A.N: Okay, I suppose I really should explain where this came from. Apparently, my mind gets these really weird ideas sometimes. So, Bruce Boxleitner said once at a convention something along the lines of, if B5 was to be filmed now, the producers would force the show to accommodate to certain trends – such as having a vampire on station. Of course he was half-kidding and he meant it as a negative example – which, yeah, it is, and don't worry, there aren't going to be any vampires in this one. But it got me thinking. And I wondered if I could try something that would merge the Babylon 5 universe with the Supernatural one. Or rather how would the Supernatural events work in the Babylon 5 timeline.

This is an AU for both shows, although I also tried to stay as faithful to the spirit of both series as possible. Apart from the introduction of supernatural elements the B5 world is mostly intact – why mess with a good thing, I say? The storyline of Supernatural is also as close to the one in the show as it can be with a few changes here and there to adapt it to the new time period and circumstances. As regards to the timeline, picture this taking place somewhere in season 2 for Babylon 5 (around the start of the Narn-Centauri war) and middle of season 6 for Supernatural (if you can imagine season 6 of Supernatural with the odd alien thrown in and some events taking place all over the Earth Alliance ). I'll be honest, it took a while until I decided to post this story. I wasn't really sure it could work. But then I decided to follow my own belief that some stories are universal and timeless. And let's face it, the story of two brothers fighting against darkness – that's as timeless as it gets. It mind sound like a wacky crossover, but let's treat it as an experiment and see how it goes, shall we?One more thing and then I'll end this ridiculously long note: profound apologies, but I had to take some liberties regarding space travel in B5 universe. As in, I don't remember there being any small personal ships that could travel great distances on their own, but if there aren't, then let's just put this under the AU column and say there were. I had to give Sam and Dean a vehicle of their own and a small flyer was more believable than having a 67 Impala crossing the galaxy anyway…

Neither show belongs to me and I make no profit out of this – who'd pay for such a wacky idea anyway? Enjoy!

Prologue

When one was travelling in space, one had the luxury to observe a world that was truly still – unchanging and unfailing. The stars and the planets seemed always there, the strange glimmers you caught from the corner of your eye when you were inside hyperspace, they were all expected and even welcome. They rarely shifted and changed and they rarely deceived. At least, they could never deceive one who knew them as well as Dean Winchester did, who had been outside in space more often than he was on solid ground. Perhaps that was why Dean liked being "on the road" as he called it, so much. There was nothing but stars and silence there and his faithful ship – outdated, many people called it, but Dean thought her more reliable than the latest-model passenger liners or whatever they were calling them these days. And there was his brother Sam, also. In Dean's opinion, that was more than enough.

Dean was the type who could forget that the journey through space was only a means to an end. They were not just travelling aimlessly, whatever other people who did not know the whole truth might think. They were always going somewhere, always with a destination in mind. Sometimes, they made stops along the way, it was true. But not this time.

This particular journey was different for so many reasons. They were in a hurry for one thing. For another – they had never been to their future destination before. Which was saying something.

The Winchesters had been all over the galaxy. They had been all over Earth, of course. Earth was their home. They would have probably remained there all their lives, had not their previously normal existence been shattered by evil forces and demons and things that the rest of the world deemed nothing but primitive superstitions. The Winchesters knew better. They did not impart their knowledge to the world, though. There would have been no point in it. Instead, they tried to erase all traces of their evil forces, waging a never-ending battle that had carried them miles and light years away.

Their next most frequently travelled-to destination was Mars. That was partly because that was where Bobby Singer lived and he was as close to a family and a stable home as the two young men could ever get. It was also because Mars was very active when it came to spirits and hauntings. No surprises there, the history of Mars had been bloody from the start. The harsh conditions had caused countless of deaths and accidents for the first explorers of the Red Planet. The survival rate among the first colonists had been dramatically low. And even in the latter years, things were little better. Oh, the conditions were ok, the dome making some places in Mars livable and even comfortable. But blood still poured on the streets of Mars, resistance fighters and Earth soldiers were always doing battle, caught in an endless fight for independence and as always, innocent people were caught in the middle. It was an environment that generated vengeful spirits by the dozens and the Winchesters were not the only Hunters – as that was what they called themselves – to visit the planet for general clean-up.

The situation was almost identical in the other Earth colonies as well. Orion 7 and Proxima 3 were plagued by the same problems. So were the smaller planets that were mostly mining outposts. These had the usual work accidents to add to the mix. From the perspective of someone from the past, life might have seemed quite simple – all those technologies that enable space travel and outposts away from Earth and contact with alien civilizations – but those that lived in the present knew exactly how difficult it actually was. And few knew it better than the Winchesters.

