Kimberling City, Missouri, summer 1992
John Winchester walked around the room, gathering papers and all the things he needed for the hunt. He put them delicately in his backpack. Just as he zipped up his bag, his son Dean walked in.
"Hey Dad, I know Bobby's on his way, but you think you can squeeze in the time to go grab some lunch? I heard some people talking in the parking lot, they said the Hillbilly Bowl has some really good food." "I'd love to Dean," John said, "But I'm afraid I can't." Dean sighed. John shrugged. "I can give you and your brother some money and you can go get something, but I really have to go." "Ok." Dean said, monotone. John handed him some money. "There's 25 bucks. Maybe you and Sam can play a quick game too." "Sure. So what are you and Bobby going after this time?" John breathed in deeply. "Oh, not quite sure yet. People have been snatched up from the campgrounds around the lake, so Bobby and I are going to go up there for a couple days to check it out. The two of us, well, rather a couple of federal agents, are going to talk to the park rangers and see if we can make heads or tails of it." Dean nodded his head. He followed his father to the front room. "Just be safe out there, Dad." John chuckled and patted Dean on the shoulder. "I'll be fine. It's probably nothing too serious, at least not something that Bobby and I can't kick the crap out of."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Well, that must be Bobby." John said. Sam came out of the bedroom. "Dad getting ready to head out?" he asked Dean, who nodded in reply. John opened the door, and jumped back in surprise. It wasn't Bobby at the door, but a tall man in a tan jacket, black pants, a white button-up shirt, and bowtie. "John Winchester." he said, smiling. John smiled back. "I was wondering when we were going to see you again, Doctor." The Doctor stepped in and hugged John. Sam ran over excitedly. "UNCLE DOC!" he screamed enthusiastically, jumping up and giving the Doctor a big hug. "There he is, Sam my man!" He picked Sam up and hugged him tightly. "You keep getting bigger and bigger! You're going to be a giant at this rate!" He put Sam down and looked over at Dean. "Hey Doc." Dean said casually. The Doctor tilted his head and put his hands on his waist. "Come on now Dean, too cool to give your daffy old uncle a hug?" Dean smiled, walked over and hugged the Doctor. "It's really good to see you." he said. "It's good to see you too." said the Doctor.
"So Doc," John said, "What are you doing here?" The Doctor shrugged. "What, I'm not allowed to drop in and say hello to my favorite nephews and brother in law?" "Of course you are, we are always very happy to see you." John replied. "Kinda caught me at a bad time though, about to head out with Bobby." "Oh, Bobby's coming? That's good, how has Bobby been doing lately?" "He's doing good, says you still owe him lunch from the last job we worked together." The Doctor nodded, "Well, tell him I'll take him up on that when you two get back, unless you need me to help you out on this one, then I'll buy him lunch on the way." John shook his head. "It's nothing big. I think we got it covered. But if you wouldn't mind, I wouldn't object to you keeping an eye on the boys for me." Dean frowned. "Dad, we don't need a babysitter!" he protested. The Doctor patted his shoulder. "Well, don't think of me as a babysitter, think of me as…company! Come on, we can go do something fun!"
Dean looked up at him and smiled. "Ok then, but don't let Sammy talk you into doing some dumb kid stuff, ok?" "Hey!" Sam said, pouting. "We'll give it a thought once your dad heads out." The Doctor said. There was another knock on the door. John opened the door. "Hey there Bobby." he said. "Hello John." Bobby said, stepping inside. He stopped and looked at the Doctor. "I thought I saw your blue box outside." The Doctor smiled, walked over and hugged Bobby. "How have you been Mr. Singer?" Bobby pulled back and looked at him. "Hungry." The Doctor chuckled. "I told John I'd buy you lunch when you got back, hell, I'll even make you lunch if you'd like." Bobby nodded. "Alright then." He looked the Doctor in the eye. "I want a cheeseburger." "Alright then, when you get back, I will have a fresh made cheeseburger with your name on it." Bobby smiled. "You're a good man Doc." He turned and waved at the boys, who waved back. "Well John, we best get going, this thing's not going to catch itself." "Alright, now boys, you be good. I mean it. Just cause Doc's watching you doesn't mean you can act like a pack of feral children." "We know Dad!" Dean and Sam said in unison. "Alright, just saying." John said. He looked over to the Doctor. "Thank you so much Doc." "Anytime John." The Doctor said. John turned to the boys. "Love you boys." "Love you too Dad." they both said. John pulled his backpack over his shoulder. "Let's go Bobby." Bobby nodded, and said his goodbyes. He looked the Doctor in the eyes as he said. "Really though, don't forget my burger." he said, grinning. "Oh, I won't Bobby, promise." Bobby nodded and closed the door.
