AN: Hello there! here it is the final chapter :) enjoy

Chapter Ten

It was a memory Dean couldn't place. He couldn't remember the year or how old he was. He was still in his school years, probably middle school when he came to think about it then again he could have been in high school. He remembered that Sam had just watched Jurassic Park for the first time! 1993, he was fourteen years old and just started high school…or was he fifteen? He remembered it clearly now because Sam was obsessed with dinosaurs, he had only been ten years old. He would spend his time in the playground with some of the other boys digging up the vegetable patch looking for a T-rex skeleton. Their father had even been called in when Mrs Yates didn't take to kindly to her carrots being turned up for the sake of archaeology.

They had stopped off in a little town with a population of fewer than two hundred; there was one church, one shop, one school and one park. The motel they were staying at was close to the park and Dean remembered standing at the window of the motel and being able to look out at the playing fields and climbing frames below. They had brought Sam a dinosaur themed book in the petrol station on the way over, and that book was all that preoccupied his time. While their father had taken off on his hunt as soon as they had been dropped off, it wasn't going to be a long one. He had promised nothing more than a day as it was only a simple haunting of an old peoples home.

Sam had eaten his dinner and was now stilling on the floor of the motel with his back leaning against the couch, he had the television on and would raise his head and look at it every so often but would spend most of his time looking at his book. He had been telling Dean something about how a dinosaur could kill you and all the ways in which a dinosaur could kill you. Dean wasn't interested, he would nod in the right places and that seemed to make Sam happy.

It must have been around five in the evening when there was a knock at the door, both boys froze. Sam knew what to do; he packed up his book and turned off the television it wasn't long before he was in the bedroom with the door closed. Dean pulled a small hand gun out of his jeans and pointed it at the door. It was the middle of the day and the windows were open, with a warm summer breeze blowing through the window. If Dean was forced to shoot there was no way it could go unnoticed.

The door was on a chain meaning that it could only be opened so far; slowly with the gun pressed up against the back of the door Dean opened it. He had feared the worst, maybe a ghost, vampire or demon but instead he saw two young boys stood before him around the same age as himself.

Despite the door only being partly open both boys were smiling at Dean as if they were generally glad to see him, all Dean could think was that they didn't even know him. Both boys were wearing shorts and trainers and were red faced from where they had been sweating.

'Hey' greeted the most smiley of the boys. Dean recalled that the boy would have been compared to a young Justin Bieber had this been taking place in 2015 not 1993. The boy was slim and had thick brown hair that waved in front of his eyes.

'…hello…' Dean responded awkwardly

'I'm Josh and this is Ashley' Josh gestured towards his friend. Dean remembered more clearly that Ashley was wearing a dark blue shirt and had black curly hair that didn't move an inch.

There was a pause in which both boys waited for Dean to give his name but he didn't speak so the boys got to the point.

'We saw you arrive earlier and we were wondering if you wanted to come and play soccer with us?' Josh asked shyly

Dean was still half hidden behind the door; he slipped the gun back into his jeans and opened the door further by taking off the chain. Dean was a little stunned to say the least, he had never been asked to go out and play before and it felt…nice. Sam!

'Umm…I'll just have to go check' Dean stammered. Josh and Ashley seemed happy with this response and waited by the door.

Dean made his way across the room to the bedroom; he knocked on the door before answering because he knew Sam would be sat leaning against the door. Sam was stood in the centre of the room with his arms wrapped around his book; he was looking up at Dean with a questioning expression.

Dean could hardly believe what he was saying 'I've been asked to go and play soccer, is that okay?'

Instantly Sam's face relaxed and he once against slumped to the floor 'That's fine, I will be okay here' he opened back up his book and began reading once again.

Dean smiled 'okay, but lock the door and only answer when you hear the secret knock!'

'Yes, I promise'

The next thing Dean remembered was being outside, playing soccer…with other children. He would often look up at their room in the motel to check that nothing was different and the door was still shut. He was quite good actually, for someone who had never played before. He scored a goal and was amazed that other children were actually happy for him! Well, his team were.

