A/N: Hey, sorry I haven't updated in a while. I have an excuse, though. I'm currently working on two longer pieces, one Supernatural/Bones crossover and a Dean/Cas AU. Both are at about 10k words right now, but I'm still going strong. I'd like to be done with them before I post, so you won't have to worry about me abandoning them halfway through like I usually do. So you have that to look forward to in the next few months, I promise. They'll be awesome. Just be patient. In the meantime, have a oneshot to tide you over. This takes place during 7.12 Time After Time, when Dean gets sent back. Say Sam couldn't save him. Who would he turn to?
"Great," says Dean, slamming a hand down on the table. He and Ness are back at the police station, with nowhere to go. "So we killed the time god, and now I'm stuck in 1944."
"It seems that way." Ness sits down in a chair, looking much calmer than Dean. For him, it's a job well done. For Dean, it's the end of the world. Sam is back in 2012 fighting hundreds of Leviathans, and there's not a damn thing he can do.
He shakes his head. "No. No, there's gotta be something. We always get out of stuff like this. There's always some magic spell that saves me at the last minute or something. I'm not going to live the rest of my life in the friggin' 20th century." He sinks into the chair across from Ness, thinking furiously. Sam would find a way. Sam would know what to do. But he's got nothing.
Okay, what's capable of time travel? Chronos, obviously, but he's dead now. Doc Brown's car, but Dean doesn't have one of those either. DeLoreans haven't been invented yet. Hell, his Impala hasn't been invented yet! Living in 1944 is going to be miserable. He has to find a way home.
Finally, it hits him. Angels. Angels can time travel.
Unfortunately, the only angel that batted for his team was Castiel. And then not even Cas was on his side.
Castiel is dead. He can't save Dean, not this time.
But then, oh, then a brilliant idea hits Dean over the head. He jumps to his feet, earning a surprised look from Ness.
"He's not dead," he says, more to himself than to Ness.
"Sorry, what? Who's not dead?"
"It's 1944. Cas is still alive." Dean paces back and forth, grinning from ear to ear. Castiel from 1944 may be nothing like his Cas, the Cas who died three times to stop three different Apocalypses. But it's worth a shot.
Plus, the thought of seeing Castiel again, after months of grief and misery, makes Dean's heartbeat rise. He's missed his best friend.
He closes his eyes, tipping his face upward to the sky, and mutters, "Dear Castiel, Angel of the Lord, please get down here. I need your help. I know you don't know who I am, but I know you, and I can explain. In person."
Only after he's done does Dean realize Jimmy Novak hasn't been born yet. Cas won't be in the familiar vessel with the tattered trench coat. In fact, he might not use a vessel at all. For a moment, Dean flashes back to shattered gas station windows and buzzing radios.
No, Castiel's smarter than that. He'll find a vessel, and he'll find Dean.
Eliot Ness is staring at him like he belongs in an asylum.
He flashes an uneasy smile. "Sorry, uh, just calling a friend."
"By talking to the ceiling."
"Yeah." Shoot, Ness doesn't know about angels. No one does in 1944. This will only get more complicated from here on out.
But if there's even a chance Castiel can bring Dean back to 2012…
Of course, even in the future, Cas has never been punctual. Dean paces for a bit, then settles down. Ness is still watching him skeptically. But he has faith in Cas.
Six months ago, he wouldn't have said that. Castiel betrayed them. But he died trying to mend his mistakes, and Dean misses his best friend.
After fifteen minutes, Dean begins to consider other options. Maybe Castiel hasn't heard his prayers. Heaven might work differently in 1944. Maybe Castiel's just not listening.
He could try that summoning ritual, the one he and Bobby used all those years ago in the barn. But that will only make Castiel angry. In 1944, Dean isn't the Righteous Man, and he isn't the Michaelsword. Castiel won't hesitate to smite him if he sees Dean as a threat.
His best chance is to wait. Castiel will listen. Sooner or later, he always does.
Dean's prayer does not go unheard. After an hour of impatience, the lights start to flicker.
Ness straightens up, reaching for his gun, but Dean gestures against it. "This is okay, it's my friend. This is how he makes his entrance."
Ness's eyes widen at something behind Dean's left shoulder, and he knows.
He turns, and there stands Castiel.
Only it's not the Castiel Dean knows. She is long-legged and blonde, with meticulous makeup and a cherry red dress.
But she has the same blue eyes. This is Castiel, through and through.
"Cas," he says, and is embarrassed to hear his voice crack with emotion.
"You're the one who called me."
"Yeah, I- um. This is going to sound crazy, but you have to trust me. I'm from the-"
"How do you know of the existence of angels?"
Eliot Ness splutters. "What? Angels? Dean, I thought you said your friend was a man."
His – her? – eyes narrow. "I am not your friend."
Dean addresses Ness: "Yeah, I thought so too. And we are friends, Cas."
Castiel makes an aggressive move towards him and he corrects himself. "Castiel, I mean. Sorry. Angel of the Lord, right. I should respect you."
"Yes, you should. How do you know my name? How did you know to pray to me? Answer or the wrath of Heaven will-"
"-be bestowed upon my ass, yeah, I know. Been there, done that."
"Explain."
"I'm from the future."
"Impossible. Only angels possess the ability of time travel. We've been inactive on Earth for centuries."
