It was hard getting back into the swing of things without Sam. Dean and I went on a few simple hunts first. A vampire here, a haunting there.
Dean wasn't himself though. He was quiet and didn't play around much. A combination of the apocalypse and Sam's absence I guess.
I called Sam a few times but he didn't talk for long and never told me where he was. Dean never asked about him and Sam never asked about Dean. They drove me insane.
Castiel popped in on us one day to ask for some help in finding the archangel Raphael. Asking Dean for help really since Cas figured no angels would harm him but I was along for the ride.
Taking Cas hunting had been an adventure in itself and Dean seemed to perk up watching Cas try to survive in the real world. We did manage to locate and trap Raphael but he apparently didn't know anything about God that would help us.
Now Cas was gone again and Dean had driven all night. I finally talked him into stopping in Kansas City to rest. We both needed it even if it was a few hours on a crappy motel bed. Dean parked the car outside a motel and I went in to get a room while he grabbed our bags from the trunk.
We got up to our room and Dean got a phone call from Cas. They spoke while I brushed my teeth tiredly. I pulled my shoes and pants off and flopped onto the bed.
"We're talking about the Colt, right?" Dean said closing the curtains on the room when he noticed I was walking around half dressed. "I mean, as in the Colt?…. Well, that doesn't make any sense. I mean, why would the demons keep a gun around that, uh, kills demons?…" Dean let out a laugh and I rolled my head over to look at him. "You know, it's kind of funny. Talking to a messenger of God on a cellphone. It's, you know, like watching a Hell's Angel ride a moped…"
"This isn't funny, Dean," I heard Cas say through the phone. "The voice says I'm almost out of minutes." I let out a snort of laughter.
"Okay, all right," Dean said to the angel. "I'm telling you, Cas, the mooks have melted down the gun by now…. Okay. Where do we start?… Kansas City. Century Hotel, room 113… Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. No, no, come on, man. I just drove like sixteen hours straight, okay? I'm human. And there's stuff I got to do… Eat, for example. In this case sleep. I just need like four hours once in a while, okay?… Okay, so you can pop in tomorrow morning." Dean hung up the phone and sighed.
"Don't be mad. He doesn't know any better," I smiled at Dean. He gave me a grin back and fell onto the bed next to me.
"The Colt?"
"Yeah, Cas thinks it's our chance at killing the devil. Only we have no clue where it is or if it even still exist." My eyes drifted shut as he spoke but I was still awake. "You know I could probably live off three hours of sleep." He pulled me closer to him and I couldn't help but smile.
"I don't think so, Winchester. Go to sleep. I'm exhausted and I know you are too."
"Fine." He placed a kiss on my forehead and laid back in the bed. Soon I was asleep.
"Damn it, Cas, I need to sleep," I heard Dean growl, waking me up. "Sam? It's a quarter past four." This got my attention. Dean got out of bed and listened as Sam spoke. "So, you're his vessel, huh? Lucifer's wearing you to the prom?" I sat up and sent Dean a curious look. "Just when you thought you were out, they pull you back in, huh, Sammy?"
Sam apparently told Dean he wanted to join us again but Dean wouldn't let him. Especially not now that they were the two vessels meant to end the world.
"We got a better chance of dodging Lucifer and Michael and this whole damn thing, if we just go our own ways," Dean said into the phone. I sighed at his solution. We needed Sam, Lucifers vessel or not. "Bye, Sam." Dean hung the phone up.
"Dean-" I started.
"I'm going to sleep," he said laying back down on the bed and facing away from me. Obviously done with the conversation. I sighed and laid back down. I'd deal with it in the morning.
Deans POV
I woke up uncomfortably. The mattresses in this motel really sucked. I opened my eyes and stared up at the ceiling a moment confused. I turned my head and the first thing I realized was that Robin was gone. My eyes focused on the rest of the room and I jerked up noticing that it was completely destroyed. The mattress was just a set of springs and the walls were blackened.
