thinking about season 1 or 2 dean getting sent forward in time and having to figure out how to get home with the late seasons gang, and he and late dean don’t get along at all, and eventually early dean’s alone in the car with sam and he’s like, “am i always like that?” and sam’s like “like what?” and dean’s like “i dunno, a mega-level asshole?” and sam kinda laughs but it’s super hollow. and dean laughs a little too, only because sam laughed, so he figures he should. but then he sobers again, and he asks, real quiet and small-like, “what happened to me, man? how’d i turn into that?” and sam goes to answer him and realizes all at once that this is a dean that hasn’t even been to hell yet, and he doesn’t even know how to start with him, how to even begin to describe how bad it all gets, what it all becomes, to a version of dean that hasn’t had time to run sour yet. he doesn’t say anything for a long time, the road running silent around them. eventually sam just says, “this life… it does things to you.” dean says, “yeah, i know.” but he doesn’t.