AN: I know a lot of people are not fans of AU and don't read my Kaeverse so I decided to change chapter eight of Meeting Jess slightly and post it as a standalone John and Dean story.
Djinn Dreams:
"I'm thinking it's a Djinn," John said to the three other people sitting in the small motel room.
"That's what I think too," Dean said.
"Ok, with Djinns we have to be extra careful. Dean, I think I need to go with Bobby tonight," John said.
"I can do it Dad."
"I don't think you can. If the Djinn touches you…"
"I know the lore, Dad. We just need to find it and stab it with a silver knife dipped in lamb's blood," Dean argued.
"I don't think you're ready."
"I'm ready. I'm going to be 20 years old in two months Dad, and you still treat me like a little kid," Dean argued getting angry.
"Dean, your safety is the most important thing to me. I know you think I baby you, but Djinns are dangerous."
"Bobby, will you take Sammy to your room, I want to talk to my father," Dean said angrily.
"Sure," Bobby said.
Dean watched as Bobby and Sam walked out of the hotel room and got himself ready for the knock down drag out fight he was about to have with his father. He knew that what he had to say would probably lead to a spanking but damn it he was an adult and his Dad had to get that through his thick skull.
"Let's hear it Dean," John said hoping that he could keep his temper during all of this. He highly doubted it, but he was going to try.
"I know you want to keep me safe, but I've been training for years and I know how to defend myself against this thing. Plus, I'm not going out on my own either."
"I get that Dean, but I still don't feel comfortable with your going after such big game."
"You joined the Marines when you were 18 and went to war soon after. This isn't any different."
"Dean, it's a hell of a lot different."
"How Dad?"
"I was trained to fight the enemy."
"I've been trained to fight the enemy too."
"It's different because even though it was war and it was dangerous, people are people. The things we fight are stronger than us."
"But I've been trained for it Dad."
"Dean, I get that you think I'm treating you like a baby, but I stand firm in my decision. You will stay here with your brother while I go with Bobby tonight."
"Dad, this…"
"Look Dean, if my father had been around, I sure as hell hope he wouldn't have let me join the Marines in the middle of a war."
"But he might've."
"Well, I'm not going to let you go, so this discussion is over."
"Yes sir," Dean said sitting on the bed and deciding at that moment that he was going out on his own and prove his father wrong.
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John walked back into the motel room and realized quickly that he was one child short. He walked over to the bed and shook Sam awake.
"Where's Dean?"
"He said he was meeting you and Bobby," Sam said sleepily.
"Fuck. Stay in bed," John said getting up and running towards the door.
"Yes sir," Sam said feeling sorry for his brother. If the Djinn didn't kill him, their father would.
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Waking up Dean really didn't know where he was. Looking around the room, it seemed familiar, but when he thought about it there was no way that it was possible. Just last night he was sleeping in a motel next to Sammy, now he was in what resembled his old bedroom.
"Dean, sweetheart you're going to be late," a familiar voice called up the stairs.
Again there was no way it could be that voice. She had died when he was four. There was only one way to find out for sure. He dressed quickly before running down the stairs. Sam was at the table eating breakfast next to their father, while his Mom was putting eggs on all of their plates. Dean did a double take, how could his Mom be there serving eggs?
Dean didn't care. He ran over and gave her a big hug.
"Morning sweetheart," Mary said putting the pan down so she could return her son's hug.
"Mom, I can't believe you're here."
"I'm here every morning Dean," Mary said giving him a smile.
"I know. I've just missed you."
"What's with the chick flick moment? Did you become a girl last night?" Sam teased.
"Enough Sammy," Mary said loving the attention she was getting from her oldest, he rarely showed her this much affection, feeling that he was too old for it.
"Come on buddy, get eating or we're going to be late," John said smiling brightly at his son.
Dean sat down at the table with the rest of his family. He knew this had to be a dream, so why did it feel so real.
"Are you feeling ok, honey," Mary asked smiling brightly at her son.
"Yeah, just have a lot on my mind."
"New girl?" Mary asked.
"No," Dean said quickly. There was no way he would ever talk about girls with his mom even in his fantasy world.
Sam saw the look of desperation and said,
"I have student council after school and Jess wants to hang out."
"Make sure you're home for dinner," John said.
"Come on Dad, let me take Jess out tonight."
"What are the rules Sammy?"
"We have dinner as a family Sunday thru Thursday."
"So there's your answer," John said.
Dean smiled. This was the life he always pictured. His Mom would want them to have breakfast and dinner together as a family and his Dad would enforce it.
