10– The Motherload

Reality reasserted itself, and Dean found himself back in the Bunker, on the floor of the main room, Cass crouched beside him. He remembered everything in a rush of memories that overlaid and contradicted his other memories, and it made his head throb like the worst hangover. "Son of a bitch," he muttered, grabbing his head. He felt a burning on his arm, something that came with sickly dark tides of rage that tugged at his consciousness, and he remembered he was wearing the Mark of Cain now. Great. Maybe he could have used that against Lucifer.

Cass must have healed his injuries, because he wasn't choking on his own blood anymore, and his leg had stopped hurting. Maybe he could even move now. Once he'd absorbed it all, he looked at Cass in confusion. "Wait, I don't get it. How did I end up there?"

Cass frowned, almost looking embarrassed. "Simeon. An old member of my garrison. He wanted to hurt me by hurting you."

"Ah." Fantastic. Psycho angels could just drop you in the middle of any goddamn reality they wanted. He had to make a note of that. "Hold on a second. I saved that dimension?"

Cass nodded. "Lucifer won the final battle in that reality. That dimension was due to collapse in on itself."

"But I killed him."

"Yes. So the collapse probably won't happen."

"What happens to the people?"

Cass shrugged. "I don't know. But with Lucifer vanquished, it's more than likely Heaven will return to Earth. It may recover, in time."

Well, that was something. He gave them a fighting chance at least, whoever was left. "Did I replace the Dean of that dimension?"

Cass shook his head. "The Dean of that dimension was dead. He was killed before Lucifer and Michael fought. Simeon simply dropped you in and nudged reality, so everyone believed you'd lived through it."

There was so much to unpack there. He had a billion questions, and wasn't sure which one to ask next. "Was I always meant to pull Benny out of Purgatory?"

Cass partially shrugged, but settled for shaking his head. "I don't know. But it does seem that way, doesn't it?"

Sam came into the room. "Dean! Are you all right?"

"I'm fine," he said, getting to his feet. He expected to hurt, and was kind of surprised when he didn't.

Sam hugged him, and Dean let him. He was thrilled to find he was not Lucifer's meat puppet, and alive. The Mark flared on his arm, like it had taken to doing lately in Sam's presence. He had told no one about that, because Dean hated to think what the implication of that was. The Mark didn't like Sam? Or the Mark was reminding him it hadn't had enough blood to sate it.

"I hate to break up the touching family reunion." Crowley said, joining them. "But since Dean is back and it's a win for team Venture Brothers, I suppose I should piss off now, yeah? I'll take the angel off your hands."

"No you won't," Cass said, taking a step towards him. "Simeon is to be remanded to Heaven. We decide his punishment, not you."

Crowley raised an eyebrow, clearly weighing whether it was worth an argument or not. Just from the smell of blood, Dean deduced they'd brought Crowley in to break Simeon. "I do and do for you people, and this is the thanks I get."

"On the bright side, you helped me kill Lucifer in the other dimension," Dean said, throwing him a bone.

Crowley gave him a look of genuine surprise. "Did I?" At Dean's nod, he smiled. "Of course I bloody did. Like that little berk was any kind of challenge for me." Crowley disappeared then, content with his victory. Dean didn't tell him he probably died doing it, because he wanted him gone. He'd had enough Crowley to last him a while.

Sam was now giving him a look Dean knew meant he wouldn't be satisfied until he heard every last goddamn detail. "You killed Lucifer?"

So Dean got himself a beer, and told Sam and Cass the whole story – more or less; he left a few details out – of how he, Crowley, Benny, and a shitload of monsters eventually took down Lucifer. Sam especially enjoyed the monster parade that took over Vegas. "Holy shit. What was that like?"

"It was weird."

Sam was grinning. Thankfully, it looked nothing like one of Lucifer's empty, vicious smiles. "It was fun, wasn't it?"

"Oh, it was so fun, I want to do that here."

Cass eventually left to take Simeon to Heaven, where he would probably end up in Heaven's jail, keeping Metatron's old cell warm. Dean took a break to make himself a sandwich, because now that his guts weren't being churned up by a mysterious beast, he was starving. He was also tired, even though the Mark burned and didn't want him to sleep. The Mark wanted him to go out and hunt, to find something to kill. Even in that hellish dimension, he had not missed it or its gnawing need. That other dimension had at least one good point.

"What about that vamp nest in Michigan?" he asked Sam, between gulps of beer. Sometimes, if he drank the right amount – not too much, not too little – it would numb the Mark. For just a little bit, but he still relished the respite. The Mark took a psychic toll he hadn't been prepared for, and it felt like it was stealing pieces of his sanity in increments. Dean figured he'd never been that stable to begin with, so this was no good at all.

"What about it? I was more concerned about finding you."

He nodded. "We have a job to do. Let's go finish it."

Sam scoffed, as Dean finished off his beer and stood up. "Dude, you just got back from killing Lucifer in another dimension. How about you get some rest? It'll be sun up in a couple of hours, and that's the best time for hunting vampires."

Dean was so tired, he felt like he could rest his head on the table and be out like a light. But what had been days in that dimension had been only hours in this one, and his body clock was all kinds of fucked up. And of course, the Mark was demanding blood. Rage was starting to settle in his chest, a need that would soon become a mania if he didn't feed it. He doubted it would let him sleep until he threw it some meat. "I'm too pumped to sleep. I say we hunt."

Sam gave him an exasperated look that he'd been giving him a lot lately. "Fine. We'll go back to Michigan."

Dean stood up, and unconsciously rubbed his right arm, which Sam caught him doing. Before Sam could give him the puppy eyes, Dean turned away.

It was funny, but now he was looking back to that Lucifer universe kind of fondly. At least that was a problem he managed to solve.

The End