Author's Note: First I would like to thank ESwan, Nyx Ro, sam's folly, DimensionJumper, agent iz hyper, Heartless BytchhakaHelenBach1, lljn105, DaughterOfPoseidon333, KnightJellyOfCamelot, and moni9576 for their wonderful reviews. It really means a lot to me that people take the time to let me know their thoughts on this story. I hope you all continue to enjoy this. And sorry for the week long wait, but I hope it's worth it.

Chapter Ten: Last Minute Preparations

Breakfast that morning was probably one of the most uncomfortable meals Dean had ever sat through. Sam was no longer looking at him like he was crazy but now seemed almost afraid of him. And really, who could blame him? A full night of contemplation had seemed to convince the younger Winchester of the truth but now that he had accepted that this wasn't his brother, he obviously didn't know what to make of him. Jess had apparently misinterpreted her husband's mood and was now convinced that Dean was on a one-way trip to the funny-farm. Dean himself was nervous about how the day was going to turn out and was trying to ignore the looks the others kept shooting him. Rebecca had picked up on the sour mood and was trying to share her Lucky Charms cereal with everyone to make them smile. Only Nick seemed to be happy, at least until he ran out of marshmallows.

Dean watched the kids, feeling a little depressed. While he knew he needed to get back home, he was really going to miss the little guys. He knew that realistically there was little to no hope of him ever having children of his own (and he really didn't want to mix innocent babies into the life he led anyway) but spending so much time with these two and being a dad to them made him wish his life could've been different. Dean shook his head. No. This was something he could never have. And in a little while he'd have to tell the kids goodbye for good.

That moment came sooner than he realized. Sam had stayed home from work, telling Jess that Dean had agreed to speak with a councilor that would be stopping by later and that he wanted to be there for his brother. Jess had agreed to take the kids out after lunch and would return only after Sam called to let her know everything was okay. She seemed a little suspicious but, so long as she went along with the plan, Dean didn't give a damn how she felt.

So, around one o'clock, Dean stood by the front door, trying to say goodbye to the children. He crouched down and Rebecca threw her arms around his neck.

"Bye, bye Daddy. I'll miss you."

"Me too, sweetie. You be good, okay? I love you." He gave her a kiss and when she stepped back Nick immediately took her spot. "Bye, little man."

"Baa, baa."

"I love you." He kissed the boy, then blinked back the tears that were trying to escape his eyes. And just what the hell was that all about? He was Dean Winchester. He certainly wasn't gonna cry over saying goodbye to a couple of kids that weren't even really his own. Yet apparently that was just what he was doing.

Dean stood and watched Jess leave with the children. He waved to them until the car pulled away and drove out of sight. Then he turned and walked back into the house.

He walked into the kitchen, opened the refrigerator and grabbed a beer. He'd restrained from drinking before because he didn't want to do it in front of the kids or give the adults more ammunition to use against him in the whole 'Dean's crazy' debate. But now that it was just him and Sam it really didn't matter. He flopped down on the couch, put his feet on the coffee table and downed half the bottle in one gulp.

"Wow." He heard Sam comment. "You really aren't my brother."

"How's that?"

"That bottle would last him at least half an hour." There was a pause. "So, what happened to you? I mean, why are you covered in scars and able to drink beer like it's water?"

"Tough life." Dean shrugged, not really wanting to tell his life story yet again. He also felt the need to protect Sammy from the truth.

Sam wasn't having it. "What's that mean?"

"Where I come from a demon killed Mom when I was four, I was raised to hunt evil crap, took care of you, Dad got killed by the same demon a few years ago, I ganked said demon, went through hell, and we're still spending our time killing evil son's of bitches. End of story."

Sam stared at him in shock. His mouth opened and closed a few times but he couldn't seem to get any words out.

"Aren't you glad you asked?" Dean smirked.

"Wait, my brother… he's in that place with all those evil things, right?"

"Yep, but don't worry. He's with my Sam. He'll be fine. And hopefully tonight we can get me home and get your brother back to you."

"Why do you want to go back to that life?"

Dean shrugged. "Because it's mine. 'Sides I'd miss Sam and Bobby and I'm sure as hell not gonna leave them with an auto shop teacher to watch their backs."

Before Sam could respond, the front door opened and Mary walked in. "I just got a call from Ellen. Her and Jo should be here within an hour. How are you boys doing?"

"I just broke Sam's brain by telling him the truth."

"Dean, be nice to your brother." She scolded him. "Sam, are you having an easier time today?"

"Well, I was just starting to wrap my head around the whole alternate dimension thing and then he hit me with talk of demons and evil hunting and stuff like that."

"He asked." Dean interjected.

"Anyways, I guess it's just a bit much. How are you taking this so well?" Sam asked his mother.

"I knew about the supernatural long before this guy came around. I'll tell you all about it when this is over. But I do have to confess that the existence of other realities took me by surprise."

"You get used to it." Dean commented. He got up and went to get another beer.

He was on his fourth when a knock came at the door. Mary opened it and let the other two women in. Dean couldn't help but stare at them. Images of them right before their deaths played through his head over and over and he thought for a moment that he was going to be sick.

"And you must be Dean."

Dean looked up and realized that Ellen was standing right in front of him. He nodded his head, trying to find his voice.

Ellen looked him up and down. "Well, I have to say that I've never met a hunter from another dimension before."

"Don't be fooled. Not everyone from my dimension's as good looking as me."

"Too bad." Jo commented. "I was going to start planning a vacation there."

"Trust me, sweetheart, not a great vacation spot." Dean favored her with a grin. "So, you girls hunters then?"

