Author's Note: Wow! Thank you for all the follows and favs! This chapter may be one of the longest I've ever written. It was a lot of fun to explore Supernatural's "The End" from a different perspective and I hope you enjoy.
Chapter 7
Earth 14
After a few hours Castiel woke up from where he'd been placed after J'onn knocked him out. The man was pissed that he'd missed out on the ladies and had since given Barry and Cas the silent treatment. J'onn had returned shortly after. With Dean being gone, and thus their lead on the Paragon of Freedom, all the three could do for now was to wait until the hunter returned. That, and attempt to avoid the death glares Castiel was sending their way after he'd found out Barry had dumped all his whisky.
It was early evening before the three visitors noticed any change in the encampment. The floor rumbled underfoot. Out the window Cas watched silently as several heavily armored jeeps pulled into the compound. Nodding his head at Barry and J'onn they followed his lead to the door. Cas gripped the door handle tightly.
"I wouldn't go out there man." The other Castiel warned, taking a long drawl from a wrapped bud that definitely didn't have tobacco in it. Castiel inhaled deeply and then blew the smoke in Cas's direction before laughing at God knew what.
Looking over his shoulder at the man he could have become given the wrong circumstances Cas yanked the door open and strode out. In the few feet it took for him to reach the edge of the porch Cas couldn't help a little self-reflection that up till now he'd been putting off. Was this version of himself really all that bad? This Castiel never ripped open Purgatory. This Castiel never laid waste to Heaven. This Castiel never let the Devil ride shotgun in a futile attempt to kill the darkness. Most of all this Castiel never betrayed Dean, never left him. Maybe this Castiel wasn't the Bizzaro version, maybe he was.
Cas clenched his jaw and shoved those feelings deep down inside his chest and stomped down to the muddy ground.
The jeeps racing into the camp skid to a stop, throwing dirt up everywhere.
"I guess the apocalypse doesn't have safe driving laws," Barry frowned and waited beside Cas while J'onn lingered a little farther back on the rickety porch.
Dean was the first to emerge from the lead jeep followed by another young man on the passenger side. Dean reached back into the open car door and grabbed two beers, cracking one for himself, and throwing the other to his partner.
The man easily snatched it out of the air and flipped its cap, taking in a big gulp. Dean did the same and hoisted his can in the air as a toast to a job well done. All around cheers erupted while more joined in.
Dean lifted his gun and fired at his partner's face.
"NO!" Barry shouted and lurched forwards.
Reality slowed down around him. Barry watched the air ripple behind the bullet. While unable to move as fast as the speedster Cas easily tracked Barry's movements with his keen angel eyes. Yellow lightning outlined Barry's form and dust kicked up in his wake, the plumes nearly motionless compared to the speed Barry was moving at. In quite literally no time at all Barry was between the man and Dean, grabbing the bullet out of the air.
The world snapped to normal speed. People ducked for cover from gun fire that was no longer there. The man stumbled backwards, a hand going to his forehead where the bullet had been on a path to lodge itself into. The shockingly loud boom of Dean hand gun still echoed around the clearing, bouncing off the trees. Several gasps fell from onlookers' lips and then everything went silent. The bullet fell out of Barry's palm to bounce harmlessly upon the ground.
"What was that?!" Barry asked, looking at Dean like the hunter had lost his mind.
Dean blinked furiously, shocked and startled, waiting for his brain to catch up. He gulped once, twice, and nodded at one of his men over the speedster's shoulder.
Barry furrowed his brows. What?
Another gunshot rang out so close to Barry that he flinched and clamped his hands over his ears. Barry heard a body drop to the ground directly behind him.
Tentatively Barry lowered his hands, his ears still ringing, and turned around horrified at what he saw. There with a hole in the back of his head and eyes staring blankly outwards was the man he'd just saved.
"Damn it." Dean glowered, lips turned up in a snarl and dropping the hand with the gun to his side.
By this time both Castiels and J'onn had come into full view. The women from Castiel's near orgy from earlier warly glanced back and forth between the two versions of Cas.
Ignoring the hurtful way the new Cas was staring at him, Dean firmly turned his back to the angel and addressed his soldiers, " I'm not gonna lie to you. All of them—It's a pretty messed-up situation we got going. But believe me, when you need to know something, you will know it. Until then, we all have work to do." When that didn't spur anyone into immediately action Dean slammed the car door shut, "Get moving!"
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"Ahh!" Dean grunted in pain when his skull bounced off the side of the wall.
"Have you lost your mind Dean?!" Cas was every bit the terrifying soldier of heaven in that moment. He easily pinned the human with one arm as he continued to yell.
Barry and J'onn followed the hunter and angel inside the cabin but wisely stayed to the far side, glancing up in concern as the lights began to flicker in tandem with the Cas's raised voice.
"He's doing this!" J'onn felt the energy pouring off the angel, crackling angrily in the space around them.
"Woah" Barry said in awe, then jumped back when a bulb actually burst when Cas pulled back and slammed Dean into the wall again, "Hey Cas, maybe ease up a bit"
"How could you do that? Cas was grabbing handfuls of Dean's flannel.
"It had to be done!"
"Why?" Cas growled in his face.
"Because he was turning." Dean shoved Cas back, the blow doing pitifully little to loosen Cas's grip, "We were in an open quarantine zone. Got ambushed by some Croats on the way out."
Cas at last let go and Dean slumped to his feet, grasping his chest where bruises were already beginning to form.
"You were ambushed by what?" Barry asked, coming further into the room now that it seemed a safe bet the angel wasn't going to be smiting Dean anytime soon.
"Croats." Dean repeated. At Barry and J'onn's uncomprehending expressions Dean continued, "Croatoans. One of them infected Yeager." Dean said, irritated that he had to explain any of this and have his decisions questioned.
"How could you be sure that he was infected?" J'onn asked.
"Cause after a few years of this, I know. I started seeing symptoms about a half an hour ago. Wasn't gonna be long before he flipped. I didn't see the point in troubling a good man with bad news."
"Troubling him?! You just took a shot at him without explanation in front of all your people, man." Barry threw his arm out at the cabin door, "Don't you think that scared them even a little?"
"Plugging some Croat, it's called commonplace. Trading words with Cas's freaking sober clone," He threw Cas a disgusted look, "And that little stunt you pulled," Dean got in Barry's face, his ire dangerously close to exploding, "that might have freaked them out a little." Dean huffed and made for the door.
Cas's arm shot out and clamped down on his arm like a steel cable, "I could have healed him Dean!"
Dean threw off the angel's hand, "You don't know that."
"You never even let me try."
"I have to do what best for everyone. I can't trade the life of one man for this entire camp. They're counting on me to make the hard decisions to keep them alive."
