xXx-4-xXx

A/N: I didn't remember s5 character dynamics or speech patterns well enough to write for Bobby and the other characters I'll be bringing in, which meant a careful rewatch of selected eps, and then RL needed my attention for a while. RL + writers block from hell + rewatches = severely delayed updates. I'm trying for weekly updates from now on, but no promises. All gratitude, credit and love to my insightful reviewer and fanfic pal, Radon65, my friend Sarah, who is a truly excellent sounding board for all things SPN and Destiel, and my wonderful betas who just signed on: BabysDean, Rabbythart and TallAsTwoTrees. Without these lovely ladies proof-reading, making suggestions and setting a fire under my ass, this update wouldn't have happened yet.

The Impala pulled into the junk yard at Bobby's a few hours after Sam had met up with them. Castiel had given Dean the 411 on the Colt when they were riding to the meet-up with Sam, and then, once they had safely parked by the bridge which Sam had picked for a rendezvous spot, he'd zapped off to parts unknown to continue his god-hunt. It was just as well, really, because with Future-Cas stretched out asleep in the backseat, there wouldn't have been enough room for all four of them in the car. Still, Dean wasn't thrilled with how eager Castiel had been to get away. Did being around his future self freak him out that badly? Sure, Castiel had existed for millennia as a powerful being who was literally holier-than-thou, and seeing that his future self had not only become a human, but a pretty messed up one, had to be rough. Still, dude didn't seem easily rattled, either now or in the future, so Dean doubted that was the reason… he just wanted to know what the real reason was.

Future-Cas was still asleep in the backseat. He'd woken up briefly when they stopped for food at a Gas N' Sip which Castiel spotted, and had downed the crackers and ginger ale that Dean gave him. Afterwards, he'd crawled back under his blanket and he'd slept right through Castiel leaving and the meet up with Sam. He hadn't been sick again, which was a definite plus, but he wasn't exactly sleeping easy, either. Dude twitched and muttered, sounding agitated, and listening to that for half an hour had been enough. Driving in silence never really worked for Dean, anyway, so after giving up on the radio, he'd asked Sam to dig out some old tapes from the back of the glove compartment. He remembered dad playing them when he'd been really little, and they'd been on the soothing side. He had vague memories of riding in the backseat with Sammy while his baby brother slept, so he figured they wouldn't wake Cas up, either. He'd been right too. Cas slept the rest of the way to Bobby's, and the music actually gave Dean a nice little trip down memory lane, of the quieter family moments between hunts, so that was a bonus.

"…I would follow him right down the toughest road I know, someday soon… goin' with him someday soon. And when he comes to call, my pa ain't got a good word to say, guess it's 'cause he was just as wild in the younger days. So blow you ol' blue northern, blow my love to me…"

The only drawback to his choice of tunes was his brother giving him a hard time – "Getting sentimental in your old age, Dean?" – but after a quick reminder of the house rules regarding music and cakeholes, Sam had shut up.

Once he'd parked and pulled the key out of the ignition, Dean let his head rest on the seatback for a few moments. He wasn't sure what to do next. Yeah, he knew that he had to help Future-Cas adjust to life in 2009 and find out what the marker-points were on the road to the Apocalypse. That was bound to be a fun conversation. Figuring out what else he needed to change meant asking Future-Cas how things had gone so frigging wrong, and there was no point in putting it off any longer. He hated to wake the guy up, especially since it seemed like Future-Cas had finally found an okay part of the dreamscape, but he knew that the guy would get a better night's sleep in a real bed. One without wheels or an engine attached to it.

"Rise and shine, sleepyhead." Dean didn't bother to lift his head – or open his eyes – when he called out, and he didn't move until he heard Future-Cas shifting in the back seat. Once he heard an un-angelic grumble, followed by the seat springs squeaking, Dean smiled and craned his head around. He was met by a pair of bleary blue eyes blinking at him from a tangle of red flannel and motel-bedspread. Future-Cas scrubbed a hand over his face, still blinking, and Dean nodded towards Sam. "Guess what, pal? Someone joined us while you were out."