I got up and went to the window and looked out of the torn curtains. The entire street was in ruins. Buildings destroyed, car's left as charred skeletons in the streets, and not a soul in sight.
"Robin?" I said quietly into the room.
I check the bathroom but she wasn't there either. I left the room and looked for her on my way down to the street. No sign of her or any other life.
I never did find Robin. But I did find life. Sort of. Croatoan infected people. They ran me down and cornered me by a fence. I was barely saved by a tank full of soldiers who shot the infected. I decided I needed to get out of the city and on my way out I found a sign that was dated August 1st. 2014. I had gone to sleep in 2009. I needed to find Sam and Red. Or Bobby.
I hot-wired a car and had a visit from Zachariah during the drive. He sent me to the future to try to convince me to say yes to Michael. The kicker was he wouldn't send me back to 2009 until I had spent three days here.
I went to Bobby's house where I hoped to find Sam and Robin too. Unfortunately the house was empty. The only clue I found of Bobby was his wheelchair. With a bullet hole through the back of it directed behind where his heart would be.
I opened up the secret compartment in the mantel where Bobby kept a journal. I flipped through it until I came to last entry. A picture was stuck in it. Bobby, Cas, and Red were all in the picture holding guns in front of a sign reading 'Camp Chitaqua'.
I found the camp and snuck in. I was distracted by the sight of my car sitting in the weeds smashed and rusted. During my shocked state I was knocked unconscious. And when I woke back up, I was staring at myself.
I was handcuffed to some pipes and unable to move far. Future me sat at a table loading a gun. I tried to explain to him what was happening and I never realized I was such a dick.
"Croatoan virus, right? That's their endgame?" I asked.
"It's efficient, it's incurable, and it's scary as hell. Turns people into monsters. Started hitting the major cities about two years ago. World really went in the crapper after that."
"What about Sam?" He went still. I waited worried.
"Heavyweight showdown in Detroit. From what I understand, Sam didn't make it."
"You weren't with him?"
"No. No, me and Sam, we haven't talked in- hell, five years."
"We never tried to find him?"
"We had other people to worry about."
"And Red?" I asked. His face turned hard and he stood. "Where you going?"
"I got to run an errand."
I managed to free myself from the handcuffs and escaped the cabin. I was in a camp of some sort. Chuck found me and mistook me for future me and he pointed me in the direction of Cas. That was only after I'd asked about Red and he gave me a confused look. I assumed after that she was dead too.
A woman approached me mad that I had slept with another woman besides her the night before. My thoughts were then confirmed that Robin must have died sometime during all of this along with Bobby and Sam. No wonder I was a dick.
I found Cas in a colorful cabin surrounded by women preparing for an orgy. Cas had apparently turned into a hippie after the end. He also no longer had his angel powers but he still knew I wasn't from that time.
"Cas, what happened to Robin?" I asked.
"You," Cas said with a goofy laugh.
"I killed her?" I asked horrified. "Was she infected?"
"Killed her? What are you talking about? She's not dead."
"Then where is she?"
"She runs Sector 2. The south portion of the camp."
"Do we not get along?"
"Not at all," Cas said with lazy shake of his head. "It's pretty much a rule that you're not allowed within 50 yards of each other or there might be casualties."
"Where is her cabin?"
"Dean, it's not a good idea."
"Cas. Her cabin?"
Cas pointed me in the direction of Robins cabin. I needed to see her for myself. Make sure she was okay. I didn't have Bobby or Sam anymore so I had to make sure Robin was okay.
I located the cabin Cas said was hers and walked up the steps. I jumped when a knife flew towards me and embedded itself into the doorframe next to my head. I looked forward and Robin stood across the room looking furious.
"Out!" she growled pointing to the door.
"Robin, wait," I tried.
"Get. Out. Of. My cabin. You've got ten seconds, Winchester."
"Red, I'm not him. I mean I am, but I'm not now me! Just please stop and listen."
"What the hell are you talking about?" she said looking me up and down and jerking another knife out of the table top.