"Who gives you the right to make those choices?" Cas stood nose to nose with the hunter.
Dean wasn't backing down, not one inch, "Because there is no one else."
"Listen," Barry addressed Dean, his hands wringing themselves due to the stress, "We aren't trying to undermine you. And given the right circumstances I could see the same choice you made being made again, but what you did…" Barry's face scrunched up and he threw his arm at the door, "True leaders inspire their people, they don't terrify them."
"Yeah well, terror is what's going to keep these people alive. And I'm no leader. I'm a killer." With that Dean pushed past Cas and Barry, stopping at the long table in the center of the cabin, and shoved down the zipper on his duffle back. From inside he ripped out a heavy package wrapped in yellowed newspaper.
The object made a loud thud when it was set down on the table.
Barry clasped his hands together, pressing the tips of his fingers to his mouth, and cautiously approached, "What is that?"
Dean took a worn and scarred hand and unwrapped the object with near reverence, "This is what my mission was all for. What all of this…" Gesturing at the decaying building around them, "was for."
At last, he peeled back the last bit of paper. Nestled among the news stories of death and ruin was a tarnished old revolver, all cylinders empty, save one.
"It can't be," Cas breathed out, hand reaching to brush over the gun but a sharp glare from Dean stopped him. Dean's distrust hurt Cas more than he cared to admit but he schooled his features, the red burn across his cheeks was the only indication that he felt anything in that moment. This wasn't his Dean, he had to remember that. "Where was it?" Cas asked.
"Everywhere." Dean reverently picked up the weapon as a priest would a holy scripture, "They've been moving it around. Took me five years to get a hold of it."
"All this for that," J'onn braced both hands against the table and leaned in for a closer look, "What is so special about this weapon?"
"This is the gun created by Samuel Colt." Cas inclined his heard toward the gun. The light emanating from the single bulb remaining from Cas's angelic outburst glinted menacingly off its tarnished metal. Cas continued, "This weapon is capable of killing anything on Earth."
Barry suddenly stood up straight, he exchanged glances with J'onn and Cas. The implication of such a weapon didn't escape the three. What if they could use it on the Anti-Monitor?
"Now I finally have it, and tonight" Setting the gun down Dean pierced the three with his unwavering gaze. The three couldn't help but shiver at the deadly gleam in the hunter's eyes, "tonight I'm gonna kill the Devil."
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The camp had been briefed and the highest-ranking members of Dean's squad were present in the main cabin. That consisted of Dean, Castiel nursing a hangover with a cup of powdered coffee, a few gruff ex-military types.
Completely out of place were J'onn, Barry and Cas who hung a ways back behind where Castiel was sitting, well more like slumped. The sight of a Cas, all clean cut and so obviously still an angel, had most the men and women present wound tight. Several kept their hands on their guns tucked into the waist bands. It also didn't help that Barry had used his speed so openly. More than a few suspicious looks were sent J'onn's way. While he'd not displayed any abilities or inhuman qualities, the man's stoic demeanor radiated an alien power that they couldn't place but feared non the less. In this world anything not human was a threat and Dean's orders alone kept the three from being riddled with bullets.
The last person to enter the cabin was a woman with her dark hair pulled up into a loose pony-tail. At the sight of her Dean's face fell into a lopsided grin that Cas knew all to well. Dean's expression was promptly shattered, both literally and figuratively when she stalked right across the room and pounded a fist into Dean's face. Dean's face snapped to the side, a hand clutching his reddening cheekbone. The fact that this woman had decked her superior hardly garnered a reaction from those gathered.
"Wow." Barry smirked, glad to see someone was as pissed off as he was with the hunter, "Kinda wish I did that." He whispered to Cas.
"Nice to see you to Risa." Dean flexed his sore jaw while he took his place at the front of the table while Risa dropped herself into a chair and propped her boots up on the tabletop.
"So, that's it? That's the Colt?" She indicated the gun placed in a place of honor at the head of the table. Her tone was strictly business, whatever interpersonal conflict she'd had with Dean was swept to the side.
"If anything can kill Lucifer, this is it." Dean reverently run his fingers over the colt.
"Great." Risa replied sarcastically and threw her arms up, "Have we got anything that can find Lucifer?"
"We don't have to find Lucifer. We know where he is. The demon that we caught last week, he was one of the big guy's entourage. He knew." Dean said.
"So, a demon tells you where Satan's gonna be, and you just believe it?"
"Oh, trust me, he wasn't lying." Dean smiled darkly.
Oh! Oh no. Cas knew that look. Cas had seen that look when he first met Dean, not in the abandoned barn like the human remembered. The angel recognized the look from the very first moment that he came across Dean's soul in the pit, when he'd been elbows deep in another soul, his gleeful face smeared with blood.
Barry picked up on Cas's discomfort beside him and glanced warily at the angel out the corner of his eyes before asking the hunter, "How? How could you know that?"
Castiel drunkenly swung around in his chair, hitching his elbow against the back of the chair and propping his face up on his hand, "Our fearless leader, I'm afraid, is all too well schooled in the art of getting to the truth."
Barry shivered at the giddiness in his tone.
Cas eyes snapped from his doubleganger to Dean, "You're torturing again?"
"Hey, I tried to stop but you lot insisted with Alastair," Dean threw back nonchalantly but Cas caught the minute clenching of his jaw and the tightening of his eyes.
Cas felt shame rise up in the back of his throat. Alastair had been so long ago from his point of view and so much had happened since then that Cas hadn't given the yellow eyed demon a thought in years. But it had been Cas's fault, he had forced Dean to pick up the torturers blade once more. Back then he'd been following Heavens orders. Now he couldn't comprehend how he'd allowed Dean to not only face his torturer, but force Dean to do the very thing he hated himself most for from his time in Hell. Now Cas was forced to view the consequences of his actions, to view a Dean who'd become cold and hard due to the way life had broken him.
"Dean…" Cas began but Dean plowed ahead, paying the tears in the angel's eyes no mind.
"Lucifer is here." Dean unrolled a stained map and jabbed a finger at a section a few dozen miles away from the encampment, "Now. I know the block and I know the building."
Castiel survived the location, "Oh, good. It's right in the middle of a hot zone." He noted flippantly.
"Crawling with Croats, yeah. You saying my plan is reckless?" Dean crossed his arms as a dare.
"Come on," Barry couldn't hold himself back any more. He knew a bad plan when he saw one, hell he'd been a part of more than a few himself, the disastrous plan to rescue the President from the dominators three years back came to mind, "Are you just going to waltz right through hordes of zombies and shoot the actual Devil in the face?!" Barry couldn't believe he'd just asked that question with completes seriousness.
