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. :) Please forgive me if I missed PM'ing anyone I was out of town and it made it hard to get them to actually post. Thank you.

Also, this chapter contains Dean whumpage galore, so be prepared...and yes, it is necessary to the stories progression. :)

Chapter 30

A Bad Sign

It had been one week since Sam had run out on Dean and he was literally going out of his mind with worry. He'd called Ellen, who had absolutely no useful insights…neither had Ash, Bobby, or anyone else that he'd contacted. He was currently standing out in the rain, somewhere in Missouri, trying to find a cellphone signal and racking his brain for anyone else he could possibly call. His eyesight was almost back to normal, which made the fact that he couldn't sit still in that damn motel room a bit of a non-issue. He'd tried to backtrack their last thousand miles…and there was still no sign of his little brother. It was like the kid had just upped and disappeared…as a matter of fact it was entirely too much like it had been when he'd been searching for his father...all over again…and he hated every minute of it.

The rain dripped down his spiky blonde hair and onto his pale cheeks as the sudden ringing of his cell phone made him jump and had him scrambling for the device. Ah-hah…signal!

"Sam!? Where the….wait…wait slow down…where are you?" Dean stammered as his brother's panicked voice invaded his ears. "Okay…I'll be right there…just stay put."

XXXX

Dean screamed into the parking lot of the skeezy motel that Sam had directed him to…he jumped out of the car and searched frantically for the room number Sam had given him over the phone. He tried the handle once he'd found it and was surprised when it opened immediately under his fingers. He pushed open the door and then rushed inside when he saw Sam sitting dejectedly on the other bed, his worried eyes meeting Dean's frantic gaze.

"You can see…?" Sam asked quietly. He'd figured out that something must have changed the second his older brother had said he could drive and then there was the obvious look of understanding as soon as Dean entered the motel room, his not-so-blind green eyes searching for Sam.

"I can see well enough to see you have…is that blood?" Dean said and closed the distance separating them in a few quick steps. "Sam, are you hurt?"

Sam shook his head and leaned forward…his elbows coming to rest on his knees. "It's not mine, Dean."

Dean's worried eyes flickered up to meet Sam's distraught gaze. "What do you mean 'it's not yours'?" He questioned as he picked at Sam's blood stained shirt.

Sam harrumphed…before continuing. "I mean exactly what I said Dean…this isn't mine…I think I hurt someone?" His voice shook as he continued… "Dean…I think I might have killed someone."

Dean's eyes widened and he shook his head in denial. There was no way that his little brother had killed anyone…at least not anyone human. Sam didn't have that in him. His thoughts flickered back for a moment to the incident in the car. Sam's face contorted in rage as he'd mentally attacked Dean. And suddenly he wasn't entirely sure that Sam wouldn't do that to someone else…someone that he wouldn't be able to resist killing.

Sam felt like he was living a nightmare. He could see the damage that his words were having on his brother's generally unshakable faith in him. The demon laughed inside his head. 'Told you he would think this was all you.' It said with an overtone of laughter.

'Why are you doing this?' Sam asked the demon.

'Because I can…and because I was asked to.' It answered easily… 'I get to torture you Winchesters…and that's always a good time.' Sam could feel it's hatred pour down the link between his soul and the thing that had taken over his body. He watched as Dean nodded and pushed down his rising fear of his little brother. Sam was throwing himself at the barrier between him and Dean…the barrier that marked the demon's control. He couldn't remember anything after being released by the shifter…he thought he had seen a black cloud and then nothingness had enveloped his world.

'I think it's time to see just how far I can push Dean…maybe I can get him to kill you? What do you think? Should we try for that?'

'NO! Please…just leave my brother alone…he doesn't deserve this.' Sam yelled as he felt his mind being torn apart while the demon simply taunted him further. It kept throwing up images of Dean in a wheelchair. Dean getting tossed from the chair after a couple of guys he'd hustled had come after him for the money he'd won. Apparently they didn't appreciate getting 'taken' by a cripple in a hand-me-down wheelchair. Sam could feel himself withdrawing the worse the images got. They progressed from Dean getting beaten on by strangers…to his brother as the object of their father's rage.

Sam watched helplessly as his brother literally begged their father to stop…he was lying bloody and beaten on the floor of some nameless motel…in another nameless town. Tears streamed down Sam's face as he watched helplessly and his guilt built exponentially over the years he'd left Dean alone.

'Please stop…I can't…I can't watch this…' And Sam slid into a dark corner of his own mind. How had he let himself get possessed? Who was this demon…and what did they want from him?

'No…he's going to suffer and you're going to be the cause of his death, Sam…or he's going to be the cause of yours. Whichever comes first.'

