Chapter 10: No fate but what we make for ourselves

Sam's POV:

"Cut it out!" Despite all the concern and confusion regarding his behavior, Sam couldn't help but laugh at the sight in the rearview mirror. Gabriel the platypus just wouldn't leave Dean's embrace, so there was no way Dean could drive, but when he tried to take the passenger seat, the little creature protested and scratched Dean a few times till the hunter finally relented and climbed in the back seat, mumbling angrily the entire time. Sam was very saddened and worried about the fact that it was him Gabriel tried to keep distance from, but he couldn't contain his laughter when the platypus kept snuggling into Dean's neck.

"Seriously, cut it out before I throw you out of the car so that that big-ass truck could make you roadkill." Gabriel only made a soft growling sound that Sam wasn't sure a regular platypus could make.

"KNOCK IT OFF!!!" Dean finally had enough and yanked the small creature away from himself, holding him upright at arm's length. "Seriously, what the hell is wrong with you?" A few silent minutes passed by, but then Gabriel must have done something, and Dean relented again, rolling his eyes and drawing the animal back into his embrace. At least Gabriel seemed to stop squirming.

It was a couple of hours later that they finally reached Bobby's and Dean gave Sam a few eye signals that indicated he should talk to Gabriel alone, so Sam entered the house, leaving Dean and the platypus outside in the junkyard to do just that.

Over an hour later, they returned, Gabriel in his regular (though still short) form, lingering behind Dean as if he wasn't a full blown archangel that could smite Sam on the spot. Maybe he couldn't?

"See, I told you. Still Sammy." Dean pointed at Sam.

"It's Sam." The younger hunter grumbled giving Dean the stink eye before turning an apologetic look towards the archangel. "Hey, Gabriel." He said, but the rest of the words seemed stuck in his throat. Sam swallowed hard and pushed, until the words were finally out. "I'm sorry for before, I don't know…"

"Oh, wow!" Gabriel said with a tiny gasp. "Yeah, I definitely see it now." He added and seemed to relax a great deal.

"See what?" Sam was curious, though he did suspect Gabriel could see the link Sam had with the divine.

"There is a better chance for the whole universe to collapse on itself than for dear old daddy to apologize, so you-" Gabriel said pointing a finger at Sam "-couldn't possibly be Him." The angel seemed to relax even more, finger-snapping himself a big rainbow lollipop that couldn't possibly fit into his mouth. He licked it as he walked to the nearest couch, snapped it into something a lot more comfortable and plopped down on it.

"So now I am curious. What happened?" He asked, his attention deeply focused on Sam, making him shudder under the angel's scrutiny. He could practically feel his grace tentatively reaching and probing around and he felt an incredible need to push it away.

"He shot God." Castiel's deep voice rumbled as he appeared next to the couch, scaring the shit out of both Sam and Dean, but Dean especially.

"Fuck! Shit, Cas, we have gotta put a bell on you!" His brother shouted and for a moment Sam got the impression that there was something odd between Dean and Cas, but couldn't figure out what it was.

"Shot him?" Gabriel drew the attention back to the conversation.

"Yes. With a God made weapon. " Cas replied.

"Aaah! That makes sense. Well… Some sense. Who were they trying to kill that Dad had to fashion them a weapon?" Gabriel questioned, but got no reply as the other fell silent, all in their own thoughts. Sam wondered if there was any way he could bring Jack back too, but considering that he hadn't come into existence yet, and with their current course of action, he might never be born, there wasn't much he could think of to try.

"Well, okay, don't tell me. I'll figure it out on my own." He said and Sam felt his grace probing around again and something deep within wanted to push it away, but it couldn't, not if Sam didn't do it himself.

"I can feel you." The younger hunter said, lifting his gaze to meet Gabriel's. When the archangel gave him a curious look, Sam explained. "I can feel you poking around. And something… something wants me to shut you out."

"Oh. And… Um… Why don't you?"

"Because I know who it is. And if He doesn't want us sniffing around, then that's probably what we should do." Sam said, locking his eyes with Gabriel, and opening his mind further. The archangel gasped, then smiled widely, playfully even, and Sam got the notion he wasn't allowed to tinker much with the power of creation. Huh? Where did that idea come from?

