Episode: Season 5 - The Curious Case of Dean Winchester

Note: Prepare for da feeeeeeeeeels ;)

A sigh escaped my lips as I sat in the passenger seat of the Impala, bouncing my leg nervously. I wrung my hands together over and over as I gazed out my window. Suddenly, a large hand was placed on my leg and I glanced up to meet hazel eyes, feeling the comforting warmth of his skin through my jeans.

"Parker, stop. You're fidgeting. And I know you only do that when you're nervous," Sam admonished me and I sighed again as he removed his hand.

"I know. It's just... I don't know how to act when he's around," I admitted as Sam kept his eyes on the darkened road.

We were on our way back to the motel now. The three of us split up in search of an Irish guy named Patrick. He'd been swindling the life out of people - quite, literally. He'd made a young man into an elder and in turn, an elder into a young man. All from a hand of poker. The boys and I suspected magic of some kind so we knew we'd have to track him down.

I'd agreed to go with Sam while Dean went with Bobby. Who knows how Sam had talked him into letting him take Baby, though.

Sam nodded to me, concern etched in his eyes, "I know, Parks. It'll get better, though. I promise. You'll be happy again one day-"

"Will I?" I interrupted, twisting in my seat to face him, "'Cause Sammy, it doesn't feel like that now..."

"Look, Dean..." he sighed, shaking his head, "He just needs time. And maybe...maybe eventually, we all can get back to the way things used to be,"

I nodded solemnly, taking in his words, "How is that going, by the way? You and Dean, I mean?"

Sam shrugged, frowning sadly, "He's starting to trust me a bit more, I think. But it's still not like it once was..."

I nodded again, leaning my head back against the headrest as buildings flew by in the rear-view mirror. Soon, we arrived at the motel and I hopped out of the Impala, Sam following soon after with the Taco Bell we'd picked up.

"Don't forget my caramel apple empanada, Sammy!" I called over my shoulder as I let myself into the room.

Sam set the food down on the table, the keys clattering on the wood.

"Hey, Dean? You find anything?" Sam called out.

Plopping into a seat, I immediately dug around in the paper bag for my food.

"Oh, you might say that," a unfamiliar deep voice replied.

I glanced up right as I was drinking my Dr. Pepper and choked on it as Sam and I did a double-take. Instantly, Sam was cocking his gun and I was scrambling trying to find my own. But when I couldn't, I just grabbed one of the tacos in the bag and held it out in front of me as a weapon. Sam arched an eyebrow at me but said nothing.

"Dude, relax!" the old man standing in front of us said, glancing over at me and my taco, "It's me, you idiot,"

His hair was white and deep wrinkles lined his eyes and mouth. I noticed that he was wearing a dark blue bathrobe and if it wasn't for the fact of us having a stranger in our motel room, I would've laughed out loud.

"Dean?" Sam asked hesitantly and my brown eyes widened.

"Wait, what?" I gaped as Sam lowered his gun before placing it on the table.

Warily, I unwrapped the taco in my hand and bit into it, plopping back into my chair.

"Hi," he said meekly to us both.

"What happened?" Sam asked him in shock.

"I, you know, found the game..." Dean trailed off, walking over to the table to dig food out of the bag.

"You f- wha- I thought you said you were good at poker?"

"I am. Shut up," he waved a hand dismissively, "So you were just gonna shoot some old guy? Is that it?"

"I didn't know what you were," Sam said defensively.

"Have you seen you? You look like-" I started to say, grinning from ear to ear.

"-the old chick in Titanic, I know, shut up," Dean grumbled, cutting me off.

"I was gonna say Emperor Palpatine," I shrugged, giggling.

"Shut up, idiot," he snapped at me, making me frown, "Quit piping up with your-your useless comments,"

"Well, if my comments are so useless to you Dean, then maybe I should just leave!" I shot back angrily.

Suddenly, the door burst open and in rolled Bobby, ending our argument.

"I see you met John McCain there," he huffed and Sam nodded.

"Yeah. Either of you wanna tell me what happened?"

"Bobby's an idiot, that's what happened," Dean said in between bits of a burger Sam had picked up for him at McDonald's before snapping at Bobby, "What were you thinking? He's a witch. He's been playing poker since guys wore tights,"

"You just don't get it,"

"Yeah, I get it, Bobby. You saw a chance to turn the hands of the clock back, and get out of that chair. Pretty tempting. I can imagine,"

"No, you can't,"

"You got me. I never been paralyzed. But I'll tell you something. I've been to Hell. There's an archangel there wanting me to drop the soap. Look at me. You see me bellyaching, huh?" Dean snapped at him.

