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: So I know there's still interest

Previous Chapter:

"Castiel, where's Sam?" He asked as he started moving toward the blurry shadow image.

"I had assumed he would be with you." The angel shot back immediately.

"Do you see him standing here?" Dean knew that his temper was short and getting shorter. But damn-it! He didn't care at this point. There was something inside that room that shouldn't be there.

It only took a moment for Dean to realize their mistake. It hadn't been ozone he'd smelled…it'd been sulfur. "Sammy!" He cried as he started running. The toe of his boot caught on the edge of the sidewalk and he nearly hit the ground. Dean managed to retain his footing and crashed through the door of the motel. "Sam!" He called again. Still nothing…no answer. "Cas!"

"He is not here, Dean." Castiel answered from directly behind him.

Dean spun toward the angel's voice. "What do you mean he isn't here? He just walked in here to get us a room."

"I think the demon was waiting for him. There appears to have been a struggle in this corner."

Dean's heart sank. "Is there any blood?" He didn't want to know. But he knew that he had to know so he could determine what his next course of action would be. Find Sam you fucking moron! His brain shouted at him.

"No. There does not appear to be any blood."

"How long ago do you think he was taken?" Dean asked. How did those bastards know we would stop here?

"Maybe ten minutes." The deep rumble of the angel's voice made Dean think of his father and he banished the thought to the furthest reaches of his mind. It wouldn't help either one of them.

"Where do we look?" Dean pressed. "Shit…I can't even see. How am I supposed to find my brother?"

Dean was just starting to lose his composure when he heard it…Sam's voice and it was outside. He scrambled for the door and tripped over a chair on the way out. "Son of a bitch!" He cried as he hauled himself back to his feet and ran in the direction of Sam's voice.

"Good to see you again, Dean." The voice was distinctly feminine and the dark shimmer around the meat suit was dripping in a reddish haze. And there at the demon's feet was Sam. Dean couldn't see his brother's features, but he'd recognize that soft shimmer of Sam's anywhere at this point.

"I know you?" He rumbled. Dean was trying to hide the fear when Sam didn't say anything else. "What the hell did you do to my brother?" Castiel stepped up next to him and the haze around the demon flared with power.

"Keep that angel away from me or I skin your brother alive right now."

Dean reached out and put a gentle hand Cas's shoulder. "Don't." The angel stopped moving.

"As you wish." He waited next to Dean.

"I gotta say, I'm a little offended that you don't recognize me." It purred. Sam grunted and Dean assumed that it had done something to him.

"Leave him alone. If it's me you want…take me." Dean offered the only thing he had…himself.

"Oh sweetie…it isn't you that I want. As a matter of fact this is all in service of a grander project." She shifted and Dean watched as the haze lightened slightly. "Name's Meg Masters…and this is the third time I'm meeting you Dean Winchester. Try and remember who I am…after all I know you so well."

XXXX

Chapter 54

Master Plan: Part Two

Dean ground his teeth together when Meg hissed. "I spent the last ten years riding around in your old man…fine specimen." Bright white teeth flashed in an evil grin. There was nothing about this woman that as friendly…everything spoke of a malevolent spirit trapped inside the young innocent looking blonde.

"You're lying." Dean ground out. But deep inside he was flying apart at the seams. His father had been possessed this whole time and he hadn't noticed? What the hell kinda son was he anyways? He should have known when his father's actions changed so drastically.

"No. I'm not." She purred. "And something tells me that you know that."

Dean's eyelids dropped closed in a pain so visceral that he felt his knees wobble. "Why?" He finally forced past the painful emotions.

Castiel stayed back and watched the demon toy with the eldest Winchester. All the while what he wanted to do was lay his hand of her forehead and burn the demonic soul out of the human body. The warrior aspect of him was nearly twitching with an impotent anger. Because he was a hampered by the fact that this bitch had taken Sam Winchester…and Castiel wouldn't do anything to endanger the boy. He still wasn't sure where he fell on the whole thing…whether Sam was good or potentially evil…but he knew how he would respond for Dean.

The trip down memory lane had done more for his understanding of the young man than following him the past several weeks. Dean was a soul that Castiel would do almost anything to protect…because he'd earned that from the angel. But as his blue eyes drifted to the frazzled young man he saw fear and shame slipping across Dean's face.

