Had several ideas swirling in my head for this time travel fic~ I won't be writing the whole thing from the beginning, just starting from the part after the bright light and the younger Sam &/or Dean appears~

For this story: Younger Dean - 23 y.o.

Version 2
23yo Dean

"What the…" Dean exclaimed.

The "intruder" looks wildly from Sam to Dean.

"Who.. What the hell are you?" He growled, backing into a defensive stance.

"Er… Ok… I think we have a problem…" Dean said in shock and confusion as he looks from Sam to him.

"Funny, I was thinking the same thing," the "intruder" pulls out a silver knife from his jacket, raising it in between them.

"Ok, there's no need to wave that thing around here," Dean said as he rises from his seat with his palm facing out.

It was a wrong move apparently, as the young one wields his blade at Dean, who counter-attacks with lightning speed, and in a matter of seconds, the blade changes hands and is now sitting at the neck of its owner, with Dean trapping him from behind.

"Dean!" Sam called out and two pairs of eyes swivel his way. "Don't hurt him," he cautioned.

"What?" Dean cried in confusion as he leans as far away from the blade as possible.

"Course not," Dean replied, then he pushes Dean away from him and back to a safe distance, stuffing the knife in his own pocket.

"What are you.. Where is this..? How did I get here?" He glared at the two towering figures, and he can't help but notice again that those two look very much like an older version of him and Sam. The closest that he could think of are shapeshifters, but he never heard before one that ages its victim…

"Listen… we're not monsters," Sam told him sincerely. Dean turns his attention to the huge man and noticed that he had those puppy-dog eyes that makes him feels like he's telling the truth.

"Oh ya? Then why did you bring me here? And while you're at it, would you like to er, explain those faces of yours?" He shot the question at them.

"Ok, this might sound crazy but.. I think you might have… time-travelled here by accident," Sam said. "You appeared out of thin air after we found that hourglass over there," Sam pointed to the magical object on the table.

Dean's eyes widened for a moment, and then he lets out a bark of laughter.

"Time travel. …Time travel? You really think I'll buy that crap…"

"Your name is Dean Winchester. Born January 24, 1979, in Lawrence, Kansas. Your father is John Winchester and Mary Winchester is your mother, who died when you were 4. You also had a brother, Sam, born May 2, 1983," Dean briefly recited their family background.

Dean shuts up for a second as he considers the possibility.

"Fine… If you're really me, then tell me something that only I would know," he challenged.

Dean exchange a look with Sam, who shrugged his shoulders at his inability to help. Dean rummages through his memories for a few seconds and then he let out a fond smirk.

"Uh… Remember that precious Batman toy that Sammy used to have?" Dean asked himself.

"You mean the one that I lost?" Sam questioned.

"Yea… except you didn't lose it. I stepped on it by accident and it broke into pieces, so…"

"What?!"

"It was an accident!"

"And you didn't tell me. I was turning over the room trying to search for it," Sam said indignantly.

"Yea, you were nearly in tears when dad said we had to leave," Dean had the cheek to grin at the memory while Sam glared at his unrepentant brother.

"Ya, so, that's one," Dean turned back to Dean and said.

Dean nodded slowly in seeming satisfaction.

"Ok. I believe you," he said, relaxing his stance. "So… how do I get back to my own time zone?" Dean asked.

"That.. is a very good question," Dean replied and looked towards Sam.

Then, just as Sam and Dean look away from Dean, he knocked down the two chairs in between them and dashes towards the staircase.

"Son of a…" Dean muttered as he and Sam ran after the runaway.

While they were talking, Dean had inconspicuously checked the place out and noticed the exit upstairs. He nearly made it out too, if not for the heavy metal door. Dean grabs the back of his jacket and Dean swings back an elbow, aiming at the face. However, Dean easily catches the attacking arm and twists it to his back, pinning him against the door.

"Look, I know this is hard to believe but…" Sam began saying but was cut off rudely.

"You really think I'm stupid, don't you? I know you freaks can read minds, alright! So cut the role-playing, story-telling crap - what do you want?!" Dean shouted agitatedly.

"Ok, this is going nowhere…" Dean said impatiently before hitting himself on the back of his head, rendering him unconscious.

"Dude! You just knocked yourself out!" Sam exclaimed.

"You got a better idea? Gimme a hand…" Dean said as he tried to haul his younger self over his back.

Dean felt a tugging on his wrists and he opens his eyes to an aching pain in his head. "Urgh…" he groaned and tries to reach for the tender spot but realised that his hands are currently being tied to the back of a chair. He immediately tried to struggle free but it's too late.