And their travels were not limited only to the places where humans lived. A few times they had gone to small alien worlds as well. There was a small colony on the edge of Brakiri space, for example, where the people knew exactly who they were and what they did. They welcomed the two brothers – or any other hunter that happened to pass by – and they even paid them when the job was done.

By mutual consensus, though, Sam and Dean had a few places they avoided. They would never go to the home-worlds of the major races. Minbar was out of the question. So was the Narn home-world and Centauri Prime. It was too risky to go there.

Until then, Babylon 5, the famous space station now three years old would have fallen under the latter category. Dean would have never gone there. The place might have been five miles long, but it was still an enclosed station, with tight security and only one way out. Hundreds of things could go wrong in a place like that. It simply was not worth the risk.

This time, however, it seemed that they had no choice but to go there. A few weeks before, Castiel had begun telling them of some kind of object – he was very vague about it, but then again, vague and cryptic were usually Castiel's trademarks and both Dean and Sam were plenty used to it by now. He was saying it would aid in his fight against Raphael and thus prevent the other archangel from staring the rebooted version of the Apocalypse. It all sounded like good news except for two things: Castiel did not exactly know what kind of object it was and, as far as he had been able to track it, it had to be on Babylon 5.

"Ok," Dean had said that day when they had all been sitting in Bobby's almost one of a kind library (if the newly-formed censorship office back on Earth knew the type of books Bobby Singer had, they would probably have a field day getting rid of all of them), "So why can't you go there and get it? I mean, it's not like getting there is that much of a problem for you, is it? You can be in and out of the station before we can say Cas."

Castiel had avoided Dean's gaze, looking slightly uneasy.

"It is a rather tricky situation on Babylon 5," he had said in the end. "Suffice to say that I – or any other of my kind for that matter – would rather not set foot inside the station, if we can help it."

"Why the hell not?" Bobby had inquired, irritated. "It's not like you have to declare you're an angel at the freaking customs."

"It is not that," Castiel had replied. "Kosh might be on the station."

Sam had tilted his head at that.

"Kosh?" he had repeated. "You mean the Vorlon Ambassador."

Typical Sam to be interested in the machinations of Babylon 5 so much that he could tell the name of the Vorlon Ambassador without blinking. Dean, himself, had been unable to recognise the name – although he did know what a friggin' Vorlon was, thank you very much. Well, at least he knew as much as the rest of the world did what a friggin' Vorlon was, which, admittedly, was not a lot. But Dean dared even Sam to say that he knew more.

"What's it to you if you're in the same place as the Vorlon Ambassador?" Sam had insisted.

But Castiel had, of course, been his usual mysterious self and had refused to say anything else no matter how much Sam had pushed. In the end, it was a moot point anyway. For whatever reason – and to be honest, Dean did not much care about the reason as much as he cared about the result – Castiel could not or would not go to Babylon 5. Which, of course, meant that Sam and Dean were going to be the ones to go there and locate the object – whatever the hell that was – and smuggle it out of the station and back on Mars were they were supposed to regroup at Bobby's. It was a plan that brought with it a gazillion of things that could go wrong. It was a disaster waiting to happen. Or, it was just another day in the life of the Winchesters.

Dean cast a look at Sam in the seat next to him. As if almost sensing his brother looking at him, Sam turned to meet his eyes.

"So, we're finally doing it, huh?" he inquired. "Going to Babylon 5."

Dean could tell that, in spite of the risks, Sam could not help being excited at the prospect. Well, as excited as Sam got these days. Had the opportunity of going to Babylon 5 presented itself years ago – before Hell and the Apocalypse and the gazillion messes that had piled upon them – Dean would have gotten more enthusiasm from his brother. Of course, Babylon 5 had not even existed back then. The station had been operational for only three years.

There had been the other Babylon stations. But none of them had been actually used. They had all been destroyed by various accidents. Some said sabotage. Dean- and other hunters as well, too – said curses. There was no point trying to determine which theory was correct. The stations were gone – except for Babylon 4, the predecessor of the current station, which had disappeared mysteriously and then appeared just as mysteriously a year before with its crew intact no less. As for Babylon 5, it showed no signs of falling under any curse so far. There was still time, though.

"Yeah, we're finally going," Dean said at length, "I just hope we can get everything over with before they introduce us to the brig."

"We're gonna have to talk to a lot of people on this one, Dean," Sam pointed out. "Most of them aliens."

Dean made a wide defensive gesture with his arms.

"Hey, I don't have problem with aliens," he claimed. "In fact, have you seen the Centauri chicks? I think some of them are pretty hot. Despite the whole, shaved head thing, of course."

