AN: thank you for reading so far! when i first started writing this fic it was before the book of the dammed story line was introduced so this fic is now officially an AU - thank you to MaddyR for pointing this out!

please enjoy...

Chapter Nine

The young Dean found himself looking at the ground, despite the situation he thought of very little. He could hear the heavy breathing of the man stood before him and could feel the tension in the room.

The sun outside had clouded over and now the room was grey, except for the arm of the man stood before him. Dean's arm was burning brightly the Mark of Cain burning a deep red; it was so bright his arm could have been used as a torch. For young Dean he felt as if he had been looking down at his feet for hours however it had only been seconds since he looked away. Gun shots still fired out from the shower room meaning that the pair wouldn't be disturbed.

Taking his chance Dean pushed the Aur Band onto his arm covering the Mark of Cain, his veins lit up. Looking like tattoos all over his skin his veins rushed up his body, across his neck and even to his face. He grunted, the Band felt like a drug rushing through his body, infecting his brain. His bright green eyes became even more bloodshot, but what was more concerning was how his veins began to turn colour and become gold.

Dean's head snapped forward, moving like a puppet he looked towards his younger self. Young Dean kept his eyes on the ground, trying to think of what to do but not being able to think of anything.

'Look at me' Dean whispered

Reluctantly young Dean raised his head. He had tears in his eyes as he looked at his elder-self, of course young Dean knew exactly who this man was but that didn't stop him asking the question.

'Who are you?' young Dean asked

Dean burst into fits of laughter which soon turned into tears 'I am so glad I have the chance to speak to you!' he moved forward slightly causing the young Dean to move back.

Dean was still stood in the centre of the empty swimming pool while young Dean was stood on the side, dangerously too close to the shower rooms.

'Look at me….look at us' Dean held his arms open presenting himself to young Dean 'LOOK'

'What's wrong with you?...'

'…Whats wrong with US!' Dean breathed heavily pacing the swimming pool until finally he turned his attention to the gun fight taking place in the shower rooms.

'Is that dad in there?' Dean asked

Young Dean nodded but soon stopped when the elder man began laughing again. Dean turned again to look at himself, but this time he held out his arms towards him. He was encouraging him to come and stand with himself.

'I'm not exactly going to hurt myself am I' Dean smiled

Slowly young Dean climbed down into the swimming pool and made his way over to himself. This was against everything he had ever been told or taught, he didn't know why he was doing this but his brain just wasn't telling him anything.

Dean held out his hand to himself and young Dean took the hand.

'You're burning…'

'We're burning' Dean corrected 'look at me, look at us'

'Am I dreaming? How are you here?'

Dean took hold of the sides of his younger self's face 'I'm you from 2015, we came here to find this' he gestured towards the band on his arm that was slowly turning the whole arm gold.

'How?' young Dean asked staring into his own eyes

'You have so much still to learn'

Finally young Dean asked the question he had been longing to ask 'What's wrong with us? What happens? How do I become this?'

Dean smiled 'Everything!'

Young Dean tried to take a step back but Dean held his fast 'I know you're scared, okay….i remember being scared...hell, I still am. But we can stop this from ever happening'

Just by looking into his own older eyes young Dean could see how desperate he was 'how?'

Dean let go of his face and reached into the back of his jeans and pulling out a knife, young Dean's eyes widened in shock. He tried to move away but Dean held his wrist, and pulled him closer.

Dean held up the knife so that it was the only thing standing between the two of them.

'If we end it now none of this ever has to happen' Dean begged 'all of that pain! It never has to happen. Kevin, Ellen, Jo, Ash, Pamela, Bobby, Rufus. Cas and….Sammy. All that death and pain never has to happen, they never have to get hurt by us…they can be happy' tears rolled down Dean's face and caused his face to become red and puffy.

'I know you, I know you're only here because of him, because of the man we call dad' Dean cried harder 'But he doesn't love you! If he loved us then why did he treat us like this! He pushed Sam away!'

Young Dean shook his head 'You're wrong'

'I don't remember him every being a father to us…'

'He doesn't have time!' Young Dean argued back

Dean crouched over as if there were shooting pains in his stomach 'he has time when he is in Windom, Minnesota through doesn't he!' Dean spat back

'What are you talking about?'

'I'm talking about how we mean nothing to him, I'm talking about how we failed Sam, I'm talking about how there is no point in living'

Dean pressed the knife genteelly against young Dean's chest as he continued speaking 'this thing on my arm is never going to let me die, but it's going to kill everything…everyone I love. Sam won't let me die but if we don't, we'll hurt him'

'Sam?' young Dean asked 'Where is he?' Dean nodded towards the shower room door where the gun shots were still loud and sudden.

