Beta: None. WILL have spelling and grammar mistakes. (Please don't complain as I've just warned you.)

Sex: No

Swearing: Minimal.

Main Title: Afterlife by Avenge Sevenfold.

Chapter Title: Touriquet by Evansence

I now have a Beta Reader, Don'tCallMeSammy, Your the best. :D with her help there should not be any mistake, if there are, well I apologise on behalf of us both. :D Enjoy the chapter.


HOW YOU BETRAYED ME

Castiel and Mary sat in silence when Dean walked through the back door. Mary lifted red-rimmed eyes to her son, an apology in their depths, but the hunter didn't meet them; his focus was solely on Cas. The angel squirmed at little under the hard stare before getting to his feet.

"Y – You've made your decision."

"I have." He remarked coldly.

Castiel was thrown, his gaze narrowing at the man before him, raking over his stony face and his stiffened spine. His eyes travelled down to Dean's clenched fist and felt his human heart jump at what he saw resting tightly in the hunters grasp, an angel blade, gleaming and deadly.
"Dean?" Castiel spoke cautiously, never taking his eyes on the weapon. "What's
wrong?"
"I made my decision Castiel."

The angel flinched. He could not ever remember Dean using his full name. Something wasn't right. "Dean?" he side stepped away from the table and Mary, Dean's gaze following his movements like a hawk waiting to swoop.

Dean was a human of great skill, but Castiel was a soldier. As Dean circled in preparation so too did Castiel. As Dean braced his feet again the bare wood of the floor, so too did Castiel. Dean had an angel blade, Castiel had merely his strength. He would not hurt Dean. He couldn't hurt Dean.

"Don't do this Dean…" the angel warned.

"Dean, what are you doing?" Mary asked from behind her son, he did not answer her. "Dean!" she called again trying to get his attention but it was to no avail.
"If this is about what happened in the car Dean, I am sorry. I should not have hit you." Castiel's heart raced as he prepared himself for a pointless attack. "Dean, you cannot win in a fight against me – you know that – please Dean."

Castiel saw him falter for an instant before he brushed whatever it was aside. The angel knew it was no good trying to reason with the man. There was one thing that was ultimately the same in both Deans. It was that grim, stubborn determination.

"Dean if you want this world, you can have it…" Castiel said, hoping that he could avoid the inevitable fight as long as possible. "…You don't need to try and kill me Dean. If you want this world, if you want me gone, all you have to do is say so and I'll leave."

Dean frowned. "You will?" he sounded confused, taken aback even.

"I have already said so."

"You'd leave this world as it is?"

"If that's what you want Dean. Yes."

"Why?"
Castiel tilted his head at the hunter. They had already spoke of this; what hadn't been said and been silently understood. Dean knew what Castiel felt for him, so why was he asking him why he would allow this world to exist?

"You know why." Castiel said, feeling suddenly uneasy.

There was a long silence. The two men still braced for a fight even while the hunter puzzled over the angel's words. Castiel slowly realised that Dean was avoiding eye contact. He looked at him, but never met his gaze directly as they had always done. Something was terribly wrong.
Castiel moved his head, trying to draw Dean's gaze to his but the hunter avoided it as if hiding something, hiding the true reason for this reaction.

Mary held her breath as she watched her son and the angel watch each other. Dean's stance told her he was preparing to do battle; she didn't need to see the blade in his hand. She just couldn't understand why. Over an hour and half ago he'd stood in this kitchen shielding that angel from her wrathful anger. Since then she'd noted the way he never took his eyes of him, the gentle ways he said the angel's name. She had sensed the deep connection between them, even when she hadn't wanted to admit it.

Her son cared for this angel, this man, and although it had been a little surprising when she'd seen his fingers hold protectively to the man's wrist while guarding him against her vengeance, she knew it was deep and profound. Which was why this didn't make sense. She heard Castiel mention a fight; she'd heard him apologize for hitting Dean. Was that why her son was preparing himself for battle? Before she could think of another reason for her sons' actions he reacted. She watched open mouthed as he lunged at Castiel with a grace she hadn't seen in him before.

Castiel truly hadn't believed Dean would use the blade, so he hadn't really prepared himself for the attack, which was why the hunter had gotten that first strike past his defenses. The pure blade slicing at Cas' coat, piecing straight through to make contact with the human flesh beneath. His vessel's blood staining the white cotton shirt he wore. He didn't know what had gotten into Dean but he was determined not to let him get in another shot. Only a few hours ago, this man had been lying at the angel side, his warm body pressed so close and a possessive hand holding his waist. Castiel could not understand why he was now trying to kill him. Surely it couldn't be because of their fight in the car. They'd fought before, though Castiel had never raised a finger to Dean, he knew that if he ever did the hunter would not retaliate
like this.

