Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews you guys, I'm glad to see a few faces have returned after my month away. Sorry for that again ^_^; Still feel a little bad. However hopefully the writing gets better from here on out. (as 90% of that sentence was spelled wrong...)


Pleasure My Angel World: Part 8

They decided to spend the night again, why waste a perfectly good bed when they'd just spent the entire day 'relaxing'? Castiel hit the pillow hard, curling up in the sheets without much to say as sleep overtook him. Dean wanted to join him more than anything but he felt he couldn't just drop to sleep without saying something. He slipped out of the bedroom and went over to where the other Castiel sat in the living room. It was another large-scale room and Dean just couldn't get used to the grandiose preferences of this man.

"Cas?" He asked as he entered, smiling a little when the ex angel glanced up from a book.

"Ah, other-Dean, how's it going?" Cas grinned at him, still a beautiful thing to see; aging had been very kind to him.

"It's good, I just wanted to thank you for everything today, we really needed it." Dean's nerves were tingly and he fidgeted with the hem of his shirt, he couldn't explain why this Castiel made him nervous but he did. Maybe it was because he was an actual rock star, a famous celebrity that everyone loved and adored. Maybe it was because this Castiel had children, another Dean's children.

"You're welcome, I noticed you guys are still pretty, well, uptight, but I'm sure there's a reason for it. I've never had the fate of the universe on my shoulders but I'm sure there's someone out there who can relate to you."

"Well there is, my Cas is kinda in the same situation." Dean laughed, wandering a bit closer. "But you probably meant a different world version of us, huh?"

"Yeah, kinda." Cas chuckled and put the book down, "You all are very close."

"Well we've gotten pretty tight knit over the last little while, but I don't think we're as close as we could be." Dean shrugged and looked around the room as he tried to find something to occupy his hands or mind. Why was talking to this guy so hard? He was just Cas.

"How close do you think you could be?"

Maybe because he used to be an angel? No, he'd met a fallen angel before. Or perhaps because he was much older? No, his Cas was centuries old too. "I don't know, I just get the feeling that Cas and I could be better. I'm pretty new to this priest thing and he's been at it for a long time so we're not exactly in sync yet." he paused and pointed at Cas, "And not the boy band!"

"No worries, wasn't gonna go there." Castiel smirked as he lifted his hands in defense, "Regardless though I don't think it's something that can be measured. You four are very close already, yeah there are some kinks to work out but that's where all the fun is. Getting to know one another more intimately, seeing something you'd never seen before and discovering your friends and family for who they really are. You grow with them, you change with them and that's where life happens. It's not where you end up, Dean."

Dean had heard those kinds of things before, in movies and stories and whatever else that would ever say the words 'it's not the destination, it's the journey.' But when he heard it from someone as old as this Cas, as this angel turned human, it felt like it meant more. "Thanks Cas," Dean smiled at him and turned back toward the hall, "I'm going to hit the hay, we'll probably be leaving first thing so if I don't see you later-"

"Enjoy your time with them," Castiel gave him a little wave, "It's been great having you here."

Dean waved back and went to the stairs, he glanced over and saw Tommy, the offspring of him and Castiel. It was still so weird to see him, "Hey," he called out to him but wasn't quite sure why. Maybe he felt somewhat like this kid's distant dad or something and knew that leaving without a word was pretty much the worst thing he could do.

Tommy looked over at Dean and gave a short wave, he was on his way out the door. "Hey."

"Where you going this late?" Dean furrowed his brow and walked to the front door.

"Home, we live in the estate that's just down the road over there. Mom set it up, I guess he just really likes keeping everyone close." Tommy shrugged and finished slipping on his shoes, "You guys are going?"

"Tomorrow, yeah." Dean still felt weird, he figured that the whole 'having a kid' thing was probably the reason. Granted Tommy wasn't his or anything, but still. It was hard to shake off. He wasn't sure if he wanted a kid, even if he did they'd have to adopt and it was just a mess of thoughts and feelings he didn't want to get into.

"Cool, probably won't see you again." Tommy seemed so nonchalant about it, like it didn't matter. Dean figured that it probably didn't but the kid didn't have to make that so obvious. "Have fun with the saving the world stuff."

"Yeah, you have fun with whatever it is you're doing."

Tommy gave a short wave before heading out. Dean hung his head and ran his hand through his hair, "I'm not good with kids..." Though that had probably been his problem; Tommy was very close to his age and he was treating the guy like a little kid. Yep, that was definitely why they didn't get along better. Dean trotted up the stairs and crawled into bed next to Castiel, wrapping his arms around his partner and letting sleep claim him.


Mainline

Cas stretched as he stepped onto the familiar road, feeling so much better. "Okay, onto the next one."

"Hold up," Jet stepped forward, glancing over at Sam as he drew the attention of the two priests. "Sam and I found something out after reading the journal."

Castiel felt that wave of stress coming back, he didn't like the sound of Jet's tone. "What did you find?"

"Something about a prophecy," Sam took the journal out and flipped it open to the bookmarked page, "The other me wrote about it here." He handed it over to Cas' outstretched hand, feeling much better now that he'd managed to share the information. Sitting on it for a whole day didn't feel right.

