A/N: Based on Tumblr gifset; Credit to its creater for the prompt.
Dean and Castiel looked around the suburban street with pure confusion. One moment they had been facing Balthazar alongside Sam and now they were somewhere completely unfamiliar. They had been conducting interviews for their latest case when the Angel had jumped them.
"Something isn't right" Castiel stated as he looked around at the children playing and the cats roaming and the people tending to their gardens.
"Yeah" Dean agreed. "This place looks so...perfect" he said with a grimace and a slight shudder.
"Yes, but there's something else."
"You think we're not in Kansas anymore, Toto?" Dean asked. "Balthazar does seem to have a fetish for screwing with our reality."
"Yes. This isn't the world we are used to" Castiel affirmed. "The whole structure feels different. I'm not getting any Angel radio but my grace still seems to be intact. I don't think Sam came with us either."
"Great so you can just mojo us out of here" Dean said. "We've gotta get back to that Limey bastard before he does anything to Sam."
"No" Castiel shook his head. "Balthazar sent us here because there is something he wants us to see. He won't let us return until we figure out what that is."
"Great. Well where do we start looking for...whatever it is we're looking for?" Dean said with exasperation as he looked around the street. "Cas?" He said with the Angel didn't reply.
He looked around and saw Castiel walking slowly towards the house that they were stood closest to. It was almost like the Angel was in a trance; Dean frowned as he followed after him.
Castiel travelled up to the doorstep of the house with the perfectly mowed lawn, decorated windows, and blue door with a knocker.
"We have to go in here" he said firmly.
Dean himself was uncertain. He tilted his head and looked down at the scruffy looking door mat when read 'it's good to bee home' with a picture of one of the buzzy little critters flying by.
"I dunno, man. Just looks like some old suburban couples digs to me."
"Just trust me" Castiel implored.
Dean gave a firm nod and reached for the gun which was still tucked into the back of his trousers.
Castiel pushed the door open slowly so that it barely made creak. He paused for a moment in the hallway before pointing up the stairs. Dean nodded his understanding and they slowly crept up.
It was then that they heard two deep voices, but they didn't seem to be talking.
'Singing?' Dean mouthed to Castiel with bewilderment. The Angel shrugged in response before advancing forwards.
The voices grew louder as they came to an open door. When they peered inside the room the Angel and the hunter held their breaths with shock.
Two men were pacing across the room, crossing paths with each other as they sang a lullaby to two babies, of which the men had one each loving cradled in their arms.
Those two men were Dean and Castiel.
Other Dean was in his casual attire, and Other Cas wasn't sporting his signature suit and tie but jeans and a button down shirt; that in itself was rather unsettling.
Other Dean manoeuvred the baby in a blue onesie onto his shoulder and started patting the little boy's back soothingly as he continued to walk and sing.
"Hush, little baby, don't say a word, Daddy's going to buy you a mockingbird."
Other Cas continued the croon as he cradled the baby girl in a pink onesie close to his chest.
"So hush little baby don't you cry, Daddy loves you and so do I."
Dean quickly whipped around to look at Castiel.
"Cas, what the hell is this?!" He hissed.
Castiel seemed almost pained to tear his eyes away from the scene.
"I believe it's you and me from a parallel world" he stated calmly.
Dean's mouth fell slightly agape as he looked back into the room and watched as Other Dean gently placed the now slumbering baby boy down into one of two adjacent cribs.
He snapped his jaw shut again and his gaze fell to the ground. He frowned slightly as he tried to comprehend the situation. In this reality he and Castiel were loving parents to twin babies?
He looked up at his Angel and noticed that unlike his own shock Castiel's gaze seemed somewhat longing. Dean grabbed the angel's shoulder and pulled him down the hall.
"Cas, this doesn't make a lick of sense" he stressed. Castiel looked at him with something a kin to confusion; Dean thought that surely this conversation wasn't what he should be puzzled by. "This is just...too weird. We need to go back" the older Winchester urged.
They both turned around quickly when they heard a click.
Other Dean was stood with a gun raised and a determined expression on his face. Other Cas was behind him with his Angel blade blocking the way to their children.
"What the hell are you?!" Other Dean demanded. "Shifters?!"
"What?" Dean said. "The supernatural still exists here?"
"Answer the damn question!" Other Dean yelled as he took a step closer towards them. "If you so much as lay a finger on my family I swear to god-"
"We're you from an alternate universe" Castiel explained with far too much togetherness for Dean's liking. "We certainly don't mean you and your family any harm. We were sent here."
"Balthazar" he and Other Cas said with the same distain.
Other Cas lowered his blade and moved forward to stand beside Other Dean.
"I believe them" he said and placed a gentle hand on Other Dean's shoulder. That was apparently all it took as he immediately lowered his weapon.
