Reckless and Brave

LXI. Ramblin' Man (Part I)

[In The Beginning]

Holly woke from a dream about Lilith killing her over and over. She saw Castiel sitting on Dean's bed. "Hello, Dean. Hello, Holly. What were you two dreaming about?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "What, do you get your freak on by watching other people sleep? What do you want?"

"Listen to me. You two have to stop it."

"Stop what?" Dean and Holly asked.

Castiel put two fingers to Dean's forehead and two to Holly's.

Holly woke up to banging. An officer said, "Move it, miss--you can't sleep here."

"Okay..." She began. "Where then?"

"Anywhere but here."

Holly tried to call Sam or Bobby, but had no signal. "Awesome."

She got up and entered Jay Bird's Diner, moments before Dean. When he entered, he motioned for her to sit down and they sat next to a young man, Dean right next to him.

"Hey, where the hell are we?" Dean asked.

The man replied, "Jay Bird's Diner."

"Yeah, thanks. I mean, uh...city and state."

"Lawrence, Kansas."

Holly and Dean exchanged a subtle look as Dean muttered, "Lawrence."

"Hey, you okay buddy? You okay, miss?"

Holly nodded. "Tough night."

The man said, "Hey, uh, two coffees here, Reg."

"Okay, coming right up." Reg said.

Dean pulled out his cell phone, as did Holly. "Can you tell me where we can get reception on these things?"

"The USS Enterprise?"

Reg brought their coffees over and Holly's lip curled in disgust at the man's 70s hippie outfit. She'd never been one for 70s outfits.

Dean smiled. "Thanks...nice threads. You know Sonny and Cher broke up, right?"

"Sonny and Cher broke up?" The young man asked sadly.

The siblings looked around the diner seeing everyone dressed in 1970s clothing. Dean glanced at the newspaper and saw the headline, 'Nixon accepts resignation of top...' He noticed the date. Monday, April 30, 1973. Dean glanced to Holly and mouthed "Seventy three". Holly's eyes widened.

A man walked into the diner and said, "Hey, Winchester."

Dean, Holly, and the young man looked around, and the young man shook the man's hand.

"Son of a bitch." The man said. "How you doing, Corporal?"

"Hey, Mr. D."

"I heard you were back."

"Yeah, a little while now."

Mr. D. smiled. "Good to have you home, John, damn good."

"Dad?" Dean and Holly asked in quiet surprise.

"Well, say hello to your old man for me."

John nodded. "You got it, Mr. D." He noticed Dean and Holly staring at him. "Do we know each other?"

Dean shook his head. "I guess not."

John got up to leave. "Take it easy, pal. Watch out for your girl."