Chapter Text
Damn witches, witches with their stupid flashy spells that gave you nothing but a headache to rival the worst of hangovers and get dirt all over your leather jacket when you wake up in a ditch you don’t recognise. Pulling herself up she blinked attempting to take in her surroundings despite the pounding in her head, silence surrounded her, but that didn’t mean she wasn’t on edge. Claire knew about the many things that wouldn’t make a sound before it was too late.
She could feel the familiar weight of the silver knife hidden in her boot as her senses returned, the comforting coldness of her gun pressed into her side. Reaching for it she checked the clip relieved to see only a third of the clip gone, a pat down of her jacket made her grateful for the two spare clips and three extra knives she found. Her regular weapons were a small comfort. She still had no clue where she was or how her fight with the witch had led her here, and most importantly she had no clue where the witch had got to.
Checking her phone was no help either, wherever the witch had dumped her was too far off the beaten track for a signal. The trees weren't all that dense, hopefully meaning that she wasn’t too far from a road. A road was her best shot at people, and she needed to find out where she was in order to figure out what her plan here was. Her first step needed to be getting back to the motel. Alex, Patience and Donna were supposed to meet her there in the morning, and she was pretty sure she had missed their plans to go get breakfast given that her phone was telling her it was late afternoon. It had been the middle of the night when she had gone after the witch. Nowadays she rarely, if ever hunted on her own but the others weren't due to arrive till the next day and all she had planned on doing was a little reconnaissance, but when the witch started what looked like a ritual Claire couldn’t help but intervene. This is why she often found herself in situations like this, she never knew when to leave it alone.
If she didn’t make it back to a phone signal soon she’d have a whole search party out looking for her, and she didn’t want to worry everyone unnecessarily when she was perfectly fine, if a little dirt stained. Or worse she’d end up on the receiving end of a lecture from Jody or god forbid Dean if they felt the need to call the Winchesters to help find her. Getting lost like this would make her look helpless, unable to handle one witch on her own. She needed to find a way to let the others know she was fine before this hunt became even more of an embarrassment.
With a goal in mind, she trampled through the undergrowth, glad for the thick leather protecting her feet. Hiking had always been her least favourite part of hunting, too many variables to control. She could be completely surrounded without even knowing it was too late, and normally in a place as exposed as this, there were always people she trusted to have her back. But now she was on her own.
Hair blew into her face as the wind picked up, she popped the collar on her jacket to stop the chill creeping its way down her neck. Keeping track of time was difficult, she didn’t want to the battery die before she could use it so she turned it off and had only the sun to rely on. She never was a girl scout though so her method was pretty unreliable making her trek feel endless. Realistically it had probably been an hour, two at the max but with no clue how far away she was from a road if there even was one nearby, her resolve began to waiver. She couldn’t even know that when she found a road, she’d find a car with it.
She had to keep going though, she wasn’t going to let some random witch get the better of her. Not in this lifetime.
Eventually, her efforts paid off, the hard tarmac of the road firm beneath her feet was a relief after uneven woodland ground. At least now she was heading in the vague direction of civilisation. It was a better option than her aimlessly wandering around the woods hoping for the best, she might even get lucky and be able to find a road sign that would give her some idea of where she was.
There were no buildings in sight so a passing car was her best bet, hitchhiking was always a gamble, especially as a young woman but she was no stranger to it. Even if it had been years since she had to rely on the pity of strangers but she wasn’t all that worried, not with her gun in a position easy enough to reach. Besides she fought monsters all the time, a creep shouldn’t be too much trouble.
Quiet rumbling came from behind her, body sagging in relief she felt like she would collapse right there in the middle of the road, not moving until the car reached her. Hunting wasn’t exactly easy work, being able to move quickly and for a while could mean life or death for her but hours of walking with no food, water, company or something chasing her had been rough and she was starting to feel it. With her feet feeling heavy as rocks she would give anything to just be able to rest.
The rumbling grew louder as it drew closer, it had to be a real loud car if she heard it when she did, and it still hadn’t reached her, that’s when it hit her. She knew that car. Of course, it would be them that found her, her brief annoyance at once again being rescued by the Winchesters was short-lived as the sleek body of Dean’s stupid baby came into view. As annoying as Dean would be about this situation, they wouldn’t leave until they had personally handed her over to Donna, and after all those hours on her own, she was kind of grateful for that.
The car rolled to a stop next to her, noticing Dean’s open window and never one to pass up the opportunity to him she stuck her head in the window smiling and said, “Hey old man, running a little late for after school pick up aren’t you.”