"Yeah pretty much." Dean's scowl was forceful enough to make the speedster retreat back to his corner with the other visitors.
"Okay, if you don't like, uh, 'reckless', I could use 'insouciant', maybe." Castiel overflowed with sarcasm.
Dean didn't rise to the bait, "Are you coming?"
Cas gave a long suffering sigh, meeting Cas's questioning gaze before responding, "Of course. But what about them?"
"They're coming." Dean's order brokered no argument.
Castiel sat back, surprised, but didn't question his leader, "Okay. Well, uh. I'll get the grunts moving." With that he stood along with Risa and headed out the door with the rest of the survivors.
"We're loaded and on the road by midnight." Dean called after them.
"All righty." Castiel waved over his shoulder and closed the door behind him.
The only people left in the cabin were Barry, J'onn, Cas and Dean. Dean busied himself with his preparations while the three visitors crowded into a corner.
J'onn was stoic as he crossed his arms, "Will this plan work."
Cas looked at the colt and then at Dean, "I don't know. On my Earth the colt failed. It shouldn't have, but it did. Here, in this reality. I am unsure."
"If there's a chance we could use that gun on the Anti-Monitor we have to take it." Barry whispered, worried that Dean would overhear.
"We are not even sure if the Colt would work on him either." J'onn supplied, "The Monitor seems to believe that the Paragons are our best and only chance to save the multiverse."
Barry ran a palm over his tired eyes and settles his hands on his hips. He was so tired. "Yeah, I don't want to put all out bets on the Monitor's plan if you ask me."
"And we have no idea when the anti-matter wave will reach this universe," J'onn reminded them, "We must be quick."
Cas pressed his lips together, considering his next course of action, "J'onn, Barry. I'll meet you outside."
"What are you going to do?" J'onn asked.
"I need to talk with Dean," Cas sighed, "alone."
Once the cabin had been cleared it was just Cas and Dean. Cas knew that Dean was aware of his presence, even though the human completely ignored him in favor of shoving equipment into duffel bags. The typically meticulous precision that Cas knew Dean to treat his weapons with was notably absent. Dean carelessly threw guns and knives one after the other with no thought given to their integrity.
"Dean." When the hunter still refused to acknowledge him, Cas raised his voice, "Dean why are you bringing us."
Dean finally tore his attention from his packing, "Because I need you to see." He clenched his fists and pointed a finger accusingly in Cas's direction, "I need you to see my brother, and yours."
"Dean, we don't have a lot of time."
Dean violently threw the bag he'd just packed across the room where it collided with the floor loudly, causing Cas to flinch at the sudden outburst. "Damn it Cas! I know what you want from me and we're not having this conversation."
"If you are the Paragon then we need you."
"No you don't!" Dean was shaking his head before Cas finished his plea, "Everyone around me winds up dead or worse. Look what happened to this Cas. After his grace ran out, I didn't know what to do. He followed me around for weeks and I let him. Rather than insist that he stay in the camp I let him come along. and you know where that got him? He got caught by a few demons and he broke his foot. He almost died and couldn't walk for months. And I was the one to give him pain pills in the first place. Now look at him. At least if he's knees deep in boos and women, he's not out there trying to be a hero. At least he's not around me." Dean still couldn't meet Cas's gaze and had moved onto loading up ammo cartridges, his fingers quick but deft as they moved the bullets into place. "He's not an angel anymore and that's on me. He's outcast from his family and that's on me. He's now stuck in the f-ing apocalypse and that's because I didn't say yes to Michael. Every god damn bad thing that happened to him and this world is on me. I know it, he knows it, and you know it. And yet you both look at me like that, like I didn't ruin your lives."
"You're the one who taught me free will."
"I was wrong Cas. I was wrong. I'm begging you." Dean gave up the pretense of packing and fixed Cas with a pain filled grimace that broke the angel's heart, "When you get back to where ever you came from… just go back to Heaven and do whatever the angels want. Its too much to fight it. Heaven is the only thing that can stop this crisis." Dean leaned in close to Cas, looking him up and down with a sneer, "But you won't do that will you? Cause that's not who you are. Not anymore." And with that Dean scooped up his bags and raced out the door leaving Cas alone to pick up the pieces.
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The vehicles were being loaded up and filled to the brim with people and weapons. The three visitors stayed to the side during the preparations as whenever they tried lending a hand they were given glares and huffs of distrust. Wisely, they decided to stay out of the way until the order was given to roll out and then pile into whichever car's occupants looked the least likely to shoot or stab them.
That car ended up being the one driven by Castiel. Barry had moved to enter the car with Dean but a low rumbling growl from the hunter had the speedster quickly retreating.
"He's scary," Barry commented to Cas and piled into the back seat of the rusted jeep with J'onn.
Cas, for his part, watched Dean rev up his pickup and tear out of the encampment, a hollow feeling settling in his stomach. He didn't know how they were going to get Dean to help them. He didn't know if the colt was going to work. He just didn't know.
"You getting in or what?" Castiel leaned out the driver's side widow to yell at him.
Cas pulled open the passenger's door and slid in. This was going to be a long ride.
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Night had come and gone and the caravan of vehicles were still on the move. The sky was just beginning to turn a dusty rose and the sun would be up soon. Cas found himself watching the sky with rapt attention and dread, any second the soft morning light could turn red. They were running out of time.
The sound of pills rattling in a bottle diverted his attention from the sky. Really? Now of all times? "No." He said firmly and plucked the bottle out of Castiel's fumbling hands.
"Hey." Castiel complained and reached for the bottle, taking his hands off the wheel in the process.
The jeep swerved haphazardly to the side. J'onn lunged forwards out of the back seat to grab the wheel, just barely keeping the jeep on the road.
The jostling of the jeep had it's occupants grabbing at the door handles and bracing their arms against the interior to keep from being thrown about.
The jeep was righted on the road and those inside were left gasping with racing heart beats.
Cas had had enough, "Pull over." He ordered Castiel, the gravel in his voice becoming more pronounced, "I'm driving."
Castiel did as he was told. The cars behind them honked their horns as they passed by. Cas got out and made his way to the driver's side while Castiel scooted awkwardly across the middle consul and dropped himself into the passenger's seat.
Cas turned the ignition and soon enough they were back on the road, speeding for a few minutes to catch back up to the rest of the caravan.
The silence in the cabin was thick. Cas still had the bottle he took from Castiel and he spared and second to pull it out of his pocket and read the label, "Amphetamines?"
Castiel laughed and put his muddy boot up on the jeeps dash, "It's the perfect antidote to that absinthe."