Castiel read over the entry slowly, his expression getting tighter the longer he read, Dean walked up behind him and read over his shoulder. They looked at one another part way through, neither sure of what they were reading.

Sam held his breath for a second and exhaled slowly. "When the Void woke up so did the High Priests, within the pairs priests wake one at a time and find their partner. The last pair of priests to find one another are meant to end this whole thing. The first was supposed to wake from In Somniantes and the second from Aeterna, one is unsurpassed in magical ability and the other in physical power."

"If we go to the world In Somniantes we'll meet another pair of priests," Jet explained as they read through it again for good measure. "I think that should be our next stop."

"This is..." Cas was at a loss for words, his eyes skimming over the words again and again. "I don't know what this is but it can't be right."

"Why not?" Jet pushed it, "Your magic is crazy awesome right? Why is it so hard to believe?"

"Because I've never seen another priest before, where are all of them if not on the mainline?"

Sam and Jet looked at one another for a second before Sam turned his gaze back to Cas, "Well... the timeline reset, right? You and Dean would have been the last ones to wake up the very first time, which means those priests could have moved on down the road long before you woke. What if when it reset those priests weren't affected and they had to wait for us to catch up?"

"No, that doesn't work." Dean shook his head, "The corrupted timeline is still around and there were other versions of all of us, this entire mainline and all the worlds were reset, meaning the priests that would have woken up in some of them would have also gone back to the start."

"But I'd almost guarantee that our timeline is different," Sam insisted firmly, "Maybe this time they had to wait longer? Cas did say he was looking for his partner for centuries didn't he?"

"Let's just go to it," Jet interrupted and looked at Cas, "Where's the world you came from?"

Castiel shook his head, "I don't want to go there."

"Cas, we have to." Sam went to his side and touched his shoulder soothingly. "It'll be okay, we're right here with you."

Castiel looked worried like someone was about to murder a puppy in cold blood. He looked at all of their faces, Dean's looked just as comforting as anyone's. He knew that they had to go, to meet these other priests, to find a way to end everything. But him? Part of a prophecy? He just couldn't see it. "We'll go, but just so I can prove to you that it's wrong." Cas really didn't want to but he knew it was necessary.

"So where is it?" Dean looked around, "Can you tell?"

"I know exactly which one it is," Cas walked to the edge of their walk way and looked down into the darkness where that one world had been almost consumed. It was at the edge of the void and still falling. "Remember when I told you we'd never go there?" He looked at Dean who was staring at it a little differently now than before.

"You're from that one? What happened?"

"What does it look like happened? It's been so deeply infected by the void that it's broken away from the mainline and slowly being eaten away." Castiel's cold demeanor had returned, his eyes angry as they watched the slow flicker of its fire turning on and off. "You won't like what we find there, it'll be dangerous too."

Dean knew that holding onto the others meant nothing but he took Sam's hand anyway, "Let's get going then."

Castiel nodded and leapt off without another word, Dean taking Sam with him and Jet left to take the leap on his own. It was a scary fall and the world looked much closer than it actually was. Dean's heart was in his throat as they drifted through the darkening mist around them. He could feel it, the void was desolate and gave an aura that could only be described as the worst things humanity could ever experience. The anger, frustration, rage, heartbreak, sadness, and all the negative emotions boiling in someone came up to the surface, seeped through their skin and to their core. Dean felt disgusting as they finally landed on the piece of the mainline that was still jutting out as a platform. His stomach did flip-flops and his chest ached with every thought and second that passed. "Cas, what is this?"

"This is the start of the void." Castiel frowned and looked over at Sam and Jet who had both frozen up, it had become hard to breathe and their bodies just wanted to quit. "I think it's too much for them, I don't know if we should take them with us."

"We should go," Sam wheezed but it wasn't exactly convincing of his argument.

"No," Castiel raised his hand and their bodies started to float, a light glowing faintly around them, "The mainline will draw you back to it, stay right where you are and don't move once you reach it." He called after them and looked over at Dean with a shake of his head. "I didn't know what the void would do to normal humans, I don't want to risk them."

"Good plan," Dean watched until he saw his little brother reach the road safely again. "Let's go."

Castiel bit his lip as he looked at the world, not wanting to enter again but he forced himself anyway, Dean following right behind.

Sam glared down at the hazy blackness below, "This is bullshit!"

"It's better this way." Jet crossed his legs and leaned back, his arms behind him to support his weight. "We have no idea what it'd be like in there, as much as I want to hear what happens first hand I don't think we should go."

"But the other me had been there to hear the prophecy himself! Why can't I do the same?" Sam was pretty livid.

"It's probably like you said before, it's different. The journal didn't give any hints about In Somniantes being demolished or in the void, he would have commented on what that shit felt like." Jet shook his head, "No, I think this is best."

Sam was mad but there was nothing he could do now, he dropped down next to Jet and sprawled out on the mainline. "Do you think they'll be back soon? How does that time thing work?"

"I'd bet for us it'll be any minute now," Jet grinned at him, "The time in the mainline is faster than the time in the world's right?"

"I guess so... Cas did say that a long time in a world meant no time on the mainline..."

"Right, so when they get back we can't be pouting." Jet nudged him a little and hopped a bit closer to the edge to look down at the world's entrance again, hoping he'd see them any second.