Big Brother

Dean smirked as he pressed the gas pedal even closer to the floor, sending his car flying down the long stretch of road. It was around 11:30 PM and they were basically in the middle of nowhere. He and Sam had just finished up a hunt, and were on their way to Kansas City to investigate another case. He looked over at Sam, and his smirk instantly turned to a frown of concern. Sam was rubbing his temples with the thumb and index finger of his right hand. His eyes were squeezed shut.

"Hey...You okay over there?" Dean asked.

Sam dropped his hand quickly and looked up,"Head hurts." He glanced over at Dean's face, and noticing the concern in his eyes he added, "it's just a headache, not a migraine.

Dean returned his eyes to the road. "Let's hope it doesn't turn into one. I'll stop at the next town we pass. Should be another hour or so."

Dean turned the music off and they drove in silence for a while. Sam kept his eyes closed and rested his head on the back of his seat, taking deep, steady breaths in attempts to stifle the growing pain in his head. About 45 minutes later, Sam opened his eyes to see if they were close to town. Realizing they were still a while away, he dropped his head back onto the seat and sucked in a deep breath of air. It had started out as a simple headache, but for whatever reason it had grown progressively worse. It felt as if his head was being squeezed from all directions. Pain throbbed from the back of his neck into his eyes, consuming him. He sunk against the door and closed his eyes. Even the light of the car clock was too much for him. He let out a few sharp breaths of air and sucked a couple of gulps in, hoping the oxygen would do something to alleviate the horrendous pain in his head.

Dean, startled by the sound of his brother's suddenly strained breathing, reached over and put a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Hey, hang in there okay? Only about 30 more minutes." He returned his hand to the wheel, glancing over occasionally to check on his little brother.

After about five more minutes of driving, the car engine began to sputter. "No, no, no. Come on baby, come on!" Dean begged. After a few minutes of awkward engine noises and faint rattling, the vehicle came to a complete stop. Then came a loud pop, followed by billows of steam seeping out from under the car's hood. The engine was shot.

"This freakin' piece of crap car!" Dean slammed his hands down on the wheel in frustration. What was he going to do? He needed to get Sam to a motel. He paused, searching his brain for a clever idea. He reached for his phone and began to dial for a cab when he realized that he had zero cell service. "Dang it!" He yelled, throwing his phone to the car floor. He ran his fingers through his hair, frustrated.

Dean glanced over at Sam, and suddenly all of his frustration evaporated. Sam was hunched over in the seat, head in hands. His shoulders were trembling violently. Although he was doing a fairly good job of hiding it, Dean could tell that he was crying. Dean reached over and placed a comforting hand on the back of his neck. He certainly didn't want to admit it, but he knew very well that Sam was on the verge of a panic attack. They came every once in a while when his headaches were this bad. The fact that they were now stranded in the middle of the highway with no place to stay must have pushed him over the edge.

"Hey, shhh shhh shhh. You're okay. Listen, I'm gonna take care of you alright?" Dean's kept his voice steady, and gently rubbed Sam's back. Sam showed absolutely no sign of calming down, and Dean frantically searched his mind for his next plan of action. After exhausting all of his ideas, he finally came to terms with the fact that they were going to have to spend the night in the car. He had no idea how Sam was gonna make it like this all night. Dean knew he had to make it work.

Dean took his hand off of his brother's back and opened the car door. "Sit tight Sammy. I'm comin' around." He ran around the front of the car and opened the passenger side door. He crouched down next to Sam and gently attempted to pull his hands away from his eyes. He gave up after a few tries, and moved his hands to Sam's forearms. "Hey Sam." Talking to him in this state was like talking to a wall, but Dean continued. "We're gonna stay in the car tonight okay? Let's get you into the back so you can lay down."