AN: A big THANK YOU to deadone1013, spnfanforlife, NerdAngel and LilyBolt for those awesome reviews, and everyone who is following this story. It's getting quite tricky but very interesting for me to write now with so many things that have to be considered. I hope if I mix up or mess up something, you'll forgive me.

Now on with the story!

***sn***

"Dad?" Dean frowned slightly and then shrugged. "Okay, fine. When?"

"When he has the Colt in his possession," Sam said, determined. "Because he's the only one of the four that we know for sure had the Colt, and we know when."

Dean pulled up the chair he had knocked over and straddled it, resting his chin in his palms. He studied his fingers for a moment, then looked at his brother.

"Best time? I'd say, right after we snatched it from the vamps."

"But Dean, what will we think?" Sam pondered.

"We?" Dean scrunched up his face.

"Yeah, neither of us knew about angels and time travel then. It wouldn't do to get us freaked out and shoot you."

Dean's eyes grew wide at the thought. "Okay, I guess that means I'll have to get Dad alone."

"Even that is tricky," Sam pointed out. "He will notice you're older."

"Gee, thanks, Sammy. You trying to tell me I get wrinkly?" Dean put on a mock offended frown.

"Dean," Sam squirmed. "You know what I mean. What if he'll just try to use the Colt on you?"

"I won't let that happen," Cas calmly supplied.

"Sam has a point, Cas," Dean nodded grimly. "We're working on a tight time frame here and we know for a fact that our Dad was... is... whatever, he shoots first and asks questions later."

Castiel knotted his eyebrows, clearly digesting this information. Then his eyes found Dean's. "I could suspend time," he thought out loud. "That would give Dean the time to supply him with information while he is able to move but anything inanimate, like a knife or the Colt, would be frozen in time."

The brothers exchanged a glance and then nodded. "It's worth a shot," Sam agreed. Cas straightened and stepped towards Dean.

"Whoah, wait," Dean called, stretching out his hand to keep Cas at a distance. "What do I tell him? Hello, it's me, I'm from the future. We need you and the Colt to beat God's little sister so let my angel buddy here zap us to 2016 where you will meet your father, wife and father-in-law?"

Dean paused, looking from Sam to Cas and back. "Well, say something."

Sam shook his head. "To get him here he doesn't need to know the whole story." He ran his hands through his hair as if to kick his brain in gear. "Maybe it's enough to tell him we'll need his help to lock away something evil and to trust you."

Dean snorted. "Yeah, that'll go over well."

"Hey Dean, it's worth a try. You just have to improvise, and we both know you're good at that."

"I'll watch out for you," Cas supplied innocently, earning himself a glare from Dean. "Where do I have to transport us?"

"Colorado," Dean replied. "But... one more thing..."

"Yes?" Cas asked.

"If we snatch Dad now... and the others later, won't that mess up the time line, ya know, Back To The Future - style?"

Cas stared at Dean for a moment. "No, Dean. They will be returned to the very moment they were taken. You won't disappear from a fotograph."

Dean gaped at the angel, momentarily speachless. Then he blinked his eyes rapidly. "Okay." He shook his head in disbelief. "Okay, I'm not gonna ask. Let's do this."

***sn***

John Winchester watched the tail lights of the Impala disappear as his sons drove up ahead to the motel. The fight against the vampires didn't go exactly as he had envisioned, but all's well that ends well. The vamps were either gone or dead, his sons and he were in one piece, and the Colt...

He'd seen how the Colt worked with his own eyes. He was confident this gun could bring down the yellow eyed demon. As John glanced down at the Colt in his hand, his gaze held some kind of awe. The hunter smiled and opened his truck's door to follow his boys. He'd have to bring up disobeying his order, but they did well.

As John placed the Colt in the car, an eerie feeling fell over him. A cold shiver ran down his spine and instinctively he reached out for the gun again. He wanted to pick it up, but it wouldn't budge.

"No," he hissed, a mixture of confusion and apprehension coloring the word. A rustling behind him made John spin around... and stop dead in his tracks. A few steps before him stood two men. One he didn't know. The other one was his older son, Dean.

Only, it wasn't Dean. It couldn't be Dean. His son had driven off with his brother moments before. He couldn't be back here. John squinted his eyes as they roamed over the figure of Dean's doppelgänger. Something was different. He looked older by a few years.

"Hi Dad," Dean's doppelgänger said and John thought he heard an emotional vibe in his voice. "It's me. Don't freak out, please."

John knew that shapeshifters could download memories. But they always looked exactly like the people they imitated. Not like an older version. But there were also other creatures that assumed other shapes. Ghouls, or revenants. John's hair stood on edge and his hand darted to his back pocket to produce his switchblade, but he found that it couldn't be removed from the pocket.

Some kind of dark magic was at work here, John was sure of it. Doppelgänger-Dean took a step towards him but John Winchester was not the man to go down without a fight. He might not be able to use anything as a weapon but he could still swing a mean right hook. John rushed forward and his fist connected with the man's jaw.

Doppelgänger-Dean had seen the attack coming and managed to partially get out of the way, reducing the force of the blow. John had no time to feel any glee about his surprise attack because the man that looked like his son had converted his evasive move into an attack of his own, and John found himself pressed up against his truck with his right arm twisted onto his back.

"Dammit, Dad, it's me! At least give me a moment to explain before trying to beat the shit out of me."

"You can't be my son," John pressed out between clenched teeth, breathing harshly. "My son just left with his brother five minutes ago."

"I know, we were going back to the motel where you told us off for not following your orders," older Dean explained and John started. There this doppelgänger was talking about things only Dean would know but they hadn't even happened yet. John had only thought about it. "But at least we got the Colt, which is one part of reason we travelled back."

"We?" John was confused. "Who's we? That isn't Sam with you."

"Oh, so you believe I'm me now?"

"Getting there," John muttered. "What do you mean, we travelled back?"

"Dad, I know it's hard to believe, but just hear me out, ok?" Dean asked, releasing his father and taking a step back. When John had turned to face him, he continued. "Dad, this is Castiel. He's a friend," Dean paused briefly. "And an angel."

John opened his mouth to protest but Dean lifted his hands in a clear gesture to hear him out and ask questions later.

"He sent me back here because we need your help in the year 2016."

"Come again?" John felt like his eyes were bulging out like flying saucers. In a way it was comforting to know his son was still alive in ten years time. On the other hand, what evil did he encounter that he had to travel back to 2006 to get help from his father? And he needed the Colt. Where was it in 2016? A million other questions buzzed in John's head, but he knew that had to wait. His son's eyes held a pleading look and after taking another glance at this angel, Castiel, who was yet to say a word, John nodded.

"Alright, son," he rasped. "What do we do?"

A smile lit up Dean's face. "Castiel will take us to the bunker... and Sam. We'll explain everything there."

The surreal atmosphere around John dissolved and a quick test told him, his switchblade was mobile again.

"Grab the Colt, Dad," Dean said, nodding at the gun. John complied and a moment later the angel touched two fingers to both Winchesters heads and the next thing John knew was him being in an unknown environment, an older and long haired Sam staring at him.

"Welcome to 2016," Sam said, grinning.

***sn***

Amara was not happy. So far her efforts to locate the younger Winchester hadn't been successful, but that was not down to the sigils that marked the brothers' ribs. They made it somewhat difficult but not impossible.

Her bond with Dean gave her a strong feeling about his whereabouts most of the time but there were always hours or days even when she could not feel him at all. A mighty spell was at work, protecting the boys. But Amara had time. She had waited millennia to get released from her prison, she could wait a few more days.

And then she would find out whether her brother cared about the Winchesters.