Summary: Dr. Brant receives a new patient. He's cocky, arrogant, irrational, and completely haunted. Dr. Brant soon realizes that 'crazy' may not be limited to the boundaries of the mind.

Timeline: Sam is 23, Dean is 27

Rating: M

Warnings: Foul language, violence, disturbing scenes

A/N: First eleven chapters have been updated slightly from their original posts.

NO NEED TO REMEMBER

Chapter I

From the computer files of Richard Jonas Brant, PhD

Psychiatrist, Department of Mental Health

Red Grove Asylum

Assigned to Patient 05494

He proved to be one of my most unusual patients. He was not like any of the others I had treated in the past, and in all my years I have never come across a case like his. It is apparent that for most of the duration he spent at the asylum he was still confused about everything that had happened. He was still putting the pieces together, yet he seemed to recall a lot more than he let on. He claimed that he remembered everything after a while, but the world he described to me was impossible, unbelievable. Yet somehow I find myself considering the possibility that it is all true. I write this because I am beginning to doubt reality.

"Good morning, Julia," Richard Brant announced as he walked into the room.

The secretary was gazing down at a stack of papers when she heard his voice and promptly looked up. She was a woman in her mid forties and the wrinkles at the corners of her mouth and at the edges of her eyes showed that life had been good to her. She smiled cheerfully before replying, "Good morning, doctor."

Richard passed the front desk with a friendly nod and headed towards his office. It was their morning ritual. For nearly twelve years they had played the same parts. They'd always say the same thing, throwing in a "Happy Birthday" or a "How were your holidays?" whenever the need arose. It was part of a routine, one he had come to accept many years ago.

Richard Brant, PhD, was pleasant by nature; a patient man who had committed his life to helping others. His dark brown hair was beginning to grey around the edges while thin-rimmed glasses framed his intelligent brown eyes. He also had wrinkles on his face but they had been caused by many moments of stress and tension in his past forty-seven years of life.

Twenty-two of those years he had spent listening to the problems of others, trying to find solutions, or in most cases, a diagnosis. As his career path led him from teenagers coping with bullying to dangerous psychopaths on death row, the enthusiasm he had for his job had waned a little, but he was content here at Red Grove Asylum. It suited him well. He could make a difference here.

He was about to round the corner to his office when Julia's voice rang out behind him and he stopped and turned. "Dr. Brant?" the woman called, her head stretching out from behind the desk. "You have a new patient. The file is on your desk and the first appointment is in fifteen minutes."

He sighed, his plans for the morning suddenly ruined, but then concurred and rounded the corner. His office was at the end of the narrow hallway and he made it to the room with five quick strides. Shutting the door quietly behind him, he sat behind his desk and placed his briefcase next to his feet. The doctor searched for the promised file and was able to locate it immediately. The beige folder sat next to the metal object standing at the edge of his desk that read 'Dr. R. Brant' in large letters and 'Psychiatrist' in smaller ones beneath. He picked up the folder and began to read the patient's record.

ST. LUCIUS HOSPITAL

Consulting Psychiatrist

Assessment and Recommendations

Recipient Name: _John Doe_

Date of Assessment: _05/03/2006_

Recipient Date of Birth: _N/A__

Attending Psychiatrist: _Simon Harold__

RECORD REVIEW/DIAGNOSTIC INTERVIEW:

Patient was found unconscious at a crime scene on April 28th, 2006. Claimed to have no memory (amnesia) after he awoke. Admitted to psychiatric ward when patient began to speak of incoherent matters in medical care and began to worry doctors.

Patient was uncooperative, refusing to speak for the majority of the interview. When conversing, alternated between mumbling about incoherent matters and making aggressive and sarcastic comments

RISK ASSESSMENT:

Current psychiatric assessment of danger to self or others

Potential for endangering others is moderately high. Patient attacked security personnel while being treated.

Potential for endangering himself is moderately low.