Sam turned around in the front seat and gave Future-Cas a smile. "Hey, Cas. It's good to…"

Future-Cas sat bolt upright, all traces of sleep gone as a look of sheer terror settled on his face, and he fumbled with the door handle. Sam's smile slid away, replaced by a confused frown, and he abandoned what he'd been saying as he watched Future-Cas trying to escape the back seat. Once he'd gotten the door to open, he stumbled out of the car and tried to get as far away from Sam as he possibly could.

Dean climbed out of the Impala and shook his head. "Dude, what's wrong?"

Future-Cas nodded towards Sam, who was getting out of the car, too, causing the fallen angel to back away even farther. He nodded at Sam again, mouth working for a few seconds before he managed to actually say anything. "Lucifer…" His face held a look of terror and profound sadness as he found himself trapped against a wall of junkers.

Sam seemed confused and hurt by Future-Cas's reaction, but he didn't lash out like he would have done even a few months earlier. Sam slowly approached Future-Cas, both hands held palm-up in front of himself to show that he was unarmed. "Cas, it's me. It's Sam." He used one hand to gesture at his own chest. "Can't you just, I dunno, look at me and see that?"

Dean stepped around the Impala and flanked Future-Cas, also being careful to move slowly and not spook the guy. He might not be able to flap himself into another zip code, but Cas could still run, and Dean didn't want to deal with chasing him around the junkyard. "Dude, it's us. You're in 2009, neither one of us has said 'yes' to your douchebag brothers, and we're not going to."

Future-Cas flicked his eyes to Dean, seeming hopeful but wary, so the hunter nodded. "Yeah. See?" he moved close enough to put a hand on Future-Cas's shoulder – or tackle him, whichever he needed to do – and pointed back to the Impala. "Take a look at Baby. When was the last time she looked that good, huh?"

Future-Cas followed Dean's finger, squinted at the car, and seemed to calm slightly. His eyes tracked back towards the younger Winchester and he stared for a few long moments before his expression cleared. "Sam?"

Sam nodded, using his gentlest smile and putting away the hurt-puppy eyes. "Yeah, Cas." He came a little closer and let his hands drift down to hang at his sides.

Before either of them could move, Cas was on Sam.

Sam staggered, trying to regain his balance, and Dean sprang into action, putting a hand out to brace his brother and trying to figure out what Future-Cas was doing or if he needed to pull the fallen angel away and subdue him. Dean cursed under his breath, wondering why the fuck he hadn't thought to check the guy for weapons… before he realized that Cas was just hugging Sam.

"It's you. It's really you!"

Once Dean had calmed down and realized that neither of them were in danger from Cas, he actually looked at what was happening and couldn't help smiling.

Future-Cas had wrapped himself around Sam, somehow managing to trap the much bigger man in a death grip. In fact, Future-Cas looked like an octopus attempting a bear hug. It was so damn funny that Dean's concern faded away entirely and he started laughing.

Sam glanced over at Dean, his wide-eyed look of alarm giving way to a glare as his brother just laughed at the situation, but then Sam heaved a put-upon sigh and gave a limited shrug before he apparently decided to just roll with it. He returned the hug, patting Future-Cas on the back and giving Dean a 'what can you do?' kind of look. "Yeah, Cas. I'm me, and I'm glad to see you, too."

By the time Future-Cas finally released Sam, Dean had managed to stop laughing but still wearing a shit-eating grin. Dean shook his head with a happy sigh and started walking up the rows of junkers towards Bobby's house. Sam fell into step with him pretty quickly, and Future-Cas followed them. He looked around the yard and recognition lit in his eyes.

"We're at Bobby's…"

"Yup." Dean threw the fallen angel a smile. "Bobby's is the closest thing we have to a home base, and I figured you might need a while to adjust to being back in time, so…" he gestured around at the repair yard, "Safe. Familiar. A place to get your bearings. Also, maybe you can tell us some of the shit that went wrong and led to that future turning out so bad? Bobby'll know what questions to ask, and it's not like he's felt real useful since getting stuck in the wheelchair, so…"

Sam nodded slowly. "You want them to work together, help us figure out what moves to make and which ones to avoid… and maybe working on something so big could even help snap Bobby out of his funk." He smiled and tipped his head, seeming impressed. "That's actually kinda brilliant, Dean."