Sam watched as Dean told him that he 'couldn't' kill him…that he'd rather die himself than be left all alone. The strong emotions of the demon were spreading over Sam as he watched the thing inform Dean that 'he wasn't sorry yet…but he would be.' And then watching as it raised the gun that Dean had pressed back into his left hand…striking him over the back of the head and watching as Dean fell forward onto the dirty carpet…completely unconscious.

XXXX

"How long have you been in Sam?" Dean called loudly as he followed his possessed little brother out onto the pier. He'd gotten to the bar just in time to keep Sam from killing Jo…she was scared and pissed but she was alive. "Since he disappeared a week ago?" Dean continued, trying desperately to get the demon to keep talking so he could track where it had gone.

A deep laugh echoed through the empty pier. "Yeah…a little earlier than that." It answered, sending panic racing through Dean. Had it been in Sammy when he'd attacked Dean?

"Why? What's the game plan here?" Dean called angrily as he slipped around a dark corner and he saw a shadow move slightly faster through an opened door.

"I wanted to see how if I could push you far enough to waste Sam…should have known that you wouldn't have the sac." Sam's voice answered immediately. "I'm going to kill you and every other hunter I can find…"

"You're going to pay for that decision." Dean said through clenched teeth. He squatted down and peeked around a pillar, a shot zinged off the wood just above his head and he ducked further into the shadows.

"How? You can't hurt me…not without hurting your little brother."

Dean ground out a response as he followed the shifting of Sam's voice out onto the pier. "You're not going to be in him long enough…"

Dean was looking over the edge of the pier into the black cold water. He spun at a noise from behind him…a shocked look etched across Dean's face as Sam fired and a burning flash of pain knocked him off into the water backwards. The water closed over his head and he struggled not to immediately surface when he saw Sam's large form looming over the edge. The gun held tightly in his hands as he stared into the inky blackness of the water.

XXXX

Dean stared in shock as the demon muttered an incantation of its own…and the ceiling where the devil's trap was painted cracked, severing the sigil and releasing not-Sam. "That's better…" It said as it cracked Sam's neck and threw Bobby into a corner them thrusting Dean back into the hard edge of the doorway leading into the kitchen.

Fiery pain lanced through the bullet wound, Dean shifted and tried to pull himself up into a sitting position…when suddenly Sam's face was looming above his. Dean shrank back as far as he could…grinding his teeth together when Sam's large thumb was suddenly pressing into the still open gunshot wound. His long fingers wrapping around Dean's shoulder and leaving bruises on his upper arm as Sam created more leverage to press harder into the bleeding hole. Dean nearly bit through his lower lip to keep from screaming in agony as the barely close bullet hole was reopened.

"…I can see it your eyes Dean…you're useless…You can't save yourself…and deep down…you know you can't save your brother…you are the most broken human being I've ever come across...and that's saying something." Sam pressed further and further into the wound…opening the bloody hole in Dean's shoulder even wider. He pulled back and stared into the glaring green eyes of the older Winchester brother.

"Who are you…?" Dean said through clenched teeth as he brought his right hand up and pushed at Sam's fingers…trying to reduce the agonizing fire that was now shooting through his left shoulder.

The not-Sam tilted its head to the side and pulled back his right arm, smashing Dean in the face a moment later… "I promised myself that if I got out of hell…I was going to torture you…nice and slow…like pulling the wings off an insect." His fist recoiled and shot forward again, forcing Dean's head to the side and a bloody gash on the left side of his head to open up. "Your brother…is ours…has been since the night of the nursery fire…you know the one where mommy died...and the night in that cabin…oh…and here's a little something to remember my by…"

Suddenly Dean felt his lower half slump…no feeling below his waist…Oh God…no…flooded through his mind… "Don't…please…" Dean begged. Bobby grabbed Sam's right wrist before he could finish knocking out his brother…he'd seen the binding link on Sam's arm earlier…he pushed the red hot poker against the link…watching as the demon gurgled up out of Sam's throat and disappeared into the night. But he hadn't been fast enough to save Dean…the damage was already done. The demon had taken back his ability to walk…and from the broken look on the middle Winchester's face he was fully aware of it.

His glassy pain filled eyes shifted up meet Bobby's worried ones… "Bobby…" he whispered. The older man tilted his head and then glanced down toward where Sam was grabbing his right wrist as the pain from the burn caught him off guard.

"What did I miss…?" Sam mumbled when he looked over to see Dean slumped against the doorway…his legs twisted in an almost unnatural angle. His wide gaze shifted from his brother to the older hunter searching frantically for an explanation.