"Fucking hell!!!" Dean shouted again as Anna materialized next to him and Sam chuckled, getting a feeling it would take Dean some time to get used to the fact that the angels had their wings now. Anna frowned for a moment before realizing why Dean reacted in such a way, then huffed a laugh before her face turned serious.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, sending her discomfort. Huh. He wasn't able to do that before, but now, he could almost feel every angel in the room. And a few in the vicinity, but not near enough to be alarming.

"I am not sure, but we are feeling some effects from a time ripple." She replied. Sam wanted to argue that it should be normal, considering he was changing everything, but something made him pause. Through her, he felt around and found the exact thread of what she meant. She didn't mean this time ripple. Something was happening further back into the past.

"1978. Mom. Dad." Sam breathed out, his eyes widening.

"But Anna's…" Dean tried to argue that it was Anna who originally travelled and tried to kill their parents, but with her here, and apparently (he didn't know) on their side, it should not be happening.

"Someone else. Another angel." Sam said, trying to focus on the ripple and to see who it was, but a splitting headache suddenly brought him to his knees. He gripped his head and shouted out, Dean rushing to his side. "Go. Go save them." Sam said, looking back at his brother. Of course, Dean seemed reluctant to leave him behind.

"Go. I got him." Gabriel said, stepping in to help Sam to his feet. Dean nodded, but gave him the look that said "you better not mess up or I will hunt you down and kill you, don't give a flying fuck that you're an archangel."

"Come on." Anna said and stepped to Dean's left, while Cas stepped to his right. Both angels placed their hands on Dean's shoulder that slumped under the weight, Dean's eyes going wide for a moment as he realized he is about to have so much constipation problems after the ordeal. And then - they were gone.

Dean's POV:

Fucking fuck!!! He hated being transported via AngelAir to another place, and it was far worse being popped a couple of decades back in time. His head was spinning, his stomach wanted to vomit itself and flee Dean's body while his legs threatened to give up from underneath him. But then the hand on his right shoulder squeezed, flooding his system with the cool grace and Dean sighed in contempt, his lips twitching in a smile.

He glanced at Cas and nodded. "Thanks."

"Don't mention it." Castiel replied. It was still weird, seeing his friend, a person Dean knew and grew to care about, be this much stiff, but powerful. He forgot what Castiel was like back then, the image of the badass, scary angel morphing over time into something more softer and, let's be honest, ignorant over certain things. Dean wasn't sure if he just didn't remember it right, if he built this version of Castiel, the angel of Lord into something a lot more incomprehensible then he actually was, or did some things change when Sam travelled back. They certainly were a lot more friendlier to each other.

Anna gave them an odd look, frowning at Castiel as if she couldn't understand why he would waste his grace on soothing Dean, but she said nothing. They had more important business to attend to.

"There." She said pointing to a house, one Dean remembered well. One that almost perished in the fire, the one that took his mother (for the first time), the one they returned to, to expel a poltergeist. At least they didn't have to teleport all around town looking for the ripple.

Dean walked first and the angels followed, looking vigilant and scary, almost like his bodyguards or something. The thought made him laugh internally and puff his chest out to feel more important. He got on the porch and was just about to knock when a muffled sound reached him and made him pause.

"There are five angels inside. They know we are here." Castiel said, letting his angel blade slip from his sleeve and then surprising Dean by handing him the weapon. "I will obtain one of theirs." He explained and Dean nodded.

Okay, so. They were expecting them. Then there was no need to tiptoe around or to use any element of surprise, but Dean couldn't help but wonder, what would the angel's do if he knocked?

With that idea in mind, he glanced over at Castiel who frowned at him in curiosity, then turned and knocked on the door, grinning like an idiot.

There was some shuffling on the other side and Dean could imagine the angels inside giving one another quizzical looks, uncertain what to do. Until one of them thought to ask, sounding unsure. "Who… Who is it?"

Dean bit his lower lip, trying to contain his chuckle, and trying to come up with something cool to say. Unfortunately, or fortunately, Castiel beat him to it, responding in his deep, serious voice. "The pizza man."

Dean's hands flew to his mouth as he tried to muffle his hysterical laugh, while tears filled his eyes, that was damn hilarious. And wait, was that a small smile on the angel's face too? Since when did Castiel smile?