Dean clapped him on the back as they climbed up the porch steps. "Don't sound so surprised, Sammy. You're not the only one in the family with brains."

Sam huffed. "No, I'm just the only one who makes a habit of using them."

Dean rolled his eyes and knocked on the front door. "Ha frigging ha." He waited a few moments, then called out, "Bobby, it's us."

Future-Cas rubbed at his temple and looked between the two brothers, a half-smile peeking out from his stubble. Sam caught him staring and self-consciously adjusted the strap of his duffel on his shoulder. "What?"

Future-Cas squinted and shaded his eyes against the glare of sunlight coming off of a crunched up Pinto's windshield. "Just, it's nice, hearing you two bicker. Didn't realize how much I'd missed it, these past few years."

Sam shot Dean a surprised look. Dean just shrugged, figuring it was best to let the guy explain himself, and Sam blinked at the fallen angel. "You missed this?"

Future-Cas raised one shoulder in a half-assed shrug. "Yeah. You're disagreeing, but it's playful. There's no venom in it. No anger. That's-"

An annoyed shout from inside cut him off. "Of course, you only learned to knock after I got stuck in this damn thing." The door swung open and Bobby sat in his wheelchair just inside the front door. "Well, come on in if you're coming." He turned the chair around pretty quickly – clearly, he'd gotten the hang of maneuvering it – and headed back into the house. "So, what kinda trouble you idjits in this time?"

The guys paused for a second, trying to get ready for Bobby and his foul mood before they went into the house. When Dean stepped inside, he shook his head. "Y'know, the last time I showed up here unannounced, it was right after Cas yanked me outta the furnace, and I did knock, so we've known how to for a while."

Bobby huffed and kept rolling, heading for his study. "Sure seem to forget most of the time…"

Sam and Future-Cas shared a look as they walked into the front hall, and Sam tilted his head towards their angel friend. "Actually, Bobby, we kinda got a lucky break, and we were hoping you might help us make the most of it."

"Is that so." Bobby situated himself behind the desk and started fussing with papers. "And what, pray tell, is this so-called lucky break?"

"Funny you should mention praying…" Dean set his bag down and chuckled. "I'm guessing you haven't taken a good look at Cas yet, huh?"

Bobby raised his head and looked at Future-Cas. Really looked, and Dean saw something click behind Bobby's eyes before the old hunter squinted. "What the hell happened to you?"

Future-Cas rubbed at his forehead and shrugged. "The apocalypse. It's very good to see you, Bobby. Been a while."

Bobby looked him up and down. "Uh-huh… and is somebody gonna fill me in?"

Dean put his bag down and sat in one of the chairs. "One of the winged dicks zapped me five years into the future, to show me just how bad things are gonna get if I don't agree to be an angel condom." He gestured with his thumb towards Future-Cas, who was standing by the doorway to the kitchen. "This is the version of Cas from 2014, so when Zach brought me back to '09, and our Cas saved me from Zach using me as a chew-toy, I had Cas go save his older-self. Now we have two Castiels, and one of 'em knows the roadmap to the apocalypse, so I'm thinking, maybe he can help us avoid mistakes."

Bobby crossed his arms. "And, just where do I fit into all of this?"

Sam and Dean shared a look, and Sam nodded, taking over. "Well, we were kind of hoping he could stay here with you while he's getting his bearings, and since it's five years worth of stuff to go over, it's probably gonna take a while to get through it all. That way, Dean and I can hunt while the two of you figure out what moves to make and what to avoid. Is that," Sam fidgeted, leaning forward and seeming a bit younger and smaller. "D'you think you'd be okay with that?"

"No." Bobby scowled up at them, arms still crossed. "I dunno when you boys got the notion that I was your personal secretary, but just 'cause you say 'jump' don't mean I'm gonna ask how high. And just in case you're gettin' any ideas, I've been livin' on my own for a while now. I like it, and I'm not lookin' for a roommate, or a damn nursemaid."