Sam could not resist rolling his eyes at that. He should have expected that kind of answer from his brother.

"All I'm saying is, we have to tread carefully," Sam went on. "Babylon 5 is…well, it's the cradle of diplomacy."

Dean snorted.

"You believe the propaganda, do you, Sammy?" he asked.

Sam frowned. He knew Dean was the type to be sceptical about those things – hell, after all they had been through and after all the faiths they had seen shattered, they both had every right to be. But Sam could not help the fascination he felt for a system that had worked almost flawlessly for about three years and that seemed likely to only improve with time.

Sam noticed that the ship was picking up speed. He looked at Dean questioningly.

"If we're lucky, we're gonna make it there at the same time with the Asimov passenger liner," Dean explained. "The place's gonna be packed. They won't have time to double check everyone's ID's."

Sam nodded at that.

"Good thinking," he congratulated.

Dean glanced at Sam, unexpectedly pleased by the praise.

"Why, you seem surprised," he teased. "Didn't think I had it in me, did ya?"

Sam snorted.

"Shut up and fly this thing," was his only comment.

Babylon 5, Chief of Security's office

Michael Garibaldi was in a bad mood. Increase of crime in Downbelow did that to a Chief of Security. Crime spikes like that were not exactly uncommon and they usually passed and left a period of calm behind them. They still left an uncomfortable feeling and whenever they came there was also the possibility that the perpetrators might not be satisfied only with harassing those of Downbelow and would turn their attention to the more prominent areas of the station as well. That would, in turn, bring bad publicity to Babylon 5 which was the last thing the station needed. So when Zack Allan came to tell him about another body discovered that morning and sent to Franklin for autopsy, it was understandable why Garibaldi's temper was slightly short.

"So, what do you know about this one?" he demanded bluntly.

Zack was shifting from foot to foot. He looked nervous and reluctant to give his report, which was a bit unlike him. Zack may have had a shady start to his career, but he was an efficient officer who showed a lot of promise. He usually delivered reports without blinking. The fact that he seemed uncomfortable now was like a red flag to Garibaldi.

"Out with it, Zack," he demanded. "I ain't got all day. Were there any witnesses?"

"That's the point," Zack said, eventually, deciding to talk and let the facts speak for themselves. "There were two Lurkers. I'm not really sure how reliable their account is, though."

"Why is that?" Garibaldi wanted to know.

"Well, they say the victim wasn't attacked," Zack stated. "That he just…died, in front of them."

"What, heart attack?" Garibaldi inquired.

Zack shook his head at that, seeming to get even more uncomfortable.

"They said that…they said they saw something coming out of this guy," he admitted in the end. "Some sort of…uh…black smoke."

Garibaldi snorted.

"Black smoke?" he repeated.

Zack nodded once to show he himself realised just how ridiculous the whole thing was.

"Or they might have said black fog," he went on. "It was something along those lines, Chief."

Garibaldi frowned.

"Have they somehow got their hands on Londo's secret stash of brivari and drank it all up in one go? You did not believe them, did you?"

If anything, Zack looked even more out of his element.

"That's the point," he stated. "I don't know what to believe. I have no idea how this guy died. Also…there are a few other reports about him."

Garibaldi raised his eyebrows. Now he was getting interested. Zack noticed that and saw it as an indication to go on. He was more confident with that part of the story, anyway. It was more in his line of work than the aforementioned reports.

"Look, Chief," he began, "As far as we know this guy was a nobody who came in here hoping to strike it rich and then was forced to leave in Downbelow when money ran out. That's not an unusual story. It happens here all the time. He wasn't even too sleazy either. Until a week ago that is. Then a couple of alien delegates claimed they caught him ransacking their quarters."

"I remember that," Garibaldi said. "But nothing was stolen, right?"

Zack shrugged his shoulders.

"Nothing was reported stolen," he corrected. "But I saw one of the ransacked rooms. It was as if the person who did it had been searching for something."

"And there's no way of knowing if he actually found what he was looking for or not," Garibaldi concluded, "Because if it was something secret or smuggled in here the owner was not going to talk about it to security."

"That's right," Zack agreed.

"OK," Garibaldi said. "This is worrying. We'd better look into those potential break-ins. And have Franklin check on our dead guy. Hopefully he's going to come up with something more scientific than black smoke."

Zack nodded and left. Garibaldi shook his head. If there was one thing that could be said about the post of Security Chief on Babylon 5 was that it was never routine. There was always something unusual around the corner. Garibaldi did not know whether to be grateful or to hate it.

"Black smoke," he muttered. "That's how you know you've been doing something too long. I need a day off, that's what I need."