Her smile dropped as she met the horrified eyes of a way too young looking Dean Winchester. Gone were the lines of age she had grown used to seeing and missing was the warm look in his eyes that he had when he saw her, replaced with unease and wariness. His attention settled on her jacket, oversized on her and its twin oversized on him. It had to be the same jacket, given that Dean had been the one to give it to her. Hastily he schooled the emotions on his face into a blank mask but not before Claire saw the shock and recognition on it. Quickly she looked to the passenger side finding a Sam that was almost unrecognisable. He looked the same age as Patience. Clearly whatever the witch had hit her with wasn’t as simple as she thought.
No one moved, they just stared at each other until a truck door slammed behind them, breaking the silence that had fallen over them.
“What’s going on here?”, barked the older guy eyeing her warily. His beard kind of reminded her of the Dean she knew but the coldness in his eyes as he stared her down put her on edge.
Like a bullet, Dean was out of the car standing between her and the man, “Dad just hold up a second.”
A glint of metal caught her eye, he was holding a machete, had it hiding behind his back. Dean had called the man Dad and Claire didn’t know a lot about his father, even Mary barely mentioned the man but she knew he had been a hunter. A hunter with a machete which meant vamps, and here she was a young woman stopping cars on an empty stretch of road. It wasn’t exactly a good look.
“I’m not a vamp,” she said, hoping to buy some time before she got a blade to the throat.
Three pairs of wide eyes shot to her, before cutting to each other in silent communication. Their dad brought the machete clear into view. Her words told him he no longer had to hide the weapon. An odd look passed over his face as he took in her appearance, eyes landing on her jacket with recognition and confusion.
Given baby Sam and Dean, and their dad who she knew for a fact was dead there was only one logical conclusion, time travel. It wasn’t exactly a common occurrence in the hunting work but given the number of times Dean had told her about his adventures with Elliot Ness it wasn’t an impossibility. Alternate reality could have been an option but it didn’t feel like one, they always had this sort of buzzing surrounding them telling you that you don’t belong there.
“This is going to sound crazy,” she locked eyes with Dean, if anyone was going to believe her it would be him, “but crazy is what we do, and I think a witch just sent me back in time.”
A stunned silence passed, thinking quick she grabbed her phone turning it back on, “Look at the date, look at the phone even. This technology won’t exist for another few years at least.”
“Dean keep an eye on her. Sam with me.” ordered their dad.
Claire expected Dean to argue back, never one to be ordered around, but all he gave was a quiet yes sir. With his order accepted he started to move, he didn’t wait to see if Sam was following. They went to a distance just far away enough that she couldn’t hear them but close enough that she was kept in their line of sight.
“So Marty McFly you got a name?” Dean asked.
It made her laugh, even now he was making his dumb movie references. At least he had something in common with his future self.
“Claire Novak.” She could give her name without worrying, it would be years before it meant something to him.
“Dean Winchester, and that over there is my brother Sam and my dad John,” he gestured in their direction, “but I figure you already knew that.”
She leaned her head to the side, questioning him. He raised his eyebrows giving her a familiar look, the one he always got when she questioned his intelligence.
“You recognised the car and called me old man which, rude by the way,” his affronted look was one she had received many times from his future counterpart, it was almost comical, “Plus you saw me and Sam and knew that you’d hitched a ride in a Delorean to 2006.” He glanced at their identical jackets but something stopped him from mentioning it.
“It’s 2006?” she asked shocked, that meant she was 15 years in the past.
“Yeah, what year you from anyway?” There was something in the way he asked, something akin to hope.
“2021.” She answered.
Dean stood up straighter, more alert now. A wave of shock passed over his face before he forced it away. “You mean I make it to my forties?” He seemed to register the morbidity of his question before she had a chance to respond so he joked, “No wonder you called me old.”
She doesn’t know why but looking at a Dean who was her age so surprised that he survived his thirties. He hadn’t even asked what his future holds, just that he makes it. She felt the need to let him know that despite everything he has to go through, he has a future he can look forward to. He had never mentioned meeting her in the past, and he’ll probably have his mind wiped by whoever gets her back. Whatever she tells him shouldn’t have huge consequences, “You get out by the way.”
His eyes shoot to her full of disbelief and hope. His mouth opened seemingly to ask her but before he could Sam and John had stopped their discussion and were heading back towards them.
“Say we believe you,” said John, “it would be some pretty powerful magic that sent you here. We can help you out but we’ve got our own hunt to deal with first. Stick around, Dean here will make sure that nothing else gets to you in the meantime.”
Apparently when he gave orders no one was exempt, and she was meant to follow no questions asked.
“We shouldn’t be too long checking out these vamps and once we’ve dealt with that we can handle your problem.” His tone allowed for no disagreement. “Dean stay here with her, keep an eye out for anything, we’ll be back soon.”
“Yes sir.” Answered Dean.
With his order received John walked away.
Sam didn’t even say a word before following after him.
