With winter holding on tightly to Sioux Falls and the relative peace of the supernatural world still clinging on for now, the time had come for a little intervention. Dean and Jo had made a request of Ayden, who had done her research, asked for help, and was pretty sure she had what they wanted. Now all they needed to do was to ask the main participant. They knew Sam might be a little reluctant to even admit that he was struggling still, but despite the closeness in their ages in this timeline, he was still their son. They needed to help him out as best they could, and the only way they could think of was to give him a glimpse of the future he had put into effect.

The problem wasn't so much Sam's happiness. He was happy with Becky and with his place in the family. He was confident he'd made the right decision in staying behind when Hope had returned to the future, but it wasn't that simple. He'd known what his place was in the future, what it was he was supposed to do. Here - in this timeline, in this Sioux Falls, in this world - everything was different. He'd been studying with the Men of Letters, but in a place where the conflict with Hades had been resolved, he wasn't sure where he was supposed to go from here. And then, there was the problem of his younger self - of the Sam that would grow up in a very different world to become a very different person than himself.

But in the end, it always seemed to circle back around to Hope. What had happened when she'd returned to her own time" Was she safe" Was she happy' Sure, she had her brother back, but it wasn't him. Together, they'd helped change the future for the better, but it had left Sam feeling like a boat without a rudder and without the one person in his life who had always helped him keep an even keel - Hope.

The sound of Sam's car pulling up to his parents' house warned them of his impending arrival. Jo was already heading for the door as she called out to Dean.

"He's here!"

"Oh, goody," Dean grumbled sarcastically. "Should I hide and then jump out and shout 'Surprise'?" he asked, not really expecting an answer.

He'd been feeling agitated all morning. He didn't really want to have this little talk with the adult version of his son, but he knew that for Sam's peace of mind, it was necessary. Hell, for his own peace of mind, it was necessary. Somehow, they had to make Sam understand that everything happens for a reason - even this.

"Only if you're planning to drop your pants at the same time," Jo countered, letting the grumbling pass her by. She was just as agitated, but she definitely handled it better than her husband. Opening up the door, she leaned on the frame, hugging her cardigan about herself, smiling warmly at Sam. "Hey, little man."

"Drop my pants and shout 'Pudding'?" Dean asked with a smirk, but that joke was likely lost on Jo. That had been another lifetime ago, one he had put to rest a long time ago.

"Geez, Mom," Sam grumbled as he made his way up the walk to the door. "I haven't been a 'little man' in a long time." In fact, these days, he towered over her, nearly as tall as his father.

"You're still my little man," Jo insisted fondly. She smiled at how similar Sam was to Dean, right down to the grumbling. "C'mon in, warm up. Becky's at the bunker until tomorrow, right?" She ignored Dean's private joke, knowing it was probably hilarious in context.

"I'll put the coffee on!" Dean called over, hightailing it to the kitchen. It wasn't that he was being a coward exactly, but he thought maybe mother and son needed a few minutes alone. At least, that was his excuse, and he was sticking to it.

Sam couldn't help but smirk. "Dad being a coward?" he asked his mother quietly. "And yeah, Becky won't be back 'til tomorrow."

"Little bit!" she agreed, closing the door behind her grown son. "I get it, though. He's all wound up. You know what he's like when it comes to talking to people he loves."

"Um, he talks to you all the time," Sam pointed out, shrugging out of his coat as he stepped inside. He was perhaps the one person in all of South Dakota who never complained about the snow or the cold. It beat the hell out of Hades' version of the climate.

"Well, yeah, but that's because I never give him a choice," Jo answered, with absolute honesty. "He makes me talk about my issues, so I do the same back to him. And today, little man, it's your turn."

Sam frowned, not because she'd referred to him as a "little man" again - he had a feeling it was useless scolding her about it. No, it was the reason they'd asked him to come over. There was something they wanted to talk to him about, and he had a feeling he knew what it was.

"Mom, I'm fine. Really. You don't need to worry," he assured her, turning to hang his coat on a hook near the door, like a good son.

"I know you're fine," she told him. "But I also know you're grieving, honey. If anyone knows this feeling you're struggling with, it's me and it's your dad. We just want to help."

There was that frown again as he turned back to face her. There was no point in denying it, though they hadn't lost anyone in some years. The reason for his grief had been the elephant in the room for some time now, and he needed to face it and come to terms with it before it poisoned his relationship with Becky. He knew that, but he wasn't quite sure how to do it. "I know you want to help, and I appreciate that, but unless you can bring Hope back, there's not much you can do."

"I know," she said gently. "We can't bring her back, and this Hope might never be the Hope you remember and love. But we can show you the future you created by coming back here, and by staying. And maybe your dad can help you let go a little. Okay?"

"Show me the future?" he echoed, frowning skeptically. "You mean like when Hades took Dad to the future?" he asked, remembering the story his father had told him umpteen gazillion times. It was all there in Dean's journal, too. Though Hades had hoped to trap Dean there and kill him, his plan had backfired, and Dean had returned more determined to defeat Hades than before.

"No, honey." Jo lead him toward the kitchen as she spoke. "I mean Ayden and Clotho have put their heads together and found a way to make it so that you can witness the future."

Sam furrowed his brows in confusion. "Mom, I don't need to see the future. I know it's better. That's why Hope and I came here - to make it better." Not only for themselves, but for the entire world.

