He knew the moment he looked up at the picture on his wall and his brother Sam had disappeared from the picture, leaving only their mom. It was one double take and then he bolted down the stairs after grabbing his stuff. Start with the lobby. Maybe if he got there soon enough, he'd catch him. If not, he'd check the guest book and the PDA.
His voice bellowed into the lobby from the stairwell before he was ever seen.
"SAMMY."
Just like always. The only weapon he had on him was the colt, the rest was packed away in the bag he brought. It never left his side. It was the most valuable thing in this entire hotel and he had a couple good ideas on how it might be useful in a place like this.
Once Dean was in the lobby he was stopped cold. Not only by the fact that Negan was there-- though Sam seemed to be handling it well, considering-- but that Sammy looked several years younger than when he'd last seen him.
"Sammy, let me explain." First, he went through the check list; holy water, silver, the usual things the brother's did to prove their identity to one another.
"That guy?" Dean pointed to Negan. "He just looks like dad. Not a skinwalker or a ghoul or any of that shirt."
It was then he noticed Judith and gave her a nod. Sam wasn't typically as dumb as Dean was, but the last thing any of them needed was to fight amongst one another. "We were all pulled into the hotel-- different points in time. What's the last thing you remember?"