Claire knew that Dean had a complicated relationship with his father, even if he never brought it up directly but seeing it in person it was difficult to watch. If this was who she had to rely on to get home it would be harder than she thought, just dealing with John Winchester was driving her insane, actually working with him, that’s if he let her she had a feeling a lot of orders would be sent her way soon. It just made her miss home all the more, even when Jody had been trying to stop her from hunting it was clear she just wanted Claire to be safe, and they’d figured it out in the end.
Dean had opened the trunk along with the false bottom, she could hear him rifling through the weapons he had before he emerged holding two machetes holding one out to her.
“Just in case.” He sounded distracted like he was still thinking about what she had told him about his future.
“Thanks,” she took the blade considering its weight in her hand, taking a moment to think about what she should say. This Dean wasn’t like the one she knew, the Dean she knew looked out for her and made sure she wasn’t acting like a dumbass that would get herself killed, he was overprotective and embarrassing but he cared about her a lot. The Dean in front of her was practically the same age, more an equal but not quite. She had answers about his future and potentially knew more about his life than he did. Even if he wouldn’t remember she could give him a small moment of hope.
“You’re not like totally out, but you don’t go on hunts anymore,” she told him, “you’ve kind of become the guy people call when they haven’t got a clue what they’re dealing with considering you’ve had to deal with practically everything you kind of know a lot of shit. So whenever we need help we turn to you.”
Still, his face showed doubt over what she said, Claire had already told him this much and she might as well go big because going home wasn’t really an option. Besides, if she could give him enough proof to believe what she was saying, that in the future she meant something to him, he might be more inclined to help her. He was already on her side it seemed but she’d need him to convince his family that she was worth listening to at least.
“I have photos if you want to see for yourself.” She began to pull her phone out when he interrupted.
“Isn’t that like against the rules of time travel? Butterfly effect and all that,” he said, awkwardly sticking his hands in his pockets, his nerves about her answers starting to show, but he nods so she unlocks her phone.
A couple of weeks ago Jody and Donna hosted a barbeque as an excuse to get everyone together and Dean had somehow gotten hold of her phone and taken a load of dumb selfies with anybody he could find. All of them were varying degrees of stupid, from the unique combination of alcohol, sun and Dean. Claire didn’t even know where he got half the dumb props he was using and she lived there.
She swiped through them steadily, Jody and Donna at the grill making funny faces, Dean and Eileen both doing bunny ears behind an unsuspecting Sam, her, Alex and Patience laughing in the sun as Dean partially in frame with a massive Easter bonnet on his head and finally Cas, Dean and Jack in matching cowboy hats and massive sunglasses. Dean and Jack with giant toothy grins and Cas with a resigned smile at their antics.
“I look happy,” he whispered in surprise and Claire could understand that, being at a point in your life where any sort of future was unobtainable, let alone a happy one.
“You are,” she considered how much she should tell him, even if he wouldn’t remember some of the crap he had been through was insane, “it was a long road and from what I know of it, it wasn’t easy.”
He smiled ruefully at her, “It never is, not for people like us.”
“No, but that doesn’t mean we can’t be happy even if we have to fight for it.” She met his eyes, needing him to hear her, “Family don’t end with blood right. Remember that and you’ll be alright. Eventually.” He looked away.
The silence between them grew as he took in her words, refusing to meet her eyes. He freaked her out like this. The Dean she knew was loud and took up space, he took charge of a situation, he wasn’t this man in front of her, someone who followed orders without complaint. She didn’t know a lot about John Winchester, Dean never spoke about him even when telling a story about his childhood, and Sam’s stories were few and far between. From what she had figured out it had been a tough relationship, growing up hunting didn’t exactly equate to a good childhood.
“So,” he awkwardly cleared his throat, “I can’t help noticing that we’ve worn the same outfit to prom.”
She glanced down at her old leather jacket, a little more weathered but still the same as the one he wore in front of her. She had never seen him wearing it before.
“Yeah, it was a gift. I had my own but it ended up being the last victim of a werewolf in Nebraska and I ran into you not long after. I was complaining about the loss of mine when you disappeared and chucked this at me.” she ran her fingers over the smooth leather remembering the odd look of pride on Dean’s face when he gave it to her, “I’d never seen you in it before so I didn’t actually know you owned something this cool.” she joked.
“You’d never seen me wear it?” he asked confused.
“Is that odd?”, Claire didn’t see why it would be. When he gave it to her the box had so much dust on the lid that it looked like it had been in there for years, the box was well maintained but in a manner that suggested it had been put away out of sight.
“I never take it off,” his voice sounded strangled, “It’s my dad’s.”
Which explained a lot and Claire was not touching that with a ten-foot pole. Fathers and their children, it never was easy.
The light rumbling of an engine saved her from having to answer, both reached for their machetes, ready if they had to be. They lowered them but didn’t relax when they saw the other two Winchesters in the truck driving towards them. Hopefully, they would be willing to help her, in this time they were all she had.
Beside her Dean’s entire demeanour changed, back straight and head forward. A soldier awaiting his orders.