"Don't argue with me," she warned. "You're wallowing, even if you keep saying you're not, and the first step to pulling yourself out of that is to see the positives you've created just by being here. Now sit your butt down and drink coffee with your dad a sec, I need to make sure your sisters aren't throttling each other in their sleep." This was a blatant reversal of what Dean had done just a few minutes earlier, but at least the Winchester men knew Jo wasn't going to abandon them for more than ten minutes.

Sam eyed his father, not quite believing him. He knew his father visited his brother's grave on a regular basis, but he also knew his father had come from a different reality, just as Sam had come from a different point in time. They both knew that anything was possible, and that death wasn't final.

"Pie?" Dean asked, with a gleam in his eyes, even as his son eyed him carefully.

"Like I'm going to tell you first," Jo countered her husband affectionately. She tilted her head toward Sam, waiting for him to come to the decision on his own. Ayden was just waiting for the word, but it had to be Sam's word.

There was only one way to really, truly know what the future held and that was to take a peek at it, if he was brave enough. "What if the future isn't as rosy as we think?" he asked.

Jo met his eye, speaking with absolute confidence. "Then we fix it, and one of us takes another look to make sure it sticks," she said simply. "I'm not going to let the world our children will grow up in go to hell because of something we did or didn't do."

"Isn't that cheating?" Sam asked, looking from one parent to the other again.

Dean grinned. "You're damned right it is." He wasn't about to defend it. Gods, angels, demons - they cheated all the time, so was he going to apologize if they cheated now and then" Hell, no. He was going to use every advantage they had for the benefit of humanity.

"The way I see it, the Olympians brought us here to save the world," Jo said with a shrug. "So that's what we'll do. Over and over again, if we have to."

"Damn straight," Dean said, reaching to take Jo's hand, his expression one of obvious love and devotion. Whatever had happened in their reality before they'd been brought here, it was obvious the pair was inseparable now. "Can we have pie now?"

She smiled at him, squeezing his hand. "Nope," was her answer, sweet and calm and utterly unrelenting. "Later." She turned her eyes back to Sam, her smile softening once again. "So what do you want to do?"

Dean pouted, more like a child than a full-grown man, but said nothing. He'd just have to wait a little while for the promised dessert, which was all the more reason for his son to make up his mind.

Sam didn't seem to care either way about pie right now. He was too busy contemplating the pros and cons of "cheating". "It would probably be stupid of me to say no," he admitted.

"It's your decision, Sam," Jo reiterated firmly. "We can't make the decision for you. But I think this will help you, a lot more than you're willing to believe it will."

There was no one Sam trusted more than his mother, even if this Jo wasn't really the woman who'd raised him. It wasn't that he didn't trust anyone else, but the bond between mother and son had been a strong one - not unlike the bond Dean had had with his own mother so many years ago. If she thought this was best for him, then he trusted her judgment implicitly. "Okay, but if I see anything I don't think is right, I'm going to try and change it."

"Of course we will," she agreed, making it a family affair once again. "Who wants to yell for Ayden" You two both have a closer bond with her than I do."

"I'll do it," Dean volunteered. "Besides, I have to let the dog out," he said. More like a puppy - a very precocious border collie named Bandit, who had been a Christmas present from Dean to Jo.

Jo laughed softly. Though Bandit had been her Christmas present, the little puppy was definitely the family dog, and she had Dean wrapped around her front paws. "Okay, you go deal with the dog and get your sister," she agreed.

"Where is she?" Sam asked of the puppy, who he'd noticed hadn't come to greet him at the door.

"Probably taking a nap," Dean replied, as he stepped out of the room to wrangle the puppy and grab a coat. There was no mistaking it - for a guy who had always claimed to hate dogs, he adored that puppy almost as much as his own children.

Jo watched Dean out of the room before lowering her voice for Sam's benefit. "She's chewing on his favorite pair of boots," she informed her son with a grin. "I keep telling him to put them away, but he never does."

The explosive exclamation from the next room seemed to prove Jo right, but that was quickly followed by Dean cuddling the puppy to prove he still loved her. Sam snickered. "I don't know how you put up with him. He's really hopeless."

"He was worse when I first met him," she said in amusement. "He grew on me." That was a shameless lie; they both knew she had been head over heels for Dean from almost the moment they had met.

"I don't know how he could be worse," Sam admitted with a chuckle. If anything, at least he was smiling now. "You know, I hate to tell you how many pets you're going to end up with."

"Well, in a certain light, right now I have five and another one due in the summer," she countered cheerfully. "I have a feeling Bandit is only the beginning. It's ....it's odd, loving a dog so much. I didn't think I could."

Sam knew enough about his mother's history to understand why she felt that way, and yet, a fluffy puppy was not the same thing as a hell hound. "Yeah, but she's adorable," he pointed out with a smile.

Jo rolled her eyes, but smiled. "Yeah, she is," she agreed. "And incredibly patient with the children. I get all the early morning cuddles, though."

"Incredibly patient with Dad," Sam added with a smirk.

"I heard that!" Dean called, just before he shoved the door closed behind him as he and Bandit stepped outside.

Jo laughed, rising to her feet to rinse out her cup. As she moved, her cardigan fell open, revealing the gentle rounding that was starting to make itself known at her waist - the bump that put her firmly under the protection of Demeter for the next year or more.

"It's all about the timing," Dean told his sister, as Bandit danced around her people with renewed energy, tail wagging happily as she searched for attention.

"I can't believe you got a puppy. Aren't you guys busy enough?" Sam asked, shaking his head and chuckling to himself.