RECIPIENT'S ABILITY TO ACCESS WEAPONS:

Patient showed adapt ability in hand to hand combat

MENTAL STATUS EXAMINATION:

Appearance: Exhausted but alert

Behavior: Hostile, confused

Recent & Remote Memory: No remote (due to amnesia), little recent (since accident)

Knowledge & Reasoning: Demonstrated a few lapses in reasoning during moments of confusion

Attention & Concentration: Distracted at times

Mood & Affect: Sometimes on edge, jumpy, anxious; calm and confident usually

Motor Movements: OK

Orientation: Delusional at times

Vegetative Symptoms: Recent fall, but no serious head injury

Speech/Thought Process: Non-personal, often sarcastic

Thought content Delusions: Believes in supernatural beings

Hallucinations: Ghosts

DIAGNOSIS:

Undecided

PSYCHIATRIC RECOMMENDATIONS:

Continue to interview. Determine the patient's past to better diagnose his current symptoms. Consider hospitilization.

RECIPIENT RISK ASSESSMENT:

Based on the above overall findings and anticipated immediate complication of treatment the recipient is considered a high risk and will need the services described above to stabilize their current symptoms and crisis.

Total Time Spent on Assessment: 150 minutes

To the best of my knowledge and given the current limitations of knowing the entire physical history and health record of a recipient, I certify there is no overt evidence of communicable disease with this recipient.

Signature of Provider: Simon Harold

Date: 05/04/2006

Richard could already tell this case would be a difficult one, or perhaps merely different.

He reread the file until he was positive he knew all the facts, or at least those that were available, and glanced at the clock. His new patient would be arriving shortly. Apparently it was his job to help him remember his past. Dr. Brant had done something very similar a few years back and was somewhat confident he could handle this case.

The phone rang and he put it on speaker. "Yes?" he asked in a deep tone, and the voice of the secretary met his ears once more. "Your new patient has arrived, Dr. Brant."

"All right. Send him in, Julia." The phone clicked off and the doctor stood up. He had always been a little nervous when it came to meeting new patients, though he had been doing it for the past twenty-two years. He waited patiently as the door opened.

He was not what he had expected. The patient appeared to be in his late twenties, tall with short blonde hair and handsome features. His eyes were dark despite their hazel colouring, surrounded by shadows created from lack of sleep, and the fading colours of a bruise encircling his left eye. Stubble stretched across his chin and a small cut was visible on his lower lip. He wore the standard dark blue outfit of all the patients of the institution and was followed closely by one of the staff members.

Dr. Brant made his way around the desk to greet his patient properly. He stuck out his hand as he introduced himself but the man simply stared at him, a look of derision flickering in his sunken eyes. Clearing his throat and lowering his arm, Dr. Brant addressed the staff member. His name was Jerry Oakwood, a hefty man with short dark hair and narrow, blue eyes. He was what the institution considered "security", always standing close when any unstable patient was given the smallest amount of freedom. Dr. Brant had spoken with him on numerous occasions and they had grown to be acquaintances over the ten years the man had been working in the building.

"Thanks Jerry. I trust you'll wait outside now?"

"Like always, Doc," the man answered. He took a small glance at the patient and leaned in towards the doctor. "Be careful with this one, Rich. He's a troublemaker." The man then gave the patient one last glimpse and exited the room.

Richard Brant turned his attention from the door and smiled. "Well, I guess we should begin the session. If you'd like to take a seat here I think we'll start." He gestured towards one of two chairs sitting opposite from each other in a corner of the room and took the other for himself. He felt a small amount of relief as the man sat down without objection, Jerry's warning still playing in his mind.

"I noticed that you don't have a name written on your file," he began. "Is there any particular name you'd like to be called?"

The patient remained silent for a moment but then opened his mouth to say something. He seemed to reconsider, closed his mouth once more, and then said, "Dean."

"Dean?" The doctor wondered why he had chosen the name. "All right Dean, let's begin." He was grateful for something to call his new patient now, and the words flowed easily from his lips. "I understand you have amnesia. Is there anything you remember from your past life? Anything at all?"

Dean stared at the doctor blankly. "No," he answered, his voice flat and emotionless.