Then it occurred to him as he watched Dean cautiously, that this wasn't his Dean, no matter how much alike they looked; no matter how much he acted like his Dean; they weren't completely the same. This Dean had kissed him, this Dean wanted him, this Dean was capable of loving him – which also meant this Dean was capable of hurting him.

And that realization was far more painful than any wound, because he was sure that Dean would chose this world, and he had hoped the hunter would have allowed him to remain close, allow him to be his friend. But this Dean wanted what Castiel could not, in good conscience, give. Not yet. So clearly Dean would rather not have him around at all. Well if this Dean wanted him gone, wanted him dead, that fine. But he was a fool to think Castiel would go without a fight.
He was ready now, and when the hunter attacked again, the angel spun to avoid the blade, bring his elbow up to connect with the side of Dean's head, sending him staggering forward into the kitchen counter. Castiel regained his footing and braced himself of Dean's return.

'Never again, always defend.' He'd been taught that lesson early. Attacking could ultimately lead to failure, so he waited patiently for Dean. Hoping beyond hope the man he care so much for, who he'd watched over all his life, would not try again. He was wrong.

Dean recovered quickly and spun around to meet Castiel's burning
blue eyes.

That was when it because clear, that was the intent Castiel saw the truth
behind those green eyes. That was when the desperate anger towards Dean for
betraying him slipped away to be replace with an overpowering, pure fury aimed
at his brother.

The name rumbled from his lips as a growl, his feet propelling him forward.
"Gabriel."
But there was only thin air and silence.

~SUPERNATURAL: AFTERLIFE~

The paper wrapper fluttered to the dirt beneath his feet. His gaze was fixed on the black car shinning in the afternoon sunlight. It seemed peaceful in this red-neck abyss. Quiet. Anyone driving by would see nothing more than a salvage yard. They would not care or notice the havoc happening in this small metal maze.

He'd heard the instant the blade connected with the hunter's side; could hear the blood slowly seeping from the fatal wound, drawing the young man's life to a close.

Anna had appeared next to him, slid the steel between his ribs and vanished like a swift breeze, all so quick and painless. At least for her. The only thing spoken was a whispered, "Sorry Dean."

All the while Gabriel held control over the illusion of the hunter. He wasn't fool enough to attack his brother himself, he could easily get killed. So he'd done the most sensible thing, he'd built a double of Dean Winchester and sent it to do his dirty work.

He still wasn't all that sure what he was doing here. Oh yeah, Anna had come to him, told him about the real world - the one she'd stopped and asked for his help. He'd scoffed at first.

He hadn't wanted anything to do with Heaven or Hell, he was happy with his role as a demi-god. Of course the female angel had seized upon that, pointing out that if things went back to the way they were, he was as screwed as the rest of them. Apparently his identity was already known in the other world. It would be better for all of the concerned to stop Castiel from changing things back.

So now here he was using his abilities to kill his brother to save a world that he loved just the way it was; where he could continue to bring the message of humility to the high and mighty – with a dash of humour of course.

Anyone who thought Uriel had been the funniest angel in heaven clearly hadn't been paying attention. He smirked to himself, dropping another sweet wrapper on the ground.

"Why aren't you in there?" Anna snapped, appearing at his side.

"I said I'd help you stop Castiel – I didn't mention anything about dying to do so."

"You're an archangel Gabriel." She reminded him with a cold and slightly crazed look.

"And? He's a soldier."

"You're stronger." She argued.

"I'm also not a fool – I spend my time teaching the arrogance that 'pride comes before a fall'. I'm hardly going to make that mistake myself – he only needs one good thrust and I'm a goner – no thanks to you."

Anna growled. "You have to kill him, Gabriel – Heaven wants things back on track. Castiel is their weapon."

Gabriel frowned at his younger sister. "Why him? Any angel can travel in time, why does it have to be him?"

Anna shifted ever so slightly under the senior angel's questioning stare. "Because, it has to be…" a single look at Gabriel told her that wasn't going to be enough and she sighed, "…because he's from the same reality as I am. He's anchored there, he knows where the timeline split and how."

Gabriel frowned. "That doesn't make a lick of sense – everyone knows that John Winchester was killed and also when he was killed."

"Yes, but do you know how? When? The exact moment? No, because to Heaven, time is different, time is irrelevant. Castiel was there, he was trapped as I was. He knows everything he needs to know about how to fix it."

"So why now? If he knows all of this, why wait till now to fix it?"

Anna looked at the black car with a regretful sigh. "He has his reasons – which are exactly why we need him dead."

But it was too late. "He knows." Gabriel announced, looking at the house in the distance with a stunned expression on his face.