"Hey, handsome, you're awake," Dean walks around from behind the chair after securing the ropes.

Dean glares at the older version of himself and at the adult version of Sam, who is sitting on an opposite chair facing him. Dean grabs a chair beside Sam and sits down too. Keeping his cool despite the situation, Dean feels for the lock-picker in his back pocket. He knows what he should do - talk and buy time while he cuts himself free. Facing his two captors, he changes his expression into a haughty, disdainful look.

"So, what kind of monsters are you? Grumpy, Sneezy, or Douchey?" He wondered. It is important to know what he's up against, in order to know how to kill them too.

"I don't know about myself, but this one here can do a Snow White," Dean joked, then added to Sam, "I don't know why you even bother, Sam, we could just lock him up while we find a way to zap him back."

Sam rolled his eyes at his older, older brother and then turns around to give the other one a serious, yet sincere look.

"We weren't lying before - look, I'll prove it to you…" And Sam proceeds to show Dean the kinds of technologies that hadn't existed in the past, like smart phone and laptop; and a current newspaper with a recent date printed on its front. Dean brings out several weapons of his that are a lot more battered but exactly the same as the one that Dean has had and also, dad's journal. After much evidence, the younger Dean finally starts to believe this unbelievable.

"Wow. This is…" he is at a loss for words.

"Ya. Even for us, it's pretty crazy," Sam said in agreement.

Dean had loosened the ropes around his hands by now. Though, he isn't sure if he should make another run for it like what he'd originally planned. He lets out a contemplative sigh as his eyes flash towards the door.

"You cut those ropes yet?" Dean asked casually and Dean looks at him with a start.

"Why didn't you take it away if you knew I had it?" He asked as he shook off the ropes and brings his hands to the front, leaning forward in his chair as he twirls the lock-picker in his fingers.

"Cause you'll need time to cut those ropes and we need you listen," Dean told him simply. "Besides, I'll just drag you back if you try to run," he said confidently. "So, are we on the same page or do we have to tie you down for real?"

"Yea, I believe you," Dean finally decided, for real this time. There have been more than enough times when they could have killed him and yet they didn't. Also, there's really no reason for them to go through all those troubles to convince him of their identity if they're really some kind of monster.

"So, what now?" Dean asked.

"Uhh… So, we need to get you back, obviously," Sam said.

"I'll call Cas, see if he knows anything," Dean said and steps aside to make the call.

"Who's Cas? He a hunter?" Dean asked.

"Er… Something like that… Look, I don't think we should just.. let you in on everything around here cause, you know, there may be that.. time travel, butterfly effect…" Sam explained.

"O..k. Whatever, Einstein," Dean said.

Dean throws his legs on top the table in a relaxing manner and glances around the bunker with interest, though he kept from asking about the place. Eventually, his eyes landed back on Sam in a thoughtful kind of way.

"What?" Sam shot at him, noticing his gaze and feeling self-conscious.

"So… we're talking again," Dean said, looking at his older self, then back to Sam.

"Why.. wouldn't we be?" Sam asked curiously.

"Oh geez, I dunno. Maybe cause somebody got a full ride to Stanford and ran out in the middle of the night?" Dean replied sarcastically, with just a hint of bitterness.

"Right…" Sam remembered.

"Right," Dean echoed after him. "It wouldn't kill you to pick up a friggin' phone you know," he then added.

"How old are you, Dean?" Sam inquired.

"23," Dean said.

"So, I'm 19," Sam did a quick mental calculation.

"Yup. Haven't seen you in a while actually. Why, college didn't work out? Even Stanford can't stand the Sam-level geekiness, huh?" Dean gibed, though it is easy to see the curiosity behind his joking manner.

"Hey, Cas says he's around the corner, probably drop by in an hour or two," Dean came back into the library.

"This Cas dude knows how to get me back?" Dean asked.

"Maybe," Dean replied vaguely.

After that, Sam passes young Dean the carved-out book to search for possible counter-spells while he and Dean look through the rest of the stacks in the shelves. The bunker door creaks open not long after.

"Cas. Thanks for coming, man. Uh, this is…"

"You - from the year 2002," Cas gave the younger Dean a piercing stare which the latter finds kind of creepy, like he was being x-rayed with those eyes.

The brothers filled him in on the hourglass and Cas suggested getting the counter-spell from its maker, Liutprand before the time runs out.

"How are we gonna get the spell from a dead guy? We summoning his ghost or something?" Dean asked in confusion.