"I'm from 2009, I got sent here by that douchebag Zachariah. Something about seeing what will happen if I don't say yes to Michael. I promise I have no idea what I did to make you so mad so please just put the knife down," I said quickly before she could send the blade my way.
"You're from 2009?" she said skeptically.
"Yes."
"I believe you."
"You do?"
"Yeah. Present you is too much of an ass to stand in my doorway that long without making me cry."
"What happened?" I asked stepping towards her hesitantly. I now noticed the long scar running from her hairline, across her cheek, and down to her jaw and one of her arms was badly burned.
"The apocalypse happened," she sneered. "You lost your brother and Bobby and everyone. It sucked. But you never realized it sucked for all of us. You're a selfish dick, Dean."
"I'm sorry."
"Shut up."
"I am. For future me. Sorry about Bobby. About Sam."
"Don't even say his name," she said tearing up. "He was a better man then you'll ever be."
"I know. I know he is. I'm sorry about treating you like crap, Red."
"Yeah, well if you're so sorry then you better go back to your own time and fix it."
"I can't say yes to Michael."
"Oh, so you're okay with all of this? Living like a mindless animal, fighting to survive against the other mindless creatures? Yeah, cause this result is so much better. I mean, we're just all so happy." She looked up at me but I didn't respond. "Guess I never meant anything to you after all."
Robin made me leave her cabin. Said she couldn't stand to look at my 'dumbass face' anymore.
Future me returned from his mission. He apparently retrieved the Colt from somewhere. Now he had a group of people gathered in his cabin to talk about a mission. Killing the devil.
Cas was in attendance along with the woman who attacked me earlier. Risa. Robin came through the door last and stood in a corner glaring at future me.
Future me's plan was to go after Lucifer who happened to be right in the middle of a hot zone for croats. Even after Cas suggested I stay behind future me insisted I come along. He said he had something I needed to see. Sam.
Sam apparently hadn't died in Detroit. He said yes. To Lucifer.
We arrived at the location where Lucifer was supposed to be. Only we ran into no croats or demons on the way in like we should have. Future me saw nothing odd about this. He gave orders to everyone that would likely get them killed and I pulled him to the side.
"Browning," he called walking to the side with me. Robin looked up with a tight jaw. "Get them ready."
"Browning?" I asked.
"Yeah. Her name, dipshit." I shook my head at him. I never called Robin that. Didn't even consider it her last name anymore.
"We can't go through the front," I said. It was obviously a trap.
"Oh, we're not. They are. They're the decoys. You and me, we're going through the back."
"You mean you're gonna feed your friends into the meat grinder? Red? Cas, too? You want to use their deaths as a diversion?" He looked away.
I looked over at the group and saw Robin preparing everyone. I could tell by the look on her face she knew what was ahead of her. She knew I was sending her to her death but it didn't matter. She was done with this life.
"Oh, man, something is broken in you. You're making decisions that I would never make. I wouldn't sacrifice my friends."
"You're right. You wouldn't. It's one of the main reasons we're in this mess, actually."
"These people count on you. They trust you."
"They trust me to kill the devil and to save the world and that's exactly what I'm gonna do."
"No. Not like this, you're not. I'm not gonna let you."
"Oh, really?" And that was all before I was knocked out.
When I woke up they were already gone. I ran to the building and around to the back where future me was on the ground. Above him stood a figure in a white suit. The figure placed his foot on future me's throat and killed him. When the figure turned around my eyes widened as I realized it was Sam. No. Not Sam. Lucifer.
After a chat with Lucifer, in which he told me I would always end up there in 2014, Zachariah zapped me back to the motel in Kansas City. I looked over at the bed where Robin slept peacefully.
"She can't hear us," Zachariah said.
"Is this a dream then?"
"No. Neither was that. You saw it, right? You saw what happens. You're the only person who can prove the devil wrong. Just say yes."
"How do I know that this whole thing isn't one of your tricks? Huh? Some angel hocus-pocus?"