Meg smiled and leaned forward. "You're a failure Dean Winchester. You failed to protect your brother and you failed to even notice when your father was taken over by one of us." She picked at her fingernails and tilted her head to the side. "They would've been better off if you'd died in that fire when you were four."

Dean sucked in a ragged breath and he looked like he'd been hit. She laughed and then she was gone…leaving the eldest Winchester standing in the middle of the parking lot. His fingers pushed through his spikey hair in agitation and he bit at his lower lip. Castiel started to step up behind him and then thought better of the action. He inhaled deeply and glanced around the empty lot.

"I think we need to go, Dean."

Dean's eyelids were pressed shut in denial. He started at the rough sound of Castiel's voice and he slowly straightened and nodded. "We need help…again." It was a little picking at scab that would never fully heal…admitting that he was once again in a position where he couldn't save Sam himself.

XXXX

Sam surged in awareness in motion. His eyes flying open and his heart pounding painfully in his chest. He sat up and cringed when he felt his fingers squish into the cold muddy soil. Where the hell am I? He cast his gaze about himself and then quickly hauled himself to his feet. It looked like an old ghost town…but he'd never seen this place before. Rain fell in a steady pattern and the air smelled like dank moss and death. Sam swallowed hard and blinked several times. He didn't immediately see anyone else surrounding him and that alerted him that Dean was mostly likely not here with him.

"Dean?" He called out. Sam was praying that he was wrong. That his brother was somewhere in this abandoned town. He heard his own words repeated on the wind…but no human voice answered him and he gulped back the slowly rising fear. Where was his brother? What the hell had happened and where was he? The sun was starting to set and the grey pallor to the horizon told Sam that he was in for a long cold and wet night. A shiver ran through him and he realized that he was only wearing a light jacket.

The crunch of gravel behind him had Sam spinning and grasping for a gun that wasn't where it should be. "Shit!" He grunted when his hand touched only skin and clothing. The familiar weight of his Taurus was missing from his waistband.

A guy threw his hands up in the air with wide-eyed innocence when Sam spun on him. The jacket he was wearing was too big and covered the palms of his hands and his light sandy colored hair was a mess. "Whoa there…I'm not a threat." He sputtered in defense.

Sam's head twitched to the side and he relaxed his stance slightly. The guy was at least ten inches shorter than Sam and he appeared to be just as confused. "Who are you?"

"Andy…do you know where we are?" Andy looked at Sam in hope.

Sam shook his head 'no'. "Are there any others?" His green-blue gaze flickered up and took in the slowly darkening sky. The wind was starting to pick up too and the 'whoosh' of it through the trees was disconcerting.

Andy dropped his hands to his sides. "I haven't seen anyone, but I just got here…so I don't know for sure." He brought his hands together in a plaintive gesture and interlaced his fingers…a crow flew over them and their eyes lifted to catch the gleaming black feathers as it landed on the top of a dilapidated looking building.

"Any clue how you got here?" Sam questioned, as he started moving toward what looked like a saloon from every western movie Dean had ever made him watch. The thought of his brother made him wince in worry. He knew that Dean would be sick with concern and Sam was a little worried about what his older brother would do to find him. He hoped that the presence of the angel would be enough to keep Dean from doing something really stupid…but he wasn't positive that Castiel would be enough.

"No. I was hanging with some friends…smoked some premium weed and then fell asleep." Andy groaned. "And then I woke up in the town that time forgot."

"Hey!" Another male voice rang through the air and both Sam and Andy froze when they saw the large black man standing twenty feet in front of them. He was wearing army fatigues…the name Talley on his uniform and he looked as confused as they felt.

Andy moved a little closer to Sam instantly sensing that this guy would stand a better chance against the warrior than he would.

"Where the hell are we?"

Sam blinked. "Who are you?"

The black guy snorted. "Who the hell are you?"

Sam raised an eyebrow and shook his head. "Sam and this is Andy…" The soldier nodded and dropped the antagonized tone from his voice.

"Jake…sorry about the attitude, but I went to sleep in Afghanistan and I woke up on the set of a western." Jake stepped forward and offered his hand to Sam. Andy watched the whole exchange in silence. Jake was as tall as Sam and they looked fairly well matched physically.

"Yeah that'd be a bit disconcerting." Sam answered with a quirk to his lips. He knew that if he didn't figure out how to find the humor in this situation then he was going to lose it. At this point he knew that Dean wasn't here…wherever here is.

