AHHH! Cliff hangar! So sorry about leaving that for so long, but finals at school suck ass. So, I am taking a break from studying for my lovely Spanish final tomorrow just for you people. Because I love you.
BTW, I just killed Dean and Clara. HA. Cry my lovelies, weep for mama.
Castiel, Sam and the Doctor didn't really know what to expect when the two people dropped back into their bodies. Whether it be Dean and Clara writhing in pain on the tables tops, it working immediately, or anything.
The only thing they didn't expect was the bodies on the table staying still and growing cold.
Sam reached forward and felt for a pulse on Dean's body, but he couldn't find one. The Doctor rushed around to Clara's body's side and shook her arm.
"Clara?! NO! No, I was suppose to save you this time! You weren't suppose to die again!" The Doctor shouted, anger and sadness sweeping across his features. Cas felt a burning sensation in his eyes, and he wiped them experimentally. His fingers came away wet as he realized that he was crying.
"Dean? Dean, please, wake up." Sam begged, grabbing his brother's limp hand. Tears were flowing freely on all three men's faces, looking between the two lifeless bodies on the tables. Cas fell to his knees and looked at the tiled floor.
"How can they be gone? Their souls...they were flickering, but I was sure they could handle it. Dean and Clara are strong, they wouldn't simply allow this to happen." Cas muttered, rubbing his eyes with the heel of his hands.
Inside of Dean's Mind
"Sammy?! CAS!? I'M FINE!" Dean yelled out from the depths of his mind. A faint feeling in the back of his head came from Clara on the other table.
"Dean? Are you okay?" Clara asked, concerned. "I am...but I can't move." Clara said dejectedly. Dean wanted to nod, but his body refused to move to his commands. Both of them could hear what was going on, but neither of them could do anything about it.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Why the hell can't we move?" Dean was getting angry at his body. His family thought he was dead, and he couldn't tell them otherwise. Clara made a noise of discovery.
"I think...I think I know what's going on. Our bodies aren't used to being controlled by our regular souls anymore. Maybe they just need a little bit to...you know...re calibrate." Clara suggested, and Dean thought about it. It would make sense. When they originally switched, they were sleeping, which means that their bodies could have been dead for awhile, and they wouldn't have even noticed.
"That makes a lot of sense, actually. So, what? We just try not to go insane, swimming around in our own juices?" Dean joked, and Clara laughed a little.
"I guess. I think we should pay attention to what's going on outside, though." Clara pointed out, and Dean trained his ears on the conversation being held.
"-would work, Doctor! Now both Dean and Clara are DEAD!" Sam's voice yelled at the Doctor, and if Dean could, he would have flinched. The Doctor's plan DID work, but they didn't know that. How could they?
"Sam, I am quite aware of what happened. Clara was my best friend, do you honestly think that I would try to get her hurt?!" The Doctor snapped back. A throat cleared from the corner of the room.
"What should we do, though? Find somewhere to bury them?" Cas said, and Dean was shocked by the sound. His voice broke, and his words were filled with sadness. Was his angel actually...crying?
"Clara's mother is buried in a cemetery in England. I imagine she would want to buried there." The Doctor choked out, and Dean could feel Clara.
"DOCTOR! PLEASE, I AM NOT DEAD!" She screamed, clawing at the wall in her mind that kept her from taking her body.
"Actually, I think we should give them both a hunter's funeral. Clara deserves it, and its what Dean wanted when he died before." Sam sighed, and Dean faltered.
"Oh god, they...they are going..." Dean stuttered, and Dean felt Clara's alarm.
"Dean, what is a hunter's funeral?
"Its a way to bury hunters so they don't become spirits. You salt and burn their bodies." Dean stated flatly. Clara pounded harder on the wall.
"Oh god, get us out of here! PLEASE! SAM, DOCTOR, CAS! We are ALIVE!" She shrieked, sadness and anger seeping through to Deans' mind.
"What is a hunter's funeral?" The Doctor asked.
"Well, its basically cremating. Hunters fight ghosts, sometimes, and to prevent hunters from turning into spirits, we salt and burn their bodies. Last time we didn't, our...my uncle came back and turned bad." Sam explained.
"It was a good thing that you didn't burn Dean's body when he went to Hell, though. I would have had to reconstruct his body far longer. It could have taken an extra month to do so from scratch." Cas contemplated, and Dean laughed internally. There was nothing funny about the situation, but he needed something to laugh at, something to take the edge off the serious danger that he and Clara were in. He could feel Clara laugh too, but it was just as desperate as Dean.
"Dean...I'm scared." Clara whispered, and Dean held onto the feeling of her in his mind closer, almost like a celestial hug.
"I know, Clara, I am too." Dean murmured back. He felt his body being lifted from the table, the arms were strong and familiar, and he realized it was probably Cas. He was limp in the angel's arms, being carried bridal style. If Dean could express any emotion besides fear at the moment, then it would be embarrassment. Clara was in one of the other two's (probably Sam) arms in a similar fashion.
"Castiel, how are you lifting Dean like that? He is kind of heavy." The Doctor asked, adn Dean felt Cas turn around.
"I am an angel of the Lord, I have tremendous strength when I need it." Cas snapped, whirling back to face front. He set Dean down on a chair and pressed his lips to Dean's forehead. His stubble was kind of scratchy, but in a nice way. "I am so sorry I could not protect you, Dean."
"Its okay, Cas. Just don't burn me and Clara." Dean pleaded, but to no avail. Dean felt Clara being placed next to him, their bodies slumped against each other.
"You know, if you didn't know any better...they look like they're sleeping." Sam commented, the sound of shifting feet was clear wherever they were. Dean supposed he was right. Clara's head was on his shoulder, and Dean slumped back, his head tilted behind him. A spark of hope flared in Clara.