"What happened to you?" Barry winced as the question made its way out of his mouth. Since meeting Castiel he couldn't help but note the differences, and there were many, between this man and the Cas he knew. Sure, he'd meant to be more tactful, maybe a little softer in questioning the man but the query was out and he couldn't go back in time and change it. Well… he could but that was besides the point.
If Barry's question offended Castiel he didn't show it, he just shrugged his scrawny shoulders, "I'm not an angel anymore."
"Wait that can happen?" Barry said taken aback.
"Yeah, I went mortal." Castiel giggled, the decibel rising until it reached near hysterical levels.
"You find this funny?" Cas shot a look at the crazed man.
"Uh yeah it kind of is."
"How?" J'onn asked.
"It can happen a number of ways," Cas explained, his gaze not leaving the road, "When I fell a few years ago my grace was cut out by another angel." That memory was still raw and the only way he got through speaking about it was to talk in an almost clinical, detached manner, "We can also remove our grace ourselves a be reborn as infant humans."
Castiel nodded along with Cas's explanation, "In my case the big brass upstairs kinda pulled the plug on my connection to heaven and my power just kinda went, psshhew!" Castiel tilted his thumb downwards, "Really sucks when you've been one thing for millions of years only to be shoved down into something small and tiny and fragile." Righteous anger rolled of Castiel.
And there was the crux of the matter. For the last several months Cas wanted to fall for a second time, had been planning to do so. This Castiel never had a choice in the matter.
"And now I'm powerless." The rage in Castiel's tone slowly bled out leaving only a sad human in its wake, "I'm hapless, I'm hopeless. I mean, why the hell not bury myself in women and decadence, right? It's the end, baby. That's what decadence is for. Why not bang a few gongs before the lights go out? But then that's, that's just how I roll."
If only Castiel knew how right he was. This was the end. Cas tightened his grip on the wheel, only letting up when he felt the metal begin to warp and bend under his fingers. The four spent the rest of the drive in uneasy silence.
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'Jackson County Sanatorium. No Entry' read the sign hanging on for dear life by a single bolt on the wrought iron fence surrounding the sprawling complex. The building was still standing by the grace of God, or Chuck… whatever. The east and west wings had more or less collapsed over time.
The Caravan had parked and unloaded three miles back and hiked through the woods the rest of the way. Dean brought his crew to a stop in the sanatorium's parking lot, using the cars left behind as cover.
"There. Second-floor window. We go in there." Dean lowered the binoculars from his face and passed them off to Risa who knelt beside him.
Risa took a look for herself and gulped. "You sure about this?"
Dean nodded once and pulled out the colt, double checking the single round left, "They'll never see us coming. Trust me. Now, weapons check. We're on the move in five."
Cas knelt, completely still in the way only an angel could be, and appraised the survivors readying for battle. Something about this just didn't sit right with him. His Dean was one of two ways when it came to his plans, either he meticulously charted out every single moment down to the last detail, or he went in guns blazing. This Dean was doing neither of these things.
Cas stood in one fluid movement, his jaw clenched tight, "Dean, I need to speak with you." He titled his head to the back of the parking lot, and Barry and J'onn followed. He heard Dean's shoes crunching against the gravel and broken glass indicating that he was bringing up the rear. Cas didn't look behind him, if had he would had seen Dean take a duffle from one of his men and loop the strap across his chest, situating the bag so that one side remained concealed.
Once they were out of earshot of the others Cas's shoulders tensed, coiled like a snake ready to strike and he turned around, "Why are you lying to these people?" He threw the accusation at the hunter.
Something akin to alarm flitted across Dean's features before he settled into a scowl, "I don't know what you're talking about."
"Enough," Cas snapped at him, "You can lie to these people, you can even lie to yourself, but I know you, Dean. I've known you longer than any human in my very long life. You can't lie to me."
"Oh really…" Dean began.
J'onn cut him off, "Your people have questions too. They know you're not telling them everything."
"In fact maybe we should go on over and talk with them." Barry feigned walking away.
"Ok stop!" Dean suddenly shouted, drawing the attention of a few of his men. He raised his hand, showing them that he was in no need of assistance. Then to the three visitors, "Take a look around you," he said quietly, adjusting the duffle bag around his body, "This place should be white-hot with Croats. Where are they?"
The hairs on the back of Cas's neck prickled. Dean was right. They were too close to Lucifer for it to be this quiet.
Realization dawned on Barry's face, "They cleared a path for us. Which means that this is…"
"A trap. Exactly." Dean confirmed. "They," He jerked head over at his group of men, "are the decoys. We're going in through the back."
Dean tried to brush past Cas only to be stopped by the angel's strong grip." You're letting them, letting your Cas die."
"I can't save everyone, and he knew what he was sighing up for."
"Did he? You're sacrificing him and all those people and they doesn't even know."
"it doesn't matter, they're all gonna die anyway. All that matter's is killing Lucifer."
"Does he mean anything to you? I've died for you Dean, I've fallen for you."
"Well you shouldn't have done that." Dean shoved angrily at the angel's chest, lot of good it did as his blow bounced right off, "Everyone around me dies, I've just stopped fighting that fact."
"The Dean I know wouldn't sacrifice he friends." Cas noted with sorrow how far his friend had fallen.
"You're right. he wouldn't. It's one of the main reasons we're in this mess, actually." Dean said, flicking the safety off the colt and preparing to head inside. The discussion was over.
Only Dean found himself a foot off the ground with J'onn's hand wrapped around his throat, not tight enough to constrict his airflow, but enough to show the human he meant business.
"Those are your people." J'onn couldn't believe what he was hearing.
"They trust me to kill the Devil and to save the world and that's exactly what I'm gonna do." Dean still didn't know what J'onn was, but he was obviously more than human and someone he never wanted to piss off again.
Cas wrapped a hand around J'onn's bicep, "J'onn, put him down."
J'onn pulled the human in close, the usually stoic man nearly losing control, and then he dropped Dean to the ground.
Cas stood over Dean while the human tried to catch his breath and calm his racing heart. "Dean, you don't even know if the colt will do anything against Lucifer."
"We could use that weapon against the Anti-Monitor and put an end to this whole crisis." J'onn said.
Cas took a knee down next to Dean and gripped his shoulder, his hand wrapped around the very place he'd marked the human on his flight out of hell, "And if you are the Paragon we can't risk you."
"Then what?" Dean yelled back, his face turning red rapidly, and he jumped to his feet, "To Hell with my Earth? So you get to save your home but mine gets to rot? How the hell is that fair?"
"My Earth is already gone!" Cas had had enough, his shout came out as a screech. His true voice leaked through a little causing the windows on the vehicles surrounding the four to rattle and the nearest windshield to crack, little hairline fractures spreading across the smooth surface like veins.
