Warnings: This story has adult content. Rated for swearing and violence. Not a character death fiction.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything Supernatural related. Most towns and other people are made up, any similarity to the living or dead are purely coincidental.

Any real towns, places or companies used are strictly for reference purposes only.

All music, lyrics, books and titles are by artists identified and belong to them.

Setting: Pre-season one.

Story outline: On his way to see Sam, Dean is critically injured. Due to head injuries, Dean loses the ability to hide his feelings behind his usual walls. How will Dean cope without them and will he ever get them back?

Author's notes: Unrelated to any other of my stories.

Many thanks to rascalflattsgurl43 for the speedy and accurate beta on this story

'Notations like this are someone's thoughts.'

My Brother

Chapter One- Heading West

Dean Winchester sipped from his coffee cup as his right hand guided his powerful steel beast west. He relaxed back in his seat as the early morning sun shone into the car warming the air and improving his mood. Dean was heading to California to see his brother for his birthday. He had been planning this day for over a month and it had finally arrived. His eyes fell on the bright green envelope sitting on the seat next to him. Sam's birthday card. Dean grinned as he thought of the gifts it contained. A five hundred dollar voucher to spend at the university bookstore and vouchers for almost thousand dollars worth of groceries from various stores in Sam's area.
'Sammy won't see this one coming.'

Sam had been at Stanford since the previous September and Dean knew Sam wasn't wasting any of his limited funds on new books preferring to go with secondhand ones. He had called in at the campus a few times since Sam had been there and managed to observe without Sam knowing. Just to make sure his brother was doing okay. The grocery vouchers were because he thought his brother was looking a little skinny. Of course he had left cash for his brother a few times so Sam knew he was around. He knew Sam would expect to see him on his birthday no matter how strained things were between Sam and the rest of his family. Dean had decided enough was enough. The way things were going, he and Sam were going to be estranged and all for something deep down Dean agreed with. The fact that he had been tongue tied and torn between the two people he loved the most when Sam had argued with their dad and left still pissed him off. He didn't want to lose either of them and it had felt like he was being made to choose. Now Dean's relationship with his father was business only and with his baby brother hardly at all.
'I'm going to get us past it even if it kills me.'

Dean had always made an extra effort for Sam's birthday and he wasn't going to let him down now. He had made sure his dad had known he was planning this trip a few weeks ago. Dean knew it was better to let John know in advance than springing a surprise on him. Dean had to let his dad know no one was going to stop him seeing Sam when this day rolled around every year. It wasn't like they were spending that much time together anyway. These days either Dean stayed back and cleaned up after a hunt while his dad moved on to do research for the next hunt or Dean went on ahead and started looking around. That's what had happened this time. Dean had stayed back and finished up a routine salt and burn the night before while John headed east to the next hunt. Dean was satisfied John was okay with him going as planned even if he didn't have anything he wanted Dean to give Sam.

Dean tossed the empty cup into a paper sack on the floor and reached over to turn up the music. He stopped for a late lunch, happy with the distance he had behind him. He changed in the men's room after a quick clean up, the best he could do for the time being. Hopefully Sam would let him use his shower if he was okay with him being there. Dean had a fleeting thought that Sam might have gathered enough friends to go out parting for the night but if he knew Sam like he thought he did he would be spending the night buried in study. Dean would make it his job to get Sam to have some fun for at least a couple of hours.

Dean lowered the Impalas driver side window and leaned a tight muscled arm along the sill as he drove. As he neared California, Dean was surprised to see clouds along the horizon. Not big black rain clouds or fluffy white Simpson's type clouds but somewhere in the middle. White and whippy like icing squeezed out of a piping bag with dashes of orange and grey through them. Dean sighed as he moved towards the west coast. On the plus side the clouds seemed to be all around him but not over him. Dean slipped his Houses Of The Holy tape in the tape deck and The Ocean steamed through the speakers. Dean chuckled and turned the music up as he pressed his foot down.

Just on dusk had Dean coming into the edges of Palo Alto. If he had Sam's schedule memorized, he should be getting out of his late afternoon class in the next half hour or so. He spotted a liquor store and pulled into the quiet parking lot. Sam's birthday called for a bottle of single barrel Jack's or one of the gold medal series bottles if they had it. Dean stepped out of the Impala and stretched his spine out as he stood by the car. He grabbed the nearest jacket out of the car and slipped it on. Dean pulled out his wallet and found the three hundred dollar notes he had been storing away and tucked them into his inside jacket pocket.
'We are going to have a fun night tonight, Sammy boy.'

After his wallet was stashed away he locked the Impala up tight (he really didn't trust the neighborhood) and ambled inside. Dean had taken one step inside when he knew something wasn't right. He crouched down for the knife in his boot when he felt the cold metal of gun against his temple.

TBC

Yeah a new story! Well not so new for me as it was completed some time ago. Did I mention this story is complete? We all know a comple story equals frequent updates. Yeah!-gett