Happy New Year everyone! It's 2019~~ :) New semester starting in 2 days›‹ The holidays always seem to pass by in a flash… But the new episode 14x10 will be coming out next wk too so yay!~ X)

Note: This chapter has made references and has quotes from ep4x01 "Lazarus Rising" and ep4x09 "I Know What You Did Last Summer".

Version 7
25yo Sam

"What the..." Dean uttered as a man appeared in the middle of the library after a flash of white light. Almost immediately, a strong smell of alcohol fills the air, no doubt coming off from the newcomer among their midst.

"How..." Sam stuttered and exchanged a stunned look with Dean as they recognised the man.

The intruder, clearly drunk from the way he sways on the spot, has yet to notice how he is no longer where he's used to be. Supporting himself by the edge of the table, he feels around its surface but not finding what he wants.

"... Who're you...?" He finally caught sight of the other two in the room.

"Are you drunk?" Dean asked the obvious.

The man tilts his head to look to the source of the voice.

"... D..Dean?" He stuttered and slurred, having a hard time focusing his gaze, though not for the lack of effort trying.

"Yea... Hey, easy..." Dean cautioned as he stood up from his seat when the man took stumbled steps towards him. "It's not what it looks like, I'm no shapeshifter or what...ever..." Before Dean could finish his sentence, the young man closed the distance between them and threw himself onto Dean, wrapping his arms around him in a tight embrace.

"... Sammy?" Dean said uncertainly, surprised at his reaction. He threw a questioning look at the older Sam, who is looking at him with an equally appalled expression.

"Dea... I'm sor... couldn't... I pro..mised to... sav.. Dean how.. cou' you..." the younger Sam blabbered incoherently as he sobbed into his shoulder.

"Little help here!" Dean lets out a strangled call as the less-than-sober man put more and more of his weight onto him while his legs give way underneath.

Sam rushes forward at Dean's request and tries to pull one of young Sam's arm over his neck to support his weight. However, when Sam notices the tugging, he woke with a vengeance.

"No!..." he yelled and resisted against his older self, swinging his arm back around Dean and holding on to him like his life depends on it.

"Urgh.. Dude, relax!" Dean groaned as he felt the air squeezed out of him while Sam backed away for the moment.

"Dou..go... No...Dean..." he garbled senselessly and gradually loses strength.

Sam managed to pull his arm around this time and the two sober ones half-drag-and-half-carry him back into his room and drop him on top his bed.

"... What the hell was that?!" Dean exclaimed, staring down at the younger version of Sam.

"The hourglass... It must be some kind of enchanted object," Sam said.

"Enchanted? Cursed object more like..." Dean muttered in annoyance.

They return back to the library and tried to work the hourglass but were unsuccessful, thus, Sam decided to call Cas for help.

"Hey, when did that happened?" Dean asked after Sam put down his phone.

"What?" Sam replied.

"I can't remember - when did you get that drunk? I know there was that one time in our teens..." Dean smiled a quick smile, "but that dude's definitely in his twenties," Dean jabbed a finger towards the back of the bunker.

"Yeah, uh..." Sam raised a hand to scratch his head unnecessarily, "You weren't around at the time."

"You got that drunk on your own? Kinda dicey don't you think?" Dean raised his eyebrow at his usually more cautious and level-headed younger brother. "Where was I anyway?" Dean wondered.

"Somewhere… in hell," Sam told him and a look of realisation appeared on Dean's face. That explains a lot about Sam's drunken antics - he is grieving.

Sam woke up with his heart thumping fast and eyes swimming with tears. The dream was so vivid. So terrifying. So heart-wrenching. It was the last moments of his brother - being torn apart before his eyes. The dream was confusing as well. At one point, he even dreamt that Dean has returned. It felt so real when he held him in his arms... Sam sighs as he lies in bed, waiting for his heart to slow.

However, as he waited, he became more aware of his surrounding - a strange, unfamiliar room. He swings his legs off the bed and his head spins dizzily from being abruptly vertical.

"Urgg..." he groaned as the hangover came over him.

"He's up," the door swung open and in walks Dean, followed by Sam.

Sam froze for a second and then blinks violently to clear his eyes.

"No..." he rises from the bed and backs into a defensive stance as they come towards him. The surprise on his face turning quickly into anger.

"Take it off," he growled, glaring straight at Dean.

"What?..." Before he could clarify further, Sam charges towards him, fist waving. Dean blocks his shaky attack easily while Sam helps to restrain his arms.

"Take it off!" He demanded heatedly again.

"Take what off?!" Dean exclaimed in bewilderment.

"That's not your face - take it off or I'll rip it off you!" Sam spat at him.

"Ok, number 1, this is my face and number 2..." Sam struggled free at this point and went straight for Dean. As before, he got overpowered with ease.