Dean scooped said puppy up from the floor and snuggled her in his arms. "How could anyone resist this face?" he said, holding her close enough to get his face properly licked.

"Remind me to introduce you to Ares' dog sometime," Ayden drawled in amusement, settling down into a seat at the kitchen table comfortably. She looked over at her nephew. "Not a social call?"

"No, thanks! I'm good!" Dean remarked, thoroughly enjoying the puppy kisses. He knew Bandit would eventually grow into a full-size dog, but he wasn't worried about it. She was no hell hound - just a furry bundle of hyperactive love.

"Nice to see you, too, Ayden," Sam said, moving over to give his aunt a hug. It was just weird calling her aunt when she wasn't much older than he was.

"How are you doing, kiddo?" Ayden asked Sam warmly, hugging him back. They might not have the same bond he remembered them having from his childhood, but there was a connection between them even now.

"I'm okay. Missing Becky, but she'll be back soon enough," Sam replied honestly. He'd been close to both Ayden and Ares when he'd been a boy, but they were only just starting to form that bond with Bertie. "I'm not really sure this is necessary," he confessed, feeling a little embarrassed at all the attention.

Dean looked from Sam to Ayden, a thoughtful frown on his face. "You don't need us, right?" he asked, thinking it might be easier on Sam if he and Jo didn't witness what Ayden was about to put him through

"Sooner than that," Ayden said absently. "She'll be back tonight. She's as impatient as you are to get back in the sack."

Jo smirked, rolling her eyes. Ayden's occasional declarations of what was about to happen in their everyday lives could be embarrassingly amusing at times.

Ayden tilted her head toward Dean. "No," she assured her brother. "It's probably best you're not here. Take the dog for a walk or something."

Dean rolled his eyes and mumbled, "Show off." Just because his sister was a seer didn't mean she had to constantly remind them of that fact. "Just make sure you keep your scrying eyes away from our bedroom," he scolded playfully. "Let us know when you're finished, okay?" he asked, starting back toward the door with the puppy in his arms.

Ayden stuck her tongue out at her brother, but it was Jo who spoke, pausing to give Sam a gentle hug.

"We'll see you soon, okay?" she assured him. "Take your time to see what you need to see. We'll be here."

Sam nodded to his mother, grateful for the hug. Dean wasn't quite sure what to say. Should he wish his son good luck" Give him a hug" In the end, he decided to let Jo speak for them both, not wanting to embarrass Sam further. If there as anyone he trusted to be gentle with his son, it was Ayden. He was sure the kid was in good hands. He offered a nod to them both and then he disappeared out the door.

"Why is everyone acting like this is such a big deal?" Sam asked, once his parents were gone.

"Because it is a big deal to you, even if you aren't ready to admit it," Ayden told him. "And because we love you, and we want you to be happy. Family's weird, Sam. My brothers killed each other so that the beings possessing them wouldn't kill me - it had nothing to do with the world at large, not in that moment. Our family will always be the most important thing in our hearts, and you are a part of that family."

"Yeah, but I don't understand how seeing the future is going to change anything," he confessed. He'd agreed to this, mostly because his mother had thought it would be good for him, but he didn't really understand how it was going to change anything.

"I do," Ayden said, but that was all she said on that matter. Being the Olympian representation of truth and Sight, she could not deliberately tell a lie, nor could anyone lie to her. But that didn't mean she couldn't keep some things to herself. She rose to her feet, offering him her hand. "Do you want to do this, Sam?"

"Mom seems to think it would be good for me," Sam said, hesitating a moment before taking Ayden's hand and moving to his feet. He wasn't sure how this worked or what she needed from him.

"That's your mom's opinion," she pointed out. "I need your consent, or we don't do this. I won't ever cast a spell on you without your full knowledge and consent."

"She said I'd just be an observer. That I can't talk to anyone or change anything," Sam said, needing to know the rules and limitations of the spell.

"She's right." Ayden nodded. "You'll be a visitor. No one will be able to hear you or see you or feel you. You'll be able to pass through walls and doors if you need to. Kind of like astral projection, you know?"

"And you think this will help me feel better about my decision to stay here?" he said, as if asking for a second opinion.

"Personally' I think it will help to ground you in the here and now, give you a feeling of belonging that you're missing right now," she told him. It was obvious that she and Jo had discussed this at length before it was ever brought to Dean.

"But the future is fluid, Ayden," Sam pointed out. "All you can show me is what the future is most likely to be at any given moment. If you showed me the same thing in a few months, it might be totally different," he reasoned, though he couldn't imagine anything that would change it that drastically.

Dean ruffled his son's hair before moving away to finish unpacking the rest of the groceries. Whether he'd overheard Jo's whisper or not, he said nothing about it.

Johnny smiled and nodded again. "Okay," he said, looking a little relieved.

"Where's your brother?" Dean asked. "He's the math wiz."

"Oh, um ....I think he had a date or something," Johnny replied with a shrug.

Dean exchanged a glance with Jo. "In the middle of the afternoon?" he asked.

Jo raised a brow. "Let me text him quick," she suggested, rising to grab her phone and do just that. "It's not like him not to let us know where he'll be."

A clatter on the porch, and the sound of female voices announced the imminent arrival of two more members of the family. Johnny scrambled down from the chair, not to greet his sisters so much as the family dog, throwing the door open and greeting Bandit with a gentle hug.

"Hey, Bandit. Did you have a good walk" Would you like a treat?" he asked, gently rubbing his fingers through her fur.