"I think we have a lot to discuss" Other Cas said. "I'll go and make us some tea."
They had been sat in an awkward silence for some time.
Dean and Castiel were sat tentatively on the sofa. Other Dean and Cas sat opposite them holding each other's hand supportively.
The two Dean's had spent the whole time seemingly trying to stare each other down.
Eventually Castiel grew very uncomfortable and shuffled around slightly as he placed his hands flat on his knees.
"You have a very lovely home" he stated.
The two Dean's turned to look at him with equal amounts of disbelief; it was rather disturbing.
"Thank you" Other Cas said with a small smile.
"No, we are not doing this" Dean finally spoke up. "We aren't just going to sit and chat like this is normal."
"I agree" Other Dean said reluctantly. "Why are you even here?"
"We don't know" Castiel replied. "That's what we have to figure out."
"Are you still an angel?" Other Cas asked his counterpart.
"Yes." Castiel said as he squinted. "But you aren't."
"Not anymore. I renounced my grace so that my Dean and I could spend our lives together" he said with a warm smile and squeezed his partner's hand.
Other Dean returned the smile and raised his Castiel's hand to kiss the back of it gently.
"Dean and I stopped hunting about five years ago" Other Cas explained. "After we got Sam's soul back and stopped Raphael we decided that we wanted to settle down. We moved here and got married, and then several months ago we adopted our beautiful children."
"I don't understand" Dean said as he shook his head. "When did you..?"
"After I returned from two-thousand fourteen" Other Dean said. "Seeing Castiel like he was in that timeline broke me and...and I realised what I had back home. I loved him too much to let that happen, so as soon as I got back I told him not to ever change and I kissed him."
Another tense silence filled the room. Dean looked over at Casitel with wide and somewhat sorrowful eyes but the Angel was looking down at the floor.
"I gather that you two are still hunting though?" Other Cas said.
"Yeah" Other Dean scoffed. "I can tell by that cheap suit which is supposed to be an FBI get up."
"Hey!" Dean snapped defensively. "I paid well over a hundred for this suit...wait, this is not important right now!" He exclaimed as stood up. "Cas, we have to go; we have to get back to Sam."
"Sam is California" Other Dean claimed. "He went back to school so he could finally be a lawyer."
"Not my Sam!" Dean affirmed. "Because where we're from the world is still in danger and we would never give up hunting because we save lives!" He yelled. "We didn't give it up to be some lame ass suburban dads with two little whinge bags-"
"Leave my children out of this!" Other Dean shouted back as he stood to square up to his counterpart.
"Oh my God" Dean groaned as he ran his hands down his face. "This is ridiculous. Cas and I are like brothers. We are not in love! Right, Cas?"
There was a silence that seemed to drag on for eternity.
Dean looked down and saw that Castiel was still avoiding looking at him.
He frowned slightly.
"Cas?" He said quietly.
Just then the shrill cries of the two babies upstairs pierced through the air.
"I'll get them" Other Cas assured his husband as he got up too. "You two must keep it down; you're scaring the little ones. Castiel, would you help me?"
"Oh, um, yes" Castiel said as he got up shakily.
As Other Cas went to follow his counterpart up the stairs he signalled to his husband to talk to Dean.
His husband sighed but managed to give a discrete nod in response.
"You need to get your head out of your ass" he told his other self who had already sank back onto the sofa with solemn expression. "Or else you will regret it for the rest of your life."
Castiel watched as his other self leaned over to the crib of the crying baby boy and hushed him gently as he picked him up.
"Would you get Mary for me?" he asked.
The angel's eyes grew wide.
"Um…alright." He went over to the little girl's crib and looked down at her with obvious apprehension. She was trying to roll over as she grasped onto the side of the crib. "No, you mustn't do that" Castiel fretted as he worried she would hurt her head. He picked Mary up carefully and looked to Other Cas for guidance on how to hold her safely.
"If you rock her a little then she should settle" Other Cas said; he had already gotten the little boy to stop crying and the tot was now sucking on the collar of his father's shirt.
"They are very beautiful" Castiel said. "How old are they?"
"Six months" Other Cas replied with a small smile. "Mary is older by a couple of hours."
"And your son his name is…John?"
"No, this is James, well, we call him Jimmy."
"Oh, that's…rather odd."
The angel was relieved when his human self merely laughed.
"Well I liked the name and it's the least we could do to honour him."
"I suppose" Castiel said uncertainly.
Mary had now stopped crying and was nuzzled against Castiel's chest fast asleep. He found himself smiling down at the little bundle as he continued to rock her and hummed a few bars of an old Enochian lullaby.
"You're doing very well with her" his counterpart assured him.