"Castiel is an angel, right?" She demanded, and Dean felt an idea forming in her mind."
"Yeah, he is." Dean replied wearily.
"Then...he answers prayers?" Clara inquired, and Dean felt himself radiate a hopefulness that was previously lacking.
"He does! That's how you call him! Why the hell didn't I think of it!?" Dean exclaimed with a new found glee. Clara would have been smiling if she could. "CASTIEL!" Dean yelled out, trying to convert it into a prayer rather than a plea for help.
"Yes, Sam?" Cas asked, stopping whatever he was doing.
"What?" Sam responded. Dean could almost hear Cas' brow furrowing.
"You said my name just now, what is it?" Cas said, irritated.
"Sam did not say anything, Castiel." The Doctor noted, and Cas shifted a little so his hand was touching Dean's leg.
"Oh, I thought I heard something. I was quite faint." Cas mused, and before Dean could call out again, the TARDIS shook, signalling a landing.
"Here is Lawrence, Kansas. Stull Cemetery, the TARDIS took us here. Any idea why?" The Doctor asked, and Dean could hear the sharp inhale from both Sam and Cas.
"This is where I jumped into Hell. I stopped the Apocalypse here." Sam breathed. Cas took Dean into his arms again.
"And it shall end where it began." Cas muttered to himself. The doors creaked open, and Dean felt sunlight hit his skin. He had to try again.
"CAS! ITS ME!" Dean pounded at the wall in his mind, screaming at the top of his spiritual lungs. Cas stopped walking.
"Dean?" He whispered, and Dean could feel him get close to his face. Dean sighed in relief.
"Yeah, Cas. I'm okay." Dean said, and he felt Clara shouting a victory in her own mind. Cas dropped to his knees and started sobbing into Dean's limp form.
"Dean." Cas said with love and hope drenching his voice. He held Dean tighter, wetting his shirt with tears. "I thought you were dead."
"I don't know what I am, but I am certainly not dead. Neither is Clara. We are back in our bodies, but we can't move." Dean told him, giving him a little mental reassurance.
"Cas? What happened?" Sam asked, coming over beside Cas.
"He's alive, Sam. Dean is alive." Castiel's voice broke at the word 'alive'.
"What? What do you mean, alive? He has no pulse!" Sam shouted, anger in his voice. Dean had an idea.
"Tell him 'Fermino' its a code we have." Dean told Cas, and Cas nodded against his body.
"Dean said to say 'Fermino'." Cas announced, and Dean heard Sam gasp.
"Dean?" Sam choked out.
"Is Clara...is she alive as well?" The Doctor asked, and Cas nodded again.
"They are both trapped in their own minds, but yes, they are alive." Cas assured them.
"Okay...maybe I can help with that. Clara! If you can hear me, I need you to let me in. I am going to see if I can manually break down your wall." The Doctor called out, and Clara was eager.
"Of course, Doctor." Dean could feel what she could, and hands touched the side of her face. Suddenly, the Doctor appeared in her mind.
"CLARA!" He smiled at her and gave her a mind hug. She squeezed him tightly.
"How are you even here?" She questioned, and he shrugged.
"Time Lord telepathic network. I can go into people's minds. Fun times in people's brains. I was in the Queen of Versailles mind once, fascinating woman..." The Doctor rambled.
"Hey, Doc! You think you can focus?" Dean shouted from his end.
"Oh, hello Dean! You are in here too? Lovely, that will make this easier." The Doctor said gleefully. He went up to the wall that was blocking their souls from taking the body and put his hands against it. "This is made of your bodily defenses. While you were outside of your bodies, it built up a defense system so nothing else could get out. Unfortunately, it also lock you out. Have you tried to break it?" The Doctor asked Clara, and she nodded.
"Of course I have!" She flung her hands into the air, and the Doctor looked at Dean.
"Have you tried to help her?" He pointed at the wall, and Dean looked shocked.
"Uh...no. I was trying to get a hold of Cas and break my own wall." Dean admitted. The Doctor waved him over.
"If all three of us push at it, then the celestial barrier will not be able to take it, and it will break, taking Clara's soul and mind back into itself. So, on three, push with all of your strength. One...two...three! GERONIMO!" The Doctor shouted as he shoved his shoulder on the wall. Clara and Dean pushed as well, and cracks began to form where their hands were. They split up the side, fracturing apart. With a final heave, the wall crumbled, and Clara was swept inside, like water flowing from a dam. Dean was vaulted back into his mind, where he laid in Cas' arms still.
"Dean, I am going to do the same for you." The Doctor said out loud, and Dean felt the hands on his temple. The Doctor appeared in his mind this time, and saw Dean. "Dean, can you see or feel anything that is going on around you?" The Doctor asked briefly.
"I can hear and feel, not much more though. It's kinda hard to focus on one thing." Dean admitted. The Doctor came forward and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Castiel has not let your body go. If he put it down, then he held the sleeve of your jacket. He never stopped looking at you with a look of complete and utter sadness. I know what that looks like, being alive for a couple thousand years will do that to you. Castiel is completely smitten with you, Dean. When you wake up, make sure you talk to him." The Doctor commanded, and Dean blinked.
"Really?" Dean whispered, and the Doctor smiled.
"Really. Now, lets get you back in control of your body, Dean-o!" The Doctor declared, and the pair shoved their shoulders against the wall. It didn't give any at first, but the harder they pushed, the more it cracked. Finally, much like Clara's, the wall shattered into a million pieces, and Dean was pulled through. He felt himself expand to become the size of his body and he settled into his skin. He took a deep breath in and sat up straight, throwing his eyes open to meet the blinding sunlight and blue eyes of an angel.