"The time for tricks is over. Give yourself to Michael. Say yes and we can strike. Before Lucifer gets to Sam. Before billions die."
I looked back at the bed and Robin was gone.
"Nah," I said looking back at him.
"Nah? You telling me you haven't learned your lesson?"
"Oh, I've learned a lesson, all right. Just not the one you wanted to teach."
"Well, I'll just have to teach it again! Because I got you now, boy," Zachariah said stepping towards me. "I'm never letting you-"
I didn't hear the rest of what Zachariah had to say. Instead I found myself standing on the side of a road. I turned around and Cas stood behind me with a smile. Robin stood next to him looking tired and confused. She still only wore a long flannel shirt and no shoes.
"That's pretty nice timing, Cas," I said with a smile.
"We had an appointment," he replied. I set a hand on his shoulder.
"Don't ever change."
"Couldn't you have zapped us someplace warmer? And maybe brought my shoes with you?" Robin said to Cas crossing her arms to keep warm. I held an arm out and she tucked herself under it.
"How did Zachariah find you?" Cas asked.
"Long story. Let's just stay away from Jehovah's Witnesses from now on, okay?" I pulled out my phone with my free hand and dialed Sam's number.
"What are you doing?"
"Something I should have down in the first place."
Robin's POV
Dean had called Sam and asked him to meet us halfway between where we were. I still didn't know exactly what had happened. I know Dean was on the phone with Sam, I went to sleep, and I woke up on the side of the road next to Cas. But apparently it had been three days for Dean.
Three days in the future. He gave me the Cliff Notes on how Zachariah sent him to the future to see how it turned out if he didn't say yes to Michael. It apparently hadn't been pretty. Whatever he had seen had been enough for him to change his mind about Sam. And for that I was happy.
Dean pulled the car off next to a lake and I looked at him curiously. We were still a few hours away from the meeting place. We hadn't stopped for gas since there was nothing around us but road and the lake.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Robin, in the future… things between us aren't good."
"I don't imagine anything in a Croatoan infested future would be."
"No. I mean, we don't talk, we don't see each other, we don't even like to be in the same camp together."
"That bad?"
"It was my fault."
"Did you forget my birthday?"
"I'm pretty sure it was a lot worse than that," he said with a small smile and turned the ring on his right hand. "I don't want us to ever be like that."
"Well, then we won't be. We're changing the entire future. That included," I said confidently. He nodded. He reached over and pulled me across the seat towards him. I looked up at him and his face was serious. "Relax, it won't happen."
He grabbed my right hand and I felt something slide onto my thumb. I looked down and it was his ring. Chipped and dented from opening beer bottles. I knew it was special to him. Sam said it was made from the remains of his mothers wedding ring.
"Dean?"
"Robin, I love you. I've always assumed you could take care of yourself. But, I'm not going to let anything bad happen to you. I'm not going to do that to you. I swear."
"I know."
"No. I know I'm not half the man you deserve. Not half the man Sam is or Joe or any other guy who looks your way. But, dammit, Robin, I swear I will do everything I can to change that future because I love you."
"You're an idiot," I said and Dean looked taken aback before his face turned to understanding. Like he deserved it. "Half the man my ass. You're the only person on the planet I've ever wanted Dean. I've loved you since before you realized I was a girl."
I grabbed him by the jacket and kissed him. His hands slipped around me and I gripped at his shirt still trying to determine if I was in a dream. The last day seemed like the product of my imagination but so did our entire lives. Dean pulled back from me and gave me a smile.
"Hold on. You're a girl?" I smacked him on the chest and sat back in the seat.
"Shut your face. Let's go get Sam." I smiled as Dean started up the car and I twisted the ring around my thumb.
I smiled across the seat at Dean. Sure it was known we loved each other in the same way that I loved Sam and Bobby. But, we never said it. The fact that Dean had said it and given me his ring told me something else.
A part of me was in shock that it'd actually happened and the other part of me wanted to call Hannah and squeel like a school girl. Instead I sat back and turned the radio up.