The elderly dog licked his cheek, moving awkwardly into the kitchen just ahead of the three younger dogs, who bounded in and went straight for Dean. Jo snorted with laughter, starting to put together the promised cocoa as she glanced over at the door, where twin girls were walking in.

Hope was instantly recognizable to the unseen watcher; familiar dress sense just like their mother's, blonde hair pulled into a low tail. Anna was the unknown factor in this, and it seemed she was going to grow up into a slightly more feminine Hope, preferring loose hair and dresses, glasses on her nose.

"Hey, Mom," Anna called, leaving Hope to close the door. "Colin asked me to a party on Saturday - can I go?"

Behind her, Hope rolled her eyes. "He just wants to put his hand up her skirt."

Dean's expression darkened. "No one's putting their hand up my daughter's skirt," he said, with a pointed look at Anna. Jo's phone buzzed, presumably in answer to her text.

Meanwhile, Johnny was rifling through the cupboard for something while calling over, "Mom! I can't find the doggie treats!"

"That's because there aren't any left," Dean remarked, snagging a box of them from a grocery bag and tossing them over to Johnny.

"But Daddy, he's really nice, and he's been nothing but a gentleman," Anna said, briefly glaring at Hope, who just shrugged, apparently not interested in boys at all just yet.

"He's a dick," Hope offered.

"Who's a dick?" Jo asked absently, looking up from her phone.

"Anna's crush," Hope answered. "Grade A Jock, prime beef material."

"You shut up," Anna countered. "Just because no one looks twice at you, you don't have to be snarky!"

"All right, all right, all right! That's enough!" Dean shouted, falling just short of whistling to get their attention. "Just because he's a jock doesn't mean he's a dick," he said in answer to Hope's remark, before turning to Anna. "Anna, if you really like this boy, why don't you bring him by to meet us," he said. It wasn't a question. Obviously, Dean and Jo would decide whether the boy in question was or was not a dick. "And apologize to your sister. In fact, both of you apologize to each other."

The two girls looked at each other for a moment. Hope was the one who gave in first. "Sorry, Anna," she apologized, shrugging one shoulder. "I just don't think he's going to treat you right."

Anna frowned. "I'm sorry I said no one looks twice at you," she apologized in turn. "The real reason you don't have a boyfriend is because you're weird."

Jo sighed. "That's not an apology, Anna," she began, but Hope brushed it off.

"It's fine, Mom," she said. "I've got homework. Hey, Johnny, can I come set up next to you?"

"Why's he a dick?" Johnny asked, from where he was feeding the dogs treats.

"Johnny! That's enough. You don't want to make them sick!" Dean scolded, snatching the box back from the boy before it was empty. "Hope, can you help your brother with his homework, please" Anna, a word," Dean said, pointing a finger at the other room.

Sam watched this organized chaos with amazement and amusement, but he still wasn't sure what it was he was supposed to be taking away from all this.

Rolling her eyes, Anna moved into the other room, leaving Jo to corral Johnny and Hope affectionately in the kitchen. The sibling dynamic was always a slightly rocky one, it seemed; no one appeared to find anything odd in the way Hope and Anna interacted with each other.

Maybe it was just the fact that his parents were raising what appeared to be a perfectly normal American family, despite their rocky start. He watched as Dean followed Anna out of the room, while Hope got down to business helping Johnny with his homework. For all he could tell, there was nothing out of the ordinary going on. It's what he and Hope had come back to ensure, but he'd yet to see any of them to interact with himself or his younger counterpart. He didn't have to wait long though before an engine was heard rumbling outside the house, which was soon followed by a leather jacket-clad, younger-looking version of himself shoving in through the back door.

"Hi, Mom! Sorry I'm late," the afore-named Bertie said, moving over to kiss Jo's cheek.

"Next time, tell me in advance," Jo answered, smiling as he kissed her cheek. "Nice date?" By now, she was working on dinner - more than might have been expected, even with their big family. "Don't forget, Sam and Becky are coming over for dinner."

"Still a half hour to dinner," Jo announced. "Everyone out of the kitchen!" She waved a hand, but caught the older Sam's sleeve in her fingers. "Not you, little man."

"Oops, looks like Dad's in trouble," Becky said teasingly, helping to herd the children out of the kitchen with a blown kiss to her husband. Aside from a little more maturity and the pregnancy, the only thing different about Becky was the lack of the familiar red pendant about her neck.

Sam skidded to a halt beside his mother, brows arching upwards, while the gaggle of kids hightailed it out of the kitchen.

"What am I in trouble for now?" he asked, not so much as batting an eye at her address of him. It seemed he'd gotten used to her calling him by that nickname, even though he towered over her these days.

"No trouble," Jo assured him. "I just got a question." She glanced toward the door, as though making sure no one was listening in, and still lowered her voice a little. "Is Hope hunting?"

Sam winced at the question, though it was probably inevitable. They never could keep any secrets from their mother for long, and she knew him well enough to know he was incapable of lying to her.

"Why don't you ask her?" he asked in return, though he had a feeling she wasn't going to take that for an answer.

"Because I don't want to put her in the position of lying to my face," Jo told him calmly. "She's terrible at it, and it would only end in an argument. If she is hunting, I want her to be safe doing it, at the very least, and Anna has noticed her clothes are getting bloodied. You two are close. Is she hunting?"

Sam frowned. "You're not gonna like it," he warned, though he knew they were going to have to fess up at some point. "I've been teaching her. Rob, too," he confessed, steeling himself for his mother's ire. "Mom, I know you don't want her hunting, but it's in her blood. And she's good at it."

