The Lesson

Dean was doing something he never done. He wasn't there sitting at the bar drinking or looking for women. No, he was there doing something that he is not used to. He was there thinking about somebody close to him.

He left Sammy at the bunker telling him that he was just going for a drive. But while on the road, he stopped at the bar for some reason. He walked in and got a seat and a glass of water instead of anything else. Then suddenly his thoughts started to flow out toward someone on his mind. Someone with messy black hair and big blue eyes that could stare into your soul if they wanted to.

Dean took a deep breath before getting himself caught up in his thoughts. He kept a good tight hold on those thoughts during the times he was with Cas.

Always covering up with his usual smirk or his sarcastic remarks. He was becoming a master in hiding his emotions the way he needed by not the way he wanted.

Now that he thought about it, he would have been a good actor after all by the way he was hiding his feelings around everyone. It was just sad that he would never get to tell Cas how he feels. He knew that Cas didn't feel the same way that he did because one, he slept with that April chick.

Dean shook his head in disgust when he thought of her. He was so glad that she was dead. That bitch touch Cas and Dean quenched his hand at the thought of it.

But what place did he have to say that Cas couldn't sleep with anyone? Hell, he even had his share with women more times he could count. But now that his mind was only on one person, he didn't look at women anymore.

Speaking of which, there was a woman right now giving him all the looks that would usually put him in the mood but it didn't even do anything to him. It just made him want Cas more. He put the money on the table and left without looking at the woman.

He made his way outside and turned the corner to where his impala was at but he stopped suddenly. He suddenly had a feeling that someone was watching him. He kept on walking and at the same time, made sure that his demon killing knife was still in his jacket.

When Dean felt as if there was a person right behind him, he turned around with the knife held high ready to kill right ever was behind him.

Except there was no one there and what was weirder was that there was no wind, everything was still around him. Yep, he didn't like that one bit.

The sooner he get back to the bunker, the sooner he could shake off the feeling of being watched.

When he turned around, someone grabbed his arm, the arm with the demon killing knife and grabbed the knife.

Dean went into full defense and went to kick the intruder in the stomach but the intruder slid his leg under Dean causing Dean to fall to the ground. While on the ground, the intruder grabbed Dean's hands and put handcuffs on them.

Well this ain't good, Dean thought to himself as he thought of another plan to escape as his intruder came into view. Dean grasped when he saw who it was. The intruder was other than Dean himself except he looked way older.

"Easy there, tiger," the other Dean said. "Who are you, bitch?" Dean asked with malice in his voice.

"I'm you from the future and here I will prove it. See here, holy water," the other Dean said as he pour holy water on his face. Then the other Dean held up a knife and cut his arm. Then the other Dean grabbed a bottle of borax and poured it over the other arm. "See no demon, no leviathan, and no skinwalker," the other Dean said as he got up and put the other Dean from the ground.

Dean looked at what the other Dean used and noticed that it was the same things that were in his trunk. How in the hell did he get in the trunk?

The older Dean just smiled like he knew what the other was thinking and said, "we all know that there is a way into the trunk right behind the left wheel, a little knob and if pulled the right way, the trunk will open."

So he knew the magic trick on how to get inside the trunk of his baby but that didn't mean there were friends.

But first, he had to get out of the handcuffs before he would do any talking. "Do you mind," Dean said as he held up his hand to the other Dean.

The older Dean just smirked and undid the cuffs and put them back into his pocket while the other Dean rubbed the tender areas where the cuffs had been.

"Well we established the where now it time you established the when, who, why, and how," Dean asked his future self. He suddenly had the memory of his time in the bleak possible future. His future self looking so empty and Cas….Cas looked up he had given up. That was something he never wanted to see in Cas's eyes was the look of defeat.

"Well to answer the first question of when, like I said the future. Where I am from, it is the year 2025 and the future is still somewhat it is like right now but you see that is not the problem. As to who sent me here, lets just say that Gabriel is not entirely dead," the future Dean said.

"Wait, you mean to tell me that Gabriel has been alive all this time and he didn't ever come when we needed him the most. That prick!" Dean yelled as he yelled at the skies to who ever was listening.

The future Dean just waited until he saw the other Dean at least calm some before continuing, "Let's just say that God didn't prove of Megatron's plan so he came and intervene for once. It actually took me a while to get past that one but Megatron was defeated and God allowed Gabriel to be revived to take over heaven. Now before I get to the why, I want to tell you how. You see Gabriel sent me here on a mission and I have until midnight before my time is up and I am sent back into the future."

Dean looked down at his watch to see 11:43 p.m. It was almost midnight. Dean looked up at his future self and asked, "Now why are you here?"

The other Dean suddenly had pain in his eyes as he said, "When Gabriel returned to heaven, he gave Castiel a choice. Either stay on Earth with the Winchesters or return to heaven with a clean slate. Castiel choose heaven."

That was when his future self turned away from him. Suddenly thoughts were running through Dean's head like, Why was he calling Cas, "Castiel?" Why didn't Cas stay?

"I am here to tell you that you can change the future," the future Dean said as he turned back to Dean. "Gabriel told me that Castiel started to change when he went back to heaven. He wasn't himself anymore. Then one day, he just disappeared from heaven. Gabriel came to Sam and me asking if we saw him but we didn't. At that time, I was drinking up a storm just trying to forget my emotions toward Castiel. But Gabriel came and we went looking for him. It wasn't until we were ambushed by demons that we finally found Castiel. The demons had Gabriel surrounded by holy fire and Sam was fighting a group of demons. I got past them and came to a room where an alter was at. Castiel was on it with sigils carved into his skin. His eyes were just staring at the ceiling and I felt for a pulse but I didn't get one. I thought he would come around but I fell apart when I saw the impression of wings surrounding him that I knew that he was really gone. I heard Gabriel inside my head telling me that I could change this path. I could change the future by changing the past. That the only reason why the future was like this was because I never told Castiel that I loved him. He told me I could be sent to a time to convince myself to change and if so, he could be sent into the past to make the change," the future Dean said with tears running down his face. Dean could see heartache but he could feel it too. Cas would die not as a human but as an angel. But two questions was still on his mind.

"Why can you not be sent back into the past instead of me and why can I not make the change from here?" Dean asked his future self.

"Because by tomorrow in your timeline, I will be killed by the demons in my timeline for Gabriel was only able to sent me here temporary. And the change will not happen now for too much has got in the way. It has to start from the moment that you and Castiel are in the green room as you try to convince Castiel to stop your brother. Only you will have the memories of this timeline with you, everyone else will not. The only thing you can not do is warn people of their fate for that can have consequences all in itself. This is your path to change, not theirs. Will you do this?" the future Dean asked.

Could he change the past and the future at the same time? He would know everything that would happen but this was only to be used to get him and Cas together. Was he ready for that? What if Cas rejects him? What if he can't go with the plan? He had to try.

"Take me there," Dean said and he saw the other Dean pulled something from his shirt. It was a necklace with a small glass vase with something purple in it.

"Sorry, but this journey is only for you. Change the future, Dean. My life depends on you," he said as he took a couple of steps back and threw the vase at Dean's feet. Suddenly he was covered in purple smoke and then there was darkness.

…...

The first thing that Dean became aware of was that he was sitting in a chair and the other thing was the table with the hamburgers and beer. Dean got up and looked around and saw that he was indeed in the green room. Where was Cas?

And as if on cue, he heard the best sound in the world. "Hello Dean."