AN:/ This is an outtake from my story "Hound of Hell", that will maybe be mentioned later in that story. This takes place in episode 4 of season 5 "The End" where Zachariah sends Dean 5 years into the future to show him what it will be like if he doesn't say yes to Michael and Sam says yes to Lucifer. Major spoilers for that episode even though it's an AU version, I just added a few people in guys, I didn't change the events of the episode so prepare for the character death.
Disclaimer: Guys, If I owned Supernatural I would be partying with the cast right now and not sitting on my couch in my dorm room. Cerberus, the legend isn't mine but the character sure as hell is.
Warnings: I did say what episode this was from didn't I? So, Character Death. Expect lots of it, this is not a happy story people, at all.
Cerberus looked up as footsteps approached the compound. For the first time in ages the smell of humans that was untainted by demon or the Croatoan virus reaching her. She was posted at the gate for a reason and the thought of aiding in the destruction of some of the precious little pieces of humanity that remained crushed her already weary and aching heart. She knew that she would do it though, she would kill these freedom fighters-foolish though they were-because she was protecting her own few pieces of humanity. Elizabeth and her family were located somewhere in the compound being held prisoner, and maybe they weren't living comfortably, but they were alive and were not infected with the Croatoan virus or playing host to a demon.
She had made a deal with the devil long ago when the alarms she had put on the family had gone off in a blaring cacophony of noise. She could still remember Elizabeths' horrified eyes as the church members were surrounded by black-eyed townspeople. Elizabeth had been smart though, she had grabbed one of the spare jugs of holy water under the altar and started attacking the demons with it. Those books of Edlunds' had saved many of the people in that room. Cerberus had arrived in time to stand between the demons and those church members who were left, that's when he arrived. She had never quite believed all the hype associated with Lucifer and the silver-tonged devil, but at the end of the encounter with the humans cowering behind her, she had agreed with the archangel.
An iron collar had been clamped around her neck, the contract searing into her flesh through it like hot coals. She was bound to the devil from that moment on, bound to serve for as long as he wished her to, the price of disobedience was the small family of three standing behind her. She had been tugged along as Lucifer left, the collar giving her no choice as Elizabeth and her mother and father were carted off by the remaining demons to God-knows-where. Once the compound had been established she had been posted at the gate, and here she had remained clinging to a dwindling hope that all of this would end and she could go back to living with Elizabeth and her family in a recovering world. The collar around her neck her only proof that the contract had not broken and all three were still breathing.
The footsteps approached and she hung her head in despair once she recognized who it was that had approached her gate. She'd wondered why all the other guards and servants of the devil had been moved to another part of the compound behind the building that held the humans infected with the virus, now she knew. She stood on strong limbs as the group approached,
"I cannot allow you to enter friends." She broadcasted to the group, her telepathic abilities had grown over the years as she had nothing else to do than experiment with them, plus it annoyed the other demons posted to the gate.
"Cerberus?!" came the surprised cry from Dean, she looked at him in confusion, he had known of her fate….She blinked a few times and shook her head as she noticed the second Dean, who did not look shocked to see her, standing a few feet away.
"You do not belong here." She stated, staring pityingly at the man out of his time. He paused, emotions warring within him and across his face but eventually landing on righteous anger.
"You're working for the devil! What, You have a change of heart along the way and start to believe you actually were a demon-spawned hellhound?!" He spat, and in a heartbeat she had dashed across the space separating him and hit him in the chest, hard. They both toppled to the ground, the other Dean keeping the members of his party from shooting her sorry hide. She bared her teeth in a snarl right in his face and saw the momentary fear in his eyes,
"You know NOTHING!" She growled knowing the sentence would be magnified in volume as it was sent telepathically, and sure enough she saw quite a few in the party wince or bring their hands up to their ears. She felt a hand at the scruff of her neck just above the collar,
"Come Cerberus, he doesn't know what he speaks of," Castiel said from his position next to her, she backed down and looked at him partly in anger and partly with gratitude,
"Is it really worth it though Cerberus, they are alive yes, but what kind of life is it? Locked up in the devils dungeons living in terror always hungry, hopeless?" He asked softly. She knew he was right, they would have been better off dying in that church that day. The second she broke the contract though, she knew they would be slaughtered, the devil wasn't kind to anyone-but especially not to those who betrayed him. She looked up at him, misery clear in her eyes,
"I cannot do it, they may be doomed now, but maybe someday this will all be over and they can get out of this hellhole, I can't give up on that Cas, I just can't." she whispered and started to pace back towards the gate. Dean, who by now had clambered back to his feet let out an outraged cry and she didn't have to turn around to know that his eyes held hurt and betrayal. Well too freakin' bad, he hadn't lived through these past few years, he came from a time where everything was probably still awhile away from going to all hell. She reached her customary spot by the gate and turned around, she looked at the group expectantly,
"If you're committed to this fool-hardy plan of yours to attempt to kill the devil here today, go for it, I won't stop you and heck you all are headed for a much better fate than I am, heaven or whatever is left of it is probably a shit-ton better than Purgatory." Dean, the one from this timeline, nodded at her solemnly, something akin to respect in his gaze. The group filed past her and as Castiel passed her by he laid a hand on her head causing her to look up at him,
"Good luck Cas." She sent to him and he nodded, though he too knew he would likely die here today. The group passed through the gate and later Cerberus tried to ignore the gunshots and screams of the dying echoing from the building housing those infected with Croatoan. Once it had stopped she dared to let out a long mournful howl that echoed down the road for miles and bounced between the walls of the compound.
She would have howled for hours but felt a tug at her collar just then and knew she was being summoned. She followed the tug until she had entered the rose garden where she heard Lucifer talking to Dean, she pushed her way between two of the spiny bushes, careful not to harm them, and entered the clearing. Dean, obviously not the one from this time as he lay dead on the ground, looked at her eyes clouded slightly by tears and shock. So he hadn't known about his brother then, she winced internally knowing how close they had been. Lucifer looked up at her arrival and a pleased smile crossed his face,
"Ah Cerberus, you have done well today." He murmured and let a hand run through the fur on her back as she resisted the urge to bite him. He chuckled slightly likely knowing the urge had been present,
"Now then, I've told Dean here that I'm not all bad, and I think I need to prove it to him. You've been loyal to me, unfailingly so considering your dead comrades here today, so I've decided to reward you." He said, hand still petting her, while looking at Dean-wicked amusement clear in his eyes. Lucifer reached down and deftly unhooked the collar from around her neck. She looked up at him in horror, she was free, but what happened to Elizabeth now? He smiled down at her,
"Go, you are free and so is that miserable group of humans you call a family, you will be unhindered in your journey for a full two days, and after that the four of you will be fair game." She certainly wasn't going to argue with that, she shot one last glance at Dean before spinning around and dashing towards the building in the back of the compound that held the prisoners. No one stopped her as she bolted through the double doors and down the cell block until she reached the last door on the left that held some of the few prisoners in the place, and those in the best condition. The door swung open and its occupants looked up in fear until they saw her standing there, tail wagging wildly. They didn't look to bad, a little thin and covered in filth from head to toe, but they were alive.
"You are free." She said and saw their eyes widen in disbelief. Nonetheless they stumbled to their feet, leaning on the walls for support as they exited the cell. They followed her in silence out the doors and out of the compound, Elizabeths' hand buried in her fur.
Cerberus knew now that there was no hope, Lucifer would not have let them go if there was, but at least they could live out their final days in if not peace, than freedom, and they could die with that same freedom and pride, not locked up or bound somewhere until death claimed them.