Jo sighed, seeming to sag a little in place. "No, I don't want them hunting," she said quietly. "But they're too much like your dad and me. I won't stop them, but I want them to be safe doing it. And to stop keeping it a secret. Okay?"

"I made them promise they wouldn't go out alone, and I told them that if they didn't tell you and Dad soon, I would," he told her. "I promise I won't let them get hurt," he assured her further, leaning close to kiss her cheek.

"All right." She smiled faintly as he kissed her cheek. "I know you'll protect them." She paused, seeming to gather herself again. "How are you doing" Are Becky's dreams still getting better?"

"It's gonna take a while, but she's doing better," he said, frowning in obvious concern. Better, but not back to normal, apparently.

The unseen watcher couldn't help but wonder what they were talking about. What had happened" Was Becky having nightmares, and if so, why"

"I know it seems as though it's been a long time, baby, but it was a very traumatic experience," Jo told Sam's older self. "I don't even want to think about what might have happened if you hadn't been there."

"I don't either," Sam admitted quietly, with that frown still on his face. "Let's just be glad it all turned out okay. And don't worry about Hope and Rob. I'll make sure nothing happens to them," he assured her once again, shrugging out of his coat and turning to hang it near the door.

The Sam that was watching wished someone would mention what it was that had happened, even if it was cheating to know in advance.

"You know, I'm not that worried about Rob," Jo admitted ruefully. "It's Hope that worries me. She keeps so much to herself. But she's good at hunting" She doesn't take stupid risks?"

"Mom, you do realize she's just a younger version of the Hope that came here with me, right?" Sam asked, reminding her that the Hope that had come with him from the future had been a very competent hunter.

She rolled her eyes. "I know," she said, "but I didn't really know that Hope. I don't feel like I know this one, to be honest, but I'm glad she talks to you. Didn't I tell you she'd still be your best bud?"

"You know what the problem is?" Sam said, an amused smile on his face. "She's just like you," he said, nudging her arm playfully. "And to be honest, she's Rob's best bud, not mine. I'm more like an uncle than an older brother," he pointed out.

She narrowed her eyes, but smiled, rather proud of that, it seemed. "You're still the one she goes to when she needs someone," she reminded him. "And you're the one who taught her how to pick locks. Don't think I missed that."

"She's a natural!" Sam declared, smiling proudly. "Be glad she's a hunter and not a cat burglar," he teased.

"Who's a hunter?" said Dean as he pushed in through the back door, wiping the grease from his hands on a rag. Apparently from the look of him, he'd been tinkering with an engine.

Behind Dean, Hope was just visible, catching the end of the conversation and her father's addition. She went absolutely still, her eyes wide and suddenly pleading as she looked over at Sam.

Jo, on the other hand, was smiling. "Your daughter, princess."

"Hope?" Dean asked, wiping his hands clean. "I know. Or at least, I suspected," he said, correcting himself.

"You knew?" Sam asked, chuckling to himself. "Of course, you did."

"You did?" Hope looked dumbstruck for a moment, looking between her parents in astonishment. "Why didn't you say anything?"

Dean shrugged. "I was waiting for you to come clean," he told her - or so he claimed. "Did you really think you could sneak around hunting behind my back and I wouldn't notice?"

"What am I, chopped liver?" Anna shot back to Matthew with a laugh. "I know moms don't count, but I'm not a mom!"

Hannah cackled with laughter, clambering up onto the armchair with Anna to hug her now her hair was all braided.

"You're not a girl," Matthew was quick to point out. "You're a teenager!" he said, whatever that meant.

The watcher Sam couldn't help but chuckle at his future's son's logic. He wasn't wrong exactly.

"So's Hope," Anna replied teasingly. "And Rob. Does that mean they're not girls either?"

Across the room, Becky snorted, rolling her eyes in amusement at the silly conversation going on around them.

"Don't be silly. Rob's not a girl," Matthew replied.

"Oh!" Johnny interrupted. "Is that the baby?" he asked, having felt some kind of movement beneath his hand.

"Unless I've got the Loch Ness Monster in there, that is definitely the baby," Becky assured Johnny cheerfully. "Strong, isn't it?"

Johnny wrinkled his nose. "What's the Lock Nest Monster?" he asked, uncertainly, nodding his head at her question. "I can feel him kicking me!" he declared with a grin. Like Matthew, he had chosen to use the masculine pronoun for the baby, though he wasn't really sure if it was a boy or a girl in there.

"There's a loch, a lake, in Scotland, where the local legend says a monster lives," Becky told him with a smile. "They call it Nessie, because the place is called Loch Ness."

"You remember that, Johnny, don't you?" Hope said, having heard the conversation as she walked through bearing a chair. Rob had apparently roped her into helping him. "The dinosaur in the lake?"

"Yeah, but Dad said it's not the kind of monster that we hunt 'cause it doesn't hurt anyone," Johnny said, remembering something his father had once told him.

Rob followed Hope with two chairs, one atop the other. "Then maybe it's not a monster," he remarked as he continued on to the kitchen.

"It's probably not even there," Becky added.

She might have gone on, but for something that seemed oddly significant to the group. Hope's jacket zip caught on the metal lip of the door handle, dragging along with a metallic zing of sound. Becky instantly stiffened, the color draining from her face as a look of absolute terror took her expression.

"Dad!" Hannah yelled, twisting toward the kitchen.