"What?"
"Damn it, he figured it out. How the hell did he figure it out?"

"You looked at him didn't you? I told you know to look at him. Damn it Gabriel." Anna shouted.
"Hey, mind you tone with me." Gabriel warned coldly, but Anna was too busy staring at the Impala in panic.

The archangel followed her gaze. Castiel was ripping the door of its hinges. His face was contorted in pain as he yelled Dean's name. They watched as he pulled the limp and bleeding body from the front seat.

Angel's didn't cry, they weren't capable, everyone knew that. Gabriel knew that. So he was at a loss to explain the gleaming trail that slid down Castiel's tortured face. He could hear the angels anguished sobs as he held the dying man close. He felt the heartbreak as if it were his own.

Angel's didn't cry… unless they lost their faith.

~SUPERNATURAL: AFTERLIFE~

Castiel pulled the bleeding man out into the bright sunlight. He could hear the man's heart fighting to keep beating as well as smell, see and hear the blood seeping from the wound in his side. His knees buckled and the two men hit the dirt.

Cas looked down into the dying man's eyes and pressed his hand to his side, allowing the warm blood to wash over his palm. He fixed his gaze to Dean's, willing him to focus, to stay. He didn't speak; he simply reached out with his grace. Dean Winchester was not going to die. He would not allow it.

He waited, watching, pressing his grace into the man who was fighting to stay alive. His grace had long ago been bound to the soul of Dean Winchester. It had pulled him out of hell, healed his broken soul, given him a faith he'd lacked, helped him find strength and forgiveness.

Even in this other different world where those important moments had never occurred, they were still bound together. There was a need in the angel's grace and the human's soul that had allowed that bond to cross the divide of changed fate. It had kept Castiel tethered to a hunter that hated his kind. It had given Dean memories and feelings that should not have existed. They were two halves, whether it was in this reality or another; whether it was on earth or in heaven; Dean Winchester and Castiel were forever bound.

The angel stared into the water-filled hazel with an anguish he'd never
experience before. He watched in silent fury as the light dimmed in the younger man's gaze. "Dean." he whispered, he pleaded. "Dean!"

The hunter tried to speak, but it was hard. The pain was fading but his lung was little more than the reminisce of an exploded balloon. His heart was failing him, a cold sensation was creeping over his body. But even as he tried to fight it, he knew this was it, the end.

It wasn't the pain from the wound that cause the tears to slide from his eyes, it wasn't even the knowledge that a beautiful brunette Reaper was hovering ever so close. It was that those blue eyes that had always called to him from his dreams, which were impossibly bright and pure, were fading. He saw a shadow that was all too familiar spread over them. He'd seen that shadow in his mother's eyes all his life. Its name he knew - vengeance.

He tried to speak again, gasping for breath. He needed to tell Cas his decision. He needed him to know that he would have been willing to sacrifice this world for him. The angel leaned forward and a tear fell from his lashes to settle on Dean's cheek. He couldn't speak, he had no air in his lungs to form the words, but he needed the angel to know. Castiel had to know. It took all of the hunters remaining strength to lift his hand, to settle it against the angels' neck, to pull him close.

It wasn't passion. It wasn't lust. It was worse than that. It was goodbye. It was forgive me. It was I love you.

Castiel pulled away shaking. Physically shaking. His gaze snapped up to stared furiously at the Reaper before him. "Leave him." he demanded.

"I can't, Castiel." she whispered.

"I'm an angel of the lord and I demand that you leave him!"

She hung her dark head, sighing. "I have my orders. They will not allow this miracle Castiel."
The angel stared at her with a wrath previously unseen in those innocent blue eyes. His face glistened in the sunlight. "Who's order?" he really didn't need to ask, he already knew, but he wanted the name.

"Raphael." she breathed.

There was a long silence. Castiel looked down at Dean's pale face; he was continuing to fight, to stay with him. "How long?" He whispered.

"Soon - he is fighting it." The Reaper stepped forward and placed a hand of the hunters shoulder. "Tell him to stop fighting."

"No."

She met his gaze. "Castiel… this is causing too much pain; for him and for you. Let him go."

Dim blue met dim green. Both men fought for breath. Castiel knew the Reaper was right, he knew Dean was holding on too tight to this life, but he wasn't sure he could let go. Dean was everything to him. He'd given up so much for the hunter. Of course this wasn't the Dean that had made him choose between heaven and humanity, between right and wrong, between family and friendship.

This was not his Dean - but he was the Dean that had offered him everything. Leaning forward once again, he pressed his forehead to the dying hunter's own and spoke softly, "Dean…" his throat tightened and he tried to swallow back the tears. He had never felt this pain; he'd never truly mourned the passing of a mortal life before because he knew they were going to a better place. But this was different, this was Dean.