Barry and J'onn, who had covered their ears, now slowly lowered their hands, staring at Cas in shock.
Dean could only numbly meet Cas's eyes, "What?" his voice barely louder than a whisper.
"The anti-monitor destroyed my home three days ago." Cas spoke, dangerously calm.
"So why?" Dean asked.
"Because there are still Earths left that can be saved."
Dean chuckled humorlessly, "Always got to be a hero, eh Cas?"
"Please Dean." Cas pleaded once more.
"I can't Cas. I have to do this."
Cas reached for Dean but he was too slow. Dean spun around his duffel bag and cut open his palm. The three had just a second to register that a sigil had been painted across the bag's fabric before Dean slammed his palm down and searing light and sound rendered them unconscious.
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Barry groaned as he came to, an ache that was becoming all too familiar settling in his joints. The collective grunts of pain he heard coming from J'onn and Cas meant they were also in the same boat, "if I never see another sigil in my life I'll die happy." Barry shook out his head, dispelling some of the fog, the ringing in his ears died down to a more manageable decibel.
"Dean doesn't want us interfering with his plan," J'onn was the first to his feet, his psychic abilities lending him a small measure of protection.
Cas, as the only angel present and the sigil having been meant for angels in the first place, took the full brunt of the blast. He wavered on his feet as J'onn helped him up.
"Are you alright?" J'onn asked.
"No," Cas growled in anger.
Machine gun fire cracked in the air above them. The three snapped their heads upwards and through the frosted third story windows they saw muzzle fire light up the interior, followed by screams and multiple sets of feet running across glass and rubble.
"Take cover!" A woman's voice shouted.
"They're inside!" A more muffled voice cried out.
"We have to get in there!" Barry was vibrating with anticipation, ready to super speed away.
More gun fire and inhuman wails followed.
And then all movement ceased.
A deathly stillness settled over the sanatorium. Even the wind had ceased its low howl. There was nothing, just silence. It was like the deep breath just before a plunge.
Cas eyed his companions warily.
Not wanting to break the quiet Barry leaned in close and whispered, "What's happening?"
"I don't know." Cas replied, "Stay close." Cas hunched his shoulders and headed inside.
The inner bowels of the sanatorium were devoid of all signs of life. The only evidence that anyone had been in the halls recently were the smoking bullet holes that gouged the concrete walls and floors.
J'onn took the rear, sending out his mind to probe for approaching danger. He pushed a little farther out when he hit it. His sudden hiss made Cas and Barry jump. They whirled around to see the Martian clutching his head in pain, "In the courtyard. Dean," He bit out, "and something very old, and dark."
Cas felt like his head was dunked under ice water, the Martian's words giving him a clue as to what they were about to find. It didn't matter tho. They had to get to Dean. They had to save the Paragon. The entirety of creation depended on his survival.
The three said nothing as they hurriedly made their way into the center of the complex. At last the corridor opened up into a spacious yard that would have been beautiful in another time.
A man in a white suit knelt in the rotten, over-grown garden. When Cas, Barry and J'onn skidded to a halt at the entrance he rose from his crouch to reveal Dean. The hunter was being pressed into the ground, the heel of the other man on his neck. Dean raised his gaze to Cas, full of regret and anguish. The man gave his heel a sharp twist. A loud crack reverberated through the garden and Dean's eyes slipped closed.
Only then did the man turn and take in the three heroes.
"Oh," Sam's face raised an eyebrow, "Hello Castiel."
"Sam?" Barry felt sick at the sight of one brother killing the other. He didn't know the hunter well but even he could tell that whatever this was, its wasn't the Sam he knew. But it didn't matter who or what this was, the Paragon was dead. They had been too late.
Cas finally wrenched his gaze from Dean's body. The man hadn't been his Dean, but it still hurt, "Lucifer." Cas coldly greeted the other angel.
Barry's heart began hammering in his chest. Of all the aliens and superpowered beings he'd faced he never in his wildest dreams thought that he'd come face to face with the actual Devil. Up until a few days ago Barry hadn't even believed that Lucifer was real. And now here he was wearing a familiar face.
"Well," Lucifer took in Barry and J'onn, "Aren't you a surprise." Otherworldly power radiated off the angel. A bolt of lightening lit up the sky as Lucifer blinked.
J'onn gasped and pressed a palm to his forehead.
"I'm sorry," Lucifer tilted his head to the side, eyes traveling up and down the Martian's form, "I know that our power can be," His mouth twisted up into a mockery of a soft smile, "overwhelming. You've come a long way to see this, haven't you? Some more than others." he nodded at J'onn, "I have not seen one of your kind in an age."
"You don't know what you've done brother." Cas slipped his angel blade down his sleeve and readied his weapon, although he knew his blade would be as lethal as a paper cut to his older brother.
"I'm sorry. It must be painful, speaking to me in this shape and after..." Lucifer glanced pointedly at Dean's still form, "But it had to be Sam and Dean. It had to be." He gracefully came to a stop before Cas and reached to put a hand on Cas's shoulder. Cas gasped and pulled away. Lucifer's eyebrows furrowed in hurt and he closed his hand inches from his brother. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Castiel. What do you think I'm going to do?"
"I don't know, maybe destroy the planet." Barry bit out sarcastically.
Leaning around Cas, Lucifer at last peered at Barry, sending a shiver down the speedster's spine. Even when facing Zoom and Savitar, Barry hadn't been this afraid, hadn't felt this outmatched.
Lucifer's lips turned up in a snarl at the sight of the human and he clenched his jaw setting off another series of lighting strikes. Thunder rumbled ominously. Sauntering around his brother Lucifer came to a stop before J'onn and Barry, "With the impending Crisis, don't you think that is a bit," he sighed and raised a single brown eyebrow, "redundant?"
And then Lucifer turned his back to Barry and J'onn. The millisecond that Lucifer turned away Barry made his decision. This was his chance, he had to act.
Barry took a step forwards, reaching as far as he could into the speed force, gathering the lighting and energy into himself. He ran, placing one foot in front of the other, his chest buzzing with electricity. The few insects hovering in the air came to a standstill and the scene before him froze.
Barry circled Lucifer, faster and faster, building momentum. He could feel his lightening charging in his veins, channeling into his fist. The speed force flowed through him. Over and over again he ran around Lucifer, leaving a whirlwind of yellow lightning in his wake. He was almost ready. One more go around and the speed punch would be at full capacity. Any faster and Barry would be running back in time.
Lucifer's eyes began to move.
The hazel orbs impossibly followed Barry's trajectory. Barry felt his stomach drop. What the hell?
Lucifer bore an amused smirk and raised his right hand. Barry's next footfall faltered, and he felt his ankle roll painfully.
Lucifer snapped his fingers.