Dean had been having so much fun that he didn't realise the sun was going down, he didn't realise that the black impala was back on the drive and that John was watching the match from the motel window, and he was not happy. The match finally ended when one of the boy's parents, his name had been Jamie. Had come out to the field and dragged him home to go to bed. With the match over Dean picked up the over shirt he had taken off during the game and walked back up to the motel, saying goodbye to Josh and Ashley on the way. It was a shame they weren't going to be sticking around, Dean could imagine enjoying himself here.

Before Dean could knock on the door the door opened and Dean came face to face with a very angry John Winchester. Dean could only remember certain things his father said, such as "how could you leave your brother alone?" "Do you know what could have happened?" "Thank god we're leaving tomorrow" "I am so disappointed in you" "go to bed I don't want to see you for the rest of the night". Despite the fun he had had, Dean came to the conclusion that it wasn't worth the aggravation. They left the next day and Sam would never remember that little town, to him nothing happened on that trip. He would soon be over his dinosaur phase and move onto the "I want a normal life" phase.

It wasn't a memory he liked to dwell on and it wasn't his worst telling off by his father Dean had ever had, but for some reason it was the memory that came to him as the pain shot into his arm and he looked into the eyes of his father. Sam had just left the swimming baths with Dean's own younger self, this left Dean alone with his dad for the first time in nearly ten years. At least Cas was still there, stood watching…helpless, there was no angelic magic to cure this.

Dean's pupils became larger in size; anyone would have believed he was turning back into a demon. He threw his head back trying to get as much air into his lungs as possible, anything that could counteract the pain flowing through him. Every inch of his skin was tender to the touch. And that was why when John reached out to place his hand on Dean's, Dean glared forward and screamed. John flinched back watching as Dean became less and less human, in all aspects. From the unnatural colour of his skin, his jagged and rapid movements and the ear-piercing scream.

Once again Dean tried pulling off the Aur Band but it was as if it was glued onto his skin. Feeling desperate Dean raised his arm up to Castiel hoping that he could do something.

'Please get it off'

Castiel already knew that there was nothing he could do about the Band, as soon as Dean put it on the Band had become one in one with the mark and there was therefore nothing he could do. To be fair, he inspected the band on Dean's arm but when he went to touch the band Dean had withdrawn his arm in agony, the band was now part of Dean's skin…or maybe his skin was now a part of the band? Judging by the colour of Dean's veins.

'Dean!' John cried. Grabbing his eldest attention from Castiel, John didn't know who this man was and at that very moment in time he didn't care.

'Look at me son…that's it. I know your angry but this isn't you' John spoke as calmly as he could, both his hands were raised as if Dean would attack him at any moment.

Dean cried when he shook his head 'this has been me for some time'

'You're not a bad person Dean…'

'…You have no idea what I've done' Dean spat back

'I know that whatever you have done it's because of the life I pushed you into'

Dean paused, the pain was still bad but what John had just said caught Dean's attention more. Was his father admitting fault? What Dean said next was something he had always thought but could never have imagined saying out loud 'why did you never take me to a baseball match on my birthday?'

To Dean's surprise John too began to cry, he wiped his tears away with his hands showing the wedding ring he still wore.

Castiel began to back away from the father/son moment that was taking place in front of him, he had heard many things about John Winchester and every time Sam and Dean spoke about him the image in his mind would change. Sometimes he would be a god among men, the best hunter in the world and a force to be reckoned with. Others he would be the man who had robbed Sam and Dean of their childhood. Looking towards the door Castiel could see Sam and young Dean deep in conversation, whatever they were talking about it was draining the life out of the younger Dean.

Dean let out another scream as his arm began to become stiff, the noise of his scream brought Castiel from his thoughts and John from his own tears.

'Dean, I'm sorry' John sighed 'you deserved better than me, you both did'

The majority of Dean's body was now on the floor meaning that Dean was looking up at his father.

'You were so caring, as a child you would always be asking me and even your mother if we were alright; if there was anything you could do to help out with Sammy. I guess I took advantage of you, I forgot I had two children who needed protecting from the world rather than just one who needed protecting from a demon'

Dean said nothing and just listened.