The door swung open even if there was no one close to them to do that and with one deep breath, Dean pulled all the seriousness back in his stance, leaving the laughter for later. He stepped inside, Castiel and Anna following. To their left was an archway and beyond was a living room. The first thing Dean noted was the younger versions of his parents sitting perfectly still on two wooden chairs, their eyes the only thing revealing the fear and alarm of the current situation. It was Mary, the ever huntress, who immediately indicated to her left with her eyes, suggesting the location of their captors and probably hoping that the newcomers would save them.

"Well, well. If it isn't the douche squad." Dean commented as his eyes fell upon the cluster of angels in the room. There was a blond woman, Hester, Dean thought, he vaguely remembered her from the time they discovered Kevin. There was Uriel, whose name was still funny sounding to Dean. Then there was that idiot, Bartholomew who they met after the angels fell, the leader of… what was it called? Ah, yes, the Fraction Intelligence Angel. Dumb name.

Ishim was there too, and Dean felt good about the possibility of killing that particular douchebag, but most importantly- there was Zachariah. The biggest loser of them all.

"Let me tell you, for a trap, this is a pretty lousy set up."

"Had to get your attention somehow." Zachariah started. "After all that 2014 fiasco, I had to make sure you would listen."

"Now, look, buddy…" Dean started, but Zachariah cut him off.

"No. You listen, buddy. One way or another, you are going to say Yes, you are going to agree and take your place in the grand scene of things. Or… We make her do it." Doucheriah said, glancing at Mary. Dean frowned, because, really? The Campbell lineage was better suited to be Lucifer's vessel then Michael's so what was Zach… Oh! Right. She was already pregnant.

Dean started laughing, right in Zachariah's face. "Oh, that is so funny. How stupid do you think I am?" He asked, his tone mocking. "Even if she does say yes, Michael can't possess the baby, because it didn't give its consent. And without his true vessel, without his sword… He can't do jack shit!"

"And frankly… Even if I do say Yes… It isn't going to end up like he thinks. Because I've been here before, and let me tell you… You can't win."

"What do you mean?" Bartholomew asked, but the look on Zachariah's face told Dean that the angel already knew.

"I mean that I have lived this once. I know what the future holds and it ain't pretty. Between the three of us here, we kill each and every one of you. And as for your leader, the all-powerful archangel Michael? He gets put up in Lucifer's cage and is left there to rot." If he remembered correctly, Castiel was in the lead with the death of Bartholomew and Ishim. Meg killed Hester, but Anna took down Uriel. And Dean, of course, stabbed Zachariah in the face. But despite all of that, he still enjoyed seeing the look on their faces when he told them about Mike. Priceless.

"Now… Imana give you to the count of 10 to get yer ugly, yeller, no-good keister of this property before we pump your guts full of angel blade." Dean really thought he was being funny with his Home Alone gangster reference that apparently nobody got, much less thought it was funny. Yet when he started counting and got to three (or what should be ten), Castiel launched forth, thrusting his angel blade and killing Bartholomew on the spot.

Zachary stepped back, letting Hester loose on Dean shile Anna came face to face with Uriel. Castiel went for Ishim next, taking the angel down without breaking a sweat. For a split second, Dean thought he heard Castiel say "This is for Lily Sunder.", but couldn't be sure if he heard it correctly. Hester was a poor opponent as Dean spun her around a few times, before taking her in a chokehold and making her impale herself on her own angel blade. Anna was having some trouble with Uriel, so Castiel stepped in to help, while Dean focused on Zachariah who was trying to flee, but found that he couldn't.

"Funny what a little distraction could do." Dean said, glancing at the cupboard to his left.. While he delivered his little speech, Anna took a moment to draw a no flight sigil and then activate it just as Castiel attacked. "You know… Out of all the Angel's I met over the years, Lucifer included, you are still the sleaziest one of all. Well, you and Metatron. Thought he did repent in the end." Dean said.

"Long time ago, I made you a promise that I would stab you in the face, and… I already did that. But I don't mind doing it again." With one simple swoop, Dean thrusted Castiel's angel blade upwards, thriving it through Zachariah's jaw. And as his dead body dropped to the floor, Mary and John finally unstiffed, gasping for air.