Barry's leg's shattered at the knees.
Time rushed back into its normal flow and the speedster crumbled to the ground. His supercharged impact lurched the ground under foot and Barry rolled to a stop across the small courtyard, colliding with the stone wall hard enough to crack it.
"Barry," J'onn shouted and made to run to the human's aid.
"Wait," Cas threw an arm out to stop the martian.
"I have no interest in these creatures, Castiel," Lucifer tilted his head to the side, "Besides, it was going to be his legs or his arm. This way was more…" He paused, searching for the right word, "Entertaining."
Barry groaned and heaved himself into a sitting position, staring numbing down at his misshapen limbs. He winced in pain as his healing factor was already kicking in, the sound of one of his bones snapping back into place echoed across the small space.
Lucifer took a step towards Cas and the younger angel flinched back. Lucifer's face softened, a mockery of concern for his sibling, "You remember how I fell from grace?"
"Of course I do. I was there." Cas flexed his jaw. With the mortals forgotten for the moment, Cas sent out a silent plea to J'onn to check on Barry.
Receiving the psychic message J'onn clenched his fists and skirted around the two celestials. Once at Barry's side he hooked his arms around Barry's back, getting the young man on his feet. Once upright J'onn supported all of Barry's weight. Another audible snap had Barry biting the inside of his mouth in pain.
In a few more minutes Barry's leg's would be completely healed. Hopefully they had a few more minutes. Cas knew he had to stall, or at least keep his brother's attention on himself, "I remember when Father first created humanity and how much you hated them, even then. I remember when you corrupted Cain. I remember it all because I was there."
Now it was truly hitting J'onn and Barry how old Cas really was, how much this angel had seen.
"You were. But how many times have they reprogrammed you? How many times have you been rebooted? You always had a crack in your chassis. Just like me."
"I'm nothing like you." And yet Cas had to admit there more than a few similarities between the two of them, no matter how much he hated it.
"You know why God cast me down? Because I loved him. More than anything. And then God created..." Lucifer slid his dark eyes over to where Barry leaned against J'onn helplessly. The speedster gulped, "Them." Lucifer said with disgust, "The little...hairless apes. And then he asked all of us to bow down before them—to love them, more than him. And I said, 'Father, I can't.' I said, 'These human beings are flawed, murderous.' And for that, God had Michael cast me into hell." His voice rose in volume until another series of lighting strikes lit up the sky. Breathing deeply in through his nose to calm himself the Devil continued, "Now, tell me, does the punishment fit the crime? Especially, when I was right? Look at what six billion of them have done to this stunning thing, and how many blame me for it."
"That's just an excuse," Cas warily circled the man in white, "I know you brother. You always wanted more. You've always craved violence."
"Is that so? You and I, our father made us mirrors of each other it seems. I could not love humanity. And you love them too much"
"You never gave them a chance. You took one look at Cain and believed all humans were evil."
"And you took one look at Dean and thought they were all good." Lucifer callously walked over Dean's body to stand a mere foot away from Cas. It took all of Cas's will power not to flee at that very moment.
"What has loving them done for you? Loving," Lucifer looked over his shoulder at Dean, "him?"
Cas shifted his shoulders under Lucifer's prying eyes, shame, and sadness that he felt any shame at all spread red across his vessel's cheeks. He felt as if Lucifer was plucking the feathers from his wings one by one. That his estranged brother could see so deeply into the closest guarded corners of his mind rattled him.
Lucifer pressed onwards, "I can see your scarred wings. Your true form is a shadow of its former glory. How many times have you fallen? How much have you given to them? What more will you give for these hairless apes?"
"Everything." Cas pressed back, "All I have if need be."
"And what will you do now that its all ending?" Lucifer only laughed. "This crisis is coming for all earths. They will all die. There will be no place for you in heaven or hell when this is all over. You destroyed yourself for nothing."
Thunder boomed so loud it rattled the remaining glass in the shattered windows. Clouds rolled angrily and red swept across the sky chasing away the gloomy grey.
"Ah." Lucifer raised his head to the sky. "It is time then."
"Barry?" Cas gripped his blade a little tighter, ready to move at a second's notice and risked a glance away from his brother.
Barry stepped away from J'onn, his nearly healed limbs at last able to hold him upright. He pulled his extrapolator out of his pocket and hooked it into his phone, "The antimatter wave just entered this Universe. We have minutes, if that."
"Brother," Cas appealed to the Devil, "It did not have to be this way."
"Of course it did." Lucifer said. Cas had expected him to rage, to fight and scream, but he only seemed resigned. "Whatever we do, we will always end up here. Whatever choices we make, whatever details we alter, we will always end up—here. At the end of it all."
With a sigh Lucifer turned his back to the three heroes. He walked a short distance to a small rose bush, cupping a small bloom in his hand, "I'm sad to see this stunning thing disappear. This world was one of God's last perfect creations." Plucking the flower, he crushed it in his palm and dropped it to the dirt, "Perhaps the next creator will be just as imagined. I look forward to seeing his new world."
Lighting flashed, blinding the three, forcing them cover their eyes. When the light died down Lucifer was gone.
The sky turned from red to white. The wave was nearly upon the planet.
"We have to go!" Barry shouted to carry his voice over the rising wind.
Cas nodded but stopped at the frown on the martian's face, "J'onn?"
"I can sense people still in the city." J'onn reported, his gaze looking far into the distance at the ruins of the small city.
"The hunters from the camp?" Cas asked. Even only knowing them for a night Cas didn't want them to die. All their struggles and sacrifices shouldn't be rewarded with oblivion.
"Yes," J'onn nodded, "and a few families hiding where they can."
"We can't save this planet, but we can get some of these people to safety." Cas turned to Barry, "How long do we have?"
Barry's fingers were a blur as he tapped away on his device, "Estimates have the wave hitting Earth in approximately four minutes."
Cas knelt down next to Dean's body. Gingerly he uncurled Dean's fingers from around the colt and settled the weapon in his coat pocket. The last bullet had yet to be fired, maybe with this weapon they would have a chance. With one last brush of his fingers across the human's forehead Cas stood and resolutely faced away from the scene. He had to keep going.
"Barry, I think its time we do something, and fast." Cas held his hand out, "Give me the extrapolator.
Barry handed over the device as well as an ear bud to J'onn and Cas, "Use these to stay in contact."
"Speed though as many people as you can." Cas ordered.
Barry nodded and flexed his legs. He was still sore from the rapid healing and his muscles ached, but it would have to do. He sped off into the sanitorium.
Cas placed a hand on J'onn shoulder, "Brace yourself," and the angel spread his wings to their fullest extent and took to the air. In no time at all he landed with the Martian in the center of the ruined town.
