prologue, bad omens
what if...?

Dean woke up in an unknown bed, which wasn't something new to him. But this time it felt different. Sitting on the bed, Dean examined the room he was in. Quickly realizing that it wasn't the typical motel room where he and Sam used to stay in on their hunting trips. This one looked like a house.

It was then that he noticed that he wasn't alone. Turning his head, his eyes met the figure of a woman lying next to him. Her face was against the pillow, almost completely hidden by the blond hair that slid down over her.

He moved quickly, making sure not to wake her. Confused by the situation, Dean grabbed some clothes sitting on a chair by the bedroom door and moved down the hallway until he reached a large living room. Turning on the lights, Dean grabbed his phone making a quick call to his brother.

"Dean?" Sam's voice sounded confuse by the call but Dean didn't seem to notice.

"Sam"

"What's going on?" The young Winchester asked with a frown.

"I don't know. I don't know where I am"

"What? What happened?" His confuse tone change into a more concern one.

"The uh... the Djinn. It attacked me" Dean explained pacing around the room.

"The gin? You're... drinking gin?"

"No, asshat. The Djinn" Dean corrected him. "The uh, scary creature. Remember? It put its hand on me and I woke up next to some hot chick..."

"Who? Freya?"

"I'm sorry. What?" Dean stopped his footsteps with that name echoing in his head. "Fre... Freya? Did you just said Freya?"

"Yeah. Your girlfriend." Sam pointed out. "Dean, you're drunk. You're drunk-dialing me."

Dean was confused by his brother's response, but still managed to answer him. "I'm not drunk. Quit screwing around!"

"Look, it's late." Sam said. "Alright, just get some sleep and I'll... see you tomorrow. Ok?"

Dean was still shocked by the fact that Sam had stated that some girl name Freya was his girlfriend, that he couldn't stop him from hanging up.

He knew a Freya once. In fact, he was in love with her. Which wasn't something Dean said very often. And he left her years back, way before his father went missing, before he went to Stanford to look for his brother and both started hunting together.

Still confuse, his eyes fell over some envelopes that lay down the dinning table. He picked them up, looking at the name and address written in them.

It was Freya's name written on two of them that confirmed his suspicions. The girl in the bed was in fact his Freya. But his attention quickly traveled to the address written underneath.

"Lawrence?" He mumbled, confused.

"Dean?" Her sweet voice call from the living room's door making him turn to face her. She looked as he remembered her, just as beautiful, even with her tousled hair and sleepy green eyes. "What are you doing up?"

"Freya. Hey." His voice trembled as he spoke her name. He really thought he was never going to see her again. But there she was, walking toward him with a sleepy smile on her lips. "I just uh..."

"What is it? you can't sleep?" She spoke, raising her eyes to his, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Yeah"

"Well, why don't you come back to bed and let's see if I can do anything to help" She smiled, intertwining her fingers with the hairs on the lower part of his head.

"Sure." Dean was quick to answered. It would be a lie if he said he had never dream of being back with her. Of having her this close, smiling at him with such loving eyes. "Yeah. In a minute." He assured her. "You - you go ahead."

"Okay." Her smile grew before she rested her lips on his. This action took Dean by surprise, but he didn't pull back. He accepted the kiss, his hands settling on her waist, pulling her closer to his body. "Don't stay up too long." She said, stepping away from him.

Dean nodded, watching her disappear down the hallway that led back to the bedroom.

Confused by the whole situation, Dean ran to look at the picture frames lying on the shelves in the living room. Some of those photos were taken at times he remembered living with Freya, but others were completely unknown to him. After all, he wasn't much of a picture taker.

However, the photo that caught his attention the most was another one. His heart stopped beating for a moment when he saw it. The frame fell from his hands, shattering on the floor as he went to the door of the house, leaving the place without saying goodbye.

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His eyes scanned the facade of the house he had barely lived in for the first four years of his life. Carefully he rang the doorbell. The porch lights came on seconds later and the door was soon opened.

When his eyes met the woman on the other side of it, Dean could have sworn he couldn't breathe. She looked just as he remembered her.

