AN: A big sorry for taking so long with the update. I had the chapter almost finished when the file froze and there was no way I could get it back. It kinda threw me. But now I got back in the groove and rewrote the whole thing. Hope you're still interested and will like the new chapter.
***SPN***
Dean stumbled slightly to regain his balance. He would never get used to being zapped through time and space by Castiel. They had landed in a dark corner of the Campbell plot and Dean took a deep breath before approaching the house of his grandparents. He could hear talking from inside, recognizing his own voice. That was weird.
With a glance to Castiel, Dean quietly opened the front door, praying that the door wouldn't squeak, which earned him a puzzled frown from Castiel. Dean shrugged and carefully moved inside, heading straight to the door towards the room he knew himself and his mother were in, keen to avoid drawing Sam or John's attention. Feeling Cas' presence behind him, he halted and listened.
"Okay. You said you'd explain everything when we had a minute. We have a minute. Why does an angel want me dead?" Dean swallowed, hearing his mother pose the same question again. Somehow even now he didn't know what would be the perfect answer.
" 'Cause they're dicks." Dean cringed at his own lame reply, hearing his mother's disbelieving laughter.
"Not good enough. I didn't even know they existed, and now I'm a target?"
"It's complicated."
"Fine." Dean heard Mary get up. He had to get ready for Cas' interference and squared his shoulders. What should he tell her?
"All ears."
"You're just gonna have to trust me, okay?" Dean cringed internally.
"I've been trusting you all day." It was obvious that Mary was at the end of her patience.
"It's kind of hard to believe."
"All right, then. I'm walking out the door." Mary turned to walk away and Dean involuntarily took a step back.
"I'm your son." Mary's steps ceased.
"What?"
"I'm your son. Sorry. I don't know how else to say it. We're from the year two thousand and ten. An angel zapped us back here. Not the one that attacked you, friendlier."
"You can't expect me to believe that."
"Our names are Dean and Sam Winchester. We're named after your parents. When I would get sick, you would make me tomato-rice soup, because that's what your mom made you. And instead of a lullaby, you would sing "Hey Jude", 'cause that's your favorite Beatles song."
A tear threatened to roll down Dean's cheek as he heard himself say this. "I...I don't believe it. No."
"I'm sorry, but it's true."
"I raised my kids to be hunters?"
Dean felt Cas' hand on his shoulder. "We don't have much time, Dean. I can pause time, but it doesn't affect angels. If you take too long, Anna and Uriel will be here, and Michael might be able to follow us."
Dean nodded and, taking a deep breath he walked through the door, finding his mother staring in shock at his frozen younger self. She turned upon hearing his steps and gasped. Instinctively her hand went to the knife in her pocket and Dean raised his hands in a soothing gesture.
"It's okay, mom," Dean started, just to mentally kick himself. "Please, I know it's a lot to take in and it sounds a whole bunch of crazy, but I don't have time to explain right here and now. So I need you to trust me."
Castiel walked up behind Dean and Mary stepped back again, looking from two thousand and ten Dean to two thousand and sixteen Dean and Cas.
"Who's he? And you're asking a whole lot of my trust today."
"He's the friendlier angel I, "Dean nodded towards his younger self, "just told you about. And I know I didn't do much to earn your trust but... it's about John. In a way. And we don't have much time before the douche-bag angels arrive and this all goes to hell. So please, trust me!"
"I...," Mary paused, quickly glancing at suspended in time Dean, then her eyes locked with her animated son. "I trust you. I don't know why, but, yes."
A smile spread on Dean's stubbled face and Castiel quickly stepped close and touched both human's foreheads with his outstretched fingers.
***spn***
Mary looked around when her head had cleared enough from the experience of traveling through space. She frowned as she didn't recognize her surroundings at all.
"Where are we?" She asked, looking at Dean.
"Do you mean which year or which State?" Dean asked, unconsciously licking his lips. Mary glared at him briefly. "Alright, I get it, both," Dean hastened to add. "Promise not to freak out?"
"Tell me already, or I'll ask your lost puppy angel here to take me right back," Mary tensely dared him. Her patience was wearing thin and to be honest, she was ready to freak out. Angels? Time travel? Her son all grown up when nobody even knew yet that she was expecting? It was all way out of her comfort zone.
"Lebanon, Kansas, 2016," Dean replied in short clipped words.
"2016?" Mary gulped. She walked a few steps, scanning the landscape, the deserted road, the dreary metal entrance door to what she could only think of as a hidden and forgotten place. She had tried to leave the hunting life behind her but it seemed to find her every time. She turned again, facing her grown son. "Alright now, you told me you'd explain. And you have a lot to explain. Why are we here? Why do you need me here?"