"Get a move on Dean, we have a lot of work to do at the shop today," John said washing off his plate and putting it in the dishwasher before pulling his wife in for a kiss. "Have a great day, love ya."
"Love you too. Dean, make sure he doesn't work too hard."
"Yes ma'am," Dean said following his Dad's lead and putting his dish in the dishwasher before giving his Mom another hug. There was no way this would ever get old, "Love ya Mom."
"Love you too."
Dean loved his day with his father at the shop. He couldn't believe the man owned his own mechanic shop. It was totally awesome and he working beside him was even better. Once they day was finished they headed home.
John walked into the house and pulled his wife into his arms and asked,
"How was your day?"
"Great. Bobby called and said he needs some help with a Djinn."
"What time is he getting here?"
"After dinner."
"Can I come?" Dean asked.
"You know you're not allowed to go after that big of game," Mary said.
"Mom, I'm not a little kid."
"I don't care. You're not going and that's my final word on the subject," Mary said angrily.
"You're overreacting. I've gone after…"
"Dean, stop arguing with your Mother," John said harshly.
"Dad, you're both being ridiculous."
"Would you like to go upstairs so we can discuss this privately?" John asked.
"No sir," Dean said and decided that he would go after the thing on his own.
Dinner was tons of fun. The family talked about anything and everything. Everyone talked about their day. Dean decided to ask about the hunt and was stopped by his Mom quickly,
"Dean, you know how I feel about talking about hunting in front of Sammy."
"Mom, I'm almost old enough," Sam said.
"Samuel, hunting isn't on your radar until you're eighteen and you know it," John said harshly.
"Yes sir."
Dean was shocked by his Dad's attitude. He always let Sam come along on smaller hunts and it sounded like he was making them stay home for everything. To be honest he loved it.
Once dinner was finished, John looked at Sam and said,
"Your night to do the dishes."
"I have a ton of homework, can I do them after?"
"No, dishes and then homework. You should've come home or did it at Jess' if you were worried about not finishing," John said.
Bobby came about an hour after dinner was over. Sam was working on homework at the table, while the other three Winchesters were doing research.
"I'll see you in the morning," John said giving his wife a kiss.
"Be careful. You too Bobby."
"Don't worry, I'll keep an eye on him," Bobby said smiling.
"Dad, I still think you could use another hand," Dean tried. "OW! MOM!"
"The answer was no and if you want to argue about it I'll ground you from hunting for a month," Mary said landing two swats.
"Yes ma'am," Dean said looking down in embarrassment. He couldn't believe his Mom just swatted him. The more he thought about it the more he liked that his Mom was that protective of him.
The minute John and Bobby left, Mary said,
"I'm going to go get ready for bed."
The second she was out of earshot, Dean asked,
"Did Dad kill Azazel?"
"Who?"
"He's a demon."
"Dad's killed a lot of demons but I've never heard of Azazel. What's with you today?"
"Nothing. Will you cover for me tonight?"
"You better not go after that thing, Mom and Dad will kill you."
"I have to prove to them somehow that I can handle things."
"Dean, it's stupid and not worth it. Remember how bad your punishment was the last time you decided to hunt on your own."
"It wasn't that bad."
"Bullshit. Mom beat your ass with the spoon and the next day Dad took his belt to your bare ass. I swear it took you two weeks to recover."
"So are you going to cover for me or not?"
"Man the spoon sucks and you know she'll give it to me for lying."
"So?"
"Alright but you owe me and the next time I want to sneak out with Jess you better be there for me."
"I will don't worry."
Three hours later Dean snuck out his window and down the tree. He looked at the Impala and decided not to take it, so he went down the street and hot-wired one of his neighbor's cars.
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John ran into Bobby's room and said,
"Dean took off after the thing."
"That boy has a death wish."
"Yeah, because my ass is going to kill him the second I know he is safe. Did you guys get a lead on the Djinn this morning?"
"Not that I know of, but your son may not have been forthcoming with the info if he wanted to go after it on his own."
"Alright, let's think about this. What area of town did Dean focus on?"
"The North and West."
John sat down and grabbed the research focusing on the North and giving Bobby the West. He just hoped that he would find his son before his son found the Djinn.
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Dean walked into the barn and looked around. He saw two men hanging in the old dilapidated barn. It looked as if they were being bled out slowly. He knew at that second his guess had been correct. He took out his silver knife that he had dipped in lamb's blood and started hunting.
He knew he could do this. Sure his Dad had said no, but this was his hunt. He was jerked out of his thoughts by a hard pull on his arm and three sharp swats on his backside.