'He came back?' young Dean whispered in disbelief

'We forced him back'

Young Dean felt the knife begin to dig into his chest, quickly he shook his head and tried to pull away 'I can't leave Sammy, not if he's going to come back'

'If we stay then we're going to kill him!'

'NO' young Dean screamed 'you said he doesn't want us to die!'

Dean shook his younger self 'you're going to lose him, over and over AGAIN! And every time it hurts more and more until I don't think I can breathe. We have to do this because we love him. We love him more than dad ever could, we brought him up! He's ours not dads, And that is why we have to do right by him'.

Young Dean looked towards the shower rooms he was pleading with his eyes that the shooting would stop so that he could call out to his brother or father. Slowly he nodded, looking at his elder-self he agreed to hi plan 'okay, but I have one condition'

'What?'

'I want to see Sam'

Dean stopped and thought for a moment, he was still tightly holding his younger-self by the wrist. His head slowly turned back towards young Dean with a face that was unreadable.

'I'm sorry, but I can't let that happen' Dean said

He raised the knife and went to bring it down on his younger-self. Before the knife could be stabbed into his chest a hand pulled Dean back, pulling him away by the waste.

Young Dean fell to the ground looking at the black haired, blue eyed man who had saved his life.

'Dean, look at me' Castiel cried

Dean was in some kind of trance, all his weight was resting on the angel as his skin began to take on a gold tinge.

'I can't do it Cas' Dean breathed 'I can't do this anymore man'

The angel's attention was drawn to the gold band on Dean's wrist 'You put it on?'

Young Dean struggled to his feet. There were so many things he still didn't know; what was this thing on his arm? What was the band? Who was this trench coat man? And more importantly what the hell happened to him in the future?

When they had been alone all his elder-self had done was ramble on about topics the present Dean was far from ready to talk about. All their conversation had led to was more questions. Young Dean held his chest where the point of the knife had been pressed; he didn't want to die and was finding it hard to imagine a future where he did want to die.

'Who are you' younger Dean exclaimed to Castiel

Cas was still holding Dean up and looked from his friend to the younger Dean. He tilted his head and looked at the boy who was still only in his 20s. Castiel felt very little other than pity for the younger Dean, was it because he knew was coming for him? Cas was of course the only one who had seen what had happened to Dean in hell.

'I'm Castiel…your friend'

Suddenly Dean screamed out in pain. Cas spun around to face his friend; he had never heard Dean scream like that. The younger Dean also seemed shocked, he had never screamed like that in his life.

Despite support from Cas, Dean fell to the ground. He stared at the arm where the band was placed, his arm was shining gold but to the touch his skin was painful. He fought off Castiel's arms as he tried to help Dean. His skin was burning on its own let alone when someone touched him, he drifted between screams and grunts depending on how bad the shooting pains up his arm were.

'Kill me Cas' Dean sobbed between the screams.

Cas was just about to tell Dean that it wouldn't solve anything as the mark wouldn't let him die, but before he mentions this he catches Dean looking directly at his younger self. Cas didn't move, Dean was obviously out of his mind.

Dean lunged up, he picked up the knife and went to strike it at his younger self. Once again and just in time Cas grabbed Dean around the waste pulling him away. The knife missed the target of young Dean's heart and instead scratched his shoulder, after drawing blood the knife fell to the ground.

'DON'T TOUCH ME' Dean screamed but Castiel didn't let go. When the angel finally did Dean was placed safely on the ground at the shallow end of the empty pool.

Young Dean turned his heels and ran towards the shower room; before Cas could call out that it was too dangerous Dean had crossed the threshold. The young Winchester ran into the centre of the room between the barricade and the lockers and had a little screaming fit of his own.

'STOP!'

The shots stopped instantly, with Sam being the first to stand up and stare at his older but somehow younger brother. John rushed passed the barricade grabbing Dean by the arm and pulling him behind himself. Only after he did this did he stare at the man he had been shooting at.

Silence filled the room as the two men stared at each other; around them was the destruction they had caused when they had been shooting at each other. Shower cubicles were filled will bullet holes and the walls that could once have been described as crumbling were all but falling apart. Both John and Sam went to say something but the words became stuck in their throats. Before either of them could try and speak to each other again a scream rang out from the other room.

'Dean!' Sam exclaimed, he ran out of the room sprinting towards the swimming pool.

'Sam?' John whispered in disbelief that had been his son stood before him, only older and with hundreds of new scars. He watched the space where Sam had been for a few seconds more before he came to his senses.