'The truth was Dean I was scared, losing your mother was hard but the thought of losing you…that would have killed me. I was obsessed, still am. Just the idea that something could happen to you when I wasn't there, it eats me up inside' John couldn't believe he was saying all of this out loud 'I'd lose my temper because I was scared Dean, none of it was your fault and I would regret everything. I regretted not letting you play outside, not letting you go to one school, not encouraging you to look at college, not taking you places on your birthday. I even regretted not leaving you at that boys home…you could have been a kid there, without worrying if I was going to make it back to you or if Sammy had brushed his teeth' John dried his eyes once more 'truth is Dean, I need you. Hell, I probably rely on you more than Sammy does'

'I thought I was a disappointment' Dean whispered

'Never' John shook his head 'it's you who have every right to be disappointed in me'

Dean too shook his head 'I'm not disappointed anymore, I just wish we had more time'

John nodded, he knew what that meant. It meant he would never live a life with his boys when the hunting would stop, when the demon would be dead. Just by looking at Dean now he could see that the hunting had not stopped, there was always going to be something else. And while Dean might not be disappointed John was.

To John's surprise Dean shuffled towards him and despite wincing in pain Dean rested his head on John's shoulder, John in response genteelly wrapped his arms around his thirty-six year old son and placed a kiss on the top of his head. Just like he did when Dean was four.

They only got to sit like this for a few second before Dean began feeling a strange sensation all over his body, he began coughing but nothing came up. His vision became blurred and when he looked down at his hands he could see little but faint outlines. Something wasn't right, there was a force pulling at him that he couldn't explain.

'Cas? What's happening to me?' he yelled

'It's the band, I'll get Sam' Cas replied. He ran towards the door where Sam and the younger Dean were still talking.

Dean found himself standing up. What was wrong with his vision? Was he blind? He still held his hands in front of his face trying to make out the outline of his fingers. All around him the air began to become thinner, like it would if he was walking up a mountain. The hairs on his arms and neck stood on end, this was the definition of the saying "somethings not right".

'Dad, I'm scared' Dean admitted

'It's okay' John said, of course he had no idea if what he was saying was true. The old hunter was still in the dark as to what Dean was doing with the Mark of Cain on his arm and how it had come to be there in the first place.

The atmosphere of the room began to change; Dean's hair and clothes began to ripple as if he was floating underwater. Dean closed his eyes, once again it was as if he was in a trance.

Sam rushed through into the swimming pool, jumping down off the side towards his brother.

'Dean!' he cried. He rushed over and held Dean by the side of his face, trying to get him to wake up. But Dean did not cry out in pain or wake up. The air around Dean was cold and became so cold that it caused Sam to move back and remove his hands as he had lost felling in them. Both father and son watched helpless as Dean was lifted slightly off the ground, his hair and clothes floating around him. Suddenly Dean's eyes snapped open but they were no longer green, they were now gold. He opened his mouth to scream but no noise made it passed the cold air surrounding him. In a second Dean dropped to the floor, closing his eyes once more he was laid on the ground like a rag doll. His skin was once again the milky colour it had once been, his veins had shrunk back to normal but his face looked drained of life.

Soon Sam and John were by his side, they called his name and tried to shake him awake but Dean did not respond. From behind them Castiel walked into the swimming pool and towards the scene, moving passed the two conscious Winchesters the angel reached down and pulled the Aur band off Dean's arm.

Sam exhaled loudly seeing that the Mark of Cain was gone, he tried once again at shaking Dean awake but there was still no response from his older brother.

'Dean!' he tried calling again 'Dean, wake up!'

Dean's whole body shook awake, his arm shot up and grabbed hold of Sam's jacket. He breathed heavily, with his bright green eyes wide awake. Dean's eyes darted around at the three faces looking down at him with concerned expressions, his brother, his father and his best friend. That dark feeling inside of him was gone, that heavy feeling in the pit of his stomach too. Dean didn't need to look at his arm to know that the Mark was gone.

Looking up at the faces above him Dean did something he hadn't done properly in a long time, he smiled.

In that moment Sam bent down and buried Dean a huge bear hug 'Sorry' Sam mumbled 'I know you said no chick flick moments'

Dean laughed 'I think we are well passed that, don't you Sammy'

The brothers pulled apart letting Dean sit up and examine his arm, there was nothing there but skin. Castiel picked up the discarded Aur Band and examined it in his hand.

'So what now?' Sam asked looking to Cas then to his father 'I bet you want an explanation?'