"No, I believe he is in heaven."

"Then how the…?"

"I'm an angel, Dean. And I still have some connections that I can utilise…"

"I'm sorry, you're a what?"

"An angel."

Dean stared at him with widened eyes.

"Get outta here. There's no such thing," Dean snorted in disbelief and shuffled back a little to put more space between him and the self-proclaimed angel. He looks to the two other humans for confirmation but received none.

"Er…Cas, I thought we're not supposed to tell him that? Won't it, you know…alter the past and mess up the future…" Sam asked with concern.

"No. As space-time contorts, the journey halts," Cas recited the first half of the spell. "If I am able to find the counter-spell, he will be sent back to the exact space-time where he came from. He won't remember ever coming here. Only we would," Castiel explained.

Sam and Dean sigh in relief at this new piece of information while Dean is still trying to wrap his head around the whole angel thing.

"I'll be back before the sand falls," Cas promised. He locked eyes with his two friends and then with young Dean, who looks back in a wary, distrustful kind of way that reminds Cas so much of their eventual first meeting at that abandoned warehouse. How much he had changed… How much they have all changed…

"Thanks Cas." "We owe you one." Sam and Dean said while Cas nodded and left.

"Angel? Seriously?! I mean time-travel is one thing but a, a trench-coated-dude-angel?!" Dean immediately rounded on the two after the door slammed shut.

"Welcome to the future," Dean told him.

"The human body that you saw was a vessel…" Sam went on to patiently explain while Dean went to grab some beer for them all, especially young Dean - he's gonna need it.

"… So Cas, the angel, we can really trust him to get that counter-spell?" Dean asked.

"Yea. It may not look like it, but he's reliable. He'll find it," Dean assured his younger self.

"If you say so," Dean sighed acceptingly, "Dad's gonna freak if he knows I'm stuck in the future…" he muttered to himself.

"You're not wrong," Dean agreed.

"But Cas already said, he'll be able to put you back exactly where and when you came from. Dad will never realise you went missing because you never did. You won't even remember this yourself," Sam added reassuringly and Dean nodded at his words, feeling reassured.

"By the way, where's dad?" Dean asked, "Bet he'll be surprised to see me," he smiled as he imagined the look of surprise on his old man's face.

Both the older hunters stiffened a little at his enquiry.

"Dad's out of town. Visiting an old friend, some hunter he met on a job," Sam lied smoothly.

Dean glanced at Sam and he understands - why Sam lied, even though Dean won't remember any of this. Sam doesn't want him to prematurely feel the pain of having lost their father, albeit it being temporary.

"Ah... Is he still hunting though? He must be like, what, in his sixties?" Dean continued asking.

"Ya, sometimes.. You know dad, nothing'll keep him down," Sam replied with a casual smile and a shrug of his shoulders.

"Who's he visiting anyway? Do I know him?" Dean wondered.

"No. Dad met him a couple years ago, while on a case. Hunting a Wendigo or something - in Colorado," Sam elaborated.

"Oh," Dean replied, and casts a lingering look at Sam's relaxing stance.

Dean noticed, and he looks down with an internal sigh.

The younger Dean took a sip from his bottle and after letting it down, he lets out a snort and a smirk.

"You got better," he said, while Sam gave him a questioning look. "At lying to me?" He raised his eyebrows at his not-so-little brother. "Lots of practices over the years huh," he joked.

"I'm not lying," Sam put on a nonchalant face and a convincing "not lying", off-handed huff of laughter.

Dean ignores him and takes a swing of his beer. Then, he has his eyes cast down as the beer hang loosely in his hand. And he nodded slowly, knowingly.

"What happened?" He asked, after deciding that he could keep his voice steady.

"I told you, he's fine…"

"What happened?" Dean cut across Sam's blundering and leaned forward to look straight into Dean's eyes.

Sam twists his whole torso to face Dean and Dean doesn't have to look over to feel the hinting message in his brother's eyes.

Dean: "Yellow-eye demon."

Sam: "Dean!"

"A demon?" Dean asked, his hunter side revealing itself.

"The demon. The same demon that killed mum," Dean specified.

The younger man unconsciously clutches the beer bottle in his hand and clenches his jaw as the information sinks in. The demon that killed mum had killed dad too. He forcefully takes another sip of the drink as he looks away from the two future persons.

"I'll kill it," he swore in a low voice, with vengeance in his heart.

"You did. I mean, I did. You will," Dean told him and his expression changes to surprise for a moment before hardening again.