"All right." Dr. Brant sighed. Dean clearly did not want to cooperate, but his reaction was similar to most patients' during their first session. Human beings are private creatures by nature, and telling a stranger anything at all about their life was oftentimes an uncomfortable process. The patient had built a wall around him. He was unsure if this wall had been built years before or just recently, but either way, he needed to discover a way to break through it. He required a weakness in the foundation to chip away at.

"That cut on your lip, and the bruise, how did you get them?" He shifted into a more comfortable position in his chair as his voice became inquisitive.

The patient swallowed but then raised his eyebrows and shrugged his shoulders. "A fight with one of the other guys."

The doctor immediately noticed that Dean had avoided the word 'patients' and replaced it with 'one of the other guys'. He latched onto this observation and added it to the conversation. He needed Dean to become more involved, to feel the need to talk. "You mean one of the other patients?"

"Yeah. Whatever."

He wasn't sure if this would lead anywhere but it seemed to be as good a place to start as any. "Why were you two in a fight?"

"He was being an asshole. Why else?"

"Did he say something offensive to you?"

Dean rolled his eyes and Dr. Brant took it as a good sign. At least he was getting some sort of reaction.

"He wanted something that didn't belong to him."

"What was it?"

The patient seemed to be getting angry at the number of questions and Dr. Brant decided it was time to switch gears.

"My necklace," Dean replied suddenly. "He wanted my necklace."

Or not.

"Your necklace? You have it on now?" Patients were not allowed such possessions in the institution and he wondered if Jerry knew of this.

"Yeah. They told me to take it off but…" Dean's expression abruptly softened as the atmosphere of hostility around him seemed to vanish. "I think it's important."

He was definitely getting somewhere with this. "Important? Do you remember it being important?"

The shield was back up and Dean's stare was stony once more. "No. I told you, I don't remember anything."

"Right. I'm sorry." The doctor shuffled the papers in his hands and cleared his throat. It was time to change the topic, but he made a mental note to return to this area as soon as possible. "Do you know why you're here, Dean?"

"Yeah," he sneered. "Because I can't remember anything, and everything I think I remember is regarded as 'insane'. I know exactly why I'm here."

"We don't necessarily think that you are mentally unhealthy, Dean. We just believe you may be confused. You're here because we might be able to help you remember what you have forgotten so that you can return to your normal life."

"Bullshit," Dean said bluntly. "The last time I dealt with one of you shrinks, I ended up locked up here."

"The doctor who examined your mental state at the hospital must have had a good reason to recommend you come here, Dean."

"Yeah, he asked me if I remembered why I had been found at that abandoned building, if I could remember, and I told him I was hunting for ghosts. As a joke. Guy took me seriously, though."

"I'm sure he was trying to help you gain your memories back, just as I am."

"Well you're doing a great job so far." There was a clear tone of sarcasm in Dean's voice and Dr. Brant frowned in disapproval. Jerry's words were proving to be true.

"Dean, you must understand that we're trying to help you," he said sternly. "Now, I'd like you to try to remember anything you can. Can you do that for me?"

"First off, cut the crap." Dean's abruptness shocked the doctor into silence. "Second, stop talking to me like I'm a child. I might not know who I am but I know enough to tell you I can understand big words. And third, I told you I can't remember anything. There's no point in trying if it isn't going to get me anywhere." He looked at the stunned doctor with venom in his eyes and a small amount of smugness.

"All right, Dean." The doctor's voice had suddenly lost its friendliness, gaining a hard edge almost similar to his patient's. "If you want to behave this way I guess it's only fair that I can as well. The reason you are here in my office, in this institution, is because we think you are mentally unstable. Your accident may have caused it or maybe you were like this before the incident. Whatever the cause, you are here because we think you are unhealthy and unfit to be let into society, and what I need is for you to co-operate and to do what I ask you to do. Is that understandable?"

Richard Brant had never acted this way towards one of his patients. In fact, he had never raised his voice to anyone unless given a very good reason. He had no clue why, but Dean had somehow infuriated him to the summit of his breaking point and now he was staring at the man before him with anger illuminating in his eyes. He knew he had lost all hope of reaching the patient and he now expected him to become alienated by his words. He was strangely surprised when Dean smiled.

"That's more like it, Doc," he said. "What do you need to know?"

To be continued.