"Actually, yeah," Sam piped up.

Dean grimaced suddenly and fell back into the chair beside me, "I'm having a heart attack,"

Sam and I both looked at him and immediately, I put a hand on his arm.

"Dean, are you okay?" I asked in concern and his green eyes met mine.

He may have aged 25 years but those eyes were still like glittering emeralds when I looked into them - like there was a hint of magic twinkling there.

"No, you're not," Bobby scoffed.

"What is it?" Dean asked shakily.

"Acid reflux. Guys your age can't digest certain foods. You're gonna need to put down that cheeseburger. So you wanna keep emoting or you wanna talk about solving this little issue of yours?" Bobby arched an eyebrow at the two of us and I removed my hand.

After a few more minutes of talking, Dean left to go get dressed and I threw away the burger and taco wrappers in the trash can. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and Dean went to answer it. Standing in the doorway a young, dark-haired maid.

"Ready for housekeeping, sir?" she asked him sweetly.

He leaned on the doorway, smirking at her, "Born ready,"

I felt my blood boil at his blatant flirting in front of me, clenching my jaw in anger.

Suddenly, the girl laughed and grinned at Dean, "You're just like my grandfather. He hits on anything that moves, too. You're adorable,"

A snicker emitted from my mouth as I walked off to the bathroom.

"And dangerous!" I heard Dean called after her as she entered the room.

Ha! Serves him right, I thought to myself. It didn't take long to find Patrick after that and Sam played a hand of poker with him to get Dean's years back. Bobby and I waited in the van for Dean since he had went in to Patrick's apartment. Bobby was trying in vain to get him on the cellphone since we hadn't heard from him in a while and it was making me nervous.

"Where is he Bobby?! He should be here by now!" I panicked, glancing every now and then at the front doors of the building.

Suddenly, though, Dean came walking out...a young Dean. I grinned, that familiar face making the anxiety melt away. Dean beamed over at us and skipped over to the van. Sam had come through like I knew he would. After the whole thing with Patrick, we were getting ready to head back to Bobby's place. Sam and Bobby were loading up the van and I was about to go out the door to help them when Dean grabbed my wrist, stopping me.

Glancing up, I met his brilliant green eyes and I sucked in a sharp breath at the contact. He cleared his throat as he released my wrist.

"I shouldn't have called you an idiot," he started to say, green eyes serious.

I scoffed, "Which time?"

He started to speak but thought better of it and started again, "I'm sorry. I was freaking out. I thought I'd be stuck that way for good. But it's still not a reason to take it out on you. Getting old ain't a bachelor party but dealing with the stuff you gotta deal-"

I knew exactly what he was referring to and I cut him off immediately, "Don't you go on pity patrol,"

Dean put his hands up in defense.

"I'm not. I'm not. I'm just - I'm saying, if I was in your shoes -" he began.

"You'd never stop complaining," I cut him off with a smirk and he shrugged.

"Fair enough... You're not useless, Parker," he told me softly and I bit my lip, feeling tears brimming in my eyes.

"Okay. Good talk," I said, trying to push past him.

But he grabbed my arms, pulling me back to face him, "Whoa, wait a minute. Listen to me,"

His fingertips left a trail of fire across my bare arms and I fought back a shiver.

"You don't stop caring for someone just because you break up. Okay?" he said and I nodded in response, a thick lump of tears stuck in my throat, "No matter what shape you're in, bottom line is you're family. Now, I don't know if you ever noticed, but me and Sam, we don't have much left,"

Finally, a few hot tears escaped and they rolled down my cheeks as I took in his words.

"I can't do this without you. I can't. So don't you dare think about leaving another time. I don't wanna hear that again," he continued, gently brushing tears from my face.

Slowly, I nodded as his hands fell back to his sides, "Okay,"

"Okay?" Dean asked me, eyes glued to mine, "Good..."

Grabbing my suitcase from beside the door, I walked out to the van then. And as I helped Sam load up the vehicle, I came to a realization - one that I hadn't thought of till now. I loved these boys too much to ever leave them anymore.