Dean closed his eyes and errant tear escaped from beneath his lashes as he shook his head.

"You don't remember?" Bobby asked Sam as he handed him and Dean ice packs to help control the swelling and the heat from their combined injuries.

Sam's head shook back and forth slowly. "No…did I hurt anyone?" His eyes were so full of remorse and pain that Bobby had to turn away for a moment as he collected himself.

"Bobby…do you have my old chair?" Dean said quietly. Sam's eyes snapped to his brother's crumpled form…and it suddenly took on new meaning.

"No…Dean! No…what happened?" Sam whispered as he moved to sit next to his brother. Fear clenching at his heart when Dean curled in on himself…moving slightly away from his little brother. He was racking his brain to see if he could recall exactly what had happened…the last coherent thought he had was in the motel…in east Texas…and then there were just flashes of memories. Nothing cohesive enough for him to put together…nothing that explained why his brother was suddenly asking for a wheelchair.

Bobby nodded and walked out of the room. Dean swallowed and leaned back as his disappointment and nearly palpable panic flooded his system. He couldn't believe it…but as he looked down at the legs that he knew were still there and yet knowing that he couldn't feel them, hurt. It was surreal to think that only this morning he'd been able to walk…and now…he was back where he'd been a year ago. He clenched his jaw as he looked over at the little brother that he'd sworn to protect…the pain in his left shoulder electrifying his entire body...reminding him of his failure.

Sam crawled closer to Dean. "Did I…" his eyebrows knitted together in frustration as he tried desperately to piece everything he was seeing together and come up with a reasonable solution.

"You didn't…do anything Sam…you were possessed…" Dean said quietly. His right hand was still pressed firmly against the bleeding gunshot wound and the blood that had trickled from his nose had finally stopped.

Sam's eyes widened and he gasped as he moved away from Dean. "Wh…what? I…was possessed?" His breathing increased and guilt flooded his face as he stared at his brother.

As much as Dean wanted to wallow in his own self-pity, he couldn't do that when he could clearly see the hurt echoing in his brother's eyes. Ignoring the tears that were burning behind his own tired and swollen eyes, Dean did his best to reassure Sam that this wasn't this fault. "I'll be fine Sam…" Sam interrupted with a frantic waving of his arm right in Dean's face.

"Sure you will." He said angrily.

XXXX

Bobby helped to patch up Dean's shoulder and then handed him the pain pills that Jo had given him back at the bar. And he was currently seated in the old wheelchair that his friend had had sitting in one of the spare bedrooms. Dean's shoulders were hunched and he was staring at his legs, a blank look etched firmly on his bruised face.

Sam was sitting in the chair across from him…his head in his hands and his eyes closed.

"Sam…" Dean started.

"NO Dean! I did this! I did this to you…again! How can you tell me you'll be fine?!" He cried as the tears started to flow freely and they managed to kick Dean's big brother guilt into overdrive. His eyes dipping closed as he leaned forward, the bag of ice resting against his eye and nose doing little to hide the damage Sam had inflicted.

"Hey boys…I think I got something." Bobby said as he walked into the kitchen…he was carrying a large leather book and blowing dust off the pages.

Dean and Sam looked up simultaneously. Neither brother's eyes completely dry as they stared at the older hunter. "What, Bobby?" The elder brother asked as he raised his good eye toward the door.

"That demon…the one that got to Sam…" His eyes flickered over to where Sam flinched at the statement. "Sorry son…anyways…it's in league with the yellow-eyed demon…and with that coven. Which explains why it had the power to reverse the ritual that restored your ability to walk Dean…If we track it…and we force it back to Hell…anything it did goes away…including taking your legs." Bobby watched as Dean sat up a little straighter and Sam narrowed his eyes at the news.

"So we have to kill this demon? Or the yellow-eyed demon?" Sam asked quietly.

"Both." Dean said evenly. He raised angry green eyes and looked at both men sitting across from him. "I'm done with this whole thing…we find these two ass-hats and we give them a one way ticket to Hell…" He looked into Sam's watery eyes and shook his head. "Sam…this is not your fault. This was a continuing…spell…and it just got to you and to me." He pulled in a steadying breath and looked over at Bobby. "Find it Bobby…wherever this damn thing is hiding…find it."

Sam furrowed his eyebrows and took a deep breath. "Dean…what about your legs?" He asked quietly.

"What about them?" Dean said quickly. The anger now making his voice deep and strong as he glared at the only other occupants in the room. "I've been crippled before Sam…I can deal with it. Can you?"