The Sam that was watching had no idea what was going on, but the Sam that was part of this timeline came rushing into the living room at his daughter's summons.

"What's the matter" Is it the baby?" he asked, looking on the verge of panic.

"My jacket caught on the doorframe," Hope told him, her face twisted with worry. It seemed as though this was some kind of trigger they all knew about. "I didn't mean to make the noise, I didn't!"

"It's okay," Sam assured his sister. "Why-why don't you all go see if dinner is ready?" he asked, the small group. Dinner was just about ready anyway, and he needed a moment alone with his wife.

"Sure," Hope agreed, looking to her twin. "We can do that, right?"

Anna nodded, already getting up to sweep up Matthew and Hannah under each arm. "C'mon, Johnny."

"But ..." Johnny started, frowning as he looked between Sam and Becky, a worried look on his face, before finally deciding it was probably better not to argue.

A moment later, Sam was kneeling in front of Becky, gently taking her hands in his. "Are you okay?" her asked her quietly.

It seemed to take a long moment, but slowly, Becky started to come back to herself, shaking as her eyes focused on her husband. "I'm sorry, I ....I just, I was back there, and the chain was so hot and I couldn't ....I couldn't get out ..."

"Shh, it's all right," Sam assured her, taking her into his arms and holding her close. "He can't hurt you anymore. He can never hurt you again," he reminded her in a soothing voice, as he held her close and rubbed her back.

Watcher Sam blinked in confusion and distress. Who had hurt Becky and why"

"I'm sorry," she was murmuring, even as she pressed into his arms, squeezing her eyes closed as the color slowly returned to her face. "I think I'm getting better, and then one little thing happens, and it all comes back. God, if you hadn't found me, Sam, everything would've ....I could have destroyed everything."

"It's not your fault," he assured her quietly, happy to hold her as long as she needed, or so it seemed. "You think I would have let that happen?" he asked her, his voice little more than a whisper. "You think any of us would have let that happen?"

She shook her head in agreement, drawing back slowly. "I'm okay," she promised him. "I just ....the noise surprised me, and ..." She trailed off, raising her hand to rub at the scar on the back of her neck.

"I know, baby," he murmured gently. "I know it's gonna take time, but you're safe now. I'm never gonna let anything happen to you ever again," he assured her, drawing back so that she could see the look of sincerity on his face.

Sam blinked, taken aback by Ayden's outburst. What had he seen during his glimpse at the future" He'd seen a Sam that was an integral part of the family. A Sam that not only had a close bond to his mother and Hope, but to the entire family. A Sam who was not only a son and a brother, but a husband and a father. A Sam who was a little bit older and probably a whole lot wiser. A Sam who was teaching the future Hope and Bertie to hunt, with his parents' blessing. A Sam who had somehow sorted out his rightful place in the family. He envied that Sam, but that Sam was still him - just a future version of him.

"No, I saw more than that," he admitted, a little more subdued.

It was rare for Ayden to be stern and mean it, but it got through every time. She softened as he admitted to seeing more than just another mission. "And was it good?" she asked softly.

"Yeah, it was ..." Sam paused a moment, as if suddenly overcome with emotion and trying to fight it. "It was good. Better than good. I'm sorry I got angry. I'm just ....I'm worried about Becky. I-I think ....This is gonna sound crazy, but I think she's my destiny."

Ayden's smile returned, smaller but gentle, understanding that he was still in a little shock. "I can tell you one thing about Becky that did not happen because of you," she said quietly. "Would you like to know it?"

"I thought I came here for the family. I never planned on staying, and I never expected to meet someone like Becky," he confessed, his expression a mix of troubled and confused and just a little bit shocked. "Yeah, I'd like to know it," he confirmed.

"I told you I Saw everything that might happen," she said gently. "I Saw Becky go to Greece, alone, and I saw her killed by a Titan made of water when she opened the door to Atlantis. That didn't happen, because the way things turned out meant that she was here, with you, planning your wedding. You've already saved her life so many times, Sam. If she is your destiny, then you are hers."

Sam was quiet for a moment as he considered what she was telling him, a small furrow between his brows that betrayed his continued worry. "I have to save her again, Ayden. I have to keep saving her. I don't want to live without her," he confessed quietly.

"And you're not alone in that," she reminded him. "As soon as I See something concrete, I will tell you. Your parents are right behind you. Bobby and Ellen will do anything to protect our family. And, you know, my husband is the God of War. If you have something that needs whacking, just yell."

"This is big, Ayden. Becky said if I hadn't saved her, the world would have ..." Sam trailed off, something clicking in his brain, like two pieces of a puzzle finally falling into place. "Poseidon," he murmured. "It has to be."

"You need to be careful, then," she said. "He is very powerful, and he holds grudges for millennia. You can't move against him without proof of treachery, and you won't get that by forcing a confrontation. Be very careful, Sam."

"It's got something to do with Atlantis,” he told her, pretty sure of that. "But why would he care about that?" he asked, more to himself than to Ayden. He'd heard everything she'd said, but was deep in thought trying to sort this puzzle out.

"Your wife is the expert on Atlantis," Ayden pointed out. "Try not to freak her out, though, okay' And don't forget to tell your mom about the good things."

"I'm gonna need your help. This isn't something we can - or should - handle on our own," he told her. If only he'd heard more when he'd been there. He didn't even have a time frame for this, though he had a feeling it had happened before they'd had children.

"You'll have our help," Ayden promised him. "All of our help. Just don't rush into this without knowing everything you can, okay?"