"DAD."
"Shut up. Your mother is worried sick," John bellowed.
"But…"
"No, I don't want to hear it. Get your ass in the truck right now!"
"Dad…OW…OK…I'm…going," Dean said as his Dad laid down swat after swat. The second John let go Dean walked out of the barn and got into the truck. He hated that he had to wait. He knew at that moment he was right and the Djinn was in that barn. That was one point in his favor, but Dean knew his father of his dreams was going to beat his ass and according to Sam, his Mom was going to have first dibs. Maybe it wouldn't hurt, he was in a dream and pain really wasn't part of a dream, but the more he thought about it the quicker he realized that every swat that his Dad and Mom landed hurt like hell. Shit, even in his ideal world his ass was grass.
Dean sighed when he saw his Dad walking up to the car. He wondered what the first word out of his mouth was going to be. Real Dad would ask him what the hell he was thinking and start in about leaving Sam alone.
"Whose car is that?"
"Someone's down the street."
"Who in the hell taught you how to hot-wire a car?"
Dean thought for a second and decided saying that it was his Dad was probably not the smartest move in the world.
"One of my friends."
"Well say goodbye to that friend," John growled.
"Yes sir."
"You're telling your mother about the car."
"Dad, she'll be so disappointed."
"And I'm not? I didn't raise a thief."
"I know and I'm sorry," Dean said looking down.
The rest of the drive home was deathly quiet. Dean honestly didn't know what to say. For some reason disappointing this John hurt more. He couldn't even imagine how bad it was going to be facing his Mom.
For once he was really sorry for disobeying his Dad. Usually when he did something wrong he would take his licks and let it go. The only time he was really sorry was when something could've happened to Sammy.
Dean almost cried when he saw his Mom standing on the porch wringing her hands. She looked hysterical. The second the car stopped he jumped out and ran over to hug her. The first thing his Mom did was hug him and then she started swatting him.
"What in the world were you thinking?"
"I wanted to prove…"
"You just proved that we can't trust you," John said walking in.
"Dad…"
"Don't Dad me Dean. What you did was reckless and selfish."
"Go sit on the couch," Mary said sending him off with a hard swat.
Dean walked into the living room and sat on the couch and put his head in his hands. He just hoped that after the ass beating and potential months of grounding his parents would forgive him.
Ten minutes later John and Mary walked into the living room. Dean looked at his parents and said,
"I'm really sorry. I just wanted to prove myself."
"Dean, you know the rules when it comes to hunting," Mary said.
"I know Mom, but I just wanted to do more," Dean said trying not to whine.
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John walked into the barn and swore when he saw his son strung up beside two other men. The blood was pouring out of him slowly. He wanted to rush right over, but knew better. He had to find and kill the Djinn first.
Bobby saw the same sight as his best friend. He saw the strength it took for John not to run over there and free his son. He was struggling, so he couldn't imagine how hard this was for John.
It took them ten minutes to find the Djinn and dispatch of him using the silver knife with lamb's blood.
John walked over to his son and ran his hand through the sweat soaked hair.
"Do you have the antidote?"
Bobby handed him the syringe and he injected it into his son's arm first and then into the other two men.
"Help me get them down."
John put the men on the floor and picked his son up carrying him to his car and laying him into the backseat gently.
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Dean watched as his parents walked into the living room. The one thing he was happy about was that his brother was upstairs sleeping.
"Dean, I can't believe you went against us on this," Mary began.
"And stole a car," John added angrily.
"He stole a car? Tell me you didn't teach him how to hot-wire a car, John."
"Mary, you know I wouldn't," John said trying to defend himself.
"I hope not," Mary said harshly.
John glared at his son and Dean said the first name that came to his mind,
"It was Charlie, Mom."
"Charlie who?"
"Just a guy I know and I won't see him again promise."
"Your damn right you won't see him again, because if I ever hear of you stealing a car again you will never see the light of day. Do you understand me," John said angrily.
"Yes sir."
"Go to bed Dean, we'll deal with this in the morning," Mary said.
"Mom…"
"Bed Dean," John said angrily.
"Please Mom, I have to…"
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Dean awoke with a start. He turned over and saw Sammy sleeping next to him. Tears started pouring down his face. He knew all along that it wasn't true, but he'd never had a dream feel so real before. He could even smell his Mom's perfume.
"You ok?" Sam asked groggily.
"Um yeah, just a dream," Dean said.
"Yeah a dream that lasted two days. I can't believe you went after that Djinn alone. Dad's going to go kamikaze on your ass."