"What do you want!" He bellowed, standing two feet away after Dean threw him off.

"You've gotta chill…"

"You want to kill me?" Sam cut across him, clearly not listening. "Go ahead then! Do it!" He opens his arms wide in welcome.

A flit of shock went across Dean's face at his ready acceptance for death. Then, the shock turned into rage and this time, it is Dean's turn to pounce.

"Umph!" Sam grunted as he got slam back onto the wall.

"Ok, listen up you stupid son of a bitch! I did not go to hell for you to roll over for some 'Monster Number 3'. I am your brother - Dean Winchester. And that is you, Sam Friggin' Winchester," he gestured towards the older Sam. "You are in the future. We made a mistake and got you here, but we will find a way to send your stupid ass back-"

"Dean…" Sam came forward as Sam raises a hand to his mouth. All the movements, and having his back slammed against a wall, did not sit well at all with his booze-filled stomach.

Dean recognises the signs too and they immediately rush him over to the sink inside the room. Sam held on to the sides of the basin and bent over the cool ceramic just in time for a fountain of alcohol and stomach acid to shoot out of his mouth. He feels his head whirling; his insides churning, and one hand thumping helpfully on his back while another holding up his hair.

It seems like forever before he finally emptied his stomach's content. Weak and wobbly, he sank down onto the floor and leaned on his side against the wall to catch his breath. He hears the tap running over the sink as one of the two standing men turned it on to flush the sink.

"Here, drink." He opens his eyes to find his older-looking doppelganger holding a cup of water to his lips. He was instantly aware of how dry his mouth is and gobbled it down spontaneously.

After the water, Sam felt marginally better and he pulls himself up into a standing position. Two pairs of hands hover over him as he does so with unsteady feet. He backs away from the two men, keeping a cautious distance between them.

"…Who are you?" He asked, with more composure this time and some genuine curiosity, confused by the kindness that they have shown towards him.

"We are your future. I know it sounds crazy – even for us, but it's the truth. We got our hands on an enchanted hourglass and accidentally summoned you here…" Sam began explaining.

"No, you can't be," Sam cut him off.

"It's a lot to take in…"

"No. You can't be because Dean is dead," his eyes darkened slightly as they settled upon the present Dean.

"I was, but I came back," Dean said.

"It's not possible. I don't… No…" Sam shook his head in denial. It doesn't help that his mind is not exactly in its best working condition right now.

"Ok, why don't you go take a shower first and we'll talk after," Dean proposed.

"A shower?..." Sam replied with glazed eyes, caught by surprise at that unexpected suggestion.

"Ya. A shower. With soap and water. And shampoo and conditioner - the whole set because, I don't know if you've noticed but you smell like garbage," Dean informed him. Sam gave a small shrug at the side. It's not exactly garbage - more like a mix of dirty laundry, alcohol and alcohol puke. Though, Sam has to agree that shower is a good idea, so he went to pull out a towel from his drawer and they guide the time traveller to the shower. Sam followed them in a stupor silence, his mind still trying to make sense of everything that has and is happening, and if any of it is real.

Sam and Dean stood outside the bathroom door till they hear the water running.

"What?" Sam said self-consciously when he noticed Dean looking at him in a way.

"Nothing. I'll go make some food," he shrugged and turns to head towards the kitchen.

"You're hungry?" Sam pulled out his phone to check the time.

"Not for me," Dean replied. He didn't like how thin and light the younger Sam has felt when they were lifting him into the room and judging from his all-liquid vomit, he could use some solid food in his system.

The brothers sat at the library to research while they waited. Some time later, a shadow moved into the exit's corridor and a slight figure appeared at the doorway. He looks much better compared to before. His face looks clean, his clothes are fresh and he has a much more focused gaze, signalling a clearer and alert-er mind.

"Hey. Sandwich?" Dean offered the plate of hand-made dish sitting on the table top. He is pleased with Sam's improved outlook, though, he did note that the shower has not managed to wash away the dark circles under his eyes.

Sam stands unmoving at the entrance, keeping a guarded distance.

"Everything you said… Is it true?" He asked first and foremost.

"Yes."

"But you're gone," he said while looking at Dean.

"You've come back from the dead yourself," Dean reminded him.

"I tried everything.. everything I could. Hell, I tried to bargain… But no demon would deal…" he said in a way that sounded more like an apology than anything else.

"It wasn't a demon that brought me back, it was an angel," Dean told him.

"An… angel?"

"Dean!" Sam exclaimed in disapproval.

"What?!" Dean said back in shock.

"I don't think we should tell him too much cause it may, you know, change the past, which will cause distortions in the future - our present…" Sam explained in a mutter.

"Ok, ok…" Dean said in a patronising tone.