"No shit Sherlock." Jake shot back with a grin. At least he wasn't alone and for that one fact he was grateful. He debated on coming clean with these two guys…he knew that they were here because of the yellow-eyed demon. But if Jake did that then he may have to admit to his other 'abilities' and he really didn't think that they'd believe a guy they just met. Because seriously, who had ever heard of someone waking up one day with the ability to lift a tank off the ground?

Sam winced at the reference to Sherlock. His mind immediately supplying the conversation that he'd had with Dean about that exact thing earlier in the year…Sam still didn't know how his brother was going to handle his disappearance. Dean couldn't see very well and Sam was pretty sure that Castiel couldn't drive a car. So how were they going to start looking for Sam? Bobby. Dean would go to Bobby and hopefully the old hunter would have some idea where to start.

"What I wouldn't give for a working cell phone…man I wish Dean was here." He muttered. They three men headed for the saloon and quickly ducked out of the increasing rain.

"Who's Dean?" Andy asked with a sincerity that made Sam instantly like this hippie, pot-smoking kid.

"My brother. He's way better at dealing with these types of unknown situations that I am." And the fact of the matter was, Sam wasn't even embellishing that. Dean was better at dealing with the unknown entities of the world. Probably because he'd never tried to walk away from this life. Dean had known from the time he was young that this would be his future…hunting things, saving people…the family business.

Andy pulled his lower lip between his teeth and took a deep breath. "Do you have anything that he touched?"

Sam stumbled to a stop and turned to stare at him in question. "What?"

"I've never tried it this far before…but I might be able to get a message to Dean." Andy was putting a lot of trust in Sam's ability to accept the weird and impossible. Something about this tall floppy haired guy told Andy that this wasn't Sam's first rodeo regarding the unexplained.

"Tried what?" Jake asked as he stepped behind the two guys inside the swinging the door of the saloon.

A slow breath was Andy's only answer. Sam's eyebrow's cut down in confusion. "You got phone we don't know about?" He dug around his pocket for a receipt and handed it to the short man.

Andy shook his head. He read the diner receipt and couldn't help the smile that pulled at the edges of his lips. "D. Hasselhoff?"

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's sense of humor and simply nodded. "Yeah…uh…don't ask. It's his signature though."

A snicker erupted out of Andy's chest and he grinned. "Okay…sure…whatever." He held the paper and ran his fingers over the lines of ink. He could feel the light connection with the mind that had produced the signature. He glanced around and saw a large iron bell…there was a strange tree engraved in the metal.

Sam watched in fascination when Andy's eyelids fell shut and he gently rubbed his thumb over the black ink of Dean's handwriting. Jake stood silently by the long bar and eyed the two men in interest. Maybe I'm not the only one with some freaky-ass power. Somehow that made this whole thing a little less scary…the mere thought that there were others that were deal with something like him. He wondered if they'd had visits from the yellow-eyed demon too?

For Andy it was like taking a letter and shoving it into a mailbox that was already filled to capacity. He inserted the picture of the bell into Dean's mind and took a deep breath that it had taken root when he snapped back to himself. Sam's wide eyes were watching him carefully and Jake was blank faced.

"Now what?" Sam asked, he folded his arms across his broad chest and leaned against the wall.

Andy sighed. "Now, we wait."

XXXX

Castiel drove through the gates of Bobby's salvage yard. The old hunter was waiting for them on his front porch. He'd been nervous since he'd gotten the phone call from Dean seven hours ago. They must've driven through the night…maybe angels don't have to sleep? He thought as he stood up and stepped down the creaky planks of his porch.

Dean was leaning against the window in the passenger seat and he looked terrible. Physically he seemed to be okay, but the blank look on his face was a dead give away that he wasn't handling another nasty development in their lives very well. He pushed the door of the car open and slowly pulled himself from the leather seat and into the rising sunlight of the morning. The smell of the old yard pummeled his senses and he blinked back the burn of emotion as his eyes ached with it. He leaned against the hood of the Impala and let the feelings wash over him.

Bobby watched in concern as Dean simply stood with his fingers running absently over the obsidian paint of the car he loved. He took a deep breath before closing the distance between in several smooth strides, his blue eyes flickering to the angel and then back to the boy he considered his own. "Dean? You okay, son?" He winced when he saw the slight tightening of Dean's jaw.

"Not even close, Bobby." He whispered.