"Dean, you have to let go – g-go with her D-Dean…." The words were catching in his throat. "…Y-you w-will be in a better p-place and I will see you again soon. I promise." As soon as I've killed Gabriel. He added silently.

Dean's eyes were fighting to stay open; he was still fighting to stay alive. He was fighting to speak. "A-A-Anna…." Dean gasped, struggling against the pain. "F-f-fix I-it, Ca-Cas."

Castiel felt the words brush his damp cheek; he heard the gentle wheeze of them and his heart broken and froze in the same instant. "Fix what?" he choked.

The Reaper sighed, that was all she could do. Finally getting to her feet she pulled Dean's soul with her. "I'm sorry Castiel."

Dean's spirit looked at her with confusion before turning to his empty meat-suit and the weeping angel leaning over it. "Cas?"

The angels pained eyes lifted to look at Dean, his face filled with emotion. Dean's breath caught, he'd never seen so much feeling in the angel before, in this reality or the other. "Cas? Can you see me?"

Castiel swallowed hard, he didn't move, he cradled the hunters head in his lap. "Yes, Dean."
Dean sighed and dropped down in front of the angel, glancing briefly over his shoulder at the Reaper, then to the house where he watched his mother and Bobby emerge and start running. His gut tightened and his heart clenched painfully. He was losing everyone in a single moment. But then wasn't that the plan. He'd made his decision before Death came calling, the only difference now was that Cas could not argue, which Dean was sure he would have. They would have spent years arguing over whether it was Dean's sacrifice or Cas's. Now at least Dean won. Because Cas had no choice but to change things back, it was the only way he'd survive.

"Cas, it was her, Anna. She did that whole angel mojo vanishing thing… popped in, stabbed me, then poof, gone."

Castiel's gaze turned to stone, the vengeance aimed at a different target. Anna? He should have known she would try something.

"Though I can't understand why? She's had plenty of chances to kill me over the past thirty years, why now?"

"Fear – she knew we had reconnected. She figured that I would go back and change things – Anna knows me well enough to know that I wouldn't do it without your consent." His tone was harsh and rough from the lump wedged in his throat. "She never understood that I had no intention of changing things Dean – not unless you truly wanted me to."

"I do." Dean said softly and smiled when the angel looked at him.

"What?"
"I was going to choose your world, Cas - I couldn't be happy here, with or without you, knowing that you weren't. If I chose this world, I'd have mom and the happy memories of Sam, I'd be happy, but you wouldn't be. Even if you gave in to that obvious crush you have on me…" Dean smirked and winked. "You wouldn't truly be happy here, because I'm not your Dean."

"You're Dean, one way or another." Castiel whispered, though he knew the hunter was speaking the truth.

"Yeah, except I'm not a jerk and he's not open enough to be honest with himself, let alone you – but I am, and honestly Cas, you've always been there for me. I know that now. I didn't before, I thought it was my dad watching over me, but it was you. You could have fixed this years ago, but you didn't. You sacrificed your world, your Dean, for my happiness. Well now it's time to return the favour, and luckily that bitch of an angel has taken matters out of our hands… cause if you don't put things right Cas… I'm dead. – So I guess you're gonna have to find a Delorian and take a trip back in time." Dean was laughing. He was dead and laughing.

Castiel sighed, miserable. "I still do not understand that reference Dean."

Dean's hand brushed absently as the angels' rough cheek. "I know… you'd think spending thirty years trapped here, you'd go to the movies or something. I mean jeez Cas, how many times have I used a reference you didn't get. I thought the reason you and Sam got on so well was because you both had that research thing down." His laugh was light, but not convincing, even to his own ears.

"I was a little busy watching you arse, Dean."

Now the hunter really laughed, adding an oh-yeah nod and a wink. "I bet you were."
Castiel sent him a narrowed glare.

They were both aware of the woman dropping to the angels' side. "Tell her I love her and I'm sorry." Dean said, fighting the tightness in his throat. Who knew ghosts could feel pain? Well he did, naturally. If they didn't feel pain then his job would be impossible. "And fix this Cas. Go home… to me… be as happy as you can with that thick headed jerk…" He shook his head. "I can't understand what you see in him, you know."

"It's simple; he always puts others before himself." Castiel said with a meaningful look at Dean. "He's the strongest person I've ever met and his soul is mine."

Dean smiled, really smile. "Oh yeah, yours huh? Well, I guess I can't possible complain about that." he pressed a soft kiss to the angels lips for the briefest of moments before the Reapers hand fell on his shoulder.

"We have to go."

Dean nodded pulling away. "Fix it Cas." It was an order not a request and the angel gave a sharp nod. "See you in another life, you feathery little nerd."

Dean winked and then was gone.