"An angel brought you back? I don't… No, it can't b.. What do you mean?" Sam sputtered in confusion.

"So… It's a long story. Main thing is - I'm back, it's all cool. Why don't you have some sandwich while we find a way to send you back, huh?" Dean told him.

"No. What do you mean an angel brought you back? You don't even believe in angels…"

Sam: "Look, we can't tell you too much because, you know, there may be the butterfly effect that may…"

"I don't care! Just tell me!" Young Sam demand heatedly, nothing in the world seems to matter anymore besides this one thing.

Dean: "Angels are real."

Sam: "Dean!"

"We can just ask Cas to wipe his memories after," Dean assured Sam, who thought about it and nodded in agreement.

Sam squeezes his eyes shut as Dean spoke and took a few deep breaths before opening them again. They are still there.

"… Hey, easy there," Dean took a step back as Sam walks towards him with an unreadable expression, "I'm not a shifter or a demon, I can prove it to you…"

"Don't move," Sam said as he slowly raises a hand towards him. Dean stops on his spot but throws his arms out in front of him in cautionary defence. Sam's eyes widen as his fingers make contact with his arm.

"Not a ghost either and also not a leviathan, but you don't even know what that i- Whoa!" Dean uttered when his younger, younger brother pulls him into a bone-crushing hug. He can feel the rapid rising and falling of Sam's chest against his, and those fists crumbling the shirt on his back that are trembling from their tight grips.

It crossed his mind to make an 'Alright, it's just me' remark to lighten the mood but the intensity of that raw emotion kept him grounded. "Ok… Alright…" he said reassuringly while returning the hug.

Sam watches them quietly at the side. He understands too well what young Sam is feeling. It was one of the darkest periods in his life and seeing himself in third person, he was worse than he remembered him to be. Sam releases Dean eventually, holding him at arms' length and his eyes roam over his features, seeing and believing that this is real, that Dean is real. An involuntary smile stretches across his face, looking somehow out of place on those gaunt cheeks, as though its muscles have forgotten how to work those lifts. Dean looks back at young Sam and he wasn't as thrilled at what he sees.

"So… sandwich?" Dean offered again.

Sam munches on hungrily while the other two flip through yellowing pages of the library books. He hadn't realised just how hungry he is and those sandwiches taste like little pieces of heaven on his suddenly-revived taste buds. However, even hunger isn't sufficient in diverting his attention from the one person sitting beside him right now.

"Dude, you're staring," Dean finally said after feeling Sam's eyes on him for the past five sandwiches. He glances up and Sam smiled; looked away for a second; and looks back at him like he couldn't help it.

"How long was it?... Till you came back?" Sam asked.

Sam and Dean exchange a look of hesitation.

"Come on, you can tell me that at least," Sam egged on.

"…How long has it been?" Sam asked him instead.

'A week? Or two? I dunno.. What day is it?" Sam wondered out loud and Dean lets out a sigh. He knew that Sam has gone through a dark time after he was gone but he never imagined it to be this bad. The Sam that he came back to after getting top-side wasn't even a tenth as bad as this one. And it hurts his guts to feel this way but he might be somewhat thankful for Ruby after all. Despite her elaborated, undercover, ulterior motive, she was there for Sam when he wasn't and she gave him a reason to fight; to live. He remembered Sam once told him "If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here" and he could really see it clearly now that he wasn't exaggerating when he said that.

Sam has so many questions but he held his tongue after seeing that they are not going to spill. Then, Sam passes young Sam 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 whines open not long after.

"Cas, hey, thanks for coming, this is..."

"You, from the year 2008," Cas stares straight at Sam as though he is looking right through his soul, which he probably is.

"Hi… Are you a hunter?"

"No, I'm an angel…" Cas said to a stunned Sam.

"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 in 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 Sam stares at Cas in awe.

"You are an angel? No way… I mean.. You're not what I expect.. I'm sorry, it's just… Angels are real…" Sam uttered with wide eyes as he walks up to the celestial being and Sam looked slightly abashed at his younger self's fan-boy exhibitions while Dean smirked in amusement at the side.

"Hello, Sam. You don't look too well," he commented at the unhealthy outlook of a man who has lost considerable weight over a short period of time.

"Oh, well… Wait. Are you…" he looks over to Dean as he suddenly recalls their previous conversation, "Are you the angel that brought Dean back?"

"It was more of a group effort but technically, yes, I was," Castiel verified.

"You are… Thank you," Sam said with all his sincerity as he shook Cas's hand, "Thank you - for bringing him back."

"I'm glad that I did," Cas told him.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but Cas, you might want to take a look at this hourglass thing…" Dean cuts in and return their attention to the problem at hand.