"Who the heck are you, and what is going on here?" John shouted, pushing Mary behind himself and completely missed the way she frowned at his protectivness. Csstiel stepped forth towards him and John took a fighting stance, but since he didn't expect Castiel to move so swiftly, he missed when the angel managed to place two fingers on his forehead, sending him into deep slumber.

While John was courageous, there was a hint of fear in his eyes as he tried to stand up to them, but there was none of that in Mary's, only vigilance and spite.

"What are you?" She asked after she checked John's pulse and made sure he was still breathing. "What did you do to him?"

"Do not worry, he is sleeping." Castiel replied, pulling back and letting Dean take the cue.

"This is Anna and Castiel. They are angels." Dean made the introductions, and could see a few emotions flickering in Mary's eyes, from disbelief, to awe, to wariness. "And I am Dean Winchester."

That made her pause, she looked up at him as her hand rush over her belly in a protective manner. He smiled at her. "Hey, mom."

"Sorry about this, but… Um… We are caught in a biblical apocalypse, and they thought it was a good idea to drag you and Dad into it. Sorry." For a moment he considered sitting down with her almond telling her everything, but all it took was one pointed look from Anna to tell him it was not a good idea. So he turned to Castiel and nodded.

"No, no…" she said, but it was too late. Castiel already put her to sleep, clearing her memory. It was for the best.

Still, it would have been even better if they didn't have to do the clean up and try and get rid of five dead bodies. Anna broke the sigil and released its effect, then offered to take the bodies and dispose of them.

Dean was grateful that he wouldn't have to do much of the heavy lifting, as Castiel carefully picked Mary up and placed her in a sitting position on the couch.

"So I end up going to the cage, huh? And what, Lucifer roams the Earth?" Dean and Cas turned to see John standing there, glaring at them, only they both knew that was not John.

"Not at first. We lock you back up together, but he um… escapes." Dean replied nonchalantly. Last time they were here, he was hurt and Sam was unconscious and all he wanted was for his brother to live and he was scared. He's not scared anymore.

"And how do you do that? How do you, an insignificant little human, open the cage and throw us both in it?"

"Easy. It is all a matter of finding the right spell, the right ingredients." Dean replied and huffed a laugh. "Pretty much every major thing we did involved a spell. Opening the cage with the horse men's rings, or Rowena with her book of the Damned. Opening Purgatory. Getting rid of the Mark of Cain and setting Amara free. Travelling to other universes. Every time we need to make something big happen - poof - a spell appears. Convenient, don't you think?" Dean said and he could see Michael was curious and perhaps even a bit apprehensive about the things Dean was saying. "You don't believe me? See for yourself." He added, tilting his head forwards. Michael was more than confused about it, especially since Castiel hadn't protested, but he came closer and set his hand on Dean's head, sifting through his memories. He gasped just before he broke contact, and stepped back almost as if he got burnt.

"... to you? He shows Himself… to you?" There was disbelief and bewilderment in his eyes as Michael tried to process it all. "But, no… No. This isn't how it was supposed to happen, why would he...It is my destiny to fight my brother, not…"

"There is no destiny. No fate. There is only what we make for ourselves." Castiel said and Dean's eye grew wide. Did he just freaking quote the Terminator? "Free will is not an illusion, Michael. And it wasn't meant just for humans, either. You too can choose what you want to do. You can choose to make your own path."

Shit, Castiel was badass. Dean paused for a moment as that thought settled in, provoking a seed of doubt to grow, but he thought to shove it aside for after they dealt with Michael. But when Dean refocused, Michael was gone and John was back to being unconscious and sprawled on the floor.

"Was that a Terminator quote?"

"Yes. It was."

"Cas? I know I am from the future that doesn't exist anymore because Sam and I screwed it up, but I am pretty sure we still haven't run across Metatron. And I am positive we haven't shown you any movies yet, so… How did you know that?"

For the first time in a long time, Dean witnessed Castiel give that confused head tilt and then replied as if the fact was common knowledge or something Dean should have figured out sooner. "Because I am from 2019 too."

"Holy shit!"

"No, still an angel."

"Was that a joke?"

"Maybe."

Castiel shrugged on shoulder as a small smile appeared on his face, then oof-ed and staggered from the force of Dean's bone-crushing hug.