Baelfire's Brother

Chapter Three

"Dean," he introduced himself. The Hunter extended his hand. "I'm Dean. And you are?"

"Mary Margaret," the lady at the booth took his hand and, instead of shaking it, pulled herself up to sit at his table. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing. She folded her hands on the table, and frowned. "What about that conversation was so harsh that you felt the need to comment?"

Dean scoffed. "Well, for one thing, you don't diss on people's mothers like that. Don't matter if it's true or not, you sure as Hell never tell somebody their mother doesn't care about them."

"But it is true," she insisted. "I don't think you know what she's capable of."

"I'm sure it is true; that lady looked real friggin' sketchy, and I don't doubt the old broad who raised her is any more reliable."

She nodded, satisfied. "So you agree, it wasn't that bad of me to add."

"No," he sighed. "I don't, sweetheart. My point wasn't that I needed to hear your side of the story, it was that as a general unspoken rule of courtesy, you don't speak poorly of people's mothers."

She frowned, and rested her chin on her hand. "Have we met before? You seem so familiar."

Dean chuckled, "No, I've never seen you before, Mary."

"It's Mary Margaret," she corrected. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure, Mary Margaret."

"No," she insisted. "I'm positive. Maybe I know your brother? Or your father, perhaps?"

He scoffed, "Jesus, I sure as Hell hope you don't know my old man. Guy's a monster. I've spent my whole life staying as far away from him as possible, 'nd I don't plan on changing that anytime soon."

She let out a confused smile. "But... he's -- he's your father. Surely, he can't be that bad..." she trailed off under his glare. "Can he?"

Yet another scoff. "You have no idea."

---

Man, that is one odd lady. Dean shook his head as he strolled away from the diner. The woman who had invited herself over to his table, Mary Margaret, had ended up not-so-politely drilling him with questions about his father. He wasn't sure why, but that lady had something familiar about her. Not in the personal sense; he was certain that they had never met before. But it was just something about her mannerisms and use of words that tipped him off. He hadn't been around anybody who acted that way in a long time.

He chuckled to himself. He'd almost forgotten what it was like around that kind of person. It was refreshing, almost. A blast from his past that he didn't realize he'd missed.

That was when he noticed two people eying the Impala.

---

Regina was seething. How dare that brat talk about her mother that way! Sure, Mother was rough at times, but it was to toughen me up, she told herself. And it worked. I'm one of the most feared, most respected, and most well known women in the Enchanted Forest!

A small voice in the back of her head reminded her, You're not in the Enchanted Forest, anymore.

Oh, stuff it.

That was when she noticed it. A sleek black car parked a few doors down from the diner. It was an impressive vehicle, there was no denying that, but Regina had no interest in ogling it. It was a car that she hadn't seen anywhere in Storybrooke before, and that meant someone new was in town.

"What's got you so interested?"

Regina snapped her gaze to her mother, who had noiselessly appeared beside her. "Don't do that," she huffed. Cora let out a scoff and looked to the car.

"I don't see what's so interesting about this hunk of tin."

Regina let out a sigh, and glared at her mother. "It's new," she explained. "Which means that somebody new has come to Storybrooke."

"Guilty," came a voice. The women turned to see a man approaching them from the diner. "Yeah, she's a beaut, ain't she?" he said as he approached them, crossing his arms and looking at the car.

"It's a nice car," Cora told him dismissively.

The man nodded, seeming to understand that she wasn't interested in the sleek black Chevrolet. He looked to Regina, who was quite taken aback that this (rather handsome-looking) man was the outsider. "Hey," he frowned slightly. "I don't know what's going on between you and that lady in the diner, but she shouldn't have said your mom doesn't care about you. And, I gotta say, I respect you for not just beating her to a pulp right there." Regina raised her eyebrows, amused. He continued, "If I'm being honest, if I were in your situation I would not have enough self-control to not hit something."

The mayor tilted her head. "Thank you, I think. I don't believe we've met." She held out her hand and he shook it. "I'm Regina Mills. I'm the mayor around here." The man nodded and she gestured to her mother. "This is Cora, my mother."

The man looked a bit shocked that that was her mother, but quickly recovered, telling them, "I'm Dean. Winchester."

"Well, what brings you to town, Mr. Winchester?"

"Pointless driving, I guess. Taking a bit of a break from life." Apparently he noticed the reluctance in her forced smile, because he laughed and added, "Don't blow your top, madam mayor. I'm just gonna be staying for a week or two, tops. Then I'm outta here." The man, Dean, got into his car and started up the engine, leaning through the window to tell them, "It was nice meeting you, Regina, Cora." With that he drove away.

Regina scoffed, folding her arms. "Great, now I've got to deal with another outsider. Do you have any idea how difficult this is going to make this? Keeping him from finding out about magic?" No response from Cora. Regina huffed, "Well. We'll make do.

"Mother; is it just me, or does that man remind you of someone?"

Cora looked thoughtfully at the retreating car, and the silhouette of the man behind the wheel, and nodded. "Why, yes, Regina. I do believe that boy reminds me of someone. Someone I think we both know."

A/N: I really appreciate the positive feedback for this story, I'd love to hear any ideas y'all have.