If the flight unnerved J'onn he did well not showing it. As soon as they landed J'onn's eyes began to glow, "I can expand my psychic range and get everyone to come outside."
Cas felt the Martian's presence graze over his mind and spread outwards.
"Do it," Cas pressed the extrapolator and activated the portal to Earth-1, "We have to make sure no Croats make it though with them." Pressing a finger to his ear he called dover the Com's, "Barry."
Over the coms Barry reported, "I've got Risa and few other survivors, but Cas."
"What?"
"You, the Earth-14 you." Cas heard Barry's voice hitch over the comms, "He's gone."
Cas wasn't sure how to feel about that. He'd died so many times over the years. He mourned that this Castiel never really had a chance.
Soon enough small groups of straggly people began to emerge from the barely standing structures.
"This way." J'onn waved his hand rushing the people forwards.
"Its happening just like on Earth-38" Barry shouted into his comms while zooming all across the town, scooping up any humans he found hiding and ushering them through the portal, "The planet is going to become more unstable the closer the wave gets."
Thunder rumbled in the distance and the ground shook, crumbling a building and J'onn used his psychic abilities to shield a woman and her baby from the debris.
She covered he child with her body and let out a scream, waiting for the blow. When it didn't come she tentatively lowered her arms. J'onn was at her side in an instant and helped her to her feet.
"Check their eyes before letting them though." Cas directed J'onn. "Come on!" Cas used his grace to amplify his voice at the huddled humans making their way towards the breach, barley a couple dozen left standing, all that remained of the human resistance.
As Cas and J'onn ushered people through the breach Barry's yellow lighting filled the town square and as sped in as many people from the city's outskirts as he could.
Cas was so busy directing the survivors that he failed to notice a fundament shift in this universe until it had already occurred. The constant buzz that accompanied his every living moment as an angel had suddenly gone silent. He pulled back with a gasp at the realization of what that meant.
"What is it?" J'onn asked over the head of several children he just finished checking.
"The rest of the angels just left this Earth." Cas said feeling a hole where the voices of the angels usually sat in his head. Now there was only silence. They just abandoned their Father's creation. How could they?
Cas' made his choice then and there, "Heaven and Hell may have given up on these people but I won't."
The closer the wave got the more violent the shaking got.
Out from behind a line of rotting cars more people emerged. Cas barely paid them any notice, to busy checking each survivor for infection when the screams began. The new group of people threw themselves at a family like lions taking down prey. Their teeth tore into the father's neck. The mother tried to shield her child but was grabbed from behind and drug into an alley out of sight but Cas could still hear her screams.
Cas ran forwards and grabbed the face of a croat about to tear into the small girl. Letting his grace loose he burned the creature from the inside out. It only gave a grunt and fell to the ground, dead.
The child scrambled back in fear of the angel.
"It's alright," Cas held his hands up to calm her, "I wont hurt you." Opening his arms, the little girl sniffled and ran to him. Gingerly he picked her up and flew back to the portal, the near instantaneous change of local scaring the small girl, but she clung to him tight all the same.
Barry zipped to a stop beside him and J'onn just this side of Earth-1.
"There's still so many left," Cas lamented. The small town had been almost emptied, the survivors now refugees on Earth 1. But what about the millions of others all across this Earth? It was too late.
"There's nothing more we can do," J'onn tugged on his arm. The light wave washed over the hills in the distance, blowing apart buildings, trees and everything else in its path.
Cas knew there were more people nearby, he could sense it. Even leaving those afflicted by the Croatoan virus to such a fate weighed heavily on him.
"Cas!" Barry yelled over the roaring wind, "We have to go."
The little girl whimpered in Cas's arms and that small sound spurred him into action. With a nod to Barry and J'onn the three stepped into the breach which closed behind them with a blue zip, the anti-matter wave washing over the street where they'd just been standing seconds later.
In the next moment Earth 14 ceased to exist.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
Earth 1
Lois was confused, and maybe more than a little weirded out.
"So do you have a gluten sensitivity too?" Ray bounced happily on his feet, and with his hands shoved into his pants pockets his gave off the air of a child, not the huge six-foot four superhero that he was.
The Superman that was his doubleganger, aside from his sky blue eyes, smiled and shook his head, "No, not that I'm aware of."
Louis's head swiveled from Ray, to Superman, to her husband, and back to Ray. Yep. The Multiverse was weird.
"Well done. You have succeeded in finding the Paragon of Truth." The Monitor said to the two supermen standing in Ray's lab. "Lex Luthor played his role." Luthor pulled up his suit jacked in a mock curtsy from inside his containment field, "He led you to him."
"Really!?" Kara stormed into the lab, supporting Dean's weight and guided the injured hunter over to a rolling chair before turning back to the Monitor, "How many more people did he hurt to do that? You think you're a good guy, but you're not." She spat.
Kate had followed right on Kara's heels, stopping beside Dean, kneeling down to reach under a cart and pulling out a first aid kit.
"I think he's kind of neat." Luthor quipped.
Kate slammed down the med kit, "Shut up." She growled over her shoulder in his direction.
Luthor held up his hands in surrender.
The batarang had been left in Dean's arm until they got back to the Waverider. Kate dabbed alcohol around the blade, working quickly, but not quickly enough for Dean's tastes.
"Pull it out!" He gritted through his teeth.
"No Dean not yet." Kate pushed away his hand when he reached for the batarang.
"Pull. It. Out!" He repeated.
"She's right Dean. Let's get you to the infirmary." Kara turned on her heel, intending to help the hunter back to his feet, "Should have gone there in the first place but no, you don't need medical attention." Kara grumbled under her breath.
"Oh for the love of…" Dean rolled his eyes, wrapped his fingers around the batarang before Kate or Kara could stop him, and yanked it out of his flesh with a ripping pop. He hunched over with a grunt before righting himself with a self-satisfied smirk on his face, "I'm keeping this." Dean said breathlessly and held up the batarang.
"Dean!" Kata and Kara admonished him.
Kate shoved away his hands to get a better look at his wound.
"That was impressively stupid." Louis said with open mouthed awe.
"I'm not stitching you up," Kate shoved a finger in Dean's face and tossed the gauze she'd had at the ready onto the cart.
When Dean looked her way Kara shook her head, "Nope, you're going to the med bay, period." Then to the rest of the gathered heroes, "We still only have three Paragons. Bruce Wayne wasn't the Paragon of anything, so… Whoa, Ray?" Kara only now noticed the Superman from Earth 96. "You are looking jacked."
"No, no, no, no." Clark clapped Superman on the back, "This is your cousin sort… of."
