He had desperately needed a break from Crowley. It wasn't Crowley. It was Dean. His demon side was barely under control. Being around Crowley only made him feel more like losing it. He knew the king of hell would protect him. He had to get away from it. He has no emotional desire to "remain human," but he wanted to be in control of himself if nothing else.

So here he was, driving toward some new case. A small town called Stars Hollow was being plagued by a ghost. Some stranger passing through the bar he'd been frequenting must have left that copy of the Stars Hollow Gazette on accident. The guy looked rough, Dean recalled. He hadn't talked to the man, but overheard enough to know he was on a fishing trip and he had recently been forced to ask his nephew to move out. The guy was a wreck.

There was a time when Dean would have sympathized. As it were, he only moved back to that end of the bar when the man had left and Dean needed reading material while Crowley dealt with a handful of demons outside.

The case seemed to come at a perfect time. No violent deaths, no need to fight. The ghost was terrorizing the small town and so far, an elderly man had been hospitalized due to a heart attack. He could stop this thing before it did any real damage and it would take more brain than brawn, which was what he felt he needed to keep himself balanced. Being around Crowley made him too unstable and being around Sam would've been too dangerous. This was the best option for him.

Dean pulled up along one of the street parking spaces and smirked. This town was small. Perfect. Small towns were trusting. They didn't ask too many questions. He would have no problem solving his case.

As he closely watched the people of the town, searching for anything suspicious, he noticed a small diner with a yellow sign. "And where there's a diner, there are burgers," he smiled as he quickly climbed out of the impala and walked toward Luke's.

He wasn't surprised to see a barely half full diner on a Saturday afternoon in a town this size. What did surprise him was the man at the register. It was the same one from the bar. He must've gotten back the day before. Was that his nephew in front of the counter, easily 4 inches taller than the man?

No, he'd sent his nephew away, hadn't he? It didn't matter to Dean. He was walking toward the counter to sit down when the tall boy with the long brown hair turned around to leave.

That face, he'd know that face anywhere. Though he looked years younger... Dean barely registered his shock in time to call out, "Sammy?"

The boy stared at Dean then looked around the diner. Then back to the hunter. "Dean," the boy corrected him.

The hunter nodded. "Yeah, I know my name, Sam."

"No, I'm Dean."

Dean looked unamused, "yeah, ok. Real funny, Sammy. Did you follow me here?"

The man behind the counter jumped in, annoyed. "Are you Dean?" He said to the stranger who had just entered the diner.

"Yes," Dean replied.

"Great. Dean meet Dean. And this Dean," he pointed to the younger man, "followed no one here. You know how I know? Because he was bringing me groceries from Dooses market because we ran out of things while I was gone because Caesar," he shouted the cooks name, "didn't think placing an order was important while I was gone for two weeks!"

Caesar appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. "Ok Luke, but in my defense," he started in a calm yet hurried tone, "two weeks is a long time for you to leave me alone. I didn't burn the place down so I think I at least deserve some credit for that."

"Caesar..." Luke said in a warning tone. The cook disappeared and Luke looked to Dean Winchester. "Need a menu?"

The hunter looked to the Stars Hollow Native of his same name and stared as the younger version of his brother walked past him and out the door.

Dean looked to Luke, then continued to the counter to have a seat. "Just a cheeseburger, some onion rings and a slice of pie."

Luke's face showed relief. "I haven't even known you two minutes and you're already my favorite Dean. I don't need any more complicated life crises from my customers." He paused as if something just occurred to him. "Don't tell Lorelai I said that."

Dean nodded. "I don't even know her so your secret is safe with me."

"Good man," Luke said before heading back into the kitchen.

Dean put his head in his hands and sighed. What had just happened? He had wanted to fight with them. To insist that was his brother, or at least some younger version of the Winchester brother. Years of working with delicate situations had taught him when to back down, though. He needed to remain inconspicuous until the case was solved. He had struggled with that recently. This trip was his chance to gain control over his own reactions.

While his mind reeled, replaying any monster they'd ever fought who could create such an authentic illusion, he hadn't even seen Luke bringing the burger until it was sitting in front of him.

"Thanks," he muttered, still lost in thought. He picked up the average looking sandwich, not expecting anything different. Yet when he took a bite, he practically moaned. "Oh God, Luke," the manager turned around from the coffee pot he had been tending to, pulling off an unusual look of concern and annoyance. Dean wasn't sure how he did managed such a look, but it seemed to come naturally. "This. Burger. Is. Amazing." He held up an onion ring. "Marry me?"

To his surprise, the manager actually smiled. "Sorry, you're not exactly my type." He handed Dean a cup of coffee, which Dean hadn't asked for. Maybe it was a local custom? "You have definitely sealed your place as my favorite Dean, though."

"There's more than one Dean?" A high pitched, yet gruff female voice called out from the door as she and another woman entered the diner.

Dean turned toward them and raised his burger as if to say "hello." "Right here, ladies," he smirked. Now was his chance to do some digging on this other Dean. "Apparently your Dean looks identical to my brother."

"Ohhhh," the woman with the dark hair smiled and nudged her blonde friend, "Did you hear that Babette? He has a brother."

"Yeah, I heard," Babette replied, smiling as well now.

The two women sat on either side of Dean at the counter and Dean noticed Luke sigh. "Don't you two have anything better to do than gossip?"

"Nope," the brunette grinned, not looking away from her new friend.

"I'm fine with it," Babette said, also giving the newcomer her full attention.

Dean grinned and looked up to Luke. "I guess we could chat for a little while."

Luke crossed his arms and locked eyes with Dean. "Sorry kid, you're on your own now."

The brunette held out her hand, "you can call me Miss Patty," she insisted. "Miss, as in single." Luke rolled his eyes and walked away.

Dean took her hand and gently kissed it. "Duly noted, Miss." When she giggled, he continued, "so, tell me more about your Dean."