'Dean?' John turned and looked at his eldest son 'I told you to…..' the words caught in his mouth when he realised that Dean had been crying. The younger Dean too had been watching after Sam, his little brother all grown up. Dean looked in the direction of the swimming pool and John followed his gaze and began walking towards the pool.

Before his eyes he saw both his boys, now adults stood in the centre of an empty swimming pool. Sam was desperately trying to get close to Dean, only to get pushed away as the eldest screamed out in pain. Dean's body was tinged with gold and his veins were burning brightly all other his body.

Without realising it John was walking towards the scene unfolding in front of him, it was only when he saw the man in the trench coat staring at him that he realised he was in touching distance of his two children. He reached down and touched Sam on the shoulder, moving him to one side and kneeling in front of his eldest.

Dean was clawing at the Aur Band trying to remove it but every time he did the pain only increased, he looked up at his father and breathed through gritted teeth.

To his regret John didn't know what to say, he had Dean's attention but could think of nothing to say. John didn't need to be told what was happening, his boys had time travelled for god knows what reason and now Dean was possessed or infected by something that was killing him. John didn't need to say anything because Dean spoke first; he leaned in and whispered 'it's all your fault'

'What's going on Dean?' John asked

'Nothing, just the Mark of Cain' as Dean spoke his voice was cracked and broken, he held himself as if all muscles had gone from his neck.

John looked at Sam who was still knelt beside him, with a small nod Sam gave John the confirmation he needed. John put an arm around Sam's shoulder, in light of their reunion it was the least he could do to show affection considering the current situation.

Dean yelled out again in pain, he was keeping his body huddled together away from Sam, his dad and his friend.

'Dean, look at me' John ordered 'you're going to have to tell me everything if we're going to sort this'

'Oh, go fuck yourself!' Dean spat. John stared at Dean in horror and surprise; Dean's words were filled with spite.

'I'm not your brainwashed little soldier anymore dad, not like him!' he gestured to where the younger Dean was stood watching on the edge of the swimming pool.

John sighed; he wanted to give Dean an order to leave the room, or go to the car but for the second time today the words caught in his mouth.

Sam stood up instantly 'I'll deal with this'

'What?' Dean exclaimed 'you can't leave me'

'I'm not leaving you Dean' Sam climbed up out of the empty swimming pool and walked towards the younger Dean who stared back in bewilderment. Guiding the younger Dean by the shoulders Sam said 'you don't want to see this'

Sam guided young Dean outside the building, easily pulling away the chairs that had been created as a barricade. They walked outside in silence, Dean never taking his eyes off Sam.

The sky was still clouded over and it looked like it was going to rain, the streets were still empty leaving the streets in a strange silence. Faint whispers of Dean's screams could be heard from inside causing Sam to exhale loudly and place his head in his hands.

'What the hell happened to your hair?' young Dean asked

Sam let out a little laugh filled with slight relief, young Dean too smiled as he had makes his brother laugh. The laughter did last long when young Dean asked 'you came back?'

Sam turned to look at his brother 'of course I came back'

'How did it get this bad?'

'It a long story Dean…'

'Sammy…or old man Sam, whatever. I have just seen an older version of myself screaming on the ground turning gold, I just tried to kill myself, while bad mothing my father and having an emotional breakdown on the shoulder of a man wearing a trench coat! I'm owed a damm explanation'

'Okay, okay' Sam nodded 'your right…wait, Dean tried to kill you?'

'He…I am freaking insane man! That has to be the oddest case of attempted suicide of all time!'

Sam placed his hand on Dean's shoulders to calm him down 'okay here is the short version. You came a got me at Stanford after Dad went missing, though he wasn't missing he had a lead on the demon that killed Mom and wasn't answering our calls. The demon…yellow eyes came to Stanford and killed my girlfriend Jess so I took to the road with you to get revenge. Dad died. I died, but you sold your soul for me…which was a stupid thing to do. We killed yellow eyes, but then there was this demon called Lilith who we needed to take care of…she was also the demon who held your deal. You went to hell…'

'Hell?...'

'Yes the real hell. While you were away I teamed up with a demon called Ruby…'

'Demon!'

'Dean, stop interrupting. I'm not proud of it! she showed me that I could enhance my powers…'

'Powers?'

Another scream came from inside catching both Sam and the young Dean off guard.