"Chronos? Time god? Ringing any bells? Yeah, I'm a hunter, I'm from 2012. I got sent back, and I need to go home. Can't exactly click my heels and think of home."
"So you prayed. To me."
"Yeah. You and I, we're friends. In the future. Please, you have to trust me on this."
"Why should I? Prove yourself."
He wracks his brain. He could show Cas his phone, but that won't necessarily impress. Maybe… "Uh, okay, in 2012, there's going to be a prophet named Chuck. You told me once you knew the names of all the prophets. How could I know that if I wasn't from the future?"
Castiel looks skeptical, but she relaxes. "And in the future, angels are present in your world?"
He frowns. "Yeah, a little. My brother and I are more involved in your business than most hunters. You're my best friend, Cas."
Castiel glares. "Do not insult me with a shortened version of my name. It is informal, and although I believe you are from the next century, I have no proof as of yet that you and I are… acquaintances."
He snorts. "I forgot you used to talk like that. You've really loosened up in these past years, Castiel."
"Future years, you mean. Prove it."
He thinks for a moment, then shrugs out of his suit jacket and unbuttons his shirt.
"What are you-" Ness starts to say.
Dean pulls aside the left sleeve of his shirt to show his shoulder, and the imprint of Castiel's hand.
Castiel's blue eyes widen. She places one hand over the burn. "My grace flowed here once."
"Believe me now?" He meets her eyes and damn, if she isn't one attractive angel. If not for the fact that she were really Cas, all stubble and gravelly voice and very manly masculinity, he'd ask her out on a date.
"Will you help me?" he asks quietly. Her fingernails dig into his skin.
"Angels are not supposed to interfere in the business of humans. That is the way it has always been."
Dean smiles sadly. He'd forgotten what Castiel was like in the beginning. "In my time, that wouldn't have stopped you."
Eliot Ness takes this moment to speak up. "Do you two have the hots for each other or something, in the future?"
Both of them vehemently deny this, Dean even louder than Castiel. He most definitely does not "have the hots" for his Cas.
Ness lifts his hands in surrender. "Okay, okay, I get it. This is above my paygrade; you're talking angels and time travel. I'll stick with demons and shifters, thank you. Just talk it out and get out of my police station, understood?"
Castiel nods gravely, places her hand back on Dean's shoulder, and in a flash they've gone from the police station to the street.
He backs away from her, feeling the familiar motion sickness in his stomach. "Damn it, Cas! How many times have I told you to warn a guy-"
"Never," says Castiel, "since we are not friends here. Give me one good reason why I should take you back to 2012."
"Uh, because I'm about to stop the damn Apocalypse back there?"
"No one can stop the Apocalypse."
"We did."
For a moment she says nothing. Then, "Why are you involved with the affairs of angels?"
He gestures to himself and says, "Righteous Man? Michael's true vessel? Kinda hard not to be involved, you know what I mean."
A look of understanding dawns in her eyes. "But you are stopping the Apocalypse. You are disobeying God."
"Hey, don't look at me like I'm the only one. You helped."
"I disobeyed?"
"I probably shouldn't tell you too much of your own future. Look, just take me back to 2012. Trust me. The real you, the future you, would do the same."
"Then call your Castiel. Have them take care of you. This is not my business."
He toes the ground and avoids her eyes. "He's, uh, not available right now."
"And yet you call us friends. Any true friend would come to your aid."
"No! That's not how it is. He'd come if he could. Cut your future self some slack. Cas, you've always tried to do the right thing. Do it now."
She looks at him, eyes narrowed with suspicion and curiosity, the way Dean's Cas used to look at him. He misses those blue eyes.
"This Apocalypse. You're stopping Lucifer?"
"No, not exactly. We did that a couple years ago." He laughs softly at her shocked expression. "We're trying to stop the Leviathan now. They took a vacation from Purgatory."
She crosses her arms. "Future Apocalypses are none of my business. Assuming I believe you, why should I help?"
"Maybe because you're the one who let them out. You died trying to fix your mistakes, Cas." His voice breaks on the name. It's been six months, but the wound is still fresh. "Just fix one more."
She must hear something in his voice, see it on his face, because she nods and reaches a hand toward his shoulder.
"Hey, wait-" He puts his own hand on her shoulder to stop her. "You're going to just dump me and go, right?"
"In the vernacular, yes."
"And then you'll go back to Heaven. Do me a favor, tell Michael to suck a dick?"
She cocks her head to the side. "I am not going to tell an archangel to suck a man's-"
He laughs and cuts her off. "It's okay, I got it, you're the obedient child these days."
She places her hand back over the burn on his shoulder, but again, he stops her. "Hang on. I'll never see you again, will I? This is my chance to say goodbye. I didn't get one… before." He takes a deep breath, then looks into her eyes, the only place she looks like his Cas. "Cas, I'm sorry. For everything. But more importantly, I forgive you. I forgive you, okay? It took a while, but I get it now, and I just… I miss you. I know this you doesn't understand that, but you will in a few years. Please, just understand that much."
She sighs once, quietly, and then Dean blinks.
When he opens his eyes again, he's back in 2012, in the rotten old house they were staying in. Cas is nowhere to be seen, but a few feet away are Sam and… Is that Sheriff Mills?
"Dude," he says, "you'll never believe who I just met."