"Dean?" Mary Winchester looked at him, worry and confusion all over her eyes.

Dean kept quiet, staring at her for a few seconds, not believing his eyes.

"Mom?" He managed to say. His voice coming it broken, on the verge of crying.

"What are you doing here? Are you all right?"

"I don't know."

"Well... come inside." She stepped asides, leaving him space to enter the house. He did so, his eyes still on her.

"Freya just called and said you just... took off all of a sudden." Mary said, locking the door after him.

"Freya?" He frowned. He was so mesmerized by the figure of his mother in front of him that for a few seconds he had forgotten about the girl. "Right. Let me ask you a question. When I was a kid, what did you always tell me when you put me to bed?"

Mary looked at him with confusion.

"Dean, I don't understand-"

"Just answer the question." He insisted. Not sure if the woman in front of him was really his mother.

"I told you angels were watching over you." She answered.

Dean sighed, walking towards her to wrapped his arms around her body on a tight hug.

"I don't believe it."

"Honey, you're scaring me." Her words caused Dean to pull away from her. "Now just tell me what's going on."

"You don't think that wishes can, can really..."

"What?" Mary interrupted him, even more confuse.

"Forget it." He said, hugging her again. "Forget it. I'm just uh... I'm happy to see you, that's all."

He could feel the tears building up in his eyes. He was about to cry but he manage to pulled it together and released the hug, looking at her.

"You're beautiful" Dean said with a little laugh.

Mary smiled at him. "What?"

Dean cleared his throat, taking his eyes away from her and surveying the house.

"Hey, when I was uh... When I was young was there ever a fire here?" He asked, looking at the shelves full of books and photos.

"No. Never."

"I thought there was." He muttered to himself, admiring the family photos that adorned the living room. "I guess I was wrong."

Mary stood silently, watching as her eldest son admired the memories in those photos. It was the life Dean had always wanted to live and had never been able to. Pictures of graduation and prom dance, family moments with his parents and brother. A normal life, away from supernatural beings and hunting.

Dean grabbed one of his fathers photos in his hands. "Dad's on a softball team." He mutter to himself before turning back to look at his mother. "Dad's... Dad's softball team. It's... That's funny to me."

"He loved that stupid team." She said.

"Dad's dead?" Dean asked with a frown. "And the thing that killed him was a..."

"A stroke. He died in his sleep. You know that." She replied, beginning to worry about her son's strange attitude.

"That's great."

"Excuse me?"

"That - that's great. That he went peacefully, I mean." He clarified, putting the photo back in its place. "It sure beats the alternative."

Mary continued to stare at him, looking for a reasonable reason for his strange attitude. "You've been drinking."

"No, I haven't. Mom."

"I'm just gonna call Freya and have her come pick you up, ok?" She said walking towards the phone.

"Wait. No, no!" He exclaimed, placing a hand over hers, which was already clutching the phone. "Don't - don't do that. Don't do that. I wanna stay here."

"Why?"

"Because I-I miss the place." Dean answered. "It's okay, you- you go to bed. Okay?"

He walked over to the couch, sitting down on it. Mary gave him a slight smile, placing a hand on his cheek in an affectionate motherly way. Dean leaned against it, enjoying her warm touch on his skin.

"Are you sure you're all right?" She asked again, concerned.

"I think so." He nodded.

"Okay." She leaned down and kissed his forehead, like all mothers do, before she started to leave the room. "Get some rest. I love you."

"Me too."

Mary smiled, turning the lights of the hallway off and going to bed, leaving him there. Dean stayed sit on the couch, looking perplexed.

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Dean remembered many things about Freya, but the one that mattered most to him at the moment was about her father. Henry Holloway was a college professor specialized in mythology. He taught about different cultures and the lore of various supernatural creatures. As far as Dean knew, to him and Freya they were just stories, tales, but Dean knew they were true.

So the next morning, Dean returned to the apartment where he had woken up the night before. It seemed to be his home, which he shared with the girl. She greeted him with concern, but he was quick to assure her that she had nothing to worry about, changing the subject to ask her about what he really wanted to know.

"What can you tell me about Djinns?" He asked her.