'I could enhance these powers by drinking demon blood. But then you came back with the help of Castiel' Sam looked at the confused expression on Dean's face 'Castiel, the man in the trench coat. He's your best friend and he is an Angel…don't look at me like that! Angels are a thing which you will eventually find out. The angel's wanted me and you to be the vessels for two of their more notable angels so that the apocalypse could happen. With the help of Bobby and Cas we stopped the apocalypse, with me jumping into Lucifer's cage…anyway Cas brought me back without my soul. We teamed up again we got my soul back, Cas went all power hungry and became the new god. Cas got taken over by leviathans, leviathans killed Cas. Leviathans killed Bobby, Cas came back to life and together we defeated the leviathans by sending them back to purgatory. However you and Cas were stood too close to an exploding Dick…that was the name of the head leviathan by the way so get that look off your face. You got help off a vampire to get out of purgatory…I got a dog as you like to say. We try and close the gates of hell by me taking part in these trials, I get to the third trial but it would cost me my life…you stopped me. At the same time another angel called Megatron locked heaven and that caused all the angels to fall. After the trials I was close to death and in hospital and you allowed an angel to take over my body to heal me, however said angel began to work with Megatron and you had to seek the help of Crowley…who is the king of Hell by the way to get the angel out. Abaddon was making some noise and the only way to kill her was with the first blade, the only way to use the first blade was to have the Mark of Cain. I wasn't there but you got the Mark off Cain himself and killed Abaddon. Megatron tried to take over the world, he stabbed you…you died. Crowley turned you into a demon, I cured you. You killed Cain and the Mark is turning you into a mass murder so we tracked down the Aur Band and that is how we end up here…so yh, the short version'

The young dean stared at his brother opened mouthed, he sat down on the floor and rested his head in his hands 'uhh, my head hurts' Dean looked up at Sam with a puzzled expression 'why did you stay through all that? What about your normal life?'

Sam crouched down to his level and spoke softly 'Dean, you're my brother. Me, you on the road! That is my life' Sam tapped Dean playfully on the shoulder 'I may not know that now, but trust me by 2015 I am going to be a broken record will all this stuff'

Dean smiled 'since when did you get so wise?'

'Well, technically I am your older brother, with you being in your 20s and me being in my 30s and all'

Dean shook his head 'never going to happen'

Another scream broke out from the swimming pool but this time Cas appeared at the front door, his face was expressionless and grave. He looked passed the young Dean and towards Sam.

'Something is happening, he needs you' Cas informed

Sam nodded, standing up he walked over to Cas and whispered in his ear 'I told him everything, do you mind?'

Castiel understood what Sam wanted him to do, so he nodded obediently. Sam walked back over to Dean and smiled sadly at him.

'I've got to go and be with my big brother now, I'll be seeing you in a year or so'

Dean looked at his hands 'a year? Till it all happens?'

Sam nodded 'a year'

Dean stood up and before either of them could think about what was happening, they hugged.

'See you later, little brother' said Sam

'Shut up' Dean muttered as the two parted

Sam walked back into the swimming pool, his head was heavy with a mixture of feelings. He was trying to imagine the last time he had seen Dean like that, young? Carefree? Untainted by all the crap they had built up over the years? Sam now walked into the swimming pool where he would face a very different Dean.

Outside Cas nervously made his way and stood by the young Dean, he watched silently as Dean wiped away the tears in his eyes. Cas could see that just the knowledge of what was to come was killing him.

'Angel, huh?' Dean said after a while

Cas simply nodded

'Angel's are watching over you' Dean muttered to himself 'do you think there is anything that can be done to stop me ending up here?' he asked Cas

'I'm so sorry Dean'

Dean smiled 'it's okay, I'll bounce back right? I always do' Dean breathed away the tears forcing himself to smile wider 'I've never had a best friend before, actually friend full stop…apart from Sam'

Cas blushed

'When you pull me out of hell, I'm buying you a drink'

Cas smiled 'I'll look forward to that'

For the next few seconds there was silence between them, both could think of nothing to talk about. Instead they listened to the screams from inside.

'Would you like me to take you back to the motel?' Cas asked politely

'I'm twenty-five years old, I can look after myself. But thanks'

'Dean I'm afraid I'm going to have to do something you won't like?'

'Huh?' Dean rose an eyebrow

Cas stood closer 'your knowledge might prevent events in the future'

Dean backed off quickly, he gestured towards the swimming pool 'isn't that a good thing!'

'I'm sorry Dean' Cas placed his hand on Dean's head. In less than a second Dean was unconscious on the floor, it was a normal reaction for someone who has just had their memory wiped. Cas carried Dean to the impala and laid him out in the backseat, as far as Dean knew he had fallen asleep in the back of the car after a night at the local bar.

Cas made his way back to the swimming pool to see if Dean had been saved, or the alternative…

AN: the next and final chapter of this FanFic will be based around what Dean and John talked about when they were alone and how it ends! i hope you will stick with me and please leave a review :) (even if you think its rubbish)