"No, I won't," Sam promised, turning thoughtful again. "I think this is going to happen sooner, rather than later. Becky said something about it being a decade ago, so if I do the math, it's sometime in the next few years," he told her. He couldn't narrow it down better than that, but it was better than knowing nothing at all.

"So maybe it's time to start getting involved with Becky's studies on Atlantis and the Titans," she suggested. "She really is the only expert willing to talk about it. The Olympians don't ever mention Atlantis or the war with the Titans. Not even Ares."

"Or maybe it's better to forget about it and ask her not to bother trying to find it," Sam suggested, though he had a feeling Becky would never go for that - not after all the work she'd put into her research.

"Well, yeah, you could try that, too." Ayden didn't look as though she believed that would work. Becky had put so much work into researching and studying Atlantis; it would take something of monumental proportions to convince her not to pursue it to the bitter end.

"Whatever happened, it almost killed her," Sam said. And would have killed her if not for whatever he'd done to save her, not to mention saving the entire world from being drowned.

"But it didn't," she pointed out, patting his hand gently. "This is a conversation you need to have with her, kiddo. She might surprise you."

Sam chuckled at last at something she'd said. "Ayden, I'm almost as old as you are," he pointed out. Or nearly the same age. She'd been his elder in the future, but not anymore. Time had made them even.

She grinned at him, glad to see a smile appearing. "Get used to it, you're stuck with being kiddo for life," she informed him cheerfully. She tilted her head toward the back door at the sound of Jo and Dean arriving back with Bandit. "Sounds like it's almost my cue to get going again."

"That and 'Little Man'", he complained with a roll of his eyes. Those were nicknames for Bertie maybe, but not him. He was a grown man, after all. "Thanks, Ayden. And sorry I got angry," he told her earnestly.

"I'm not making excuses for Jo, just sticking to my own nicknames," she informed him, smiling. "I get it, Sam. You're right to be concerned, but you can't do anything until you've spoken to your wife. So tell your parents about the good stuff, and have fun welcoming Becky home unexpectedly tonight, okay?"

Jo considered this thoughtfully. "You could ask her not to pursue it," she said, "but if you're right, and Poseidon is going after it, then ideally we need to get there first. Becky's probably the only person on the planet who has a good idea of where the second half of that key is, and where the door to Atlantis is."

"I don't get it, Mom. What's so important about a lost city' Unless ..." Sam trailed off. There were people who believed Atlantis had been destroyed in a war by some sort of powerful weapon. So, was Poseidon hoping to find the weapon for himself or keep it out of the hands of humans" Or was it something entirely different"

"I think you need to talk to Becky about it, baby," she said gently. "She's the expert. I'm just a hunter - I go where there's trouble and deal with it."

Talk to Becky and maybe do some research of his own. Maybe even talk to his great grandfather about it. He had a feeling Henry knew more than he was saying, but his mother was right - Becky was the expert.

Sam nodded his head, a glum expression on his face. "She's not gonna like it."

"She might prefer to be proactive," Jo pointed out. "Her involvement so far has been reactive - things have happened to her, not because of her. This would be a change from that."

"We'd have to be careful. Plan it all out. Maybe even get Ares and our other allies involved," Sam reasoned, though he wasn't too sure which of the Olympians he dared trust. He exhaled a sigh, glancing at his mug of coffee that was in danger of getting cold. "I wish I'd seen more."

"Honey, even if you had seen everything, there still wouldn't be any guarantee that it will happen exactly that way," his mother pointed out. "I honestly think it's better this way, You know enough to start looking into it without having all the specifics of something that might not happen."

"I can't lose Becky, Mom," Sam told her. "She's-she's everything to me." His mother had to know that already, but she hadn't seen the future. She hadn't a hint at the life they'd built together, the family they'd made together; and yet, if anyone understood, it would be his mother.

"Baby, you know we will do everything in our power to make sure she stays with you," Jo promised him. "Winchesters look after our family, and she's a Winchester. We'll fight with everything we have to help you both."

"I have no idea when this is going to happen, but it's sometime in the next few years," he told her. There wasn't much more to say about it really. What they needed to do now was gather information and plan.

"Then we start fortifying our position and looking for clues," she said firmly. "That's all we can do, for now. When we have something concrete, then we can start to make our moves."

"I may be spending a lot of time at the bunker," he confessed. It was going to take time doing the research, but he wondered something. "There has to be someone who remembers what happened." But it had to be someone they could trust.

"The only ones who would be the original six Olympians," Jo mused. "Well, five now. Zeus, Hera, Hestia, Demeter, and Poseidon. The others were being born during the war with the Titans."

"I'm not sure I trust any of them enough to ask," Sam admitted, frowning. He trusted Ares, but mostly because he'd known that particular Olympian all his life and he was married to his aunt, but he wasn't old enough to remember Atlantis.

"Maybe let Ayden see where her dreams take her for a while, then," she suggested. "And Becky might have a suggestion for which Olympian to focus on?"

Sam nodded again. "That sounds reasonable. Thanks, Mom," he said, a faint smile on his face. He could always count on her being able to help him talk things through, and even though he was still worried, he knew he and Becky weren't in this alone.

She smiled, shrugging one shoulder. "What else am I for, huh?" she teased, reaching out to squeeze the back of his neck fondly. "So are you staying for dinner, or are you going home to make yourself beautiful for your wife?"

"I thought I was already beautiful," Sam quipped, almost as if on cue, an amused smirk on his face before he turned serious. "Honestly' Would you mind if I went home" It's been a long day," he confessed, and he had a lot to think about before he presented all this to Becky.