Cas offered to look for the counter-spell via Liutprand after vetting the enchanted hourglass.

"I'll be back before the sand falls," Cas promised. He locked eyes with his two friends and then with young Sam, who looks back in a respectful, revering sort of way that reminds Cas so much of their eventual first meeting in that unremarkable motel room. It went so much better this time around.

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

"Wow. This is… this is…" Sam struggled to find a word to describe his amazement. "His name is…Cas?"

"Castiel. But we call him Cas," Sam informed him.

"We're friends with an angel…? Oh my god…" he breathed in disbelieve.

"Ya. Crazy," Dean summed it up.

"So…does that mean God is real? And heaven?..." A flood of questions poured out of Sam, including all those that he had been suppressing to ask before. Sam and Dean did their best to answer all of his queries and Sam's eyes got progressively rounder and wider with each new information.

Wait, you've both been to heaven?... We are legacies from Dad's side?... What?! Mum used to be a hunter?!...

However, there are also some questions that they find harder to answer.

"How long have you… When will you come back, exactly?" Sam asked again.

"In 3 months," Dean replied.

"Do you… do you remember anything? About.. downstairs...?" Sam asked delicately.

There was a split-second of a pause as Dean considers his answer, or more specifically, considers between truth and lie.

"Nope. Must have blacked-out. Don't remember a damn thing," he decided on the latter. Sam acknowledged the lie with a straight face, not giving anything away. He understood why Dean lied – to spare his younger self the horror and the pain since there is nothing that he could do anyway.

"Thank god for that," Sam said reasonably.

"Yeah," Dean wholeheartedly agreed. Ignorance is definitely bliss in this scenario.

Another uncomfortable topic involves Sam's immediate future.

"What happened to Lilith? Where is she now?" Sam asked, his features twist slightly in anger when he mentioned the demon that played a direct role in Dean's horrific death.

"She's dead," Dean told him.

"Really? How?" Sam asked with real surprise. Lilith is arguably the most powerful creature that he has known so far.

There was a pregnant pause when both Sam and Dean consider how, or rather if, they should tell him.

Sam watches them with eager, impatient eyes as he waits for the answer that took too long to come.

"Killed by someone more powerful," Dean tried to be as honest as possible while evading certain important facts.

"Someone more powerful than Lilith? What is it? A demigod?" Sam asked the natural follow-up questions.

"No. It's you," Sam spoke up and Sam's jaw drop with shock while Dean pursed his lips at the revelation.

"Me?!" Sam screeched in disbelief.

"Yeah. I did, so you will," Sam said with a soft sigh.

"How?"

"You found a way to get strong enough to do that and so she's dead," Dean said quickly before Sam could answer, but Sam continued questioning.

"You mean we found a weapon that can hurt Lilith?"

"Something like that," Dean shrugged.

Sam narrowed his eyes.

"You guys are not telling me something."

"It doesn't matter. She's dead. It's done," Dean said with a tone of finality.

Sam glances over to Sam for answers instead but Dean was determined not to let him have it.

"It's done. Right? It's over," Dean gives Sam a meaningful look that asks him to put an end to this topic.

"Yea, it's over," Sam complied. He doesn't feel as strongly as Dean about hiding this from young Sam, but he isn't super keen on sharing it either.

It is obvious that something happened with the killing of Lilith, but seeing that both his and Dean's future self are alive and well, it shouldn't be that bad… but again, why wouldn't they tell him if it's not bad... Curiosity kindled within him, though, there is nothing much that he can do when the both of them aren't willing to talk. He moved on to another topic.

Sam and Dean sat with young Sam for a long time, answering his endless questions. He is particularly fascinated by the modern technologies and the rich collection of books and documentation in the Men of Letter's library. They also gave him a tour around the bunker, to which he greatly enjoyed.

Castiel returned to the bunker after several hours that felt like a very short time to Sam.

"I'll see you soon, right?" Sam said to Dean as he stands in front of the bright portal that will send him back to his time - a time without Dean.

"That's right," Dean replied with confidence.

Sam nodded and turns towards the portal, and then sighs and looks back at Dean. He knows he has to go, but he doesn't really want to, because, who in the world will want to go back to one of the worst periods in their life? Dean understood as he recognises the sadness and longing in his gaze. Stepping forward, he wrapped his arms around the skinny man in an embrace.

"I'll see you soon," he said as a promise before pulling himself away.

Sam unwillingly lets go of his future brother and with a last nod at all three Sam, Dean and Cas, he stepped into the bright light, which disappeared in a heartbeat, together with Sam.

~ The End ~

The next version (and last version in my mind as of now) will also be about season 3 where both young Sam and Dean will appear. I haven't thought out all the details yet, but it'll be pretty intense given the situation they are in when they got time travelled over~