"Good," he growled, glaring into the empty space. The darkness in his eyes is frightening, promising of hate and violence. But also, both brothers can see too clearly, the pain in his face that he is struggling to keep under control. With a last tip of the bottle, it is emptied to its brim.

Dean gives the bottle a deliberate twirl to bring to attention of its emptiness.

"You have more of this?" He asked conversationally.

"Yea, in the fridge…" Dean replied and the younger Dean stood up before he finished his sentence.

"You want a second?" Dean asked swiftly.

"Sure," Dean replied.

"Sammy?" He then asked casually while his body is already turning towards the exit.

"Ya… ok," Sam said while carefully observing his younger, older brother.

"Ok," Dean nodded and heads towards the back of the bunker.

"Turn right you'll walk right past it," Dean points him the direction.

He raises a thumb in acknowledgement and goes out of view as he makes a turn at the exit. Escaping. No doubt that's exactly what he's doing, and he didn't even manage it as smoothly as he could. This shows just how overwhelmed he is feeling right now, that he had to so crudely remove himself from others' company.

The two older hunters sat quietly in their seats as they listen to the quickly fading footsteps.

Two seconds after the sound disappeared completely, Sam lets out a sigh and made to get up from his seat.

"Where're you going?" Dean questioned and Sam gestured towards the kitchen in an expression that says - "Obviously.".

"Why did you tell him for?" Sam accused unhappily.

"He already knew, I was just giving a bit of detail! He won't remember it anyway," Dean defended himself, "It's not my fault you sucked at your lies…" he muttered under his breath.

Sam rolled his eyes and made to stand up again.

"Dude, sit down. Give him some time," Dean told him.

"You're messed up. You can't just leave him there…"

"Fine, I'll go. You stay," Dean said as he pushes himself off the chair, "He'll rather it be me than you, trust me."

"Dean," Sam called out.

"What?"

"Don't tell him," Sam looked at Dean with meaningful eyes. And Dean understood. Don't tell him about dad's deal for his life. Don't tell him about the demon's plan for Sam. Don't tell him.

"Ok," Dean promised as he walks away.

Dean found him in the kitchen, holding the door of the opened fridge while standing rigidly on the spot, shoulders tense and hands tightened into balls of fists.

"Dude, you're gonna let all the air out," Dean said, and he sees Dean jumps a little at his voice before swinging the door shut.

"Hey. You gettin' something?" Dean managed to keep his expression nonchalant, as he turned around to face Dean.

"No. Sam wants to check on you," Dean told him straight, not participating in his masking attempt.

Dean looks around his shoulders, expecting to see another figure.

"He's in the library. I told him you'd rather it be me, m' I wrong?" He asked rhetorically.

Dean's expression relaxes a little, knowing that Sam is not here, but the mask is still in place.

"I'm fine," he said reflexively and Dean raised an eyebrow.

"You keep telling yourself that," he said as a joke, and then more seriously, "It's ok you know, there's no one else here. We've got a gun range at the back, you can give a go at it if you want," Dean offered.

The younger one looks away for a moment. He is afraid to know, but he has to, so he asked, "How it happened?"

"I told you, the yellow-eyed demon," Dean repeated. But that is not enough.

"Where were you?" The younger Dean glared at the older one in an accusatory stare, walking up to him and standing at a confrontational distance, as though he's going to start swinging if he doesn't like what he hears.

"Sam doesn't want me telling you…"

"Tell me," he commanded fiercely, no room for negotiation in his voice.

"We were in a hospital, Dad, Sam and I. We just had one round with the demon and were in a bad shape. And dad… he went after it. By himself," Dean told him, skipping over the part about the demon deal, as promised to Sam.

Dean began pacing around in the kitchen as Dean spoke. He squeezes his eyes shut and takes in deep, heavy breaths as he thinks about dad going after the demon by himself.

"Yea, that sounds like him," he said in a thick voice, forcing a smile that is painful to look at.

Watching himself at the side, Dean's heart feels heavier, knowing exactly how Dean feels, and worse. He doesn't even know the real reason behind dad's deal, yet he is already this bad. Dean wondered idly how did he ever survive that dreadful time.

Walking over to stand right in front of Dean, he said, "Hey, listen." But the other Dean is looking away, his eyes overshadowed with grief.

"Listen to me!" Dean grabs him by his shoulders, forcing him to focus. "Look, it's hard, I know. I really do. It's like there's something eating at you from the inside and nothing can get rid of it. Not revenge, not hunting - nothing. But I can tell you, Dad's at a better place now, and he'll want you to keep going," Dean told him in a firm voice and the younger man stare at him silently with an unreadable expression.