"Come on, Bobby." Dean rubbed at the back of his neck. "We need to know what he knows, and I don't know anyone who's better than you at figuring this crap out."

Sam nodded his agreement with Dean. "He's right. We need to see more than three moves ahead, figure out where the other Dean and Sam went wrong, and…" he gestured vaguely with his hands, "take a different path than they did. We just got a big win, one that could help us save thousands of people. Help us make the most of it...please?"

Bobby let out a heavy sigh and his hands dropped to his lap. "I guess. Hell, it's better than just sitting here and being useless." He blinked, tipped his head slightly and looked at Future-Cas more closely. "What did you mean, 'it's been a while'? Did somethin' happen to me?"

Future-Cas shifted uncomfortably, rubbing at the back of his neck and leaning heavily against the roll-top desk by the kitchen doorway. "Yeah. See, the way the apocalypse started, Sam said 'yes', and around the same time there was a bad Swine Flu outbreak. We didn't think much of it, figured it was same old, same old… but it was happening around March, not really flu season, which was strange. Then, this new flu vaccine came out, and a lot of people were rushing to get it. Not widespread panic, just like when Bird Flu was around, and we were hunting demons and other monsters, so Dean and I were focused on that." He shifted, closing his eyes and pressing a hand to his forehead with a wince. "People started acting weird after they got the vaccine, and after a couple of weeks we started hearing about more and more cases of demonic possession… but they weren't normal possessions. It was a virus…"

He trailed off, shaking his head, and Sam's eyes went wide. "Croatoan." Sam scrubbed a hand over his face. "Holy crap…"

Future-Cas nodded, eyes still closed and sweat beading on his forehead. "We figured the virus was in the vaccine, but by then, it was too late for us to do anything. Too many people were infected." He winced again and lost his footing. Future-Cas caught himself on the door frame and barely avoided sprawling onto the floor.

Dean shot Sam and Bobby a look, then went over to help the guy. He pulled one of the fallen angel's arms around his shoulders and pretty much hauled the guy upright. Future-Cas barely even tried to hold himself up, which had Dean worried. "Hey, man, you okay?"

Future-Cas shook his head. "I…" he swallowed. "I don't feel right. It isn't… I'm immune to the virus, I still have enough angel mojo to protect me from it and from regular diseases, but…" He put an arm over his stomach and started shaking "something's wrong. Something's very wrong."

Bobby cleared his throat. "How about you boys get him upstairs. No one's usin' the room at the end of the hall anymore, so I guess he can lay up in there till we figure out what's goin' on."

Future-Cas managed a nod. "Thanks."

Bobby studied him thoughtfully. "Mmm-hmm. Just one thing, Cas. Why did you say it'd been a while since you'd seen me? 'Cause with all the crap you're sayin' went down, even stuck in this chair, I'd never leave you boys in the lurch."

Dean craned his neck to look at Future-Cas. He'd been wondering that too, actually. No matter what was going on, Bobby would do whatever he could to help, and they all knew it. Future-Cas hesitated, and Dean stared him down. "Well?"

The ex-angel grimaced. "We'd just figured out the connection between the Croats and the vaccine, with your help, and then you told us that one of your neighbors was going to get a flu shot. The virus hadn't made it to Sioux Falls yet, but we knew it was just a matter of time, so we came here to try and destroy the supply of contaminated vaccine, but…" He trailed off, a pained look on his face, and raised his eyes to look at Bobby, "we were too late. That was in April of 2010."

Bobby sat back in his chair. "You're sayin' I died, or I got turned, which amount to the same thing in my book."

No one knew what to say to that. Bobby took a minute, then nodded at Sam and Dean. "You boys go get him settled upstairs."

Sam came over and put Future-Cas' other arm around his shoulders. Since he was so much taller than Cas, Sammy had to stoop, which made some of his hair tumble out from behind his ears. "Will do, Bobby."

They were heading for the hallway when Bobby's voice stopped them. "Dean?"