Sam looked like Dean had hit him as his face registered shock at the blatant question. He stuttered out an answer as he gulped back his own rising emotions. "I…uh…yeah Dean…I'm sorry…"

Dean sighed and leaned forward in his chair. "Sammy…this is not your fault. You didn't know they were gunning for me…or you. We thought we beat this…we didn't." He reached out and grasped Sam's fingers firmly in his right hand, a grimace on his face before he continued… "Sam, I've spent my life trying to protect you…but I can't do this without you…please…"

Sam looked at Dean through the fringe of his hair, his eyes reflecting the wounded puppy look that had gotten him almost everything he'd ever wanted when they were younger…only now he just wanted Dean not to be hurt…not to be stuck sitting in a fucking wheelchair in Bobby's god-damned kitchen…because of something that centered around their weird ass family. He could still taste the acrid sulfur that had been expelled from his throat only hours before. But the guilt that that demon had left aching in his chest…that couldn't be expelled and yet as he looked at the determined, if beaten, face of his brother…Sam knew that he'd do anything to save Dean. If that meant that they hunted those son-of-a-bitchen-demons across the entire continental United States then he was all in…

"I can't tell you how sorry I am Dean…and I'm with you…until the end…I'm with you." Sam said in a steadier voice than he'd thought he could muster. "Are…your eyes better?" he asked.

Dean nodded. "Pretty much…with the exception of the swelling." He said pointedly as he tried to smile at his brother.

Bobby shook his head and huffed. "Okay…demon hunt it is…What?" He looked between the surprised gazes of the brothers and shrugged his shoulders. "You two yahoo's didn't think I was going let you do this alone, right?"

Dean shook his head and then his face pinched in pain as he shifted too far to the left and his shoulder pressed against the table. "Just don't touch my shoulder…or my face."

Sam managed to roll his eyes at Dean's quip. How was his brother able to do that? Just blow off what Sam had done and joke about it only hours later? As much as he'd learned from Dean growing up and over the last year that they'd been back together…it appeared that he still had a lot more to go. His older brother represented the type of man that Sam wanted to be. He caught a smirk forming on Dean's face as he grabbed at the cup of coffee that Bobby had set in front of him.

"What?" Sam asked as he tilted his head.

"You full on had a girl inside you for like a whole week." He looked over at Sam's disgusted and irritated expression and he continued anyways. "That's pretty naughty."

"Really, Dean?" Bobby said as he tried to hide his own smirk. He watched as the kid pushed his own pain and discomfort down into a deep dark 'pandora's box'…God help the person that pops the latch on that box…He thought silently. He loved everything about this kid…but he wished that Dean saw the same version of himself that Bobby saw. The strong man that protected his brother and had been unfailingly loyal to his father…even when he hadn't deserved it. And now…he was back in that damn chair and handling the setback with more grace than either Bobby himself was…or Sam for that matter.

"Alright…let's call Ash…put him on this." Dean said as he pushed away from the table with his right arm. "Sam…can you help me?" He asked as he eyed the inviting comfort of the couch. The pain pills were already kicking in and he just wanted to sleep…more than anything he wanted to sleep.

Sam helped to settle Dean onto the old couch, pulling the large patch-work quilt up over his brother's shoulders. Dean's breathing evened out almost immediately and his eyes drifted shut as he held his left arm close against his chest…his legs lying deathly still. Sam gulped and then turned back toward the kitchen where Bobby was watching the interaction between the brothers with interest. "Bobby…" Sam started. He was immediately cut off by the other man as he shook his head.

"Sam…he knows. Dean knows how sorry you are…hell, that boy forgave you the moment he knew you were possessed. Don't throw that away…don't beat yourself up…take all that anger and that rage and throw it into finding the bastards that did this to him." His eyes were sincere and steady as he told Sam exactly what he thought. Bobby almost never did that…at least not with Sam.

"I know Bobby…that's what scares me. He wouldn't kill me. It didn't matter what I did, he refused to take me down. It scares me." Sam said simply.

"It shouldn't Sam. That boy loves you and he will do everything possible to save you from this twin destinies thing…and by proxy, he'll save himself too." He watched as that little factoid insinuated itself into Sam's brain and he started nodding as he too realized that it was true. Dean would do anything to save him…and if they could save Sam…they could fix and save Dean too.

TBC…

Author's Note: I know that this hunt shifted from canon and then backed up Dean's healing…but there is a point to this. And it has been part of the story since the beginning of this little fiction…it also means that this one is coming to a close. The witch, the demons, and the hunters…it's all coming to a head in the next two chapters. Thank you so much to everyone and anyone that took the time to review or read the last chapter. I appreciate it so so so so much.

Please Review: I would love the continued support as this one winds down. Thank you.