John put his arm around Sam's shoulder 'do you know what Sammy, I think I will be better off not knowing'

'There is something I want to tell you though dad' Sam said 'I'm sorry about how I acted when I went to Stanford, I didn't understand how deep this yellow eyes thing went. I thought it was all about revenge'

John ruffled Sam's hair which he noticed was rather long 'Sammy, it's okay. It's me who should be apologising to you…'

A thought came to Dean, and what he was about to say could have been taken one way or the other by his father 'dad there's something else'

John looked over at Dean who was looking healthier by the second.

'Do you believe in angels?'

'Don't be silly Dean, your beginning to sound like your mother now'

Both Sam and Dean looked over at Castiel and still wore his face expressionless. Sam gestured towards Cas 'Dad meet Castiel, angel of the lord'

Castiel gave a nervous little wave in response.

'And time traveling guru…' Dean added

John stood up instantly narrowing his eyes at Castiel as if he was looking at a unbreakable code 'you have to be kidding me'

Cas cleared his throat 'I'm afraid not Mr Winchester' Castiel awkwardly raised his hand for a hand shake. Both Sam and Dean leaned forward waiting for their father's next move. To their great relief John took Castiel's hand.

Once the pleasantries were over Castiel turned the Aur Band over in his hand 'this needs to be destroyed. It's still an object of great power, Dean only survived the Band because it had the Mark to latch onto'

'Yh, and now I need a drink' Dean commented

The four of them were still stood together in the centre of the empty swimming pool but now Dean had taken to sitting on the steps into the pool.

'So what happens now?' John asked Castiel but Dean answered for him

'We go home, if Cas is feeling up to it and you carry on hunting Yellow eyes'

'You didn't need to tell me that' John laughed. His whole career had been dedicated to hunting down that son of a bitch.

'Can you take us home?' Sam asked Castiel

Cas nodded 'I believe I am strong enough…I wiped Dean's memory of this' he told John 'He will wake up in the back seat of the impala believing he fell asleep after a "bender" at the local bar'

'Very creative' John said sarcastically 'how did you come up with that one?'

'I just thought of what our present Dean would probably do' Castiel answered seriously not realising that John meant it as a joke.

'Thanks man' Dean muttered

'How long until he wakes up?' John asked the angel

'Soon'

'You boys better be going then' that was the last thing John wanted to say, the truth was that he wanted to spend more time with them, see the men they had become. But if they stayed longer it would only be harder to say goodbye later.

Both Sam and Dean stood up and John pulled them into a hug.

'I know we're not the perfect family…' John began to say

'…but if we were we wouldn't be Winchester's' Sam finished

They pulled apart and John turned to his youngest son 'now, you look after your brother boy'

Sam laughed and repeated the saying he had heard many times before 'shoot first, ask questions later and look after Dean?'

'Hey!' Dean cut in 'I am back to normal now so will be reprising my role as the older brother in this family!'

For what felt like a few seconds but was probably nothing but a brief moment all three Winchester's stood in a circle smiling at one another, a moment all three would remember. Castiel moved to stand between Sam and Dean 'ready?' he asked

They both nodded, reaching out and taking hold of Castiel's open hands. John stood back to watch them go. He didn't say anything more as there was nothing more to be said. He could have told them that he loved them, but he believed that they already knew that.

In an instant all three of them were gone.

The clouds were clearing and know the sun was peeking out from behind the rapidly moving away rain clouds. It had rained as the impala was a mirror of small dots of water, getting into the car John slammed the door loudly causing Dean to jump awake in the back seat.

John watched him from the rear-view mirror as his eldest son groaned himself awake. Dean sat up in the car looking at his surroundings; this wasn't the motel car park?

'Where are we?' he groaned

'Centre of town…it was shifters Dean'

'You went on a hunt…with me asleep in the back seat?'

John shrugged 'you wouldn't budge'

Dean moved into the front seat of the car rubbing his tired eyes, but from the other side of the car John stared at Dean now aware of what Dean was building up inside. John was bloody tempted to say "how about we catch a baseball game?" but the words became stuck in his throat. Instead he started the engine and set off for another hunt.

The End

AN: Thank you to anyone who has stuck with me to the very end, i hope you liked the last chapter. please tell me if you did :) all the best until next time!