Bobby looked at the bruising on the young man with sympathy. It had only been two days since he'd seen the boys last and Dean seemed to have aged ten years in that time. Green eyes rose to meet the aged blue of the salvage man and Bobby saw the bone deep weariness that was tearing at Dean's soul reflected in that gaze. "We're gonna find him, son."

"You can't know that." Dean managed. He turned his look fell just off of Bobby's eyes. "Still seeing blobs?"

A slight nod and then suddenly Dean was hunching over the car in pain. His eyes squeezed shut and his lips drawn back in agony. Long fingers were pulling at his temples in a useless gesture as Dean's knees buckled and he caught himself on the hood of the car. "Son of a bitch!" He cried.

Castiel moved instantly to his side, Bobby stumbling two steps behind him. "What's wrong?" The angel reached out and then pulled his hand back as he pushed down his desire to comfort the human. Bobby had no such compulsions.

Dean's skull felt as though it was splitting open. An image flashed in front of his eyes and he groaned in pain. And as quickly as the pain had come it was gone, leaving him to breathe rapidly as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. He was reminded of Sam and the agonizing visions that his brother had been suffering for the last year.

"What was that?" Bobby asked. He was staring in concern as Dean started to make his way to his feet.

"I don't know…headache?"

The hunter narrowed his eyes. "You get headaches like that a lot?"

Dean shook his head. "No…" Before he could finish the sentence another wave of agony was splitting his head open. He cried as he dropped to his knees.

"Dean?!" Bobby called out.

A flash of Sam's face. There was a large iron bell with a tree engraved on the outside. Several buildings that looked like they should be in a horror movie stood in stark repose against the grey sky…and then more fiery pain. "Oh God…" He managed as he kept himself from hitting the ground. Nausea coursed through his stomach and Dean he was grateful that he'd passed on breakfast this morning.

"Dean…?" Castiel queried. His gravelly voice pulled Dean back from the brink of unconsciousness.

"I saw him…I saw Sam." Dean dropped his head into his hands as he waited for the unpleasant sensations to pass.

Bobby hissed in surprise. "Like a vision? Like what Sam gets?" Oh god he hoped not.

"What?! No. I just…" Dean stopped when he realized that he could see Bobby clearly. He wasn't blurry or sparkly or glimmery…or any of the other things that Dean had been seeing lately. He opened his mouth and the popped it shut when he noticed that he could also see Castiel…but the angel still had the bright white glimmer just around his body. Like a child that outlines a picture before they color the inside. But both men were crystal clear.

Castiel saw the shift in Dean's posture as he forced himself to his feet. "What happened?"

"I can see." His eyes shifted to Bobby and he blinked several times to make sure that he wasn't fooling himself.

"What the hell?" Bobby said as he stepped forward and waved his hand in front of Dean's face. "Wait…did you say you saw Sam?"

Dean nodded. He took a moment to look at the angel. It was the first time that he'd seen the man that the angel inhabited clearly. "He was in some weird ghost town…abandoned or something."

"Anything else?"

"Uh…yeah…a bell…a big bell…it had a tree on it." Dean closed his eyes and tried to remember exactly what the image had been.

Bobby's eyes drifted for a moment as he accessed an old memory. "Was an Oak tree? Like a white oak?"

Dean blinked in surprise. "Yeah."

"I think I know where Sam is."

They both looked over at the angel. Castiel shrugged. "I can't see him…wherever he is…he's hidden from angel sight."

"Then we drive." Dean said as he moved to the driver's side of the Impala. No way he was letting anyone else drive him now that he could see clearly. He could walk…he could see…now he just needed to find Sam and get the fucking gun and they'd be well on their way to destroying that damned demon. "We've got work to do." He ground out as he slipped behind the wheel.

TBC…

Author's Note: This is going to twist canon and my own take on this story…so be ready. We're putting the angels into this one as well, so it's turning out pretty darned awesome. Thank you so much to everyone that has read, favorited, and reviewed this story…it's been a long one I know. But I almost feel like it's a series of tales just like the actual series on tv.

A big thank you to: sbcarri, ncsupnatfan, Kit Cat, RedStalkingDeath, gr8read, gracewright, QueenWoofy, babyreaper, BranchSuper, pipnheart, and of course LeeMarieJack. Thanks for being so great about reviewing.

PLEASE REVIEW: Please let me know that you're still out there reading this one.