December 20th, 2004

Dean was a simple man, who enjoyed simple things like pie, busty hot Asian babes' magazines, and family. Sadly, his 25-year-old self only had one of those things with him in the grubby run-down motel room in Dalhart, Texas. However, the smiling face of the pretty lady on the cover of the magazine was of no comfort to the young hunter right now. Tonight, he missed his family. John had been distant since Sammy had left for Stanford and had taken to hunting solo; only occasionally calling Dean, and Sammy… Sammy had not reached out to Dean since he left, which stung.

Dean, however, was choosing to not think about his brother now though and instead he concentrated on fixing himself up after the salt-n-burn that he had just finished earlier. His dad had told him about the case three days ago, saying the inhabitants of a newly purchased farmhouse were experiencing some very violent paranormal activity that ended in their 8-year-old son going missing. Luckily, when John had told him about the case, he was in Oklahoma City and managed to get there the same day.

From there it did not take much investigating to realize that the unhappy ghost wife of a local farmer was holding on to a locket hidden in the wall of the house. The young boy was found alive with the locket, thankfully, in the crawl space were the hag had lured him. Even with the cut-n-dry nature of the case Dean still hit some bumps in the road. The largest one was the couple of good shots the old bag got in on him when he found the boy. It was nothing to serious but the way he rolled his ankle and jammed his shoulder after she had hit him with the armchair would definitely keep him from hunting for a couple of days; which was were the longing for his family stemmed from. Dean was bored; and it had only been 12 hours since he ended the hunt.

At least when it was John and he they would spend recovery time reloading ammunition and cleaning guns; a task that dean had done in twenty minutes this morning. A very simple job with one gun to take care of. Sam on the other hand, Sam would have kept Dean company by being his sassy little brother self – but wait no this wasn't a subject that Dean wanted to think about. Baby was also all tuned and in perfect condition leaving him nothing in the world to do… but wait that wasn't true. Sam, Baby, and Dad may not need him, and he may not be able to hunt for a day or two, but Bobby always had work for him.

A weight felt like it had been lifted from him; Bobby was human interaction; Bobby was family and that was exactly what Dean had been needing for the last couple of months. Dean glanced at the clock 8:30 PM. Bobby would still be awake. Dean grabbed the flip phone from the table and dialed one of the few numbers he had memorized and held the phone to his ear. The ringing pierced the pressing silence that until now Dean had not realized was suffocating him slightly.

"Hello?" Dean heard the gruff voice and sighed in relief.

"Hey Bobby. How are you doing?" Dean asked reveling in the fact he was talking to a friend.

"Hey Dean, everything's good. Just been working on Mrs. Jeans old minivan again; the damned things catalytic converter is trashed again. I been thinking about just pulling the damned thing off and running a straight pipe instead. How are you doing son, it's been a while." Bobby finished sounding equally as pleased as Dean to hear from another hunter.

"Oh, you know," Dean said "I just finished up another hunt here in the Texas Panhandle, but the ghost got in a few lucky hits. Nothing to bad but I was wondering if I could help you for a few days until I start hunting again." Dean bit his lip nervously hoping desperately for assurance that he'd be welcome. Anymore he'd learned not to take any love, hospitality, or relationship for granted; after being left out in the cold for so long.

"Of course you can!" Bobby interjected eagerly. "You don't even have to ask Dean, just show up! You'll be here just in time for Christmas too."

Christmas, wait what? It can't be this late in the winter already? Dean thought dazedly glancing at the hotel clock and for the first time noticing the red 12/20/04 displayed under the time. "Thank you, Bobby it be great to spend Christmas with you! I should be there tomorrow night some time." Dean said still trying to wrap his head around the fact that he had not looked at the date since November 30th, a new low even for him.

"See you tomorrow Dean, you be careful on your way up; there's a nasty front that's going to be comin' through tomorrow." The distant ringing of another phone punctuated the silence left after Bobby's last sentence. "Got to go son." Bobby said, quickly ending he and Dean's call.

Dean flipped the phone closed with a snap and closed his eyes feeling the first traces of a smile touch his lips; he was going to be spending the holidays with Bobby and not alone in a shady hotel room by himself. Dean was ecstatic. He quickly stood ignoring the ache that came from his abused ankle and hobbled around the room gathering and packing the few things that he had unpacked since arriving. He set the alarm clock on the bed side table for 6 in the morning and happily climbed into the covers, he would be with his family after all. Dean sighed and slid under the covers of the uncomfortable bed, barely noticing the slight ache that started behind his eyes and slipped off into a peaceful sleep.

Okay, more to come as soon as it is edited.