The Doctor quickly turned around. "Alright, so what's the plan? What do you want to do?" "Doesn't seem like there is a lot to do around here." Dean said. "There's a bowling alley, and that's it." "Well, that's not bad, we could bowl, there's a theme park in Branson, Silver Dollar City, forever set in the 1880's, that's sounds like it could be fun, and just in general, Branson has shows, shops, you name it. It's like a tiny, family friendly Vegas!" "Hmm, maybe…but maybe later, let's do something amazing!" Sam said. "Hmm…amazing…what could we do that is truly amazing…" The Doctor thought. Finally a grin came over his face. "Dean, you said there wasn't anything to do around here, correct?" Dean looked at the Doctor with a confused look. "Yeah?" "And Sam, you said you wanted to do something amazing?" "Uh huh." Sam nodded. "In that case," the Doctor said, "The answer to our question is obvious: We just need to go somewhere amazing!" "Yeah, that's a great idea Uncle Doc!" Sam exclaimed. "Only one problem," Dean remarked, "How do we get somewhere else? Bobby left his truck, yeah, but I know for a fact if the keys aren't in the ignition, they're in his pocket." The Doctor looked over at Dean. "Why drive a car when you have a time machine?" Sam's eyes widened. "Whoa. You're going to take us for a ride in the TARDIS?" The Doctor nodded. "Yep. And I'll take you wherever you guys want to go." "Cool! We get to ride in the TARDIS!" Sam shouted excitedly. "And you'll take us to wherever we want to go? Whenever we want to go?" Dean asked curiously. "Am I speaking in a foreign tongue?" The Doctor replied. Dean nodded, then grinned. "Can we go to Woodstock?" The Doctor bit his lip. "I know I said anywhere, any time, but that may be a little less than appropriate for Sam, definitely when your older though." Dean sighed, "Ok, can we go see Queen at Wembley Stadium then?" "That, we can do! Then Sammy, you think of something, because you pick where we go next!" "Alright!" Sam said, "Hmm…where do I want to go…" The Doctor beckoned to the brothers, "Well come on, you can think about it on the way to the concert, Dean, you're 13 now, how would you like me to teach you to drive?" Dean scoffed. "Teach me how to drive a time machine?" He shugged and smiled as they walked out the door, "Alright then, but before we go, I'm taking us to get lunch first, I'm starving!"
A couple of hours later…
The TARDIS reappeared in it's former position. The door flew open. "Man Uncle Doc, that was really amazing!" Sam said, "Thank you for taking us to see the Wild West Show! It was the coolest thing ever! And thank you for introducing us to Buffalo Bill, and Sitting Bull, and well, I guess just thank you so much for everything!" The Doctor laughed. "No problem, no problem at all Sam. I'm just glad you and Dean had fun." "Doc, seriously," Dean said, with an ear-to-ear grin, "Thank you so much for introducing us to Freddie Mercury. That hands down, had to be the greatest moment of my life!" "It was nothing, really. Freddie's a good, old friend." "That was the most fun I've had in awhile. Please promise me we can do this more often!" Sam said. The Doctor nodded, "Yeah, we do have to travel together more often. I promise we will."
They entered the hotel room. "So, what do you want to do now? Just sit back and watch TV? Catch up?" The Doctor asked. Dean yawned and nodded. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. I'm worn out." Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, me too." They sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. They flipped through channels for a few minutes before finding a show, but they soon ignored the TV and became ingulfed in conversation. After an hour or two, Sam looked over at the Doctor.
"Uncle Doc?" he asked. "Yes, Sam?" The Doctor asked. "There's something I've wanted to ask for awhile, because I've been thinking about it. You aren't really our uncle, are you? I mean, our blood uncle." "Well, no, not really, why do you ask?" "One time, I was talking about you with Dad, and he said you aren't even human. He said you were some sort of space alien, is that true?" The Doctor nodded. "It is. I'm a Time Lord, you see. I come from a faraway planet, called Gallifrey." Sam tilted his head. "Well, why don't you live on Gallifrey anymore?" Dean pushed Sam on the shoulder. "Sam, don't ask him that! It might be a touchy subject!" The Doctor looked over at Dean. "Now Dean, you be nice. Your brother is just curious. Nothing wrong with that at all." He looked back at Sam. "Because my home planet was destroyed in a great war, along with all of my people." Sam looked down. "I'm sorry." "It's alright Sam, I have grown accustomed to the TARDIS and the stars. It feels more like home to me than anything." Sam nodded.
"Well, if you aren't our actual uncle then, how did you meet our mom and dad?" The Doctor let out a soft laugh. "Because, your mother used to travel with me, in the TARDIS. Your dad too, on a couple of occasions." "Really?" Dean asked. "Mom used to travel with you? Was she your girlfriend or something?" "Oh no, nothing like that." The Doctor replied. "She was my best friend. She was one of my very best friends, like a sister to me. I know for a fact I was like a brother to her. She told me herself, that she thought of me as her big brother." The Doctor looked off into space. "We did so many extraordinary things together. Mary Campbell. A tough, yet sweet, small town Kansas girl. Very much a hippie, textbook definition of hippie. She always loved paisley, band tees and bellbottoms, and always stopped to braid flowers into her hair, always apologizing to them for pulling them up. One time, we went to a planet in the future, where the people kept creatures known as Ood as basically slaves, and your mother, when she saw how they were treated, stole the TARDIS, and took them somewhere, she never let us know exactly where, to be free." Dean's eyes widened. "Mom could fly the TARDIS?"
The Doctor nodded. "Oh she was a fast learner. She watched me do it a few times, and in no time at all, she could do it herself. During our travels she got to the point where she could almost figure out a problem and how to fix it before I could. She was truly brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." The Doctor sighed. "You know, I walked her down the aisle when she married your dad. Since your grandfather passed away, when the time came, she asked me. I was more than honored to be a part of her big day. I can't help it, I love a wedding." The boys laughed. "That's amazing." Dean said. The Doctor looked over at the clock. "Oh dear, it's 1 in the morning! Now I know you're too big for bed time, but you boys should get rested. It's going to be another exciting day tomorrow too!" Sam nodded and yawned. "I think I agree with you there, Uncle Doc." Dean nodded. "Yeah, who knew time travel could make you so sleepy?" "It definitely does a number on you. Goodnight boys!" "Goodnight." The brothers said in unison, heading towards the bedroom. After they went to bed, the Doctor walked out onto the balcony. He looked up at the moon. It was full and glowing brightly. He was thinking of all the time he had spent with Mary. His gut began to ache. "I miss you so much Mary," he whispered. "Sis." He sighed. "If only you could see how Dean and Sam have grown. I promise I'll protect them, and John with my life." He bit his lip and started to tear up. "I won't let you down again, little sister."