"Thank you."
"Castiel…You really mustn't give up on Dean, you know? If it happened for us in this world then it can happen for you too. Don't try to deny it" he added when Castiel looked confused. "I can see how this whole situation is affecting you."
"I highly doubt that we can be like you" Castiel sighed. "Dean and I have been through so much together…well, you know exactly what. I raised him from hell and put him back together piece by piece. I turned against my whole family for him and lost my home. I died for him. Twice. And still all he can do is call me brother."
"He's probably just confused" Other Cas said. "If our Deans really are alike then I know he won't be great with understanding and talking about his emotions, but then again neither are you and I. I'm sure that if the two of you just communicated things would turn out for the better."
"But how do I even open him up to discussing something like this?" Castiel asked. "I mean this would be nice someday…but all I want for us right now is just to talk."
"You might need to take the first step" his counterpart replied. "We rebelled against heaven; trying to domesticate ourselves and Dean Winchester should be one of the easier things to do."
Castiel gave a small huff of amusement at that.
"Thank you. It's been helpful to see that I can leave heaven behind and still be happy."
"You're welcome" Other Cas smiled. "Just remember; if the two of you talk I think that you will find what you are looking for."
"Okay" Castiel said with a nod of determination. "I'm ready."
As soon as the two Castiels had disappeared up the stairs Other Dean sat down again and studied his counterpart's defeated slump.
"Look, I know you, okay" he said. "So whatever kind of gay panic you're having-"
"It's not just about that" Dean mumbled. "Cas is an angel, my friend…and now I'm just supposed to come to terms with the fact I'm in love with him? The people I love don't live long."
"Really? Because my husband and I have become stronger since we admitted how we feel" Other Dean argued. "We look out for each other. We take risks together. You know the two of you are meant to be together if you love each other and you're best friends."
"Wow" Dean scoffed. "Domestic life has made you a sap."
Other Dean sighed and ran a hand down his face. "If being in love and raising children means I'm a sap, then fine, I'm a sap. But if you are willing to risk a happy life because you're emotionally constipated than you're a complete Asshat and I pity you."
There were a few moments as silence as Dean processed his other self's claim.
"I'll screw it up" he eventually murmured.
"You know what? Maybe you will, but you'll spend the rest of your life wondering about it if you don't even try" Other Dean said. "We are affectively the same person so I know how you think, and I know that I had the same doubts that you do before I kissed Cas, but it turned out to be the best decision that I ever made. You've spent all your life worrying about Sam and John. For once just listen to yourself. I know how much you think about if it's possible for you to have a life like this and I'm telling you that you can."
"I…O-okay" Dean found himself stammering. "Alright, but if this all goes to shit then I'm blaming you."
"Fair enough" Other Dean shrugged.
"Okay" Dean said with a firm nod. He got up and straightened his jacket out again. "Thank you…and you really do have a lovely home and beautiful children" he mumbled quickly before leaving the room.
Other Dean rolled his eyes.
"Can't believe I use to be like that. Jerk."
Castiel almost bumped into Dean as he made his way down the stairs.
"Oh, I was just coming to see you" the angel said. "Could we go outside to talk?"
"Yeah" Dean agreed.
They made their way into the perfectly preened garden and took a seat on bench which overlooked some flower beds.
"Dean, there's something that I've wanted to tell you for a while now" Castiel said nervously as he clasped his hands between his knees.
"If it helps I think I know what it is" Dean said; it didn't help to lighten the mood as he had hoped.
"I just wish that there was more between us, Dean" Castiel confessed. "I wish that you could see me as more than a brother as I do you."
"Well, after having a rather stern word with myself…I'm starting to think that I was just trying to fool myself. That I was scared to admit how I feel. I mean, yeah, it is partly because you're a guy but…you're also my friend and I don't want to lose you."
"I have the same worries, but we shouldn't let them hold us back if it could bring us more happiness than harm" Castiel reasoned. "I'm not asking for all of this" he said indicating to the house. "I'd just like us to be able to try."
"I'd like that" Dean said with a small smile. "I'm not sure about the whole house and kids things just yet but…maybe just starting out with a kiss would be awesome."
"Ok, but you'll have to take the lead" Castiel warned him.
Dean smiled at his angel and cupped his hand around one side of Castiel's face as he leaned towards the other.
Their lips touched and it was as if everything suddenly fell into place. They both sunk completely into it and found as much love and passion as they had hoped.
"Congratulations! You found what you were looking for."
Dean and Castiel pulled away in shock to find Balthazar and Sam staring at them; it seemed that they had returned back to their own reality.
Balthazar was grinning widely and Sam even had a small smile.
"Forget the Titanic" Balthazar said. "This is what you call a good love story."