"You keep fighting. You take what dad taught you and you do what you do best - the family business. You, and Sam, you stick together and you watch each other's' backs and you just keep swinging…" As he listens to Dean's speech, his breathing began to slow and although his heart is still aching, he felt calmer, and lighter.

"Is this really me talking?" He said in awe and Dean smirked at the amazement in his voice.

"Yea, I'm awesome," Dean squeezes his shoulders reassuringly before patting them twice and finally letting his arms drop back to his sides. "You ready to head out now? Before Sammy comes running in with some chick-flick moments?" Dean asked.

"Ya, we wouldn't want that," Dean snorted and pulls out three bottles of beers from the fridge, passing one over to Dean before leaving for the library.

"Here," Dean puts the bottle in front of Sam, who was flipping at a book.

"Thanks," Sam replied, looking tentatively from one Dean to another. "You alright?" He asked the younger one in a supposedly casual tone.

"Peachy. And you didn't tell me, what's the deal with Stanford?" He asked, steering away from the heavy topic to one that is less heavy now in comparison.

"Stanford?" Dean asked, having missed their earlier conversation.

"Yea. He went to get a "normal life" right? Why come back?" Dean pressed on and Sam and Dean exchanged a look.

"That.. is a long story…" Sam sighed.

"All ears," Dean leaned forward in great interest.

"Well, so… you came to look for me one night, at my place…" Sam began.

"I went to find you? At Stanford?" Dean cut across him.

"Ya… Why do you sound so surprised?" Sam wondered.

"Cause… Huh. I didn't think I'll do that," Dean replied, sparring a curious glance at Dean.

"Cause you seemed pretty set on that whole school-thing, so I thought you deserve a shot at it. Dad didn't say, but I know he thought that too," Dean elaborated on what was left unsaid by young Dean.

"Oh… Thanks," Sam said a little awkwardly, but still, gratefully.

"No problem," Dean replied smoothly.

Dean looks upon the two future brothers in a curious way. No doubt both of them had changed, matured over the years and it seems like they got even closer, and more open with each other than they were in their youth. It feels strange, but nice too, in a way. Dean knows that it is probably selfish of him to think this way but he is secretly happy that Sam had decided to return to the "family business", that they would stick together like a family. Though, he still couldn't really see how his Sam will willingly come back to this life that he so desperately wanted out from.

"So, I went to find you and you came back, just like that? That doesn't sound like the Sam I know," Dean urged him to continue the story.

And Sam told him about their missing dad and how they were worried that something happened to him, thus leading them on an extended road trip in search of John. He also conveniently left out the part where Jess died, to spare Dean the horror of that part of the story.

Sam and Dean sat with young Dean for a long time, answering all his questions and leaving out parts that are too depressing or horrifying. There's no need to cause him unnecessary pain when he couldn't do anything about it anyway.

Wait, you're saying vampires are real?… What?! So mum was a hunter?!… We are legacy of the what?… Oh, so you're buddies with angels and you've got the King of Hell on speed dial?!...

"Hey, you sure you want to hear more? Or should we call it a day?" Dean asked when Dean looks like he just got his mind blown twenty times in a row after all the Q&As.

"Wow. This is.. this is crazy…" Dean mumbled in a daze.

"That's what I say," Dean quipped while Sam rolls his eyes at him.

Just then, the door opens again and Cas has returned. A bright portal appeared after Dean recited the counter-spell.

"So, I guess I'll get going then," Dean bid them farewell.

"Oh, wait…" Dean suddenly remembered. "You'll need this." He pulls the silver knife out of his pocket and handed it back to Dean.

"Thanks," he said as he kept it inside his pocket.

"See you soon, Dean," Sam said.

Dean smiled at him while nodded at the other two before stepping into the portal, heading back and towards the crazy that'll be his life.

~ The End ~

Next story will be featuring both younger Sam and younger Dean, and it'll link back to the side stories so Dean will be 18 and Sam 14~

Writer's Random Rant (!Season 13 Spoilers!): It's hellatus again, 38+ days to the next ep~~›‹ When I first saw the "Bad Place" AU, I was thinking "This has the purgatory vibe, but in a rainforest." then, I saw the footprint and thought, "Oh! They're in Jurassic Park! Dinos~~" XD And the "Initiation Part 1" video is hilarious! I think I rewatched it 4x in a row and then twice again the next day XD