The question took her by surprise but she answered him anyway, placing some books in the dinner table.

"A lot of Muslims believed the Djinn are very real. And they're mentioned in the Koran-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I know. Get to the wish part." He interrupted her.

"What about it?" She looked at him, confused.

"Do you think they could really do it?"

"Um... Uh, no. No, I don't think they can 'really do it'." She answered. "Babe, you understand these are mythic creatures, right?"

"Yeah, I know. I-I-I know. I know. But uh... I mean in the stories. You know, say you had a wish, uh. But you never even said it out loud. Like that, uh... that a loved one never died. Or that, uh, something awful never happened."

"Supposedly, yes." She nodded. "I mean they have godlike power. They can alter reality however they want. Past. Present. Future."

"Why would the Djinn do it?" He asked in a whisper, resting his hands on the table, looking at the books in front of him. "What, self-defense? Or maybe it's not really evil."

"Dean, honey, are you ok?" Freya asked, resting a hand on his shoulder. Dean nodded, looking up at her.

"Yeah. No. I'm ok. I'm fine, just curious. Don't worry."

"Okay." She gave him a warm smile. "I'm gonna take a shower, prepare for your moms birthday later today"

"It's her birthday?" He looked at her in surprise.

"Yeah." She nodded. "Please, don't tell me you forgot"

"No. No. I remember." He assured, giving her a warm smile, just like the one she had given him seconds before. Just like that, she leaned into him, pressing her lips to his in a small peck. Dean accepted the gesture, brushing aside a strand of hair falling over her face, stroking her cheek with his thumb as he tucked it behind her ear. The smile on Freya's lips widened before she pulled away from him. She didn't want to, but she had to go get ready.

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That evening the whole family gathered at an elegant restaurant to celebrate Mary's birthday. Dean felt a little out of place in that restaurant, but he was happy. He was happy for his mother. He was happy to see Sammy and Jess. And he was happy to have Freya by his side. Even confused by the whole situation, Dean tried his best to hide it.

"All right. To mom." Sam raised his glass with a smile on his lips. "Happy birthday."

"Happy birthday." Jess smiled.

"Thank you." Mary smiled back, clinking glasses with everyone.

Freya smiled towards her before looking at Dean, who was watching the plate in front of him with a forced smile. He then looked up, watching as Jess and Sam gave each other a quick kiss. He seemed happy for them.

"You okay?" She decided to ask. Dean turned to her, nodding. His eyes detail her face as if he was afraid she was going to disappear at any moment.

"Yeah. I'm great." He nodded, giving her a quick smile.

"Good." She sighed, smiling back at him. "What do you say, later we get us a cheeseburger? Maybe a pie as well?"

"Oh God, yes." Freya couldn't help but smile tenderly at his reaction. "How did I end up with you?"

"Just got low standards." She shrugged with amusement. Dean let out a small laugh, leaning toward her to press their lips together in a kiss.

"All right. Jess and I actually have another surprise for Mom's birthday." Sam spoke, gaining everyone's attention. "Ah... You wanna tell 'em?"

"They're your family."Jess smiled shyly as she felt his gaze on her.

"What? Tell me what?" Mary asked, smiling at them. At that moment, Sam grabbed Jess' hand, showing the ring on her finger. "Oh my God! That's so wonderful." Exclaimed, standing up to hug them. "Congratulations."

"Thank you." Jess smiled back at her, accepting Freya's hug, who also congratulated her.

"Sam, I'm so happy for you two" Freya exclaimed, hugging his boyfriends little brother.

"Thank you, Freya" He smiled back at her, watching as his brother approached them.

"Congratulations, Sammy." He said, patting his shoulder.

"Thanks." Sam smiled back, confused by the nickname.

"I'm really glad you're happy." Dean spoke, pulling him in for a hug. Sam accepted the embrace, looking a little puzzled as he pulled away.

Dean's attention suddenly left his family. His eyes traveled to the other side of the restaurant, coming across the figure of a girl he had seen earlier that morning on the streets of Lawrence. She was wearing a white dress, this time much dirtier than the last time he had seen her. She was staring at him in silence.