The three of them turned in the doorway, Sam waiting and taking more of Future-Cas' weight while Dean twisted around to face Bobby. "Yeah?"

Bobby rolled out from behind the desk. "Once you boys get him settled, I expect to hear what you saw when you were in 2014."

Dean nodded. "You got it."

"And son, don't leave anything out."

"Sure, but you're not gonna like most of it."

Bobby huffed and gestured towards the stairs. "I don't figure on liking it, I just need to know. Now, get a move on before he passes out on you."

Sam and Dean started moving again. They'd barely made the landing when the fallen angel clamped a hand over his mouth. Dean swore under his breath, gripped Future-Cas's arm tighter and steered him towards the upstairs bathroom. "Okay, man. If you've gotta…"

They'd barely made it through the door when Future-Cas shook off their hands and dropped to his knees in front of the toilet… where he promptly and loudly lost his breakfast.

The brothers looked at each other, neither one of them really knowing what to do with themselves in a small, confined space with a guy who was puking into a toilet. After a silent argument – where Dean threw 'paper' instead of 'scissors' for once – Sam rolled his eyes… and then he knelt down next to Future-Cas and put a hand on his back. The fallen angel jerked at the touch, shying away from Sam as much as he could without moving away from the toilet.

"It's gonna be okay, Cas. Just, get rid of whatever's bugging you."

Future-Cas groaned and rested his forehead on the toilet seat. "I don't think it's the food. All I've had since I got here was a burger-"

Dean cut him off. "Which he puked up a couple hours outside Kansas City."

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother and nodded at Cas. "Ignore Dean. What else were you gonna say?"

Future-Cas swallowed, grimaced at the taste, and dragged the back of his hand over his mouth. "Just that I haven't had anything to eat or drink that would have made me sick." He rubbed the heel of his hand into one eye, shaking his head. "It's not the food, and I'm still immune to viruses and bacteria, so it isn't food poisoning or an illness."

Dean frowned. The fallen angel sure looked sick, his skin was pale and clammy. Dean was about to say something about it when his little brother leaned forward and put a hand on Future-Cas' forehead. Dude's eyes closed and some of the tension he'd been holding onto seemed to drain away. Cas let out a little sound which was almost a whimper. "My head won't stop pounding."

After a few moments, Sam turned around with a grimace. He leaned closer to Dean and lowered his voice. "He's burning up."

Dean sighed, looking from his brother to the fallen angel who had just started to worship the porcelain god again. "Stay with him. I got no clue what's up with him, just… try to keep him calm or whatever. I'll ask Bobby where he keeps his medicine…" he headed for the door, half talking to himself, "not that we even know what's wrong, or what'll help him, or if Bobby even has anything." He scrubbed a hand over his face, not really caring that he was clomping back down the stairs like a moody teenager.

Bobby rolled out of the study and frowned up at him. "What's wrong with Cas junior?"

Dean gave a frustrated shrug. He'd brought Cas back to '09 to help the guy, to save him… and here they were, all safe and alive and together at Bobby's, and he had no idea what to do. "We dunno. Dude's got a fever, he's puking his guts out, says his head is killing him and he's shaking like crazy."

Bobby narrowed his eyes. "Is he jumpy? Sweatin' like a pig?"

A nod was his answer.

Bobby sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. "Balls. Never thought I'd say this, but it sounds like our angel's got a case of the DT's."

Dean frowned. "How do you know that?"

Bobby shrugged. "I'm an old drunk, Dean, and I've been around other old drunks for most of my life. I know what it looks like when someone stops hitting the bottle, and it looks exactly like what's happening to Cas."

Dean looked towards the upstairs landing, grimacing as he heard the unique sound of dry-heaves echoing off of porcelain. "Awesome."

A/N: Song was played in 11x04 "Baby". It's canon that Mary loved this song, and that John used to play it for the boys, so, yeah… I'm a shameless sap. It's called 'Someday Soon', and that version was sung by Judy Collins in 1968. Full lyrics are on the interweb, and it works as a Destiel song if you squint.