"The Djinn had me?"
"Yep. You're lucky Dad had the antidote or you would've died. He's still freaking out," Sam said sitting up, "What did you dream about?"
"Mom," Dean said looking down.
"Mom was alive?"
"Yeah," Dean said as his father walked into the room.
"Sammy head on over to Bobby's, I need to talk to your brother."
"Yes sir."
John saw the tears that were still falling from his son's eyes. He knew they weren't tears of remorse, but tears of loss.
"You ok?"
Dean ran into his Dad's arms and sobbed.
"What did you see?" John asked softly when his son was finished crying.
"Mom. I thought Sammy always wanted the normal life, but I guess deep down I do too."
"Tell me about it," John urged.
"Mom was alive. I can still feel her arms around me Dad."
"I know the Djinn's dreams are supposed to feel real so that you don't want wake up ever," John said wrapping his arms around his son again.
Once Dean was finished crying, Dean got up and walked over to the other bed. That's when the question had to be asked,
"Dad, if I had fought a Djinn and stole a car would Mom have forgiven me?"
John smiled and said,
"After she gave you one hell of a spanking."
"Dream Sammy, said she would blister my ass if I went after the thing. I just can't see Mom spanking me."
"Did you know that your Mom gave you your first spanking?"
"She did?"
"I was totally surprised when she did it."
"What happened?"
"You ran into the street and were almost hit by a car. She ran out there picked you up, took you over to the porch, bared your two year old little bottom and painted it red."
Dean smiled.
"So you're sure?"
"Oh yeah, Mary was big on forgiveness. I wouldn't have made it through our first year of marriage if she wasn't. I wasn't always a charmer," John said giving his son a wry smile.
Dean smiled at his father and asked,
"So how pissed are you?"
"Grounded for two months and you're getting the belt pissed."
"Shit, that pissed."
"Seeing my son on the brink of death does that."
"You want me in the corner?" Dean asked hoping that they could just get this over with. He really wanted his Dad's arms around him again.
"No, I think we need to get this over with. I'm tired and I really want you back in bed for the rest of the day."
"Bed all day?" Dean whined.
"Yes Dean, bed all day. Be happy I'm not making you wait for the spanking."
"Yes sir."
John patted his thigh and Dean followed the unspoken order. He pulled his sleep pants and boxers down before putting himself across his father's knees. John didn't wait a beat, he just started raining down swat after swat. Before Dean knew it he was wiggling like a kindergartner trying to get away from the onslaught of pain. Like always his Dad wasn't stopping no matter how hard he tried to get away, in fact the only thing the wiggling did was cause the man to hold him harder around the middle. As always the spanking seemed to go on for forever in Dean's mind. Dean knew his father waited for some sign to tell him when Dean had had enough, he just didn't know what that sign was because if he did the sign would be there on swat number two. Finally, his father tipped him forward and landed a barrage of swats on his sit spots. Dean knew sitting was going to suck for a couple of days at least, as always he forgot that the hand spanking wasn't the end of it, until his Dad finished and he felt him reaching for his belt. He wondered how many he was getting tonight and as soon as those thoughts went through his head he heard his father say,
"I know it seems harsh but you're getting fifteen tonight."
"Dad…I'm…OW…"
That was the last of rational thought for Dean, now crying was his only option. Each stripe of the belt was torture, but along with the stripes came the realization that he was forgiven and maybe what his Dad said was true and his Mom would've followed the same philosophy. Spanking and forgiveness went together. He hoped that was true, because even though it was a dream, he really didn't want his Mom mad at him. He loved her too much.
John finished quickly. He needed to feel his son in his arms again. He couldn't believe how close he was to losing Dean that night. It took him two days to figure out where he was and John knew for a fact that if he would've gotten there an hour later, Dean would've died. That was something that John knew he would never recover from.
John pulled his son's pants over Dean's candy apple red ass and pulled the boy into a strong hug. He could tell that Dean's tears were more for the life he just lost than the spanking. He couldn't blame the boy. He bet that Dean's dream life and John's would be pretty similar. Mary and the boys would be there and love and life could be seen at every turn. That's how Mary would've wanted it and honestly, he wished that that was the life that they lived.
"How ya doing kiddo?" John asked after a few minutes of silence. Dean hadn't let go and John was happy about that.
"I really miss Mom," Dean said tears starting to fall again. Dean honestly didn't think he had enough tears this time. It felt like he had lost her all over again.
"So do I kiddo, so do I," John said holding his son tighter and finally he let his own tears fall, both for the loss of the love of his life and the loss of the family they should've had.