Freya frowned as she watched him walk away. She couldn't see the girl, but Dean couldn't miss the chance to talk to her. A man passed in front of him, giving him a confused look. Dean was about to apologize when his eyes realized the girl had disappeared.

Dean then turned to look at his family, who were looking at him with concern.

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The dinner whent by, and now back at Mary's house Freya continued to worry about Dean and what had happened at the restaurant. However, she was not the first to ask about it. Sam beat her to it.

"So, Dean, what was uh... what was all that back at the restaurant?"

"Ah... I-I thought I saw someone. I'm sure it's nothing." It was the only thing he replied, but he could notice Freya's worried look on him. She was as he remembered her, like she could see right through him.

"Well, I had a lovely birthday." Said Mary with a smile. "Thank you. Good night."

"Good night." Freya and Jess were the first to respond, but her children soon followed. She waved at them in goodbye as she walked up the stairs to her room.

"Yeah, well I'm beat." Sighed Sam, turning toward Jess. "Ready to turn in?"

"Sure." She nodded.

"All right. Good night guys."

"Bye-"

"Wait a second." Dean stoped them. "Wait a second. Come on, it's not even nine o'clock yet. Let's uh... Let's go have a drink or something."

"Yeah, maybe another time" Sam replied.

"Come on, man." Dean insisted. "Look at us. Huh? We both have beautiful women on our arms. You're engaged. Let's go celebrate."

His words left an awkward silence between the two couples but Dean didn't seem to understand why. Sam turned to Freya and Jess.

"Guys, can you excuse us? I just want to talk to my brother for a sec." He asked them.

"Sure." Jess nodded. "Come on, Freya."

The girl gave Dean one last look before leaving the house.

She walked to Dean's car in the company of Jess. She liked the girl. In fact she wished she could get to know her more, spend more time with her. But the poor relationship between Sam and Dean, and the fact that they didn't live in Kansas, complicated things.

The two talked for the next five minutes. Specifically about how Sam's marriage proposal had gone and about the wedding plans they had.

Sam was the first to leave the house, quickly saying goodbye to Freya to get into his car with his now fiancé. When Dean left the house, he didn't said anything. He walked to the driver's seat in silence with his eyes on the floor. Freya could feel him clench his fist in frustration, but decided not to ask, sitting in the Impala's passenger seat.

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Back at home, Dean rested on the couch while Freya changed clothes. When she returned to the living room she was wearing a T-shirt that clearly belonged to him, as it was a few sizes too big. She was also wearing sweatpants and her hair was up in a bun. A couple of strands fell down her face. She looked perfect. So perfect that Dean couldn't take his eyes off her.

"What?" She looked at him in confusion, stoping in her tracks.

"Nothing." He shook his head. "It's just... you look beautiful. You always do." He admitted, admiring her.

Freya couldn't help but blush, feeling his eyes roaming up and down her body. She tilted her head, her eyes narrowing as she watched him closely.

"You're sweet. Thank you." She smiled. "What are you watching?" She walked over to the couch, sitting down next to him.

"Oh, nothing. I was thinking."

"You want to talk about it?" She reached out her hand toward him, stroking his arm.

"It's Sammy. Him and I... We don't get along." His eyes traveled to her.

"Well, you don't really spend a lot of time together. I mean, I just think you don't know each other all that well." She admitted getting closer to him. "But, for the record: He doesn't know what he's missing." She smiled, placing a kiss on his cheek, toying with his hair. Dean relaxed at her touch, even though his mind couldn't stop thinking about his little brother.

"I can fix things with Sam. I can make it up to him. To everyone."

"Okay." Freya sighed. "What's gotten into you lately?"

"This isn't gonna make a lick of sense to you." He assured. "But I kind of feel like I've been given a second chance. And I don't wanna waste it."

"You're right, that doesn't make any sense-" Dean cut her off by kissing her lips. Freya smiled before deepening the kiss. Leaning into him, her arms traveled to his shoulders to pull him closer to her. Dean smiled in the middle of the kiss as his hands rested on her hips.

"You know, I get it." He mumbled, pulling slightly away.

"Get what?" Her eyes scanned him as her hands traveled to his cheeks.