"You'll always be my beautiful boy," she told him, and it was true. Even though she had not been the mother who bore him, she loved her eldest son deeply. "It's probably best if you go home and try to relax a little. I'll fill your Dad in."

"Okay, tell Dad I'm sorry," he said, moving to his feet to give his mother a hug. He knew his father would understand, but he hoped he wouldn't be too disappointed.

Rising, Jo wrapped Sam up in a warm hug, rising onto her toes to kiss his cheek. "I will," she promised. "It's going to be okay, Sam. We'll make sure of it."

"I know," Sam replied, a faint smile on his face, as he wrapped his arms around his mother to hug her close. He looked and felt tired all of a sudden, worried but hopeful. Nothing was going to happen today, anyway. There was still time to plan.

Jo nestled into his arms, happy to hug and be hugged for as long as Sam wanted to. Yes, there looked like there was trouble on the horizon, but even a little forewarning was a good thing. They had options, even now. "Try not to worry yourself too much, okay?"

"I'll try," he said, not making any promises. She knew him too well for him to do that. He would worry, but wouldn't just worry without doing anything about the situation. "I'll let you know anything changes," he promised.

"So will we," she assured him, drawing back with as reassuring a smile as she could muster. "Better get going before Bandit escapes your Dad and comes looking to cover you in water as well as mud."

Sam laughed at the visual that put in his mind, which wasn't impossible. "Yeah, I want to beat Becky home, if I can," he told her, pausing a moment to kiss her cheek before pulling away. "Thanks, Mom. We'll be in touch," he promised. They were never too far away anyway, unless they were in Kansas at the bunker, but even that was only a few hours’ drive.

"I think Ares would throw away everything to keep Ayden safe," Jo said confidently. "Doesn't he have past issues with Poseidon, too' The wet dude doesn't really have much in the way of friendly relations on Olympus, as I recall."

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," Dean murmured. "Well, the most important thing is keeping Becky safe," he added. Family was family, after all. "We should probably tell Bobby and Ellen." That much went without saying.

"We will," she nodded. "Do you want to pass it on to Kirsten and Loki as well, or would that be spreading the news too far?"

Dean winced at the mention of Loki. He still wasn't too sure about that particular god's loyalties. He felt the same about Gabriel and Crowley. They were allies, so long as they wanted the same things, but he trusted them about as far as he could throw them. "I don't know. I trust Kirsten, but the jury's still out on Loki."

"All right." Jo smiled at him. "We can hold off on that until we have more concrete evidence to go on. Right now, it's just a possible vision of the future."

"So, until we know more, we wait," Dean said, reiterating what Jo had already suggested, as much as he hated waiting. "But there has to be something we can do," he muttered to himself.

"We can prep," she said gently. "We have the means to kill Olympians if we have to. Maybe we can do a little research of our own to expand that armory some."

Dean nodded in agreement. "I don't think it's wise to ask Ayden to poke around anymore in the future. There are too many variables. But I'd like to know if she has any visions."

"It sounds like that's what she's doing," Jo said. "She's pretty sensible, and she can't force a vision. She'll have to wait to have something come to her anyway."

"I wish we'd have kept Death's Scythe. That thing was awesome," Dean said, though he didn't really want to make an enemy of Death. It was the one weapon that seemed to trump all the others.

Jo raised a brow. "You could always ask for it back," she teased gently, but she knew full well that was only something they could do as a last resort.

"Yeah, I'm sure that would go over well," Dean said with a snort. He finished off what was left of his coffee before pushing to his feet. "I need to take a shower," he said, pausing a moment, a slightly lecherous grin on his face. "Care to join me?"

His invitation brought a smile to her face. "I think I could be persuaded," she agreed. "Care to persuade me?"

He reached for her hand to pull her to her feet, his arms sliding around her waist. "How much persuasion will it take?" he asked, still grinning.

"Oh, you know me," she murmured, looping her arms about his shoulders. "Push my buttons, and I'm putty in your hands." She grinned, lifting up onto her toes to brush that grin tenderly to his own.

"How much time do we have?" he asked, once he'd returned her kiss, taking his time to savor her lips. He knew the kids were at Bobby and Ellen's but how much longer were they expected to be there"

She glanced at the clock on the wall. "I think we've got another hour before they bring them back," she mused, her smile now becoming inviting as she tilted her head to him.

"You wash my back and I'll wash yours?" he teased, eyes bright with amusement and a little bit of something else. Jo might be with child, but that had never slowed their love life down.

"Now that sounds like a lot of fun," she admitted. "Can I wash your front too?" Eyes sparkling with mischievous desire, she winked at him.

"So long as I can wash yours," he said, touching another kiss to her lips, soft and teasing, before taking her hand to lead her toward the stairs. He peeked into the living room, but it looked like Bandit had tuckered herself out.

With the little dog passed out and snoring on the couch, and the children safely with Ellen and Bobby for the next hour or so, the Winchesters had leisure to just enjoy each other, savoring their closeness for a little while in absolute privacy. With trouble on the horizon, moments like this might become few and far between. It was a good idea to savor them.

Never let it be said that Dean and Jo didn't know how to make the most of every moment alone, knowing just how precious those moments were. They'd been given a second chance at life, and neither of them intended to waste it.

And no jumped up merman was going to destroy that second chance in a fit of pique, either. If Poseidon was out there looking for a fight, then the Winchesters would definitely provide it.