Kara took in both versions of her cousin and could only manage one word, "Huh." Oh man was she going to need brain bleach. She didn't have long to think over the fact that she'd kinda just checked out her cousin, technically.
A breach appeared depositing J'onn, and limping Barry and Cas. On the other side of the portal where they'd just came from could be seen the camp down in Central City. The three waved at the people behind them, one child in particular watching Cas with rapt attention, then the breach closed.
"Dean!" Cas made for the hunter the second he had Dean in his sights.
Dean jumped up from the stool he'd been resting on and all but launched himself at the angel. Dean found their reunion an echo of the time he'd nearly died to stop the darkness. Cas had desperately grabbed at him then just as he did now, to reasure himself that the hunter was still alive. Dean could only ponder a guess at what occurred on Earth 14.
Kate awkwardly scratched behind her ear, inwardly searching for anyway to put off reporting what happened on Earth 99. When she had nothing, she at last gave the bad news, "Uh, so Batman tried to kill Kara, stabbed Dean, and now he's dead, so we're doomed." Kate tired to sound nonchalant but her failure weighed heavily on her.
"You were stabbed?" Cas' now noticed the red stain on Dean's arm. He gently prodded the wound.
"Ow, careful will-ya." Dean winced, "At least it was a batarang, so I can cross that off the bucket list." His attempt at humor fell flat, he knew it. His smile faded and his expression turned somber. For Dean, he now had no hope any of them would make it out of this Crisis alive.
Cas could only muster a halfhearted smile in return. He gently placed his palm on the hunter's arm, letting his grace flood across Dean's skin and stitched the tissue back together. After the hunter was healed Cas left his hand linger on Dean's arm.
"What happened Cas?" Dean asked.
"I couldn't help but noticed your merry gang is down a Paragon too." Luthor quipped from his containment forcefield.
"Who is this irritating man?" Cas squinted at him over Dean's shoulder.
"Lex Luthor." Kara said, her tone promising violence if the man didn't stop talking.
"Oh shit!" Dean's eyebrows flew up into his hairline as he hadn't caught who the man was when he first entered the lab. Though he'd had a batarang sticking out of him so he could be excused for not paying attention, for crying out loud.
"I don't understand." Cas muttered.
"I'll explain later." Dean leaned and close and whispered in the angel's ear.
"We failed too." Barry limped across the lab, his legs still sore from the beating he took from Lucifer, and he sat down heavily on one of Ray's stools, "Earth 14 was just wiped out by the anti-matter wave." Everyone present fell into stunned silence when they heard this. Even with knowing that the Anti-Monitor was destroying Earth after Earth it was still jarring every time it happened, "That Earth's Dean," At this Dean's head sapped up, but he remained silent while Barry continued to explain, "The Paragon of Freedom. Lucifer killed him."
"As in Lucifer, Lucifer," Kara gulped, "As in the Devil?"
"That bastard never could stay in hell." Dean muttered to himself, although everyone heard.
"You've met the Devil, the biblical Satan?" Kara's eyebrows disappeared into her blond bangs.
Dean only nodded.
"Kara I couldn't even get close to him," Barry swallowed around a sob, he was in pain, stressed, and hopeless, "All he did was snap his fingers and I was powerless." He threw his arm outwards, "How can we go up against beings like that? What chance do we have in this Crisis?"
Dean felt Cas's grip on his arm tightened and he looked down at his angel.
Cas felt grief bubbling at the back of this throat, "He killed you, right in front of us." Right in front of me. Cas didn't say the last part out loud but Dean understood, his shaken expression matching Cas's.
J'onn surveyed the heroes and hunters, the atmosphere of hope that permeated the ship after finding the Paragon of Truth had completely withered away, "We cannot stay on this course. With two Paragons dead we need a new plan."
"We shall see." The Monitor said sounding unworried at the recent turn of events, "I believe Dr. Palmer's work is now finished."
Ray put down his tablet with a sigh, even the inherent giddiness that was the essence of Ray Palmer had taken a hit in the last few minutes, "I'm not sure how much good it will do now but we should be able to locate the remaining Paragons. Although I've never actually built a Paragon detector before." He rolled a cart with a computer screen into the center of the room while holding onto a device with a button on it. He raised the activator, paused, and calculated the distance of those gathered around, "You know everybody should probably take a step back."
And there went Dean's confidence in this plan working. He and Cas took a huge step back and joined Barry, Kate and Kara near the back of the room.
Ray firmly pressed the button with his thumb and turned his face away as if waiting for an explosion.
The whole room braced for the outcome.
And waited.
Waiting.
Dean let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding, "Is it doing anything?" The second the question left his lips a piercing ring emanated from the screen and a bright light hovered just above the Earth's surface on the screen.
"What Earth is that supposed to be?" Dean asked the question they were all thinking, rubbing at his ear which still hurt from the annoying sound.
Ray's face fell, "None of them. That's us, this ship." He dropped the device to the tabletop, defeated, "Apparently, there are still a few bugs."
"Your machine works just fine." The Monitor beamed at Ray, in fact it was probably the closest thing to a smile anybody had seen on the being's face, "That light is the Paragon of Courage and the Paragon of Freedom."
"Yeah." Kate turned to leave the lab, not wanting to bask in her failure any more than necessary, "Well, Bruce's body isn't on the ship…"
Cas stepped forwards as well, intending to join Kate's retreat, "Neither is Earth 14 Dean's."
"No," The Monitor conceded this fact, finally tearing his attention from the screen to take in the hero and angel, "but you two are."
"What?" Kate's nose crinkled in confusion.
"I said the path to Earth 99 and Earth 14 would lead you to the Paragons, and that has come to pass." The Monitor stepped up to Kate, "You are the Bat of the future, Kate Kane. You stood up to your last remaining relative and mentor to do that which you knew to be right. You are the Paragon of Courage."
Kate swayed on her feet. She opened and closed her mouth, nothing coming out in her shock, but the Monitor wasn't done yet.
Then to the angel, "Through the strength of your convictions Castiel, you forged for yourself that which no angel has ever done before, your own free will, giving up your home, your family and your very sense of being in the process. You have given up everything for the survival of humanity. You Castiel, are the Paragon of Freedom."
Dean's head snapped to Cas and he stared at his closest friend in unfiltered awe.
Cas shut his eyes tight when he saw that look on Dean's face. He couldn't take it, didn't deserve it. How? He'd done nothing but fail. It'd been the Winchester's who'd saved the world, and the few times that he hadn't messed up he'd only helped. Right? How could he be the Paragon of anything. He broke everything he touched.
"Cas?" Dean asked warily when the angel stepped away from his side.
"I need a minute." Cas said quietly. He turned on his heel and swept out of Ray's lab, the weight of the universe on his shoulders.