"Why you're the one." He answered. Freya couldn't help but smile at his words.

"Okay. Whatever's gotten into you... I like it." She pressed their lips together once more. Dean wrapped his arms around her waist and leaned over her. Their kiss began to deepen, filling with passion as he laid her down on the couch.

As a moan left her lips, Dean began to move his kisses down her neck. "Ohhh... come on! Don't do this to me now. I've gotta sleep. I need to go pick up Peter tomorrow morning."

"Peter?"

"Yeah. I told you he was gonna come visit us." She answered, separating from him and getting off the couch.

Dean then remembered who Peter was. Freya's little brother who he had never met. She always talked about him with love. It remained him of the love he had for Sam. He wished to meet him, but as Freya went to sleep things begin to go wrong. He was watching TV when the news showed him that the people him, Sam and their father had been saving those last two years where dead in this reality. Because the fact that they weren't hunters give the monsters room to kill.

He went to his father grave, thinking of what he should do. He knew that life wasn't real, but why did he had to go back to his normal life. Why did he have to leave Freya again for the same reason he had left her in the first place. He loved her, so why did he have to give her up. He knew it was the right thing to do, but that didn't make things better or any easier.

He grabbed everything he needed to kill the Djinn and, in Sam's company, he went to kill him. That's when he realized that maybe all of that wasn't as simple as wish coming true, it was some sort of dream. Nothing was real. Freya, his mom, even Sam. They weren't real. He need to wake up. And for that he need to be about to die. So that's what he did, despite the pleas of all the people he loved, telling him that that place was real, that he was real, and that this life was better than the one he had before.

Despite not wanting to, Dean forced himself to wake up from that dream. He wanted to stay, but the other part of him knew he had to go back to Sam. The real Sam.

The Djinn was taking advantage of his trance to drain his blood, but Sam had found him just in time. Together they killed the Djinn, saved the other victim, the girl Dean had been seeing in his dream, and got out of the place he had been held.

─── ❖ ── ✦ ── ❖ ───

Back in the motel room, Dean couldn't stop thinking about Freya. He fiddled with his phone nervously. He could call her, he had her phone number. But he had walked away from her for a reason, and that reason was still there.

"Ok, uh, thank you so much for the update. Ok, bye." Sam hung up his phone, turning back to look at his brother. "That was the hospital. Girl's been stabilized. Good chance she's gonna pull through."

"That's good." Dean mumbled.

"Yeah." He sighed, looking at him with concern. "How about you? You all right?"

Dean nodded, clearing his throat. "Yeah, I'm all right." He felt silent for a few seconds. He could sense that his brother didn't believe his words just by the look he gave him. "You should have seen it, Sam. Our lives." Dean spoke again. "You were such a wussy."

The young Winchester couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. "So we didn't get along then, huh?"

"Nah."

"Yeah... I thought it was supposed to - to be this perfect fantasy."

"It wasn't. It was just a wish." Dean explained. "I wished for mom to live. That mom never died, we never went hunting and you and me just never uh... you know."

"Yeah." He nodded. "Well, I'm glad we do. And I'm glad you dug yourself out, Dean. Most people wouldn't've had the strength, would have just stayed."

"Yeah... Lucky me." He whispered to himself, standing up. "I gotta tell you though, man. You know, you had Jess. Mom was gonna have grandkids..."

"Yeah, but... Dean... it wasn't real." Sam interrupted him.

"I know. But I wanted to stay." Dean admitted. His eyes traveled to the floor of the room as sadness washed over him at the memory of his mother's arms holding him, the warmth in his heart at the sight of her in front of him, alive. Freya's smile and her scent. Everything he no longer had. "I wanted to stay so bad. I mean, ever since Dad... all I c– all I can think about is how much this job's cost us. We've lost so much. We've... sacrificed so much."

"But people are alive because of you." Sam pointed out. A response to which Dean couldn't help but scoff. "It's worth it, Dean. It is. It's not fair, and... you know, it hurts like hell, but... it's worth it."

Dean wasn't sure he was right, but he hadn't lived through the alternative enough to confirm it either.