"My husband's the full-timer." Ellen informed him. So, Bill Harvelle was still alive here. It made sense. In Dean's reality he'd died helping John on a hunt, so if John wasn't a hunter here, then that never would've happened. "I run the bar and occasionally help out. And Jo here joins us when she's not too busy."

Dean turned to look at the younger woman. She shrugged. "Being a paramedic and online college courses take up a lot of time."

"Wow, someone's ambitious." Dean commented.

Jo smiled. "Well, I'm certainly not going to make a living out of hunting. I mean, no offense."

"None taken. I mean, hunting's a crap job. Long hours, no pay, tons of travel with no compensation, and if there was ever a job that needed health benefits but didn't have 'em…."

Jo laughed. Dean really missed that sound. "Well, consider me your health benefits for this job."

"Well, at least the nurse is hot."

Jo blushed and Ellen loudly cleared her throat. Dean gave her his best winning smile in the hopes of getting out of the conversation alive.

Ellen shook her head. "You just be glad that Bill isn't here with his shot gun."

"Mom." Jo protested, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, you are normally the first one to protest when hunters start using those kind of lines."

Jo looked back over at Dean. "Yeah, but… he seems okay."

Ellen shook her head. "Okay, Mary, let's get started. I want this boy back in another dimension as soon as possible." Everyone laughed a little at that. "Jo, honey, you take that okay boy and go get the stuff from the car. We gotta have everything set up and be ready for when the sun goes down."

"Sure, Mom. C'mon Dean." She turned and went back out the door, Dean close behind. When they were outside she continued talking. "So, do we know each other where you come from? I mean, you have to have if you were able to tell your mom about us."

"Yeah, we've met."

"What's other-me like?"

"Well, not as ambitious as you. Her dad… wasn't around anymore and she wanted to feel closer to him so she was a little more into the hunting scene."

"Was? Did she get out of it?"

Dean didn't answer.

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"My… I mean her mom?"

"It was a rough job."

"You were there?"

"Yeah."

"Oh."

There was silence as she took some bags out of the car and handed some to Dean. "Do you miss her?"

"Yeah, but look, can we just not…"

"Okay, yeah. Sorry."

Another silence.

"So… paramedic?"

"Yeah, thought I could get a decent paying job where I could help people. And you wouldn't imagine how useful it is to some of the hunters in the area. As I'm sure you know, you can't always go to the hospital with some of the job related injuries."

"Great, I'm sold. Can I take you with me?" Dean grinned, the seriousness of the previous moments completely gone.

"Do you want my mom to kill you?"

…

…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…Supernatural…

…

Dean put his foot on his opponent's throat and aimed the gun at his head. "You're dead."

A moment passed and then he stepped back and reached down to help Sam to his feet. The younger brother winced a little as he stood and then smiled.

"That was good. Very good. I didn't even see or hear it coming. And that karate move was pretty cool."

"Thanks." Dean was tired, but feeling a little more confident in his ability to survive the upcoming battle. He figured his chances were now one in a thousand instead of one in a million.

Sam brushed himself off. "We only have a few more hours. We should probably go and rest a bit so we'll be ready."

"Dude, you just don't want me to kick your ass again."

"You may have learned some tricks, but you couldn't take me down in a fair fight." The words had no sooner left his mouth and Sam was back on the ground with Dean standing over him grinning.

"Who said anything about fighting fair?"

Sam reached his hand up. Dean grabbed it to help him up, but the next thing he knew, he was on his back with Sam kneeling over him. "Two can play that game."

"Okay, okay, I give." But when Sam shifted to let him up, Dean used a move to flip them over so he was on top. "Or not."

Sam brought his feet up and kicked him off. Both boys were now lying on the ground outside Bobby's house staring up at the sky.

"So who kicked whose ass?" Sam asked.

"I kicked yours first." Dean answered.

"I kicked yours harder." Sam shot back.

"Hell no. And by the way, real mature."

"I learned from you. Well, you know, not you you, but my you. You know what I mean."

"Dude, I don't think anyone knows what you mean." Dean propped himself up on his elbows so that he could see Sam. "Did you learn from him? I mean, my Sammy followed me around a bit when we were younger and had the whole hero worship thing going for a while. Did you and your Dean have that kind of relationship?"

Sam mirrored his position so they were facing each other. "My Dean pretty much raised me. Our dad was always busy hunting and would leave us alone in motels for sometimes weeks at a time. Dean taught me to walk, talk and to read, he made sure I always had food and clothes, he played with me, he helped me with homework, he did everything for me when we were little. To this day I don't think he's realized that he doesn't have to take care of me anymore."

"So, Dean raised you?" It was a weird thought. His parents had taken care of him and his brother so well when they were young. Sam had gotten more of their father's attention while Dean had definitely been their mom's little boy. But in the end they had been well cared for and loved by both parents. The idea of being the one responsible for raising his brother seemed foreign.

"Yep."

"So who raised Dean?"

"Dean."

"Oh. Well that sucks."

Sam laughed. "Yeah, I guess so. But he handled it well."

"You miss him."

"Don't you miss your brother?"

"So are we gonna just sit here crying about it or go get ready to get our brothers back?"

"That's just what I was gonna ask you ladies." The boys turned to see Bobby approaching them. "C'mon. Cas wants to get there early to stake the place out. So, get yer butts off the ground and get back in the house. We only got us a few minutes before we're outta here on the angel express."

Dean stood and brushed off his clothes (actually they were a spare set that belonged to alternate-Dean, complete with boots) and followed after the older hunter. He was as ready as he was going to be. Now all that was left was to win the upcoming battle and get home. Easy as pie.

Author's Note Part Two: Hope everyone enjoyed. Action heats up in the next chapter! Please leave a review if you can. I really do appreciate them.