"We need you here to help us defeat the Darkness, to save the world," Dean simply replied.
"We? As in you and that angel?"
"As in me, Sam, John, your father in law Henry, and... that angel. Castiel. And... we still need your father, too."
"If you need John, why didn't you take him with? He was right there."
"We needed John, the hunter," Dean started, but Mary interrupted him.
"John is no hunter," she pressed.
"Not the John you know. You asked me earlier, if you raised your children to be hunters. You didn't."
"I didn't?" Mary looked confused. "If I didn't, then who...?"
"John did. He... there was an... incident when I was four and Sam was just six months old. You... didn't make it," Dean hated himself for the tear that rolled down his cheek for real this time. "It was..., it was a demon, okay? And dad... John, got pulled into the supernatural hunting world. He was obsessed with getting revenge. So, Sam and I grew up to be hunters." Dean had looked down on his shoes the whole time while speaking. Now he raised his gaze to see his mother's face streaking with tears. "No, mom. It's okay, don't... cry. We're alright."
"How can you be alright?" "It doesn't matter how. But now, now we'll only be alright with your help. When we go into the bunker, Sam will be there. He's not alone. Dad... John is there, too. But it's 2006 John. He's not the John you remember, but... he's a good man. And Henry is there, John's father."
"I thought John's father abandonned him when he was a young boy," Mary whispered.
"Not quite. Henry Winchester was... is a man of letters. The men of letters are sort of sophisticated hunters. Dad was a legacy, destined to take over his part in that secret society. Sam and I, we are legacies, too. But we grew up as hunters. Henry was on a mission to keep the knowledge of the men of letters safe from a demon, a knight of hell, Abaddon. He used a time traveling spell to shake Abaddon off, but she found him. That's why he never returned."
"But you have him here?" Mary wasn't sure she was grasping all this. It would take time.
"We knew when to get him," Dean simply explained. "Now, if you're ready, let's get inside."
***spn***
Amara was thrilled. For the first time since settling in Lebanon, she could feel Dean. Wherever he'd been hiding so far, he'd left his secluded spot. Focusing, Amara tried to build up a visual connection, but found that something was interfering. She couldn't establish a link like she usually did.
Furious, the dark haired woman concentrated her efforts, but all of a sudden, the tender signs of a connection were disrupted. Dean was gone. Hidden once again. She would be able to narrow down his whereabouts, but she had missed her chance to get him. With an angry growl Amara resigned to focus on Sam again.
***spn***
Sam had been listening to John and Henry talking, his mind trying to play down his nervousness about his mother's appearance. Finally, the heavy metal door opened and Dean marched down the staircase, followed by two sets of steps. Sam's head shot up, his mouth slightly agape when he realized, Dean had done it. He'd really done it. There she was, his mother, just like he remembered her from... Sam chuckled... from the day he'd met her, which coincidentally was the day Dean had just fetched her from.
When Mary reached the bottom of the staircase, her eyes immediately scanned over the three men waiting. The one was a well dressed man, a bit older than her, face smooth, exuding a very distinct air. That must be Henry, the man of letters. Mary started at Sam's appearance, recognizing him but seeing the distinct differences to the younger Sam she met earlier that day. He had changed more than Dean, it looked like. His hair was different, his eyes seemed older. But it was definitely Sam.
Then her eyes fell on the third man, and she gasped, stopping short. Mary could see she was looking at John Winchester, her John, the father of the child she was carrying and which was somehow alive and grown up right behind her. John had aged, but in a good way. He was still handsome, and a smile lit up Mary's face. John had filled out, time had edged the one or other line onto his features, but he was unmistakeably John. And he was unmistakeably a hunter.
"Mary," John whispered, not trusting his voice. He had to choke back some tears that threatened to betray his macho image. The next thing he knew was he held his long lost wife in his arms, holding her tight like he never wanted to let go again.
"I'm so sorry, John," Mary whispered with tears in her voice. "I never wanted this for you."
"I know, baby, but it wasn't your fault. I would have ended up in this world one way or another. That much I know by now." John was rubbing Mary's back, his fingers trying to memorize every inch of her. "I missed you so much!" For a few long moments everything was quiet in the bunker. One could have heard a pin drop. Then Dean cleared his throat, drawing everyone's attention.
"As much as I'd love for you to catch up, there's a lot to discuss and explain still, and we're running out of time. And we still need one more family member to successfully perform this spell." He intently looked at Sam.
"You ready?"